Children's Day 2018

In India, Children’s Day takes place in mid-November every year, and last Saturday was the occasion of the Building Blocks Children’s Day Festival. 

Final-year children from BB and those who are now at "Big School"

It’s a lively and entertaining occasion, with the children’s performances divided into two sessions.

Lots of smiles and all full of fun

They seem to be natural performers

First there is a programme from the children in their final year at BB.

They are full of confidence and there is no sign of shyness or nerves.

They are all 5 or 6 years old and most will be leaving Building Blocks next April
to continue their education in good primary and secondary schoolsto age 16.

In the second session of the concert, it was the turn of the older children who have “graduated” from Building Blocks and are now moving on towards their teenage years. Most of their performances were backed with Bollywood hit tunes and delivered with great energy and obvious pleasure.

These kids need scholarships to age 16

Standards have been rising steadily at all of our seven learning centres.

Most of the 130 children in this age-set will be eligible for places in good “English-medium” schools when the next academic year starts at the beginning of June. 

Over the coming months, it is up to Escape from Poverty in the UK, and other fund-raisers in India and around the world, to continue to raise the finance to support the ongoing education of these promising children.

No longer singing Bah, bah, black sheep

One day they are shy and hesitant infants, and a couple of weeks later they are self-confident, boisterous boys and girls. 
They are up on the stage, dancing and enjoying themselves, and entertaining their peers and the audience. Suddenly, Chaitra - the schoolgirl I sponsor personally - is much less of a child on this occasion, when she is performing in this year's Children's Day Concert.
Of course, every teacher is familiar with such changes, and knows all about it almost from Day One of their career. But I’ve never worked with children over any length of time, so it’s a new experience for me, (even after my own tribe of children and grandchildren,) - and, of course, it seems to happen almost overnight. 

My girl Chaitra

When I watched Chaitra dance, and when she chatted to me in her rapidly-improving English, I knew that the pound-a-day I invest in her education since I signed up to sponsor her, is one of the best investments I have ever made.

And I reflect on how different things might have been if James Ambat had not seized his dream and founded Building Blocks.

We are going to need a massive increase in funding as our schools continue to produce bright and intelligent children who deserve to continue their education in a good school where they can build on what BB has taught them.

If you could spare a few pounds a month it will help secure their future – and YOU will be a part of the change: part of making the world a better place.  

A few clicks and a piece of plastic is all you need.

Give a kid from the slums of Bangalore 

the ultimate Christmas gift of a good education.

https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/escapefrompoverty   https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/escapefrompoverty

   

November Newsletter from the team in Bangalore

Here is the November Newsletter from the Head Office of Building Blocks in Bangalore. We've had a specialist teacher-training programme, important updates with parents on their child's progress and a great excursion to the park for the children.

Next week I'll be blogging about the Indian National Children's Day celebrations and a special celebratory concert from the children.

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Greetings and welcome to the November issue of the Building Blocks newsletter. We are so happy to see the development and growth of the children from the activities and learning experiences they receive and we are eager to share them with you. Read on so you can experience the excitement and joy along with us.  Teachers' Training Program Teachers' Training Program This month the teachers donned the role of students when they took part in an inspiring and interactive training program called “Creating Futures”.  Creating Futures is a registered non-profit organization that aims to train and create employment opportunities for educated rural and urban youth. They run a variety of programs. For Building Blocks they are conducting a teaching development program. They conducted various activities on team-building and leadership development for the teachers and managers of Building Blocks India. All together there were 14 staff members who participated in this program . and all benefited greatly from the collective exchange of ideas and the training content.

Trip To The Park An Excursion To The Botanical Gardens As a part of outbound learning, the children had the wonderful opportunity to go to Lal Bagh, a beautiful park. It was a time to let loose and enjoy nature! With lush greenery, lots of play time along with an informative nature walk, this excursion was a great success. Kudos to the volunteers, teachers and staff who helped make it an all-round enjoyable time. Parent - Teacher Meeting Parent Teacher Meeting This month after the Term-1 Evaluation had ended, we conducted parent-teacher meetings throughout all our centres. A simple one-on-one meeting to bring the parents up to speed on the progress and standing of their child. They were presented with the child’s test papers and grade sheet, followed by a discussion on the child’s presence and behaviour at school. We are happy to report that overall, the parents are happy with their children’s results. We will do our best to ensure  that this positive trend continues. Wishing You All A Wonderful Month Ahead! Thank You So Much!  Our mailing address is: 34, Hanumanthappa Road, Soonangi layout, Nagama Nilaya, R.S.Palya Kamanahalli, Bangalore, Karnataka, India unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences       Share Tweet Forward