A student from Australia

My name is Shenae Hodge I live in Victoria Australia and I attend a school called Kurnai College and it is in a small town called Churchill. I am 15 years of age. I have brown hair with bits of blonde in it. I have 2 best friends and their names are Nikki and Kim, they all attend this school as well. We start school at 8:30am and we finish at 2:50pm. At school our main subjects are English, Maths, Science and SOSE everybody in the school has to take part in those classes, we also have course selection which is where we choose more classes that we would like to participate in.
Out school is good at sports, arts, music and other academic subjects.
We do not have any after school clubs to enjoy after school.
Our food in our canteen is a whole heap of different stuff like pies, hotdogs, chicken burgers and we have some lollies and drinks, we also have cakes and cookies.
We are able to leave school at the age of 15.
We do not sing our national anthem every day.
My opinion about school is that it is a great opportunity to learn new things and make new friends, although it gets annoying going to school everyday.
This is me and my 1 of my best friends Kim

A student from Australia

A student from Australia

Hello, my name is Mason; I am a 14 year old male. I go to school in a little town called Churchill, the schools name is Kurnai. I live 10 minutes away from the school and I catch a bus every morning.
Our school is very small it only has about 300 students. We have a school uniform of a polo shirt that has to be Moron or white we have to where blue shorts or pants. Our school always competes in sports competitions like football, basketball, soccer, hockey and netball. We start school at 8:30 and finish at 3:30.our school has a couple of clubs the air cadets and the cordial club. In the air cadets you go to the local airport and learn about planes and in cordial club you catch up with work.
We do not have any Thai students at our school but we have a lot of other nationalities. I do not particularly like school, but some subjects I enjoy like PE, English and maths. At our school you can leave at the age of 15 but you won’t have a good enough education to get a good job. That’s me >>

A student from Australia

Hi my name is Nikola Brighton, I’m 15 years old. I go to a school in the Latrobe Valley called Kurnai College. Our school is very small because it only consists of about 320 students, in the whole school. I’m currently studying in year 9, we study English, Science, Math, Sose, Arts and Sport. Our school day starts at 8:30 am and finishes at 2:50 pm. My school is good at sports because we’re all pretty athletic, we love to go to our sports day and doing our P.E physical education. I don’t really have an opinion about my school just that I like school because I can see all my friends, we can leave school at the age of 16 if we want but hardly nobody does they go right through to university unless they get an apprenticeship. I’ve never wanted to change schools and have never tried Thai food, I love it when school is finished because I can go and do all my sports which are basketball, netball and tennis and no I don’t sing my countries national song every day.

The picture up the top is a picture of me and my action squad group I’m the second girl

Another stucent from Australia

Hello my name is Nikki Hammett and I go to Kurnai College High school in Churchill which is a small town. I am 15 years old and I’m in year nine. Our school starts at 8:30am and goes to 2:50pm which is about 6 hours at school. We have 5 periods a day for work. Our main subjects are maths, English, Sose and Science. These are our subjects that everyone has to do. Our school has about 300 to 350 students. Our school has all year levels from year 7 to year 10. We have to go across the road to go to year 11 and 12.
We leave school at the age of 15, which is our age now. Many students go to university as a far as I know. We do not sing our national anthem everyday. We have one assembly once a month. I have never even thought of changing the school in any way. Our school is not the best school around but I suppose the teachers teach us things that we take in. We have about 25 - 30 teachers that are mostly at our school everyday. Our food is ok at our school canteen. We do have clubs after school hours but I have never gone to any. We have this special program for after school hours which is called cordial club it is for people to come and do their homework and after they have finished they get cordial and biscuits. There are many teachers that help out at the cordial club. We have course selection classes also which include: sport,. Art classes, computer classes and many more. We do not have any Thailand students going to our school as far as I know. Well I have told you as much as I know and well I’m off. Bye.

Another student from Australia

Hello my name is Emma Wyhoon, I’m 15 years old and I live in Yinnar of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. I go to the school Kunai College Churchill Campus, which I have to catch a bus to get there and back every day. My hobbies consist of netball, basketball, shopping and socialising with friends. I have a younger brother and an older sister, along with my mum and dad. I have 3 pet dogs and their names are, Bella Billie and Amy.

1. What is your school good at? Sports/competitions?
My School is good at Soccer and Badminton, both of these sports got far too state finals.
2. What time do you go to school and what time do you finish the school?
I catch a bus to school which is at 7:30 am, but school actually starts at 8:30 am and school finishes at 2:50 pm and I catch the bus home also.
3. Do you have any clubs to enjoy after school? (Scouts/Girl Guides/Army.)
There is a club for netball and I’m a member of this.
4. Do you know any Thai students, what do you think or know of Thailand?
No I don’t know anything about Thai students or really anything about the country.
5. What is the food like at school? Have you tried Thai food?
The food that is at our school is quite yummy and I have never tried Thai food.
6. What is your opinion about school? Do you like school?
My opinion about School is that it keeps me getting up in the mornings and helps me get a good education and school is ok but I don’t love it.
7. Have you ever thought that you want to change your school?
No I have never really thought about changing school but I still like the school that I’m at.

A student from Australia

Hey people!! It’s me Cathleen Bennett from Kurnai College Churchill Campus. I am 15 years old and my birthday is the 8th of May. My hobbies consist of playing Soccer, Basketball, talking on msn, hanging out with friends and going shopping. I am in year 9 and I live in Churchill in the state of Victoria in Australia. I really enjoy doing sport and I love running. I have a pet dog and his name is Freckles. I have an older and a younger sister and their names are Brycelyn and Lindsay.

1.What is your school good at? Sports/competitions?
My school is good at soccer and badminton. In our school soccer team, they got to the grand final and they played in the Melbourne stadium for the state finals. In our badminton competition, they came second in the state finals.
2.What time do you go to school and what time do you finish the school?
Well because I walk to school, I start to walk at 8:00am because our school starts at 8:30am. The end of the school bell finishes at 2:50pm and because I walk home I get to my house at about 3:10pm.
3.Do you have any clubs to enjoy after school? (Scouts/Girl Guides/Army.)
Yes I do, I play soccer and I belong to the Churchill Soccer club for the girls’ team.
4.Do you know any Thai students, what do you think or know of Thailand?
No I don’t know any Thai students. I also don’t know anything about the country Thailand.
5.What is the food like at school? Have you tried Thai food?
The food in our school canteen has improved a lot since I was in year 7, the food is good and no I haven’t tried any Thai food.
6.What is your opinion about school? Do you like school?
My opinion about school is that I do like school because it provides me with an education that I know I can take to the future. I don’t exactly love my school but yeah it’s ok.
7.Have you ever thought that you want to change your school?
Well I didn’t exactly want to go to this school in the first place, because I was going to go to a different one but then mum decided that it would be easier for me to go here because then I wouldn’t have travel as much. Well since I’ve been here at Kurnai I don’t think I’ve thought of changing because I have heaps of friends here.
8.What age can you leave school?
You can leave at any age, but to properly finish school up to year 12, you’ll be 18.
9.Do your students go to University a lot?
The majority of our students do continue to University so that they can get different degrees but some people don’t bother to go to University because it’s much more harder and much more work.
10.Do you sing your countries national anthem every day?
No we don’t but when I was in primary school we had to do it every Friday.

A student from Australia

Hey my name is Cassie, I live in Victoria, Australia. I go to a school called Kurnai College Churchill. We start school at 8:30am and finish at 2:50pm.
Most people at our school do sports out of school such as, footy, netball cricket basketball, baseball and swimming.

Our school has only about 350 students in it, we have a canteen that serves a large variety of food and drinks. At out school we can leave school at the age of 15. We don’t sing our national anthem at our school but we use to at primary school. Our school goes up to year 10 then we go across the road and do year 11 and 12.

Our uniform is a white, dark blue or maroon polo shirt with dark blue short or pants, girls can also wear school dresses and winter skirts.

A student from Australia

Hi my name is Adam and I go to school in Australia.
Our school enjoys sports and inter school sports like bowling and swimming.
Our school starts at 8:30 am and we finish at 2:50 pm. Our after school activities include sports such as Australian rules and football (which we call soccer). Our summer sports include basketball, netball and cricket.
We don’t have any Thai students and I have never tried Thai food but I would like to. Our school canteen sells normal food like rolls and chips and chocolate.
Our school is good but I don’t really enjoy it, I’d prefer to be working or earning something.
I’ve never thought about changing schools but I do want to leave at the end of year 10. The legal age that you can leave school or be kicked out is 15.
Some students choose to go to university but a lot of the boys go and get apprenticeships or find a job somewhere else.
We don’t sing our countries national anthem everyday. We don’t sing our national anthem at secondary school but in primary school we sung it once a week.

A student from Australia

Hello my name is Ryan and I live in Boolarra south-east Australia. I attend Kurnai College Churchill, and I’m in 9th grade. I subjects that I take are, Maths, English, Sose, Science, Metalwork, woodwork, sport, art and P.E. I’m extremely fond of Maths, Science and Woodwork and hopefully I might get a job in accountants when I’m older. I also like playing sports such as cricket, soccer and archery and get involved in team sports such as basketball, European hand ball and other different sports. Overall Kurnai College
Churchill is quite a good school, which I have enjoyed for the last 3 years. That’s enough about my school what about your’s?

My hobbies are playing sports, playing guitar, listening to music and other different things. I live in a family of 8 three sisters’ two brothers, mum and dad and me.
I’d like to know more about you and your school so can’t wait for your reply.
c- yar.

A Student from Australia

Hello, my name is Kaeshar. I go to a school called Churchill Kurnai, which is in a small town in Victoria Australia. I’m 15 years old and I’m in year 9. I have a younger brother called Dylan, he is 11. I have to catch the bus to school every morning, I catch the bus at 7:30 and school starts at 8:30. We finish school at 2:50
At my school people like to play football, basketball and soccer.
I don’t know anything really about Thailand and I don’t know any people from there either. The food from out school is a mixture between healthy foods and fatty foods. I don’t like school that much because it’s boring. Our school needs a lot of changes like the classrooms and the whole outside of the school. I can leave school at the age of 16, some students from our school go to university, it depends if the score in VCE is high enough. Our school never sings the national anthem.

History of an institution

HISTORY OF OUR INSTITUTION

After several problems to open the institute it was finally founded on December 29th, 1978 by Leslie Casnodyn Rhys.
In 1979, the first year started with 17 students, with a timetable which went from 6pm to 10.30pm that allowed students who worked to start a career.
In 1982 despite the fact that the institute did not have the support of the state, with the teachers and staff’s effort, the institution continued working and the first group was able to graduate.
In 1991 after a long disease, the teacher and founder of IPPI died. Being this hard for the whole institution, because he was a good and kind man whose faith, honesty and perseverance were models to follow.
After this, his daughter, Lorena E. Rhys, started working as the new headmistress of the institute, with the collaboration of Sara Criado de Muñoz, the secretary and the entire staff being able to continue with the institute.
Mariana and Georgina

Akshay Pratishthan School

About Us
Akshay Pratishthan was established in 1988, with the objective of creating voluntary opportunities and providing rehabilitative services for persons with disability. As a organization, Akshay is offering rehabilitative services through integrated education, medical care, vocational training and self - employment. While the school is imparting education to integrated group of equal number of able bodied and physically challenged, from Nursery to Class VIII, the medical care units are rendering full support in providing aids and appliances, yoga and nature cure, therapeutic services and education for children with special needs. We have a team of professionals working in our rehabilitation unit providing therapy and arranging surgery for our school children as well as people from the local community.


The provision of mobility aids, specially designed accessible transport and necessary teaching and learning material has gone a long way in enabling the persons with disability at Akshay.

While there is a barrier-free built environment, the teachers and the care givers are also trained in management of disability.
The vocational training units of weaving, textile designing, embroidery, art and craft, bakery, beauty culture, carpentry, electrical repair, computer and several others are empowering the students by giving requisite training in the school as per interest, aptitude and potential. Every child from Class V to Class VIII is given an opportunity to learn at least one vocation. Most of the courses ar accredited by National Institute of Open Schooling which makes it easier for the children to become self employed or to acquire jobs. Vocational training has helped persons with disabilities to acquire skills that make them self-reliant.
Our Chairperson
Mrs Aruna Dalmia

Mrs Aruna Dalmia is the founder-chairperson of Akshay Pratishthan . She has dedicated her life to the cause of disability and mainstreaming of persons with disability. Akshay Pratishthan is her family and her joy is in seeing children’s achievement. Mrs Dalmia is the recipient of several awards including Priyadarshini Award, Manav Sewa Award and Bharat Nirman Award.


Our Principal

Mrs Indira Chaudhry is the principal of the school. She is actively involved in the activities of the children right from the time they enter the school to the time they leave school. Her enthusiasm is infectious and it encourages the teachers to put forth their best. Being a hands-on person, she enjoys teaching the children English.


Education with a Difference

Education is an important aspect of rehabilitation of persons with disability. Catering to the educational needs of the children with special needs has been the major thrust of Akshay Pratishthan. This service is provided through integrated and inclusive education at school where nearly 400 students - able-bodied and differently-abled study together in equal number from nursery to class VIII. The school caters for the underprivileged sections of society.

The school provides students the requisite opportunities for all around development - cognitive, social, personality, emotional and physical. Opportunities for self-expression are provided through intra and inter school competitions like music, sports, banner writing, and arts and crafts. Skill training for self reliance also forms an important part of the curriculum.



After class VIII, students have the option of either joining regular school or appearing for the X and XII class examinations through the National Institute of Open Schooling of which Akshay Pratishthan is a specially accredited Centre. All these services are provided through a team of highly motivated, skilled and trained members of the staff.



Special Education

Akshay Pratishthan runs a special wing for slow learners, children with cerebral palsy and mild and moderate intellectually challenged children. The academics are conducted by special educators and rehabilitation professionals. These children are socially integrated through sports and cultural activities. This integration generates confidence and mutual acceptance amongst the children. Parents are also counseled from time to time.

Medical Facilities

At Akshay Pratishthan, the medical team works closely with the therapeutic departments to ensure successful integrations and inclusions. All students with disabilities are given special medical attention under competent professionals. Regular medical checkups and diagnostics are performed to monitor progress of the children. Corrective surgeries are organized at different hospitals. Mobility aids are provided to the children and to others in the community. Prosthetic and Orthotic appliances are assembled by qualified and experienced Prosthetic Engineers.

Participating Teachers Mrs Anuradha Sethi and Mrs Rajalakshmi Bhaskar

Mrs Anuradha Sethi has been associated with this school from 1992 and has over 14 years of teaching experience in inclusive education. She is a teacher of English for middle school. She is actively involved in computer-based projects and actively participating in the “Digital Equalizer” Program of AIF. Her motto is to leave no stone unturned for the children of Akshay Pratishthan School.

Mrs Rajalakshmi Bhaskar has been a teacher volunteer with Akshay Pratishthan School for the past 3 years. A trained teacher of English , she is making efforts to improve the language abilities of the students, since English is being taught in the school as a second language. Also involved in computer- based projects.
Working with the children of the school has given her tremendous satisfaction and has encouraged her to do more for the children.


Our Children talk about their School

1.
Hello! I am Jaffar. I study in Akshay Pratishthan School. It is a very big school. My school in the Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. My school’s chairperson is Mrs Aruna Dalmia and Mrs Indira Choudhry is the principal of my school. It has thirty teachers. Four hundred and thirty two children are studying in my school and there are five buses in my school. We have a very big and beautiful class. My school has nine vocations: Electrical, Carpentry, Beauty culture, Cutting and tailoring, Embroidery, Bakery, Music, Art and craft, and Computer. Our games teacher’s name is Mr Jagbhooshan. He comes to school every day.



2.
My name is Chandra Shekhar and my school’s name is Akshay Pratishthan School. I am very lucky because I am student of Akshay Pratishthan School. My school is the best and it is very famous in Delhi. There are many teachers and many social workers in my school and they are sensitive to the problems of the children and offer help wherever they can. There are so many facilities available in my school. Good classrooms, good teachers and social workers, workshop facilities, vocational training and computer education. They also provide medical facilities. I am proud of my school.

We learn eight subjects in school. There are teachers for each subject: Hindi, English, Math, General Science, History, Geography, Civics and Sanskrit. I like the vocational training classes best of all.

3.
I am Amit Dey, a student of Akshay Pratisthtan School. It is situated in Vasant Kunj in New Delhi. My school building is grand. There are eleven class rooms in it for 432 students. There are other rooms: library, staff room, office, music room, hall etc. There are forty staff members. Our teachers are very good. They teach us with love and care. Our school chairperson’s name is Mrs Aruna Dalmia and our school principal, Mrs Indira Choudhry, is a lady of ability. She is very kind and honest. My school is famous for its good discipline and annual examination result. The sports activities in our school are also great. We play football, cricket, basketball etc. All the children play during the break time in the playground. We have four houses, Satapura, Nilgiri, Vindhyachal and Himalaya. The children are equally distributed into these four houses. We also have lot of cultural activities like dancing, dramatics and music. All the children participate in these activities. We have a splendid school clinic. We have all the necessary medicines and we are treated really well when we get hurt or we are sick. We have exercise facilities for disabled (handicapped) children. This is an effort to make them feel equal to every one.

All Saints School from Florida, USA

Students' introductions
My School, Your School
Introductions
All Saints’ Academy
Winter Haven, Florida, USA


Zarina : My School, Your School is a wonderful
project for me because I just this year
came to Florida from Ghana. I found a
beautiful campus with friendly people who
celebrate diversity. I am in fifth grade,
and my forty-five classmates are divided
among three homerooms. I love the small
classes - - - fifteen per room.

Samantha : I’m in the fifth grade too, and my mother
teaches kindergarten at our school. I also
have a brother in third grade. Our school
is in a rural area with sixty acres of land.
The great part about that is that the campus
adjoins a protected wetlands. That means
our only neighbors will always be nature’s own.

Olivia: I am in first grade, and I have a sister in the
pre-kindergarten four-year-old class. We even
have classes for three-year-olds. In our building
the oldest classes are fifth graders, and for
this project seven of them have partners from
my class.

Ashley: Girls in my fifth grade class outnumber the
boys two to one, but in the fourth grade it is just
the opposite. We wear uniforms - - navy shorts or
slacks with red polo shirts on Monday, Wednesday
or Friday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we wear
our dress uniforms because we have Chapel.

Hannah: Next year, when I’m in sixth grade, I move
to another part of the campus for Middle School.
We change classes this year for science and
math, but in Middle School there are six blocks
of time and several different buildings. Our
school year runs from mid-August through mid-
May, and we divide it into four quarters with grade
reports at the end of each.

Bailey H: I’m in fifth grade, and my sister Connor, who is
in first grade, is on the My School, Your School
team too. We do projects like this one in our
enrichment classes where two different grade
levels form partnerships. Our school is college
preparatory, and altogether there are about
700 students.

Bailey L: In first grade my class has time after lunch to
play on the playground. We have swings, climbing
and swinging bars, beams and ball fields. We have
a covered patio, so we can even play outside when
it rains. It never snows where we live.

Sydney: My fifth grade class just had a field trip to
Kennedy Space Center, which is a two hour bus
ride from our school. All classes take field
trips during the year, and we also have times
when we celebrate off campus, such as the
pool party for students who complete their
summer reading.

Hannah: I’m in first grade, and we are looking forward
to a week off for Spring Break the week after
next. It is beautiful weather here this time of
year, and outside we can smell the orange blossoms.
In the summer it gets very hot, so most of the
tourists come to Florida in the winter.

Samantha: School at All Saints’ Academy is always interesting
In my fifth grade class there are students from
Winter Haven, which is the closest city, but also from
Lakeland, Lake Wales, Bartow, and Auburndale. Buses
go to all of those places to pick up students, but most
people come by car. Some of us stay after school for
clubs, like technology, chess, Mad Science, or dance.

Ms. Stewart: This is an amazing group of eleven young ladies, and
they are working hard to put together a book about
their school. We also look forward to reading books
from other schools and learning about their lives.