Emotional Intelligence - RP Devgan

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage one's emotions. It also involves recognising the feelings of others with compassion. Most children today are unprepared to face the challenges they encounter and give up far too easily. This results from the environment in which they grow up, their exposure to social media, peer influence, and feelings of insecurity.

To be emotionally strong, one must confront occasional failures and setbacks. Those who rise above the odds succeed in life. How does one cultivate emotional intelligence? 

Participating in team games, project-based activities, and solving problems together helps build self-esteem. Team games and activities are essential because they teach us to cooperate, plan, and share ideas. In the event of a match loss or setback, the team comes together to strategise on overcoming weaknesses. The sense of togetherness fosters strong relationships, providing a feeling of security while helping to combat challenges.

Sportspersons are generally emotionally intense because they have learned how to cope with losing. Failure is a great teacher. Losing a match or being unsuccessful is not the end of the world. One must be tough and resilient to get up once again and overcome the odds. This teaches us to manage our emotions both in victory and defeat, and emphasises respecting others' feelings.

Compassion, humility, kindness, and helpfulness are the virtues of an emotionally intense person. In today's world, where people tend to be self-centred, relationships and friendships play a crucial role in building confidence and a sense of security. These life skills help to develop emotional strength and prepare one for any setbacks.

RP Devgan is the Chairman of the Learning Forward India Foundation and a lifelong teacher with experience leading schools worldwide. He advises schools and serves on the board of a residential school in India.

Simplicity and Trust - Harmony BHIS

*Simplicity* is not a style;

It is a state of *Harmony*

"No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection towards his pupils and a genuine desire to impart to them what he believes to be of value." - Bertrand Russell


This is the first step of making a true bond with a child; gradually a teacher enables the building of trust in the child.  We will experience how Viaan's trust in his teacher was exhibited when he helped simplify a certain situation on her advice. A simple and insignificant action prevented a situation from going out of hand. Trust built by the teacher helped Viaan to take a simple step towards resolving a matter.

"Teacher!!! Krish isn't listening" called out Viaan when Krish started throwing his pencils and erasers hither-thither. To the best of the class' knowledge, Krish was a hyperactive child with well-developed vocabulary skills, even at the age of six. Children, being well accustomed to his ways, were a little tensed to see a sudden change in his behaviour. The situation slowly began to get out of control when the sharpened end of a pencil hit a girl. The teacher called out to Viaan, handed over a beanbag to him and told him to give it to Krish. Viaan approached Krish and asked him to play with him. This encouraged Krish to restrain himself. He dropped the pencils and took the beanbag. He started throwing it towards the other children. The children threw it back to him. This, in turn, changed the entire mood in class into a playful one. Children then gleefully participated in the game.

Trust is the most potent anti-anxiety secret and is seldom seen overtly. It is an antidote for anxiety. When we have a new rosebud, in our garden, do we tinker with the petals, or anything to “optimize” it? No, we enrich and fertilize the soil that the rose is growing in, and we trust in the process of life unfolding. We also trust that the rosebush can weather storms without us over-sheltering it! The words of Thomas Carruthers, "A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary," come to mind. 

Simplicity is the portal to joy, and joy lies at the very foundation of health, well-being and peace. Definitely not only with a child younger than six or seven, but also with older kids, the more we can simplify life, the more peace we will have woven into the fabric of the child’s developing brain; it becomes a feedback loop.

The child’s deepest need is to be seen and known. Simplifying daily life helps that to happen more. "When we overbook, we overlook.” Cultivating a sense of wonder and imagination helps guarantee simplicity because then everything becomes something amazing, - the wind rustling through the trees, is fairies dancing; a piece of wood becomes an alligator or a doll;  a spoon becomes a great flag or a king’s sceptre. A child, who can imagine, is walking a path towards unlimited horizons.

Hence we can conclude:

Simplicity and Trust: Two facets of a pure soul

Harmony @ Billabong High International School, Thane 

- Abira Chakraborty, Pooja Khona, Bhumika Ailsinghani, Rajshri Rane, Soniya Kuril, Poonam Choudhary, Kavita Shetty

Branding and Schools

Branding, why your school needs it? 

The young Interns at our School in Bali, have worked on an article published by Scoonews, they share the story very simply!

'The term “School Brand”, similar to "brand" as it applies to traditional business applications, is any type of term, mark or insignia, which identifies one organization or product from another.'
- Wikipedia

The story of a school and the philosophy behind the brand.

Case Study

Education = Service + Skill + Sport + Study

The collaborative magenta for Service.

Is used to symbolize "anti-racism", young people bring the world together and do not like being differentiated by colour, caste, creed... other divisive ways. Communities must be built.

The serene green for Skill.

The word green is closely related to the Old English verb growan, "to grow". Individuals must develop skills for life.

The electric cyan for Sport.

Without Cyan we cannot make any colour, this portrays the need for a "basic" understanding of the needs of the young people.

The prestigious blue for Study.

All-pervading and dominant colour to enhance vision, we need to think "beyond the blue". Intellectual development is a necessity.

#MyGoodSchool