On the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of July, we the girls of classes 11 and 12 had gone for the Modern United Nation, hosted by The Calcutta Boys School. The Calcutta Boys School have named this Assembly of Nations as it brings in all the nations across the world together, disccusing their problems and giving solutions.  Different girls had gone to different committees representing different countries. 

Sagarika Roy and Upasya Bhowal of class 12 had gone for the UNCIO committee, that is the United Nation Conference International Organization representing Denmark. In their committee they had discussed about the placement of the members of the Security Council on the first day. On the second and the third day they had passed a resolution in which they were able to NUL the WETO power by removing US which the superior most country. 

Simra Nanawatty of class 11 had gone had for the International Press Corps Committee as a news reporter. On all the three days she had to sit in........  committee, and write a

report on whatever had happened in the committee. At the end of each day's discussion she had submit a report on that particular committee. Stating in that report, all the discussions that had taken place in that committee. She had to take interviews of the Delegates present in that committee and make reports. Whatever reports she had made was published on daily newsletter of the Assembly of Nation 2015. 

And Shehreen Saqualain of class 11 had gone for the FIFA Committee, i.e., The Fédération Internationale de Football Association represention United States of America. There the main topic of discussion was corruption that had taken place and how Mr. Sepp Blatter the President of FIFA was involved in it on the first day. On the second day a resolution was passed where on a vote of 2/3's majority Mr. Blatter was removed from his post and the right of hosting the 2022 World Cup was taken away from the country of Qatar. On the third day, the agenda was what suggestion each country could give to the Russian Football Association to curb racism in that country against the players and the personnel of the Skysport Channel and who should be elected as the new President of FIFA. Again, on a vote of  2/3's majority Mr. Louis Figo had won the election and became the new President of, The Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 

Muntaha Al Ameer and Jannat Shami it of class 12 had gone for the Joint Crisis Committee together and individually for the National Security Council where Muntaha was representing India and West Pakistan War Cabinet where Jannat was representing West Pakistan. 

The National Security Council had planned to help East Pakistan to fight the West Pakistan. India had a very strong plan. The bombing at the Zero Point by the West Pakistanis raged the Indians and so the they battle plans to crush them. At that time India had a very economic support so they could easily crush them but they wanted peace so they accepted to go for a joint meeting with the Pakistanis. Indians placed their demands and Pakistanis placed theirs in the Joint meeting, because they were unable to draw a conclusion they voted for plebiscite in Kashmir. India got back Kashmir and West  Pakistan got East Pakistan back after voting. Later on the last day West Pakistan said that the Indians were treating the kashmiris in a bad way when they were asking for help. So they were asking India for Kashmir. Meanwhile there waisa change in the Indian government,  Moraji Desai was replaced by Indira Gandhi. They both had different ideologies. Since Moraji was a pro Pakistani he was supporting the Pakistanis.  Jannat had gone for the West Pakistan War Cabinet committee where they had discussed about the Bagri Masjid Issue and solutions to them. 

Thank You

On 7th of July, 2015, the senior school involving classes IX, X, XI & XII had registered their bank accounts in the Canara Bank, Park Street. One of the bank officials had visited the school premises personally to help out the girls in their registration. This session was conducted under the guidance of Ms.D.Majumdar. Representatives being Mehndi Raza & Sakina Sharique.

In today’s fast moving technological world switching over to better paid jobs or jobs for growth are a trend, it is rare that we find employees working for 25 years and more in one single institution. Therefore with pride we at Loreto Day School, Elliot Road, celebrated the silver jubilee of four of our staff members – Mrs. Manju Louis, Mr. Martin Osta, Mrs. Jacinta Gomes & Mr. John Gomes, on Friday the 3rd Of July, 2015.

With God’s grace & blessing our jubilarians have reached so far in their career and therefore it was befitting to celebrate their joy through a Eucharistic celebration. All through the mass, we thanked and praised God for them and asked God to continue to shower His blessings on them and their families. The Mass was followed by a short felicitation for the jubilarians. As they were being felicitated, a short introduction was given for each of them.

Mrs.Louis dedicated her life to teachery while Mr.Osta & Mrs.Gomes work in the office & Mr.Gomes is a very silent member of our domestic staff. The Junior school then, put up an enthralling “Fusion Dance” after which Mrs.Jacinta Gomes addressed the gathering on behalf of all of them. The programme ended with our Principal, Sr.Nirmala expressing her feelings and gratitude towards four of them. The day ended with some refreshments for the staff.

On 13th of July, 2015, class XII celebrated Parents Day in the Junior hall. It began at 11:45 am and ended by2 pm. The programme began with a prayer dance followed by a short prayer service. After this Mrs.Govindraj introduces the theme of the interactive session between the parents & the teachers.

An interactive session reaped great dividends as the parents could retake to the role plays enacted and therefore give their valuable inputs on how to track the different situations that were dramatized. A power point presentation on social networking that was informative & interesting that was shown t the parents. The session ended with a vote of thanks by the Principal – Sister A Nirmala.

On the 9th of July, 2015, class XII-Humanities attended an orientation organized by our Principal – Sr.A.Nirmala. It was conducted by “World Vision” NGO. The orientation began at 8:15 am and continue till 1 pm. The session aimed at helping us identifying our skills and our nature. It also helped in becoming aware of our fears that is hidden within us. We were made to act our different situations of fears and various inner voices that go with it.

They also helped us in prioritizing our time with the help of the “SW-IH” techniques, which would also help in setting a clear idea in view of our goals and career. The session was truly an inspiring one where we learned to overcome our fears, time management & making a clear picture of our future. It wsa an enriching and enjoyable experience. We would like to thanks Sister for giving us such a lifetime experience.

The Albert Barrow inter-school Creative Writing Competition for Category II was held in our school on 17th July, 2015.

We were the host school and for us at Loreto Elliot Road this was a momentous occassion.It was the first time that we were hosting this event.

A lot of communication went on for the past few months . We spent a lot of time on getting this organised behind the scenes and now finally the Day had arrived.

With support from the school Principal, Sr A Nirmala, the event was a grand success . The thirty two participating schools were happy with the organization and conduct of the competition.

The day began with a short prayer by the Principal. The senior coordinator spoke on the great personality of Albert Barrow while the middle school coordinator introduced the supervisor of te event, Mrs Ishita Chatterjee.

The light refreshments made by our Home Science girls was indeed welcomed as there were many participants from outstation schools as well.The accompanying adult too was well taken care of.

The Supervisor, Mrs Ishita Chatterjee from Frank Anthony Public School was a great help under whose direction the whole event took place

The half an hour of preparation went well . The participants were evidently busy jotting down all the cue points once the sealed envelope was opened and the four topics were written down for them to choose from.

With their grey cells at work, the participants were engrossed in writing their 500 - 750 word piece.

At the end of sixty minutes ,the scripts were taken up  and the children were released .

The entire event was a time when our organizational skills were tested and at the end we were quite happy with the smooth turn of events.

This day was a much awaited day and it finally arrived after months of excitement and working behind the scenes.

The day Sr. A. Nirmala agreed to host the above, there was a feeling of excitement. As days drew closer, flurry of activity kept us busy.

The eleven schools ,St Josephs and Mary's school, Calcutta Girls' School, Jewish Girls, St. Josephs school Siliguri, Akshar, Sunrise Eng medium siliguri, Assembly of God Church school, Burdwan, Julien Day, Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar, St. Clarets School ,24 Parganas, Loreto Convent Asansol, participating were in constant touch with us and it added to the excitement. We were ready for the twenty two participants with preparations completed a day prior to the event.

For us, 15th July was indeed memorable as this was the first time that we were hosting this event. The sealed envelope was opened at sharp 9:30 a.m. and the topic read as “Competition leads to death of relationships”. The one hour preparation time soon started, and before participants realised sixty minutes just few by.

We were fortunate to have Mr Barry O Brien as our moderator while the three judges were Mr. Pradeep Gooptu, Ms. Oindrilla Dutt and Mrs. Anjum Katyal. These eminent personalities added to the aura of this prestigious inter - school debate competition.

Our recently renovated school hall seemed a perfect place to have this debate. The stage had the moderator and participants seated while the audience, judges and esteemed guests were seated on the floor of the hall.

Mr. Barry O Brien with his erudite, charming and articulate speech and views engaged the audience completely while the three judges were might pleased with the standard of debate.

The four minute speech by each speaker was followed by a two minute immediate rebuttal and this was certainly quite impressive. To see young minds at work and hear them speak so confidently was an amazing experience. Moreover, the rebuttals were apt and well tackled.

At the end of it, when the placements were about to be announced, there was a hush around the hall - all eagerly waiting for the results.

The results were no surprise but it was astonishing to see the minor difference in tallies of the various schools. The competition was well fought and close. The winning team from AKSHAR had AUNTORA MITRA & ABHIMANYU MILAN, while the 2nd best team from CALCUTTA GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL had RIJOTA RAY & ANUSHKA BOSE as team members. The BEST SPEAKER prize went to AUNTORA MITRA while the 1st Runner up position went to SHAMIM SHEIKH of Julien Day School.

With the powerful Vote of Thanks by the Principal, Sr A Nirmala, the day came to a grand end .

A programme was organized by the junior school on the 17th of June, 2015 to welcome to Sr.Clare & Sr.Sudha into the Loreto, Elliot Road family.

The programme began with a prayer dance by class V. It highlighted our trust in God that strengthens our relationship with them. Next a skit was put up by the amateurs of Class I. This skit depicted the importance of Mother’s love in a child’s life. Following this was a recital of the “Our Father” and a hymn “You are my all in all”.

As tokens of love, cards & girts were presented to Sr.Clare & Sr.Sudha, who were then invited to address the children. They expressed their appreciation over the efforts made by the children & said that they had thoroughly enjoyed the programme. This short programme ended with a vote of thanks rendered by the Principal Sr. Nirmala.

St.Xavier’s Collegiate School, Park street (Primary section) organized a two day inter-school programme to commemorate “Vanmahotsav” on 29th & 30th of June. Our girls from classes III to V participated in the various events. Their parents dropped and picked them up from the venue. On the 29th Ms.Aruna Mondal & on 30th Ms.Mavis Partridge accompanied the girls during the events that took place between 9 am to 10:30 am.

Our children participated in pairs, as instructed, in events like “Petal Attraction” (Flower Arrangement) – Sonia Khandakar (V-I) & Laaibah Feroz (V-II).?

• Tee Dye (T-shirt painting) – Shanza Sharif (IV-II) & Shrija Roy CHowdhury (V-II)
• Rags & Riches (Best out of waste) – Pari Saraff (III-I) and Divya Agarwal (IV-I)
• Crazy Pot (Pot painting) – Torsa Chakraborty (III-II) & Bipasha Das (IV-I)
• Floor Magic (Rangoli) – Rishita Basu Roychowdhury (IV-II) and Arunima Biswas (V-I)
• Power Peepal (PPT) – Indrakshee Das (V-I)and Sadaf Ali (V-II)

Our girls shared the 1st place with St.Xavier’s in “Floor Magic”. The children might not have been very unsuccessful but what matters is their participation. It was truly a learning and an enreaching experience for each one of them.

On the 2nd 3rd & 4th of July, the students of Loreto Day School, Elliot Road had participated in X-Uberance 2015 – the fest at St. Xavier’s Collegiate school. Out of twenty five onstage & offstage events, the school participated in seventeen events. The event began with the inaugural ceremony on the 2nd. What followed was three days of fun and learning where the students took part in various events and also attended certain events as an audience in order to cheer their school. The fest ended with the losing ceremony on the 3rd of July after which there was a great performance by Mr.R.K.Bose – A renowned DJ. The school was placed 2nd in carron, spray painting, T-shirt painting, model making as well as Antakshari. The school has also placed 3rd in Hindi creative writing and fashion show. Overall it was an entertaining a well as educative experience.

A Staff Orientation was held on 24th of June, 2015 in the AV Room of the Junior School. It was conducted by Father Paul Pudussery CSC. The topic was very apt and reflected the need of the hour. “Reimagining education in the 21st Century”. The changed role of the teachers; as facilitators of the learning process were highlighted. Teachers are capable of creating a positive environment and they need to teach survival skills to the children. The session was meticulously planned and intelligently organized. It had various interesting charts, detailed diagrams, animated anecdotes and moving visuals to emphasize the shift in pedagogy in the modern world. They also reiterated the necessity of a teacher possessing knowledge at all levels- subject, pedagogical and technological for the miracle to unfold in a child’s life. The workshop was in fact a live demonstration of a foolproof way to both, time and classroom management. It was a real eye opener and learning experience for one and all because one “Who dares to teach must never cease to learn”.

On 29th June 2015 we went to Loreto Day School Bowbazar to attend a talk organized by the Cyber Crime Dept of Lalbazar. The representatives of the department, Mr. Kuntal Sidhdhartha, Mr. Alok Majhi, Mrs. Madhuri Sarkar, sub inspectors of the Lalbazar Police Station, discussed at length about the various types of cyber crimes like online hacking, stalking, "phishing" etc through a power point presentation. They informed that about 63% of the netizens -.I.e. People who use the net, suffer from cyber crimes. . They enlightened us on the various techniques through which we can protect ourselves online, like not posting personal photographs on social networking sites, checking the authenticity of the site during online banking and the likes. One such precaution is to always log out of our accounts even if we are using internet through our Smartphone. The event ended with a vote of thanks from the Principal. The session has indeed made us more well-quipped to deal with any problem that we may face in future while surfing online.

 -As written by Amreen Naaz of XII C 

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Twelve girls from our school accompanied by a teacher went for an orientation on Cyber Crime to the host school, Loreto Bowbazar. The orientation was being conducted by the Cyber Police, Lalbazar. For us, it was an added plus point as our school had inducted Parents Day on this very theme. We were thus keen to know more, especially from the horses mouth. 

A lot of what we were told were familiar to us like cyber bullying, fake profile, picture morphing, stalking and many other.  What was new to us were the measures or preventive steps that we were made aware of and that was an aspect which was an eye-opener. simple things like, logging out of all applications, avoid putting ones picture as DP. Enhancing the privacy options, not accepting friend requests from friends friend, not using https on address bar, copy paste link to open it, use 2 step verification for Email , not using public wifi for personal chats. Avoid joining what's app groups, are some aspects which we were made aware of. Certain tips were given like using a strong password, avoid having a great number of friends, having a different password for every application, using a licensed anti- virus were possibly factors known to us but many of us seldom adhered to them.

With these insights and action plan if we are ever faced with cyber crime were something that we brought back to the school and shared with the others at assembly.

This also certified that this burning issue of cyber crime is here to stay and the faster we learn to be alert and take precautions , we will escape being among the 63 percent netizens who have faces cyber bullying in the world.

The easy conversational approach and talk by Shri Alok Majhi. Shri Kuntal Siddhanta and Ms Madhuri Sarkar made the session far more lively than only showing a power point presentation.

We thank the Principal and teachers of Loreto Bowbazar from the bottom of our hearts for inviting us for this talk and needless to say but for the support from Sr Nirmala we would have missed out on this golden opportunity.

 -As written by Amreen Naaz of XII C 

 It was an honour when our school was invited to participate in the celebrations of International Yoga day on 21st June 2015 at Sports Authority of India. Sr Nirmala was definitely the motivating factor here.

For us, we were surprised to learn that the reason this particular date was chose was because it is the longest day, Summer Solstice, in the Northern Hemisphere .

The last segment of our one hour programme wS the dance recital. - two Indian dances with the sole western dance in the middle.

The two of us  were the representatives who were chosen to be the anchors for the event.The event commenced at 6.30am when the chief guest, the highly respected Honorable Minister of Telecommunications, Post and Information Technology , Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad entered.

After a short round of prayers and introductions, the chief guest and Yoga gurus were honoured. Thereafter, the compelling words of the Hon.  Minister kept us all glued. Finally, the demonstrations of the asanas were an amazing feat to watch.Each person in the audience felt that he/ she  was a part of the family as all were encouraged to take part in it  and not be a mere witness.

For us, being MCs of this huge prestigious event was a dream come true. After doing extensive research, we prepared  the script which was then edited. Only then , did we rehearse for hours on end . Some lines were then translated in Bengali keeping the 6000 people that were present.

Since we had to wear white, keeping the theme in mind, we chose to drape white sarees and do the anchoring. On the said date, we arrived at the venue by 5:20 am, rehearsal with the full team for the first time, felt confident and then when the time came, we took the stage with self confidence . Afterall, this wasn’t a small programme- people came from whole Bengal and some from neighbouring states too.

Shri S. P. Pattnayak, Zonal Director NYKS ( Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan), Dr Radhakrishnan , the SAI authorities were all extremely helpful and cooperative. We felt a sense of pride when it was announced that our age old tradition of yoga was now placed at the International level. Due to the efforts of our Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the United Nations has declared June 21st as the International Day of Yoga.

The organisers, NYKS, the Bengal chapter did a wonderful thing by celebrating this special day with much fervour . After all, Yoga is a part of our heritage. It is not a religious practise, rather an Indian system for achieving peace of mind and living in harmony, it is the  epitome of spirituality. The science of Yoga imbibes itself the complete essence of the Way of Life.

This Way of Life in turn helps us to focus and concentrate and attract positive vibes . The two of us were certainly influenced and are convinced that Yoga does show us true light and thus is integral to growth and development.

We would like to thank Sr A Nirmala, or Principal without whose support we would not have got this exposure.

As written by-

(1) Sweta Biswas , class XI (H)
(2) Sohini Niyogi, class X (1)

The anti-drug campaign is an annual event launched by the Kolkata police that assumed serious significance with the involvement of a lot of schools and school children in order to spread awareness about drug abuse and it’s detrimental impact in our society and increase of crime rate.     

The campaign began on June 11, 2015 and culminated on June 26, 2015. The Kolkata Police along with the Narcotic department in association with Women and Child Development And Welfare Society of West Bengal Government conducted several events like Bi-cycle rally, foot rally, interschool essay competition, debate competition, poster competition, sit and draw competition.        

      The culmination of the campaign was held on 26th June celebrating world drug day at Rabindra Sadan  with the main event being the prize distribution ceremony. The actual event started with the lighting of the lamp by the dignitaries present there, Surajit Kar Purkayastha (  Commissioner of Kolkata Police), Pallav Ghosh , Soumen Mitra, Rashmi Seth, Dr. Shashi Panja ( Minister of women and child development and welfare society), the Tollywood actor Dev. the entire event was anchored by Mir Afsar Ali. Our school participated both in the interschool essay competition and interschool poster making competition, with Crystal Valencia Sayter class XI Humanities achieving  the second prize for the essay competition.  Riyan Banerjee, class XI Humanities was invited to the event at Rabindra Sadan and was handed over the first prize for the essay writing competition by Dev and Alkama Sohail of XII C was awarded her prize for placing third in the poster making event.The prize distribution ceremony was followed by speeches delivered by the dignitaries. A special guest Aninda Chatterjee (Actor), shared his experience about how he recovered from drug addiction. The event ended with Rupam Islam and Surajit teaming up to compose a new song synchronizing the theme of drug abuse with a sand artist portraying his art in the background and Surajit Kar Purkayastha delivering his official speech.

On 24th June 2015, the students of Loreto Day School, Elliot Road took part in a competition organized by Little Messenger at Abhinava Bharati High School. Little Messenger is a teen magazine that inspires the youth to come forward and express their views on various issues of importance. We participated in a number of events.

Amreeta Das of of Class - XII won the trophy for creative writing, Aneesah Ukani and Tuba Wasti stood first “Dubsmash”, Saumya Chandra Haneeya Shahnawaz, Saida R. Fatima and Ashmita Dam won the first prize for the quiz. Alifya Bamboowala of class XII stood second in the online selfie contest.

Creative hands of Loreto Junior School joined together to present their Art and Craft Exhibition. Each class displayed their items in their respected classrooms.

Hard work and creative skills was quite evident. Each class made an effort to display excellent work and was guided by their teacher made beautiful craft items out of paper plates, glasses and cups. Items made from waste materials were also displayed. Dry leaves painted gold, flowers made from green coconut top and napkin holders or greeting cards made from Old CD disc were simply fantastic and portrayed creative ideas and skills. Neatly made embroidery work also attracted attention. Many wanted to take home a piggy bank or a bunny note pat or a kulu!

Classes IV and V also displayed a Project based on their theme. The students of class IV represented their state in their traditional costumes. Both the students of Classes IV and V explained their respective topics were given quite well. Sheer excitement was visible on their faces !

The children as well as the teachers worked tirelessly to present this exhibition. The parents being happy with their children’s work we realised how very successful we were in our endeavour.

The students of Class XII were taken for an educational trip to Sunderban as a part of our ISC Environmental Science curriculum, from the 10th to the 12th of May, 2013.

Forty three students (including four Non-EVS girls) under the supervision of three teachers undertook this trip. The supervising teachers included the subject teacher, Mrs. A. Ganguly assisted by Mrs. K. Chatterjee and MS. S. Handa.

The students were required to collect data for their EVS project titled “Implications of Technology Triggered Anthropological Activities on Ecology and Environment of the South Sunderbans.

We had prepared our questionnaires for the purpose of our survey. On the first day we went to the first village and after our survey we headed towards our hotel. Two researchers were arranged for us by our EVS teacher. They gave us a lot of information about Sunderbans and Man – Wild life conflict existing here.

The next day, we left early for the Museum then we went to two watch towers and finally to the second village for our survey. It was a comparative study of two villages.

Although it was an educational trip but it was also our last class trip. We had a lot of fun doing our survey as we interacted with the villagers. We got to know about the problems they face every day. On the 12th May, 2013 we left for Kolkata.

It was a very memorable trip and a great experience!

Flowers symbolise feelings of our life. The Junior Section of Loreto Elliot Road had joined their creative hands together on 3rd July, 2013 for Ikebana (a flower show).

Students from Classes III to V participated in it. Children were divided into their respective houses. They arranged the flowers in accordance with their themes. The students also prepared a caption and a short speech on the arrangement. The Students delivered their speech confidently in front of the Principal and teachers. The teachers invited as judges were Mrs. N. Barua and Mrs. R. D. OSta.

The activity acted as a mode of relaxation from the monotonous regular studies and gave vent to creativity.

Excursions are always welcome because they provide a refreshing break from one’s daily routine. However, if the excursion is with friends, the fun and frolic increases ten folds. When the school authority announced that the students of class ten would be taken for an excursion to Tajpur, we had good reason to celebrate.

It was a great experience. We were at Tajpur from 6th – 8th of July, 2013. During this time, we had many activities including coastal trekking and campfire in the evenings with the blue sky atop the blue water and the yellow sandy beach, dotted with read crabs. The beach had a serene atmosphere with the wind whooshing past our ears now and then and the waves lapping over our feet as we stood in the water.

We also had coastal trekking during the second day of our visit to Tajpur and that was a particularly memorable experience. While trekking, we collected shells, saw salt deposits as well as spotted a jelly fish. After trekking in the evening, we had lip-smacking delicacies like puchkas and jalebis on the beach which made this experience all the more memorable. Apart from this, we saw a Casuarin forest and a number of big red and small white crabs.

This excursion with our friends will perhaps be one of our most unforgettable memories. And many years from now, one day as we do down memory lane, we shall remember this excursion. And that day, we shall have nothing to do except smile, while we look back and remember the good old days.

By outgoing batch of class X’s
ICSE - 2014

Van Mahotsav is an annual tree – planting festival in India, celebrated in the first week of July. This year, on the 15th of July, 2013, Classes III to V had organised a beautiful Programme. The children were buzzing with excitement as they had prepared themselves for the forth coming event. The hall was decorated keeping the events in mind. The programme began with the lighting of the lamp, which was placed on the traditional alpana. Mementos were distributed to everyone. The programme began with a meaningful prayer service which had readings from The Bible, The Gita and The Quran. This was followed by a dance recital. Next, there was a skit based on the importance of trees in our lives. After this, a Hindi song was sung while the Principal, Sr. A. Nirmala, coordinators and the teachers came forward to plant saplings. While this was on, the children were ready with their handmade, colourful and attractive rackis. They accompanied the Principal , coordinators and teachers to tie rakhis around the trees.

The programme ended on a happy note with a very encouraging address by the Principal. It was a very fulfilling day indeed !

Sr. Nirmala had organised yoga classes for the Staff of both the Junior & Senior School. Classes were held every Wednesday in July from 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The sessions were conducted by Mrs. Anindita Banerjee and Mrs. Sonali Mukherjee. A number of Asanas, breathing exercises and basic stretches were taught. We, as teachers, looked forward to every Wednesday as this learning was fun and it helped us to bond and interact. The teachers who attended the classes benefitted greatly from it.

The Award Ceremony to felicitate the ISC and the ICSE toppers was held on the 6th of August, 2013. I was excited at the prospect of coming back to school. As I entered, I was flooded with memories of my school days when I had walked past those gates clad in my uniform. I had taken it for granted then that walking in and out of these gates was a regular thing for me and that I would continue to do so, but today as I walked in, I felt different ........................... I am a part of my school, yet I am not.

I met a few other friends of mine, both from the ISC and ICSE batch and we were made to sit at the rear of the hall. The programme commenced with a beautiful hymn, prayer service and a prayer dance. Being a Loretoite, I was acquainted with this process of getting into a focussed mode. As I watched the entire programme, I realised that a lot of effort had been put into it- just to make us feel special.

When finally the award ceremony started and I was called forth to receive the Lipika Mitra Award, I felt immensely proud and honoured and before I could get back to my seat, my name was called out again and again to receive more and more trophies. I was overjoyed but at the same time I reminded myself to remain grounded.

What I liked the most was that the trophies and certificates I received for various subjects were given to me by my very own subject teachers. As the crowd cheered for me, I could feel that this was not only a happy occasion for me but it was a jubilant moment for my father, who was among the proud parents invited to this auspicious ceremony.

I am the person that I am due to my parents, Sr. Nirmala (Principal), teachers and school.

On February 2013, all the students of Junior School (Classes Nursery – V) were taken on a school picnic to Belilious Park.

On 12th April 2013, all the classes of Class V went on an excursion to St. John’s Cathedral, Town Hall and GPO.

On 4th May, all the students of Class IV went on an educational Tour to BITM. The students were thrilled to be a part of the Children Zone.

The Hindi Elocution was held on 19th July, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. in the Junior School Hall. The Hindi Students of Classes I-V took part in the competition. The classes were divided into two groups. Group A consisted of classes I-III and group B of IV-V.

The judges who came to honour the occasion were Mrs. Violet Ranjit from St. Mary’s School, Ripon Street and Mrs. Manju Louis a Senior Hindi teacher of our school. Iffat Yousuf of Class V (ii) welcomed the judges, after which each class recited the poems with perfect voice modulation.

While Mrs. Voilet Ranjit congratulated the participants on their flawless performance, Mrs. Manju Louis announced the results. From Group A Class III (i) stood first and III (ii) second. From Group B Class IV (i) and V (i) ranked first and second.

The programme concluded with a speech delivered by our Principal, Sr. A. Nirmala. She also presented a token of appreciation to the judges.

The Bengali Elocution was held on 12^th August,2013 in the Junior School Hall at 11:35am. All the Bengali students of classes I-V participated in this event . The classes were divided into two groups Group A comprising of classes I,II and III and Group B comprising of classes IV and V. The two judges who honoured the occasion were Mrs. R.Ghosh and Mrs T.D’Souza.At the end of the event while Mrs. R. Ghosh congratulated participants with the encouraging words, Mrs. T DS’Souza announced the results.

Class III stood first from Group A and class IV stood first from Group B.

It is said that you never stop gaining knowledge and so did it happen at the QUIZIXX 2013 held at the Asian International School. We always felt welcome under the great shadow of their hospitality. The idea of participating in such a large competition with so many schools thrilled us.

The elimination round was preceded by a number of events like the registration, refreshments, performances hosted by the school and a photo shoot. The preliminary rounds were quite exciting with seventeen schools fighting to grab a spot in the top seven. After the tough priliums a wave of nervousness washed over us, when our name was announced like a ray of hope. Our girls gave their best efforts in each of the rounds.

Even though our girls were not able to get a spot in the top three and lost the opportunity by ten marks, none of us was disappointed. Winning or losing does not matter as long as you participate and gain a little more wisdom.

Flowers symbolise feelings of our life. The Junior Section of Loreto Elliot Road had joined their creative hands together on 3rd July, 2013 for Ikebana (a flower show).

Students from Classes III to V participated in it. Children were divided into their respective houses. They arranged the flowers in accordance with their themes. The students also prepared a caption and a short speech on the arrangement. The Students delivered their speech confidently in front of the Principal and teachers. The teachers invited as judges were Mrs. N. Barua and Mrs. R. D. OSta.

The activity acted as a mode of relaxation from the monotonous regular studies and gave vent to creativity.

On the 30th of January, 2014 the Senior School celebrated the Feast Day of Mary Ward with a Panel Discussion. The Chief Guest for the day was Sr. Mary D’Souza. The topic for the discussion was, “India is free, her women are not” – a very relevant and significant issue in today’s context.

The twelve panellists, our very own students, openly shared their views both some agreeing and some disagreeing with the subject. The panellists who spoke for the subject discussed about the lack of freedom Indian Women have even today. They spoke about issues relating to Rape, Prostitution, Dowry death, Female infanticide and girl – child abuse giving us statistics which left us appalled.

But, every coin has two sides and when the panellists shared their views disagreeing with the topic, we saw a ray of hope. One speaker confidently said that, women are not equal to men rather, they are better. Others spoke about the marvellous achievements Indian women have made in various fields. Whether it is Chandni Gautam, the first woman taxi driver in India or Sarla Thakar, the first Indian woman to get a Pilot’s license, you have them everywhere. Now the phrase “male-oriented jobs” is a misnomer. Looking at he positive side of the issue we felt relieved. Teachers also actively participated in the discussion.

It was a wonderful experience for students and teachers alike. Everyone wanted to share their views and the teachers were no less enthusiastic.

- Zainab Udaipurwala
Class – XI (Humanities)

A month back, when we were told that the school is going to take us for a three day trip to Puri, Odissa on the 13th of August, we all beamed with joy. We had finally got the much-needed break. Girls from Class IV to IX were a part of the excursion.

The day finally arrived and the 108 of us were told to gather at school at 3:00 p.m.. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 4:00 p.m. for Howrah. As the train departed, we were bubbling with excitement. We talked for hours and a little after midnight, we were off to sleep. We reached Puri at 5 in the morning and reached Hotel Vishal where we were putting up. Soon after checking in we made a beeline for the visit to the beach in the morning. After lunch, we visited the Konark Temple, a world heritage site. In evening, we once again visited the beach where a few of us sat on the sand while some decided to wet their feet.

The next day we left for Dhaulagiri, Udaigiri and Khandagiri early in the morning after which we had lunch and then visited the Nandankanan Zoo. The 12 acre open zoo enclosures and the various animals fascinated us. By the time we returned to the hotel we were exhausted. Nevertheless, it being the last night of our trip we danced, sang, played, talked and made sure to capture the good time on camera.

The next morning many went to the beach at 4 a.m. to see the sunrise while the rest went at 6 a.m. for shopping after which we returned to the hotel.

This trip truly turned out to better than we had ever imagined. We fought, cried, laughed, smiled, made new friends, shared secrets, had fun and realized that like our parents too our friends were most integral part of our lives. In time to come when we look back we all will have tears of happiness returning the joyous moments we shared.

We thank our Principal and all the teachers who went with us without whom this trip wouldn’t be possible. We are eagerly waiting for such trips in the future too.

AMREEN AHMED
IX (ii) s

On 16th November, 2013 a walk was initiated by Loreto Day School, Elliot Road in order to sensitise the society about the various atrocities inflicted upon women in society.

The walk which began from the school premises, covered areas in the vicinity. It was interspersed with the staging of the street play which showcased evils prevalent in society such as dowry demands, female foeticide and domestic violence. The girls also carried posters and banners to bring home the severity of the problem to the people.

This walk that was organised was with a difference as we have parents who volunteered to walk with us to show solidarity.

My Alma mater, Loreto Elliot Road, was invited to be a part of Golden Jubilee celebrations of ‘Loreto Delhi’ as they completed 50 glorious years. The fest was christened ‘ALMA FIESTA ‘14’. 10 girls were selected from the current batch of XI humanities to attend the fest and to participate in the event named ‘Encore’ which was a one act play to be staged the theme being humour, I was honoured to be a part of this group. Our journey began on 5th February the mode of conveyance being Poorva Express. We were accompanied by Mrs. Nandini Bhattacharjee. On our arrival at Delhi we were warmly welcomed by Loreto Delhi teacher and students. They displayed genuine bonhomie it was touching. On reaching the transit camp we were several with much needed breakfast as we were hungry souls, we devoured it. Later on we moved to Loreto Convent Delhi where we have a privilege to meet Sister Sr. Antoinette. After this we were served with sumptuous lunch to our great pleasure, later on we were taken to a famous shopping place “Delhi Haat” and to use a cliché we shopped till we dropped. Most of us made purchases from here, some for their near and dear ones and some simply for memories to take back as souvenirs. The next day, the most awaited day as it was our ‘The Day’, the ‘Encore’ day. Myriad plays were performed by different school. Some very interesting some mediocre. As the event was a non-competitive one however from each school the best actor was chosen and awarded a prize, from our school it was Atufah Nishat who was awarded the ‘Best Actor’, She deserved it completely. After this event sightseeing was on our agenda as we had to explore a lot of magnificent city. The citadel of our nation’s glorious past. We began with beautiful ‘Akshardham Temple’, the following we visited the ‘Janpat’ which is considered as ‘blue blooded’ amongst the pathway in our country because of its political significance. The climax of our trip was the ‘Bonfire’, temperature has dipped to freezing 8˚C and it was chilling. The warmth of Bonfire and the freezing weather was a sort of heavy cocktail for the sencer. It was a pleasant and paradoxical experience. There was a talent hunt event and we preformed the street play which was applauded by all. Naina and Khizra sang a solo song in their mellifluous voice. They did hog all the limelight. We came towards the end of our trip by visiting the beautiful ‘Jama Masjid’ and the imperial enigmatic ‘Red Fort’. We had our lung in the bus and headed off the station. As all good things come to an end this trip also did leaving behind plethora of nostalgic memories which will be cherish by us forever. We were appreciated with mementoes and certificates for the outstanding performances which was icing on the cake.

- Sumaiya Ahmed.
XI (H)

LTS – First meeting for the session 2014-2015 was held on 5/5/2014 in the class 12 classroom, classes involved IX & XII. Animators present – Mrs. J. Banerjee, Mrs. S. Saha, Mrs. R. Ghosh. The nominated names for the LTS Election were put. All the girls present & were asked to vote for the office bearers. The counting of the votes was done as well. The following are the names & positions of the office bearers of 2014-15.

President – Ayesha Javed
Vice President – Saloni Seth
Secretary – Upasana Dey
Vice Secretary – Arwa Bharmal
Treasure – Saria Seher
Correspondent – Aneesah Uhani

Girls were also made aware of the fact that attending camps outside the school is compulsory this year. The serial Oath was taken by the entire group at the end of the meeting where Mrs. J. Banerjee read the prayer & the members recited after her.

THE AGENDA FOR THE NEXT MEETING:

Candle will be lit & the LTS Oath will be taken formally.

Certain actions to maintain the cleanliness of the school will be discussed about in the next meeting.

Loreto Day School, Elliot Road felt that there was a need for an orientation of the Catholic parents of the school and to this end organised this programme on 8th and 15th March, 2014. The chosen topic was ‘Bringing up children in their Faith’ was conducted by Mr. Maurice Menezes and Mrs. Maria Menezes, a couple with a background filled with belief in God and built on family values of love, togetherness and joy. They emphasized the need and importance of:

daily prayer as a family developing into a deep rooted faith in God and unity amongst themselves.

ability to take their daily trials and difficulties in their stride

having their meals together with healthy conversations on daily events

sharing and being of service to each other and others in deed

attending Sunday School regularly by children in their respective churches

It was encouraging to receive an overwhelming response, judging by the parents’ attendance. Each parent was presented with a prayer book and were served light refreshments at the end of the programme. It was indeed a fulfilling experience as it gave the Catholic parents some time for themselves, as they came together as a family to ponder on their role as parents in bringing up their children.

Parent Teacher Meeting or P.T.M is an interaction between teachers & parents for the purpose of making parents & teachers aware of the problems of the students. It includes problems faced by parents & teachers & finding their solutions. The meeting also gives an opportunity to teachers, to help parents in finding solutions to the problems of the students. We therefore conduct such meetings to make ourselves & parents aware of the strategies & programmes related to the welfare of our students & make further improvements.

OBJECTIVES OF THE MEETING

To understand the problems of parents related to the child & her progress.

To find out the remedies.

To remove the hurdle from their path.

To put suggestions given by parents into action.

To discuss improvement in teaching standard.

The P.T.M organized by the Junior school teaching faculty on May 9, 2014 was successful. We came to know from parents their views about the school & the problems that exist. We had a full house of all class teachers & language teachers meeting parents of nearly six hundred students. Teacher’s suggestions were taken to enhance student’s personality yet some questions were left unanswered. The best way to approach is to be positive & remember that we need to work as a team & help our students to achieve their goals.

- Ms. T. D’Souza

On 8th February, 2013, all the students of Junior School (Classes Nursery – V) were taken on a school picnic to Belilious Park.

On 12th April, 2013 all the students of Class V went on a school excursion to St. John’s Cathedral, Town Hall and G.P.O.

On, 4th May, all the students of Class IV went on an educational tour to BITM. The students were thrilled to be a part of the Children’s Zone.

The above outings taught our young ones a spirit of going out together and bonding. This is true ‘learning’

Loreto Day School, Elliot Road hosted a fest on the 9th of April, 2014, “YUKTI”. Mr. Atul Bhalla, the General Manager of ITC was invited as the chief guest for the event.

The schools participating included Loreto House, Loreto Entally, Loreto Sealdah, The Franck Anthony Public School, Our Lady Queen of the Missions, Salt Lake, Jewish Girls’ High School, St. Agusutine’s Day School apart from the host school. The day began with prayer songs and a prayer dance, according to Loreto traditions. There were judges from the respective fields for each events.

Fashion Parade was the first event of the day. The participants put up a good show portraying their talents. The skills of the students were seen in Interior Designing, where they made their dream homes, the colourful Rangoli, the creative Accessory Making, the knowledgeable Presentation on “Banking”, the appetizing cooking, as well as the innovative wall painting. The judges included people from the fashion world Mrs. S. Bhattacharya and Mrs. M. Ghose while culinary experts Mr. H. Singh ITC 2nd Chef and Mrs. B. Sarkar; Mr. P. Das and Mr. G. Maitra from the banking sector and Mrs. A. Dutt, looking after the Interiors of the Taj Group of Hotels and Mrs. U. Ray.

Although, it was a close competition, the host school, Loreto Day School, Elliot Road emerged as the winners. The trophy was passed onto the runners-up, Loreto House. The day’s events ended with the different folk dances of India depicting the diverse culture of this country and the theme song being sung by the other schools as well. The effort and organization was appreciated by one and all. “Sr. Nirmala and the team, many congratulations on the splendid show put up today. Keep on inspiring the young minds-they are the future after all!” were the generous words of Sr. Anita, Ms. Linda and Mr. Cajie.

It was an enriching experience and a great learning process. It was a platform for the students to showcase their talents and it brought out the best in them. We would like to thank our Principal, Sr. Nirmala and our teachers for giving us this wonderful opportunity.

- Halima Ahmed and Amreen Ahmed
- Loreto Day School, Elliot Road.

Children of class XII of Loreto Day School Elliot Road decided to celebrate Earth Day on the 29th April, 2013 to raise the awareness level on the importance and preservation of Environment. Man’s role in the world today in socio-economic and political sphere in relation to conserving the Earth cannot be denied. This concept of One-ness with the Universe can only be brought into the open if we all think alike, at least in this area. Day’s programme commenced with a beautiful Prayer Dance and Intentions that were read out by the teacher and student representatives. The Chief Guest of the Day, was Mrs. Sonali Roychoudhury , the horticulturist , landscaping and Bonsai artiste and teacher.

The welcome speech by the school Principal, Sister Nirmala gave all those present a morale booster and warmth that exuded from her reached out to all the esteemed guests who were from the world of Wild Life, Eco tourism, Nature lovers and of course our judges who were from Modern High School, Kolkata.

Next was a hard-hitting speech delivered by Mrs. Nandini Bhattachrjee, on how Nature is being made a putty in the hands of a few men while lauding the efforts of a few men like Pandit Purushottam Gaur and Prabhakar Deshmukh.

The rendition of The Earth Song was right from the bottom of their hearts and the girls did complete justice to Michael Jackson!

The Inter-school competitive segment began with paper presentations based on research on various topics like , ‘Man’s Impact on Nature’, ‘Ecological value of Bio-diversity’, Food Security’, ‘Climate change’, Water Cooperation ,‘Trade in wildlife’, and ‘Eco Tourism in West Bengal’.. This was done to inculcate a thirst for research which they will require at a later stage

The Paper presentation was held simultaneously with The Best of Waste competition and Poster Making competition, all being in different quarters of the school campus.

The creative corner of the fest was ‘Best of the Waste’ section where nimble hads and innovative minds shaped out wonderful items from sheer waste.Each school got a bagful of waste products from which they were asked to create something new and productive.

The competitive segment came to an end with a Slogan writing competition which had to be based on the short-listed posters.

The participating schools were St. Augustine’s School, The Frank Anthony Public School, Jewish Girls School ,Loreto House, Loreto Convent ,Entally, Loreto Day School Sealdah.

The chief guest in her speech outlined the importance of greenery and she explained how important it is to each one of us to plant two saplings and to nurture it throughout. While the judges Dr. De, Mrs. Nandini Das , Ms. R. Ganguly and the special guest, Mr. A. Ganguly announced the prizes, Mrs. Sonali Roychoudhuer gave awy the prizes to the awardees-

Paper Presentation
1. Sourav Saha of St. Augustine’s Day School
2. Avirup Mondal of The Frank Anthony Public School

Poster – Priyam Bose of Loreto House

Best of Waste – Karishma Hafiz of Loreto Elliot Road.

The fest came to an end with the soulful rendering of ‘We are the World’, a traditional ‘Baul’ Dance, a vote of thanks by the Principal and a song of blessing sung by the girls to convey their joy and gratitude.

The programme found its logical conclusion in food – packets of which were distributed to one and all – students and teachers alike.This too was entirely due to the culinary efforts of the students.

The objective of this event was to productively maximise the free time available to the students while the teachers were away on Board corrections. The entire programme was their brain child , they raised resources, stayed within the nominal budget and utilising what is available at hand was a subtle lesson taught to them, which is the need of the hour.. Kudos to our Loreto Day School girls!

OUTREACH PROGRAMME – DAYADHAN

We visited Dayadhan on 21st September, 2013. We were acompained by Mrs. P. Quadra and two parents of our classmates. We boarded a bus from Rippon Street to Nimtala. In Dayadhan which is run be the Missionaries, there were sixty children. The sisters of charity kept the place very clean and will organised. We played a few games and recited some rhymes for them. Those children always always had a smile on their faces though each child had something missing. We have everything but we still say, ”We don’t have that, we want that”. We would like to thank Sr. Nirmala for organising this trip for us, where we learnt to count our blessings and be grateful to god.

OUTREACH PROGRAMME – TOLLYGUNGE OLD AGE HOME

On 21st September, we went for an outreach programme to Tollygunge Old Age Home accompanied by Mrs. Roy. We all gathered in the school premises at 9:00 a.m. We departed in two different cars arranged by one of our fellow-students, Adeeba.

We reached the venue around 10:00 a.m. and assembled in a big hall to present our programme. We had an ice-breaking session with the inmates. There were about twenty-seven of them. They appreciated the simplicity of our programme.The senior citizens were full of life. Most of them sang songs and some of them danced. We played passing the parcel which brought a smile to their faces. We sang a birthday song for a seventy-four year old gentleman. It was the first time we enjoyed counting the numbers for his 74th birthday.

We never had such a good experience. When we saw the old people in the homes smiling, we knew that our mission was accomplished. We left with heavy hearts but a feeling of satisfaction that we had given meaning to the lives of the residents in the home.

OUTREACH PROGRAMME – ORPHANGE

On the 21st of September, 2013 a group of Class XI Humanities were taken to All Bengal Women’s Union for an outreach programme. We were supposed to spend time with the children who were orphans.

Though the kids were all of different age groups, they were eager, playful and friendly. We started with a prayer and a song and it was fulfilling when after that we played games with them.We rewarded the winners with little gifts which we had bought for them. While we danced with them they showed us their talents.

This day was one of the best moments of our life. They were all happy and cheerful with the little things they got. Their behaviour, their playfulness, their talents, their smiles and everything about them left a huge impact on us, teaching us a lot. We were lucky that we got an opportunity to have such an experience and look forward for other such experience...........

OUTREACH PROGRAMME – OLD AGE HOME

On 21st of September, 2013, Saturday, the girls of Loreto Elliot Road of Class XI Humanities paid a visit to “All Bengal Women’s Association”. We were happy to give us our Saturday for some special people. We were accompanied by Ms. Handa and Ms. Sulaiman.

The girls who attended to the aged were very touched. They welcomed us with a big smile and a warm hug. We interacted with them and their responses were spontaneous and warm. On hearing them speak of their problems, out problem seemed so petty.

We entertained them by Rabindra Sangeet. We helped them to settle their beds and clothes as well. They asked us to come and visit them again. None of us wanted to leave them but as we say ”All good things has to come to an end” so did this outreach programme.

The best part of the outreach programme was when they all blessed us and hugged us with tears in their eyes and said that we should “learn, earn and return”. This should be our motto for life. We should always respect our parents and love them and not leave them in old age homes when they need us the most.

We thank our Principal, the teachers who gave us such an opportunity to live with “Best moment of our lives”.

- Sumaiya Ahmed XI (H)

OUTREACH PROGRAMME – SHISHU BHAWAN

On the 21st of September, 2013 the girls of Class IX went to Shishu Bhawan. The girls were divided into two groups. The first group took breakfast for the children while the second group took lunch for them. We put up a show for them which started with a prayer dance to the song “Aguner Poroshmoni’. Nursery rhymes were played on the guitar. The next item was aerobics to the song ”Jane Kyun”. A few songs and hymns were sung as well. The show concluded with a dance on the song sadda dil vi tu. The children were very happy to watch us perform and we decided to call them to dance with us.

When we were about to leave they sang a song for us.This made us realize that how lucky we are to have everything.

THE DERRICK HINNES MEMORIAL QUIZ

On the 3rd of May, Saturday, a few students of the school, accompanied by two teachers, had attended the Derrick Hinnes Memorial Quiz competition at Christ the King, church, Park circus. The quiz was conducted in the church itself. The participating schools could send two teams of four members each including at least one member of the Anglo-Indian community. There were around six to seven participating schools along with other teams from the church as well as a professional quiz team. The teams were registered & finally at about 10am the preliminary round commenced.

Quiz master, Andrew Scolt, a member of the Derek O’Brien association of quizzing, was a very jolly personality who guided us through the twenty questions of the preliminary round assuring us after every few minutes that the questions would be easy.

After the preliminary round, we had a short break after which results were declared. One of the team from our school qualifies as we lost in tie-breaker round.

Overall the quiz was interesting, fun & helped us to gain experience.

UPASYA BHOWAL
CLASS – XI - HUMANITIES

“THE DOOR OF FAITH IS AWAYS OPEN TO US” – POPE BENEDICT XVI

As we are aware 2013 has been declared as the “Year of the Faith” by the Catholic Church, therefore, Loreto Day School, Elliot Road organized a day’s programme on 28th September 2013 focusing on the same.

The Chief Guest for the day was Fr. John Mohandas, Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Ripon Street. The schools that participated were St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Loreto Day School, Bow bazar, St. Mary’s Ripon Street, Loreto House, Loreto Convent Entally,St. Anthony’s High School and the hosts.

As part of the celebration various interschool faith events were organized like Gospel Expression, T-shirt painting, Photography and Slogan Writing based on the theme “The Faith we believe is the Faith we live.”

The esteemed judges for the day were Fr. Gregory Montero, Sr. Mary De Souza IBVM, Mr.Maurice Menezes, Mrs. Melody D’ Rozario, Mrs. Aruna Gomes and Mr. Sunil Lucas.

It was heartening to see the talent creativity and enthusiasm of both the students and the teachers. Through the events held, Loreto Day School, Elliot Road hoped that the Catholic students would get an opportunity to be a witness to their faith and profess it with renewed conviction.

The message each one took home with them that day was: Christ invites us to be his partners in establishing and creating a new world where love, peace and goodness reigns.

The students of Loreto Day School, Elliot Rood, staged an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Chandalika’. A dance drama replete with music and rhythm, portraying the soul-stirring story of a young girl, shunned by society, to whom life is an agonized struggle and existence a burden, and who is surprisingly honoured by the young monk, Anando after which she finds her ‘self awakening’ or ‘Nabojagaran’.

The students of the Middle decided to perform this particular gem of Tagore’s because time and again in all ages and societies and countries – it may be caste, class, wealth, money or education that creates barriers between two human beings that breaks social bondage destroying human relationships. Only love can heal this-restore a parity and create a sense of bonding.

At the end of the play, Prokriti’s questions are answered, she tells her mother “I feel baptised. I am aware of myself now. I know what freedom tastes like.” She realizes that she is unique and worthy because she is a child of God !

Through the play we wanted our audience to introspect their lives and awaken their spirits and lead their souls to a self realization and that would be ‘their Nabojagaran’, the ‘Nabojagoran’ of our society, our country and the whole world.

The school has taken the initiative of introducing Karate classes for the students of classes XI & XII from the 22nd of April. It was a beginner’s course where we were taught about the basics of self-defense as well as offence. In other words, we learnt how to defend ourselves in case of any attack or unpleasant circumstances. We also learnt how to injure the intruder or attacker if the need arose. On the whole, it was a great experience. The instructors were friendly & they demonstrated each & every move to us before urging us to try them ourselves.

The classes usually began with a warm up session where we first practiced the various moves we could use to defend ourselves. This was usually followed by a demonstrating session where our instructors demonstrated certain moves which we were to practice that day. After this we paired up & practiced those moves with our partners. Apart from this, we also learnt to work with steel sticks & various other devices.

Finally at the end of our course of 10 days, we received our certificates. This knowledge of Karate that we received will surely enable young ladies like ourselves to defend ourselves better in any situation.

UPASYA BHOWAL
CLASS – XI - HUMANITIES

MARY WARD WEEK

Mary Ward (1585-1645) was the founders of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM). She represented an era when the society was turbulent because of patriarchal dominance. In order, to pay her a tribute a Mary Ward week was celebrated in all the Loreto Schools.

In Loreto Elliot Road, the Mary Ward week was observed from 24th January to 30th January. Special assemblies were held with a lot of creativity. Our celebrations commenced with a spiritual service.

Keeping up with the maxim “God loves a cheerful giver” our school children happily donated woollens which were distributed among the needy children and parents of Loreto Elliot Road Rainbow Home and Loreto Thakurpukur.

A PowerPoint presentation was shown to the girls which outlined the life of Mary Ward. It made the students realise how determined Mary Ward was in her pursuit of God and her vision.

Throughout the week the various activities were held on the various maxims of Mary Ward for e.g. for collage making, wrapping paper, book marks, envelopes, cards, paper bags, mug and glass painting, Classes VI to XI were given one of the maxims of Mary Ward “Do good and do it well.” The creative writing on the maxims of Mary Ward was highly rewarding.

The Quiz that was held was an Inter-house activity and the questions were based on Mary Ward’s life.

The Mary Ward week celebration came to a conclusion on 30th January, our Founder’s Day, when a Mass was held in the morning. The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Zenith SJ, and the essence of the day was beautifully brought out. The last event of the day was the panel discussion and the topic was “India is free but women are not.”

The lively panel discussion was extremely enlightened and it was heartening to see how well our student panellists brought forth their views equipped with data, statistics, case studies and bar diagrams. The words of encouragement from Sr. Mary De Souza our special guest of the Day boosted our morale.

Mary Ward not only laid the foundation of empowerment of women through education but has also inspired the women of the society to be righteous through her inspirational maxims. We at Loreto are daughters of Mary Ward and so let us “do ordinary things extraordinarily and let us all bear in mind to do things well and cheerfully.

Written by Ms Munmun Nautiyal

On Earth Day 22nd of April, students from our school attended the earth day celebration organized by The Birla Industrial & Technological Institute accompanied by Mrs. Partridge.

We assembled there at 10 am. The event began at 10:30 am as scheduled. In the beginning we attended an interactive session with five resource people from big industries. Houses gave us concrete ideas about how to keep urban Kolkata green & gave us examples where in many different regions these were applied. We were informed about special bacteria which were being created for the well being of our state. It was an interesting session where we shared our ideas and these are more aware. After this session, the participants for drawing, painting & craft were sent out for their respective events. The second session we attended was about GPRS & navigation, map marking & satellite workings. This one hour session was very informative & detailed. It gave us the ground reality. The last event was the open house quiz on Mother’s Earth. We were shown pictures & videos & then we were asked questions.

Most of the prizes were won by our students and hence we were elated. We thank Sr. Nirmala for giving us the opportunity to take part & interact & thus opening new windows of growth for us.

SUMEDHA JAISWAL
CLASS - X

On 4th of May, the Catholic girls participate in the 7th Edition of the Bosco Chriz 2014. The day started with mass, followed by various events. The Catholic girls of our school took part in several events namely quiz, colorz, singing, dancing were won by the girls of our school. It was a great learning experience for the Catholic girls. They learnt to enjoy singing & dancing in a group. Team spirit & co-operation were part & parcel of the event. The Chriz ended up on a celebration with all the participants dancing to the tune of the band – Messengers.

- JESSICA MEGHANI
XII - COMMERCE

CAREER COUNSELLING (NIFT)

A new world means new challenges. Design education, as a mirror of changing circumstances, requires constant adjustments in its approaches and methods.

On 25th of April, 2014, classes XI & XII had an hour session with people holding important positions in the NIFT, National Institute of Fashion Technology. They helped us to know more about their institution & the bright opportunities & careers awaiting for us. The students were shown a slide show, which said that as a leader in the area of fashion, technology & management education, NIFT is an institution that believed in working closely with the industry and building up academic courses according to its demands. The institute provides a perfect environment to bone the skills of the students, working in this field as well as helped the students in acquiring a practical understanding. The session was encouraging for all of us who believed in creativity. Brochures were distributed among students to give an idea of NIFT in detail.

CAREER COUNSELLING (IIHM)

On 29th of April, 2014, members of the IIHM had come to our school. We had an hour’s session with them, in which they guided us and helped us to know the opportunities available in the field of hotel management. The institution pledges to produce creative and resourceful professionals who are qualified to serve the Hospitality Industry, within an educational environment that fosters innovation, enterprise and an enthusiasm for excellence. Classes XI & XII had a wonderful session of career counselling with Mr. Vishal Kumar, head of the Economics department, front office, who assured a bright future to those who would enter this field.

SHERINA MIRZA
XII - HUMANITIES

The girls of class X & XII were taken on a school trip to Tajpur. We assembled in school at 7:30 am on the 1st of May. We accompanied by four teachers of our school, Sr. Banisha, Mrs. S. Bhattacharya, Mrs. Quadra & Mrs. Handa. We initiated our journey with our sincere and humble prayers to god. We reached our resort named Sagar Kinare after four and an half hours. We were served breakfast on the bus. On our way to Tajpur, we enjoyed ourselves a lot & we sang and danced to the beats of the famous songs. After we reached, we were allotted our rooms and we settled down. Later in the day after having our lunch, we were taken to the beach. We played games on the beach and made sand castles too. We were awestruck when we saw the beautiful beach. We went around collecting sea shells and we also saw red crabs which was a speciality over there. We also saw the sunset, an image which will always be etched in my memory forever.

We were allowed to dip our feet in the water and experience the feel of nature on our bodies. A little later, we were served hot yummy jalebies and spicy puchkas which tickled our taste. While we were returning back from the beach we were asked to make tiaras from the things we collected from the beach.

In the evening a bonfire was made in which we showcased our pretty tiaras made out of shells, flowers & beads. We were taken for a coastal trek and we were given the opportunity to see the beautiful landscape. We were also allowed once to dip ourselves in the awesome sea. We came back to the resort to pack our belongings and left for Kolkata. On our way back home, we were dancing, singing & reciting our nursery rhymes.

would love to thank Sr. Nirmala for giving us this wonderful cherishable memory which made our last year worthwhile. I would also like to thanks my teachers for being there with us and also for making our journey and last year of school memorable & unforgettable.

AMREEN JAWED
XII - HUMANITIES

We were a group of approximately 74 girls of the outgoing batches of class X & XII. We had anticipated this trip from a very long time. Finally, the day arrived and we left for Tajpur at 7:30 am by bus. We reached there by 1 pm after a pleasant time in the bus. On the first day, we were taken to the beach trough a dusty, forest track. It looked like a picture just out of an old novel. As we approached the beach, we saw red crabs on the sand. We were divided into groups & had a relay race. We were back at the hotel and we all had a sing and dance competition. We went to bed and we had a ghost story telling session in our rooms. The next day we went to the beach very early and had a sand statue making competition in which my team won. We then had an observation game at the hotel after which we had an evening bonfire. Luckily, it started raining & it became extremely cool there. We all went to bed & played games. We left Tajpur & reached Kolkata on Saturday. The trip is still very clear in my head. It holds a lots of memories for all of us.

I can say with surely that whenever we think about this trip, we will become nostalgic and wish we could do it all over again. Thank you to everyone who has a part of it.

We owe it all of you….!!

AMREEN AHMED
CLASS – X, 2014

A two-day inter-school Fest entitled Utsmaya 2013 organized by the Junior Section of Loreto Day School, Elliot Road was held on the 7th and 8th of November. Eleven schools showcased their talents in the nine events that were scheduled to take place within the campus based on the theme ‘Celebration’.

It was a carnival-like experience. The compound was colourful and attractive. Popular characters from cartoons and fairy tales were displayed all around. Live characters; that of Mickey Mouse, Chota Bhim, a monkey , a clown, an angry bird- made their presence felt by interacting and having fun with the children. There was also a magic show and a puppet show organized to further entertain the children .

The participating schools were Loreto Bowbazar, Loreto House, Loreto Sealdah, St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, St. Anthony’s School, St. Augustine’s School, Loreto Thakurpukur, Loreto Dharamtalla, Army Public School, the Frank Anthony Public School and of course the hosts.

It was a pleasure to see how the students of the participating schools exhibited their talents in the off- stage events like Pot Painting, Best out of Waste, Sit and draw, Non - fire cooking , Alpana/ Rangoli and Creative Writing. The children were equally enthusiastic about their on-stage performances in Western Music, Fusion Dance and Drama.

It was also heartening to see the children’s excitement and eagerness to know the results at the prize distribution ceremony. Loreto Dharamtalla who bagged the Overall Winner’s trophy was over joyed at their victory.

The Principal of Loreto Day school, Elliot Road, Sr. A Nirmala was glad that her dream had come true as it had always been her ardent desire to organize a fest for the Junior school. This maiden venture is indeed a result of her efforts and her constant belief in the teachers and students.

‘Utsmaya’ was organized with a goal in mind; to give the children opportunities and create for them an environment wherein they display their talents and express themselves without any inhibitions whatsoever, thus encouraging them to ‘reach for the stars’.It is our constant endeavour to bring out the best in our children and occasions such as this help them grow into wholesome individuals.

HOLY MASS:

The Holy Spirit Mass was held on 30th of April, 2014. We had it at St. Mary’s Church, Rippon Street. The Mass was very inspiring. Fr. Gregory had conducted the service and we really felt the Holy Spirit’s presence. The Mass was organized by the Junior School.

Earlier on in the week, on the 30th of April, 2014, a very solemn and meaningful Mass was celebrated. During this Eucharistic Celebration, we implored the help, guidance, strength and providence of the Holy Spirit upon us and upon the school. Students from class III onwards and all the staff members were present for this celebration.

Without God w can do nothing and therefore through this Eucharistic Celebration and the Blessing of the school, we believe that the almighty has been invited by us into our school and we shall be our guidance right.

BLESSINGS OF THE SCHOOL:

In customary every year, at the beginning of the academic session, the whole school is blessed. Priests are invited to formally bless the school and its inmates. This is done with the faith that with God’s grace and mercy, our school will surely shine out in every possible way.

This year the blessing of the school was organized on the 2nd of May, 2014. Three priests from St. Mary’s, Rippon street were invited to do the same often a short prayer in which we implored the blessings of the Divine and a hymn “On this school your Blessing Lord”, the priests went around blessing the school buildings and everyone present.

On 24th of April, 2014 we had an inter house extempore competition, classes IX & X participated in this extempore. There were two participants from each house from each class. I represented Mother Teresa house from class 9. Our topic was given 45 minutes prior to the opening of the activity. My topic was “my most embarrassing incident”. Since it was a very common & interesting topic, I tried to make my speech humorous in order to catch the audience. I do not have a flair for making speeches. Therefore I was quite nervous & I had rarely faced such a big audience. Somehow I delivered my speech & once in front of the microphone. I was engaging; the audience enjoyed it as much as the adjudicators. When I was adjudged as the best speaker, I was surprised & happy.

This extempore definitely build up my confidence. I would like to thank our principal Sr. Nirmala and all the teachers for arranging this extempore.

আজ ২৫ বৈশাখ আরেকটি রবীন্দ্র তর্পনের দিন সমাগত, তাঁরই সৃষ্ঠির মাধ্যমে। ছেলেবেলা থেকে কৈশোরের যাত্রায় রবীন্দ্রনাথ আমাদের কাছে নানা রুপে উন্মোচিত হন। প্রথমে তিনি সহজ পাঠের লেখক। বিদ্যালয়ের সদ্য আগত শিশুদের বাংলা ভাষার সাথে পরিচয় করিয়ে দিচ্ছেন। আবার কিছু পরে রবীন্দ্র সঙ্গীতের ছন্দে সেই শিশুমনগুলি দীর্ঘ বন্ধনে আবদ্ধ করছেন। এই ভাবেই রবীন্দ্র মননে প্রবেশ করার দ্বার ধীরে ধীরে উন্মুক্ত হয়। সময়ের সাথে শিশুমনগুলি বুঝতে পারে যে রবীন্দ্রনাথ কোণো দূরের তারকা নন। তিনি আমাদের চিরন্তন সঙ্গী। আমাদের প্রতিটি অনুভূতি আনন্দ, দুঃখ, বেদনা, বিচ্ছেদ- তাঁর সৃষ্ঠিতে এক অসামান্য সৌন্দর্য লাভ করেছে। তার সৃষ্ঠির আবেদন হৃদয়ের কাছে।

রবীন্দ্রনাথ এই চিরতরুন ব্যক্তিত্ব সমকালীনতা কে সম্মান জানাতে, তাঁর ১৫৪ তম জন্ম শতবর্ষে আমাদের স্কুলে সকল ছাত্রী ও শিক্ষীকাগন সমবেত হয়েছিল। অনুষ্ঠানের সূচনায় একটি Power Point Presentation এর মাধ্যমে রবীন্দ্রনাথের জীবনের কিছু অংশ তুলে ধরডি হয়।রবীন্দ্রনাথ আনন্দ চেতনা তাঁর সৃষ্ঠির এক অপূর্ব দিক। হৃদয় থেকে উৎসারিত এই আনন্দ প্রকাশিত হয়েছিল দুইটি নৃত্য পরিবেশনার মাধ্যমে। গান ও আবৃত্তি এই অনুষ্ঠানকে সমান ভাবে উজ্জ্বল করে তুলেছিলাম। তবে, এই অনুষ্ঠানের প্রধান আকর্ষন ছিল রবীন্দ্রনাথের রচিত নৃত্যনাট্য “চিত্রাঙ্গগদা”।আমাদের প্রধাণ অতিথি শ্রী শ্যামল দত্ত চৌধুরীর কাছে এই নৃত্যনাট্য পরিবেশনা উচ্চ প্রশংসা লাভ করেছে।

২৫শে বৈশাখ এক উপলক্ষ মাত্র। রবিন্দ্রনাথ আমাদের প্রতিদিনের সঙ্গী-বন্ধু। তাঁর চেতনা ও দর্শন শ্বাসত। সহজ, সরলভাবে রবিন্দ্রনাথ সাহিত্য ও সঙ্গীত সমস্ত স্তরের মানুষকে বাঁচার রশদ ও শক্তি যোগায় সকল বন্ধনের মধ্যে স্বাধীনতা বোধ এই উুপলব্ধি দৈনন্দিন জীবন যূদ্ধের গ্লানি দূর করে প্রতিটি মুহূর্তকে করে তোলে উৎসবমুখর।

অমৃতা দাস
শ্রেনী-একাদশ

The Derrich Hines Memorial Quiz organized by the Calcutta Anglo Indian Service Society (CAISS) was held on 3rd of May, 2014 at Christ the King Parish Hall. This quiz is held every alternate year and this was the seventh edition. It was an open competition in which anyone above the age of 15 could take part. Loreto Day School, Elliot Road sent in two teams comprising six students and two teachers. The six students were Upasya Bhowal, Zainab Udaypurwala, Celeste Williams, Umme Kangroo, Chaity Sarkar and Sasha Aaron and the two teachers were Mrs. Ireland and Mrs. G. Ali. The quiz was conducted by Mr. Andrew Scott an eminent member of Derek O’Brien Associates. There were 23 teams in all, out of which 6 teams qualified for the finals. In the preliminary round, Loreto Elliot shared the sixth position with two others teams. We could not reach the finals because of the rule that the team which answered maximum numbers of consecutive questions would be eligible.

Once the quiz began everyone watched in rapt attention. The questions were varied, full of lighter moments and informative too. It was a memorable experience indeed.

- Mrs. Ireland

When I was watching the award ceremony in 2013, In Loreto Day school, Elliot Road, I did not know that the following year I would be a recipient of this .......In all honesty 2013 award ceremony motivated me and that encouraged me to put in my best......

This year on the 21st May when the results were declared my happiness knew no bounds......I immediately recalled the scene and I went down memory lane..

Perhaps, this year too we would be having the award ceremony and I would be honoured as well...... The time had come and I was elated when I got a call and a personal invite from the school to be a part of this august ceremony.

I was so excited that I took a leave from my present school beforehand - I could hardly miss this opportunity!

We , the awardees were made to feel special and were welcomed to the hall.

The programme began with a touching prayer service .The juniors put up a dance while a moving power point presentation was shown and we were termed as 'masterpieces'? This was awesome!

The short skit was an enactment of the usual classroom scene at my Alma Mater which shows team work, empathy, cooperation and a sense of oneness.

When at the time of the award ceremony my name was called out a sense of satisfaction, humility , gratitude and humbleness engulfed me and I kept thanking God for giving me this wholesome experience where my school Principal and all teachers made a profound impression on me.

This experience and sheer and undiluted joy overwhelmed me and I thank Sr Nirmala and the entire Loreto Elliot Road family for giving me the greatest gift of an unforgettable experience. At the same time, I keep thanking God for his graciousness that He gave me the strength to cruise along the path and helping me to stay focused and work hard .

I end by saying that I was honoured to receive the glittering rolling trophies and for the award ceremony where our efforts were respected......

Thank you Sister and all my teachers.....

----- Shabina Arfa
ICSE topper from the school ,
2014 batch

Prize Distribution Ceremony for the ISC and ICSE board examination toppers of 2014 was held on the 23rd of June, 2014.

The program began with an auspicious prayer dance performed by the middle school students, which was followed by a meaningful prayer service, a short skit and a presentation by the present class XIIs.

The prize distribution began with the ICSE board examination toppers. Shabina Arfa won the trophy for ICSE board examination topper with Srinjana Nayak and Komal Israni as the first and second runner-ups respectively; whereas the undersigned won the trophy for the ISC board examination topper with Mobasharin Firdaus, Nuha Hasan (joint holders)and Nudrat Jahangir as the first and second runner ups.

The trophies for outstanding performance in varying subjects were awarded by the respective teachers as well.

After the distribution of the trophies, the Principal, Sister A. Nirmala was called upon to say a few words She congratulated the award-winners and their teachers alike. She wished the award-winners success and happiness and said a short prayer for them.

The Loreto Chorus was sung by the whole school with which the award ceremony ended.

Seldom is one at a loss of words and this is one such occasion that has left me like all awardees speechless and humbled. On behalf of all the awardess, my deepest gratitude to my school principal, all teachers and staff ,my family and my peer group.

Article by Nida Hasan
ISC 2014

On 26th June, we the class 11s had an orientation on drug abuse. It was conducted by Mr.Amit Chatterjee. The orientation began at around 2:40 pm. and ended at about 4:00pm.
We learned a lot of interesting things about drugs and its symptoms. First of all we were reminded that today being the 26th of June, is celebrated as The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Mr Chatterjee told us that there are three categories of drugs and also stated their effects. The three types of drugs are: stimulant, depressant and hallucinogen.
In general he said that drugs affect our central nervous system, to be precise, it controls our brain and makes it completely dependent on drugs.
Stimulants make the brain respond too fast and though it seems as a boon but its flip side is that it makes the brain so dependent on the drug that the brain becomes unable to do even what it previously could do without the drug.
Depressants, as the name suggest, depresses its consumer and even makes them inactive.
Hallucinogens makes the addict hallucinate things which are at the back of his/her mind but not happening in reality.
To emphasis on the ill effects of drugs he told us some of his cases in which young boys/girls due to bad influence get addicted to drugs and to support their new habit indulge into stealing, pick pocketing and other illegal activities.
Though it was an orientation of an hour's duration it seemed to be too short for the vast amount of information he had to share with us.
The reality of his case studies as an IPS officer dealing with this department left us alarmed and petrified. It was hard to imagine that boys/girls of our age were at that moment involved in such hazardous activity.
Before we ended, we had a quick question/ answer session through which he cleared all our doubts.
This session in every way made us realize all the ruinous effects of drug and has certainly portrayed this addiction as the easiest way for self-destruction.
This talk, moreover held on this day made it more appropriate and we don't have enough words of gratitude for Mr Amit Chatterjee who took out precious time from his busy schedule for this and that too on a Day his department holds a series of awareness programmes in the city.
We thank Sr Nirmala for organizing this talk.

Written by Shafaque Rahman
Class XI (H)

On the 1st of May, catholic girls of class 10, 11 and 12 had assembled at the church of Christ The King, Park Circus, for a career counseling session. We assembled there at 8:30 am. As we entered we were given a book which compiled all the ideal career options. There were five resource people who were very informative.

We started the event with a prayer service where the Vice General of the archdiocese of Kolkata, Fr. Dominic Gomes led us in prayer. We began with the General Manager of C.M.R.I. hospital. He gave us valuable information about various scopes of medical sciences. He also made us realize that working in a hospital is not only concerned with medical science. There are many more scopes.

The next resource person was professional working at the Oberon Grand Hotels. He told us about the formalities to enter into the Indian Institute of Hotel Management (I.I.H.M).

He also gave us essential tips as to how we could successfully pass an interview before being recruited for a profession in hospitality. His speech was followed by a short break where we sang action songs.

The fourth resource person was the famous photographer Mr. Sunil Lucas. He gave us information about film- making and Photography. He also suggested idea institutes for training.

The last person was an Entrepreneur who told us about how we could set up our own business. This session was very informative and motivated many of us.

Sonali and Shasha
X-i

A two-day seminar for Catechists’ was organized on the 10th and 11th of May, 2014 at Christ the King Church, Park Circus. It was organized by the Catechetical Commission of the Archdiocese of Calcutta. The resource persons were Sr. Bernadette IBVM, Fr. Robin Gomes SDB, Mrs. Pamela Ryan and Mrs. Lynette (teachers of Loreto Dharmatalla), Mrs. Grace Williams (teachers of Loreto Entally) and Mr. Danny D’Souza an active church member.

The aim of this seminar was to make those present, aware of the aims, syllabus, books and methods of teaching involved in the process of teaching catechesian in parishes and schools.

On the first day of the seminar, the Catechists’ were made aware of the concept of a) Faith b) Expressions of Faith and c) Sharing of Faith. Later on in the day there were panel discussions on the aims of Catechists’ and techniques to be used by them while teaching Catechism. After which, the teachers were introduced to the various source books{ Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), Compendium Catechism of the Catholic church (CCCC) and the YOUCAT(for the youth)}, text books(Faith quest series etc) and the syllabus to be covered for certain age groups . The Sunday Catechism teachers were introduced to the book: In His Footsteps- Cycles A, B and C

The second day dealt with methods of teaching and Lesson Planning. Three distinction parts to a lesson plan were stressed upon 1) Human and personal experience 2) Word of god and 3) Children’s Response. There was a special session on the teaching of Sacraments which was indeed unique and interesting. Now and then, in between sessions, the particulars were made to take part in action soap which they could in turn be used in their classrooms.

The roll of media, a very contemporary aspect of classroom teaching today was also dealt with closely. After the sessions, as a part of evaluation, three questions were posed to the participants and they were encouraged to give their suggestions if any. The seminar ended solemnly with the Holy Eucharist held in the church.

It was indeed a much required Seminar for Catechists’ and was just the beginning. Refresher sources would be organized by the commission in a bid to equip our teacher with a better foundation. Better Catechists’ would produce better Catholics and this thought would serve as the crux of all organized by the Commission.

All in all it as a wonderful experience for our teachers who attended this Seminar- Mrs. A. Rocha, Mrs. S. Govindraj , Mrs. P. Quadra, Mrs. M. Patridge, Sr, Banisha , Mrs. N. Biswas, Mrs. R. Ireland and Mrs. A. Mondal.

This commitment day was held on 1ST May and was organized by YCS’ers of different schools. We were a group of 350 students from 12 different schools. We had a short seminar at our schools. We had another seminar in which we saw an inspiring movie and danced to action songs. In spite of the heat, we all were patient listener and came to know that being an YCS’er takes a lot of pride and it changes our lives completely.

ZINIA CHANEL

9-ii

Crowning of ‘Our Lady’ was observed on 2nd May, 2014. This is a Loreto practice which has been passed down over the years. By tradition, the month of May is dedicated to ‘Our Lady’, the mother of Jesus. Therefore we honor her by crowning and garlanding her.

The ceremony began with the blessings of the newly installed grotto by Father John Mohan Das. This was followed by a prayer service prepared by the junior school students in honor of Mother Mary

Getting to know about our Mother was inspiring and encouraging. It is also an added privilege to have the opportunity to turn to her in times of great distress and need.

Prayers seeking blessings upon the school were offered and hymns dedicated to Mother Mary were sung. Three girls dressed in white walked up with flowers and a crown to garland, and crown the statue of ‘Our Lady’ while the choir sang the hymn, ‘Bring flowers of the rarest’.

After the concluding hymn, Father John Mohan Das, in his prayer invoked the blessings of the Almighty on our school. He , then, along with the assistant priests blessed the entire school campus. Each and every person present felt blessed and peaceful at the end of the ceremony.

NIRMALA BISWAS

A short prayer service was conducted in our school on 2nd May. The Parish priest Fr. Mohandas and other priests from St. Mary’s came to our school for the blessings. The grotto was blessed and along with that our classrooms were blessed. We said the Hail Mary. Sr. Nirmala told us about one of her incidents where a miracle took place in her life. That was an inspiring message for all of us.

ZINIA CHANEL

CLASS - 9-ii

On the 22nd of April 2014, the students of Junior, Middle and senior school were taken to BITM to participate in the Earth day celebration.

The Event was inaugurated by Helen Lo Flave. She spoke about ways and means of keeping our city clean. There was a panel of eminent speakers who spoke at length on how to create a green city, rain water harvesting and use of solar energy. The girls participated in “the Open House” discussions. The girls spoke confidently during this session.

Students of the junior, Middle and senior school participated in the painting competition too. The topic given was “Green City”. Some of our budding artists were awarded prizes. From the junior Section Sanjukta Pal of class V (i) stood first and Shreshta Das of Class V (ii) stood third. Shanza Sharif of class III(i) and Zubea Kulsum Khan of III(ii) were awarded special prizes.From the senior section Shalbany Manna won the third prize. Ankita Pal and Nehaw Parveen were awarded special prizes.

Heena Kruplani and Namira Ahmed participated in the workshop related to recycling of waste material. They were taught how to make bowls out of strips of paper. This activity enhanced their creative talents.

All the students participated very enthusiastically in the quiz. The questions were based on “Mother Earth” and “Nature”. The children answered the questions confidently and won many prizes.

It was a great learning experience for the students as it increased their self confidence. These events provide the much needed exposure for children at all levels.

Teacher,

Mrs. M. Patridge

Penitential Service- On 11th April classes IV-XII attended a penitential service in St. Mary’s. Sr. Nirmala and Fr. Mohandas organized this service for us. Fr. Mohandas, Fr. Mandi and four other priests were present to hear our confessions. Sr. Nirmala conducted a short meditation before the students started their confession which was followed by singing of hymns and reciting of Rosary.

Collections:- Dumb Boxes were collected from classes 6-8. Seva Kendra Cards were also collected from class 9 and 11. This was done for the distribution on Good Friday to help the poor people.

On good Friday, 18th April, Sr. Nirmala , Mrs. Rocha , Andrea and Cherie had gone to visit 10 poor families to distribute ration. These families were the parishes of St. Mary’s church. It was a very touching experience to see people in such difficult situations yet they were happy. Sr. Nirmala prayed for them and handed over the bags which contained rice, dal, sugar, tealeaves and Milk powder etc. As we left each home, we were blessed by those happy faces.

Cherie Stephen

X-2

On the 27th of June, 2014, Friday, a few students from the school participated in an elocution competition, “The Guilded Rhymes” at the Frank Anthony Public School (FAPS). There were eight participating schools. Though the host school was not a part of the competitive segment, they put a few phenomenal guest performances.

The day began with the lighting of the Inaugural Lamp after which the host school recited there poem. With this the competitive segment commenced where the participating schools reciting their poems- some were humorous, others provoked the listener to think on certain issues while the tabulation was being done. Frank Anthony Public School elocuted two poems “The charge of the light brigade” and “A dead man’s chest”. The poems were highly entertaining and received great applause from the audience. The day drew to a close after the declaration of results and distribution of refreshments.

It was an experience and a learning one as well as we learnt the different modes of recitation, voice modulation and we got this opportunity to hear some lesser known, but beautiful poems.

Overall it was an experience to cherish and we are so grateful to Ms. Myers and Frank Anthony Public School to have invited us. At the same time, we are thankful to Sr. Nirmala for encouraging us to participate in this as well.

- UPASYA BHOWAL

XI - Humanities

On the 1st of July, 2014, Tuesday in the activity periods, we LTSers had a great activity. We were supposed to bring old sarees, bedsheets and dhotis. Our LTS teachers – Mrs. Ghosh, Mrs. S. Bhattacharya, Mrs. M. Saha, Mrs. J. Banerjee instructed and accompanied us during the activity. We were divided into our class groups. The old sarees and sheets were laid on the ground and one senior LTSer demonstrated the making of blanksheets. All of us had brought long thick needles and twines from home. With great enthusiasm we planned our layout and started our stitching.

From the activity we learnt the division of labour and help and also the art of reusing old fabrics. There was a great feeling of satisfaction at the end as the blankets looked quite beautiful and warm. We were happy with our own creations. Our teacher told us that the blankets will be used by the children of Ashaniketan.

We thank Sr. Nirmala & the teachers for encouraging & helping us to take part in such a creative activity & we hope to have many such activities in future.

- Sumedha Jaiswal

Class – 10 – Sec - I

Vocation camp: On 12th April, Sr. Nirmala had arranged a Vocation camp for classes 9 to 12. Sr. Banisha, Sr. Gretta and Sr.Parveen organized this camp which started at 9:00 am. It was a wonderful experience as the Loreto Sisters had organized games, action songs and presentations. There were many questions put before us which were concerned about our future vocations. We were guided as to how we should choose our vocation and how should we follow the were provided with snacks, lunch and tea. The memorable camp ended at 4:00 p, with the distribution of bookmarks as souvenirs.

Cherie Stephen

X-2

Bidding farewell is very difficult for us to our dear ones, whom we love, our friends who support us and our dear teachers who are our inspiration. The meaning of farewell is saying Goodbye. This year we said farewell to our dear Sr. Banisha who spent a year with us and in this one year we got to learn many values and good lessons from her. She is a wonderful person and a good teacher. We will always remember her calm and smiling face and the love and tolerance she showed towards us. We had a delightful experience with her. Although Sr. Banisha is not with us but her sweet memories will remain with us for time to come.

On the 13th of May, 2014, there was a special assembly in honor of Sister Banisha in the junior school hall. It was not to bid her farewell but to wish her good luck in her forthcoming ventures.

The prayer service was organized by the class V teachers with the help of the dance and music teachers. Sr. Banisha was invited to light the lamp. A prayer dance was performed by students to bless the occasion. A few symbols like a candle, a flower, a hymnbook and a house were shown to highlight Sr. Banisha’s qualities. The children expressed their love and affection for Sr. Banisha through their words and a poem- ‘A Lady in blue’.

Sr. Banisha thanked the Principal. The staff and the students for all their love, appreciation and cooperation. In her speech Sr. Nirmala acknowledged Sr. Banisha’s qualities and thanked the teachers involved for the meaningful prayer service.

The Holy Spirit Mass was held on 30th of April. We had it at St. Mary’s Church, Ripon Street. The mass was very inspiring. Fr. Gregory had conducted the service and we really felt the Holy Spirit’s presence. The mass was organized by the Junior School.

ZINIA CHANEL

9-ii

Date: 14.05.2014

Venue: Junior School Hall

In keeping with the election fervor this month, the school decided to hold a Mock Parliament to not only educate the students regarding the proceedings of the Indian Parliamentary Democracy, but also sensitize them to the pressing needs of the society. The Mock Parliament which was presented before students from classes VI to XII had the plus two section actively participating in the Programme. Issues such as food scarcity in the wake of the El Nino phenomenon, wastage of power by sodium vapor street lamps and lack of ramps in polling both for handicapped voters, were also dealt with. The sensitive issue of Euthanasia was also breached upon and the audience also expressed their opinion about the same.

This session though mostly educative was inter-aspersed with elements of wit and humor. It is thus a step in our endeavor to shape the future citizens of society who will in times to come present a model parliament, a model society to the world.

Ms. SHRUTI HANDA

(Teacher)

As has been the tradition for the past few years, the Vanmahotsav festival-2014 was celebrated by the Junior School Children on 14th July, 2014.

It began with a prayer service which was followed by an introduction on Vanmahotsav. A dance was performed by class V, shortly followed by a skit by class IV. Saplings were planted in pots which were followed by the Earth dance.

The principal spoke to the children about adopting a tree to build a bond with nature. She congratulated the students and teachers for putting up the Vanmahotsav programme.

Our visitors, students from U.K. were invited to tie rakhi around the tress along with the principal and the teachers. The T.T.C students’ teachers from Loreto House also viewed and enjoyed the programme. It was a learning experience for them.

Congratulations to Shay-Iyne (Announcer), Ishita Tirkey(Reader), Jessica Rao(Singer) for their wonderful performance.

On 14TH August, 2014, the senior division of Loreto Day School, Elliot Road, Celebrated Independence day keeping in mind the motto, “ The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to derive others of theirs or impede their efforts to obtain it.”

The show started off with a prayer service, followed by a presentation which depicted the achievements of India in various fields in her 68th year of Independence. Two Short plays were showcased on freedom struggle. One of the play was based on the courage of Maatongini Hazra. This was captivating and the audience applauded delightfully. The Indian Classic Dance captivated the audience, Halima the president of the school body, gave a speech on Independence and its importance. The programme ended with the singing of the Indian National Anthem.

Naina Borneo

XII H

On 16th of August, 2014 yet another fascinating and thought-provoking session was held for the senior school students. Life of famous Indian Leaders such as Gandhi ji, Bhagat Singh, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Lala Lajpat Rai was expressed, followed by a prayer song “ Anondoloke”. It was organized by JPIC group as part of Independence Day programme .The theme for the interactive session was ”what is my role in the nation building progress? “

Upasya and Amrita were the emcees of this programme.” Freedom is to live one’s life with the window of the soul open to new thoughts, new ideas, new aspiration.” Amrita started the session by asking ,’ What does Independence mean to each one of us.’ The main idea behind this was to exchange views and enumerate how youth of this generation feels about the questions being asked. The students reacted with zeal. One such response given was “Freedom of mind and speech.” An inspirational video of A>P.J Abdul Kalam was presented. The most Striking question asked by the conductors was : “India had a rich culture of reaching out people with love. Do you think India can climb up the ladder of progress without trodding other countries along the way?” The response to this question was massive. Mrs.N.Bhattacharjee retorted by quoting , “ United we stand, divided we fall.” If we unite together we can go ahead.” The recent examples used was current Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi invited the PM of Pakistan. Thus, Maintaining inter-national relationship is important to climb up the ladder of success.

Thereafter, the logo, “I am the change , be the change!” was emphasized. Subsequently, this part of the seminar was the most interesting. The question asked was,” What have you done to make you feel proud to be an Indian?” There were variety of captivating answers given by the students. A video on “Women Empowerment “ was highlighted.

This panel discussion was a medium of motivation for all the students.

Naina Borneo

XII H

On the 22nd of September, 2014, after the completion of the long weary half yearly exams, 44 students of the middle school embarked on an excursion to Dooars. Excitement was at a peak when we met our friends at Sealdah station at 8:30 p.m. We had long conversations and played pranks on our friends and the good byes to parents were long forgotten.

The next morning we were among the lush of trees in Jalpaiguri. We reached the resort, Gorumara Jungle Camp by bus at 11:30 a.m. On allotment of our rooms, we unpacked and freshened up for lunch and thereafter a trip to Samsing. We saw the rivers, waterfalls, tea gardens and mountain range enroute. The hanging bridge at Samsing marvelled us........ For us it was the first time we saw a bridge like that.

The next day we went to Bindu. We located the Bindu Barrage. The dam water was also released so we had a view of it. It took us back to our geography classes in school. After lunch we proceeded to Murti. We dipped our feet into the Murti river with the teachers accompanying us. Photographs galore and we were happy. At night we were all ready for the campfire. We danced and danced to the latest numbers till we were ready to hit the bed.

The next day we went on a Jungle Safari to the Gorumara Forest Reserve. We got to see dense forests new fresh leaves on the trees, peacocks, peahens and hornbill. The open jeep safari was thrilling as the fresh morning breeze lightened our spirits.

Our visit post lunch to the Mangalbari Tea processing unit was a learning experience. We took photographs for each stage of processing and production.

The Tea Garden manager with his clear explanation made this learning experience truly an enjoyable one. After this we bought CTC tea from this garden for our families.

Late in the afternoon we packed our belongings, wore our uniforms, boarded the mini-buses and came directly to New Jalpaiguri railway station. The route through Sevoke Road over the coronation bridge was picturesque and monkeys lined up with their antics kept us in splits.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip with the accompanying teachers and would like to thank Sr. Nirmala for arranging a trip such as this and hope we have many more such excursions.........

SHALBANY MANNA

VII-I

On the 10th of October, 2014 the students of Class 10 ( I ) came to school at 7:30 am and started with our make-up for the event that we were all looking forward to. We were to go for our outreach programme to The Oral School for Deaf Children. The students were divided into two slots. One slot was for a mime show and the other was responsible for dancing. We interacted with 36 children over there with gay abandon. They were immensely happy to see us.

The show started with an introductory dance and then followed the mime show. We learnt a new way of showing appreciation and reciprocated in the same manner.

The last segment of our one hour programme wS the dance recital. - two Indian dances with the sole western dance in the middle.

Right before we left, we gave each of them a pencil case with stationary during which we learnt their way of saying thank you. At the end,two students namely Azgari and Supriya came up to speak and thanked us. They also gleefully expressed that they loved the western dance, Margaret's performance and the Oblivion stage of the mime show of the Seven Stages of Man.

We were also told by their teachers that they really liked this initiative of ours and that they look forward for us to come back again.For them , it was the first time ever that a school had visited them and made their children so happy with our interaction and performance. What made our day is when they expressed a strong desire to visit our school and perform for us.

We took a look around their school and saw the magnificent creative work displayed in the collages that they put up. That amazed each one of us and we felt that this new art was definitely worth trying and we came back so much richer with this experience.

Our staying back in school during exams and practice paid such rich dividends that it we simply cannot put it in words. The complete satisfaction that we derived seeing the faces of the 36 students and their admiration for us humbled us.

It was then that we realized that actions surely speak louder than words and we couldn't thank Sr. Nirmala and the teachers enough for motivating us and channelising our energies in such a productive way. The words of the Loreto Holiday Hymn kept coming back to us over and over again.....it was truly a phenomenal experience . Just giving up half a day during our vacations was nothing as compared to the complete satisfaction that we got and we will cherish this day and we will keep thanking God for blessing us with all the gifts that He has bestowed upon us.

Written by Amreen Ahmed , Vice Head Girl

Class X (I) 2014 batch

On the 9th of August, Saturday the girls of class XI of Loreto Day School Elliot Road attended an Orientation based on life skills that was held in the school premises.

The orientation was organized by the Prayasan Organisation. They gave us a brief introduction on hoe they help children exposed to abuse and exploitation. They also told us how could we get ourselves nominated for the world leader award. The speaker tried to inspire us by encouraging us to share how we can help other children from being abused. The session was taken by two girls Milly and Anushra. They made us arrange ourselves into groups and then they made us aware of the complications existing in our lives which are caused by us.

The orientation needed at 2:30 pm nut it lighted in our hearts the lamp to serve people in need of our love and kindness.

They say old age is not a disease but is strength and survivorship, triumph over all kind of vicissitudes and disappointments, trials and illnesses. With this belief, we the student of class XII-Commerce went to Navanir, an old age home at Chetla. Our class teacher Miss D. Majumdar also accompanied us there. Our purpose of going there was to spend some time with them and make them feel special. We had already decided how we would spend our time with them. We planned a short programme for them which constituted a short prayer service, a few games like Antakshari passing the pillow and some ‘songs and dances were also performed. The inmates happily cooperated and willingly came forward and sung songs. It showed that one does not grew old till he himself wants to.

At the end of the programme, they appreciated us and very humbly took us all around the place. They seemed very happy and it was an honor for us to have spent a Saturday with them. The visit there made us realize that age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can grew old. All we have to do os live long enough. All in all, it was a really enriching experience for all of us and we’ll always be thankful to our Principal for this experience.

“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help you are freed.”- Swami Vivekananda

This is what an elderly woman of 63yrs said to me on Saturday when we visited “All Bengal Women Association”. All Bengal Women Association is a welfare home which is divided into two sections, one for the orphans and second, the old age home. As we assembled on the spot at 11:00 am, we were immediately divided into two groups, the orphanage, the old age home. My group visited the old age home first. It was an emotional experience to see a roomful of grandmothers waiting to welcome us with open arms.

When I sat beside one of them and asked, ‘Don’t you feel bad to stay here without your family?’, to that she quoted words of Swami Vivekananda. She said she has no fear of loosing anything-a practical lesson of life which any textbook has failed to teach me in these 18 yrs of my life. It was truly amazing to hear that they enjoy their daily chores which include works like cutting vegetables to doing yoga. One of them showed us a handmade handkerchief which was nothing short of tailor-made. All of them were bubbling like children sitting around us & narrating their experiences. They told us how they went out during durga puja visiting pandals of north and south Calcutta places like Dakshineswar and Kalighat. Their faces lit up with joy while sharing their plan of going to Shantiniketan this December. Some of them asked us about the daily soaps whereas some enjoyed songs sung by few of my friends. It was difficult for me to stop crying when one of them spoke of her grandchild. After hearing them it was evident that they have created a world of their own inside, enjoying themselves reading books and listening to hear music. Before leaving all of them blessed us and wished luck for our final exams.

The next segment was one visit to see the children of the orphanage. They were waiting for us with broad smiles. The kids were eager to be with us. It appears if we were one of their own relatives. After the permission to play and interact with kids was granted, we gathered around them, asked their name and introduce ourselves. We then proceeded to play a few games with them. Though some of them were reluctant to join us in the beginning but after a while they too joined in. All of them were elated to receive biscuits from us. Playing with them, reminded me of my childhood days. One child among them requested some of us to tell her a story. We clicked pictures on the screen.

We really didn’t feel like leaving them behind. It was an unforgettable trip. The eyes, the smiles of the children will li9nger with us for a long time. We were overwhelmed. I would like to thank Sister for giving us an opportunity to spend the day differently and for showing us a totally different picture of life.

On the 15th of November, 2014, we the girls of class X(2) visited Shishu Bhavan as a part of our outreach program. We reached the place at 8:45am. We had taken snacks for the children. Some of us visited the children and entertained them. The food committee girls served snacks to the children. The group that visited the handicapped children was amazed to see the way the volunteers present, nursed those children with love and care. Soon, we found ourselves playing with the children, singing, dancing with them and teaching them a few nursery rhymes. We also visited a section where children below the age of one were kept. We were not allowed to play with them on health grounds. We also invited their school and had fun there. While coming back we were really glad that we would bring a smile on their face. It had been a truly enriching experience. They had certainly touched our hearts and we hope that we had able to reach out to them. It was evident that the children were delighted with our company just as we were happy with them.

On 23rd of August the students of class V sec II had gone for an outreach programme to St. Joseph’s Old age Home. Twenty-two girls were taken. A short programme consisting of hymns, a skit and a choral recitation was prepared. Few games were played with the inmates of the home.

The experience has been a fruitful one and the students learnt a lot through their activity.

The school fete was held on the 6th of December, 2014.The fete was a great success due to the generous contribution by all the students both the junior as well as the middle school. All the stalls both food and games were crowded till the fete ended. The hard work of the teachers paid off very well when we saw the smiles on the faces of those who came to the fete.

The lucky raffle prize winners were Nishat Alam of class VIII(i) and Kavya Sonkar of class V(ii). Mrs.Rajashree Paul was the lucky winner among the teachers. We take this opportunity to thank all the parents for extending their helping hand on all occasions.

Nevertheless all this would not have been possible without the constant guidance and supervision of our respected Principal Sr.A.Nirmala. It was an enjoyable experience for one and all.

“Long live the Loreto Spirit”.

The student of class V sec-(i) visited All Bengal Women, old aged homes on 14 and 15th November 2014. The student went in two groups of 22 girls each to visit the 26 inmates residing there. They sang songs, recited poems, put up a short skit and a mime for them. Each student interacted personally with the elderly ladies. The inmates were extremely happy and conversed enthusiastically with the students. The students handed over some useful articles for their use like soap, tea leaves, detergent, milk powder, and biscuits. It was enriching experience for the student as well. When the time came to depart the students were very happy to receive the blessings from them. The inmates requested the students to visit them again. These two days were indeed a memorable and heartwarming experience for all the students.

The last picnic for the outgoing batch of class X's was organised on the 18th of December, 2014. The venue chosen was the newly opened Eco Park in Rajarhat. We left from school at 10 AM with both our class teachers and two parents accompanying us. We reached there in half an hour. It is a huge place and the first segment we visited was the Mask Garden after which we proceeded to the Children's Park. There were so many swings and slides over there with a small stream of water flowing in the centre. Everyone was happily reviving the good old days of class Nursery. We ate over there and then a few of us did the bull ride and some of us went to the air-pumped castle. We then went by the lake and spent the last hour there. It was a very soothing & overwhelming time for all of us as we realized that this was maybe the last school picnic for so many of us. After some time we boarded the bus and left for school. The bus journey was a mixed bag of tears, laughter and smile. We reached school at 4:30 and everyone was busy saying goodbye and hugging each other. It was such a beautiful experience for us and we would like to thank our teachers who went with us and the two parents. It was truly a day well spent!

Thanks,

Amreen.

Loreto Day School Elliot Road conducted a two day educational excursion to shantiniketan for the student of classes IV, V & VI. The Trip was held on the 28th and 29th of August, 43 students accompanied by three teachers (Mrs. T. D’souza, Mrs. M.Partridge and Mrs. R.D.Osta). The trip was a great exposure to students and teachers as it was a great learning experience about “Bengal’s Heritage”.

Loreto Day School Elliot Road conducted a two day educational excursion to shantiniketan for the student of classes IV, V & VI. The Trip was held on the 28th and 29th of August, 43 students accompanied by three teachers (Mrs. T. D’souza, Mrs. M.Partridge and Mrs. R.D.Osta). The trip was a great exposure to students and teachers as it was a great learning experience about “Bengal’s Heritage”.

On 27th august, 2014 around seventy students went to kalamandir to participate in the Horlicks Wizkid.

The students of middle school backed the second prize for the school. The nightingales of Loreto Elliot Road sang melodiously being accompanied with the guitar and synthesizer.

In the game ‘Searoh’ students got the first prize. It was a very challenging competition where students were given clues with the help of which they had to reach a certain goal.

Asmita Mondal of class VIII got the 1st prize for painting. Amtriya Muzaffar of class VI received the first prize in essay writing. Samruah Sahrish got the 1st prize for Bindi designing.

It was a learning experience for the students. The experience of this competition will encourage them to participate in more activities in future.

The Junior School English Elocution Activity was held on the 20th of August, 2014 in the junior school hall. Classes I to V presented delightful poems. Senior school English teachers Ms S. Handa and Mrs P Quandra were invited to judge the programme. The children were divided into two groups. Group A consisted of classes I & II and Group B consisted of classes III ,IV, & V. The winners were class II section(i) from Group A and class V section(i) from Group B.

Mrs. Quadra congratulated the children on their brilliant performance. The Principal, Sr. Nirmala encouraged the children by praising their efforts. The programme ended on a happy note.

On the 7th of July 2014, ten students from Loreto College Manchester, UK visited us for a few days. They were welcomed with the Loreto Chorus being sung by the middle school girls. On 8th of July they attended part of the Parent’s Day Program of the middle school. They interacted with the XII-commerce girls on 9th of July. Our girls from class XII rendered the Earth song for them as well. This was followed by an interaction with the junior school students.

The various interaction were an eye opener for us I am sure that the unknown barriers have dissipated as we realize that we are a part of ONE LORETO FAMILY.

On the 12th of August 2014, an orientation was organized in collaboration with world vision Prayasam for the class nines. Prayasam is an organization dealing with the child rights and the theme for the orientation was to spread awareness about social networking among the teachers.There were a number of case studies of global Teen leaders and their contribution to the society. Student shared their experiences with social networking sites and gave examples of how they usedsuch networks for a beneficial purpose. Prayasam nominates twelve Indian teenagers every year to honour with the title of “GLOBAL TEEN LEADER”. There was an activity in which we had to make an audit on the ups and downs we face in life due to the influence of our social networking circles. The overall experience was quite inspiring for us as the organizers kept on motivating us to work for our society through social networking for a brighter tomorrow.

‘Razzmatazz’- Inter school Talent Contest was held on 27th and 28th of August at Rabindranarth Tagore Centre (ICCR). Many students from Junior School participated in solo bud group activities held on these days.

This event was an affective showcasing of their talents. It was also an enriching experience for one and all.

On 25th August, 2014 we participated in “All India Reseve Bank Of India Quiz” Known as the “RBI Q”. It was held at Bhasha Bhawan(National Library). The quiz was organized by Grey Caps Pvt. Ltd., one of the biggest quiz organizations of Asia. 150 schools participated in the quiz. The Participating schools were from Kolkata as well as from neighbouring places. There was a preliminary round where we had to write the answers for 25 questions. 6 schools qualified for the next round. Although we did not qualify for the next round yet we held the name of our school high as we gave our best and performed well.

They say”success comes to those who chase it”. What they do not specify however, is that, the chase for success is a long and tedious one. However, despite all that, when success finally comes in through the door, it is a feeling of great elation that one feels.

Recently, Loreto Day school Elliot Road too had a taste of this elation after we put up a hugely successful annual concert which received appreciation from one and all. Based on playwright George Bernard show’s “Arms and the Man”, this play, which was renamed as “The Chocolate Cream Soldier” was a musical adaptation of the same. The primary focus of this play was to bring to the forefront, how, despite all the wars that mankind fights, in the end, everyone is “drunk on the idea, that love, and love alone could heal us”. The concert began with a mime show, depicting war at different stages. This was followed by a short prayer and then, by the play. The deafening applause from the audience as well as their appreciative chuckles after each cheesy line was itself proof of how thoroughly everyone enjoyed our play. Yes, we worked hard and chased success blindly for weeks together, and finally, when we attained it, it refreshed us with its sheer spirit of joy, leaving us hungry for many more such successes in future.

To my greatest delight IIHM had hasted the ‘young chef India’ contest and my school was invited. This very news excited me. More than 270 schools have participated. 300 from about 3000 were selected for the semi finals. While we have to cook a main course from home, the tasting of it was done in school by IIHM. Five girls from class XI and three girls from class XII were chosen from one school. The first round took place on 2nd of September and the Semi-finals was on 10th of September. For the semi-finals we had to go to the IIHM campus. We had to cook a main course and an accompaniment from the Indian Cuisine. We got an hour time to cook. Extra 10 more minutes for collecting our ingredients and ten more minutes for plating was given. It was first time experience for cooking in an unknown place and that too in an unfamiliar surrounding . After plating we were taken to another room where four senior chefs tasted our food. We all were excited .Ten participants would be selected for the next level. Overall it was an overwhelming experience for all of us. We were presented with a certificate, a moments. To my delight we could take back our young chef caps and aprons. The grand participant with in participants will take place in London. To us we were all winners and it was one of the most memorable experience of our lives.

On the 17th of January the middle section of our school was taken for a picnic to Eco park, Rajarhat. We left around 11:00 am and reached the Eco park at 12:00 pm. A part of the park was exclusively booked for us. We had a great time enjoying ourselves in the park. We took a lot of pictures, and had our lunch there too. The entire atmosphere was full of fun and frolic. We boarded the bus back to school at 3:15 pm. It was a day well spent and enjoyed by everyone. Each of us took back a lot of memories as we spent our day in the lap of nature.

Zainab Mansoor
VIII

BLOGGERS MEET

On 16th January, Chaity Puja Sarkar and Upasya Bhowal attended a Blogger’s meet organized by The Times of India and Kolkata Bloggers. This meet began with a an introduction to blogging and why one should blog, by the founder of Kolkata Bloggers, Mr. Anirban Saha. It was followed by a number of other sessions on different aspects of blogging and how one can improve on his /her blog. It was a learning experience and those who missed this event truly missed something very informative.

CRIME FICTION

On 16th January, Chaity Puja Sarkar and Upasya Bhowal attended a talk on crime fiction at the Oxford Bookstore (as a part of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary festival). A panel discussion was held where eminent crime fiction authors like Hakam Nesser, Carol Ferry and Zack O’Yen were present and spoke on their experience of being a crime fiction author. After the panel discussion there was a round for entertaining questions from the audience. The day ended with a vote of thanks for the authors after which the students returned, having learnt quite a lot when it came to the sphere of writing which might prove helpful if any of them decide to pursue it as a career in future.

BLOGGERS MEET

On 8th December, 2014 the commerce section of class XI Commerce attended a career counseling held at the senior school hall by Mr. Ashwini Bajaj who is a C.A, C.S, C.F.A and F.R.M he is also a professor in a MBA college in Kolkata.

Jannat Shami
XI C

BLOGGERS MEET

On the 10th of December ’14 Class IX’s had gone for their school picnic to Ibiza. We left school in a chartered bus at 7:45 am and reached there by 9:30 am. After entering the resort we were taken to the garden where we settled down to eat. After a while we were taken to the disco which was within the premises of Ibiza. It was the first experience of a disco for most of the girls. We came back to the lawns relaxed, clicked photographs, went for nature walk and spent some quality time with our friends and teachers. At about 2 pm we left the resort to return back to school. The picnic was an immensely enjoyable one for us. We would like to thank our principal Sr. Nirmala and our respective class teachers for this wonderful day.

Uzma Sadia Saher
IX (i)

On 2nd of May, 2015, the Catholic girls of the school assembled at the Portico to celebrate the Crowning Of Our Lady. The event started with a Prayer Service conducted by class twelve’s. Father Mohandas the Parish Priest of St. Mary’s church had come to bless our school. During the Prayer Service Father gave his speech and then we sang the hymn “Hail Holy Queen”, the Crowning of our lady was followed by Prayer service. Father and some middle school students crowned and garland our lady while others sang the hymn “Bring Flowers of the rarest”. After the crowning, Father went around blessing the school and we sang the hymn “On the school your blessing lord”. While Father was blessing the school, student sat in the Portico, saying their rosary. At the end, our Principal, Sr. Nirmala thanked Father for coming and blessing our school and the teachers for preparing the event.

On 19th of January, 2015 an inter house Hindi Extempore was organized in our senior school. It was inter house activity and classes IXs and XIs had taken part. The topics were decided by our senior school Hindi teachers Mrs. Luis and Mrs. Sharma. The topics were based on current affairs and on social problems which prevail in our society. The junior school Hindi teachers, Mrs. Patridge and Mrs. Osta were the honorable judges. The topics were given forty five minutes before the activity. The participants were helped by the Hindi teachers. The winners were:-

Shailja Sharma from Subhash Chandra Bose house.
Joshina Das from Sarojini Naidu house.
Shafaque Rahman from Kalpana Chawla house.
Aafreen Raza from C.V.Raman house.

On the 28th of April, 2015 students from class I to XII were taken to St. Mary’s Church for the Holy Spirit Mass which takes place every year at the commencement of the new academic session. The mass was held in order to seek the blessings of the Holy Spirit. The mass started with a prayer dance by the students of junior school followed by the gospel enactment. We were motivated and inspired to work hard and realize the true value of things by way of speech by Father. The Mass went off well and we returned back to school with positivity and calmness.

Mary ward week was held from 22-01-2015 to 30-01-2015. On the 22nd of January all the classes had assembly in their respective class. Class I – V saw a presentation on Mary ward’s life. From 27-01-2015 to 29-01-2015 special assemblies were held by classes III, IV & V. Sr. Mary D’Souza gave a small talk to the children which was based on Mary Ward’s life. An interactive session on child’s labour was conducted by Mrs. R. Ireland. The children participated well & enjoyed the session.

Class I made book marks based on Mary Ward’s Maxims. Class II made posters related to maxims & life of Mary Ward. Class III made language & number work, work cards & information cards on important personalities of India. Classes IV & V made teacher made book on various subjects. All the teaching aids prepared by Classes III – V will be presented to Loreto Thakurpukur. Class IV wrote a paragraph on the following topic: which qualities of Mary Ward would you like to imbibe and why?

A quiz on Mary Ward was organized by Mrs. R. D. Osta and Mrs. Khalko. The girls were well prepared and answered enthusiastically. Mary ward team stood first, C. V. Raman stood second and Kalpana Chawla group stood third. The Loreto Chorus was sung at the end of the quiz. The week ended with a mass which was celebrated by Rev. Fr. Gregory Monteiro. The various activities were a befitting tribute to our Fondress Mary Ward.

On the 19th of January,2015 an inter class debate was organized in the middle school portico. The participants were from classes VI, VII, and VIII, six speakers for the motion and six speakers against the motion. The motion was for the debate was School Fests are organized in schools as a learning process. Ms.M. Nautryal and Mrs. P.Quadra were the judges for the event. The participants debated with great vigor and conviction and it was a delight to be a witness to it. The moderator Ms. Shruti Handa was the brought the whole debate to a close. The best speaskers were awarded to Ms. Ashmita Mondal (VII-2) and Ms. Nishat Alam.

XI C

On the 14th of January, five students from class XI (Upasya Bhowal, Amreeta Das, Chaity Puja Sarkar, Anne D’Rozario and Saudamini Dutta) along with Mrs. Quadra went for a literary meet at the Modern high school. This literary meet was a part of the Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival. It comprised of three sessions. During the first session a student panel(including Upasya Bhowal) interviewed authors Piapadukone, Devdan Chaudhuri and Kanishk Tharoor. This was followed by a panel discussion dealing with the relevance of Jawaharlal Nehru’s ideas in today’s world. The day ended with a student from Modern High interviewing two other authors and having a rapid fire round with them.

Overall it was an enriching experience. What made it even more appealing was the presence of Justice Leila Selth as the chief guest of the occasion. It was truly an honor to be a part of such an occasion and this day shall be etched in our memories forever.

XI C

This year we thought of doing the Parents Day a little differently . Ours being the first Parents day of the new academic session ( on the 29th April) we were , in all honesty, positive and excited at the prospect. We had our own ideas and when Sister Nirmala discussed the issue, and suggested Social Networking as a theme, we were perplexed at the beginning.

Soon, the flurry of activity resulted in a lot of research on statistics, data on this topic and ofcourse the processed output had to be India-centric as well.

To the above, we added case studies from the City of Joy to make more topical.

This ninety minutes programme had all the 90 students taking part either in the prayer service, dance, welcome song or the four role plays. The parents were delighted to see their wards welcome them and perform.

The prayer service saw parents coming up and reading out a prayer for their children. Our teacher read out a special prayer for the parents as well.This was certainly handled differently and the parents were touched with this gesture. To have 98% attendance of the parents was indeed satisfying as we realized that the strong message that we were trying to send out to all will be well received and circulated.

The interactive session saw animated group discussions but in complete harmony and coming together of various ideas, problems and solutions was indeed exhilarating. The responses of the parents were exactly what we really hoped for and since the role plays were a reflection of that, the concept was re-enforced. The power point was just to strengthen out arguments and was in sync with what we wanted to say and included the discussions that took place from the floor of the House.

At the end of the programme, Sister’s message was strong and well accepted by the parents. Their feedback that the presentation and programme highlighted the issues that is prevalent today and that, it was an eye-opener vindicated the choice of the theme. The issue of SOCIAL NETWORKING plaguing the society is definitely a matter of concern and how one needs to maintain a balance , keeping in mind the precautionary measures was the integral point of the day’s event. We thank Sr Nirmala and the teachers for this memorable day … --- A consolidated report by the 2015 batch of

XI C

Loreto Day School, Elliot Road organized a programme for the parents of students of Class 8 on the 5th of May, 2015. The programme began with a speech by Mrs. A.Rocha, the middle school coordinator followed by an inspiring monologue. The students dance gracefully to a classical Bengali song. Prayers were said by the students for their beloved parents. A meaningful song sung by all the students which was dedicated to our parents and as a part of the prayer service a very meaningful power point presentation was shown to the parents called “LIFE IS MIRACLE”. A four role plays were performed by a few girls of class 9, where 2 positive & 2 negative aspects of social networking were highlighted. An interactive session with the parents followed the role play acting. Parents responded well to the questions asked and shared their opinions on how to tackle different situations. Slide show presentations on positives & negatives of social networking was shown to the parents by Mrs.J.Banerjee & Mrs.M.Mukherjee (Class 8-I & Class 8-II class teacher). The programme ultimately came to an end at 10:20 am with Mrs.Rocha’s presentation (winning the race).

XI C

Prize distribution for classes 10 & 12 began with a prayer service. The hymn Asatoma and its translation was read out in English to emphasize its meaning. It was followed by a prayer dance. There was another dance which was followed by a power-point presentation. The head-girl, vice head-girl, games captains, house captains, vice captains and prefects returned their badges and received certificates for their services towards the school.

The students were awarded for General Proficiency, high achievement in different subjects, regular attendance, general helpfulness and responsibility. The programme drew to a close by a few encouraging and inspiring words by Sr. Nirmala.