Bhavan's Vidya Mandir (Girinagar)

Bhavan's Vidya Mandir Girinagar
The School's Official Logo Aano Bhadrah Kratavo Yantu Vishwatah 'Let Noble thoughts come to us from every side'
Location
Girinagar Kochi, Kerala, India
Coordinates	9.957919°N 76.300140°E / 9.957919; 76.300140
Information
School type	Private recognized, Higher and Senior Secondary School (from Kindergarten)
Opened	1977
Founder	Dr. Kulapati M. Munshi
Sister school	Bhavan's Vidya Mandir (Elamakkara); Bhavans Varuna Vidhyalaya (Thrikkakara); Bhavans Adarsha Vidyalaya (Kakkanad); Bhavan's Vidya Mandir (Eroor); Bhavan's Munshi Vidyashram (Thiruvankulam)
School board	CBSE
Principal	Mrs.Nirmala Venkateshwaran
Staff	105
Teaching staff	75
Language	English
Campus size	1.7 acres
Houses	Ahimsa (Non-Violence) Dharmam (Virtue) Jnanam (Knowledge) Sathyam (Truth) Sevanam (Service) Shanthi (Peace) Thyagam (Sacrifice) Vinayam (Kind-Heartedness)
Song	Bhavan's Anthem (Jai Jai Vidya)
Affiliations	CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education), India

Bhavan's Vidya Mandir, Girinagar [B.V.M(G)] is a Senior Secondary School (Std. I - XII) affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi. It is a part of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, a group of educational institutions and is situated in Girinagar, Ernakulam (Cochin), Kerala, India.

History

Bhavan's Vidya Mandir, Girinagar was founded in 1977 on 1.7 acres (6,900 m²) of land donated by the Cochin Shipyard in the heart of Kochi City.

The school functions under the purview of the Kochi Kendra of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, which runs 7 schools in Kochi. Apart from the main subjects taught, the school also has judo, archery, basketball, karate and National Cadet Corps (NCC) coaching after school timings, which generally runs on Mondays-Tuesdays 3:00PM-5:00PM. The school got the Best School Award 2011 in India. The school has 1600 students and 85 teachers.

Timings

The school has three terms for Classes 1-5 - first term is from June-August, second term September-December, third term January-March.

For classes 6-10 it has two terms - first term from June-Early October (from next year (2012-13), it will be from May-September), second term from Mid October-March (from next year (2012-13), it will be from October-March). The school opens at the beginning of June for Class I to VIII, XI and May for Classes IX-X and XII), and closes in March.

The summer vacation lasts from April to May for Class 1-11. For Class 12, April alone is the month of vacation and May marks the beginning of their classes.

The school timing is from 7:45 am to 1:30 pm for Primary section and from 7:45 am - 2:50 pm for the Secondary and Senior-Secondary Sections every Mondays to Fridays. The school functions on third Saturdays,for the students of Class 6-12 only.

Academics

The school is open from Grade 1 to Grade 12 [1st standard to 12th standard] and the age group is from 6 years to 17 years. The school is divided into Primary [1-5], Secondary [6-10] and Senior Secondary [11-12] classes. Apart from the main subjects taught at school, the school also has judo, archery, basketball and NCC coachings after school timings.

Facilities

• 50 classrooms equipped with Educomp Smart Class Plasma TV
• Fully air-conditioned labs
• Library
• Music, dance, tabla, keyboard, jazz, yoga, sports, NCC, karate, drawing, work experience and Art amd Craft room
• Air conditioned Audio-visual room
• Courts for cricket, football, basketball, tennis, badminton and martial arts.
• Canteen, four Language Rooms.
• Auditorium.

The PEACE Programme

The school has a yearly programme called the PEACE (Programme for Educational and Cultural Exchange) along with the students of Tunbridge Wells Boys' Grammar School and Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School, Kent, England. This is an exchange programme in which nearly 30 students and five teachers are hosted by students and teachers of one of the member schools for approximately 20 days for one academic year; the next year, the students and teachers who hosted during the previous year travel to be hosted by those who visited them the previous year. This program was started in the year 1995.

Subjects and Periods

System followed till March 2012

The school has seven periods a day for Primaries (Class I-V) and nine periods a day for Secondary (Class VI-XII), each consisting for around 40-45 minutes. For Class I-V, there are four, five or six main Subjects - Maths, General Science, Social Science (only for class 3rd-5th), English, Hindi (3rd Language, Compulsory) and Malayalam or Sanskrit (either of of them - 2nd language, from 2nd standard onwards). For Class VI-VIII, there are five or six main subjects - Maths, Science, (further divided into Physics, Chemistry and Biology), Social Science, English, Hindi and Malayalam or Sanskrit. For Class IX and X, everything is the same as Class VI-VIII except for Hindi becoming optional along with Sanskrit and Malayalam.

For Class XI and XII, they have many options;

• Bio-Maths - the main subjects are Biology, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, English.
• Comp-Maths - the main subjects are Computer (Practicals and Theory), Maths, Physics, Chemistry and English.
• Commerce-Maths - the main subjects are [[Commerce], Maths, Accountancy, Business studies and English.
• Bio-Info - the main subjects are Biology, Informatics, Physics, Chemistry, English.
• Comp-Info - the main subjects are Computer (Practicals and Theory), Informatics, Physics, Chemistry and English.
• Commerce-Info - the main subjects are Commerce, Informatics, Accountancy, Business studies and English.

The other periods are Life Skills, Art Education, Physical Training, Library, House Activity, Club Activity, General Knowledge, Computer (for Class III-X), Work Experience (Compulsory for Class I-II, Optional along with Computer for Class III-X), and even Work Education Periods (Compulsory for Classes VI-X and held every third Saturdays).

• Life Skills classes are divided into Adolescent Education Classes for Std. 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. It is compulsory for all classes until Std.XII, from Std. I.
• Art Education classes, also referred to as Art Training classes, are held for every class from I-XII, compulsory.
• Physical Training classes for football, cricket, basketball, volleyball, chess, weightlifting and table tennis are held for all classes and is not compulsory. Instead, students can opt for Martial Arts Training classes (karate, judo, taekwondo).
• Libraryis a period for Std. 6-10 when they are taken to the library and can read titles mainly on fiction, from the 1,00,000+ titles available.
• House Activity is a class held for 6-10, when the children are divided into houses Ahimsa (Non-Violence), Dharmam (Justice), Jnanam (Knowledge), Satyam (Truth), Sevanam (Service), Shanthi (Peace), Thyagam (Sacrifice), and Vinayam (Kindness)]. The period poses competitions and activities among each house, to find which house is top.
• Club Activity is a class held for 6-10, during which children are divided into clubs, namely: Science Club, Consumer Club, Social Service (or Sanskriti) Club, Integrity Club, Reading and Quiz Club, Health and Wellness Club etc.
• GK classes are held for Std. I-VIII and is compulsory. A "Cultural Course" class is held along with this class, and is conducted for one class in one month, being the GK period for 4-5 classes a month.
• Work Education periods are held for Classes VI-X on every third Saturday (i.e. one class a month). It consists of cookery classes, "Best Out of waste", tie and dye, metal embossing, nib painting, sports (basketball, kabaddi, kho-kho, cricket and football) , embroidery, and stitching.

System to be followed from May/June 2012

The source of this information: Govt. of Kerala Order to issue Malayalam as First Language and Compulsory Language The following areas will have no changes in the following year:

• The subjects remain the same for classes (I-X).
• The co-curricular areas remain with the same time-table.
• The subjects and periods for Classes XI and XII remain the same.
• Periods and timing schedules will not change.

Methods and areas that will change the following year:

In January 2011, Minister of Education P. K. Abdu Rabb in Kerala, initiated a new law in the state of Kerala, that any school, belonging to any affiliation, may it be State Syllabus, CBSE or ICSE, would adopt Malayalam (Supplementary) as a compulsory language if the school is situated within the territory of Kerala. Therefore, from the academic year 2012-2013 on wards, there would be a revision for Classes I-X in their languages.

• For Class I-II, the languages will be: English (compulsory), Malayalam -I (Compulsory), Hindi (Compulsory).
• For Class III-V, the languages will be: English (compulsory), Malayalam/Sanskrit (any one from amongst them), Hindi (Compulsory).
• For Class VI-VIII, the languages will be: English (compulsory), Hindi (compulsory) and Malayalam and Sanskrit will be optional.
• For Class IX and X, everything is the same as Class VI-VIII except for Hindi becoming optional along with Sanskrit and Malayalam. English will again be compulsory.

This major revision initiated for many changes. Some of these are:

• Malayalam made compulsory for classes from Std. I-II.
• Malayalam is made I language, English is pushed to the II Language (although this is an English medium school), Hindi made III Language and Sanskrit not gaining much importance as it is pushed to the last (IV) position.
• Sanskrit starts only from Std III (whereas in the previous system, it existed from Std II).
  

Cultural Fests

• Magnum Opus is the school's annual cultural fest, held by XIth Graders. It is an inter-school contest involving competitions. It is conducted by the students of the XI^th standard. The fest develops leadership skills of the students.
• The school has an Annual Day: and is usually conducted in January.
• A Sports Day is organized in November/December/January of every year.

Awards and recognitions

• BVM Girinagar was declared International School Award 2010 by the British Council.
• Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan India won Best Teacher Award (2010), Best Student Award (2010) and Best School Award (2011–2012).

Heads of the school

Principals

• Smt. Vijayalakshmi, Principal (1980-2004)
• Smt. Nirmala Venkateshwaran, Principal (2004-present)

Vice Principals

• Smt. Nirmala Venkateshwaran, Vice Principal (2000-2004)
• Smt. Shanta E P, Vice Principal (2008-present)

Heads of the management

• Sri. E Ramankutty (Director)
• Sri. Ramachandra Menon (Hon. Secretary)
• Prof. Sri. M. K. Sanoo(Hon. Chairman)

See also

• List of schools in Ernakulam
• Bhavans Vidya Mandir (Elamakkara)

External links

• Website of the Government of Kerala
• Website of the CBSE - the organization that controls the school