ST MARGARET’SINTERNATIONAL FINISHING SCHOOL

Oswald Cardinal Gracias

“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten” (BF Skinner)I am happy to pen these few lines for the E-book of St Margaret’s International Finishing School. I am given to understand that the Sisters of Jesus and Mary started this program for the upgradation of the teachers with effect from June 17, 2019. This is a twice a week, 40 hours program, seeking to enhance teaching skills as well as soft skills of the participants.

All of us have realized that with technological development, life is changing rapidly and in order to keep up with our changing environment we are upgrading our computers, our mobiles, our job profiles and also our standard of living. Teachers need to upgrade themselves to face the new challenges of educational concepts and systems. The life of the teacher begins the day you realize that you are always a LEARNER. “A teacher is essentially a learner. Someone not interested in learning and self-upgradation, can’t become a Teacher” said Lalit Joshi.I am happy that the Sisters of Jesus and Mary in their Teacher’s Training College in Byculla have started this teacher’s enrichment program which also provides training to prepare teachers for the international ISE Examination conducted by Trinity College, London in English Communication Skills. This certificate is accepted in all commonwealth countries of the world and is a very good benchmark.

I congratulate all the participants who have completed this course successfully and I do wish that many more teachers take advantage of this opportunity to enrich themselves with teaching skills and soft skills, so necessary today. I end by reminding ourselves: “Never stop Learning. Strive for progress and not perfection. It does not matter what others are doing. It matters what you are doing”

Blessings,

Oswald Cardinal GraciasArchbishop of Bombay &President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India

We, the sisters of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary serving in India since 1842, commit ourselves to the promotion of a more just and humane society in our country. The inspiration provided by our foundress, St. Claudine Thevenet since 1818 continues to strengthen this commitment.The Congregation of the Religious of Jesus and Mary owes its existence to the burning love for God and the fervent zeal of St. Claudine Thevenet. St Claudine’s ideals were to make God known and loved by means of Christian education in all social milieu. St. Claudine’s pedagogy was one of love…. a love that she drew from the heart of Jesus on the cross for the salvation of all.

Sr. Arina Gonsalves rjm Manager, St Agnes High School, Byculla, MumbaiProgramme co-ordinator

In the world of today, education in forgiveness and compassion, remains the best reform we can offer. To equip our collaborators, students and parents to face the challenges of the world, we have started an enrichment program for the teachers, students and those who wish to acquire soft skills and communication proficiency in English . This facility is started at St. Margaret’s training college - Byculla , with effect from 17th June 2019. This program helps the participants to acquire teaching and communication skills in English. We have also created a platform for them to get certified by the Trinity College of London, through exams of ISE (Integrated Skills in English). Our first batch will graduate the 23rd of August 2019. Certificates will be issued at the hands of our dearest Oswald Cardinal Gracias - Archbishop of Bombay.

Blessings,Sr. Arina rjm

Do you remember the ancient type-writer we used in our offices and the noise it created?Well we have come a long, long way since that time and yet it does not seem so far off… Thinking of that type-writer and all the other systems which seem to make our life today so very different I ask myself… what about our education system? Well looking around the city it seems like little has changed here! WHY? I wonder! The very base of all the systems seems to be stagnant? Are we just too complacent with what is? Are we just too satisfied or simply lazy to be moved to want to leave a legacy for the next generation?

IGNITING HEARTS! INSPIRING MINDS!

Sister Selma rjmTeacher Educator, Jesuit Teacher Training College, Timore Leste

Do we feel responsible for what is the state of our education system especially in our beloved country?It is in this context I think Professional Development is the match stick to re-kindle the fire within us as teachers in the 21st Century. What difference can a school make to society? Two questions will help focus this consideration. How do we find God in the reality of our lives? And does our education system aspire to provide our students something more than academic training?

Thus the need for Professional Development to help the teacher answer these two basic questions in her/ his own search for the JOY of LIFE! St Margaret’s Finishing School seeks to find answers to these basic questions not just of education but life itself through its on-going Professional Development programme. Enrichment in soft-skills and communication so essential for a happy and peace- filled existence is a lifelong learning process that St Margaret’s seeks to strengthen.To conclude have you ever woken up one morning to find your phone dead, for want of charge of battery? Well that’s the same with our Vocation to Teaching…. With all the years of service… we need the recharge… that’s what St Margaret is offering in answer to the new National Education Policy of the country.

This course has helped me to hone my skills as a teacher. It has equipped me to meet today’s requirements of being a multifaceted communicator, facilitator and guide to the students. Interacting and participating in this course has increased my level of confidence and it has helped me benchmark my skills to the current dynamic environment. Mrs Racquel Fernandes

Asst. Teacher Secondary Section Convent of Jesus and Mary High School and Junior College, Kharghar

You can’t give what you don’t have’. The role of a 21st century teacher is challenging. We have to unlearn the obsolete and relearn the new. This course has enriched my personality to adapt myself to the needs of the students of today. ELSY CLEMENT

Secondary TeacherCJM, Kharghar

With the course I garnered a fresh perspective, emphasizing on the importance of emotional IQ of students aligned with their academic progress.From personal grooming to acquiring finesse in speaking skills, striking the right balance between textbooks and technology, the course encompassed skills and innovative methodologies to equip teachers and engage 21st century learners.

Nehaa ThadhaniPre-Primary TeacherFort Convent

“Life is a continuous learning experience”The “Grooming” session enlightened me, gave me confidence to be assertive. It has and will give me an opportunity to use my teaching and soft skills in a creative way with the students I encounter everyday.

Sr. Catherine D’souzaPrimary TeacherSt Agnes Primary School, Byculla

Being a part of the St Magaret’s Internationl Finishing School program has not only helped me develop my soft skills but also effectively enhanced my teaching techniques. The Finishing School was an opportunity to interact and learn from esteemed Educational Facilitators in the field of grooming.

Mitchelle Mascarenhas

AGNES FERNANDESSr. K.G TeacherConvent of Jesus & Mary School

“Finishing School 2019” has been a lively and encouraging set of sessions. It started with grooming and etiquettes, which taught me to be confident and have self-esteem. It enriched me to be a good facilitator, compassionate, conscious and gain good time management skills. Overall, I did benefit greatly from the lessons done and gained practical techniques to tackle the physical and emotional challenges of our students.

My take-aways from the Finishing School Workshop: Improved my etiquette, speech, writing, dressing and grooming. Gained insights into integral education, learning disabilities and the importance of values. With all this I expect to grow in confidence.

Cynthia AlmacsSr. K.G TeacherConvent of Jesus & Mary School

A wonderful initiative taken to improve and upgrade a teacher’s personal, professional and educationalactivities. The sessions were not only informative but also practical; conducted in a stimulating, supportive and friendly atmosphere. According to me learning as a teacher is a continuous process and this learning will help me to motivate and improve a student’s learning and achievement.

Celina FernandesTeacher, Educator at St Margaret’s Training College

Every moment was a learning and enriching experience for me. To be a teacher, one needs to be innovative, creative, cheerful, joyful and a loving person. All these soft skills delivered by the different Faculties that came, helped us tremendously. We learnt about effective lesson planning and how to develop a clear diction from the grooming classes. Erika Tete

Student St Margaret’s Training College, Byculla

This Finishing School program was a extremely helpful and useful to me. It will help me groom my teaching skills and enhance the learning process for my students. I gained the confidence of how to be an effective teacher to help and overcome the difficulties of the weaker students.I also learned how to make use of voice modulation and proper diction in my teaching. Overall it was a helpful session.

Libreta Dsilva Primary TeacherFort Convent

The Finishing School Workshop had various informative and interesting sessions that enrich teaching skills and personality development. The individual coaching during the sessions on diction was most beneficial for me. A big thank you to the highly knowledgeable and dynamic facilitators.

Teresa Rodrigues Teacher, Educator at St Margaret’s Training College, Clare Road

Life is full of opportunities. It is up to us to accept or reject. I had the good fortune of attending this Finishing School program. It has enhanced my personality and developed different soft skills in me.It was a wonderful experience to learn various techniques of teaching.

Natasha D. Dsouza Pre-primary Teacher St Agnes Primary School

‘Drill Your Skills’It was an enriching experience where knowledge and ideas were exchanged in an interactive way. It provided me with information on new teaching methods and techniques to enhance skills in teaching.

Sapna Jalvi St Agnes High School, Pre-Primary Section, Byculla

I thank St Margaret’s International Finishing School which trained me in teaching techniques, and improved my personality. This in return led to my holistic transformation. Beyond perfecting social skill and etiquette, I also gained self-confidence and became more expressive and innovative.

Candida MascarenhasSt Agnes High School Primary Section

The Finishing School Workshop for teachers organized by St Margaret’s International Finishing School was an enriching experience. It helped me to enhancemy knowledge on various topics covered during the course. The resource persons were good mentors. The study materials provided were of great help.It gave me an insight about various teaching techniques. Silvia Fernandes

Assistant Primary TeacherConvent of Jesus and Mary, Colaba,

I attended the teacher’s Enrichment program held in our school. The take away for me was about integral education, inclusive classroom and effective communication skills.Integral education has taught me how to teach children more effectively and in a creative way. Inclusive classroom learning helped me to cater to the needs of every child in the classroom. I gained practical knowledge on Lesson Preparation and Teaching Methodology.

Clara CarvalhoTeacher of Primary SectionConvent of Jesus and Mary, Fort

The session on Integral Learning by Sr. Selma has been my most significant takeaway from the Finishing School Workshop for Teachers. I will always remember to incorporate the five steps of Integral Pedagogy -Context, Experience, Reflection, Action, and Evaluation- when preparing a Lesson Plan for a subject.

Kim DiasSt Anthony’s ChurchVakola, Santacruz (East)

The Finishing program was an effective and interesting session through which I learned how to plan and make lessons more interesting for students.I also learned voice modulation and correct pronunciations which will be useful for the primary students. It also helped me to improve my communication skills and interact with confidence.

Sangeeta GuptaAssistant Teacher at Convent of Jesus and Mary, Fort

Life is meant to be lived to the fullest. This program has made me aware of my strengths and the areas I need to grow by acquiring teaching and soft skills which will enhance my personality. I thank the entire team and all the resource persons of St Margaret’s International Finishing School for giving me the opportunity to groom my soft skills. Sr. Simlifer Mendonca RJM

Convent of Jesus and Mary High School and Junior College, Kharghar

This course has inspired me to incorporate more activities in order to make my lessons more effective. I also enjoyed learning about various new ICT based approaches to teaching and new tools that can make teaching more effective.

Sheeba Thomas Asst. Teacher Secondary School CJM Kharghar

I attended this Finishing program, which helped me immensely, especially in improving my diction and communicating ideas effectively. It was a very good tool for me to work with the weaker sections of society. Professionally, it helped me to teach them soft skills as well as life skills. I enjoyed listening and interacting with the group and facilitators. Sr. Asha Francis Ohol

M.A.M.S.W. Social worker at Premdan - Fort

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”The Finishing School helped me to discover my strengths and weaknesses as an aspiring teacher. The school is a wide spectrum of knowledge invested for the benefit of our students.Thank you. God bless.

Thelma Fernandes Primary School TeacherSt Agnes High SchoolClare Road, Byculla

Education is all about learning! And as a teacher,I too am in the learning process. St Margaret’s Finishing School has taught me to be bold, to be observant, to improvise my teaching skills. It has also polished my other skills. Most importantly it has taught me how to carry myself, in other words groomed me inside out. Can’t think of any other Finishing Course than St Margaret’s.

Christabel Karen Pereira Class Teacher of Std 1A

The sessions of Finishing School were very effective and interesting. It was really helpful to make lessons more meaningful and interesting for the students.It also helped me to improve my communication skills and interact with confidence. Hence it is a very helpful program.

Loresa Gonsalves Assistant Teacher Convent of Jesus and Mary, Fort

The Finishing School seminar was very informative, interactive and interesting. It was truly worthwhile and educational. It gave me a better understanding on how to improve my teaching and speaking skills and, alsoto communicate confidently and correctly with others. It was superb, Relevant and knowledgeable.

Ms. Aldrisa Dabre Primary TeacherSt Agnes High School,Clare Road, Byculla

The workshop of Finishing School I attended was of great help, as it completely transformed me into a new person. The content was informative, inspiring,interesting as well as innovative. It helped me to develop my vocabulary and speaking skills. The speakers were inspiring! I shall put into practice all that I learnt and, picked up at these sessions for the benefit of my students.

Raushal PereiraPrimary TeacherSt Agnes High School,Clare Road, Byculla

Finishing School Training was a great enhancement to me and has groomed me into a completely new person. This program greatly expanded my teaching and speaking skills, and they gave me an understanding of how they can be used in the classroom as well as in my communication with others. This course has also taught me to develop my students’ self management and vocabulary skills. I had the best facilitators who shared their expertise with me in the most relevant training, that I could use in future for the benefit of education.

Roshal Ralphy GerSt Agnes High School,Clare Road, Byculla

Communication - The Human Connection Is the key to personal and career success. The Finishing School program was very informative, interestingand enjoyable.It has enhanced my communication skills along with grooming techniques. It has also made meconfident and has improved my vocabulary. Innovative teaching methods and aids were taught, which can be implemented for classroom teaching. Finishing School also taught me how to stand out in the crowd through an additional style to my speech. I would say that it was well worth the time and effort!

Alina LopesSt Agnes High School (Primary)Clare Road, Byculla

I felt privileged to attend the Finishing School as this has helped me to groom my personality and make me confident. These sessions have helped me improve my language, style and how to present myself to a crowd, as well as it being very informative, I’m sure it would benefit my students in the years to come. The experiences shared and the training given by the facilitators were very useful.

Dorothy MSt Agnes High School, Clare Road, Byculla

The program greatly expanded my understanding of soft skills and life skills.I gained valuable information from the highly experienced facilitators.A big thank you to all the facilitators for their innovative and enjoyable sessions.

Alria Jayesh DiasSt Agnes High School, Primary SectionClare Road, Byculla

Of all the sessions I’ve attended, the session on phonetics was by far the best. It helped to teach me proper pronunciation. It was both educative and informative, and also very well designed and helpful. A truly inspiring learning experience!

Miss. Gladys DiasSt Agnes High School,Primary Teacher,Byculla

The Finishing Workshop gives me a framework for what I already do. It was a manageable program with clear and progressive steps. I appreciate the entire pronunciations program which was executed in a wonderful manner. It was very informative and I feel I can use this with my students.

Delia Roy PicardoSt Agnes High School, Clare Road, Byculla

The Finishing Course helped me to grow on a personal, social, mental and emotional level. I have also learnedproper etiquettes, which helped me boost my confidence. It gave me a lively experience!It enabled me to overcome my fears. It enriched me to be a good facilitator and gain good time management skills.

Steffie TavaresPrimary Teacher, Fort Convent, Fort

It is with immense pleasure that I learn of the new Teacher Finishing School launched by St Margaret’s Teacher Training College, which itself has played a significant role in producing so many stellar teachers in Western India.I am confident that this programme will enrich and assist many teachers in Mumbai in their teaching, communication and personal skills. I am also very pleased that the teachersenrolled in this programme will train for and appear for Trinity College London’s Integrated Skills in English (ISE) assessments. The training for these assessments will reinforce their skills and empower them with confidence and a certification of repute.I wish Sr Arina all success in this ambitious but vitally crucial and important project.

Anthony GomesLocal Area Representative MumbaiTrinity College London, Area Coordinator – Western India

The world of education is ever changing, and as educators it is imperative that we prepare not just our children, but their teachers also - for their future. The Sisters of Jesus and Mary have been pioneers in ‘Teacher Training’ and with changes and incorporations to address specific teacher needs - ‘St Margaret’s Training College’ was established by 1894, 125 years ago in Byculla, Bombay.Today, as lead educators and sitting on the cusp of a radical change in approach in the academic world, we recognize that the future requires that children be proficient not just

Dale EdwardsIndia Head – Academic Support

in the academic rigour of their subjects, but also compliment their knowledge with real world ‘Life Skills’.Teacher Enrichment ProgramResearch shows that children equipped with skills in addition to knowledge, have a more qualitative and successful life.It is imperative that we prepare teachers to help draw out these skills among children. This requires training and skilling. Over the course of this program, we will enable teachers to develop and draw out the four key skills for life: Confidence, Language Skills, Transferrable Skills and Study Strategies.

Course Learning Outcomes & Assessment CriteriaTrinity College London is the leading examination board in the world that works to the development of these skills. Charted over several grades and levels, teachers will be taught these skills to a set of established and internationally benchmarked ‘Learning Outcomes’ and Assessment Criteria.Course Duration & CertificationsSpread over a period of 40 hours, teachers will be guided through the above 4 skill areas – and on successful completion of the program will receive a St Margaret’s Teacher Diploma plus be able to gain at least 3 more certifications through Trinity College London.

English Language | Communication Skills | Performance ArtsEnriching Lives and Upgrading SkillsA teacher is the very soul of any learning institution and just as we require to nurture our souls with Spirituality, the time has come to nurture our Teachers by empowering them with requisite skills necessary to sustain and excel in today’s world.I am blessed to have been entrusted the responsibility of honing the language skills of the teachers of the Finishing Workshop, through the Integrated Skills in English, Language Examination by Trinity College London.

Kiran ShettyAcademic Support ConsultantTrinity College London

The teachers will have an internationally recognised Certificate along with the Diploma, adding arsenal to their existing qualifications.The St Margaret’s Teachers Training College has for years set a benchmark in quality Teachers Training and the concept of a Finishing Workshop for teachers is a unique step towards ensuring that the teachers keep abreast of the global standards of educational excellence.Wishing Sister Arina and her team the very best for the first batch of Enriched Teachers receiving recognition and may the endeavour continue to gather momentum for years to come.

Training Session

ST MARGARET’SINTERNATIONAL FINISHING SCHOOL

St Margatet’s Training College, Byculla, Mumbai. Email: stmargaretsfinishingschool@gmail.com

Tel.: 23085385 Mobile: 919767416507