C.N.M. School & N. D. Parekh Pre-Primary School, Mumbai Review
Overview The management of Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal is in charge of the administration of the C.N.M. School & N. D. Parekh Pre-Primary School, which follows the ICSE curriculum & is affiliated to the ICSE Council, New Delhi. The school is well-known for its cultural activities and emphasis on stress-free education. There is only a grading system till Class 8. What's more, it is mandatory for students to learn yoga every day during the morning hours, starting from Standard I. From Standard VI to Standard VIII, students learn a musical instrument. One of the best features of this school is that it gives admissions to children with disabilities. There are totally about 3,700 students and over 170 staff members.
The school encourages parents to send their children to school in the school bus rather than using private vehicles. Those who do come by a private vehicle must get down before the school gates. In fact, just last year the school acquired new school buses with secure window railings, comfortable seats & two emergency exits. The bus is equipped with a first aid box and a fire extinguisher. Security & safety of the students is also ensured at all times on the campus. Even a parent cannot enter the school premises without any entry pass.
The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the school organizes get-together functions, celebrates festivals of India and conducts educational seminars & workshops. The PTA even maintains a fund to award scholarships & prizes to worthy students.
Location: The school is located in Vile Parle. The nearest railway station is the Vile Parle station (you have to get off on the West side). The nearest major hospital is Cooper Hospital & closer to the school is the Irla Nursing Home & Polyclinic.
Infrastructure and Facilities The large campus of C.N.M.S. is a delightful amalgamation of natural light and air. There is no overcrowding of spaces with needless infrastructure. On the contrary, there are plenty of open spaces for students to indulge in extra-curricular & co-curricular activities. The classrooms too are spacious & teachers impart education with the help of multimedia projectors. The entire campus is hygienic with staff keeping the premises clean 24x7. In fact, this school is highly regarded for its care towards the student's health & hygiene.
The school library is accessible to all students from Standard II onwards & each student is issued a library ID card. Students are issued two books per week and must return them on time. There is a separate reading area with comfortable seating. Educational magazines, journals, newspapers & over eight thousand books are available for the student's leisure & study. There are also two computer centers with connections to the World Wide Web. In addition to the science labs, the school will soon be installing a mathematics lab.
Students present their talents & cultural skills in the auditorium which has audio-visual equipment installed for performances as well as a superb lighting system. As for art facilities, the air-conditioned art room is such that two teachers can conduct separate classes at one time.
Sports Facilities The gymnasium hosts physical fitness activities for the students to help develop their coordination skills. There is also a swimming pool. Keeping in mind the safety of the students, nobody can enter the pool when the swimming coach or life guard are not around. Facilities for indoor & outdoor sports, such as cricket, football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, etc are provided on campus.
Academics At the pre-primary level, children follow a specially designed learning program called the Smart Start Program. Through this program, they are taught the basics of numerals & alphabets with interactive digital boards. They become acquainted, too, with the varied senses through activities that maintain their interest, such as music and dance. Simple science is also explained through outdoor experiences. Kids have fun too with skipping ropes, beads and hulla hoops. When the students progress to the primary level, they acquire computer awareness with the aid of net books and MindSpark PC tablets. In Standard III and Standard IV, the second language options are Hindi & Gujarati and the third language is Marathi.
At the secondary level of education the students of Standards 6, 7 and 8 follow the curriculum of the Continuous and Comprehensive (CCE) Examination system. This has 2 main components to assess the students. One is the Formative Assessment (FA) whereby students have to give activity-based tests, one each during the two terms. The second in called Summative Assessment whereby students must appear for weekly tests, two in each term (four total). These are written tests which are generally conducted mid-week and have 30 marks. At the end of the academic year, as in all schools, students must sit for the final examination which is of 80 marks.
Students of Standards 9 and 10 have to appear for internal assessments too, which is of 20 marks, and the final exam which is of 80 marks. These students have special tutorial sessions for their studies. Students who are weak in academics and those with learning difficulties undergo special coaching with the help of counsellors & remedial teachers.
Extra-curricular & Co-curricular activities Recreation is a must for any child and the school provides some unique forms of recreation for students. On the one hand, there is dramatics, singing and dancing. On the other, there are off-beat activities like calligraphy and nature conservation. Physical recreational activities include aerobics and yoga. Music classes include learning both Indian & Western music. Students can also learn martial arts.
The students are taken on field trips, often related to the subjects they learn in the classroom. Competitions between the various houses are regularly organised in terms of not just quizzes, dance & music programs, but also math and language, art & craft. The dance competitions are great fun & include a wide variety, such as ball dance and raas garba!
School Houses: The school houses are named after the planets. They are Mercury (ash colour), Venus (bluish white colour), Mars (red colour), Jupiter (orange & white bands), Saturn (orange colour), Uranus (sky blue colour), Neptune (dark blue colour) and Pluto (dark ash colour)
In addition to the annual sports event, the school organizes special theme-based weeks for the students. These include social studies week, science week, Hindi week, Gujarati week, English week, etc. Students are sometimes shown good films during such weeks.
One of the best types of activities organised in this school are the hobby classes for students of Std. 6, 7 and 8 with each standard having a fixed day in the week for their hobbies. Students of Std. 6 have elocution, punching & quilling needlework, football (for boys) & skating (for girls). Students of Std. 7 have textile design, theatre, cooking, cricket (for boys) & volleyball (for girls). Students of Std. 8 have public speaking, photography & photoshop, disaster management, basketball (for boys) & table tennis (for girls).
There is also specialized training given in performing arts for students from Class 6 to Class 9. This training is provided by the school's Center of Performing Arts, known as CPA. Learning the flute is taught in Std. VI, the keyboard in Std. VII, theatre in Std. VIII and dance in Std.IX.
School Fees The annual fee for students of this ICSE school is approximately Rs.35,000/-
School Timings 1. Nursery: There are 2 batches. One is from 9.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. and the second is from 11.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.
2. Junior KG & Senior KG: 8.30 a.m. to 11.45 a.m.
3. Standard I to Standard IV: 1.00 p.m. to 5.45 p.m.
4. Standard V to Standard X: 7.15 a.m. to 12.50 p.m.
School Office Timings1. The parents can contact the accounts office on the school campus from 11.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
2. Parents and others can visit the school to meet the Principal from Monday to Friday between 3.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m. only.
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