At Arsha Vidya Mandir each of our five Departments has its own unique philosophy and vision. While the Department relies for the general structure on the guidance received from the Central Board of Education, it moves further to consider what adaptations or supplements are required additionally in order to fit the schools philosophy, students aspirations and the teachers expertise. This frame work helps the Department to have coherence towards planning. Having a broad set of aims helps the members in a Department to create their Master Plans for each year, which when visualised this way becomes easier to see how each year builds progressively on the previous year to create a clear sense of continuity and development. Further it helps to see if the individual objectives that are set out for each lesson or week fits into the overall scheme of work in a rational way that go beyond the basic guidance provided centrally by the CBSE which is now welcome by the Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE).

The common aims and goals of ALL the five Departments at Arsha are to create:

• the extent to which the curriculum embraces higher order thinking skills (HOTS) and 21st century skills and values
• successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
• confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives
• responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

The specific aims through the Department of English and Indian Languages are that students:

• learn to express themselves creatively and imaginatively and communicate with others confidently and effectively
• become enthusiastic and critical readers of stories, poetry, as well as non-fiction and media texts, as readers they are able to gain access to the pleasure and world of knowledge that reading offers
• are able to choose and adapt what they say and write in different situations, as well as appreciate and interpret the choices made by other writers and speakers
• listen, read and view critically with accuracy, understand and appreciate a wide range of literary and information/functional texts from print and non-print sources
• are in line with globalisation and the skills related to ICT are incorporated; these include computer related activities, networking and interacting with electronic courseware

Through the teaching of the Indian languages Sanskrit, Tamil and Hindi, in addition to the above mentioned goals the Department attempts to develop in the students:

• the opportunity to learn an ancient classical language
• appreciate the structure of the grammar in the respective Indian languages
• to recognise a close relationship between Sanskrit and other Indian languages, like wise Tamil with other languages in South India
• the opportunity to learn the official language of the country i.e. Hindi
• appreciate the culture, heritage and traditions of India through each of the three Indian languages

The broad aims of the Department of Sciences are that students:

• develop the skills to arrive at conclusions that have been thoroughly verified through a study based on observation, experiment, measurement and replicability under controlled conditions and are not swayed by sentiment, attitudes, prejudices and beliefs
• develop the basic skills of Science – to observe, classify, hypothesise, experiment, record, interpret, and generalise and thereby suggest several possible explanations for events that they observe
• get familiar with laboratory disciplines and thereby gain expertise in experimental methodology thereby realising that sound theories are based on sound practice and competencies are developed by the using of the hands apart from the head!
• recognising the role of technology as findings in everyday life in the world of today, thereby developing the insight with respect to the application of science to everyday life
• are in line with globalisation and the skills related to ICT are incorporated; these include computer related activities, networking and interacting with electronic course ware

The broad aims of the Department of Mathematics are that students:

• recognise avenues to discovery; ‘discoveries’ in mathematics are linked to countries because of the needs and the presence of individuals of unusual calibre, this understanding needs to thereby develop in the student a sense of pride for all the great minds in a global sense and not through a narrow view of patriotism
• develop the art to drawing conclusions; creating opportunities for students to discuss, argue and suggest mathematical propositions
• understand that the learnings from the subject serve as a tool for other subjects
• develop a system of logical processes – to think, reason, analyse and articulate logically
• history of Mathematics is linked to history of that period in time
• recognise that in Math education apart from practice of computational concepts through ‘drilling’ which helps in the fixation of rules, principles and formulae, it is only when the connection between related concepts are taught and understood in a cognitive approach too can perfection and intrinsic interest to participate in practice develop
• are in line with globalisation and the skills related to ICT are incorporated; these include computer related activities, networking and interacting with electronic course ware

The broad aims of the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities are that students:

• develop an understanding of human growth through the processes of change, and develop explanations based on evidence
• understand how the world as we know it has come into being and how we got to where we are

Aims of the History Curriculum:

• understand the occurrence of significant historical events as : causal, influences, effects on populations, impact on culture, lessons to be learnt, life in those days, beliefs, laws and punishment, health and healing, arts and literature, reasons for victories and defeats rather than as substantive historical concepts as monarchs, revolutions, conquests etc.
• understand concepts such as continuity and change, and develop a respect for facts and knowledge. To understand significant dates as milestones in the life of people
• develop respect for the great who have truly earned it
• understand the commonness of the ambition of men who change history
• appreciate history as a discipline, scientifically deduced, rather than as an array of facts
• understand how to link learnings taught through Geography at appropriate intervals as geological events go way beyond historical events
• through the Reverse time line of teaching the history syllabus gets drawn from the present to the distant past, from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from the known to the unknown
• understand Indian history in a global context by considering significant events that happened elsewhere in world at the same time recognise the influence it would have had on the topic that is being discussed on hand
• feel motivated through a Social Studies Laboratory to analyse, historical episodes, cultural offshoots and view man’s evolutionary milestones in altered perspectives

The other subjects that also appear under this Department are Geography and Civics from the Primary classes unto high school and Sociology, Philosophy, Economics, Human Rights and Gender studies in the Higher Secondary classes. Each of these subjects have their perspective of learnings under the broad subject of the Social Studies.

The broad aims of the Department of Arts and the Performing Arts are to develop in students:

• a deep enduring interest in the Arts as an on-going basis by being surrounded by an environment of music, dance and drama, and visual Arts
• to nurture deep emotive and aesthetic abilities towards Music appreciation, Fine Arts Appreciation and Drama Appreciation
• the capacity to be culturally competent persons when they assume their roles in society, such that they promote, sustain the Arts and are appreciative of good Art, music and theatre when exposed to it

Our curricular objectives through our Music programme are to develop in the student the capacity:
– to be a discerning listener
– to be a performer, participant (depending on the child’s propensity for music)
– to be a composer and if possible, create and play tunes based on the child’s skills
– to be a synthesiser of music and art
– to provide opportunities to make formal presentations or demonstrations
– to provide opportunities to attend music concerts and vocal recitals

Our curricular objectives through our Art and Design programme are to develop in the student:
– avenues to develop the basic skills in drawing and painting
– allow opportunities for expression
– participate in interactive discourses in art
– an awareness of the history of art
– appreciation and criticism of drawings and paintings
– opportunities to visit galleries and exhibition

Our curricular objectives through our Drama programme are to develop in the student:
– clarity in speech and to learn to modulate speech effectively
– speak fluently and with confidence and uninhibitedly
– develop non verbal communication and emotions through effective body language
– appreciate positively the talents that exist in peers
– develop the skills in direction, designing stage settings and costumes
– to write simple plays from themes provided or devised by them
– learn to appreciate and be critical of plays that they view