For Parents

ARRIVING AT THE SCHOOL     PARENTAL VISITS    LIST OF CLOTHING    PARCELS    WHAT SHRI MATAJI HAS SAID

Sahaja Yogis from all over the world send their children to ISPS to give them the advantages of this unique education. We rely on your co-operation to help us develop your children into beautiful Sahaja personalities. These are some of the ways you can help us:

ARRIVING AT THE SCHOOL

>> If possible, accompany your child up to the school at the start of term.

>> Help the child to find their dorm and locate the bed and cupboard given to them.

>> Introduce your child to the dorm-in-charge to establish a relationship between them. The dorm-in-charge will be taking over the pastoral care from you and plays a vital part in the school life especially of the smaller children.

>> Make sure that the passport and any other documents are deposited with the school office.

>> Inform the school doctor if your child has any health problems,

>> Please do not stay more than two days in the vicinity of the school. Let your child know clearly about the duration of your stay. It has been observed that delayed departure of the parents makes it difficult for the child to settle down.

>> Please do not phone for at least two weeks after the beginning of term. Explain to the children that this is to help them to settle down.

>> If your child has a mobile phone, deposit it with the dorm-in-charge. They will be allowed to use it on Saturdays and Sundays.

>> Please do not do anything that disturbs their receptivity to absorb the Divine vibrations here.

The time has come for you to become Divine. Enjoy yourself and make others enjoy you” – Shri Mataji

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PARENTAL VISITS

We discourage parents from visiting their children at the school during the term, due to the disruption this causes to the child. If you do wish to visit your child for any reason please contact the school and negotiate

COMMUNICATION FROM PARENTS:

Phoning in: Parents may call their children at the weekend through their dorm.

Each dorm-in-charge is provided with a mobile phone. The numbers for each dorm are e-mailed to all the parents.

For Seniors please try to phone on Saturday 2-9 pm or Sunday 1- 9 pm (meditation/dinner 7 – 8.15).

For Juniors: Saturday 2-8 pm or Sunday 1-8 (meditation/dinner 6.15 – 8).

If you experience difficulty at these times, you may contact the school office during office hours.

Please do not phone during the first two weeks of term to allow your child to settle into the school lifestyle.

Parents may phone the Principal or Vice-Principal between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Indian time, or any weekend. If they have queries about the school or their children or contact us by e-mail. Numbers and addresses are e-mailed to every parent.

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LIST OF CLOTHING

List of clothing, equipment etc. to send with children:

Note: Please make sure that everything you send with your child has their name on it. An extra 100 name labels should be sent for other marking.

Clothing:

Children are supplied with school uniforms, jackets/jumpers, sandals and bedding.

The school supplies; soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair oil, all necessary medicines, plasters etc. for first aid.

Please send:

>> 7 sets of underpants, sleeveless vests and socks.

>> 4 sets of own clothing – T-shirt, trousers (skirts for girls)

>> 3 medium sized towels

>> 2 warm jumpers

>> 1 warm coat

>> 1 waterproof coat with a hood (thin)

>> 2 pairs of trainers/ sports shoes.

>> 1 pair of sandals

>> Sun hat

>> Sleeping bag.

>> Rucksack

>> Duvet One (1) with two (2) duvet covers.

Other equipment:

The children also find some of the following equipment useful, although not everyone needs to have it.

>> Badminton rackets and shuttlecocks – the school provides this equipment during normal school hours. However Badminton is popular and the children like to play at other times.

>> Footballs, Frisbees etc.

>> Board games, cards etc. – during monsoon especially the children spend quite a lot of free time indoors and games like chess or monopoly that they enjoy help to pass the time.

>> Torch

>> Rechargeable batteries and chargers .

Senior children only are allowed the following:

>> Tape/ CD/ mp3 players/Basic mobile phones which will be given to them only on weekends.

>> Some small speakers.

>> Kettles and sandwich toasters.

>> Electrical extension leads and adaptors.

>> Table lamp.

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PARCELS

Please do not send any of the following items in parcels:

FOOD

>> Sending food encourages and enables the children to miss meals.

TOO MANY SWEETS

>> In spite of dental check-ups during the year, some children have poor dental health by the end of term. Too many sweets, in addition to what the children can buy at the tuck shop, is a major contributor to this problem.

>> Sweets may also be stolen, sold, or swapped for favours.

MONEY

>> The children have no need of extra cash at the school. They receive pocket money at weekends for spending in the tuck shop. A balance of Rs.2000/- deposited at the start of term by parents covers other in-school needs and spending on trips and excursions.

>> Money in particular encourages :

>> Attention on how much they have or how much they can get.

>> Indiscriminate buying, selling and renting. This extends to renting out toys and games, doing favors for cash and so on.

>> Going out of bounds to spend it. Children have gone as far as McLeod Ganj by themselves and without permission, solely because they have money to burn.

>> Any money you wish to give your children should be left with the school accounts office. For all the reasons listed above, “PLEASE DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO GIVE CHILDREN SECRET “EMERGENCY MONEY”.

ONE PARCEL EVERY 2 MONTHS

>> We would like to establish the limited parcels agreement with parents, and this idea is widely supported at the parents’ meetings.

>> In the past, not everyone has respected this; please be aware that you are not doing your child a favour by over-indulging them.

>> Please DO send about 4 parcels a year and one for your child’s birthday.

>> The best parcels are ones that contain at least something that can be shared with the whole dorm.

HOLIDAY TIME

Due to the long term and long holidays we would like to advise parents of the following points:

>> Although we understand the need for children to break from the routine of school life, please ensure that your child keeps to the routine of clearing, meditating and enjoying Sahaja collectivity. In our experience we have found that children, who don’t do this, find it more difficult to settle in March for the new term.

>> In addition they should be guided with the homework set, to be completed before return to the school.

>> Please also follow any other advice dorm staff and teachers may give.

COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS

Parents will be automatically informed:

>> If their child seems to be particularly or persistently unhappy or upset for any reason, beyond what may be considered part of the normal ups and downs for children at a residential school.

>> If their child receives an official warning for bad behaviour.

>> If their child is injured or unwell enough to require hospital treatment.

>> If their child is placed on a report card for poor classroom behaviour for more than two weeks.

>> If their child is found to be bullying other children.

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Easter Puja 19-04-1992: Shri Mataji’s talk

At Easter Puja 1992 19-04 Shri Mataji talked about the school. It was discovered that the western children have very weak immune systems. Whether this is because of antibiotics, eating tinned food, or perhaps from watching frightening films or television, the western children get sick very easily. In April, all of the western children were sick so it was decided to take them from Washi to Dharamshala right away. As a result, many parents made plans to visit their children, thinking they would be on holiday. But Shri Mataji advised that school is still in session. She asked parents not to disrupt the children’s education by visiting them now.

Shri Mataji stressed the importance of the children’s education, and the need for the structured environment which the school can provide. The children have been adversely affected by the problems of the West, and the school cannot correct the problems if the parents continually interfere. So let the school look after them. They don’t want to study. They have no sense of future. They have no sense as to why they are on this earth. It disturbs the discipline of the children if one or two parents come–all the children start feeling bad and the attention is spoiled.

We have to imbibe the wisdom of Christ which should tell you to leave the children alone. We are trying our level best for them.

These children are very intelligent, but they don’t want to sit down to study–they just want to be out. So we have to find ways and methods by which they have self-esteem, they think they have to do something in their life.

Many of the parents are writing sad letters that distress the children and teachers alike. Parents should write cheerful, encouraging letters to their children which will boost their self-esteem and help them to develop self-discipline. If presents are sent, send things not only for your child but for the whole school, and send things which are good for them–not chocolates and tinned food which are bad for their health. So if you really want your children to be strong, healthy, wise, sensible Sahaja Yogis, then you must have a wisdom of yourselves to be parents. They are all realized souls born, special blessings. So be kind to them, be nice to them…. Showing too much of love is a kind of harshness because it hurts other children. Also, it hurts your child because then child starts thinking, `I am something very special. I need not to study; I need not to do anything.’ There should be a balanced attitude towards the children…. With all these happenings one has to learn that we are changing the whole world. We are changing ourselves, and our children are going to come up to help us.

So today we are talking about our resurrection through these fourteen planes that are within us, one after another, and then we burst through all these and come out as beautiful lotuses. That’s what is Easter for–suggestive of eggs being offered and these eggs are offered so that these eggs can become the birds.