HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Dear Readers

Welcome to the last issue of the Sathya Sai Education in Human Values UK email newsletter for 2007. Wishing you a year ahead filled with Love, Peace, Truth, Right Conduct and Non-violence.

This month:

The Making of a Mural

Visiting the Sathya Sai School of Leicester
Five-Day SSEHV Event in West London
Thought for the Day - The Present Moment
Story: The Slippery Slope
Resources Update
Training Update

If you have any feedback, or would like to share your experiences of SSEHV, please write to us.

Kind Regards,
The Editor

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The Making of a Mural

In the last issue we mentioned that Lark Beecham and Judith Bruni recently painted a mural 24m long by 1.8m tall in the car park of the Sathya Sai School in Leicester. This issue we are delighted to share some pictures of the beautiful painting which covers five panels, each one representing one of the five elements. The mural incorporates five inspiring quotations as well as images symbolising values such as wisdom, friendship, strength, protection and love, with the whole progressing from dawn at one end to dusk at the other.

Before - the prepared wall before the painting begins:

Part of the first panel representing the protection and wisdom provided by parents and guardians:

Lark at work on the first panel. The quotation reads: "Parents must feel that they are servants appointed by the Lord to tend the little souls that are born in their households":

The second panel emphasises the unity of all religions. The quotation reads: "Let the children realise that prayer is universal and that prayer in any language to any name reaches the same God":

The third panel depicts the sun shining on everyone:

The fourth panel (here not yet finished) depicts a beach scene with children playing in the waves and flying kites, representing friendship. The quotation reads: "Do you know what ABC means? Always Be in good Company"

The fifth panel (not shown) depicts a peaceful evening scene with a rainbow crossing the sea and swans silently gliding on a moonlit lake while stars - representing the wisdom of teachers - punctuate the darkness.

Both artists thoroughly enjoyed working on the mural with the help of children and teachers at the school. "The experience of being at the school and witnessing the peace in the faces of the children, being a part of their morning assembly and lunchtimes, and feeling the love and dedication of the teachers will go on and on inspiring me," said Lark. "I appreciate how blessed I am to have had this opportunity to be in such good company, with such generous and open hearted people."

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Visiting the Sathya Sai School of Leicester

By Subita Mahtani
First published in Love & Light

Our visit to the Sathya Sai School in Leicester was pre-empted with many high expectations, as we had heard so much about the school and its achievements. Well, all that we expected was true and so much more….

Our visit began with being welcomed by the beautiful mural which brilliantly shared pictures and quotes that inspire the students, teachers and parents of this human values school. It set the scene marvellously for what was yet to come.

There was a wonderful sense of peacefulness when walking into the school building;1 the wet rainy grey of the outside was immediately dispersed and replaced with a loving, warm, welcoming atmosphere. When we entered the hall where the assembly had started, the children were sitting lined up on mats in neat rows singing with beautiful voices, each group taking turn to sing flawlessly, very much synchronised, showing dedication, concentration and patient practice.

The teachers were sitting on the edges spread out evenly behind the children. Once assembly was finished the children turned around to face each teacher individually, giving both teacher and children a chance to greet each other. The exchange was loving, respectful and pure. When it came to our turn, even though we had only been there for a few minutes, there was a feeling of love and warmth that made us feel not like visitors, but as if we had always been there.

The first lesson we sat in on was focused on thinking about what you say to others, and how your words will make them feel. The lesson of harmony of thought word and deed was successfully delivered using interactive methods, discussion, and promotion of doing good. The children participated in a way that showed they were not only taking in the moral value of what was being taught, but the practical value as well, and were encouraged to apply it immediately amongst their peers.

Each lesson had a charm of its own. We experienced learning about biographies, role plays focussing on current events, IT and preserving the world's environment with the older year groups, while with the younger ones we heard about world leaders who are excellent role models, did puzzles, and watched angel arts and crafts. All the lessons were professional, interactive, inspiring and overflowing with human values, morals, ethics and high ideals.

Lunch was phenomenal to watch. Each class entered the lunch room silently, took their food, settled into their seat and continued to eat in silence. When finished they cleared up their table, asked permission to take a wet cloth, wiped their place and then quietly returned to their class room smiling from ear to ear, from eldest to smallest. We watched in proud amazement.

The new mobile classrooms were fantastic; they were spacious, bright, and clean and had large windows which allowed an abundance of natural sunlight to come in, creating an even warmer atmosphere of love and happiness. They are well suited for the age group and had model modernised amenities.

If we thought the children were having fun in their academic classes, we had yet to see where the real fun began. PE seemed to be everyone's favourite. They were so enthusiastic to set up, make teams, play the sport and then help clear up as well. There was lots of excitement in the room, and when asked who wanted to be the leader every single hand went up. We were amazed by the confidence and eagerness to assist, as well as the easy manner with which they accepted responsibility.

Each and every aspect of the school encompassed love, respect, understanding, happiness and enjoyment, just to mention a small number of the attributes. Usha, Hoe and their team offer a wide range of talents and expertise as well as dedication. Each individual teacher gives so much of themselves, embodying a calm, thoughtful and loving demeanour as well as maintaining a very professional manner. We sincerely thank the entire faculty for their warm, welcoming hospitality and for making our visit such a wonderful experience.

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Five-Day SSEHV Event in West London

During the October half-term, around 80 local children attended a five-day SSEHV event at a primary school in North West London. A group of volunteers lead by the camp co-ordinator Joyce Power engaged the children in values-based activities including drama, singing, story-telling, out-door play and sports.

The camp was visited by local education officials. One of these was Maggie Coates, Cluster Co-ordinator for the region, who commented, "My observation would be that the camp is a wonderful experience for the children and for the volunteers. The blend of activities means that every child gets the chance to shine and the positive feedback given during the day builds their belief in themselves…The day that I visited the camp was promoting the value of truth by gently asking the children to consider this quality as they took part in activities during the day. The volunteers who ran the camp came from many different racial groups, were male and female, young and old, and so provided a range of different role models for the children. The volunteers were a wonderful group of people, so positive and caring in their outlook and utterly dedicated to the happiness and well being of the children in their care."

Another official, Sukhi Cooper, Extended Education Co-ordinator, remarked, "I was very impressed with the whole set up of your camp. The day was well organsied and the activities, whilst enjoyable for the children, all embedded the human value for the day very clearly.

"I went away feeling the camp was safe, secure and very empowering. I think it was amazing how all the pupils were engaged and the evident calmness amongst them and the staff. I wish I could have seen the whole week."

Prabodh Mistry, Sathya Sai Schools Co-ordinator, also visited the camp, noting: "The assembly was excellent and the children responded so well to Dipak. Then we went to the drama class for four to five year olds that was conducted by Bahnoon; she brought out brave young adults performing almost impromptu in front of us. Then we went to the class for seven year olds conducted by Ann. The whole lesson - 45 minutes? - went so quickly and every single child was engaged in all of the activities - and so silently!"

The camp took place in a local primary school which provided its premises free of charge for the purpose.

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Thought for the Day

"I cannot predict the future.
I cannot change the past.
I have just the present moment.
I must treat it as my last."

Anon

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Story

The Slippery Slope
By Ann McMail

Value:
PEACE: Being kind brings peace of mind
Related values: faithfulness, gratitude, self-acceptance, harmony, understanding

Thomas and Dafydd were friends and were in the same class together. When Dafydd had his ninth birthday, he invited most of the class to his party. Thomas was having a great time dancing with his girlfriend Sian, but Dafydd was jealous. Halfway through the party Dafydd played a trick on Thomas, he put a huge spider down his back! (That poor spider!) Now Thomas had already told Dafydd how scared of spiders he was, so it was really unkind of Dafydd to do this to him. He was so frightened that he cried, shouted and danced around looking really daft but he couldn't help it. He was so scared that his heart felt as if it would jump out of his body! Thomas was glad when the party finished and he could go home.

On Monday he had to face the whole class and, worst of all, Sian. He felt so embarrassed that he felt sick. He had to keep swallowing to keep down the really nervous feeling that he had. Dafydd laughed at him and called him 'Chicken'. He made his arms flap up and down like the wings of a chicken and he made clucking noises. Thomas was starting to feel very upset, until he caught sight of Sian who smiled at him. That somehow made him feel much better about himself.

About a week later Sian and Thomas were walking up the 'Slippery Slope' together. This was a steep part of the mountain just behind Thomas's house. His mum would watch them from her kitchen window sliding down on plastic bags. It was brilliant! It was great except for the fact that there was a big drop at the bottom. If you were clever you could steer either left or right to avoid it. But if you weren't very good at it you would go right over the edge straight into the brambles - OUCH!!!

As Thomas and Sian walked past the brambles and trees they heard someone crying, a sad whimpering cry. They peered into the brambles and saw a round white face covered in dirt, tears and scratches staring back at them. Guess who it was? It was Dafydd! Now I think if I had been Thomas and Sian, I might have laughed at him or even been tempted to leave him there with his bottom stuck in the bushes. But Thomas stretched down to help him. Sian pulled the brambles away from Dafydd's face while Thomas pulled until Dafydd was standing on the slope. He looked down at his feet, because he was ashamed of how spiteful he had been.

Do you know, Thomas never told anyone about Dafydd crying or how he helped him? And now the first two boys to run into the yard together at break-time are always Dafydd and Thomas. Dafydd is very lucky to have a friend like Thomas to whom he had been unkind but who, even so, could be a good friend to him in return.

Questions
1 How did you feel when you heard this story?
2 Why do you think Dafydd was unkind to Thomas?
3 Have you ever been embarrassed about something you have done?
4 Do you think Thomas was right to help Dafydd even though Dafydd had been very unkind to him?
5 Why didn't Thomas tell anyone that Dafydd had been crying?
6 What lesson did Dafydd learn?

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Resources Update

Teachers Workbook 1 for Ages 6 to 7 has been revised and updated. All 26 lesson plans contained in the new book are available to download for free in the Resources section of our website.

 

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Training Update

All SSEHV courses are free to attend, although a refundable deposit of £10 may be required at registration (this is to cover photocopying costs of the extensive handouts provided at the course for you to keep). Details of all our training courses, together with contact information and dates can be found on our website at www.ssehv.org.uk, in the Training section.

The next courses are:

Location	Date	Module	Contact
Pinner, NWLondon - Foundation Course	20th Mar 08	1	Carole Alderman
	21st	2
	22nd	3
	23rd	4
	24th	5
	25th	6
Pinner, NWLondon or Broadstairs, Kent - Foundation Course	3rd Aug 08	1	Carole Alderman
	4th	2
	5th	3
	6th	4
	7th	5
	8th	6

If there is no course scheduled in your area but you would like there to be one, this can be organised, as long as there are a minimum of ten people who would like to attend. Please contact the editor for more information.

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