Foreword 

Greetings from Swabodhini!

April started with celebrations of World Autism Day on April 2nd, across all three of our centres. The day was filled with activities that highlighted and celebrated the unique abilities of our children. We also organized a workshop for parents focused on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, providing valuable insights and strategies to support their children.

Our students had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a musical event led by Ms. Vishaka Hari. They enjoyed singing along with her and enthusiastically answered her questions about the Harikatha, showcasing their knowledge and engagement.

Mr. Bharath from BumbleB Trust paid a visit to our Thiruvanmiyur campus, where he interacted with our staff and students, contributing to a day of shared experiences and learning. A delegation of nine members from the Global HR Leadership Team of Grundfos Pumps India Pvt Ltd, including Ms. Usha Subramaniyam, Country Head India, and Ms. Apoorva Manichandar, Manager CSR, visited our Thiruvanmiyur centre. They inspected the Popcorn unit, which was established with funds from the Grundfos “Poul Due Jensen Foundation’s People Awards” grant in 2023, and interacted with our staff. Our Trustees, Principal, and Centre Heads visited Worth Trust in Katpadi to explore opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). This visit was aimed at understanding and potentially integrating best practices for enhancing vocational training and employment opportunities for our students.

We are delighted to announce that our Founder and Managing Trustee, Mrs. Radha Ganesan, received the Vocational Excellence Award from the Rotary Club of Chennai Towers. This recognition celebrates her outstanding contributions and dedication to our mission.

Parent-teacher meetings were conducted at all three centres to discuss the progress of students during the 3rd term and throughout the academic year. The feedback from parents was overwhelmingly positive, reflecting the hard work and achievements of our students and staff.

The term concluded with celebrations of birthdays for students and staff at all three centres. This joyful occasion marked the end of the academic term, with students excitedly looking forward to their vacation. We anticipate their return in June, refreshed and ready for another year of learning and growth.

Meet you with fresh updates soon!

Best Regards,

Ms Nandini Priyakumari
Principal
Swabodhini School and Vocational Center for Special Children

We offered parents an overview on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in honour of World Autism Day. Mrs. Gayathri Sridhar conducted a very interesting session on CBT.

On 4th April our students actively participated in an interactive musical evening by Smt.Vishakha Hari (renowned Harikatha artist) conducted by Rotary Club of Chennai Bharathi in association with The Rotary Club of Chennai Legends, The Rotary club of Chennai Premier and Hamsa Rehab.

A Parent-Teacher meet was held at all our three centres to discuss the performance of the students. Parents are given a thorough CCE (Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation) Report encompassing the academic performance of students as well as their participation in extracurricular activities and general competence.

On 11th March, Swabodhini School and Vocational Centre for Special Children and Rotary Club of Madras conducted a “Free assessment camp” for children in and around Selaiyur.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Ravi, President of Rotary Club of Madras, Rtn Mr. Ranjit Pratap, Ms Vimaleswari & team, Director GMF, Ms Rinku, the founder of Chennai Volunteers and her team for facilitating the smooth conduct of the assessment.

9 colleagues from the Global HR Leadership team of Grundfos along with Ms.Usha Subramaniam, Country Head India, and Ms.Apoorva Manichandar, Manager CSR, visited Swabodhini’s Thiruvanmiyur centre on Monday, 15th April to interact with the management, staff and students and also to see the popcorn unit that was set up with the funds from Grundfos’ “Poul Due Jensen Foundation’s People Awards” grant in 2023.

On 23rd April our Trustees, Principal and Centre Heads visited “Worth Trust” an NGO which provides industrial training and employment for PWDs at Katpadi.

Dr Rajeev Matthew Thomas (from Hope Qatar) visited GNS with his son Ashwin. He also interacted with the students and had a fruitful discussion.

We are very proud to share that our Managing Trustee and founder Mrs Radha Ganesan received the vocational excellence award by Rotary club of Chennai Towers. We thank Rtn Binoy (President) and Ms. Aarthi Varanasi (Director of Vocational Excellence) and the team of Chennai Towers for this opportunity.

As usual we celebrated the birthdays of students and staff for the months of March and April.