Page 1

Xaviers Hazaribag Times

Dear Xaverians and Friends, We are very encouraged by the warm reception the first issue the newsletter received from the alumni/alumnae and wellwishers of the school. As you share the newsletter for the second quarter for the academic year with your friends and batchmates you will also help us enlarge our mailing list by forwarding their email addresses to the School.

Oct. 2011

With the blessings of the School, an ex- student has been working generously to set up the website www.hoxa.org to facilitate networking and interaction among the present and past students and teachers of the School. I request all to check out this site. The first two issues of this newsletter as well as Jubileerelated communications have been posted at this site. With warm regards.... Fr. P.J. James, S.J.

State Bank Quiz

As part of State Bank Day celebration a quiz competition was held at St. Xavier's. The programme was jointly prepared and conducted by the teachers of Mount Carmel School and St. Xavier's (Mrs. Amrita Sahay and Mr. Subroto Banerjee). Two teams each from both the schools took part in the competition. Carmel School won the trophy. The prizes were given away by the Regional Manager of the State Bank, Mr. Sanjay Singh, in the presence Mr. Anjani Kumar, the Manager of the Personal Banking Branch, Matwari.

ASSET Week
To promote learning with understanding and learning with joy, the school introduced the skill-based diagnostic test, ASSET (Assessment of Scholastic Skills through Educational Testing) in 2008. The tests are taken in English, Mathematics, and General Science by the students of Classes III-IX. ASSET is conducted by the research organization, Educational Initiatives (EI), Ahmedabad. This year the tests were taken during the first week of August. In the run up to the test the week preceding it was celebrated as ASSET Week. A student each from classes V-IX was selected as ASSET Ambassador. They coordinated the activities of the ASSET week which comprised of various competitions including a most enjoyable quiz in which teams were teacherstudent pairs.

Orientation Programme for Senior Students

For the second year in running, during the month o f J u l y, s o m e r e c e n t graduates of the school came together to organise a series of career guidance sessions for the students of Std XXII. The topics covered included general streaming, interview presentation, cr itical th in k in g , tes t preparation and options in Engineering, Medical Sciences, Management, Law, etc. Ankit Kumar (Electronic and C o m m u n i c a t i o n Engineering , Manipal Inst of Technology, Kamataka), AtifNabil Mechanical Engineering (National lnst of Technology, Trichy), Nilashish Dey (MBBS, BSMC, Bankura, Kolkata) , Rajarshi Maiti, (Aerospace Engineering (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore) were the chief motivators of the group which called itself united minds.

New Teachers
We were blessed with the services of Ms. Arundhati Sen, daughter of the School's first day student, Mr. Bikram Sen. She stepped in to fill the void left by the sudden resignation of Mr. P.M. Singh and fulfilled the role of an English teacher with much devotion and enthusiasm. She had to leave after serving for five weeks because of prior commitments, but only after a suitable replacement has been found in Ms. Monalika Kumar. Ms. Kumar fitted into the school community quickly and effectively.

Page 2

Xaviers Hazaribag Times

Loyola Day
Loyola Day was celebrated on July 29 or 30 by different sections of the school. On July 29th a group dance competition was held in the Middle School. The next morning the senior classes had a solo dance competition. Both the competitions were preceded by an informative and entertaining special assembly presented by the Loyola House on the life of their Patron. The finals of the inter-house basket ball tournaments were played on the 30th. By winning both the boys' and girls' championships the Loyola House proved that it was their day.

Oct. 2011
Vicariate Tournament
the four events were played at St. Xavier's on August 14. The event concluded with a colourful march past involving all the 25 participating schools and nearly 1000 students. Prof. M.L. Das, former Pro Vice Chancellor of Vinoba Bhave University, inspired the students with a motivational speech. Along with Mr. B. S. Rathod of the State Bank, he gave gave away the prizes.

The annual tournament for the middle schools of Hazaribag Catholic Vicariate was hosted jointly by St. Robert's Girls School (Volleyball for Std VII-VIII girls), St. Robert's Boys Plus Two High School (Std VII-VIII boys' Football) and St. Xavier's (Both Kho-Kho for Junior Girls and Football for Junior Boys). The school campus bore a festive look with about 600 children of Classes I-VI, mostly from village schools. Intermittent rains on all the three days of the games did not dampen the enthusiasm of the young students. The finals of all

Anna Hazare Effect

On August 18, a group of youngsters carrying banners and flags of Akhil B h a r a t i y a Vi d y a r t h i Parishad (ABVP), forced their way into the school. They manhandled a security guard, tore his trousers, injured him and went up to t h e P r i n c i p a l ' s o ff i c e demanding that the School should be closed in support of the anti-corruption agitation of Anna Hazare. The Principal expressed his concern for the security of the young students who should be picked up by their guardians at the usual time. The intruders were satisfied only when the bell went off for the 2:00 pm break. The Junior School and Commerce students usually go home at this time.

Teachers Day The students of the 15 or 25 years of continued Junior School and Middle service to the school were School greeted their honoured with the teachers in special morning presentation of special th assemblies on 5 September. mementos. Thereafter all the teachers gathered for a variety entertainment program organized by the Prefects and presented by the senior students. On the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee all the teachers who had completed

Page 3

Xaviers Hazaribag Times

Independence Day
As customary, the flag hoisting was done by the School Captain, Abhinav H e m b r o m . T h e Vi c e Captain, Astha Jain gave a speech. A prize distribution ceremony followed. The special attractions were the prizes for the best academic achievement of 2010-11. These prizes, sponsored by HOXA, were given away by HOXAn Hement Shikarwar, an advocate at the Ranchi High Court. To promote reading among students special prizes were introduced this year. They were given to the best reader and the student who made the greatest effort in reading in each section of Std IV-X. The national day celebration was concluded with a patriotic song by the school choir. The wet grounds prevented the dance club from presenting the items they had prepared for the occasion. Syed Asif Hussain, Aria and Prachi Yash represented the School at the Inter-Jesuit Schools Elocution and Speech Contest at St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata on August 27. They were escorted by Mrs. Soma Choudhury and Br. Isidore Dungdung. We were placed at the 6th position overall

Oct. 2011

Inter-Jesuit Schools Elocution and Speech Contest

Fr. Kevin Grogan Memorial Football Tournament

In the Diamond Jubilee Year, we offered to host the 31 st Fr. Kevin Grogan Memorial Football Tournament out of turn instead of St. Xavier's Bokaro. Ten Catholic school teams from Palamau, Latehar, Bokaro, Ramgarh and Hazaribag districts participated. St. Joseph's School Mahuadanr won the championship beating Masi Marsal School, Charhi by 1-0 in the final. Fr. Bill Dwyer, S. J., former Principal of St. Xavier's graced the final as the chief guest and gave away the prizes.

Parents' Meetings
Every Saturday during June-August classwise parents-teachers meetings are held. Parents are given an opportunity to bring to the attention of the teachers and School administration their concerns regarding the school-life of their children. These meetings provide for important dialogue between the parents and the School. Besides these common meetings, parents are also invited from time to time to have one-to-one meetings with teachers regarding the growth and development of their children. Academic and behavioural aspects are given special attention. A parents' consultative committee (PCC) is also active in the school. This committee meets several times a year offering valuable suggestions for the well-being and improvement of the school. A meeting of the PCC took place on September 4.

Page 4

Xaviers Hazaribag Times

Diamond Jubilee Interschool Competitions
On September 9 an interschool Quiz Competition for students of Std. VI and VII was conducted by Mr. K. N. L. Das and Z. N. Philips with the support of Mr. Krishna Kant Mishra, Sanjeev Kumar, Mrs. Afroz Ahmed. Students from nine schools participated in the event. St. Xavier's team secured the maximum number of points among the five schools which were in the final round. While the winners were given their individual prizes, the trophy was given to Mount Carmel School as a good-will gesture by the hosts. Jack n Jill School was placed in the third position. The Principal gave away the prizes. The following day students from 12 Hazaribag schools took part in an on the-spot Painting Competition organized by Mr. N. I. Jaffrey with the assistance of Mr. Binay Mohan Choudhury, Mrs. Tripti Das and Mr. Krishna Kant Mishra. Mr. Peter Shave, former art teacher of the School, who was also a judge at the competition, gave away the prizes. Mount Carmel girls bagged about half the prizes, St. Xavier's took a third and all other schools together shared the remaining prizes.

Oct. 2011
Keeping the campus clean and recycling waste materials are objectives that are getting greater attention in the school community.

Gardening and Compost Making

The heightened
ecological consciousness on the campus is reflected even by the Junior School children. They have taken up gardening. The senior students are involved in planting and taking care of trees. The latest initiatives include making of compost.

Intra School Competitions

Aug 17: Patriotic Songs for Std. II and III. Jul 1: Essay Competitions to select the best entries for the Inter Jesuit Elocution, Speech and Essay Contest. July - Aug: Hindi and English Elocution for Std Prep-XII and Urdu Elocution for Std IV-X on different dates. Jul 29-30:Dance Competitions: Std IV-XII. August: Quiz Competitions: Std II-VII on different dates.

Scouts: President's Award

Abhijeet Kumar of Std X was one of the two Jharkhand scouts chosen to receive the President's award this year.

Semester Exams and Holidays

The first term exams began on September 22nd for Classes IV-XII and on 26th for Classes Prep III. The exams ended on the 30th for all classes except XI - XII who finished a day later. Oct. 3-8 were Durga Puja holidays.