WORKSHOPS AUGUST 2021
SESSION – 1
Date: 13th August 2021
Topic: Peer Pressure
Conducted by: Part 1. Swati Madhu Sudanan,Vrinda Goel and Khushi Arora
Part 2. Ishi Pandey and Shubhangi Petshali
The session started with everyone’s common experiences with peer pressure, be it internalised or exerted by family, friends or the society. Proceeding, the participants talked about the various settings they have experienced peer pressure in and if it ever had a positive effect on their personality and/or academics. They also talked about instances where they resisted this pressure and instances where they gave into it. Concluding, all participants described various coping mechanisms for dealing with peer pressure and things they do to keep from burning out.
SESSION – 2
Date: 20th August, 2021
Topic: Discipline: Rules or Restrictions?
Conducted By: Part 1. Swati Madhu Sudanan, Vrinda Goel and Khushi Arora
Part 2. Ishi Pandey and Shubhangi Petshali
This session was conducted to talk about unreasonable rules and norms that have been set up by the society in the name of discipline. We’re expected to abide by these even though, at times, they’re discriminatory and stifle our expression. This topic struck a chord with many members. They expressed that such restrictions curb their identity and hinder their personality’s growth. They also went on to share their coping mechanisms and how they raise their voice against such unreasonable rules.
Everybody spoke with conviction and passion. The session proved to be triumphant as we all resonated with each other.
SESSION – 3
Date: 27th August, 2021
Topic: Superstitions or a little stitious?
Conducted by: Part 1. Khushi Arora and Shubhangi Petshali
Part 2. Ishi Pandey and Swati Madhu Sudanan
The session began with a brief introduction to the topic. The participants from class eleventh engaged in an interesting interaction about different superstitious beliefs in various cultures. Several issues were touched upon; from casteism to religious & gender discrimination, and their perpetual impact on the society. The members clearly expressed their distaste for certain superstitions and often sought to find logical explanations for many.
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BAYAAN- ORIENTATION SESSION
Date and Time: 11:00 a.m.; July 24, 2021
The school’s first student-led and student-founded club- BAYAAN, organised an orientation session for its members of classes 11 and 12. The purpose was to apprise the new members of the functioning of the club. The session was special as it was graced by the presence of Principal Ma’am, Ms Preeti Sangwan and the School Counsellor who is also the club’s mentor Ms Garima Seth.
A video encapsulating Bayaan’s vision, aim and feats was shown to the audience. After this, Principal ma’am addressed the students and motivated them to unabashedly be who they are and stand for what they believe in. Garima ma’am also interacted with the club’s members and encouraged them to have healthy and mature conversations.
So that everyone was better acquainted with one another, an ice-breaker round was conducted. Everyone had to talk about a character (from a book, show or movie) to whom they related and an issue they felt needed to be discussed on the platform that Bayaan provides. These prompts saw a diversity of meaningful responses. Everyone participated with great zeal and enthusiasm.
This was followed by a question and answer round, wherein the floor was kept open for any queries or doubts that the students wanted to be addressed.
The triumphant session came to an end with Chahat Bhanot proposing the vote of thanks.
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WORKSHOPS MAY 2021
| Date | Topic | Conducted By | Attended By | Learning Objectives |
| 15th May 2021 | “Be kind to your Mind” | Bayaan Club members – Chahat Bhanot and Sahaana Ramesh | Bayaan members of class 11th and 12th | The Discussion session on the topic ‘Be kind to your mind’ was conducted with the aim of sharing our fears and frustrations during the second wave of the pandemic. During the course of the session, several members spoke about the uncertainty of the situation and how each one of them is coping with it. The session proved to be extremely interactive and fruitful. |
| 22nd May 2021 | “Digital Minimalism” | Bayaan Club members – Vanshika Mahajan and Sahaana Ramesh | Bayaan members of class 11th and 12th | The session was conducted to talk about a tremendous increase in screen time which has a dire impact on our mental and physical health. The members spoke about how social media and the internet is merely a form of escapism during these truly difficult times. They went on to talk about solitude deprivation (a state in which you spend close to zero time alone with your own thoughts and feelings free from input from other minds) and how each one of them is making an effort to reduce their screen time and putting their energies into something that is beneficial to their mental and physical health. |
| 29th May 2021 | “Not everyone is a type” | Bayaan Club members – Chahat Bhanot and Sahaana Ramesh | Bayaan members of class 11th and 12th | The session emphasized on the gender stereotypes and how the society has set different rules for people belonging to different genders. Students shared their personal experiences with gender stereotypes, the impact it has had on their mindset and how on numerous occasions they have tried to break out of these stereotypes to carve a true identity for themselves. We collectively concluded on a note that these beliefs have been around us since ages but first step to break out of them is to be aware and stand up against these stereotypes together as a community. |
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PROJECT COVID SAHAY- A BAYAAN offshoot
PROJECT COVID SAHAY commenced on 5th May, 2021 as an initiative by BAYAAN, Cambridge School, Noida aimed at gathering and amplifying verified Covid resources through a team of student volunteers responsible for self-verifying Covid helplines and putting out only authentic contacts to be availed as per need.
Within two days of coming into action, SAHAY was able to gather and organize a team of 24 volunteers comprising of students from classes 11 and 12 and few of our very own Cambridge alumnae determined to rise to the occasion and contribute to helping the community in these testing times. In this endeavor of ours, we were also joined by the combined efforts of two very compassionate faculty members Ms. Sunetra Banerjee and Mr. Gunjan Jha and together PROJECT SAHAY was able to put in 200+ hours of meaningful hard work devoted to serving the society in the form of-
- Maintaining a spreadsheet of systematically laid out and segregated lists of Covid helplines across the country supplied with all essential details that a patient may need, re-verified and updated every 7 hours.
- Providing self-verified leads for :
- Oxygen cylinders/refills/concentrators
- Hospital beds
- Home ICUs set-ups
- Plasma
- Medicines
as well as domestic services such as :
- Home-cooked food delivery to home quarantined patients.
- Reaching out to the people in need across the country by maintaining and constantly updating our twitter handle @SahayProject.
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Bayaan – Discussion
Date: 16/1/21
Topic- Menstruation- The classic case of ovary-acting
Acknowledging the biological fact of menstruation is one thing, but talking about it openly is quite another. For generations, menstruation has often been a hushed and secretive matter, one rife with taboos and mistaken beliefs. This lack of education and openness can take a toll on the mental and physical health of women and girls. This session was aimed at initiating discussion and much the needed dialog about an issue as natural as menstruation.
This session was conducted for class 11th members only i.e. for batches indigo, blue and violet which were moderated by; Shreya, Vanshika, Sahaana and Chahat.
The session began with each of the members sharing their personal experiences on how they were educated about menstruation. Then we talked about the misconceptions or superstitions young girls are met with due to societal barriers placed on women. The members got open and vulnerable about the difficulties and stigmas they had to face.
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BAYAAN, established on October 22’20, Cambridge School Noida’s first student-founded and student-led club, aims to provide a safe and secure platform for students to have open and honest conversations on a variety of topics, especially those which are often not talked about.
It aims to make the school a place for authentic self-expression and normalize conversations on subjects that are considered to be tabooed by society, by providing an open judgement-free environment where Cambridgites can speak up for themselves and for others and where they can connect with each other in a meaningful way while learning the art of respecting one another. It provides a space for intellectual growth, emotional well-being and voicing out the societal issues which are an integral part of our lives.
This club has conducted various sessions on a plethora of topics, some of which include:
Mental Health – Be kind to your mind,
Digital Minimalism, Menstruation – The classic case of ovary acting,
The Importance of Sex Education and
Gender Inequality and Stereotyping.
In addition to this, BAYAAN has initiated a number of projects like:
Project Muskaan – which helped students to deliver a personalized message as a gift to the ones who showed light at the end of the tunnel in these tough times and
Project Covid Sahay– a BAYAAN offshoot, started to offer support in these times of need. It successfully provided a one-stop service for verifying and organizing COVID-19 resources for patients and their families.
In the future, BAYAAN plans to expand its reach by taking up more and more epoch-making initiatives, informative workshops while always continuing to provide a safe, secure and non-judgmental platform for Cambridgites.
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