The Management organized Induction Programme for the newly recruited staff on 27^th May, 2010 from 9:30 A.M to 12:30 P.M and Orientation Programme for all the members of staff of St. Mary’s College, Yousufguda, St. Mary’s Junior College, Basheerbagh and Sancta Maria International School, Gachibouli, Hyderabad on 28^th and 29^th May,2010 from 9:30 A.M to 4:15 P.M.

The Induction programme was conducted for all the newly recruited staff ( both teaching and non-teaching)  of all the three institutions. Mr. Ebenezer addressed the  staff in the first session. He focused mainly on the history and heritage of St. Mary’s institutions and their achievements during the past 28 years. He began with the Vision and Mission of St. Mary’s and continued with its achievements in academics, sports and in extra and co-curricular activities. He spoke elaborately about the achievements and placements of the alumni of St. Mary’s besides the activities and practices at St. Mary’s.

Dr. Joseph Christadoss addressed the staff in the second session. He spoke about the qualities of a great teacher. A teacher should learn to have ‘successful failures’ – failures from which one could learn. A great teacher is also one who builds a strong relationship with his/her students, is organized and is also a good ‘manager’ of the class. He also spoke about the importance of having a positive attitude towards work. He said, “We may not be able to do exactly what we love, but any of us can choose to love what we do. We can bring our best qualities to our work – it is our choice. If we can accomplish this, St. Mary’s will become an oasis of energy, love, flexibility, creativity and so on.”

 

The Orientation Programme for the teaching staff of the three institutions was held on 28^th and 29^th May, 2010.  On the first day, the Chairman Mr. Arogya Reddy addressed the staff during the first session and spoke about teachers and teaching. His emphasis was on commitment and dedication to the vocation of teaching. The Chairman’s address was followed by Mr. Shantaram’s motivational talk. Mr. Shantaram is the CEO of Intercon International Pvt. Ltd. a premier Search and Selection Firm based in Hyderabad. His focus was on the capacity of human mind, optimum utility of human potential, identification of barriers and overcoming them assets and liabilities of life and also on attitude. The bottom line was “ If you don’t use your abilities, you lose them.”

 

 Mrs. Ratnalekha Shetty, Principal, Sancta Maria International School continued the session with “Life skills for Teachers”. She spoke briefly about  life skills and interacted with the members of staff. One of the important points she made was “ Understand first to be understood “.

The second session was hosted by Mr. Vijay Shetty. He made the staff to take part in  “ An Exercise in Reflection” as part of which the staff were asked to write  the name of their ‘best’ teacher and his /her quality that impressed them most. Each member of staff was, then, asked to speak briefly about his/her favourite teacher. A similar exercise was also done for the worst teacher. 

On the second day, the first session began with Mr. Mahender Reddy’s address. While welcoming the newly inducted staff into St. Mary’s family, he spoke about St. Mary’s institutions, the staff, the activities and achievements during the previous academic year,   Management’s plans about Sancta Maria International School, South State Business School, introduction of new courses etc. He was glad about Intermediate results and appreciated the work of the admission counseling team. 

Prof. Sai Kumar, Head, Information Technology Division, Institute of Public Enterprise continued the session with his talk on teachers. Prof. Saikumar is an erudite professor with three decades of rich experience in academics, specializing in Information Technology. He spoke about the Fundamental Attributes of a Teacher and touched upon all that is expected of a teacher. He emphasized on all the relevant aspects of  teaching and drove home the point that a teacher should be a role model. He reminded the staff about the social responsibility of people in general and teachers in particular. He made the entire session lively with his down-to-earth treatment and with his sense of humorous . He concluded the session with his presentation on the role of parents in every individuals life and with a short quiz on Hyderabad . 

Mrs. Ratnalekha Shetty continued the session with ‘ Scaling Heights’. She made all the members of staff to contribution suggestions  that would make St. Mary’s institutions ‘scale greater heights’ in the near future. All the members wrote their views on pieces of paper and stuck them on the white board. Later, she consolidated all the ideas and suggestions and made a presentation on the same. She then, handed over the pieces of paper on which suggestions were made to Mr. Mahender Reddy, Director, for his perusal. 

During the second session Mr. Abhirama Krishna, Director, South State Business School, made all the members of staff do a team activity. The activity enabled the teams to display leadership qualities and team spirit. Mr. Abhirama Krishna drove home the point that in team activities it is the  Forming that comes first, then Storming, and then Norming and finally Performing.

The two-day Orientation Programme concluded with Mr. Mahender Reddy’s remarks and with a wrap up by Mr. Abhirama Krishna and Mr. Ebenezer.