Facilities

Pre-School units at Medavakkam and Velachery

The Kindergarten curriculum at TATVA rests on the foundation created by a warm, welcoming and nourishing environment in which children feel loved and cared for. The school day lasts for a maximum of 4 hours following which children should ideally be back home at the earliest. Keeping these in mind, we have chosen to locate our Pre-School units in the very residential areas in which children reside. We currently have two pre-primary units, one each in Medavakkam Velachery. Both premises are spacious bungalows with play areas inside and around the building sufficient for pre-schoolers. We have also created sand-pits and small gardening plots within both premises. In the kindergarten years, children need a lot of free-play and the environments provide them the space to engage in the same every day.

Nursery and Primary School Campus at Polachery

Our Nursery and Primary School campus is located at Polachery, a small hamlet 5 km to the west of Navalur (OMR). Located next to a large residential development, it is also flanked on 3 sides by vast open spaces that lend the campus its unique advantage – natural light and ventilation aplenty. The building is minimalist, occupying the lowest possible land coverage, leaving the maximum possible space available for children to play. In keeping with the principle of including games and free play rather than competitive sport in the children’s day, the play area is an open space that lends itself to a variety of games at the level of children in the Primary School years. A large and naturally shaded sand-pit right outside the Kindergarten classroom gives the little children the perfect place to spend their 1 hour of free-play first thing in the morning. The building includes 8 classrooms, a library, a presentation room, a lab equipped in sync with the Waldorf Science curriculum for the primary years, and administrative spaces. The covered roof provides a wonderful space for primary school children to engage in skating, which children of Grades 1 to 4 do twice a week for about an hour each time.

Main school campus (design) at Ponmar

Our proposed Grade School campus at Ponmar is planned as a spacious one located on 3 acres of land in Ponmar Village, 15 km from Velachery, 10 km from Sholinganallur, 14 km from Tambaram and 7 km from Medavakkam. The campus is being designed to accommodate around 600 children from Grade 1 to grade 12 and upto 150 when it is completed. The building is expected to be completed by the end of 2018 and is being designed by M/s Green Evolution who specialise in the design and construction of green buildings.

In keeping with TATVA’s philosophy of education being a joyful experience, the campus is being planned as a place that children look forward to coming to each day; a place that is interesting and where they feel free to learn and play without being constrained. And what, after all, is a school without an intimate connect to nature, the best teacher one can hope for? These are the requirements based on which the design for the new campus is being evolved. Over the years, the campus will develop its own green cover comprising a variety of native trees including fruit trees such as guava, custard apple, lime, jack-fruit, mango, sapota (chiku) and papaya, canopy trees and medicinal trees such those that such as neem, punga, peepal and others, and boundary plants like bamboo.

The design focuses on an organic, unrestrained visual and physical flow through the indoor and the outdoor environment reflecting the school’s philosophy of unconstrained learning. Thoughtful orientation of the buildings ensure adequate natural light and ventilation in all classrooms. Identifiable repetitive architectural patterns create a rhythm in the form of interesting ‘jaalis’, openings and other design features. The skating rink, an important aspect of physical education in the early years, is located centrally to serve as the hub of the campus. Other activity areas such as basketball courts, sand-pits for kabaddi, long and high jumps and kindergarten play, and open play areas for a variety of games spread throughout the campus will provide a multitude of learning opportunities for children.

Environmental sustainability is being chosen as a key aspect of the new campus that will leave a positive impact on children for a lifetime. Energy efficiency and water conservation are built into the design of the new campus. Rain water harvesting, waste water treatment using plants, renewable energy using solar photovoltaics, solid waste segregation and composting are some of the green initiatives planned within the campus which will also provide valuable learning opportunities. In order to support the science curriculum of the early years, a large space will be reserved for a paddy field and a vegetable farm. Working on these will also teach children the importance of self-sustenance in an urban environment.