FAREWELL CEREMONY CLASS XII (2023-24)
The Farewell Ceremony for Class XII students was held on 27th January 2024 in the school auditorium in the presence of teachers, parents and students of Class XII. The programme commenced with a special assembly and the release of the Class of 2024 Yearbook by the Principal, Ms Esther Mani.
The Head Boy, Vikram Khanna, Head Girl Pranavi Jayanth and other student representatives of Class XII reminisced about their years in the school and expressed their gratitude to their teachers and peers. The Class Teachers shared memorable anecdotes of the last two years and acknowledged the special talents and contribution to class and school activities of various students. Some of the parents also shared their appreciation of how their children had grown and matured over the years and recognised the role of activity teachers, support staff and bus drivers in the growth journey of their wards.
Mementos were presented to the students by the Principal and the Class Teachers. The students of Class XI presented heart-warming songs and a special dance performance for their seniors. Some of the best moments of students’ life in school were revisited through a PPT presentation prepared by teachers especially for the occasion. The Principal, Ms Esther Mani addressed the students and reminded them to respect themselves and have faith in their abilities. She urged them to practise honesty as they prepared to write their Board exams and wished them well for a successful life ahead.
The programme concluded with the solemn ceremony of the lighting of candles accompanied by the choir’s mellifluous rendering of the inspiring hymn, ‘Carry your candle…Go light your world’. A special prayer of blessing was said for the students and parents. The programme ended with the singing of the school song and the day came to an emotional close for Class XII batch of 2023-2024.
REPUBLIC DAY-2024
The school celebrated the 75th Republic Day on 26th January, 2024, with the unfurling of the National Flag by the Principal, Ms. Esther Mani. The programme was attended by students, parents and staff members.
The Head Girl, Pranavi Jayanth, in her address, emphasised on the role of the students who as architects of the future, must lead the country with the right values and be vigilant custodians of our democracy. Students of Primary School presented an inspiring patriotic song promising to serve and protect the nation with education as their strength.
The Principal applauded the unwavering spirit of the Indian soldiers, farmers and all those who sacrifice comfort and work tirelessly for the progress and safety of the country. She encouraged everyone to embrace each moment of their life with positivity and be thankful for God’s abundant blessings.
SYNERGY 2023 – THE ANNUAL ATHLETIC MEET
The Annual Sports Meet of Somerville School, Vasundhara Enclave, Synergy 2023, was held on 7th and 8th December 2023 at the Commonwealth Games Village Sports Complex, on the theme of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals related to Climate Action and Good Health. The Chief Guest on Day 1 was Mrs Mary George, President of the Lott Carey Baptist Mission in India. On Day 2, we were honoured to have as Chief Guest, Dr Ranganai Matema, from UNICEF, India. The two-day event was attended by several distinguished guests, members of the Management, parents and alumni.
The Primary school events began on 7th December with the March Past led by the Head Boy and Head Girl of the Junior School and students of Class 5. The Senior school events held on 8th January commenced with a March past led by the Head Boy and Head Girl of the Senior School and students of Classes 10 and 12. The Sports Captains took the oath of fair play on behalf of the athletes. Meritorious sportspersons of the school participated in the Torch Run and lit the Synergy 2023 flame.
On both days, students performed a variety of drills and engaging field presentations that entertained the audience and also demonstrated the students’ fitness, coordination and discipline. The Taekwondo presentations were a visual treat as the students of the junior and senior school displayed their impressive martial art skills and gravity-defying pyramid formations.
The athletic events saw intense competition as participants from the four Houses vied with each other for the coveted medals in 100m, 200m, 400m and Relay races. The Best Athletes’ trophies in the Sub-Junior category were awarded to Pranaya Bhandari, VD (Ashoka House) and Tejas Manthan Singh,VB ( Ashoka House). The Best Athletes in the Junior Category were Ojaswi Dadwal,VIIE (Tagore House) and Aniket Beniwal, VIIIB ( Tagore House). The trophies for Best Athletes in the Senior category were won by Vishakha Chandran, XIA (Akbar House) and John Paul Jaison, XIIE (Tagore House).
The school also honoured students who had distinguished themselves at National and International events – Aarit Kapil, IIIC (Chess), Saaransh Pandey, VIIIA and Vaibhav Tiwari, VIIA (Badminton), Tejas Sharma, VIIIA, Ananya Prakash, XD and Vaanya Prakash, XC (Taekwondo).
Gandhi House won the trophy for the Best Marching Contingent and the trophy for the Best House in Sports was won by Ashoka House.
SENIOR SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAMME 2023
The Senior School held Christmas celebrations on 20 December, 2023, in the school auditorium. The auditorium was beautifully decorated with banners, hand-made chandeliers and wreaths making the atmosphere joyful. Students from Classes VI to XII attended the programme.
The programme began with melodious Christmas songs sung by the choir, including solo, duet, trio and quartet performances. Students from Classes VII to IX enacted the Christmas story in the form of a news report – ‘Hope News: A Bethlehem Adventure Unfolds – by SSVE TV,’ showcasing reporters uncovering the mysterious tale of a new king’s arrival on earth via encounters with the innkeeper, shepherds, angels, King Herod, the three Wise men and Mary. The presentation also included a soulful lullaby sung by Mary and a spirited dance performance by students of Class VIII.
The audience joining the choir in singing Christmas carols, adding festivity to the celebrations.
SCINTILLATIONS 2023
Somerville School, Vasundhara Enclave, organised Scintillations, an Inter-School Science Competition on 3rd November 2023. The competition comprised two events -Scientopia and Technotopia.
Eight schools from East Delhi participated in the competition. The Chief Guest for the event was Mrs. Mary George, President, Lott Carey Baptist Mission in India. The event was judged by eminent judges, Dr. U.K. Jetley, Vice Chairman, Lajpat Rai College Society, Dr. M. Salome John, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, Ram Lal Anand College, DelhiUniversity and Dr. David Stephen Lall, Research Scientist in the field of Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage at the National Centre of Excellence, IIT Bombay.
The topic for Scientopia was ‘Great Scientists of Yesteryears.’ Each team was represented by three participants from Classes IX and X. The event comprised a Quiz and a Caricature – cum talk competition based on six great scientists, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Dmitri Mendeleev, Madam Marie Curie, Sir Isaac Newton and Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose. The winner of Scientopia was Somerville School, Vasundhara Enclave and First Runner-up was Somerville School, Greater Noida.
In Technotopia, participating students drawn from Classes XI and XII, presented a symposium on the topic, ‘Science in 2050’ The topics for the Symposium were:
1. Improving Human Health through Synthetic Biological Systems.2. How do you envision Green Energy in the Domestic Context?3. Pulverising Plastic Pollution with Chemistry of the future.
Somerville School, Vasundhara Enclave bagged the First Position and the Runner-up team was from Somerville School, Noida.
Somerville School, Vasundhara Enclave was declared the Overall Best Team. Being the host school, the trophy was awarded to the Runner-up team, Somerville School, Noida.
The Chief Guest, Mrs. Mary George addressed the gathering and emphasized the importance of scientific temper amongst students. Dr. David Lall motivated students to seek scientific knowledge beyond their textbooks. Mrs. Annapurani Balaji, PGT Chemistry delivered the vote of thanks.
GRANDPARENTS’ DAY
Grandparents are a family’s greatest treasure, the greatest storytellers and the keepers of traditions. To honour them, Grandparents’ Day was organized on 15th & 16th September 2023, to which grandparents of all the students of Pre School and Pre Primary were invited. The programme started with a prayer and a welcome song, ‘You are my sunshine’. It was followed by a speech by Noorvi Mittal, a student of Pre-Primary. The students dedicated a lovely poem to their grandparents followed by a dance performance. This was followed by activities in which the grandparents participated such as the game, ‘Identify the Song’ and a ramp walk in which they participated with great zeal and enthusiasm. Each winner was given a plant as a token of appreciation. The children also presented a souvenir made by them to their grandparents. The grandparents were touched and overwhelmed and some of them shared words of wisdom and appreciation for the school and the staff for organizing an event. The programme concluded with the clicking of pictures of the grandparents with their grandchild. The event was most memorable and a huge success.
SPIC MACAY VIRASAT 2023
Lecture Demonstration by Pandit Abhay Rustum SoporiSomerville School Vasundhara Enclave and SPIC MACAY, presented a santoor recital by the acclaimed santoor player, Pandit Abhay Rustum Sopori, under the SPIC MACAY VIRASAT SERIES -2023, on 5th October2023, in the school. The programme was attended by the Principal, Ms. Esther Mani, Vice Principal, Dr Pratima Margaret Lall, teachers and students.
Pandit Abhay Rustum Sopori, accompanied by Shri Chanchal Singh and Ms.Poushali Dutta, were welcomed by the Principal, Ms. Esther Mani and the Vice Principal, Dr. Pratima Margaret Lall. The programme commenced with the lighting of the lamp by the artists and the Principal, amidst chanting of Shlokas. This was followed by a short instrumental presentation by the school orchestra.
Panditji demonstrated the different parts of a santoor and explained how it is related to Shaivism. He also talked about its interesting history, and the contribution of the Sopori family to Indian classical music.
Pandit Abhay Soporiji began the recital with Alaap in Raag Bheem, followed by Jod- Jhala and the Gat. The audience also sang along with him, the Alankar, Sargam, Alaap and a souful Tarana. This opportunity helped them open their minds to the beautuful world of Indian Classical music . He introduced students to the rich tradition of India . The students learned how permutations and combinations in Mathematics can be effectively used to create combinations of swaras(musical notes). The students were completely mesmerised by the skilful and captivating performance by the artists.
As the programme concluded, Panditji interacted with the students and took questions from them, addressing their queries regarding their area of interest.
The vote of thanks was presented by the Principal. She thanked the artists for providing students a valuable learning experience and presented token of appreciation on behalf of the school.
PLANTATION DRIVE REPORT-28th AUGUST 2023
Van Mahotsav was celebrated by Somerville School, Vasundhara Enclave on 28th August 2023. Around 45 students from Classes IX to XII participated in the event and planted 30 saplings of native trees such as Ziziphus (Ber), Cassia fistula (Amaltas), Saraca asoka (Ashoka), Butea monosperma (Palash) and Bauhinia variegata (Kachnar) in DDA park, Vasundhara Enclave. The drive was organised with the support of the Area Councillor, Ms. Muneesh Dedha, Vice Principal, Dr Pratima Margaret Lall, along with two teachers, Mr. Deepak Sharma and Ms. Anu Singh.
The students took the initiative to adopt the plants and pledged to take care of them. The activity helped the students to become more sensitive towards the environment and contribute towards the development of forest cover in urban areas.
Students carried colourful posters and banners prepared under the guidance of the Art and Craft Department to create awareness about the drive amongst the residents of the area.
ENROUTE 2023 – INTER SCHOOL COMMERCE COMPETITION
‘Comcord’, the Commerce Club of the school, hosted its fifth Inter-School Commerce Fest, ENROUTE 2023 on 25thAugust 2023, which saw keen and creative participation from Commerce and Economics students from 13 renowned schools of Delhi and the NCR region.
The Conveners of Enroute 2023 were Shriyanshi Aggarwal of Class XII C and Juliet Treesa Jose of Class XII B. The event was inaugurated by Mr. Thomas T Roy, the Superintendent and Secretary/Treasurer of the LCBM in India.
Enroute 2023 comprised two competitive events.
1. Marketing Teaser- The Triple Connection – People, Prosperity and the Planet: Finding sustainable solutions keeping in mind the three P’s.
The participants competed to look beyond traditional endorsement practices and develop products with multi-promotional strategies keeping in mind the needs of the changing market.
This event was judged by Mr. George P Varghese, Art Director at Basic 4 Advertising Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. Bikash Anand, Business Head Ecommerce, Blue Dart-North.
The following schools won the Winner and the Runner-up positions:
| POSITION | NAME OF SCHOOL | NAME OF PARTICIPANTS |
| WINNER | Delhi Public School, Noida | 1. Sonakshi Raghuwanshi 2. Angela Arora 3. Aditya Dube 4. Aanya Jina 5. Inika Girotra |
| Best Interjecting Team | Somerville School, Noida | 1. Rakshit Pant 2. Tadasha Shukla 3. Manya Dwivedi 4. Arnav Sharma 5. Sia Swaroop |
2. Budget Colloquium- Green Growth
The participant schools acted as the Finance Secretary of the allotted state and were responsible for preparing a budget for that state. Based on the data set of the Union Budget estimates provided for next fiscal year, they came up with a “Best Case” proposal with justifications to get the maximum share of allocation in the Union Budget.
The event was judged by Dr. Esther N Ngaihte, a specialist in Health and Development Economics and Professor at Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University and Mr. K. Chandrashekhar, Chief Finance Officer at Elekta Medical Systems Private Limited.
The following schools won the top two positions in the event:
The Enroute 2023 Trophy for the Best School Team was awarded to Somerville School, Noida.
| POSITION | NAME OF SCHOOL | NAME OF PARTICIPANTS |
| WINNER | Somerville School, Noida. | 1. Vansh Nayyar 2. Raima Kapoor |
| RUNNER UP | Somerville School, Vasundhara Enclave Delhi | 1. Bhavya Dhingra 2. Aditya Mishra |
| Best Interjecting Team | Somerville School, Noida | 1.Managya Sinha 2. Navya Kumar |
The event concluded with the prize distribution ceremony. The Principal, Ms. Esther Mani, and the judges presented trophies and certificates to the winners.
The Enroute 2023 Trophy for the Best School Team was awarded to Somerville School, Noida.
INDEPENDENCE DAY
Independence Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm and patriotic spirit on 15th August 2023, in the school premises to mark 76 years of freedom. A special programme was organised to honour the legacy and greatness of our nation. The programme was attended by the Principal, Ms. Esther Mani, Vice-Principal, Dr Pratima Margaret Lall, Primary Coordinator, Mrs Sulochna Cardoza, teachers, parents and students.
The Principal, Ms. Esther Mani, hoisted the national flag which was followed by the singing of the National Anthem.
Senior Head Boy, Vikram Khanna addressed the gathering and presented his thoughts about the values that led to India’s freedom and duties each citizen must fulfil to take the country to greater heights.
The Primary Head Girl, Jessa Mariya Martin, also expressed her views on the importance of being loyal towards the nation and to remember the sacrifices made by the heroes of the freedom struggle.
Students of Classes IV and V enthralled the audience with their melodious rendition of patriotic songs. A dance presentation depicting the power of India and how the country is progressing in various fields, evoked a feeling of pride.
Mrs Pratibha Poddar, TGT, Computer Science, encouraged the students to understand the value of freedom and the need to preserve it.
The programme concluded with a speech by the Vice-Principal, Dr Pratima Margaret Lall. She urged the students to work for the betterment of the country and be responsible citizens.
