Apni Shala

Our students were invited to perform a folk dance at ATHARVOTSAV 2026, a 2 day Indian Classical and Folk Dance Festival held at The Mysore Association Auditorium, Bhaudaji Road, Matunga (C.R), Mumbai.

The event marked a vibrant showcase by talented artists from across the country, bringing to life the spirit of movement, expressions, and cultural diversity through captivating performances.

Here’s a glimpse of students’ performance: https://youtu.be/f8z_YU49U-Q

Do you like it or love it? Share it in the comments!

When Students Get to dance! Our students were invited to perform a fo...

How may an entire school ecosystem benefit from Social Emotional Learning?

In this article, Shivani and Siddharth from our team share points of view from educators in government schools in Mumbai. To read, visit:
https://apnishala.wordpress.com/2026/05/16/educators-voices-the-impact-of-sel-on-schools-ecosystem/

Educators’ Voices: The Impact of SEL on School Ecosystems The Context What is SEL? Social-emotional learning (SEL) is the process of nurturing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral well-being for self and society. This involves creating opportunities to le…

Remember those parent teacher meetings in your school when results were shared? How did those moments make you feel?

What if we tell you that there’s a school, right in the heart of Mumbai, that has reimagined these meetings, centering them on love, student strengths, and meaningful, care-based conversations with caregivers?

At Khoj*, scorecards are only one part of a student's larger learning story. Instead of a narrow focus on grades, caregivers, students, and educators come together in small discussion circles, we call, Caregiver-Teacher-Student Conferences (CTSC).

During these conferences, students excitedly share what they've learned, celebrate moments of joy, and showcase their learning portfolios. Educators highlight student strengths, discuss areas for growth, and collaboratively plan for the break with caregivers. Caregivers provide the student's broader context - what’s happening at their homes, how the student is engaging in other areas of their life and what are their hopes from the school. These conferences are a holistic celebration and discussion of the student's journey.

Here’s a glimpse of the end-of-term CTSC at Khoj. What feelings do these images bring up for you? Share with us in the comments.

* Khoj is Apni Shala’s wellbeing-aligned school initiative. The school is operational in partnership with Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM).

The last quarter was quite a relay of end-year learning showcase events across all our partner schools in Mumbai.

19 Schools.
800 Classrooms.
4700 Students.
30 End-year Showcases.
1 Vision: All Children find their stage.

That’s the spirit of Anokhe Classrooms, our annual learning celebration.

Here, every student gets to shine. They express their learning their way. Be it on stage, at learning stations or while volunteering to manage the crowd in the school galleries. Art, dance, drama, music, speech, rap songs, poetry, or chart presentations - it’s all there.

School becomes part of the community. Caregivers, educators, donors, volunteers, and partners - all cheer for our students. From Worli to Mankhurd. From Chembur to Powai. Different schools. Different feels, but the same joyful spirit. For all our students to thrive

When asked what were 4-5 key highlights from this school year, a 7th grader said:

▶️ Going for the municipal art competition with my friends.
▶️ Sports day where I got to participate with my friends.
▶️ Khoj Yatra when I got to do a play with my friends.
▶️ Hanging out during lunch with my friends.

Her response reminds us how schools are the places where we found some of our first and oldest friends.

Today as the school year ended, our students from Khoj* came together with their peers, teachers and school staff to reflect, rejoice, dance, and celebrate a year full of learning, growth, joy, distress, and hopes for new beginnings.

But before that, they got to rest. Summer break, here we come!

What are your favorite summer holiday memories? Share with us in the comments.

“visuals help students connect with their feelings, thoughts, and experiences,” write Prashant and Tarannum, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Facilitators, from our team.

This article shares their insights rooted in classroom practices on effectively utilizing diverse visual resources with students. Read the full piece here: https://apnishala.wordpress.com/2026/04/28/magic-of-visuals/

Magic of Visuals “One day, I was facilitating a SEL session in a Grade 6 classroom. We were talking about how we express different emotions. I noticed one student was trying to draw “anger” on the board and h…

How do you bring a classroom alive through your facilitation? Share the moments of joy you experience as an educator, as well as any dilemmas you currently face, in the comments below.

Program Invitation:

Ready to enhance your facilitation skills to support your students' social and emotional development?

Join us for SEL Shala!

Find more details here: www.apnishala.org/selshala

The online cohort is almost mid-way. But we still have some seats available in the in-person cohort, happening in May 2026. Have you registered yet?

Who is SEL Shala for?
Educators, parents, caregivers, social workers, counselors, and anyone working with children (even those transitioning into education).

Did you know?
>> You can also avail a group discount of 21% (3+ participants) if registering as a group.
>> Limited scholarships are available for those of you committed to children’s wellbeing and may benefit from financial support right now.
>> Limited seats: 25 participants for the in-person cohort.

Register today - www.apnishala.org/selshala

Recognising interconnectedness with our planet is part of Apni Shala’s Social Emotional Learning (SEL) framework. And it starts as early as Kindergarten.

Our 4-to-5 yr olds Khojis* recently visited Bhavan’s Nature & Adventure Center in Mumbai. They have been learning about the planet, plants, animals and biodiversity in the last few months. While the visit brought together academic, social and emotional learning spaces, they also engaged in activities such as nature trail, archery, bachcho wala zip line amongst other activities to aid their fine and gross motor development.

To know more about the integration of environmental awareness and Social Emotional Learning in early grades, write to [email protected] or [email protected].



* Khoj is Apni Shala’s wellbeing-aligned school. This is operational in partnership with MCGM at Limboni Baug Mumbai Public School, Mumbai.

Imagine a world where young people don't just learn, but thrive in the world!

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) workshops are carefully designed spaces that spark confidence, creativity, and resilience. To facilitate this, we partner with you - NGOs, schools, community centers, colleges and other organisations - to understand your young people's specific needs, design relevant and engaging content, and facilitate these journeys with care and love.

Check out these snapshots of the April SEL magic our students and facilitators created recently (slides images)!

We are currently diving into exciting themes like:

>> Body Image, Peer Influence, & Pressure for today's youth.
>> Self-Discovery, Identity, and Peer Relationships with adolescents.
>> Empathy, Perspective-Taking, and Emotional Awareness for children.
>> Understanding Self-Confidence and Navigating Digital Wellbeing with youth.
>> Connecting with 'My Community and Environment' for primary age children.

June is just around the corner, and we are finalising our SEL workshop partnerships! If you are keen to bring these joyful, wellbeing-aligned learning experiences to your students, let's chat!

Location?
>> In-person: Mumbai, Thane or Navi Mumbai
>> Online: On Zoom or Google Meet

Languages? Hindi, Marathi, or English. (Some of us also speak Gujarati and Tamil)

Connect with us:
>> Email: [email protected]
>> Call our office: +91 8655-490-999 (Monday to Friday, 10 am to 5 pm IST)

What happens when middle school students use research to explore their curiosity?

Jesika writes about her experience in this article. She facilitated Apni Shala’s Social Emotional Learning curriculum with grade 7 students. The curriculum is designed using community research. It is based on the City as Lab (CaL) framework. The process lets students become “young researchers”.

She shares what it takes to facilitate such a process. She also shares what she learned about her role. Read what became possible for her and her students: https://apnishala.wordpress.com/2026/04/09/research-as-a-process-to-build-social-awareness-among-middle-schoolers/

Research as a Process to Build Social Awareness Among Middle Schoolers A practice-informed article by Jesika Vandana Suresh Bamne Research, for me, is to raise an inquiry and engage with it critically in the pursuit of potential explanation(s). I barely had the chanc…