the valley school - prospectus of study

KRISHNAMURTI FOUNDATIONIndia

The VALLEY SCHOOLwe learn together

PROSPECTUS of STUDY

...SURELY A SCHOOL IS A PLACEwhere one learns about the totality, the wholeness of life.

Academic excellence is absolutely necessary, but a school includesmuch more than that.”

~ J KRISHNAMURTI

“

vegetation with lakes and running streams.

The school's birthday falls on 17th of July and is

celebrated with much fervour and joy. It is a day when

all the parents, teachers, students and former students

come together in big numbers and participate in planting

trees and nourishing the saplings. It is this event which

has over the years made the barren valley a verdant

forest by now.

THE KRISHNAMURTI FOUNDATION INDIA (KFI) was

set up in 1928 as a religious, charitable and educational

institution to carry on educational and humanitarian

work in the light of J. Krishnamurti's teachings. The

activities of the foundation cover education, publishing,

research, rural education and health care, cultural,

humanitarian and environmental work.

There are four Krishnamurti Foundations, one

each in India, USA, England and Latin America. The

Krishna-murti Foundation India (KFI) runs five schools

in India - The Valley School in Bangalore (Karnataka),

The School in Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Rishi Valley School

near Madanapalle (Andhra Pradesh), Sahyadri School

near Pune (Maharashtra) and Rajghat Besant School

in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh).

The Valley School founded in 1978 is located at

Thatguni about 17 kms south of Bangalore, the capital of

Karnataka. It is situated at an altitude of about 3000 ft.

and enjoys cool and salubrious weather throughout the

year. The school is located in a picturesque valley

surrounded by undulating hills with a reserve forest

on the fringe. It has over a hundred acres of dense

TheVALLEY SCHOOL:a challengeto live differently

The VALLEY SCHOOL 03

The school is a co-educational English medium

school and is affiliated to the Council for the Indian

School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) that conducts

the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE)

and Indian School Certificate (ISC) Examinations. These

examinations are conducted at the end of Class X and

XII respectively. Children are ready for the university

at the end of Class XII. The school is primarily a day-

boarding school but has provision for about 30 students

to stay on the campus.

The school presently has 370 students between

the ages of five and eighteen, and 70 staff members.

Typically, the younger students are encouraged

to learn in small mixed age groups. These groups have

been specifically established to address the individual

needs of every child and to enable non-coercive spaces,

within which they can experience the joy of learning.

The school works from 8.20 am to 3.40 pm, five

days a week, Monday to Friday. The school calendar

lists the holidays, annual events, academic and cultural

programmes. Buses hired from the Bangalore Metro-

politan Transport Corporation enable children to travel

from various parts of the city.

The school does not have a formal uniform and

children are expected to wear appropriate clothes which

are comfortable for the many physical activities they are

likely to engage in. Expensive and trendy clothes and

footwear worn simply to make fashion statements are

avoided.


THE ATTEMPT OF THE SCHOOL is to address each

individual child as a complete and unique person and

to help him learn with a sense of joy and freedom,

in an atmosphere of enquiry and intimate relationship.

To facilitate this small vertical ‘mixed age’ groups have

been created.”

Children discover the wonders of nature during

their first years in school. They explore the wilderness

surrounding the school, and much of their learning

involves the ability to take on the physical challenges

of open spaces.

The junior school programme is for children in

the age group of 5 to 9 years. Interacting with children

of different ages makes learning a vibrant and exciting

experience. Children are encouraged to ask questions.

Hands-on experience makes learning interesting and

meaningful.

All subjects including languages, art, music,

dance and arithmetic are introduced during the first year

in school. The 5 to 6 year olds are grouped together and

children of the ages 7 to 9 form a separate group. Class-

rooms are designed such that every group consist of

about 15-16 children. The pre-school facility is meant for

children of staff members and parents who volunteer to

work at the school.

There are six such groups in the junior school today.

There is one staff member facilitating each group along

with the support of another adult. These children also

spend one full day at the Art Village. It is being attempted

to bring an integrated learning through art.

The

JUNIOR SCHOOL

PROGRAMME:

an age of awe

and wonder

“


used by the children are specifically chosen to suit

the level they are comfortable with. Each student is

continuously monitored and assessed by the teachers.

The learning programme gives a lot of importance to

games, hands-on activities, and projects. The visual

and performing arts are a significant part of the

curriculum.

The objective of this programme is to encourage

the children to take responsibility for their learning,

and to bring a sense of joy in an atmosphere where

there is little scope for comparison and competition.

At the age of 14, students are seen as ready for

a more structured classroom environment. They are

now grouped with others of their age for a transitional

programme which will prepare them for the horizontal

classroom environment that they will encounter in the

high school.

THE MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAMME is for the children

in the age group of 10 to 13 years. The students are

grouped into six vertical, mixed age classes with

approximately 16 students in each. Each class is

primarily anchored by one teacher, who is supported

by other teachers and volunteers.

Every student learns at a pace that is individual

and hence appropriate to her or him. Study materials

The

MIDDLE SCHOOL

PROGRAMME:

an age to discover

and enjoy


THE CLASS IX & X PROGRAMMES are based on the curri-

culum defined by CISCE and prepares the children for the

ICSE examination conducted by the council. The classes

are now necessarily structured in same age group. How-

ever, the classes are often split into smaller groups to

enable individualised learning. Also, the school attempts

to provide the individual child with more flexibility in his

or her choice of subjects for the ICSE examinations.

The

HIGH SCHOOL

PROGRAMME

(CLASSES IX & X):

an age to question

and understand


Literature). In addition to these subjects students are

expected to learn one non-academic subject from a choice

of Art, Music and Physical Education. There is, however,

significant flexibility as cross-stream studies are possible

– subject to time tabling and faculty constraints.

The school admits about 30 students for the ISC

program each year. Preference is given to those who

have studied at The Valley School.

THE COURSE BEGINNING WITH CLASS XI leads to the

ISC Examination at the end of Class XII. In addition to

the compulsory subjects (English and Environmental

Education) learning can take place in four broad streams

– Physical Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics),

Life Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Psycho-logy), Business

Studies (Economics, Mathematics, Accounts/ Commercial

Studies) and Social Sciences (History, Psychology, English

The

SENIOR SCHOOL

PROGRAMME

(CLASSES XI & XII):

an age to challenge

oneself


THE BASIC PURPOSE OF THE ART VILLAGE is to provide

a space where in one can explore one’s own realm of

creativity. The emphasis is that on the child understanding

the concept of participation without being curbed by the

pressure to acquire a skill and without the fear to perform.

A part of the campus is dedicated as a retreat for

people with artistic sensibilities. It is a place where both

traditional artisans and contemporary artists work in an

ambience of peace and beauty. This critical juxtaposition

of the traditional and the modern allows the children and

young adults in the school to obtain glimpses of different

aspects of art. The Art Village is a vibrant centre with

occasional visiting artists in residence from across the

globe and a number of traditional craftsmen in permanent

residence. The Art Village, in association with the Lalit

Kala Academy has been conducting a number of workshops

every year. An international sculpture work- shop remains

very memorable to the meaningfulness of art and the inter-

relationship of human beings.

The Art Village is the art centre for the school. The

activities here aim at encouraging the students to explore

the visual and performing arts. Housed in a number of

The

ART VILLAGE:

an open space

for creativity

beautiful tiled cottages, the facility caters to nurturing

the development of art, sculpture, pottery, craft, photo-

graphy, paper recycling, carpentry, weaving, percussion

instruments, dance and music. The additional presence

of traditional artisans give the students the experience

of working along with skilled practitioners in creating

pieces of art.

An annual Art Mela is an event looked forward to

every year in mid-January. This Mela becomes an open

door to see the work done by students, staff and artisans

throughout the year. It is also a time for dance, celebra-

tions and get-together of parents, friends and former

students.


IN LINE WITH THE INTENT of the school which is to

facilitate a relationship of each individual with nature,

frequent nature walks on the campus, treks and visits

to bio-diversity parks are incorporated as a part of the

curriculum. Such trips bring in a sense of quietude and

harmony both physically and psychologically, besides

sensitising young minds to nature.

A three week Himalayan Trek for the students

EXTENDED

EDUCATION:

learning beyond

the walls

of Class XI each year is an opportunity to explore each

one’s inner as well as physical strength. It also gives

the students the unforgettable experience of spending a

few days in the lap of the mighty and sacred Himalayan

ranges.

Students from various classes also go on regular

visits to Kaigal to contribute to the Bio-diversity Con-

servation and Rural Education programmes there.

Frequent interactions with individuals and institutions

contributing to the cause of the environment and other

walks of life like theatre, music, dance, fine arts,

literature, humanities and science are also a part

of the learning process.


The

STUDY CENTRE:

a centre for adults

to learn

“THIS IS A PLACE OF LEARNING and austere living

with inward discipline.

Each one comes to this place on one’s own,

to meditate, to study the teachings... seeing, and

questioning.”

The Study Centre has been created, based on

Krishnamurti’s vision, and is located placed in a quiet

corner of the valley. It is a veritable oasis of beauty.

The Study Centre has a library of Krishnamurti’s

books, audio-video tapes, and books on Krishnamurti.

The library also houses a variety of books on western

philosophy, science, western art, eastern philosophy,

mythology, mysticism and other ancient texts of cultural

and religious importance from different parts of the

world. In addition there are other basic religious books

of original thinkers and mystics.

The centre conducts dialogues which form a

common platform for teachers, parents and children

to learn and understand themselves.

Serious students of of the teachings of Krishna-

murti can use the Study Centre guest rooms with all

basic facilities for short durations.


The AMPHITHEATRE ~ embraced by the banyan tree

The evening sunset, the moonlit skies and the huge

banyan tree that frame the open air amphitheatre make

it a favourite venue for cultural programmes throughout

the year. A thousand people can be seated in this amphi-

theatre. Each year there are atleast four to five cultural

programmes. This enables each child of the school to

participate in the performances. Class XI has a special

FACILITIES:

for research and

recreation

drama presentation usually. The school believes that

the introduction of theatre in education has enriched

these activities.

SCIENCE CENTRE ~ to see a fact as a fact

The beauty and the majesty of the exposed granite

stones’ structure of the Science Centre, are expressly

designed to frame vistas of the lake and trees that sur-

round it. Apart from state-of-the-art laboratories for

physics, chemistry, life sciences, home science and com-

puters. It also houses a seminar hall which is equipped

with audio-visual aids, to facilitate lectures, meetings and

conferences. The architect for this beautiful building in the

Valley was presented with ‘Architect of the Year’ award.


LIBRARY ~ to learn in silence

The school library has a rich collection of over

15,000 books and subscribes to several journals, periodi-

cals and magazines on diverse topics. Besides being a

treasure trove of information and knowledge, the library

offers the ambience for quiet study. Younger children are

initiated into reading through story telling, book reviews,

and writing their own little books of stories and poems.

The library also has a rich collection of Indian and West-

ern Classical music on Compact Discs, as well as a wide

range of Documentary and Feature films. The children are

allowed to borrow books freely. The entire library is of

open shelves so as to make children responsible for their

own school.

DINING HALL ~ a granite shamiyana

The Valley School dining hall and kitchen provide all

nutritious vegetarian meals for both the day scholars and

the campus residents.

HOSTELS ~ to sleep under the stars

There are separate hostels for the boys and girls

of Classes XI and XII. Each hostel accommodates twelve

students. There are three students to a room and one

house-parent in each hostel.


MAHASAGAR ~ under a large thatched roof - coming

together

After the buses arrive by 8.15 am the entire

school assembles together at least twice a week.

It is in the participatory activity of chanting and singing

that attempts are made to integrate ourselves before

beginning a day. It provides the platform for many

cultural activities, open-house discussions and

presentations.

GAMES & FITNESS programmes

The harmony between body, brain and mind,

is a significant aspect of meaningful living. The school

believes in approaching body intelligence through a

balance of games and physical education programmes

integrated with Yoga. Physical fitness, a spirit of

participation in and excellence at games, is the focus

of the sports programme. Though we do not enter the

Valley School teams in competitive sports we do

encourage friendly matches.

The play fields provide for football, cricket, volley-

ball, basketball, tennis, baseball, kho-kho and kabaddi.

The junior school playfields and the jungle gym ensure

that students of all age groups have age-appropriate

and adequate play areas.

The yearly sports days are on the 14th and 15th

of August every year. While all students participate

in the athletic and individual events no certificates or

medallions are awarded. The Valley cross-country race

remains the all-time favourite. Parents and teachers

also participate and share the in the spirit and joy

with the children.


the young Krishnamurti as its head.

In 1922, Krishnamurti underwent certain mystical

experiences which, he said, put him in touch with the

‘compassion that heals all sorrow and suffering’. Some

years later he dissolved the Order with its huge following,

giving up all the money and property collected for its

work. In a historic speech in 1929, he declared that his

only concern was ‘to set man absolutely and uncondition-

ally free’.

For more than seventy years, till his passing away

in 1986, he travelled all over the world, talking to people

and holding discussions with them, not as a guru but as

a friend. Far from being academic discourses, his talks

sprang from insights into the human condition and his

vision of the sacred. Krishnamurti did not expound a

philosophy. He unravelled with great precision, the subtle

workings of the human mind, pointing out the importance

of bringing to our daily life a deeply meditative and

religious quality. Only radical changes, he said, could

bring about a new mind, a new culture.

~

J KRISHNAMURTI:

world teacher,

world citizen

J. KRISHNAMURTI WAS BORN on 11th may 1895.

His family lived in Madanapalle, a small town in Andhra

Pradesh in South India. As a young boy, he was adopted

by Dr. Annie Besant, the President of the Theosophical

Society. In the young Krishnamurti, Dr. Besant and others

saw the figure of the World Teacher, whose coming the

Theosophists had predicted. An organization called the

Order of the Star in the East was formed in 1911 with


The INTENT

of krishnamurti

schools

“IT IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT in a

world that is destructive and degenerating that there

should be a place, an oasis, where one can learn a way

of living that is whole, sane and intelligent. Education

in the modern world has been concerned with the culti-

vation, not of intelligence, but of intellect, of memory

and its skills. In this process little occurs beyond

passing information from the teacher to the taught,

the leader to the follower, bringing about a superficial

and mech-anical way of life. In this there is little human

relationship.

Surely a school is a place where one learns about

the totality, the wholeness of life. Academic excellence

is absolutely necessary, but a school includes much

more than that. It is a place where both the teacher and

the taught explore not only the outer world, the world of

knowledge, but also their own thinking, their behaviour.

From this they begin to discover their own conditioning

and how it distorts their thinking. This conditioning

is the self to which such tremendous and cruel impor-

tance is given. Freedom from conditioning and its misery

begins with this awareness. It is only in such freedom

that true learning can take place. In this school it is the

responsibility of the teacher to sustain with the student

a careful exploration into the implications of condition-

ing and thus end it.

A school is a place where one learns the impor-

tance of knowledge and its limitations. It is a place

where one learns to observe the world not from any

particular point of view or conclusion. One learns to


look at the whole of man's endeavour, his search for

beauty, his search for truth and for a way of living

without conflict. Conflict is the very essence of violence.

So far education has not been concerned with this, but

in this school our intent is to understand actuality and

its action without any preconceived ideals, theories or

belief which bring about a contradictory attitude towards

existence.

The school is concerned with freedom and order.

Freedom is not the expression of one's own desire,

choice or self-interest. That inevitably leads to disorder.

Freedom of choice is not freedom, though it may appear

so; nor is order conformity or imitation. Order can only

come with the insight that to choose is itself the denial

of freedom.

In school one learns the importance of relation-

ship which is not based on attachment and possession.

It is here one can learn about the movement of thought,

love and death, for all this is our life. From the ancient

of times, man has sought something beyond the

materialistic world, something immeasurable, some-

thing sacred. It is the intent of this school to inquire

into this possibility.

This whole movement of inquiry into knowledge,

into oneself, into the possibility of something beyond

knowledge, brings about naturally a psychological

revolution, and from this comes inevitably a totally

different order in human relationship, which is society.

The intelligent understanding of all this can bring about

a profound change in the consciousness of mankind.”


The core of

KRISHNAMURTI’S

teachings are contained

in the statement he made

in 1929 when he said:

“TRUTH IS A PATHLESS LAND". Man cannot come to it

through any organization, through any creed, through

any dogma, priest or ritual, nor through any philosophi-

cal knowledge or psychological technique. He has to

find it through the mirror of relationship, through the

understanding of the contents of his own mind, through

observation and not through intellectual analysis or

introspective dissection. Man has built in himself images

as a fence of security – religious, political, personal.

These manifest as symbols, ideas, beliefs. The burden

of these images dominates man's thinking, his relation-

ships, and his daily life. These images are the causes

of our problems, for they divide man from man. His

perception of life is shaped by the concepts already

established in his mind. The content of his conscious-

ness is his entire existence. This content is common

to all humanity. The individuality is the name, the form,

and superficial culture he acquires from tradition and

environment. The uniqueness of man does not lie in the

superficial but in complete freedom from the content

of his consciousness, which is common to all mankind.

So he is not an individual.

"Freedom is not a reaction. Freedom is not choice.

It is man's pretence that because he has choice he

is free. Freedom is pure observation without direction,

without fear of punishment and reward. Freedom is

without motive; freedom is not at the end of the

evolution of man but lies in the first step of his exis-

tence. In observation one begins to discover the lack

of freedom. Freedom is found in the choice-less


awareness of our daily existence and activity. Thought

is time. Thought is born of experience and knowledge,

which are inseparable from time and the past. Time is

the psychological enemy of man. Our action is based

on knowledge and therefore time, so man is always a

slave to the past. Thought is ever-limited and so we

live in constant conflict and struggle. There is no

psychological evolution.

When man becomes aware of the movement of

his own thoughts he will see the division between the

thinker and the thought, the observer and the observed,

the experiencer and the experience. He will discover

that this division is an illusion. Then only is there pure

observation, which is insight without any shadow of

the past or of time. This timeless insight brings about

a deep radical mutation in the mind.

Total negation is the essence of the positive.

When there is negation of all those things that thought

has brought about psychologically, only then is there

love, which is compassion and intelligence.”

~


IN THE YEAR 1974, when the land was acquired by KFI

it was completely barren. Local cattle owners had used

the area as a grazing ground for several decades, and only

a few trees, existed here. With the establishment of the

campus and concerted efforts to nurture the surroundings

by planting trees and preventing forest fires has trans-

formed the place to a verdant forest today. There are

several indigenous trees, shrubs and bushes, wild flowers,

insects, reptiles, birds and also a few visiting animals.

Though we have planted quite a few exotic plants,

we have come to understand that in the long run the earth

needs to be allowed to express its naturalness.

The campus has a few hundred medicinal plants

and a few species that are severely endangered. Buildings

cover only about 2% of the land and satellite pictures

indicate that the tree cover is much denser here than

in the adjacent forest. However, more needs to be done.

With the city growing all around us, we need to preserve

the land and not allow weeds to overpower the rare

species of plants that exist here.

Routine organic agriculture, floriculture or horti-

culture are not our priorities. The challenge is to enrich

IN WILDERNESS

is the future

the bio-diversity that exists now, so that it can be handed

down to posterity.

We need to be vigilant and also ensure adequate and

appropriate educational programmes that will not allow

the wilderness to be jeopardized. The diverse wilderness

needs protection, both from exotic weeds and the modern

human way of living! It is a serious challenge to preserve

the pristine beauty of this wilderness for the future.


THE OUTREACH PROGRAMME

The intent of the Outreach Programme is:

~ to build a relationship with the schools in the neigh-

bourhood. To interact with the students of grade 1

to grade 10 from Rachanmada and Thatguni villages

and help them in the learning process.

~ to share the rich resources of the Valley School -

the art village, the science lab, sports facilities etc.

- with the young, curious learners from the neigh-

bourhood.

~ to create a platform where our children could

interact with the neighbouring students and learn

from one another.

KAIGAL EDUCATION

and ENVIRONMENT

PROGRAMME KEEP (KFI):

to share, to reach out

KAIGAL CENTRE

The KFI owns 200 acres of forest land in the Kaigal

Valley of the Palamner Ghats in Andhra Pradesh adjoining

the Kaundinya Wild Life Sanctuary. The Kaigal Centre has

ongoing programmes in the area of bio-diversity conserva-

tion, tribal education, livelihood generation as well as

primary healthcare programmes for the community.

The Centre also organises activities for students

which give them an opportunity to experience simple

living close to nature and to observe, interact and learn

from the forests and its people.

~


Designed and produced by VINOD SIVAN DESIGN [vinodsivan.com/gallery]. Printed in Bangalore at W. Q. JUDGE PRESS. All contents copyright THE VALLEY SCHOOL.

PROSPECTUS of STUDY

The VALLEY SCHOOL

Founder J. KRISHNAMURTIKRISHNAMURTI FOUNDATION INDIA

BANGALORE EDUCATION CENTRE

‘Haridvanam’, Thatguni PostOff Kanakapura RoadBangalore 560 062. INDIA

p: 91-80-28435240/ 28435241/ 28435242f: 91-80-28435031 e: [email protected]: thevalleyschool.info

the valley school - prospectus of study

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