Trips

SLA

DAIS IGCSE 8 & 9 and MYP Grades 6-8 along with PYP Grade 5 went on the SLA trip from 15-20 March'25. Zip-lining, river rafting, trekking, and both indoor and outdoor games added to their fun quotient. Staying in tents provided them with a unique opportunity to share stories and bond. However, they gathered cultural information by inter-mingling with the local community.

Trip To Vantara Jamnagar

Students from NMAJS and DAIS Classes 5 to 12 had the opportunity to visit Vantara, a state-of-the-art wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre, established by Reliance Industries with Reliance Foundation. Vantara, located in Jamnagar, is a rescue centre dedicated to preserving species and their habitats through active research, education, and rehabilitation efforts. The primary focus of the centre is on giving species what they need to survive and thrive, particularly those at risk due to shrinking habitats and mistreatment. During the visit, we were led by experienced employees around the facilities that included stops at the bird park with over 48 different species, the elephant park housing over 200 elephants, and India's largest refinery. The guides explained how the centre is involved in breeding and releasing programmes to help restore their population in the wild.

The trip provided valuable insights into the challenges wildlife face in today's world, particularly those related to habitat loss and illegal poaching. Everyone was especially impressed by the centre's efforts to not only rescue and rehabilitate animals but also to work with local communities to promote conservation. This experience has deepened many people's appreciation for wildlife conservation and inspired us to get involved in supporting such initiatives.

The visit to Vantara was an eye-opening experience that reinforced the importance of wildlife protection. The hands on learning and exposure to the challenges faced by endangered species has made us more committed to supporting wildlife conservation efforts in my own community and beyond. Moving forward, we plan to stay informed about conservation issues and advocate for sustainable practices that protect our planet's biodiversity.

Geography Trip to Matheran

As part of their Geography Fieldwork investigation assignment, 56 students of Year 9 set about to visit Matheran, a hill station near Mumbai, on 29th April 2023. Their aim was to investigate the sustainability of tourism at the popular tourist destination. Matheran is a no-vehicle station, however students investigated other aspects of sustainable tourism such as benefits to the local population and the traders, and awareness of tourism norms amongst tourists as well as their level of satisfaction with the tourism experience. Students also conducted an environmental survey to investigate littering, noise levels and tree cover.

Trekking on an arduous route, a batch of students also visited Hashachi Patti, a small hamlet nestled in a valley near Matheran. The entire village is dependent on Matheran for their livelihood, with only one route connecting them to Matheran. Students interacted with the locals and also learnt about the contribution made by DAIS Alumni to the welfare of the village.

Overall, the 2 days at Matheran were an excellent exercise in experiential learning and collaborative work for the Year 9 students.

Camping and Outdoor Adventure

On 16th March 2023, 100 students of DAIS from classes 5 to 9, went on a camping trip into the Great Indian Outdoors. The location of the campsite was Shivpuri, a small town nestled in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. The camp was organized and conducted by Snow Leopard Adventures. At the camp, the children lived in tents and the large group was divided into 3 smaller groups to facilitate the conduct of the varied activities.

Every day started with an early morning yoga session and warm-up exercises, to calm the children and help them focus on the day’s activities. This was followed by a host of supervised outdoor activities like rafting, zip lining, treasure hunt, outdoor games, team-building activities, outdoor education, rope and knot techniques, tree climbing, wall-scaling and trekking.

We went rafting across the Ganges river. It was a challenging course covering a few rapids like 'initiation', 'club-house', 'double-trouble' and 'hilton'. The spray of the icy cold water on our faces, as we crashed through the rapids, was a sheer adventure. The children paddled in a competitive spirit and dunked into the freezing water of the Ganga.

The zip lining was done at a height of 70 meters. It was a scary yet exhilarating experience. The children experienced a feeling of victory on reaching the opposite side of the river.

The outdoor education and treasure hunt taught students how to be prepared to live in the rustic outdoors, how to read a compass, how to cross a river on a log of wood, how to light a fire, how to pitch a tent, and how to cook, eat and enjoy a simple meal. The students made ‘khichdi’ and soup, which was a delicious survival fare.

The team-building activities required students to strategize, collaborate, and coordinate, honing their planning, decision-making, and time-management skills.

A bus ride took us to Sirasu, a village holed up in the wilderness, from where we began the trek. A walk along the Sirasu bridge, which is a suspension bridge, brought us to the other side of the holy Ganges. A trek took us through the fields, wilderness, and village. We got a glimpse of the simple life led by the people of the village, which is not without its fair share of difficulties.

The students returned to school with an integral part of nature- plants for their class. They are encouraged to nurture the saplings, thus inculcating the attribute of 'Caring' towards their environment.

The evening was the time for a tryst with our Indian culture; the famous Ganga Aarti. The atmosphere was serene and charged with religious fervour. It was amazing to see the devotees participate in the aarti and the bhajans.

Our children tested their physical strength, endurance, and concentration while tree climbing and wall-scaling as recreational activities. Dressed for the occasion in in rope, helmet, and harness further enhanced their spirit of adventure.

It was performance time during the camp-fire, when students and teachers showcased their talents at acting, dance, and singing. The five busy days of adventure and fun just whizzed past and it was time to board the flight back home. The children reflected on the last 5 days with fondness and enthusiasm, recollecting happy times and the fun incidents and stories.

The dynamic staff at the SLA camp worked tirelessly, day and night, to ensure that our students have a fun time. The food served at breakfast, lunch, teatime snacks and dinner was delicious and varied, with every main meal beginning with soup and ending with dessert.

The SLA staff ensured that all safety precautions were in place during the activities and that help was offered for all difficulties faced by the students, including the times when monkeys entered their tents and carried away their snacks.

The camp was the perfect opportunity for our students to bond, make new friends, learn life skills, and make fond memories to last a lifetime. Thank you SLA, for a wonderful outdoor experience.

Visit to Sir H.N Reliance Hospital

Twenty nine students of DAIS along with two teachers visited Sir H.N Reliance Foundation Hospital at Girgaon, Mumbai, on Monday, 21st August, 2017. The students who are currently in their second year of the IB Diploma Programme received a warm welcome by a team of senior doctors and administrative staff headed by Mr. Jeetesh Karpani, Deputy Head of Administration, Sir H.N Reliance Foundation Hospital. The students were first shown a short film to introduce them to the history of the hospital, its philosophy and world class facilities. Thereafter, they were divided into three groups and were taken on a tour of some of the sophisticated equipment used in the hospital. The students who have taken up Physics at the Higher Level, were thrilled to have a first-hand experience of the application of the theoretical concepts learnt in class; in the operation of the X ray machine, Ultrasonography, MRI/NMR, ECG and CT scan. They volunteered to get their Ultrasonography and ECG done, and impressed the highly trained technicians and doctors with their pertinent queries. The tour that lasted for almost two hours, ended with high tea served for the visitors at the Kapol Niwas. It was evident from their enthusiasm, that the students enjoyed the trip and returned with quite a few valuable take aways.

Essay on the class trip

Our New Year started off with amusing train rides, delicious food and probably one of the best class trips. While it was going to be our second time in Jamnagar for the most of us, our excitement remained. As we finished our day of school as restless as we could ever be and departed for the train station the music began to blare and the faces began to smile. On reaching the station we were told that our train had been delayed by two hours while most students would frown and crib we didn’t mind, and were up for the challenge. By using our bags as seats and the frequently appearing food stalls as our cafeteria we managed to pass those two hours and soon it was time to get onto the train.

The train journey is one which cannot be described using words since it has always proven to be one of the most memorable parts of Class trips. On reaching Jamnagar we were given around half an hour to freshen up and then given a tour around the humongous reliance refinery, it was an extremely enriching experience as we were told about how the refining process works and also the hardships that reliance had to go through to build the refinery. Following that we returned to the hotel, and we ended our day with an exhilarating football match, finally all of us were exhausted and we slept like logs. Day one of our trip had come to an end and we awaited the next day.

Day 2 started off with a visit to the Marine national park. It was an extremely different experience since we walked in the water itself and encountered different marine animals on the way. We were lucky enough to see an octopus and a crab. It was probably the first time most of us had gotten to see an octopus, which left us speechless.

Following this we visited the green belt and were informed once again about how it was truly a difficult job planting it. We were also given the opportunity to plant out own plants and we were told that the next time we would return they would have grown into tress; all of us looked forward to this. We then visited a breathtakingly beautiful and calm temple, where we prayed and hoped that all our dreams and wishes would be fulfilled. Then we visited the sports centre where we played numerous sports; football, Badminton, table tennis among others it was an evening and day to remember. But the day wasn’t over in fact it had only just started we still had our bonfire left. Who doesn’t enjoy some music in the background a wide spread of lip smacking food and as the icing to the cake a warm fire in the centre to fight the cold? It was a night we were never going to forget. Our second day had now come to an end.

As our third and last day approached our bags were packed and the last place we visited was the jetty it was an educational experience as we were informed about how the unrefined oil is transported to the refinery and how the exporting process takes place. We returned back to hotel got our bags and were ready to leave. The music stopped and the faces frown it was the end of one of the most memorable trips and none of us were looking forward to being back in Bombay.

The return journey actually turned out to be quite interesting as we had to privilege of talking to lady called Himja who is originally from Jamnagar and studies Triple engineering in Philadelphia. She was kind enough to share her views on what the local people thought off the refinery. “Jamnagar is known by this refinery and we are extremely proud to have it” she said that the refinery is what Jamnagar is known by and that it has added a lot of value to the city. She also enlightened us on the fact that on earth day reliance was one of the only companies to go around planting trees, and that they had developed Jamnagar a lot. It was truly an enriching experience to talk to her since we got an insight into the way people in Jamnagar feel and what we realised was that the reliance refinery has impacted Jamnagar, but only positively.

By Urshita Vaishnav 9B

Class 10-A Trip to Udaipur

26th September: We left school at 2:00pm. The train journey was smooth, exciting and gave us a lot of opportunities to bond with everyone aboard. We reached Udaipur at 9:35am with tremendous energy and enthusiasm.

27th September After a buffet lunch we went to town and started the tour with a puppet show. This was followed by a visit to the famous palace gardens - Sahelivon ki Bari.

Visits to Chittorgarh Fort, Shilpagram, All added charm and glamour to the trip. A lot was revealed about the rich Indian history.

Visit to City Palace proved to be another memorable and historically rich experience as the students got an insight into the states rich history.The palace museum is also well preserved.

At the last trip together this opportunity was used to bond and create everlasting memories.

The boys of 10A have a thrilling time with teachers.

The students of 10A listen on as they hear some magnificent stories about the City Palace and its rich cultural heritage.

This beautiful view was the scenic culmination of one of the most memorable trips for the students of class 10. Most of them will be leaving school, so this trip allowed them to bond and unwind for one last time before they bid the school a teary adieu.

All in all, Udaipur was the most memorable trip for the students and the teachers. The palace museum is also well preserved.AS THE LAST TRIP TOGETHER THIS OPPORTUNITY WAS USED TO BOND AND CREATE EVERLASTING MEMORIES.