Odyssey – English Literary Fest (Pawan Baug)

Odyssey – English Literary Fest

English continues in the world as the major language in communicating your thoughts and ideas on a global scale. Thus, Witty International School, Pawan Baug, under the leadership and incessant support of the Principal, Mr Bijo Kurian is relentlessly developing and enhancing the English Language skills of every child in the school. On 23^rd December, 2016, the school organised ‘Odyssey – An English Literary Sparks’ to augment the English writing and speaking skills for the students of WIS Pawan Baug.

The event was made compulsory for all the students. To enhance the writing and creative thinking of the students, a compulsory event of Story Writing Competition was conducted which was followed by a Brain Teaser round. Students were plunged into the aura of the language as they racked their brains to find the correct English word. The various optional competitions organised were Poetry Splatter, Big Xpressions in 60 Seconds, Comic Strip, Books or Movies, Elocution and What’s your story.

The varied competitions enabled the students to boost their propensity and amplify their interest and profundity for the language. It brought about self-confidence in their English speaking abilities. The ‘Elocution’ competition enabled the students to speak on a range of topics such as Conservation of Energy and Water – the need of the hour, Does Internet mean the death of newspapers?, Social networks and the Young Generation, Is any Nation truly independent etc and bring out the best of their creative and persuasive speaking skills of the language and using it as a means to put forth the points strongly. Wittians challenged themselves to give their best and combat fear to face an audience. 

Stories can make us laugh and cry. They can educate us, persuade us and entertain us. They can bring us together and create shared experiences, like scattered pieces of cloth stitched together to craft a beautiful quilt. Thus, ‘What’s your Story’ was conducted to help children create magic and a sense of wonder. It enabled the students to develop an understanding, respect and appreciation for other cultures, and promoted a positive attitude to people from different lands, races and religions.

‘Books or Movies’ competition highlighted the methodical skills of children wherein they had to look at books which have been made into movies and compare the two. They would then discuss which mode appealed to them more and why. It gave an insight to the children to a world of English movies and novels. They were able to judge the books and movie as an eye of a critic.

English language suggests that not only reading books but also meeting and understanding people will help in the language enhancement. This helps to gain an insight in the real world. To give the students a feel of the same, ‘Big Xpressions in 60 seconds’ was organised where students had to host or anchor an award show, game show, news channel or be a radio jockey.

‘Poetry Splatter’ gave the students a platform to recite poems based on certain themes such as Nature, Humanity and Social Message. Poetry as an art breaks across grammar and syntax to create something new and imaginative for the children. It provides an adventure for the mind. Students were given the freedom to express feelings to their audience through self-expression with the creativity of words and emotion to convey a message.

The highlight of the day was ‘Comic Strip’ where the innate love for English language was showcased artistically through comic strips made by the students on themes such as Fairy tales, Magic, The Star or Super Heroes. The drawings narrated stories which were expressed even better than words put together. All in all it was one fabulous day dedicated to promote English Language.

The Principal, Mr Bijo Kurian  stated, “Odyssey – An English Literary Sparks is a day solely devoted to the development of English language: a day to commemorate the wide range of expression and emotion it offers and an opportunity to plunge headlong into a heady mix of dynamism and adaptability provided by English language.”