A School That Starts Conversations:

A child handed me a post-it and a pen. "Write a complaint you have about yourself," he said, "or a compliment you want to give yourself. Or something you want to manifest."

I almost laughed. Even if I compliment myself, what's the big deal? It's my own post-it. But I wrote the compliment anyway. Then he asked me to stick it on one of the three large boards for the whole school to see.

As I pressed it onto the board, it felt like I was shouting that compliment out loud, in public, to myself. The last couple of weeks had been crazy, and I had been racing against time. In that moment, something released. A child at a mental health stall had given me something I didn't know I needed.

That was PTM day at Pacific World School, the last chapter of a week that showed me what kind of school we are becoming. It began on the sports field.

On the field, the conversation was about growth.

The Pacific Sports League brought many schools onto our grounds. There was fun and there was fierce competition, but the conversations around the matches mattered even more. They were about health and fitness, about what it takes to achieve something, and about what healthy competition really means. Teams appreciated the talent of their opponents and, in the same breath, asked themselves: what can I learn from this? How do we play better next time? When a child can admire someone else's skill and turn it into their own improvement, they have learned something no scoreboard can show.

In the conclave, the conversation was about the future.

Delegates from Cambridge University joined teachers and principals from Cambridge schools across North India. We came together to ask the questions every educator should be asking. How do we improve education? How do we teach in today's world? What is the rest of the world doing, and what can we learn from it? What does AI change for our classrooms, our children and our own roles?

These conversations matter because no school can answer such questions alone. The world is changing faster than any single institution can keep up with, and the schools that thrive will be the ones willing to sit in a room with others, listen, challenge and be challenged. We would rather be part of shaping the answers than wait to be handed them. That is why we make the effort to bring people together.

On PTM day, the conversation was about who we are.

The school was buzzing, with something happening at every corner. Children from different states ran food stalls and raised funds for a special cause. Dances from across India filled the stages. A nukkad natak drew a crowd. And the mental health fair turned a difficult subject into something children could play with, talk about and own.

What stayed with me most was the faces of the parents. All over the school, they stood watching their children perform and speak at the stalls, and many had glistening eyes. We all know learning happens in classrooms. But when children present what they have learned with confidence, in their own lively way, it hits differently. I could see parents feeling proud, and I could see them feeling part of something.

One parent, a practising doctor, told me that spending his Saturday in this vibrant environment had been therapeutic for his own mental health. Think about that. A school event, on a weekend, healing the adults as well as inspiring the children.

Why this matters

It takes real effort to bring people from outside and host gatherings of this scale. But I believe it is the right path. I say those words modestly, because it has been an enlightening one.

Every conversation we had this week, about growth, about the future and about who we are, was a lesson in itself. When children, parents, teachers and management share a school that is curious, open and talking about things that matter, something special happens. Children, our most important stakeholders, grow up surrounded by ideas, diversity and empathy. That kind of environment doesn't just teach. It shapes thinkers who are confident, compassionate and soft at heart.

That is the school we are nurturing. And with every conversation, Pacific World School is redefining itself in a way that makes me extremely proud.

Nidhi

Vice Chairperson, Pacific World School