Vice Principal’s Message
Lucia Gupta
Vice Principal
The family environment at home as I was growing up was largely academic because of my maternal grandfather and mother who were both teachers and as a result of this a number of academics visited our house regularly. This helped me develop a keen interest in the working and running of the school from an early age.
You will find it rather interesting to learn, I am also an Alumnus of St. Joan’s KG school which was established in 1987 from where I moved on to Loreto House and eventually gave my ICSE and then to The Cambridge School for my +2 where I took the IGCSE A level exams. I was keen on going overseas to purse my further studies and had a few months in hand before the start of my university semester during which I undertook Montessori training. Little had I known that it would prove extremely valuable later on in my career.
The family environment at home as I was growing up was largely academic because of my maternal grandfather and mother who were both teachers and as a result of this a number of academics visited our house regularly. This helped me develop a keen interest in the working and running of the school from an early age.
We try and inculcate values in our students such as being honest, respectful, compassionate, grateful, caring, forgiving and so on. We work towards teaching them to respect our Indian culture and traditions along with the cultures and beliefs of other nations.
At St. Joan’s our focus is OUR STUDENT’S, the leaders of tomorrow. Emphasis is laid on academic rigour and a structured routine of extra and co-curricular activities support students bring out their personal best.
Right from the inception of their academic journey, students are groomed in a way that learning becomes a part of their daily routine. A regular studying habit and assessments from an early age, prepares them for the ever competitive world.
The Montessori training gave me an opportunity to interact with students from a very early age and cemented my career plans. I completed my Bachelors in Business, majoring in Accounts from the University of Technology in Sydney. Upon completing my Bachelor’s, I enrolled into the Masters of Education Program at UNSW which helped me interact with teachers and heads of schools from across the globe. As part of the program I learnt a number of things including the latest theory and research on educational leadership practice. I learnt the skills required to not only become and academic but also a leader. At UNSW, I was fortunate enough to study Gifted education under Professor Miraca U. M. Gross an emeritus Professor of Gifted Education in UNSW’s School of Education who is recognised nationally and internationally as a leading authority on the education of gifted and talented students. While studying in Australia unlike my other friends who had to do casual jobs I was able to find work as a Montessori Directress. This proved to be very rewarding and was at the same time the start of my career as an academic.
My education overseas not only gave me the exposure to interact with students from across the globe but helped me develop a strong sense of cultural sensitivity and at the same time embrace the new methods of teaching and learning.
As Vice Principal of St. Joan’s I am committed towards fostering academic excellence in students and supporting the faculty in their endeavours. In addition to this, I bring familiarity with innovative new methods of teaching and learning, an understanding of how best blended learning can be used in classrooms and a strong network of international academics whose research and pedagogy I intend to incorporate in the school gradually over the years modifying it to the Indian educational context.
A young mother of 2, I am constantly discovering new things with my own children as I help them develop their cognitive skills. This keeps me active and up to date and enables me to translate this into my work life in school. I love working with children and seeing them grow up into responsible adults ready to take on the challenges of the world ahead of them, making the most of their life experiences from school give me immense pride and joy.
