The School's Program • The Curriculum • Further Education • People At The School Administration • Teachers • Staff
Life at the School:Typical School Day • The School's Facilities • Why Our Kids Don't Go Home on Holidays • Final Exams
SMD Branch School for Monks • Teacher's Pilgimage to Lumbini • SMD Sports Winners • Awards at SMD • Parent's Day
Dr Jane Goodall's 2nd Visit • Kids at the School • Street Scenes • PHOTO ALBUM: School Activities
NEW A Day in the Life of an SMDer • Training the Trainers • Eco Club • Making a Dramatic Difference • Losar Tashi Delek

A Day in the Life of an SMDear- Jigme Gyaltsen

Let us introduce Jigme Gyaltsen, our focus for the day in the life of an SMDer. Jigme is studying in class 7a and has been at the school for 9 years. At 5:15 am the morning bell rings bring SMD students to life. In each room there is an maximum of 12 students.

A little shocked to be photographed so early in the morning.

Students have 30 minutes to get prepared for the day. In this time they have to brush their teeth, wash their faces and get ready for prayers. Most students wash at the main taps on the ground floor of the school.

Prayer hall. A new activity at SMD is morning Tai Chi. A professional instructor comes and teaches a select group of boys and girls 5 days a week. This is good exercise for students and also is a form of physical meditation. Students not participating will be in the prayer hall for prayer.

At 6.30 in the morning all the boarding students gather in the main dining hall to eat breakfast together. Just recently the school dining halls have been changed from the two small ones on the ground floor to a much larger one in the main building, recently vacated by the monastery. The move is an improvement. Before the monastery gave us the new room, we had to run our Dining Halls in shifts.

After breakfast students gather again in the main dining hall for “self study”. This is when they can study or finish class work. Teachers are present to help students with any questions.

In the morning, classes start at 8:55 AM and go until 11:50. There are 21 classes, from Nursery to Class 10 as well as a “Special Opportunity Class” for late starters, so they can get a little more support than they would in a regular class. We also have Tibetan Opportunity Class which helps students who are behind in the Tibetan language. In the morning, students have 4 periods, each 40 minutes long.

At lunch the dining hall is at full capacity, around 600 students. All boarders, day boarders and day scholars are present at lunch. After eating they are given 15 minutes break to play and then back to class.

Classes start again after lunch at 12:30 and run until 3:20. Again the students have 4 periods between lunch and the end of the day. From 3.20- 3.30 students clean their classrooms, sweep, take out the rubbish and get the room ready for the next day.

After school the students have an hour to get changed, (older kids) do laundry, wash and get ready for their evening. At 4:30 all students except day scholars meet in the dining hall to have tea and a light snack. We serve soya milk at tea time. We make it ourselves.

Students enjoy a variety of sports from football (soccer) to table tennis. Students not interested in sports play scrabble, chess, marbles or “DOOM” which is the same as tag.

From 6.30- 7 PM students clean all the mud and dirt off from football, or just have a quick bath, because starting at 7 is dinner. By this point all the students are hungry again from playing so much.

Dinner is all the day boarders and boarders again. The dining hall is not near as full as at lunch. Students always pray before and after every meal. It is saying thanks for the food they are getting.

Students do their second self study of the day from 7.30- 8.30pm. If a younger kid has a question usually older students will help them. By the end of self study all the kids are ready for sleep. Class 10 students study in a separate, quieter room on their own request. Around 7 PM, the Day boarders will start going home.

The boarding students join together near the main taps and brush their teeth under the supervision of the Health workers and the Health Club (clinic volunteers). In the past, kids used to brush their teeth in their own time, but lots of dental problems arose...many didn’t brush! Wangchuk Rapten, our senior Healthworker decided that it would be better to supervise so kids would brush properly. It works!

After brushing most students go to bed, but those who wish to can stay up for and extra 45 minutes and study a little longer. Lights go out at 9:45 every night.