Website
Website : https://stfrancisschoolguma.in/

Address
Address : Sukanta Palli, PO Guma, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal 743704
Phone : 9732304875
Email : guma.stfrancischool97@gmail.com

Status
Co-educational

Course
ICSE (class 10)

The School is affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi and prepares students for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (10-Year-ICSE course) Affiliation Code of the school is WB 312. It is an unaided, co-educational institution where girls and boys grow up together in a healthy atmosphere of equality and mutual respect.

The School aims at giving a value based wholesome quality education to develop along with intellectual excellence and achievement, the multi-faceted personality of the child as a moral and social being, with special emphasis to inculcate healthy moral values.

Students are helped to become mature persons, imbibed with values to be worthy citizens of our country.

About the school
St Francis School was founded in 1997. It is a minority institution established and administered by the Ursuline Franciscan Society of North India a Charitable Religious Society registered in Lucknow, under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860, bearing number 1800/1996-97. All the members of the society belong to the Religious Congregation of the Ursuline Franciscan Congregation.

Admission & Withdrawal
(For current status please visit: https://stfrancisschoolguma.in/admission-information)

1. A student joining the school for the first time must produce a satisfactory evidence of the date of birth such as an extract from the Municipal or Village Panchayat or Hospital records or a Baptismal Certificate. Three plus to four years is the age for admission to LKG. A corresponding scale of age is fixed for the subsequent classes.
2. When a student is admitted on a Transfer Certificate he/she shall not be placed in any class higher than that for which the Certificate shows him/her to be qualified nor will he/she be promoted before the end of a school year.
3. A student who does not complete the School Calendar year is not eligible for promotion; hence admission will be made accordingly.
4. No student will be admitted without a Transfer Certificate from the School last attended the class pending formal Admission.
5. Only students from recognized English Medium Schools will be considered for admission.
6. The school Leaving Certificate of a student joining from a school outside Kolkata must be counter signed by the Educational Authorities of the District in which the previous school is situated.
7. In case of re-admission after withdrawal, the admission fee will be charged. The Parent/Guardian should furnish a declaration that the student was not admitted in any other school.
8. The Principal reserves the right to admit or to refuse admission to anybody without assigning any reason for her action.
The School admits all children irrespective of caste and creed.

Withdrawal
1. Every application for a school leaving certificate shall be made in writing by the parent/guardian on the prescribed form at least one month before the withdrawal,
2. A school leaving certificate will not be issued until all the dues to the school are paid.
3. A fee of Rs.100/- will be charged for a Transfer Certificate. If the TC has to be counter-signed by the Educational Authorities the postage shall be borne by the parent /guardian.
4. The issue of TC implies that all dues to and from the school are completely cleared.

Fees
No exception or reduction in fees will be made on account of any holiday or absence for any cause. School fees once paid will not be refunded in any case, Please Note: Any changes made in the General Regulation of the School and in tuition fees or any other changes will be binding on parents or guardians.

School uniform (for details please visit: https://stfrancisschoolguma.in/school-uniform ) Parents are requested to send their wards to School tidily dressed wearing the School Uniform. If the children fail to wear the School Uniform, they will not be allowed to enter their classes.

Nails with nail varnish are not a part of the school uniform;
Boys must have their hair trimmed above shirt collars;
Hair dyeing and stylish hair cut is strictly prohibited;
Girls with long hair to use white ribbons;
Hair style should be plain, no front fringes.
The school will not be responsible for lost watches and ornaments.

Infrastructure
Beautiful school building
Modern laboratories for physics, chemistry, biology and computer
Spacious classrooms
Spacious playground
Well stocked library
well-maintained, spacious campus

Computer lab rules
1. Take off shoes before entering the Computer Lab.
2. Wipe off feet at the doormat before entering the Computer lab.
3. Always come with bootable floppy disk.
4. Unless and until needed do not boot any system in the Lab.
5. Don't move or shift the V.D.U. from its position.
6. Always insert the disk properly in the disk drive before closing its drive door.
7. Do not play with computer peripherals and wires,
8. Do not scribble on the machine casing, wires and tables.
9. Do not play with the Keyboard.
10. Always come with your group.
11. Do not bang any key, press them softly.
12. Always open and close the lab door as instructed.
13. Computer Science is one of the subjects available at the ICSE/ISC level on merit and test basic respectively. Once the student opts for Computer Science no change is allowed.
14. If anyone is found misusing or playing with any computer peripherals he/she will be liable to pay a heavy penalty.

Science labs rules
1. Keep your apparatus, table and note-book carefully and clean.
2. Add reagents in proportion at amounts. This is the key to success,
3. Keep the reagents closed with a stopper, do not change the stoppers of the shelf, and keep the reagents at their proper places.
4. Do not shift the bottles from the common shelf.
5. Do not throw glass pieces, match sticks, filter paper etc. in the sink. Throw them in the waste box kept for the purpose.
6. Shake the test tubes while heating do not throw hot and concentrated acids, especially cones- Sulphuric acid.
7. Pass Hydrogen Sulphide gas slowly in the solution, it is a very poisonous gas; do not leave the gas stopper open.
8. Keep perfect silence in the laboratory; it is essential for concentration & successful scientific work.

Vision / goal
Inspired by the teachings of Jesus and our Patron saints St Angela Merici and St Francis of Assisi, Our founder Fr Urban Stein and pioneers, we Ursuline Sisters aim at the integral development of each student of our formal and non formal educational institutions where we serve so that the students bring about the dimension of social justice, political and cultural fabric of society.

Objectives
To foster integral development we will:

• Enable every person to be emotionally balanced, intellectually alert, morally sound, spiritually oriented, socially committed and culturally enriched
• Promote faith formation to achieve personal relationship with God and integrate faith with life
• Promote inter-religious relationship by appreciating religo - cultural pluralism so as to realize that differences are sources for our collective strength rather than dangers and threats
• Enhance the human dignity by educating the poorest sections of society viz: marginalized, unprivileged and girl children
• Foster love for nature through appreciation, conservation and development of natural resources to counteract adverse effects of globalization
• Foster patriotism by creating civic consciousness in order to be responsible citizens of our nation
• Transmit Ursuline Franciscan identity through simplicity of life, sincerity, dignity of services that enhance labor and sharing in solidarity

History
St Francis School is situated in the district of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal. It is 60 kilometers away from the Kolkata city and on the border of Bangladesh. The school is situated in a remote village where the Bangladesh refugees have settled. It was Rev Fr Henry Saldanha who was at the time professor at the Morning Star Seminary in Barrackpore, took the initiative to fulfill the need of education of the local people. He was a great inspiration and an instrument behind the great success of a well established English Medium School today.

In 1997 Sr Jaya C Joseph along with Sr Cynthia Pashan started KG class with only seven children without having a proper school building. After two years a school building with walls of bamboo mats and tiles was put up. Thereafter a hostel was started with ten children. In 1999 when class 1 was started a few Catholic children who wanted to study in our school and a few children who were studying in Bengali medium school joined our School. Since most of the Catholic children were sponsored it was easy for them to continue their studies in English medium school.

Sr Apoline Pinto succeeded Sr Jaya in 2001. In the year 2005 when the first batch of children progressed to class 6, Sr Apoline Pinto began the work of obtaining the No Objection Certificate from the West Bengal Government. Meanwhile Providence in a dream inspired Don Francesco of Florence, Italy to help Guma. He paid a visit to Guma in 2006 and willingly offered help for the construction of a hall and 2 floors of the School. The efforts of Sr Apoline Pinto and Sr Rupin Veigas yielded fruit and the School got NOC on December 17, 2007.

Sr Cymprose D’Almeida who took up the administration in July 2007 worked for the affiliation of the School to Council for Indian School Certificate Examination Board, New Delhi. Provisional affiliation was granted in the year 2009.

Sr Philomena Fernandes took up the administration in 2011 and worked hard with the support of other Sisters for the permanent NOC and affiliation. At present there are 1350 students studying from LKG to Class 10. The school has obtained the permanent NOC on 27 December 2012. On 04 May 2015 the permanent affiliation from ICSE Board, Delhi was obtained.

The land where the School is located is owned by the North Province. Sr Philomena Fernandes is instrumental in bringing up the School to what it stands today with her untiring strength and ability along with continual support of the Sisters.

The developments that have taken place in the past years are: a spacious school building, sufficient classrooms, a well-equipped library, physics chemistry biology and computer labs, the renovation of the school road, renovation of principal’s office and a visitors’ room and the construction of the compound wall.

Education is the key to empowering the marginalized so that they can manifest their God-given dignity. In the year 2011 regular classes in Bengali medium was introduced for the less privileged children of the locality. 11 students were enrolled in the first batch and 18 in the second batch. Keen interest is taken in helping these students. Many parents of our locality are encouraged by this gesture and are willing to educate their children here. At present we have 40 students. The Sisters take it as a challenge to continue the good work undertaken.

The quality education at St Francis School, Guma is an eye opener for the people of Guma and surrounding villages that education can make a positive impact in their lives and livelihood. Literacy rate has gone up high in the vicinity.

Thanks to the Sisters and the staff as they are dedicated and are in constant contact with the people through visits. To introduce modernization and Digital technology are our plans for the near future.

About Ursuline Franciscan Congregation
An association known as the Company of St Ursula, pioneered by twelve young women of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Cathedral Parish at Bolar, Mangalore, in 1887 started by Fr Urban Stein sj, a German priest, was a muster seed when it was sown in Mangalore. The Company of St Ursula

obtained the canonical status in 1934. The enhanced status accorded it a new name – Catechist Sisters of St Ursula.

In 1955 the Congregation of the Catechist Sisters of St Ursula grew to be the Ursuline Franciscan Congregation as a result of the affiliation to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins of St Francis. This historic event marked the extension of the Congregation outside the Diocese of Mangalore and opened avenues to open schools outside the Mangalore Diocese. Sisters rendered their service in the field of education in schools administered by respective parishes. Alongside imparting instruction in schools, the Sisters offered career guidance education to women in tailoring, needle work and machine embroidery etc in different dioceses in Karnataka. Later the Congregation left the security of their native surroundings and started their mission in North East and North regions of India.

Sr Edilburga the Superior general of the time realized the vision of her predecessors of raising the Congregation to the Pontifical Status, which was secured on 27 January 1995. The Ursuline Franciscan Congregation was enlisted as the 40th member of the Ursulines of the Roman Union on October7, 2002.

The Ursuline Franciscan Sisters were invited to work in Uttar Pradesh by Bishop Cecil D’Sa of Lucknow Diocese at the behest of Fr John Joseph OFM Cap, Mission Superior of the Agra Lucknow Mission. Through the initiative taken by the Superior General Rev Sr Ernestine D’Almeida, the sisters ventured into an unknown land amidst the unknown people and culture on 11 February 1977 at Bareilly and Mirpur in Varanasi Diocese on 25 February 1977.

The North Mission was born to address the crude reality of suffering of the people caused by poverty of all kinds and levels. Though the ministry of Education is their primary concern they are involved in Medical as well as Social Developmental ministries dedicating themselves to the cause of the poor by involving actively in the struggles of the people, thereby enabling them to realize their dignity as children of God. Currently the sisters are rendering their services in Uttar Pradesh, Bhopal, Uttarakhand, and Kolkata.

“You have not only a glorious history to remember and to recount but also a great history still to be accomplished! Look to the future, where the spirit is sending you in order to do even great things”. These are the words of Blessed John Paul from Vita Consecrata (No 110). The Ursuline Franciscan Congregation has to journey a long way into the direction shown by the Holy Spirit. The Congregation has realized acceptably the ‘Unspoken Vision’ of Fr Urbun Stein; it has the mission of initiating a new kind of religious life by redefining its charism and re-dedicating itself to the service of God , God’s people and the cosmos.

Source: https://stfrancisschoolguma.in