WAO Podium is a structured plan to make your students your real brand ambassadors. We enable students to express themselves beautifully, especially working on their Self Exploration, Public Speaking, and Creative Writing skills, and provide opportunities to students to showcase their learnings. Makes every child an author and a presenter and in the hindsight works on students communication, creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, confidence etc skills.
At WAO Podium, we believe in the transformative power of Theatre in Education (TIE) and Drama in Education (DIE) as effective pedagogical tools for student learning and development. TIE is an innovative approach that combines the elements of theatre with educational objectives, while DIE uses dramatic activities and techniques to facilitate student learning.
Our program’s pedagogy is centered around active learning, where students are engaged in hands-on activities and experiences that promote their creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and confidence-building skills. Through our TIE and DIE approach, we create a safe and inclusive space for students to express themselves, explore different perspectives, and learn in a fun and engaging way.
We are not doing theatre or drama in your school. We are just using those as tools to help children express better and more creatively. We are not going to get a play ready by the end of the workshops. There might be some activities which are common, but the agenda, and the approach are very different from any regular theatre classes.
We promise the best curated and trained teachers who are subject matter and domain experts. Our facilitators are theatre and education enthusiasts who have certifications from key organisations like NSD.
We formally work with students of Grade 3-8 and every student starts at stage 1 with us, irrespective of their class level. As they move from one level to the next, the grow in terms of expression. From simple single person based to more complex forms.
Initially in stage 1 everyone works towards Intrapersonal Expression, where they confidently communicate by themselves. Then comes Interpersonal, where they learn to communicate with each other Respond.
Stage 3 helps students improve their Literary Expression. At this level, the child will learn about various literary devices and their implementation in expression, and create poetry, literature, prose etc.
Stage 4 is Complex Expression and students experience improv and handling live audience, taking queries, talking impromptu.
Stage 5 focuses on the multifaceted nature of expression, where a child pretends to be multiple characters and changes their speech and expression. And finally the ultimate test to any skill is the ability to help others achieve it.
So Stage 6 helps kids master the expression by making them mentors for students at Stage 1 and 2.That is how the spiral nature of this progression shows.
We are a team of very passionate people who genuinely aim to change the education space by bringing some reforms. Our founder Swapnil Varshney has also been one of the founding members of Pearson MyPedia and his last assignment was with Pearson UK where he was based in Dubai and was heading Indian schools in Middle East.
Then Kaveri Malik. She is the Cofounder and specialises in Academia. She has served various academic assignments with Pearson, EI, SCERT etcMr Gopal Krishna is an alumni of IIT Delhi and is helping IT and innovations.Mr Janardan Yadav is an alumni of IIM Khozikhode and is helping Marketing.Ms Bharti Ghai is our TIE & DIE expert. She was a director for student groups with the NSD before leading curriculum and trainings with us.Our workshop coaches and teachers are all highly enthusiastic and skilled people, who have relevant education and experience.
Expression seems to be very simple and direct, but it is highly layered. And that is why the programme has progressions. Each child will start from Stage 1 as they join us. This is because first we master interacting all by ourselves before we get into further forms of expression and communication. After intrapersonal will come interpersonal and gradually the student will keep moving to master their expression levels. So we strongly don’t recommend skipping progressions. Like any other form of learning, this is also spiral in nature. And next level will actually be helpful only if you have done the previous ones.
Think of it as a multilevel platform, where the first level is where every single child creates a video for themselves. The topic, the script everything is done by the children themselves. And similarly, they imagine and create a story of their own. Every child gets personal feedback and improvement suggestions.
Some selected students get to refine their video into beautiful YouTube videos that go on school channel and their own YT channels.
And for the stories, some selected stories get converted to beautiful printed storybooks/novels, thus making those kids real time authors.Other students also get different scholarships to register and get their books/videos done. Next level is more like interschool competition, where your best students compete. And the ultimate winners from your school will be celebrated and felicitated in our annual national event.
Once a year we organise an event at a large level where we felicitate the exemplary performers from various schools across the country. At this event, the presenters and the authors get to present their creation to a live audience. So a real time TED talk and book launch for the selected students. We select the venue and invite the schools.
The school organises and we help in every possible way. Making collaterals, invites, getting students prepared.
By the end of the program –
- The students are better are expressing themselves (verbally and written).
- Each child has gotten an opportunity to showcase their learning.
- Each child has experienced the journey of a presenter and an author and received personalised feedback to improve further.
- Selected students have received a scholarship that helps them get their books and videos published.
- The school has created a repository of videos and stories from each of their students.
- The inter school and national level talent hunt marks your achievement outside your school.
- All the students and parents of your school become your brand ambassadors.
We suggest one workshop every 20 days. We believe it is adequately timed because the students have to create a balance between their academics and Podium activities. Each workshop ends with students getting some follow up tasks which they do at their convenience and submit over next few days. And we are back with the next session before the previous one fades from their active memories.
The workshops are placed after every 15-20 days. The programme is highly structured & planned and workshops are one of the components. Students will have to do follow up tasks, create their videos, stories etc. When we consider all of this along with all the other CCA you are doing in your school, 10 workshops would be highly sufficient.
I am sure your students are good. But it takes first 2 workshops to build the level of trust and ensure everybody opens up with us. For real! Like I said, the programme is highly structured & planned and workshops are one of the key components. There is a milestone attached with each workshop. Students get closer to showtime, they get their personalised feedback everything. So we don’t compromise on the quality or the quantity of these workshops.
Yes. On successful completion of the current level, the school can continue for the advanced levels to further hone their skills and continue building their portfolios. However Individual students can also publish more than one by paying editing charges through school.
Once the child’s webpage is live and shared with the parents, it can be accessed for the entire lifetime.
No. The program fee includes the fee for the Global Portfolio webpage.
That is possible. Parents/school can write an email to us at hey@waopodium.com requesting for the same.
WAO Podium’s program is designed to work for all types of schools, whether you are facing competition, admission challenges, or other unique obstacles. Our program is tailored to address the needs of each school and its students, including those who struggle with self-expression or have parents who may not be fully satisfied with their child’s educational experience.
Our innovative pedagogy of Theatre in Education (TIE) and Drama in Education (DIE) has proven to be effective in enhancing students’ communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and confidence-building skills. Our team of trained facilitators work closely with your school’s administration and teachers to ensure a seamless integration of our program into your existing curriculum.
Our program offers a unique and engaging learning experience for your students, which can help your school differentiate itself from others and enhance your brand value. With WAO Podium, you can innovate and stay ahead of the competition while providing your students with a holistic and impactful educational experience.
Contact us today to learn more about how our program can help your school overcome challenges and achieve its full potential.
At WAO Podium, we encourage parents to support their children in their learning journey by providing encouragement and a positive learning environment. However, our program is designed to be self-guided and our trained facilitators will be there to guide your child through the process of self-exploration, creative writing, and public speaking. We believe that every child has the potential to be an author and a presenter, and we work to cultivate their skills through hands-on workshops and activities.
If your child misses a class at WAO Podium, we understand that unexpected events can occur, and we will work with you and your child to ensure they can catch up on any missed content. We will provide your child with materials from the missed class, such as handouts or worksheets, and they can also communicate with our trained facilitators for any additional support they need. We also offer makeup sessions or additional support outside of the regular class schedule, depending on the circumstances. Our goal is to ensure that every child gets the most out of the program, and we are committed to working with you to ensure your child’s success.
Each workshop that is conducted in school is approx 90 minutes of time.
The children have a blend of different types of activity that focus on physical warm up, voice modulation, active listening and observation, and components of self-exploration, creative writing, and public speaking. At WAO Podium, we make sure that every child gets to participate in each workshop. Some of the activities are done individually, some in pairs, and some in groups. The children learn to participate, create, and celebrate achievements through these workshops.
We believe that our children already know sufficient vocabulary, sentence structures, grammar rules, etc to converse in English. The reason, they don’t is because of the phobia associated with making errors while communicating in English. The objective of this course is to develop students’ confidence and organization in public speaking, with less emphasis on grammar and vocabulary. Nevertheless, students are encouraged to enhance the impact of their speeches by incorporating specific details. Additionally, teachers offer feedback on the language used and correct any mistakes made by the students.
It’s possible for a child to become an author or presenter within a year, but it depends on several factors such as the child’s interest, dedication, and the amount of time they can commit to improving their skills. With practice, feedback, and support, a child can develop their writing and presenting abilities and become more confident in sharing their ideas with others. By the end of this year, your child will surely have his/her self written story, and a vlog that he/she presents. However, becoming a successful author or presenter takes time and effort, and it’s important to focus on the learning process and not just the end result.
At WAO Podium, we review all submissions carefully and select stories/vlogs based on factors such as originality, creativity, clarity of expression, and other key components the students are trained in. We also consider the quality of the writing or presentation, as well as the child’s ability to engage and connect with their audience. All the students also get personalised feedback on the next actionable steps to make it better.
If you would like your child’s story to be enhanced and published, or their vlog to be professionally done, then you can upgrade and get it done at a very minimal price.