We developed the vision for the establishment of Tergar Schools and put systems in place using the Abiding Heart Education approach. The services we provided included:

• Writing a detailed strategic plan and management systems;

• Putting together finances and budgeting system;

• Developing the schools project phases and timeline;

• Identifying staffing needs and human resources systems;

• Developing the children's care and welfare programmes;

• Designing and developing the schools grounds and buildings;

• Helping the schools leadership in defining and articulating the ethos of the schools.  

The aim in establishing these particular systems for Tergar Schools was to implement the Abiding Heart Education™ approach and for the faculty to attend the Abiding Heart Education teacher education courses. The Abiding Heart approach is a complete package that includes: a worldview on nature of reality and human development, on which, our unique children's curriculum (from kindergarten to class 12), teacher preparation courses, and teacher personal development programmes, rest on. 

Below is a summary of what we achieved at Tergar Schools in four years: 

Tergar School Kathmandu Grounds
Designing the development of the school's grounds. This includes:

• Writing proposals to fund the construction of one of the school buildings

• Designing the renovation of existing buildings and furnishing them and overseeing that implementation is going according to plan and budget.

• Designing several new buildings (two of which have been built since).

• Designing the classrooms interior in the Waldorf education style

• Designing Waldorf style wooden furniture and soft furnishing and overseeing that implementation is according to design.

• Designing and implementing the general style and feel of the school compound to bring a vision of natural and wholesome childhood that takes away any institutionalised feeling and bring in a more Waldorf feel. This also includes opting for having smaller buildings scattered surrounded with gardens rather than one large building to keep a home like feel for the school. 

• School buildings specifications: Working with architects by creating detailed education specifications and designing the future school's buildings (beyond the two buildings which have already been built).

• Children's residential home units specifications: Working with architects on building design of the monastic children’s residential home units which includes a home from home approach that keeps their children connected to their home Himalayan Buddhist culture, environment, nature and the farming traditions many of them come from. Also, in designing the care of the children model we included house parents to care for the children in small home units with a small number of mixed age children in each home. The model is for each home unit to like a family unit with kitchen, living space for the children to live and cook together with house parents in a family style of living. The aim of this model is for the children to learn life skills, feel safe and nurtured and remain connected with a sense of family life. 

• Landscaping the school grounds by planting 100 trees and hundreds of shrubs and flowers. Our aim in doing so was for the trees to mature by the time the school opened its doors to the children so the children can experience eating fruit directly from trees. 

• Playground: Designing the school natural playground and providing close guidance to the manager responsible for the implementation.  

• Safety: We worked with architects, engineers, construction managers and the monastery management on stabilising the school's boundary land to ensure safety of children. 

• Sourcing tradesmen: we helped the monastery source and hire: support staff, maintenance workers, engineers, a construction manager, administrator, a carpenter and gardeners for the school project.

• Setting up training/advisory staff accommodation: We set up a comfortable accommodation for the school's visiting trainers, mentors and advisors.

Care and Welfare of Tergar Schools Children

• Educating the schools leadership of the urgent need to change the traditional monastic care system for their children to one that is more child centred and uses a family style care model. 

• Designing a new model for the care and welfare of monastic children to be used by the schools. This programme integrates 24 hour care: the time before, during after school hours ,with the emphasis on a home from home environment for the monastic children. The children's wellbeing programme also includes a system for sending the children on holiday back home at least once a year. This is so the children can remain connected with their roots: their biological family, the extended family, their village and regional community, and the natural environment they were born into.

• In the care and welfare model we included a budget  and a financial reality that must consider:

  • Human resources need, i.e., having enough teachers and actually having house parents. Taking care of staff by offering a very good employment package (i.e., having a very good salary, medical insurance, enough holiday time, comfortable accommodation and nutritious food) will increase staff retention which means stability and consistency for the children. 

  • Investing in training teachers and house parents by paying for them to attend ongoing long term Abiding Heart's training courses as well as personal development workshops

  • Providing children with enough clothing appropriate to the weather 

  • Creating a system for care staff to care for the children's personal hygiene to be maintained at a good standard 

  • Creating a system for up keeping the children's living and education environments clean and beautiful and inviting

  • Offering healthy, nutritious and balanced diet for the children. We put an emphasis on the children having fruit and protein sources, several times a week rather than very occasionally or once a week.

• Establishing a cafeteria/kitchen with: a healthy food menu; a standard of how to cook and bake nutritious food and healthy drinks. We put a strong programme in place for training staff in food hygiene and how to ensure this standard is maintained!

• Training the schools management in how to implement the children's welfare and care programme we designed in boarding situation. We  worked hard on setting up a standard for care of children in terms of the school: hiring house parents, providing plenty of healthy food; ensuring high standard of food an personal hygiene;  an providing care for children’s physical and emotional well being, understanding that each child is a unique individual that must be loved and celebrated. Abiding Heart spent 3 years training the person who is now in charge of the care of the children as well as other members of the school management. We put this system to the test by providing care for some of this monastery's children who resided in the gompa in the years leading up to the establishment of the school. 

• Training the school's management in a system of maintaining school buildings and outdoor environment to be aesthetic and tidy at all times.  

• Designing and creating for the children a culturally relevant outdoor school environment to include:

  • A nomad's tent as a learning environment

  • Smallholding with farm animals vegetable garden, fruit tree, a field for growing barley, corn and other crops

  • A traditional high Himalayan kitchen with a wood burner. We called it the storytelling kitchen

  • The intention in designing this environment is to keep the Tergar school children connected to their home environment which is mostly in the rural mountainous parts of Nepal. By doing this, we aim to support the children's emotional well being and minimise the effects of the drastic change of leaving home at such a young age.

Running Tergar Schools

• Training the schools management in child development, and a developmentally appropriate education and school related activities, such as:

  •  Preparing the school's weekly and daily schedule.

  • Sourcing out and making learning and teaching materials and books.

  • Preparing the school annual calendar of events, including natural. educational and cultural outings, observing auspicious days.

  • Nurturing the spiritual life of the school and how to keep the children. connected with the monastic life (the monastery is about 15 minutes up the hill walk).

  • Creating and maintaining warm and beautiful classrooms.

• Training the schools' management team in how to create and maintain a gentle and caring school and residential boarding care routine, and how to respect, empower and support staff so they in turn feel safe and supported to care and teach the children with a warm attitude of love and compassion. 

• Connecting: Through building a connection between Abiding Heart's teaching team and Tergar Osel Ling, one of Abiding Heart's local trainers linked the monastery with his community in Helambu (Yolmo). Many of Tergar Schools children are from this community.

 Training Tergar Schools Team in the Abiding Heart Education™ Approach 

• We provided four years training to the Tergar Schools' management team, the leadership and some of their international education team in the Abiding Heart Education™ approach. They attended courses in Experiential Buddhist Foundation Studies, Meditation, Himalayan Arts (Paubha painting and Charya dance) Human Development and Child Development, Learning Theories and Methodologies, Curriculum Studies, and Students Well-Being. 

• We mentored and guided the Tergar Schools leadership, some of the current local staff, and international. 

• We also sent some of the Tergar Schools team members and Tergar senior monks for additional Waldorf teacher training courses in India and Nepal and invited visiting Waldorf trainers and other education experts to mentor them. 

• We kindly ask Tergar Schools leadership and team to credit the Abiding Heart Education approach systems and content they use and not claim and present it to be their own original design and work. Credit must be given where credit is due. 

Summary 

After four very busy years, Abiding Heart Education™ concluded its engagement with Tergar Schools.  In those years we built a firm foundation and strong systems for Tergar Schools on which they were comfortably able to welcome their pupils. We rejoice that Abiding Heart's huge amount of work, effort and time is enabling Tergar Schools to have a good base from which to educate and care for their children.  

Abiding Heart Education, however, did not implement the Abiding Heart's curriculum nor the Tergar Schools class teachers attended our teacher education courses. It was our understanding from the school leadership and management that they were not ready to shift to the Abiding Heart Education™ approach due to the big gap between a traditional learning style to our holistic child centred and transformative approach.

At the core of the Abiding Heart approach is our unique view of child development that shapes our curriculum. Informed by our holistic and contemplative view of child development, we designed an experiential mind training that keeps the children connected to their mere 'I', that sense of openness and spaciousness, while skilfully and gradually intensifying enquiry based and academic learning each year, without compromising the children's spiritual development.

It was our understanding, from Tergar Schools' leadership and management, that they wished for their schools to be primarily centred on education that has an emphasis on traditional academic learning backed up by scientific research. The Abiding Heart Education™ approach, true to transformative education, emphasises educating according to the child's developmental phases, and nurturing an all-round development by cultivating the 'being mind' of the child. The Abiding Heart Education approach is centred on giving equal weight to the thinking, feeling, artistic, and doing realms, all in service of healing for self-transformation.

Having many years experience in doing such work, we, at Abiding Heart, understood that the leadership and middle management of a school must be receptive and open to change when implementing a new education system. We decided to conclude our engagement with Tergar Schools and wished them success in providing the kind of education they envisage for their children.

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We kindly ask Tergar Schools to declare the aspects of their schools that belongs to Abiding Heart Education.™ Should they wish to continue to use the Abiding Heart Education approach, they are required to ask our permission and complete the Abiding Heart Education teacher education courses.