Who we are

The SKS Swaminarayan Temple in East London was first established in 1987. Soon, the local community decided that the younger generation should be taught to read and write their mother tongue Gujarati and retain its culture. Hence, Sahajanand School was founded consisting of several Gujarati classes at different age levels. Since then, the School has had over 100 students studying Gujarati each year. Students as young as seven years of age have been taught the language from the alphabet through to recognised qualifications levels. During their seven years of studying, the students are prepared for their Gujarati GCSE exam. The temple is a register OCR centre and we hold our own Gujarati GCSE exams at our centre.

Discipline is taken very seriously at our school, and any misbehaviour will result in action being taken. However, till date there has been no need to take serious action, such as expulsion. However any actions, such as incomplete homework, will result in consequences. Continuous misbehaviour will result in parents being contacted and ultimately called into school to meet with the class teacher or the headteacher.

We are proud of the fact that our school has a team of dedicated teachers who take utmost interest in educating the students. Currently we have fifteen volunteer teachers and seven administrative staff who assist the teachers in running the school. Almost half of the volunteer teachers are ex-students of whom some are as young as 14 and have acquired Grade A in the Gujarati G.C.S.E. exam. They have taken the opportunity to pass on the knowledge that they have acquired to the next generation.

The Temple has not had the capacity to accommodate such a large number of students and this has always been a problem for us. However, currently, we are using the facilities provided by Swaminarayan Sports World in Wanstead, London to hold our 7 clases in the safety of private gated venue. This has given us an opportunity to let the kids be at ease and comfort. In addition, classes can now commence while the religious Sabha is still on, whereas before classes started after Sabha. We are hoping that in the near future we are able to have sessions on our own premises and we are working towards that very goal.

Students also have opportunities to participate in cultural programs, such as dramas, singing, learning/playing musical instruments, including learning life skills, such as, first aid, presentation skills, managing tasks, etc.