VNS has encouraged overall personality development. Students participate in inter-school activities in Bangalore and at national level. These cultural and literary activities promote a sense of competition, healthy rivalry and broader perceptions.

The children participate in activities like art, music, dance contests, cookery, vegetable carving, salad making, flower arrangement, word games, quizzes, debates, mock parliaments and model UN sessions.

Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Inter-School Debate Competition 2009

The Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Inter-School Debate Competition 2009, Category I - Stage I, preliminary round was held on 26th June 2009. Vidya Niketan was one of the host schools in the city. The participating schools in the pool were:
Bishop Cotton Boys School, Clarence High School, St. Josephs Boys High School, St. John’s High School, Mallya Aditi International School, Sarala Birla Academy, Pallikoodam - Kerala.
The topic was ‘This house believes that in the 21st Century there is no question of a world without violence and destruction’. 
The Moderator was, Mr. Bhaskar, a theatre personality and soft skills trainer. The judges were:Ms. Shireen Nedungadi -[ Head of Department of English, National Degree College, Bangalore], Prof. S. Madhavan - [Head of Department of the post-graduate department of Communication,  Jain University, Bangalore ],  Mr. Harish Advani - [Senior Manager of Learning and Development Future Group]
The debate was keenly contested and the speakers on both sides defended their position well. There was a tie for the position of 
Best Speaker : Tie between Devesh Ballal and Kevin John [Bishop Cotton Boys School] 
Best Team : Bishop Cotton Boys School 
First Runner-up: Pallikoodam, Kerala

Arthaprajna - Commerce Fest

Arthaprajna ’09, the first Commerce Fest of Vidya Niketan was held on the 7th and 8th of August. It consisted of four unique events: Dream Mergers, Case Study, Business Debate and Business Quiz.  The participants were Bishop Cottons Boys High School, Bishop Cottons Girls High School, St. Joseph Boys High School and Vidya Niketan School. ‘Dream Mergers’ involved merging two existing companies. This event was won by Bishop Cottons Girls High School. ‘Case study’, a test of analytical skills and the ‘Business Quiz’ was won by Vidya Niketan. The ‘Business Debate’ was won by Bishop Cottons Boys High School. Vidya Niketan won the overall championship and the first Commerce Fest of VNS was a resounding success.

Sententia - Commerce Fest

Commerce Fests seem all the rage these days. Eighteen students from Std XII participated in Sententia - the Commerce Fest held in Bishop Cottons Girls School on the 5th of August. Over fourteen school and colleges participated. The events were innovative and challenging. Pic Charades, Ad-mania, Treasure hunt and The Village (a simulation of a market for agricultural products) were among the most interesting. 

SMUN
SMUN ’09 held at Sophia School SMUN was conducted over a period of three days. Four delegations and ten students participated in this event. Several key global issues were part of the agenda. Prithvi Acharya, an ex-student of VNS was present to guide the students. Tanvi Mani of Class XI received a commendation for the Best Position Paper.

Vistas Competition

The students of classes V, VI and VII participated in the Vistas Competition of Junior and Senior Debate held at Innisfree School. Vidya Niketan won the maximum number of prizes and also won the Overall Trophy for Kannada as well as the Overall Team Championship Trophy.

The Albert Barrow Memorial All-India Creative Writing Competition 2009

The Albert Barrow Memorial All-India Creative Writing Competition - 2009, preliminary round, organised by the Indian Council for Secondary Education was held in all ICSE/ISC schools in the country on Wednesday 17th June 2009.The topics as always were very current and challenging for young thinkers. The students whose essays were selected for the final All-India round were - 
Category I - ISC
1. Shalini Rajan - Std XI [The need of the hour - leadership that inspires]
2. Lavanya Nott - Std XII [Which way is the world heading towards in the 21st century]
Category II - ICSE
1. Shreya Naidu - Std X [The gap between the rich and the poor is widening in the 21st century]
2. Shuchi N Bellare - Std X [What threatens world peace in the 21st century]

Art Competition
Mallya Aditi International School held its Annual Regional Inter-school Art Competition on 7th of August. It had four categories; Junior and Senior; drawing and painting. The topics given were ‘Dreamscape’, ‘Sixth Sense’, ‘Self-potrait’ beside a monument’, ‘gradation’ and ‘the old and the new’. The participants were allowed to choose one topic and were given three hours to complete their work. Twelve schools participated and six students were sent from VNS and secured six positions out of sixteen. 

Deeksha i-cube Competition
Deeksha Centre for Learning conducts an inter-school competition which challenges students to innovate and integrate scientific principles in order to present and create a new thought. The entire exercise encourages students to think out of the box and find the vital link between the science learnt in the classroom to the external environment.

Pantheon
On the 6th of August, the Bishop Cottons Girls School hosted an inter-school fest also known as the ‘Pantheon’ which had six events.  The morning commenced with the Pantheon Quiz consisting of six teams battling it out for first place. The format and subject material varied so much that the students were constantly tested not only on their general knowledge but also on their analytical and reasoning skills.  ‘Chemcharades’, a game of quick thinking and acting, using chemistry terminology and ‘Aphara’, a well-known game involving biological terminology, were challenging and enjoyable.  A group of three students who participated in a competition based on Enviornmental Crisis Management, had to resolve a given crisis realistically and efficiently within the alloted time.  A ‘Mad-ads’, had groups making posters on specific topics in Physics. The posters were judged on their originality and artistic ability.  The Home Science event, which involved making a dish and beverage, was judged on presentation, taste and cleanliness. In this event, Siddant Nandan Singhal and Neha Ravi of Class XI received the first prize for preparing a mouth-watering Quesadilla (a Mexican delicacy) and an exotic drink to accompany it.