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NEWSLETTER

DPS STS JUNIOR SCHOOL

March 2018 (Vol-2, Issue-6)

English Quiz Competition: DPS STS Junior School Dhaka arranged an English Quiz Competition on Thursday, 29th March, 2018 in the respective classrooms. Students from grade 1 to 4 participated in the competition. This competition was held during the English periods of respective grades under supervision of the English teachers. The students got 35 minutes (one period) to complete the quiz. Quizzes play an important role in learning and provide an array of benefits for the learners. Students were tested on grammar, vocabulary, spelling and various other aspects of English language.

Zero Period Remedial Classes: The Junior School has organised Zero Period Remedial classes for the students who require extra attention in the core subjects such as English, Bangla and Mathematics. Through ZPR classes, the teachers ensure that the students are getting attention in the required areas of academics. Along with the Zero Period Remedial classes, the regular After School Remedial classes are also going on in full swing.

Counselling Session: A counselling session was held on 8th March 2018 with the Grade-3 students in the Junior School Auditorium. A video was shown followed by an interactive session between the students and our Pastoral Counsellor. The aim of showing the video was to teach the students that the best way to get rid of a bully is not to pay any attention to a bully and always forward a friendly hand whenever possible. The entire session was designed and conducted so attractively and skillfully that the students answered all the questions very enthusiatically. The Head of Junior School, Ms Sumona Karim, Head of Primary Section Ms Juliet Gomes, In-Charge of Activity Ms. Shalini Agarwalla and Grade-3 Coordinator and Class Teachers were also present there.

Science Quiz Competition: To provide the students with some fun and challenge, a Science Quiz Competition was arranged for the little geniuses of Grade 3 and Grade 4. Under the guidance of the HOD of Science, Ms. Ferdoushi Rahman, the Science teachers of Grade 3 and Grade 4, Ms. Archana Kumar and Ms. Anika Zishan, conducted the quiz on 27th and 28th March, 2018 during Science classes. The students participated with enthusiasm and raced against the clock to complete the quiz which comprised of some pretty challenging questions. They enjoyed the activity as it was an opportunity to display their knowledge in Science beyond their regular curriculum.

~~Academics~~ ~~Primary~~

Recognition of the Historic 7th March Speech of Bangabandhu: On 25th of March 2018 the “SST Department” took the initiative to commemorate the “Historical 7th March Speech of Bangabandhu” to celebrate “Independence Day”. Students of all sections of Grade 1 to 4 were handed over the speech summary. The students also watched a video link of the speech of The Father of the Nation.

On 2nd of March, 2018 the students of KG did a roleplay on the story “Out visit to the dinosaurs.” They were very excited to describe and talk about the dinosaur called ‘Triceratops.’ Later they drew its picture and were amazed that it has 3 horns and can grow as long as a bus. Indeed, our curious children love to learn new facts always!

~~Academics~~ ~~Pre Primary~~

The Pre-KG students learned new words with phonic sounds on 5th of March 2018. They did an interesting group project, where they had to identify “ee” words from the mixture of “ie, ab, ed, ail, ee” words. They were instructed to find the “ee” words and put a smiley inside the circle. They did this wonderful activity with a lot of interest.

On 7th of March, 2018 the Pre-KG students welcomed the Spring season with lot of enthusiasm. Their classrooms were well decorated with bright, colourful Spring flowers. They enjoyed the celebration of Spring and their love for flowers.

Pre-KG students were learning about “Prepositions” on 5th of March, 2018. To add to their visual learning skill, the teachers made them pick some of the prepositions and paste them on a chart paper.

The Pre-KG students did a project work on ‘Prepositions’ on 7th of March, 2018. They started learning the concept of preposition with lot of enthusiasm and reinforced their understanding through hands on activity. In fact, they can now relate where and how to use the appropriate preposition.

On 8th of March, 2018 the Pre-KG students made a project on prepositions. Through this project students got to learn the appropriate use of simple prepositions, like: on, in, under. The correct use of prepositions is very important to form sensible sentences. Moreover, students used different types of colourful objects such as, boxes and balls to show the use of prepositions. Overall, they enjoyed a lot while making this project.

The Pre-KG students also did a dramatization which they loved so much, as it felt like a game to them.

Exercise is one of the most important aspects of a child’s life. Every day our PG children from both morning and day shift do light physical exercises in the Indoor Play area before starting their classes. This gives them a moral boost to incorporate learning in a natural and fun way.

Look at our ‘Little Froggies’ from KG, jumping on the leaves. On the 8th of March, 2018, they learned about the sets of 3 in Math. This activity surely helped them to understand the multiplication concepts better.

Fish and other vertebrates have much in common with humans. Many of the systems and organs are the same and yet there are many unique differences in the organs and their functions of fish and between other fish species. This inquisitive exploration was done as an EVS project by the students of KG on 12th of March, 2018. It was indeed a great hands-on learning experience for them.

The KG children were very excited and enthusiastic to bring lentils from home for their Art work on 14th of March, 2018. They pasted some lentils on the picture of a rooster to give a 3D effect to it. Everyone participated in the activity whole-heartedly.

Movie Day: On the 10th of March 2018, a movie show was held at Senior Section for Grade 1 and 2 students. The name of the movie was ‘Coco’ which is about a talented young musician Miguel who finds himself in the land of the dead and needs to perform for them. The show started at 10:00 am and ended at 12:00 noon. The children enjoyed the movie very much.

Cross Country Race: DPS STS School Dhaka organised a Cross Country Race for Grades-1 to 12 students on Friday, 23rd March, 2018 at Senior Campus, Sector-15, Model Town, Uttara. The Principal of DPS STS School Dhaka, Mr. Harsh Wal, the Vice Principal, Ms. Madhu Wal, Director of Sports, Mr. Manoj Kumar, Sports Coordinator, Mr. Vishal Tunk, Head of Sports Department, Mr. Aminul Islam, Head of Junior School, Sumona Karim, Head of Primary Section, Ms. Juliet Gomes and Head of Pre Primary Section, Ms. Dushani Rajaratnam were the chief guests of the event. The students of Primary section, Senior section, parents and teachers participated in the race with sheer enthusiasm. The students of grade -3 and 4 had to run 1.5 km and the students of grade-1 and 2, parents and teachers had to run 1 km in the race. Everyone showed great sportsmanship spirit and completed the race with their best possible effort.

~~Co-Curricular Activities~~ ~~Primary~~

DPS STS Interschool Junior Basketball Tournament 2018: DPS STS Interschool Junior Basketball Tournament 2018 was held on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th March 2018. Both our Junior Basketball Teams (Boys and Girls) were the Champions at the Tournament.7 schools participated in this annual tournament. 27 Matches were played under 3 groups. South Breeze (Boys Team) and ASIS (Girls Team) won the runner’s up award for the event. It was a memorable event and a huge achievement for the DPS STS Junior School Dhaka. Everyone enjoyed the tournament thoroughly and cheered for their teams wholeheartedly.

Children's Carnival: The Children’s Carnival, a colourful celebration with a big gathering of thousands of people was held at the Senior section of DPS STS School, Dhaka on Saturday, 24th March, 2018. There were various kinds of stalls for games, apparel, jewellery, food, tattoos, toys etc. including attractive rides like horse cart, mini train, wheel and many more. All the children, parents and guests enjoyed every bit of the carnival and went back home with a smile on their faces.

Inter School Chess Tournament: Celebration of Independence Day-2018:

The Celebration of Independence Day-2018 was held on Tuesday, 27th March, 2018 in the Basketball court of the Junior School Campus. The celebration was organised to remind ourselves the importance of the Independence Day and the true value of freedom. The Head of Junior School, Ms. Sumona Karim and the Head of Primary Section, Ms. Juliet Gomes were the main guests of the event who hoisted our national flag to honour the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for independence. The students of Primary Section sang our national anthem in chorus with the fluttering flag flying on the face of a free nation.

Inter school Chess Tournament was held on Friday 30th and Saturday 31st March,2018 at the Junior campus of DPS STS School ,Dhaka. 11 Schools participated in this tournament. Grand Master Mr Neaz Morshed, Mr Reefat Bin Sattar along with the RAB DG Mr Benazir Ahmed were present as special guests. Our honorable Principal Mr Harsh Wal, Vice Principal, Ms. Madhu Wal, the Head of Junior School, Ms. Sumona Karim and the Dean of Sports, Mr Manoj Kumar were the main guests. The participants from all the schools played remarkably well. Grade 1 and 2 boys of DPS School won a medal for the 1st runners up position and the girls won the Championship and the second runners up position. Grade 3 and 4 boys of DPS became 2nd runners up while the girls again won the Championship medal and the 2nd runners up position. Congratulations to them!

The Pre- KG students learned how to swim and had a great fun on the 14th of March, 2018.

On 15th of March, 2018 the KG teachers helped their students for an EVS project on Bangla. The students had accumulated all the National things of Bangladesh and prepared a collage. They had put pictures of all the National Symbols of Bangladesh, such as The National Parliament, Currency of Bangladesh, National Flower, Bird, Fruit, The Father of the Nation and so on.

~~Co-Curricular Activities~~ ~~Pre Primary~~

The PG children had a fun craft activity, based on wild animals on 5th of March, 2018. The teachers arranged the wildlife activity for all the children by making masks along with them. This encouraged them to learn more about the wildlife species and about their habitats. Moreover, they got to know how human interference can affect the nature of wild life. Therefore, they made masks of endangered animals like the tiger.

On 18th of March 2018, the PG students had their swimming classes. Children mostly want to play with water and it is natural in this tender age at PG level. We simply want our students to be more skillful and confident in order to face the challenges of the world. These water-play activities did not only get our kids splashing around—it also helped them to fall in love with swimming!

A spectacular ‘Children’s Carnival event was arranged on 24th of March, 2018 in the Senior School Campus of DPS STS School Dhaka. All the parents, students and teachers were invited to enjoy this event. There were many food stalls and other exciting stalls put up such as, clothing, games, accessories, books, stationery items, toys and so on. The attractive stalls and the effort of the people made it a successful event. Everyone had great fun and seemed very relaxed on a weekend, away from the ongoing stressful life.

Nursery students did a paper collage of the National Flag of Bangladesh

on 25th of March, 2018. They did this wonderful activity on the occasion

of Independence Day. They really enjoyed making the collages, both in a

circle-shape and a rectangular shape.

The Pre-Primary department celebrated ‘Independence Day’ on 27th of March, 2018 in the Junior campus. The students offered flowers at the Jatiyo Sriti Shoudho to show respect and gratitude to the ‘Freedom Fighters’ and had sang the National Anthem together.

Arneesha Affaan Chaklader, Grade-3, Delta, has performed brilliantly in the British Council Book Reading competition and acquired 1st Runners Up position with flying colours. Among hundreds of participants from school all around Bangladesh, she secured 98% of marks in the examination and reflected her passion for reading. To acknowledge her hard work and encourage her passion for reading, the British Council awarded her with a trophy and a certificate. The Vice Principal of DPS STS School Dhaka, Ms. Madhu Wal handed over the certificate herself in presence of the Head of Junior School, Ms. Sumona Karim and Head of Primary Section, Ms. Juliet Gomes.

Md. Mahir Wayez from grade- 4, section- Da Vinci won the 1st prize in "Inter school Art competition" organized by LYRA company. It was organised to promote the young Picassos of Bangladesh. Among hundreds of participants, Md. Mahir Wayez secured the 1st position and made our school proud.

Naufil Yamin Nabdi from Grade-2 Magnolia has been selected for the "ALOHA INTERNATIONAL MENTAL ARITHMETIC COMPETITION 2018". The competition will be held in Moscow, Russia on 22nd July 2018 at the World Trade Center. He attended the 11th National Competition and scored very high.

Marzouq Chowdhury from grade 4, section Newton, is participating in the Asian Youth Chess Championship 2018 from Bangladesh Chess Federation. The Championship is taking place in Chiang Mai (Thailand) from 31st March to 10th April. We wish him all the best!

Jolly Phonics Training: A 2-days long workshop was organised for all the teachers of PG to Grade 2 on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd of March, 2018. The topic was on “Jolly Phonics.” The trainer was Ms. Shainaz Jussa, a Certified Jolly Phonics trainer from India. Her topics included: The background of Phonics, 5 essential skills of phonics, 42 sounds, Alternative vowels, Spellings and their rules, and planning lessons incorporating sounds. She showed the teachers various fun methods using the Jolly phonic characters to demonstrate activities related to the topics. The teachers were very excited to learn new things and refresh their teaching methodologies, in order to make it more effective for the students to learn spellings effectively.

~~Special Achievements~~

~~Workshops & Trainings~~

Lecture-Cum-Demo on Poetry Recitation: A special session on poetry recitation was conducted by our very own Vice Principal of DPS STS School Dhaka, Ms. Madhu Wal on Thursday, 15th March, 2018. The session was organised for the teachers of English, Bangla and French Department to teach them the essentials of Poetry Recitation. The Head of Junior School, Ms. Sumona Karim, Head of Primary, Section, Ms. Juliet Gomes and Head of Pre Primary Section, Ms. Dushani Rajaratnam and In charge of Activities, Ms Shalini Agarwalla also attended the session. Ms Madhu Wal explained about the nuances of poetry, how it is related to emotions, and appeals to the aesthetic senses while evoking the finer feelings for love, beauty, nature etc. ‘Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions’ as explained in detail by her, and the experiences of life constitute the subjects of Poetry. She recited verses from famous poems of different genres like Love poems form Yeats, Ben Johnson, spirited poems by Walter Scott, poems related to War like ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Tennyson, humorous poems like Macavity by TS Eliott. She went on to explain how intonation, rhythm, accent (stress) are used to reflect the mood of the poet throygh recitation. All the teachers greatly enjoyed the session. Head of Junior School thanked the Vice Principal for enlightening the teachers. .

Mastering Leadership and Management Workshop: A workshop on Mastering Leadership and Management was conducted by Ms. Sumona Karim, Head of DPS STS Dhaka Junior School on Thursday 22nd March 2018. Selected members of the Management team of both Senior and Junior schools were the participants of the workshop. After a short ice breaking session the facilitator presented a motivational video to explain “What is Leadership? “ She then depicted the differences in the job responsibilities of Leaders and Managers and explained the reason why all Managers cannot be Leaders. She discussed the different leadership styles through discussion and videos. She focused on the challenges in general that school leaders have to face and what skills leaders require to successfully overcome such challenges and ensure consistence in good teaching and learning and to bridge the gap between parents and teachers. Having served in leading positions in renowned educational institutions for many years, she was able to focus on the attributes required for successful school leadership. She explained that in recent years the rapid changes in education have changed the nature of roles and responsibilities in school. She ended the session with some meaningful quotes to inspire the participants as leaders.

A workshop was conducted by our in-house trainer Ms. Mehjabeen Rashid with the Play group and Nursery teachers on the

8th of March, 2018 in the Main Hall of the Junior campus. The workshop mainly focused on individual speaking practice.

A brief workshop was conducted on 29th of March by Ms. Mehjabeen Rashid with the Pre-Primary teachers. The topic

was on the usage of ‘articles’ in our day-to-day communication with our students in the classroom. She also clarified the

difference between ‘Say’ and ‘Tell’ which is a common confusion among many while speaking. The workshop began with a

group activity where the teachers had to follow a certain instruction by being blind-folded. As English language

is our primary media of communication here at DPS-STS Dhaka, it's important that we continuously brush up and clarify

confusions and talk correctly in English. Overall, the teachers enjoyed the session and found the workshop helpful.