from the principal’s desk · 2020-08-10 · from the principal’s desk february 2020 newsletter...
TRANSCRIPT
FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK
February 2020 Newsletter
Senior School Indus Day:
Our Senior School Indus Day was an evening that celebrated the importance of
the performing and visual arts in a child's education journey! It was an evening
that celebrated the uniqueness of every child in our care!
For second year in a row, this was a student led initiative!
Right from designing the invitation and brochure, to working on the backdrop,
props and costumes, to directing parts of the drama, our students from Grade
6 upwards have been involved in all aspects. The students also created a
special logo which symbolised the urgent need to find the true essence of
humanity by healing and protecting the Earth through 'Tikkun Olam'; a Jewish
Philosophy which teaches us that it is possible to repair the world through
small acts of kindness.
We congratulate the students who displayed impressive leadership skills and
also the members of staff who guided and supported the students throughout
in their planning and hard work!
Primary Years Programme (PYP):
Parent orientation to the PYP curriculum:
Grade 2 End of Unit Celebration
Grade 2 learners culminated their unit under the Transdisciplinary theme -
Where we are in place and time through a vibrant end of unit celebration. The
learners demonstrated agency wherein they wrote a script for the same,
named it ‘Around the Country in 25 Days’. They showcased their talent in
performing arts through a skit. The celebration ended with a pledge to save
our monuments. Students then took their parents through the entire inquiry
cycle of the unit; The factual learnings, their conceptual understanding and the
ATL skills developed in the unit.
Grade 2 Guest Lecture
As a part of the ongoing unit- Who we are, Mr Febin, our in house sports
facilitator was invited to speak to our young Eagles. Mr Febin spoke to the
learners about the importance of being healthy and how exercises are crucial
to maintain a healthy lifestyle. He also demonstrated a few simple movements
which each one of us should practice every day for few minutes to maintain a
healthy body and mind.
Grade 3 End of Unit Celebration
The learners of Grade 3 celebrated their end of unit with great enthusiasm and
excitement. Inquiring under the transdisciplinary theme- Where we are in
place and time, they had researched about various explorers, the reason for
their exploration and its impact on our daily lives along with its influence on us.
As a part of student agency, which talks about the voice, choice and ownership
of learners, they planned the entire event, working collaboratively with each
other, displaying excellent social and self-management skills. To make it
engaging for parents, the learners planned some interactive activities such as a
treasure hunt, quiz and puzzles. They confidently presented their inquiry cycle,
unfolding each stage of inquiry, highlighting the ATL skills and learner profile
attributes they developed through the journey. Some went ahead and
presented a song created by them. Parents appreciated and encouraged the
presenters and enthusiastically participated in the activities conducted for
them. We are proud of our young explorers!
Mother tongue Day
International Mother Language Day is celebrated on February 21 of every year
in many countries across the world. To underscore the importance of cultural
and linguistic societies and preserving the diversity in languages this day has
been observed since the year 2000 (https://en.unesco.org/ ). At IISP we
believe in celebrating the varied languages and cultures that our students
come from. To help students understand and honour their roots, our very own
teachers led guest speaker sessions for each native language that our students’
speak. It was an interactive experience that included sharing our favourite
stories and celebrating our places of origin. Students also put up a wonderful
assembly in the four second languages they learn here at IISP.
Workshop for Parents:
On the 8th February, the PYP organized two workshops for the parent
community. One was conducted by the PYP Counselor on Positive Discipline
and Finding a Balance, where various strategies were discussed on disciplining
children and why it is important for parents to be involved in their child’s
learning journey.
The other important workshop was Understanding the PYP curriculum where
the PYP Head of School and the Early Years Coordinator took parents through
the essentials of the PYP classroom and the delivery of the curriculum under
the 6 transdisciplinary themes, IB-PYP Learner Profile, Key concepts and the
ATL (Assessment to Teaching and Learning) skills.
Field Trips:
Our young activists of Grade 2 protested against vandalising our monuments
and spoke to visitors about preserving them to protect our rich culture and
heritage. They visited the historic site of Shaniwar Wada in Pune City and held
a silent march to express themselves and spread awareness of why our
heritage sites are important.
Middle Years Programme (MYP):
MYP-Y5 Personal Project Exhibition on 14th February 2020
Indus international School Pune celebrated its first Personal Project Exhibition on 14th February 2020 with 83 students of MYP 5 presenting the outcome of the 8 months of hard work and dedication put in. The exhibition was inaugurated by the Principal of IISP Ms. Preeti G. Prabhu and in her opening remarks she congratulated the students and thanked the supervisors for their steadfast dedication and constant support. The Personal Project, being a crucial component of the IB MYP year 5 prerequisite, the students are expected to drive an 8 month long in-depth inquiry into a field of their choice with a goal masked around a global context.
The journey of the project exposes the students to different forms of pressure and deadlines for which they focus on developing Self-Management Skills. Critical and Creative thinking skills are naturally enhanced in the students when they counter road blocks in their project which they themselves cross. Among many of the projects the students showcased their talents in writing and publishing books, crafting cook books and serving food off of live counters, photography, fine arts, sewing, crochet etc.
Professional development - Unconference Way
Education is a never-ending process and we believe in continuous professional development
for excellence and lifelong learning. Regular Professional Development sessions as well as
their follow-up sessions are conducted to ensure successful incorporation. Professional
Development sessions are conducted not only on working Saturdays, but also during
collaborative periods, staff meeting, department meetings and stay back on a weekday too.
To encourage teachers to pursue professional development, not only to ensure the best
learning outcomes for their students but also to be more effective and satisfied in various
other aspects of their work, MYP team has started conducting professional development
through unconference model wherein expert teachers lead various sessions depending on the
requirement of the team as well as students. We conducted one such session on Integrating
ATL Skills in our planning as well as Giving and Receiving Feedback on 20th February in which
the teacher participants were the organizers. The discussions were open and engaging and all
participants, depending on their knowledge and experience, took turns as a group to share
and share alike.
Career counselling – Y5
To accelerate and guide Y5 students in their career choices as well as subject selection in IBDP,
the Placement team has started providing personalised guidance and all-round support. For
personalised guidance, the Placement team has divided the Y5 student cohort in three groups
and have conducted 4 sessions of career counselling on 28th January, 30th January, 4th
February and 6th February to guide the students in their career choices as well as subject
selection in IBDP. An aptitude test through CIALFO was also conducted to guide theY5
students in understanding their unique strengths and abilities. This was preceded by an
orientation by the DP team about the DP requirements as well as the IBDP subjects groups on
23rd January.
Mock exam preparations-Y5
The best preparation for the IBDP is successful completion of the IB Middle Years Programme
(IB MYP) course in grades 9 and 10. The MYP stands apart from other curricula in requiring
students to develop analytical skills and to put learning into contextual understanding. This is
our first batch of Y5 students who will be sitting for their first on-screen examination in May
2020. As part of preparing these students for their on-screen examination, we conducted a
serious of practice mocks in the month of February to help students build on their time
management skill as well as practice in the usage of online tools. Students have shown a
continuous improvement not only in time management and familiarity of online tools but also
their overall performance.
Diploma Programme (DP):
February month saw Design thinking presentations from Biology, ESS, Mathematics and
History classes. One of the presentations in the Math AA HL class saw students predicting the
number of people anticipated to be affected by Corona virus worldwide…predictive analysis at
its best.
At the same time our Grade 11 students have immersed themselves in Indus Day practices.
With just a week to go for the Evening of Performing Arts, our students have left no stone
unturned to make the event memorable. Right from the logo, the invitations to the stalls that
will be put up, everything has been led by Gr 11 student initiatives.
Grade 12
Meanwhile, Grade 12 students are wrapping up their IAs and gearing up for the crucial mock
exams. As of this week, Boarders will have more structure in the prep with teachers coming in
with 40 minutes of focused revision. The revision plans in the regular classes has also become
more focused based on the feedback collated from students- for syllabus understanding.
The Grade 12 Virtual Art exhibition on 14th Feb saw Grade 12 students from the Art
department showcasing months of hard work and talent on canvas and installations. The IB
oral exam for second languages was also held in the 2nd week of February.
Professional Development
The Thursday stay backs had teachers revisiting and re-examining their ideas about both
Design thinking and self- directed learning. In the session teachers have set goals for self-
directed learning to be reviewed in April through a follow- up workshop. They also had a short
session on meditation and simple yoga Asanas which was led by one our faculty members- Ms
Alba Cobos.
SPORTS:
Interschool Football Competition- 1st February, Saturday at Riverdale
International School, Rawade - Pune.
We are happy to share that our students participated in an Interschool Football competition on the 1st of February 2020 organized by Riverdale International School Rawade, Pune. The students have displayed their potential, skills and good team coordination and achieved success.
Teams Achievement
U13 BOYS WINNER
U17 BOYS WINNER
OPEN GIRLS RUNNER-UP
The following students are awarded for individual performance.
Name Grade Award
Reual Mankad 6 Best goalkeeper
Hunaid Tayed Md 6 Best striker
Rudrakksh Jain 7 Best Player of the series
Ismail Tayeb Md 9 Best defender
Shrushti Domadia 12 Best goalkeeper
Cricket Premiere League at Riverdale International School, Rawade –Pune
from 27th Jan to 3rd Feb
Our U/16 boys Cricket team participated in the league match and though couldn’t qualify for semi-finals, they showed good sportsmanship throughout the tournament. Best Performers- Vedant Kangude (Grade 7) and Atharva Sanas (Grade 9)
Senior School Aquatic Meet:
The Aquatic Meet saw a good number of students participating enthusiastically in the heats and the finals. Congratulations to all the Winners!
Friendly exposure matches and team building sessions: Our U/12 girl’s football team had a friendly match at Vidya Valley School on 9th Feb, Sunday. Swimming and badminton team building practice sessions took place during one of the weekends in the month. Dhruv Invitational Sports Summit: Our football, basketball, badminton and swimming teams participated in the DIIS at Dhruv Global School, Sus Hills – Pune on 15th and 16th February. The event saw a total of around 91 students participating and performing to their best. Our swimming teams grabbed several medals and brought laurels to our school.
BOYS INDIVIDUAL
SL.NO
NAME GRADE AGE CATEGORY
EVENTS POSITION
1
RANVEER GULATI
6
U-12
50M FREESTYLE I
50M BACK STROKE II
50M BUTTERFLY II
2
UPAMANYU MUKHERJEE
7
U-15
50M FREESTYLE III
50M BACK STROKE I
50M BUTTERFLY I
RELAY /UNDER-10
RELAY /UNDER-12
GIRLS INDIVIDUAL
SL. NO NAME GRADE EVENT POSITION
1 RUHAAN GULATI 2 4X25M FREE STYLE RELAY
II 2 AARYAVEER GULATI 3
3 DEVADYUMNA MUKHERJEE
3
4 AGAM SINGH 4
SL. NO NAME GRADE EVENT POSITION
1 TARAN TACK 5 4X50M FREE STYLE RELAY
I 2 ARYAN SANGHVI 5
3 YAJAS GUPTA 5
4 RANVEER GULATI 6
SL.NO NAME GRADE AGE CATEGORY
EVENTS POSITION
1 KIARA GADA 3 U-8 25M BREAST STROKE III
2 AHILYA AWASTHI
3 U-10 25M BREAST STROKE II
25M BUTTERFLY III
3 CHAITALI THAPAR
4 U-10 25M FREE STYLE III
25M BACK STROKE III
4 SAMIYA GULATI
5 U-12 50M FREE STYLE III
50M BACK STROKE I
5 SAISHA BHALLA 9 U-15 50M FREE STYLE III
50M BREAST STROKE I
6
SAVARNA TACK
9
U-15
50M FREE STYLE II
50M BACK STROKE II
50M BREAST STROKE III
50M BUTTERFLY II
RELAY /UNDER-8
RELAY /UNDER-10
RELAY /UNDER-15
Inter house matches
Inter house Cricket match: PYP - Grades 1 -3 Inter-house Box Cricket Championship was organized for PYP Grade 1 to 3 on 4th and 11th of February 2020 and played between 4 houses. The Finals was played between Orion and Hercules House and Third Place match was played between Phoenix and Pegasus House. Winner of the Tournament was Orion house and Hercules house being the Runners up and third place was given to Phoenix house. Man of the Match in Finals: - Hrehaan Chhaje - Grade 1 (Hat- Trick- Bowling)
SL.NO
NAME GRADE EVENT POSITION
1 KIARA GADA 3 4X25M FREE STYLE RELAY I
SL.NO
NAME GRADE EVENT POSITION
1 AHILYA AWASTHI 3 4X25M FREE STYLE RELAY
II 2 CHAITALI THAPAR 4
3 PARI RAO 4
4 SAINA JADHAV 4
SL.NO NAME GRADE EVENT POSITION
1 RITIKA KUNKULOL 7 4X50M FREE STYLE RELAY
I 2 ALAIKA BANSAL 9
3 SAISHA BHALLA 9
4 SAVARNA TACK 9
PYP - Grade 4 and 5 Inter-house Cricket Championship was organized for PYP Grade 4 to 5 on 5th and 12th of February 2020 and played between 4 houses. The Finals was played between Hercules and Orion House and Third Place match was played between Pegasus House and Phoenix House .Winner of the tournament was Hercules house and Orion house being the Runners up and third place was given to Phoenix house Man of the Match in Finals: - Veer Vijay Patil - Grade 5 (22 Runs) IBDP - Grade 11 and 12 Inter-house Cricket Championship was organized for IBDP Grade 11 to 12 on 20th and 21st of February 2020 and played between 4 houses. The Finals was played between Hercules and Pegasus House and Third Place match was played between Orion House and Phoenix House .Winner of the tournament was Pegasus house and Hercules house being the Runners up and third place was given to Phoenix house. Man of the Match in Finals: - Shezad Hirani Grade 12 (20 Runs and 1 Wicket) Inter house Basketball IBDP match Winners – Orion house Runners up – Hercules house 2nd runners up – Pegasus house Player of the match - Advait Chalke (Orion)
Inter house Tennis Results IBDP
Boys
Name Place Grade House
Azfar Madhani 1st 12th Orion
Akshay Patwardhan 2nd 12th Hercules
Harsh Solanki 3rd 11th Hercules
Girls
Name Place Grade House
Anaaya Sancheti 1st 11th Orion
Ishita Sakore 2nd 11th Orion
Sanjana Pincha 3rd 11th Pheniox
BOARDING:
Warli Art Workshop
This workshop was conducted by a known artist Mrs Anu Kulkarni. Warli
painting art is a style of tribal art from the North Sahyadri Ranges. The
workshop continued for 5 weeks and our boarders learnt Warli Art and
displayed their best abilities and creativity. Boarders from Grade 3 to 8 are a
part of this workshop.
Pottery Workshop
The pottery workshop for our boarders was conducted by Mr Ganesh Prajapati
for our boarders. The aim is to make them learn new skills by using power of
their hands. It also relaxes body and mind while creating something beautiful
with own hands.
RESQ:
Our boarders continued their unconditional support towards Resq. The
dedication of our boarders towards this cause is commendable. These
volunteers from boarding are committed towards Resq from day one.
Community Kitchen:
Boarders volunteered to run community kitchen over the weekends. The
enthusiasm and teamwork is evident while preparing food for the labourer
women and children. Our boarding students came up with new ideas and
implemented new menu.
Weekend Activities:
Our boarding students took horse riding lessons on weekends, which apart
from immense fun improves coordination and balance. It also exercises the
mind. They also went for a movie outing and played cricket matches. They
attended “The Winter Carnival” at Royal Palms, Koregaon Park and engaged in
different games, enjoyed food, music, witnessed art and craft exhibition. Trek
to Sinhagad Fort was another adventure over the weekend. The Thai boarding
students attended Thai Street Festival in Mumbai. They enjoyed authentic Thai
food as well as various activities including music and cultural shows, Muay Thai
(Thai Boxing) workshop, handicraft workshop and kid’s zone.
Sessions by Counselor
Our boarding counsellor, Ms Manvi Sharma conducted two sessions for our
boarders. First session was for Grade 9 and it was on assertive communication
wherein the students were given situations based on conflicts they face.
Second session for Grade 10 students was a psychodrama activity of
perspective building followed by situation test of confrontation. The rationale
behind the whole session was assertive communication.
Dates For Your Diary: March 2020
Date Event
March 2nd Grade 10 & 12 Mock Exams commences
March 6th PYP Aquatic Meet
March 9th Mufti Day – Colours of Holi/ Neon colours
March 10th Holi - Holiday
March 16th Leadership summit - Grades 1 to 3
March 2nd to 16th Grade 10 & 12 Mock Exams
March 16th to 21st
Mid Term Test – 2
(Grades 6 to 9 & 11)
March 17th Leadership summit - Grades 4 to 5
March 21st Spring break commences
March 30th School reopens after spring break
Thanks and warm regards Preeti G. Prabhu Principal Indus International School Pune [email protected] [email protected] +91 8390905891 www.indusschoolpune.com