july 2019 newsletter dbis€¦ · maya menon from teacher foundation, bangalore. in the past two...
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The one big event that all of us are looking forward to is the verification visit
for the IBDP which will take place on the 19th and 20th of August 2019. We hope
and pray that all the hard work, grit and perspiration of the past few years to
get everything in place may bear bountiful fruit.
We’ve been working on two major issues from the feedback we received last
year. Working as a team and being more disciplined. We have had meetings,
workshops, and orientations. We have set goals we would like to achieve. We
have got students to take ownership for their own behavior. We have put a
discipline and behavior policy in place after consulting all the stakeholders.
There will be regular follow ups too on these two aspects of growth at periodic
time intervals.
As our first batch of 10th graders prepare themselves for the IGCSE
examinations, we wish them all the best in their endeavor and assure them of
our prayers and support.
Wishing you all a joyous and fruitful new academic year ahead.
Regards,
Fr. Crispino D’souza
Director
Director’s Message
Page 01
Newsletter DBIS
Volume: 6 Issue: 1 July 2019
Principal’s Message
Page 02
Investiture Ceremony
Page 05
Raz Article
Page 14
Sports Achievements
Page 10
Upcoming Events
Page 40
Dear Friends,
Welcome to all, specially the new staff,
students and parents. It has been a little
over a month since school re-opened. It
took some time to warm up the engine
and get the school up and moving
smoothly on its tracks, and moving it is,
on well-oiled wheels.
We began the year on a high note, taking “The heart of Holiness is Love” as
the theme that will guide us through this year. The theme was based on the
Strenna 2019, “Holiness for you too” presented by Rector Major Angel
Fernandez Artime to the Don Bosco Community. We have already had a
couple of assemblies based on this theme which received wonderful
plaudits from staff and students. The energy and enthusiasm that the
children bring along with them to school is truly amazing. It is almost
palpable. Here at DBIS, Holiness consists in being active as well as cheerful.
No place for gloom and doom even in inclement weather.
Ashoka University Visit
Page 12
Photogallery
Page 16
A new start in a new class
Page 03
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Message from The Principal’s Desk
QCT – Quality Circle Time, a professional development program was introduced to the students
and staff at DBIS at the beginning of the academic year with a 2-day workshop conducted by Ms.
Maya Menon from Teacher Foundation, Bangalore. In the past two months we have observed
that this program has promoted healthy relationships and positive behavior management. A fun
loving program, albeit serious, the interactions have promoted a better learning approach and a
synergy between students and students and teachers. We intend to introduce the QCT way of life
to our parents, too.
Fr Ian Doulton sdb, former Provincial and currently the Editor of the Don Bosco magazine,
MADONNA, conducted a team building workshop. The workshop was aimed at the leader,
donning the mantle of serving rather than being served as taught by Jesus to his disciples. There
is a humility in leadership that fosters a bond of kinship. The school management has also started
a staff enrichment program, celebrating individual /personal occasions together, as one family.
Since 1950, India has celebrated Van Mahotsav, planting trees in the month of July to increase
area under forest cover. DBIS too, has followed this tradition, but with a difference. We planted
trees with a personal touch, the sapling was adopted by the planter, with a promise to take care
of this new life and see it grow into a sturdy tree. We inducted Ms. Katie Baglie, a prolific author
and children’s story teller, weaving her magic with words, encouraging and motivating our gen-
next, nudging them towards a greener and fresher earth.
ISHA foundation was roped in on World Yoga day to participate along with our children. From
the smiles and relaxed postures, we deduced that Yoga had done a world of good for our children
and staff.
Monsoon requires that touch of letting one’s hair down and lo and behold we had Monsoon Mania
with our children displaying their literary prowess through poems, speeches or just pouring their
thoughts on paper and trekking through hills and dales, some lucky few getting drenched in the
rain others savoring the coolness of rain-drenched slopes and the freshness of a rustic outdoor
life.
Looking forward to a cup of coffee with our parents, in a new circle, the QCT.
Welcome to a new year at Don Bosco International
School, a year with a promise to getting better with
each passing year. Academic Year 2019 /20 is a
milestone year with DBIS stepping on the path to
reaching the first goal post. Our students are
preparing for their grade 10 examination, the first
batch from DBIS. On this backdrop our school is
slowly and steadily setting up the next goal post, the
IBDP program. Our teachers have been attending
workshops and training along with the management
preparing the right environment for an IBDP
verification visit scheduled for mid-August 2019.
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A number of transformations have emerged that have been implemented pedagogically along with
infrastructural changes. We are pleased to share that we have begun making infrastructural changes
starting with Pre-primary classes and made it attractive and conducive for student learning. We hope
you all have welcomed the changes made. IB has also implemented enhancements to the foundational
elements of the PYP to provide greater flexibility, improved clarity and support for schools to make it:
better for students, easier for teachers to implement and more flexible for schools. The concept of
agency will be extremely powerful and a great goal for us all to pursue.
Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
We are looking forward to exploring how we can create learners who are innovative and caring
enough to create a better world and how different elements of the programme will work together to
strengthen the transdisciplinary learning experience. We, at DBIS, feel that the opportunity to have
the community involved will deepen and nurture student learning. Let us all look forward to a year
where our contributions will make this year a better year than the last.
-Associate Principal
Ms. Aruna Shetty
A New Start in a New Class…
“The only way that we can live, is if we grow. The only
way that we can grow is if we change. The only way that
we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn
is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can
become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the
open”. Our belief in the transformation of self and
society has led us to bringing and supporting changes
that will lend itself in making DBIS a better place.
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
The Sun seemed to shine brighter. The applause was deafening. I couldn't believe it. The students of DBIS had chosen ME to be their Head Girl. As I stood on the stage, next to my fellow leaders, a feeling of pride and gratitude tingled within me. I gazed at everyone, a smile on my face, as I remembered standing before them, just a few days ago, giving them my word, to be a promising leader. A flashback of the whole experience played in my mind. I reminisced about the whole process which led to that sensational moment. The second date of the council elections was announced, I knew that I wanted to run for the post, not for the role, but for the GOAL. I wanted to do my share and give back to my school. As time progressed, the "election fever" took over DBIS and the excitement was rather overwhelming. Time flew, and before I knew it, all of the other deserving candidates, including me, had sermonized about not only what we had to offer to DBIS, but also to the students and staff. After delivering our speeches with utmost fervor and sincerity, we knew that now everything else was in the hands of the students. We had done everything we could have. I, for one, looked forward in anticipation to the voting day. My heart beat fast and I could feel it pulsate through my chest as I witnessed students pouring out of the ICT Lab and grinning after they had cast their vote. I took a deep breath and reminded myself, that the person who wins is truly worthy of it, and there are no two ways about it. On the 2nd of July, all of us were made to line up in front of the stage as the much awaited results were announced. Some of my friends made it, and some didn't, but that didn't stop those who weren't elected to cheer on the new leaders. Right at the end, my name was called. My heart leaped as pure joy filled it. A smile involuntarily tugged at my lips. I, now opened my eyes, and was brought back to the present. I nodded at the other exemplary council members. And from that moment we knew, WE WERE GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, not individually, but as a whole. BOSCO BOSCO BOSCO DON BOSCO!
- Aisha Lowe (Head Girl)
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Investiture Ceremony Photo Gallery
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Office Bearers for the Academic Year 2019-2020
Head Girl
Aisha Lowe
Amethyst Captain Manya Bhatia
Amethyst Vice Captain Fioni Gada
Sapphire Captain
Hersh Doshi
Head Boy
Tejas Tagra
Asst. Head Boy
Shivaditya Pandit
Asst. Head Girl
Shalom Mendes
Sapphire Vice Captain
Prisha Jhavery
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Sports Captain - Amethyst
Office Bearers for the Academic Year 2019-2020
Citrine Captain
Darsh Thakkar
Citrine Vice Captain
Kartik Bhatia
Peridot Captain
Sanjna Sridhar
Peridot Vice Captain
Shamika Modi
Sports Captain-Amethyst Manav Sanghvi
Sports Captain – Peridot
Liam Pinheiro
Sports Captain – Citrine
Aditya Gupta
Sports Captain – Sapphire
Francesco Fernandes
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Office Bearers for the Academic Year 2018-2019
Jr. Head Boy Siddhant Ganesh
Jr.Head Girl Dhruvi Chheda
Jr. Captain – Amethyst
Jemimah D'souza
Jr. Captain – Sapphire
Vihaan Kenia
Jr. Captain – Peridot
Diah Tailor
Jr. Captain – Citrine
Akshit Ranka
Junior Student Council
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Sports Achievements: June-July 2019
Palak Dhami: Junior
Nationals Swimming 2019
U14 Girls Category
200 Backstroke: Bronze
200 Freestyle: Bronze
100 Backstroke: Bronze
50 Backstroke: Bronze
4x100 Medley Relay: Gold
4x100 Freestyle Relay: Gold
Krish Shah: Junior Nationals
Swimming 2019
Boys Age group 12 Category
4x50 Freestyle Relay: Bronze
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Shamika Modi:
Mumbai District
Fencing 2019
U14 Girls Category
Gold
Shalom Mendes: Mumbai City
District Amateur Athletics Meet
U14 Girls Category
Shot Put: Bronze
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Ashoka University visit
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Raz Plus Article
Why Raz Plus!
The importance of reading in this day and age of technology cannot be undermined.
To nurture and develop in our students the love of reading and build on
comprehension skills, we at DBIS have implemented RAZ PLUS this academic year,
which is a blended reading platform that combines teacher-led whole-class and
small-group instruction with technology-enabled resources for personalized reading
practice.
What is Raz Plus?
This programme delivers a Personalized Blended Learning Approach to Literacy. All
resources are accessible online and available in printable, projectable, and digital
formats to strengthen the connection between what is being taught and what
students independently practise. It builds on comprehension skills and strategies
with activity sheets, and quizzes that promote close reading and critical thinking.
This platform delivers standard-aligned reading instruction with more than 50,000
resources that develop key 21st century skills and informed instructions with online,
data-driven reports that show individual and class-wide activity and performance.
He that loves reading has everything within his reach. – William Godwin
-Ms. Gladys Gonsalves (PYP Coordinator)
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1st Day of School
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Celebrations On Vanmostav
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Monsoon Mania
MONSOON MANIA
A WEEK WITH ACTIVITIES GALORE
When nature was in all its glory,
Monsoon games and treks were in store,
The children imagined a new story
Everyone kept wanting for more.
8th July 2019:
On Monday, 8th July we had literary events held in all our language subjects. In each language lesson we were asked to write articles, stories, comics, essays, poems and even speeches on monsoon. We were allowed to complete this assignment either individually, in pairs or in groups. In Spanish we made posters on water conservation, while in Hindi we wrote poems. In English, we were allowed to write and express ourselves in any literary style we preferred.
10th July 2019:
On Wednesday, 10th July we had water sports. Since there was a drought in Chennai and Mumbai facing a 40 %
water cut, we decided to save water at our school, by playing eco-friendly games in our daily allotted sports time.
We played various games and enjoyed ourselves immensely!!!
11th July 2019:
On Thursday, 11th July, all of us brought snacks in edible food colours which we all shared and had a potluck. We
were also allowed to dress in the colours of the rainbow. Our school looked like a veritab artist’s palette while the
clouds outside showered the city with rain. Grade 9A conducted a most effective and enlightening assembly on an
issue that needs our dire attention today-water crisis on our planet Earth.
12th July 2019:
On Friday, 12th July we had the most exciting time trekking at Karnala Bird Sanctuary. The bus ride to Karnala was
long but awesome as we all sang songs, played games, and had the time of our life with our peers and teachers. On
our arrival at Karnala, we were given instructions and we soon set off! The climb was gruelling but worth every
second of the strain and struggle to reach the top. We needed a bit of assistance but we managed to get there in the
end! When we did finally reach the top, lo and behold was the most breath-taking view! We were all surprised when
we were told that we had trekked 12 km! A most amazing trek!
Monsoon Mania, to each one of us, was an immensely enjoyable week!
Written on behalf of the Events team by
- Suhaani Jain and Aarush Kamdar - Grade 6B
- Edited by – Ms.Reema Vora
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Wet, set ,go…
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”
– Vivian Greene
Monsoon Mania, a fun time of the year, where students experience the rains through a plethora of learning engagements
and activities.
The celebration started with a poem recitation in fancy dress. Colourful costumes adorned the stage, while the recitation
made the audience moon over the tiny tots. Some of them surprised the audience with their intonation and clarity of
speech. The little ones exuded confidence while they walked on stage and recited their poems. While it was an endearing
sight, the exposure fostered public speaking skills as well as built learner profile where children learnt to appreciate good
performances.
Day two was celebrated by playing water games. Children enjoying the cool rain drops on their face and hands and some
even tasted them. They had a blast playing games that were organized by the P.E. department. The activity turned out
to be an exhilarating experience for children where they enjoyed and explored the rains. They had a beautiful experience
of expressing their creativity through art activities that were meticulously planned. Students of Sr. Kg expressed their
thoughts by being a part of Art Fun, a painting activity, while Jr. Kg students explored their creativity by making a take
away.
To satisfy their curious scientific minds, students participated in conducting simple water experiments. They
experimented and observed how a few objects sink and float. They wondered, how a lit candle placed in water
extinguishes when covered with glass. Students of Sr. Kg were delighted to create an ‘elephant toothpaste’.
After a week- long celebration, Monsoon Mania came to an end where students dressed according to rainbow colours.
Students had a potluck, where they shared delicious snacks like Corns, Pop-Corns, dry snacks and other simple savouries
with each other. Monsoon Mania whetted the little appetites in more ways than one.
Pre-Primary Fancy Dress
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Blue is the ocean whale,
Blue are berries
blue is the sky
I put in my pie
It was a fun – filled day for our Kindergarten students, as they celebrated ‘Blue
Day’ on 30th July 2019. Blue colour is a symbol of life. Blue represents both the sky and
the sea and is embraced as the colour of heaven. The school campus turned blue to
celebrate the day. From teachers to children, all were dressed in shades of blue. They
were very excited and cheerful to celebrate this special colour day.
This fun filled day was integrated with the shape of the month, Square.
As a part of this celebration, Jr. Kg students made a blue bird using a square shape. Show
and Tell was conducted, where each child got an object from home and spoke a few lines
about it.
Sr. Kg integrated this day with their inquiry (Family), as the colour blue belongs to the
family of cool colours. Sr. Kg A made a photo frame using shades of blue and candy sticks
which was square in shape. The sticks were then decorated by the kids. Sr. Kg B made a
square shaped blue robot. This was then followed by show and tell.
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Karnala Trek
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Yeoor Hills Trek
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Rainy Days are here again
Sweltering April and scorching May
Hot in the night and hotter by day!
Yet, a distant glimmer of hope in June
When will arrive - our glorious monsoon
Water we need, we cannot run out
Or life will start ebbing, without a doubt
So, with joy we welcome showers of rain
Life now looks gleeful – happy, no pain
Till the rainfall turns to a deluge
Raindrops not small, but big and huge
No longer can we see this city of ours
The waters have risen above the reservoirs
Monsoons have now gone out of hand
Unable to cope – infrastructure of the land
But this won’t shatter the hopes in our heart
We pray the next monsoon gets a better start!
Aleiya Rebello – 7B
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Megh Malhar – The dance festival at DBIS
The whole school sat in the Bianchi hall on Friday, 26th of July with bated breath as all of us waited to finally
see the dances the Houses had been preparing for –for weeks. The name of the event, Megh Malhar
complimented the atmosphere outside as the clouds emptied their benevolent offerings on us humans.
The judges arrived as silence blanketed the audience. The room was dark and tranquil until the voice of the
comperes broke the unwanted silence as the hall reverberated with loud cheers from Amethyst House because
they would be performing first.
Bright lights flashed on the stage to welcome the young participants from Amethyst supporters as they danced
to the beats of catchy songs. Next were the secondary section participants who helped to set the mood. The
Amethyst House ended their performance on a comical note which forced laughter to escape from the
audience.
The hall was pitch black and then suddenly small brightly lit up lamps provided the source of light as the
Citrine House participants used ‘diyas ‘ to spice up their graceful performance. They danced in sync to the
tune of instrumental music with umbrellas in their hands and cheerful grins lighting up their joyous faces.. In
between dances, an omniscient narrator told the story of rain. The sound of clapping echoed in the hall as
everyone thoroughly enjoyed the performance.
The Peridot house got us all thinking about -What is monsoon? They performed beautifully and concluded
that monsoon is not only a season but also a mood, an emotion and much more.
Last but not the least was the Sapphire House that threw light on the darker side of rain and through their
magnificent dance, they presented a tableau of the damages it has done in the past. Their performance ended
with all the participants as they gathered on stage to celebrate monsoon and all that comes with it. The dance
was accompanied by perfect cartwheels performed by our own classmates.
The smiles started fading and were replaced by stress lines forming on the faces of all those who were within
the four walls of Bianchi Hall. The time that all of us had waited for -had finally arrived. We crossed our
fingers[and toes also] hoping that the House we belonged to -wins.
Diya Vartak of 9A
Edited by Ms. Vimala Subramanian
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Science In Action – Pre-Primary
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Visit to the fire station- Grade 1
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Staff Enrichment
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Upcoming Events
Declamation Day- 13th August 2019
Interhouse Dramatics- 14th August 2019
Independence day- 15th August 2019
Teachers Day -5th September 2019
Hindi Divas Festival – 13th September 2019
Grand Parents Day – 20th September 2019