FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK January 2020 Newsletter · Leadership curriculum at Indus focuses on...

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FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK January 2020 Newsletter

“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.”

- Albert Schweitzer

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The students and staff returned to school after a long and restful winter break

this session. However, the new term began on a disappointing note of sorts

with the high absenteeism across all three Programmes in the first week of

school. I say disappointing since the winter break was extended this year and

also the fact that it did not allow for teachers to implement their academic

rigour implementation plan as desired. I request for the parent body to

support us in this regard and ensure your children come to school on a regular

basis and thus adhering to the attendance policy of a minimum of 85%. We

cannot improve academic standards without your support and understanding

and certainly not if students don’t show up at school.

The Primary Years Programme (Reception to Grade 5): The highlight of this

month in the PYP were the leadership camps for students of Grades 1 to 5.

Leadership curriculum at Indus focuses on experiential learning and prepares

students for life. Learners from Grade 1 to 3 participated in our annual

leadership camp at Kamshet.

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Grade 4 and Grade 5 students experienced an exciting overnight leadership

camp at Panchgani. They demonstrated their will power and grit while

exploring activities like rappelling, caving, zip lining and trekking in the hills.

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At all the camps, the students developed key leadership competencies like

critical thinking, collaboration, endurance and risk taking. We are proud of our

young Eagles who are on their way to become leaders of tomorrow.

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The PYP staff and students also celebrated 100 days of school in this academic

session. This was through a MUFTI Day where we students sport crazy

hairstyles that made everyone smile. The tiny tots from the EYP came dressed

as 100 year olds while Grade 1 sketched a self-portrait of how they would look

when they turn 100. Students of Grade 1 and 2 also participated in a fun

Rubik’s cube challenge that aimed at improving their dexterity and mental

agility. While our Grade 1 students are still learning to solve this popular 3D

puzzle, we are very happy to note that a few of our Grade 2 students

successfully completed the puzzle in under 3 minutes. It is indeed a fantastic

achievement for such young learners. Grade 3 and 4 explored 100 acts of

kindness and 100 ways to repair the world, while Grade 5 demonstrated 100

ways to make a hundred.

The PYP elocution challenge was held on 13th January 2020. Students from

Grades 1 to 5 participated enthusiastically in the same. They met the criteria of

being confident and effective speakers and were mindful of their voice

modulation and fluency of language.

Prep 2 visited a farm in the Angrewadi village as part of their inquiry into the transdisciplinary theme, 'How we organize ourselves'. They met the farmer (community helper) and understood the importance of farming. They were introduced to different kinds of tools used by the farmer and took a ride in the tractor which was a very exciting experience for our young learners. They also visited restaurant JZ in Bhugaon where they met the head chef

(community helper) of the restaurant. Children made pizzas and were made

familiar with the role of a chef in the restaurant which saw a flurry of questions

from our inquisitive and curious learners. It was a day fun-filled day for our

young Eagles.

As part of their inquiry on how homes reflect our personal identity and culture

Grade 1 visited the family home of our parents the Shirole’s. The

Maharashtran culture was on display and students witnessed the influence of

the same in their clothing, home décor and food. They even took part in a

traditional Sankranti celebration with involved drawing rangoli, exchanging

haldi-kumkum and making kites.

Grade 1 had an interactive session on 13th January 2020, as they received first

hand information about the process involved in building a house by architect

Ms. Rutuja Patankar and Ms. Poonam Gokhale. The details included – planning,

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design, approvals and blueprint. The students were excited to work in groups

and present their structure using Jenga blocks.

The One Nation Reading Together Programme is an annual event organized by

Scholastic India, where students from all schools across the country spend time

reading for at least twenty minutes. At IISP one of our leadership goals is to

develop the habit of reading (and deep reading) as we strongly believe this

paves the way for everyone to become lifelong learners. On 24th January, our

educators and students took a pledge to read many books and stay on the

edge. They spent time together quietly reading for twenty minutes. May I

please take this opportunity to request our parents to continue encouraging

your children to read every day?

Sports Day on January 31st was a fantastic morning of collaboration,

competition, integrity and sportsmanship. The Sports Department ensured the

Sports Heats as well as the Sports Meet was conducted brilliantly and this was

echoed in the feedback we have received from parents and students.

Photographs, more details and final results will be shared in next month’s

newsletter.

The Middle Years Programme (MYP Years 1 to MYP Year 5-Grades 6 to 10):

With the fast approaching e-Assessments for MYP Year 5, which is our first

batch of students appearing for these examinations, the faculty and leadership

team have leaving no stone unturned in their preparation, planning and its

implementation. Parents of our Grade 10 learners were invited to a workshop

on e-Portfolio on January 17th

It was a moment of pride for us when we won the Best Enterprising School

Award at the Innoventure Challenge 2019-2020. Aparajita Singh [MYP Yr 4]

was judged the second runners-up from her category of participants. Ranveer

Gulati [MYP Yr 1] won a gold 02nd invitational swimming state meet 2020 held

at Champion Aquatic Club on January 25th and 26th. My heartfelt

congratulations to all our winners who have made us extremely proud of their

efforts and achievement.

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Our MYP Yr 3 parents were invited for an orientation session on MYP Yr 4 and

5 where subject electives, the transition plan and timeline was shared.

Some of our Grade 10 students attended a workshop which was a platform

where strategies of setting SMART-C goals and how to manage ones time and

stress levels was discussed. The WOOP Method of goal setting was also

discussed here.

We are very proud of Upamanyu Mukherjee, a student of MYP Year 1.

Upamanyu is a published author! His book, “Chasing Snowfalls chronicles his

experience during different visits to the Himalayas and is all about following

one’s dreams and making them come true through deliberate practice,

resilience, goal mindedness, positivity and self-belief.

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Our compliments and heartiest congratulations to Rayna Arora, a student of

MYP Year 4. Rayna’s book; “Secrets in the City” is a non-fiction, that sees a plot

filled with plenty of twists and turns as well as secrets that bring mayhem in

the lives of the Roberts family. Rayna is currently working on her second book

titled “The Royal Blood.”

The Diploma Programme (Grades 11 and 12): Our Grade 12 students began

their pre-mock examination. The aim is to scaffold and not overwhelm

students directly with the volume they will be required for the mocks and

thereafter their final board examinations.

After the pre-mock examinations, the Grade 12 students worked towards their

final EE submissions.

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At the same time, post the half yearly examinations, the Grade 11 PTM was

conducted which provided parents and guardians an opportunity to meet with

the faculty to understand what the areas of focus post these assessments will

be for their child and how this improvement will be tracked and assessed. The

after school support classes have commenced for our Grade 11 students and it

has been mandatory for all boarders and day scholars who have scored below

a 4 to attend these.

The DP students also attended a workshop on Kognity that was conducted by

Mr Nick Harrinos. Kognity is a great online resource tool which not only has

fantastic learning and revision material but also allows for teachers to set tasks

and assignments and provide feedback on these online.

The Grade 11 students attended a student retreat on Tikkun Olam. We also

had one session during this retreat kept aside for representatives from

“Fridays for Future” who are actively working on implementing the laws

passed on Climate Change across the globe. We want to thank our Grade 11

parent, Ms Anuja Karthikeyan for helping us in this regard. The young activists,

Shruti Shingvi, Aman Varma and Azeem Attar shared details about their work

and why they are so incredibly passionate about this cause.

Placements and Career Guidance Cell: January saw our colleagues from the

Placements team begin their sessions with our MYP Year 5 students. An

orientation on the Diploma Programme followed by what the Placements team

will help students with over the next two years as well as what things our

learners need to ensure in order to build a strong portfolio and overall

application. These weekly sessions will continue for another five weeks.

Further, we saw a Professor from the Art University of Bournemouth visit and

he spent time with our Visual Arts students.

Boarding Programme: The boarders continued following their well-designed

and vibrant weekend activity schedule. Further, the week day routine has

ensured students are eating healthy, exercising in the evenings and also

learning to manage their time better so as to meet academic deadlines. We

will shortly resume the morning activity schedule. Our new counsellor, Ms

Manvi Sharma, who came on-board our team before the winter break is

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available to meet kids in groups or on an individual basis six times a week. On

week days, she is available until dinner time. Ms Sharma has also conducted a

group session on conflict management and respecting differences, earlier this

month for our Grade 9 students. Weekends also has extra academic support

classes organised for the upper MYP and DP students.

The PYP to Grade 9 boarders went on a Heritage Walk to Shaniwarwada. This

gave the kids an opportunity to learn about the culture of the city in which

they reside. The feedback from the students is that they thoroughly enjoyed

this experience and would like this to be a regular part of the schedule.

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Pottery, volunteering at RESQ and Warli Art classes continue every weekend

and post the art workshop, the students are now looking at collaborating on a

mural in the boarding based on this folk art.

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Makar Sankranti celebrations too saw multiple sports competitions organised

for the boarders as well as a kite flying one. The kids enjoyed a musical evening

as well as a special menu was in place for both lunch and dinner.

Over the next few weeks, boarders who might be interested have been given

access to free horse riding sessions over the weekends. Another achievement

this month is that the boarders have taken the initiative of running the

Community Kitchen over the weekends and they have done incredibly well

thus far. They are also spending more time in the Community Garden and

working on setting up a vertical garden as well as an herb garden outside the

dining hall.

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Again, I wish you and your loved ones a Happy 2020 and may this year bring

the very best that life has to offer each of you.

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As I always mention, we rely on your support and feedback as this allows us to

strive to do better. Everything we do has the students’ at the centre. And you

and us are on the same team-which is that of your child! So please feel free to

reach out to me if you have feedback or any recommendations that will help

the kids in their academic and whole education pursuit at IISP.

I wish you a wonderful month ahead and I am most excited since it gives me an

opportunity to work closely with the children every single day on Indus Day.

The best way to tackle a challenging day for me is to spend time with the

wonderful kids who come to learn here.

Thanks and warm regards Preeti G. Prabhu Principal Indus International School Pune [email protected] [email protected] +91 8390905891 www.indusschoolpune.com

Dates For Your Diary: February 2020

Date Event February 07th Senior School Aquatic Meet

February 08th New Parent Induction (PYP) Parent Teacher Meeting (Grade 12)

IBDP Orientation of MYP Y5 (Grade 10) February 13th, 14th IBDP Visual Art Exhibition

February 14th Personal Project Exhibition - MYP Y5 (Grade 10)

February 19th Shivaji Jayanti [Holiday] February 29th SENIOR SCHOOL INDUS DAY

http://www.indusschoolpune.com/

FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK January 2020 Newsletter · Leadership curriculum at Indus focuses on...

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