Annual Report 2020-2021 (Gr 1-7)

The school year 2020-21 has been a year like no other. In the month of May 2020, our

teachers were able to pivot themselves to distance learning in days and were able to

deliver in person learning to the little ones, which is so crucial to the young learners.

The orientation program for the teachers began by the mid of May, 2020 by conducting

a series of in-house online training sessions. The Principal conducted demo classes on

online teaching, through zoom, which was followed by innovative demo classes by the

teachers, which made them confident of taking up the novel task of teaching via virtual

platform. The teachers were also trained to use the Google classroom, conduct kahoot

quizzes, Google meet etc. and to use various tools to make the online classes more

effective and interactive.

The Principal gave a comprehensive orientation program for the parents through the

virtual platform. A video recording that covered the facilities and equipment required to

be provided from home, the mode of logging in, timings, submission of notes, usage of

Google classroom etc. were explained to the parents through the video.

Online classes commenced in the first week of June. The weekly timetable was shared

to the parents every week. YouTube links of the pre-recorded sessions were sent for Art

and Craft, STEAM, Home Science, Gardening and Dance. Live physical education

classes were held in the first term. Recorded fitness sessions were sent across the grades

in the second term.

Assessments were held successfully for all grades. Periodic Test-1, Half Yearly Exam,

Periodic Test-2 and the Annual examinations were conducted using Zoom meet and

Google Classroom for Grades 5-7.

Parent-Teacher interactions were also held successfully through zoom meets.

The following events were held during the course of the academic year:

Environment Day Celebrations- 5th June

The theme of World Environment Day 2020 was "Celebrating Biodiversity". It is imperative that each of us do our part to address this issue urgently. While all our kids were staying home and staying safe, they've promised to keep mother Earth healthier.

Students were encouraged to take eco-friendly substances and turn them into reusable items for daily use such as paper pens, cloth bags made of discarded T-shirts, reusing tissue boxes creatively, planting saplings and more. We, at Aspire applaud and encourage our little ones for their aspirations and dedication for these small steps, for these are the steps for the bigger steps later. Team Aspire spread this message across to all and encouraged the little ones to do what they can to protect and care for the environment.

World Music Day Celebration- 21st June Aspire Residential Public School decided to celebrate the World Music Day by putting up a video of their teachers displaying their singing talents and spreading the message of ‘this too shall pass’ through their songs. The video had a short message on why one should listen to music. The video was well received and commended upon its rendition and making.

International Yoga Day- 21st June

Aspire Yoga Challenge was an online competition to speak the awareness on the importance of Yoga in daily life and let one’s soul breathe and be free. The students whose photo bagged the most number of likes/reactions after a week of the social media post were declared as the winners. Attractive prizes were delivered to the winners.

Father’s Day Celebration- 21st June Aspire Residential Public School remembered and honored all fathers on June 21 as the world celebrated Father’s Day. As part of the celebrations our students sent in a 30 sec video telling why their father was their superhero. The received videos were compiled together and posted on the school’s official page. The students also made a special Father’s Day Greeting Card and gifted their father the same. Even during this lockdown when the schools aren’t open, our teachers helped our students bring out their stories through online platforms and social media, and getting their message across to the heroes. The video received appraisals from the parents and well-wishers.

World Conservation Day/International Tiger’s Day- 28th & 29th July

On the occasion of World Conservation Day (28/07/2020) and International Tiger's Day

(29/07/2020), students were encouraged to make posters/placards on the theme

"Importance of Conserving Nature" and ‘Protecting our Tigers”. As part of the

celebrations our students sent various posters as images highlighting the importance

of preserving the tigers. The received photos were compiled together and posted on

the school’s official Facebook page. The program created an awareness among the

students on the present condition of the life of tigers and the need to protect the

nature and its inhabitants. The photo collaboration received appraisals from the

parents and well-wishers.

Doctor's Day, 1st July 2020

Doctor’s Day in India is celebrated to honor the legendary doctor, the Second Chief

Minister of West Bengal and the Bharat Ratna Awardee, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy.

The event was organised as an online informative session with our respected Executive

director, Dr Azar Naveen Saleem for the students of Grade 6 &7.Our principal, Mrs

Anitha Rinu George welcomed our respected Executive Director. The students had a

good understanding of the services provided by the doctors. Dr Azar also gave the

students a insight on how doctors are striving currently to cure and save lives during

the Covid-19 crisis. The students also got an opportunity to clear their queries that they

had. The activity team with the support of our beloved principal had organised the

online session.

Chocolate Day Celebration 7th July Aspire Residential Public School observed a week’s celebration from July 6 – 10 in view of Chocolate Day, which was on July 7. As part of the celebration, an interdisciplinary styled class themed ‘Chocolate’ was conducted by all the teachers.

The following were few of were the activities conducted as part of the celebration. Grade 3 – English – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Story) As part of the celebration, the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was shared in third grade. Pictures and images were included in the story telling keeping the students interested and making them share their favourite stories and chocolate. The class aimed to bring out different procedures used for making chocolates and also the morals of humble and humility. Grade 6 – English – Chocolaty memories (Memory sharing) As part of the celebration, students of sixth grade were encouraged to share their favourite memories related with chocolate. The teacher facilitated the session by first sharing his favourite memory and then initiated the students by calling out each to share. The class aimed to help students recollect and relive their memories, create better vocabulary and instil a higher confidence level while speaking in English. Grade 4 & 5 – Social Studies (History of Chocolate) In view of the celebration, grades four and five were given a short history class on how chocolates came to be popular as today. The beginnings from Aztec times to modern day chocolate bars were presented to the students using videos and sharing. The students got a better understanding of chocolate's history and the reason behind its popularity. Gr 1&2- Hindi- Rhymes on Chocolate were shown in class.

Math- Across the grades, the concepts taught were linked to chocolates.

Science- The nutritive significance of eating chocolates was explained by the teachers.

Independence Day celebrations -14th August

Independence Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm and patriotic fervor by the teachers and students. Under this pandemic situation to the feeling of patriotism was seen among our students.

To instill a feeling of patriotism and to make the children more aware of the innumerable sacrifices made by our great leaders a special online assembly was conducted for Grades 4 to 7 on 14th August.

Our respected Principal Mrs. Anitha Rinu George welcomed our students and other members present in the virtual assembly. She also expressed her thoughts regarding Independence Day and as she rightly mentioned that this year will be remembered as the year of virtual celebration. Students attended the assembly dressed up in tri colour. Students were taken through a short visual overview of our freedom struggle followed by quiz on Independence struggle and a poem recitation by our faculty, Mr.Manoah. Students expressed their thoughts regarding Independence Day.

Indeed, it was a day of joy, a day to love and respect our country and make it a better place for Indians to live and experience the freedom, peace and unity in diversity.

Session on Online etiquettes- 26th August

An online session on the Etiquettes and guidelines, to be kept in mind while attending

the virtual classes was conducted by the Principal. The link for this video was shared to

the parents on 26th August. This session gave a comprehensive idea to the students and

parents about the importance of following online etiquettes while attending the

sessions.

Onam Celebration- 27th August The global pandemic and the longest ever lockdown have not made anything easier for anyone, especially schools. But Aspire Residential Public School always found a way to make all celebrations as colourful and delightful as possible even when we are miles apart from our young Aspirians. The biggest celebration for Keralites around the globe would without a doubt be Onam. Aspire too hoped for a colourful Onam with its vibrant Aspirians. It was a herculean task to do something magnificent keeping with the stature of Onam while staying safe at home during the pandemic. The team at Aspire put their heads together to bring out an idea to achieve this task. A video where we showcase the students’ talents with the central theme of ‘Onam’ was compiled. A 9-minute long video was made as a result of an all-in approach by teachers, students and parents. The video was received well by parents and well-wishers of the school and had a good reach on Social media such as Facebook and Instagram.

HINDI DIWAS CELEBRATION – 14th September

Hindi Diwas is celebrated to inculcate love for the Hindi Language and get knowledge on importance of the Hindi Diwas. It is also celebrated to mark the importance of the country’s most widely spoken language. A special online assembly on 14th September, 2020 marked the occasion.

Students from Grades 6 and 7, the Events Team and our respected Principal attended the assembly. The assembly started with prayer in Hindi followed by views expressed by teachers and students on the importance of Hindi language. Hindi recitation competition for Grades 1 to 5 and Hindi Elocution for grades 6 and 7 was held to create an awareness among the students.

Principal Mrs. Anitha Rinu George speaking on the occasion gave an insight and

importance of Hindi in our daily life and urged everyone to feel proud of our National

Language Hindi. Language and culture of any country plays an important role in making

people to connect with the people & helps in making a strong nation.

Inter-House Science and Math Quiz -29th September The Inter-House Math & Science Quiz for Grades 3-7 was held in the month of

September. The preliminary selection was done through a written test after which the

house-wise topper from each class was selected for the final quiz competition.

The preliminary round, which was open for all was held on Tuesday, 15th September

during the class time. The final online Science and Math Program was conducted on

28/09/2020. Ms Anitha George, Principal and Mr Shine Varghese, Math Department

Head were the Quizmasters.

The quiz was divided into five rounds with separate rounds for Science and Math, and a common final round. Both the houses fought tooth-and-neck leading into a tiebreaker at the end and Tulips house coming on top as winners. Team Tulips consisted of Manha Ebrahim (Grade 3), Noura Sameeha (Grade 4), Zainab Jafer (Grade 5), Haripriya Reghu (Grade 6) and Afrin Shakeer (Grade 7) while Team Daffodils consisted of Aadi Sankar A. (Grade 3), Fayha Abbas (Grade 4), Deva Prabha Nair (Grade 5), Mohammed Ebrahim (Grade 6) and Amrin Shakeer (Grade 7).

GANDHI JAYANTI CELEBRATION- 2nd October 2020

A great leader Mahatma Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869. Our nation celebrates this day for his unforgettable contribution to the freedom struggle. His aim was to build a new society that practices nonviolent behaviour, but his dream on a clean India is still unfulfilled. We at Aspire Residential School celebrated Gandhi Jayanti in a different way in this pandemic situation.

With an aim to promote Gandhiji’s dream and during this pandemic situation when sanitization is the ultimate mantra, an Inter-House Drawing and Colouring competition was held. The theme chosen for the competition was ‘ Swach Bharath - Keeping it Clean during Covid-19. Students from Grade 1 to Grade 7 participated in the competition. The children showcased their creative skills in drawing and colouring and the result was amazing art work.

Through such creative events we intend on inculcating many important values to the future generation.

Children’s Day- 14th November

On the occasion of Children's Day 2020, Team Aspire offered an exciting and fun filled

day for all students. A platform to display the children’s on-stage/on-screen talent

was provided on 13th November in which the students participated with excitement.

They also dressed up as their favourite characters from movies/plays/novels and

delivered monologues portraying the significance of the character they displayed.

Teachers also participated by portraying themselves as Kalpana Chawla, Minister for

Heath- Shailaja teacher, Vice President of US-Kamala Harris, Writer Kamala Surayya,

Cartoon characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse etc.

Wealth out of Waste Exhibition- November 2020 Waste production cannot be stopped entirely, but each one of us can contribute significantly to reduce it. Team Aspire conducted a virtual "Wealth Out of Waste Exhibition for spreading awareness on recycling and waste reduction for Grades 1 – 7. It was held as an Inter House Competition for all the grades and witnessed enthusiastic and creative participation from the students.

Inter - House GK Quiz Competition- 15th December

Quiz competitions are always interesting and informative, which provide excitement among the students and also make them aware of current affairs. The Inter-house quiz competition at Aspire Residential Public School was conducted for students of Grade 3 to Grade 7. The preliminary rounds were conducted on 30th November 2020 to select the finalists. The final competition was successfully conducted on 15th December 2020.

Rules and regulations of the quiz were explained at the beginning. It was interesting four-round competition, including current affairs questions with options round, audio-visual round, trivia round and the rapid fire round. The students showcased their brilliance by rapidly answering the questions. Though some of the questions were very tricky, the teams tried to answer them with confidence.

Although students of both the houses (Daffodils & Tulips) gave a tough battle to each other, the team that scored the most was Daffodils House. It was indeed very informative and knowledge enriching competition for the participants along with the audience.

Aspire Residential Public School encourages such positive competitions and hopes to bring out the best in all its students through such competitive events, while ensuring that the children learn through all possible ways- not just through books and classroom teaching.

Christmas Celebrations A fun-filled day with laughter, songs and stories marked the virtual Christmas

celebrations 2020. Teachers explained and refreshed the values to be remembered

during the season of giving and sharing. Our enthusiastic little ones cheerfully

participated in dance, carols, speeches, stories and songs during the online Christmas

celebrations. They also passed on their wishes to their friends all decked up in

Christmas colors and Santa cap. Videos of the performances were compiled and shared

in the social media.

Republic Day Celebration January 2021

The virtual Republic Day celebrations was held during the online sessions with the

teachers giving information on the significance of the day, Republic Day parade and the

historic aspects related to the day. Students and teachers were dressed up in tri colors.

Teacher presented PowerPoint with more information about Republic Day and also

shared a video of the Republic Day parade at Red Fort in Delhi. Photos and videos were

compiled and a video was uploaded in social media as part of Republic Day.

Language week February 2021 It is obvious that languages play an important role in various aspects of our daily lives. Their role is not only limited to communication, rather it extends into the vast branches of knowledge and human sciences. Languages are capable of developing human knowledge and extending it for the benefit of human kind.

The school conducted the language week in the second week of February 2021 with an array of events with the motive to enhance the vocabulary, language skills and make learning more enjoyable. The events conducted during language week were story telling, recitation, spell bee, tongue twister and elocution in English, Hindi and Malayalam.

Spell Bee Competition was conducted across grades, aimed at creating awareness of the possibilities of using varied words in oral and written expressions and add words to the active vocabulary and familiarize the students with functional grammar. The students were judged on pronunciation and correct spelling of the given words.

Tongue twisters are a great way to practice and improve pronunciation and fluency. The tongue twister activity was conducted for Grade 1 and 2. All the students participated in it. The activity was conducted during school hours in the respective classrooms. Students were judged on the pronunciation and fluency of words.

Beauty is the realm of poetry. The young poets enthusiastically participated in the recitation competition as they got an opportunity to exhibit their talent and confidence. They enjoyed the perfection of expression, thoughts, emotions, rhythm and music of words. Students were judged on the parameters like confidence, voice modulation, memorization and overall presentation.

Elocution refers to one’s capacity of communicating with others, with the use of exact speech and gestures. Keeping this in mind English Elocution Competition was organized for Grades 6 and 7. Topic was given to the students and they were judged on the parameters like knowledge, understanding the topic, fluency and overall presentation.

Children realized that learning languages is fun and enjoyable at the same time, adequate effort is required to master it.

Safety Awareness Month

Educating all stakeholders including citizens, drivers, traffic police etc. about road safety is crucial to save millions of lives and prevent accidents. For children, homes and schools are the main points of education on road safety. Team Aspire observed the safety awareness month in February with the objective of spreading the awareness of road safety measures and the steps that we citizens needed to take. Activities were organized across the grades. An informative video was shown and explained to the students of Grade 1 & 2. Students of Grades 3 &4 contributed by making safety awareness posters and videos. Grades 5-7 participated enthusiastically in the online quiz on Safety Awareness.

District Skating Championship- 28th February

Our super skating champ, Vaiga Subin, Grade 5A bagged two gold medals and one silver medal in the Ernakulam District Skating Championship held on 28th February 2021, in the 9-11 years age category. She won medals in all the events she participated including 1000m(Gold), one lap road (Gold) and 500m (silver).

Indian Talent Olympiad

A total of 61 students from Grades 1-7 participated in the Indian Talent Olympiad held

from 5th February to 13th February.

6 of the students brought in laurels for the school, two students emerging as state toppers

and 4 students bagging the excellence award.

Mohammed Eshaan, Gr 1B- State Topper (Rank 5) in Mathematics

Adwait A Nair, Gr 3- State Topper (Rank 6) in Science

Evangeline Julian, Gr 1B- Excellence Award in English

Izzah Manha Fazal, Gr 2 A- Excellence Award in English

Mohamed Zain P S- Gr 1 A- Excellence Award in Mathematics

Zuha Eshal Sabeer- Gr 3- Excellence Award in English

In spite of the challenges, Team Aspire was able to adapt and evolve with dedicated hard

work and perseverance and thus was successful in providing the support required for the

students to complete the academic year in the online platform.