life at ois - oberoi international school ay 2012...have a great ganpati! georgina gray head of...

Oberoi International School, Oberoi Garden City, Off Western Express Highway, Goregaon (East),

Mumbai - 400 063, India. T: 022 4236 3131/ 199. www.oberoi-is.org | [Type the company address]

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LIFE AT OIS The month that was…

SEPTEMBER 2012 VOL. 5 / ISSUE 2

Dear Parents, I hope you are all well at this point in the year now that the Monsoon draws to a close, and students have settled down to routines and school procedures. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you a couple of important things happening in the school over the next few weeks, the first of which will affect the future direction of the school. This refers to our CIS/NEASAC accreditation process. As you are probably aware, there are quite a few student half days, including this Monday, in the academic calendar. These are there to provide time for the staff to prepare for accreditation. This is not just academic staff, but the whole school, and as you can imagine, it is quite a lengthy and time consuming process. However, the benefits of going through this process are that it will bring us up to recognized international standards and benchmarks, both academically, and in an operational sense. Most importantly, it will provide us with a future platform for continual improvement. If successful, we will be the first school in Mumbai to achieve this internationally recognised standard of quality. Parents and students are also an integral part of this process. One of the main components of our self study is a parent and student survey. The surveys have been designed by Endicott and give the school valuable feedback on all the services we provide.

Oberoi International School, Oberoi Garden City, Off Western Express Highway, Goregaon (East), Mumbai - 400 063, India. T: 022 4236 3131/ 199. www.oberoi-is.org

Message from the Vice-Principal

Message from the Primary School

ICT in Secondary

OIS Celebrates -

The Joy of Giving Week

News from the Middle School

Book of Knowledge

Celebrating Student Achievements

Important announcements

http://www.oberoi-is.org/



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The analysis of the results will inform us of what we do well, and areas where we may need to improve. Parents will be sent a link and instructions to complete the survey online in late October. Students from grade 5-12 will be given time to complete it in school. We also expect staff, the board and alumni to take part in the survey. On the topic of school improvement, we also have the ISA assessments coming up soon on the 8th and 9th of October for grades 3, 5, 7 and 9. We first took part in these assessments last year to see how we compared in English and Mathematics with other similar international schools across the grade ranges. The analysis of those results last year showed us that we needed specifically to focus on literacy throughout the school, and especially on reading skills. We hope that you have noticed the action we took as a result since the last assessments were taken. We will analyse the results again this year and see where we can make further improvements. The assessments are for our own reference regarding academic school improvement. Results are not published and we do not compare students with each other. The questions included are skill based and do not require any revision or extra study on behalf of the students. It is important that students come to school worry free, so please do not place any pressure on your children to perform, as the results simply give us feedback as a school rather than on individual students. Finally, I hope as we come to the final day of the Ganesh idol immersion festival, that people have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Please feel free to e-mail me or drop by the office at any time. Best regards, Alexander Simester Vice - Principal


CORE VALUE OF THE MONTH: RESPECT PAGE 2

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FROM THE PRIMARY SCHOOL Dear All, I hope you enjoy the selection of work from SKG and French in the Primary section of this month's newsletter. Today in our SKG - Grade 2 assembly, I asked the students if anything special was happening next week. I received a range of answers from swimming, drama, football and holiday! But we actually have two special weeks happening next week in Primary School. Math week is here and you will have probably noticed the soft boards outside the classrooms. During the course of the week, you will see those boards filling with student 'math' work. These boards will then be moved downstairs and displayed in the foyer. Please do take the time to see how math is happening in our school. We also have the 'joy of giving week'. We will be asking students to donate new or nearly new books next week. Please see the additional information in this newsletter about this event. Thanks to all parents who attended the PYP workshops which have now concluded. We had 390 parents sign up to attend a workshop, which is over 50% of our parents in Primary. I will be sending, over the next couple of days, an email with all of the PPT’s attached for your reference. Have a great Ganpati! Georgina Gray

Head of Primary School Oberoi International School, Oberoi Garden City, Off Western Express Highway, Goregaon (East), Mumbai - 400 063, India. T: 022 4236 3131/ 199. www.oberoi-is.org

CORE VALUE OF THE MONTH : RESPECT PAGE 3

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ICT IN SECONDARY

The ICT department in Secondary has seen a lot of changes this year. The biggest difference is our lab on the 6th floor. This is now an iMac lab complete with document creation software such as Microsoft Office and Apple’s iWork as well as a selection of multimedia applications for image, web, sound and movie design. Learning to use this kind of software is now the focus of the new middle school ICT curriculum. The other big change is a shift towards integrating ICT into all subjects and age groups where ICT tools are used as an avenue to improve 21st century skills like critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. The main vision here is to transform ICT from being a standalone pullout specialist subject to amore meaningful system where the tools of 21st century learning are integrated in everyday learning. Below are a couple of examples of how this has been implemented so far this semester.

“Ms. Priya’s grade 8 French class recently completed an animation and digital storytelling unit. Based around ‘A Day in the Life of…’, they planned and sketched out a storyboard of their animations including all the dialogue in French. They then turned this into a multi-layered frame-based animation using Adobe Flash as well as the new accent tools in Mac OS Lion for the French text.” Refer to the following pictures to see the group’s hard work.

“Edmodo is a social network for education allowing resources, assignments, quizzes and polls to be created and shared online with students. After a busy staff ICT training session introducing Edmodo to secondary teachers, Mr. Damian and the grade 9 Global Perspectives class used Edmodo for a complete class assignment, from distribution of resources to handing in the finished piece of work. The class had to find two maps illustrating AIDS distribution across the globe and then compare and contrast the two sets of data. The finished Word document was then uploaded to Edmodo and can now be graded and annotated all online” We are looking forward to many more projects such as these as the semester and year progresses. Andrew Crofton Secondary ICT



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This year OIS will come together to celebrate the Joy of Giving Week, Oct 2-8th in support of the Udaan India Foundation (UIF), Powai. The materials selected for donation have been determined in collaboration with UIF based on the needs of the academic programs and community. Let us support our children to learn to give only what they would like to receive with love and respect. Playschool to Grade 5: Students of the Primary School are encouraged to donate new or gently used pre-school to Grade 4 level books for the Udaan children, who otherwise would only have access to the BMC school text books provided by the Municipal schools. The idea is simple: Discover the joy of giving as they discover the joy of reading!! Grade 6 to 12: Students of Secondary School are encouraged to donate stationary items, 2-ring plastic file folders and used computers/laptops or working parts to support the learning and computer centers as well as the newly adopted Municipal schools in the area. Note about the organization: The Udaan India Foundation (UIF) is a Mumbai based registered non-profit organization that is committed to the cause of educating less privileged children. Our primary aim is to ensure that every child, particularly from the neglected urban slums of Mumbai, who is of school going age is in school and gaining a strong educational foundation that would prepare them for better employment opportunities,


and the right to lead a life with dignity and self respect. With a mission to "Empower through Education", Udaan has under its wings a range of teaching - learning spaces like the Udaan Kindergarten, Udaan Learning Center, Hamaari Udaan Library, and the Computer Center. UIF also offers scholarships to deserving students who would otherwise be unable or unlikely to pursue further education and a professional career post 10th grade. To know more about our work, please visit our website:www.udaanindiafoundation.org.

OIS CELEBRATES THE JOY OF

GIVING WEEK


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CORE VALUE OF THE MONTH: RESPECT

We value treating others the way we ourselves like to be treated.


http://www.udaanindiafoundation.org/



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BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE


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The grade 11 IBDP Visual arts students amazed everyone by creating an installation for the book week which took place from Monday 3rd September to Friday 7th September 2012. Within a few minutes of brainstorming, the students transformed 3 packing boxes into a chair which had a lot to demonstrate. This installation highlighted the student’s in-depth understanding of their visual knowledge, communicating it effectively through this Visual art project.

They have entitled it “Book of knowledge” a team effort, which enhanced every student’s participation at different levels. Anaika analyzed the aspects of art connecting it to the OIS vision. Rakshit focused on symbolising the whole concept by introducing figures and a ladder suggesting learning should be a part of growing and continual process. While this was in progress Sanniya unfolded the connection between the concept and fundamentals of art weaving the right balance. Unnati glued together all these creative ideas visually balancing the structure with aesthetical values, concentrating on the composition and placement of elements bringing in a collective representation.

This chair of knowledge was formed through creative thinking which allowed them to find parallels between seemingly unlike ideas blending with different contexts and representing them effectively, addressing a variety of interpretations, symbols and metaphors.

Ulka Adivrekar

Head of Visual Arts- Secondary and College Counselor





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NEWS FROM THE MIDDLE SCHOOL We are pleased to announce that the Middle School Life Skills programme has been introduced this academic year. This is a planned developmental programme of learning designed to help learners develop the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to manage their lives now and in their future. It deals with real life issues which affect young people, their families and their communities, and engages with the social and economic realities of their lives, experiences and attitudes. This programme is delivered by homeroom teachers during homeroom lessons twice a week. Some of the overall aims of this programme are to develop and improve student’s capacities to enhance their sense of self, improve their capacity to manage challenging circumstances and develop caring and respectful relationships. We are also working towards developing a mutual understanding and respect for different cultures and promoting sustainability. In line with this, the middle school students were involved in making models of sustainable Ganeshas in September. Students, as well teachers, enjoyed this activity and created awareness about the importance of using environmentally friendly materials for celebrating local festivals. They also created beautiful models of Ganeshas by using non toxic and biodegradable clay.

Priyadarshini Ramteke

Lower – Middle School Coordinator


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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

CORE VALUE OF THE MONTH: RESPECT PAGE 8

Click the links below to see and hear from our OIS students: Conversing in French: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_qbxsqA5MI&feature=g-all-u

French Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNcLGoDO5Y&feature=g-all-u Art & Craft Lesson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E_3PGZ3Kb4&feature=g-all-u

Michael Thompson Feedback Form

We hope you enjoyed the Michael Thompson sessions and would request you to share your feedback by clicking on the link below. Your feedback will help us plan our future parent sessions better:

http://goo.gl/MYw77

Lunch Menu on RENWEB

The weekly lunch menu is regularly being updated on RENWEB. Please login to your account to view details.

CONGRATULATIONS! Nikhil Seth of grade 3 and Yuvaan Seth of grade 2 participated in the Open National

Taekwondo Championship 2012 held in Mumbai on 11th and 12th of August. Both of them

won 2 silver medals each - 1 each in the Form and Sparring categories.

Yash Chheda of grade 6 has secured 7th

position in Under 13 Maharashtra Open Squash

Tournament at Bombay Gymkhana in South Bombay, held on September 21st.

Well done to all OIS students.


CELEBRATING STUDENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

“WE LOVE OIS”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_qbxsqA5MI&feature=g-all-u

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCNcLGoDO5Y&feature=g-all-u

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E_3PGZ3Kb4&feature=g-all-u

http://goo.gl/MYw77


life at ois - oberoi international school ay 2012...have a great ganpati! georgina gray head of...

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