The Weekly Bulletin of

Stonehill International School Volume 6, Issue 79

13 October 2017

FEATURED STORIES

Visual Arts in the MYP

What do colours communicate? The M2’s are engaged in the process of learning about pop art. The students are engaged in researching about Andy Warhol and his contemporaries.

IMPORTANT DATES: OCTOBER

16th - 20th SCHOOL CLOSED FOR DIWALI HOLIDAYS 23rd SCHOOL CLOSED FOR STAFF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY

28th DP CAMP FOR PARENTS

NOVEMBER 1st SCHOOL CLOSED FOR KARNATAKA RAJYOSTAVA HOLIDAY

CONTENTS 01/ FEATURED STORIES 07/ MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF THE SCHOOL 18/ WHOLE SCHOOL NEWS 08/ PRIMARY NEWS 11/ SECONDARY NEWS 13/ SPORTS NEWS

HIGHLIGHTS Anita Nair Visits the Primary School MYP Arts Showcase The Last Word – Festival of Speech, Drama & Debate BIS Phuket Soccer 7’s Report

THE TIGER

In this semester we have looked at colour theory and the students have worked around tints and shades. They are going to use this knowledge to create their final monochromatic piece of work.

M2’s also started working on learning how to analyse art. Over the last two weeks they have been comparing two art pieces of Andy Warhol. We are also trying to look at “Can anything be considered as art?” The students have been documenting their learning in their process journals and have built their understanding further on elements of art and the concept of pop-art.

Mr. Jitendra Pandey MYP Coordinator & Art Teacher

M4 Visual Art Class

The M4 Visual Art students recently concluded our Still Life project. We used collage to communicate our feelings and ideas about “life style”. We wanted to use pure colour, flattened perspective and keep our work not too realistic. Hope you enjoy this glimpse of our personalities!

By Arissa ,Mika, Kanako,Fabian, Ishika, Michelle, Takaaki and Tiriana M4 Visual Art Students

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL Dear Friends, Happy Diwali! Stonehill’s Diwali Mela is Friday, starting at 1:00. There will be a lamp lighting cermony, student, teacher, and parent performances; and many vendors. It will be a wonderful way to celebrate the Festival of Lights and begin the October break. GUIDING STATEMENTS. This is also a good time to remind ourselves of Stonehill’s vision, mission, core values, and strategic goals. Our vision and mission read: We are an internationally-minded community of spirited learners, dedicated to the development of knowledgeable, caring, confident and responsible global citizens. Our mission is to provide stimulating, engaging academics integrated with enhanced opportunities for technological innovation, sports and the arts. Our core values state that we are and continually strive to be knowledgeable, caring, confident, and responsible. Knowledgeable • We learn through challenging, relevant, significant and engaging curricula. • We create inspiring, innovative, differentiated learning experiences. • We share our understandings and apply knowledge to real-life situations. • We maximise our academic potential. • We understand that balance is essential for a healthy, fulfilling life

Caring • We provide an inclusive, compassionate and caring learning environment. • We nurture the social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development of our students. • We encourage students to reflect and take risks in their learning. • We create an environment where learners are happy, safe and valued. • We build relationships founded on trust, empathy and respect Confident • We are effective communicators who engage in collaborative and innovative learning. • We are lifelong learners equipped with the skills to adapt and interact within a constantly

changing world. • We enable students to be resilient, happy and independent. • We are critical, creative thinkers, confident in the application of a variety of approaches to

learning. • We nurture curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. Responsible • We are principled, respectful global citizens. • We effect positive change in our relationships, our community, and the environment. • We are open-minded to the views, cultures, values and traditions of others. • We seek opportunities to grow and challenge ourselves. • We are active participants in the learning process. STRATEGTIC GOALS. We are now in the second year of our four-year strategic plan; the goals and objectives are below, followed by our guiding statements. You can read more about the strategic plan on our website, www.stonehill.in. Learning and Teaching: A collaborative culture of innovation and continuous improvement in learning and teaching to promote spirited learners. Human Resources: Attract, develop and retain the highest caliber of employees which honors our commitment to Stonehill’s Vision Infrastructure, School Growth and Development: Be a school of choice and a centre for excellence in India Identity: A clear, compelling identity, recognised locally and globally. Financial Sustainability: Responsible planning and management of resources to be financially stable and self-sustaining. Governance: 1. Stable, effective governance and vibrant leadership, which models transparency, trust and accountability. 2. Drive stable, effective leadership and sustainable governance Wishing you a happy Diwali. With best regards, Dr. Beverly Sortland Head of School

WHOLE SCHOOL NEWS

PRIMARY NEWS

Road Safety

Please take a moment to read the important safety reminders below to ensure that children remain safe on campus morning during drop-off and afternoon pick-up times.

• Please remember to drive slowly and safely when on campus at all times. • During the morning drop-off in front of the Primary School entrance please make sure that you

do not stop parallel to other vehicles. If there is no space to stop adjacent to the pavement, please drive around to the PYP Car Park to drop children off or wait until a space is available.

• If you are parking your car to drop off or collect your children from school, please use the PYP Car Park. Do not park on the road.

• Cars should not collect students from the front of the Primary School at the end of the day. During this time, the area is reserved for School Buses only. If you are collecting children at the end of the day, please park in the PYP Car Park and walk up to meet children in from of the Primary Office.

• Please do not do U-turns on the road. Use the roundabout provided. • We would be very grateful if you could communicate this important information to your driver

or designated child-minder. We will be stopping cars and issuing warnings to drivers that are not adhering to these rules next week.

• If drivers consistently ignore this advice we will be asking the security guards to prevent their vehicles from entering the main campus area.

PYP Parent Workshop

Blessina Cyril, the PYP Technology Integration Teacher will be leading a Parent Workshop titled ‘Digital Citizenship - Keeping Your Child Safe Online’ on Wednesday 25th October. This workshop will focus on providing you with practical strategies to keep your child safe online. We will also provide information about the education we provide your children to help prepare them to be good digital citizens. The workshop takes place in the Primary Hall at 8.00 am. All parents are welcome to attend.

Important Upcoming Primary Dates • Monday 16th - Friday 20th - Diwali Holiday • Monday 23rd October - Non-Student Day - Accreditation and Evaluation Self-Study Day • Wednesday 25th October - PYP Parent Workshop - Keeping Children Safe Online • Wednesday 1st November - Karnataka Day - School Closed • Friday 10th November - Inter-House Soccer Tournament • Wednesday 15th November - Invitational Soccer Tournament • Thursday 16th November - P6 Camp Out • Wednesday 22nd November - BIS Phuket Soccer 7’s Tournament • Friday 1st December - Primary School Closed for Teacher Training Day • Thursday 7th December - Last day of ASAs • Friday 8th December - Early Years Winter Production • Friday 15th December - Winter Music Concert

Diwali Holiday

As the first quarter of school draws to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a restful and relaxing Diwali Holiday with friends and family. We look forward to seeing children back in school on Tuesday 24th October. Best regards, Simon McCloskey Primary Principal

SECONDARY NEWS

Vacations and Student Absences

Parents are not encouraged to withdraw children during term-time for vacations. Parents are also asked not to ‘leave early’ or ‘return late’ in order to extend scheduled school holidays. In cases where students will miss routine classes because of voluntary absence, the school does not provide extra work for them to take on vacation. The school is sometimes asked to authorise absences during school time for family vacations or other trips. It is not the school’s policy to do so.

The Secondary Mid-Semester One Report The Secondary Mid-Semester One Report will be released electronically on ManageBac on Wednesday, 8th November at 15:30pm. Please get in touch with Ms. Saathi (saathi.vinay@stonehill.in) if you have any issues with login to ManageBac.

Mid-Semester One Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences We would like to invite you to the Mid-Semester One Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences on Tuesday, 14th November from 08:00am to 16:30pm. The details and sign-up procedures will be emailed to all parents between 30th – 31st October.

Professional Development Day for Teachers – School Closed for Students On Monday 23rd October, there is a Professional Development day for teachers. Hence, the school will be closed on that day for the students. The school will re-open on Tuesday 24th October 2017 for all students.

College Counsellor

Ms. Praseeja Nambiar, our College Counsellor, met with the majority of D2 students last week. Early applications for USA and UK are underway. She is creating a GoogleDoc for each student which will be shared with the student and the parent. If you would like to meet with her, please contact her directly at praseeja.nambiar@stonehill.in (mobile number 9663373006). Thank you for your patience and cooperation in this matter.

Diwali Celebrations I hope you were able to join and enjoy the Diwali celebrations today at the school. It was a wonderful, collaborative effort to showcase snippets of the Diwali celebrations throughout India. I would like to thank Ms. Preethi Menon for organising the cultural show, along with help from Ms. Shivani, Ms. Manpreet, Ms. Maitreyee, Ms. Aprarajeeta and Ms. Neena. Special thanks to all students who participated and the teachers (Ms. Samantha, Ms. Fabiana, Mr. Avinash, Ms. Fiona, Ms. Robin, Ms. Katherine, Ms. Vandana, Ms. Shubha and Ms. Bindu) who took part in various dances from different parts of India; many thanks to Ms. Indira Rajaram for choreographing the parents’ dance. The members of the PTA deserve special commendation for organising the Diwali Mela. The details of the Diwali Mela and the cultural show will be shared in the next issue of the Tiger. The school will be closed for the Diwali holidays from Monday 16th to Friday 20th October. Please enjoy the Diwali festivities in this region of India. Warm regards, Narendra Mehrotra Secondary Principal

BOARDING NEWS

Hi Everyone, Happy Diwali! A large part of the House Parent and Boarding Staff roles, is making sure that students are cared for when they’re away from their families. We often find ourselves challenging students to wear more clothes, put their mobile phone away or to go to bed on time. Boarding staff are ready to talk through everything, from exam pressure to cyberbullying, as well as the issues that arise when young people live in such close proximity – it’s a 24/7 job. Here are six areas of wellbeing for Boarders who are 13 to 18 year-olds

1 – Sleep The sleep hormone, melatonin, seeps into the teenage brain much later at night than it does for the rest of us. Lack of sleep can make it hard for students to concentrate during the day, so we’ve developed a few ways to help them get enough rest. The lights in the house corridors are dimmed to encourage quiet and rest. With exams and assessments always around the corner, we focus on students getting enough sleep by explaining the science behind why sleep is so valuable. We will be conducting a sleep survey where students can say whether they are in sleep “credit” or “debt” depending on how they answer the questions. If they find themselves in sleep debt, they will be required to make a plan for getting more rest. Sleep and balance of life are considered safety factors for health and well-being.

2 – Choose Your Battles Every parent has to choose their battles with their children, and it is no different for boarding house staff. For example, if a boarding student disturbs others by not turning out their light at night, an alternative to this is supplying a night light. It is important to know when to let go, but also when to be consistent. Boarding staff at Stonehill focus on making sure that students take study time seriously – quiet and efficient use of the time available.

3 – Communication with Home Boarding is about relationships and trust. The best relationships between school and students correlate with good communication between school and home. We make sure we update parents and work with them to tackle the important issues. For example, if a student is challenged about inappropriate behaviour, parents are informed. We ask parents to support us by speaking with their child about any issues that arise, encouraging consistency with expectations. I, along with House Parents, communicate regularly with parents about everything from dental appointments to general welfare. We will be holding boarding workshops for parents to ensure that everybody is alert to potential problems and ideas and resources to help prevent them. We encourage students to phone home regularly; most, if not all students, have their own smart phone. Homesickness can be reduced if a student is encouraged to phone their parents, when they are feeling OK. Sometimes, the tough times can be relieved by having a chat or a hug of a Boarding puppy or cat. We also have trained counsellors and a health centre if things are more serious. The student might want to talk about a problem with their favourite teacher, or someone else onsite they trust, and that’s fine too.

4 – Home Comforts

Founder of Bedales School in the UK once said that a boarding house should be a home and not a place of work. Consequently, we also work very hard on making sure our Boarding houses are modern and comfortable spaces to hang out, eat, and watch TV or play table tennis – a home to come back to at the end of the day. We have mixed-age residences which better reflect life beyond the school. The Boarding precinct has a Girls Boarding House (Serinitya) and a Boys Boarding House (Amity) and for each house, there are big brother and sister role models who keep an eye on the younger students.

5 – Electronic Devices We don’t ban the use of electronic devices, but we try to educate our students about the risks. We do have specific times when the mobile is not to be used including breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as during study and bed time. Students are involved in the setting of rules/ guidelines to encourage ownership of them. In Boarding, we discuss cyberbullying and internet safety. Our staff is well trained and very capable of dealing with contemporary issues. 6 – Staff and Students Supporting Eachother When students experience problems it is good for staff to know we have each other for support. We look at past experiences and unpick each situation to make sure we are fair and consistent in our response. The work is demanding, but a combination of weekly House Parent meetings, informal conversations and communication by electronic means allows us to share ideas and seek help if needed. Standard operating procedures are designed to maintain consistency and efficiency in all that we do.

Weekly Boarding

If there are any parents of Day students especially those who are in M5, D1 or D2 who may be contemplating taking up the option of Weekly Boarding for 2017-8, please feel free to contact me at any time: john.busenschutt@stonehill.in or mobile: +91 7026612412. I would be happy to make a time to show parents through the Boarding Houses and to discuss the advantages of Weekly Boarding.

Important Boarding Dates Diwali & PD Day

16th – 20th October and 23rd October Boarding closes from 4:00pm October 13th and reopens from 4:00pm Monday 23rd October

Winter Break

Boarding closes from 4:00pm 15th December and reopens from 4:00pm Sunday January 7th Best regards, John Bussenschutt Head of Boarding

SPORTS NEWS

ISACI Round I – Senior Girls Football & Senior Boys Basketball

Our Senior Girls Football team represented Stonehill in New Delhi in the first round of ISACI tournaments this past weekend. The first game is always nerve–racking and the game against The British School, New Delhi (TBS) was no different. Stonehill set out with a strong team knowing that Delhi was the strongest opponent in the competition. Disaster struck early when Vitika sustained a nasty gash to her head, which led to her not being able to participate any further in the tournament. Stonehill tried to recover from this early setback and did well to contain TBS. Anaelle was set with the unenviable task of trying to contain the strongest player of the whole tournament, which she did very well. However, our Tigers tired towards the end and ended up losing 2 – 0. Stonehill had unfortunately drawn the short straw and had to play back-to-back games which, with only an hour recovery time and temperatures in the mid-thirties did not bode well. The players were noticeably more affected by the conditions and did not play as well as they can and ended up losing 2 – 0 again.

After the initial disappointment of losing the first two games on Day 1, the girls picked themselves up and were ready to enjoy Day 2. Knowing that the game against Mercedes Benz International School, Pune (MBIS) would not alter the standings, Stonehill gave starts to some of the fringe players who did not disappoint. Aliana showed great tenacity in midfield and Chloe did well in defence until twisting her already weak ankle going for a vital tackle. The match was quite even and Stonehill ended up winning 1 – 0 thanks to a calmly taken effort by Michelle.

Then after an early lunch and a reasonable recovery time Stonehill were back to contest the 3rd/4th place game. Despite a strong game from our girls and many attacks from raining down on the MBIS goal, the Tiger failed to score a goal. This meant the dreaded penalty shoot-out! Five brave girls put their names forward to take the penalties and it started off well with Michelle and Hedda both scoring, whilst MBIS missed their opening two. Unfortunately, nerves and a strange refereeing decision meant that both teams were tied and it went to sudden death. The Stonehill captain, Ida, stepped to calmly score our goal. MBIS also scored the next penalty. Next up was Sushi who hit her penalty high and over the goalkeeper to score. Next up for MBIS was their goalkeeper whose shot was saved by our keeper, Lea, which meant Stonehill won 4 – 3 on penalties. It was a great and nail-biting end to a super game of football. Special mentions go to Ms. Ranmali for accompanying us as a chaperone and Mr. Ismael for his great work as Assistant Coach. Ida and Hojung (both D2 students) deserve particular mention for competing in the last four ISACI football competitions! The Sportsmanship awards went to Ida, Sushi and Anaelle – congratulations! As their coach for this season and tournament, it has been a pleasure seeing the girls develop their footballing skills, teamwork and camaraderie. Mr. Antonio Orlando Senior Girls Football Coach

ISACI Round I - Senior Boys Basketball Tournament The Stonehill Senior Boys Basketball travelled to the International School, Hyderabad this past weekend for the first round of ISACI tournaments. It was a great learning experience for our Tigers who represented Stonehill with excellent sportsmanship attitudes.

Our boys played two very closely competitive games on Day 1 – unfortunately, they lost. However, this pushed them to play their Day 2 games with a sense of purpose and positive mind set. There was great teamwork and they didn’t rest on their laurels, which resulted in SIS winning two games on day two! We beat the champion team Mercedes Benz International School, Pune in the league match and won third place match against The British School, New Delhi.

Results:

1st Game - Stonehill Vs The British School, New Delhi

38-40

2nd Game - Stonehill Vs International School Hyderabad, Hyderabad

27-30

3rd Game - Stonehill Vs Mercedes Benz International School, Pune

34-31

3rd Place Game - Stonehill Vs The British School, New Delhi 4

2-38 Here is what Neil, M4B, had to say about his ISACI experience: As the youngest to participate in this ISACI Boys Basketball, it was an experience that I could never forget. The adrenaline coursing through my veins, the clutch shots, how close the games were and the true sportsmanship that we, as Tigers, portrayed to the other teams. Thanks to all my teammates for making my first ISACI memorable. Let’s get gold next year!

Mr. Avinash Kumar Whole School P.E. Teacher

Big Bad Blue at American International School Chennai

Swim team try-outs kicked off at the start of the school year. Competitive swimming, and its training, takes a lot of commitment and workouts are often intense – especially after a long day of school. Therefore, it was great to see almost seventy young athletes try-out for the swim team. Including team selection periods, swimmers have now been training twice a week for five weeks. On Friday, 6th October thirty swimmers from P7 to D2 travelled to Chennai to compete in the annual Big Bad Blue Swim Meet at the American International School, Chennai (AISC). The meet offers races for students aged 10 and older, starting from 25 meters races in all strokes all the way up to 400 meters freestyle. As our team has been training twice a week since the beginning of the school year, our swimmers felt well prepared and were up for the challenge of competing against AISC, as well as two local swim clubs and another other school.

Overall, our thirty swimmers competed in 202 individual races (130 new best times) and 14 relay races, averaging 8 races per swimmer during the two days of competition. As a result we came back with 13 gold, 22 silver and 10 bronze medals in individual races as well as 2 gold, 8 silver and 2 bronze medals in relay races. Additionally, we now hold three meet records, with Luke (M2) over 25 m freestyle in 0:16.85, Ebba (M2) over 100 m breaststroke in 1:40.56 and Tess (M1) over 50 m freestyle in 0:33.36. With only two weekly training sessions, this is a tremendous effort from the entire swim squad and we are extremely proud of them! Swim team try-outs kicked off at the start of the school year. Competitive swimming, and its training, takes a lot of commitment and workouts are often intense – especially after a long day of school. Therefore, it was great to see almost seventy young athletes try-out for the swim team. Including team selection periods, swimmers have now been training twice a week for five weeks. I would like to extend a huge thank you to all parent volunteers who helped with the trials and all our chaperones for this weekend.

#GoSIStigers

Ms. Kerstin Bender Whole School Sports Coordinator

Stonehill International School

Tarahunise Post Jala Hobli Contacting the School: Bangalore North 562157 India Admissions Ms. Rishika Ganapathy T + 91 8043418300 Primary School Ms. Nijika Bhardwaj + 91 8043418318 Secondary School Ms. Saathi Vinay M + 91 9008307684 Transport Mr. Rahul. I E info@stonehill.in Head Nurse Ms Charlette Macdonald