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Volume-II
Issue - 4
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THE
NEWSPAPER OF OAKRIDGE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
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Towards
Becoming an International
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Report |
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Director of OIS Mr.Dhanunjaya, Principal Mr.janajit Ray and Headmistress Mrs.C.Adilakshmi in the Principal's office. He was provided with an overview of the school and its organizational structure. Mr. Auckland then spent about two hours with the Headmistress, who is also the PYP Coordinator, reviewing all the records, documents and samples of students’ portfolios developed in the past year as a candidate school. He was highly appreciative of the quality of work samples displayed in the students’ portfolios and was anxious to meet the children. The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent visiting classrooms and observing and interacting with children. It was heartwarming to see the welcome given by the little ones of the Preprimary section and their enthusiasm in talking about the things they did in |
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of education in Hyderabad. The approaches to pedagogy and transaction techniques that we use are aimed at making Oakridge’s global citizens ready to face challenging situations with confidence. The school has adopted the Primary Years Programme of the International Baccalaureate and is committed to being authorized to use it. The Primary Years Programme of the International Baccalaureate is a pedagogical approach aimed at making every child a global citizen. Getting authorization involves commitment to teacher training, adequate resource allocation, use of appropriate transaction methods and focus on building positive attitudes in children. The IB monitors this process for at least a year and sends in teams to review the standards of application. Only schools that satisfy all the norms and show sustained progress are approved for authorization. Oakridge International has adopted the PYP methodology and has been a candidate school since June 2003. During this phase the teachers participated in workshops and training sessions conducted by IB authorized workshop leaders who were invited by the school. They had access to the official website and benefited immensely from their interactions with other teachers across the globe. The teachers also visited a few PYP schools in India and participated in teacher exchange programmes. On his arrival at the school campus, on the first day, Mr. Ron Auckland met the class. Among the older children the spirit of inquiry was clearly reflected in the questions they asked Mr. Auckland and their responses to his queries regarding their units. This found special mention in the report. The students of Class IV presented a wonderful puppet show on the theme ‘Sharing the Planet’ using the puppets they had learnt to make in a puppetry workshop. Children from the primary classes also put up a drill display for the visiting PYP dignitary. |
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“Strong
evidence of inquiry-based learning was found throughout the school
and a desire to move even further was made clear by the teachers.
Markers of the programme are pervasive throughout the classrooms
and hallways and there is evidence of inquiry throughout the school
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A very strong commendation was made for the display of students work in the classrooms and corridors. Creating a vibrant learning environment through display of work done is mandatory for the PYP. It was observed that the work samples reflected children’s learning rather than ‘stencil work’ by teachers. The effort evident in trying to integrate activities in units and to adopt a trandisciplinary approach using the national curriculum was also appreciated. Mr. Auckland made certain recommendations, which will have to be met before an authorization visit. Continued professional development for the teachers was suggested to empower them to face the challenges of moving away from the traditional didactic style to the inquiry based approach. Further enrichment of the resource centres to support inquiry and continued review of the Programme of Inquiry were also proposed. Extension of the PYP programme to Class VI was strongly recommended to provide adequate training for students to be able to do the PYP exhibition at the end of the programme. The school is committed to fulfilling all the requirements and has already started working towards meeting them. An action plan has been drawn out to facilitate the process. We now look forward to the final authorization visit scheduled for 7 and 8 September 2004 when we can hope to be recognized as an IB World School. Mrs.
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Editorial
Rudyard Kipling hit the nail on its head when he said, “Of all things in the world, there is nothing, always, excepting a good mother, so worthy of honour as a good school.” Who but a good mother can nurture and nourish her child in every possible way to provide him or her with the strength of body, mind and spirit to cope creatively with life and all its challenges? It is only a good school that can dare to undertake the Herculean task of helping each of its students to effectively contend with the world and the multiplicity of diverse situations of life as an individual who is part of a huge variety of greater entities. Actually, good schooling always aspires to practically replicate on a higher scale what a good mother does for her child on a one-on-one level. Only during our school-going years does the education that society makes available to us focus on the development of the entire range of our personalities. It is a proven fact that the human personality acquires its fundamental character as well as the basic understanding of human knowledge by 18. We go to school when we are roughly between three and 18 years of age. The mix of the academic subjects we study and the other activities that we undertake in school provides us with the basic knowledge as also the skills, aptitudes and attitudes required to deal with life and the world around us. After school, when the basic character and overall understanding of knowledge of a person is in place, the emphasis of education shifts towards gaining specialized knowledge of particular subjects. Who can deny that school education constitutes the backbone of any civilized and cultured society or nation? Any system of good schooling, in any country, at any time, has to develop, train and prepare the variety of traits that constitute the infinite range of the entire personality of each of its children to be at home with life and cultivate the capacity for responding adequately, appropriately, successfully and joyfully to every demand that he or she would encounter while living in a particular time. Robert Maynard Hutchins very rightly said, “The objective of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.” Unfortunately, we as a nation have allowed ourselves to be pushed into such a pathetic position where we have to differentiate between and argue about ‘good’, ‘basic’ and ‘bad’ school education. A civilized and cultured society needs to present its children with schooling systems that get them ready for life in the best possible manner. School education must always mean good schooling. However, one is compelled today to wonder how many of us Indians can actually comprehend what school education should signify. We take it for granted that ‘good’ or holistic schooling can be available only to the affluent elite of society. For all the others, it is hardly anything but examination-oriented and marks-driven ‘academics’ that constitutes the so-called mainstream school education in India. People in India must realize that what generally passes by the name of school education here is nothing but a big hoax. Except for merely a handful of schools all over this vast country, no school really attempts to educate the entire personality of a child. Very few schools focus on learning rather than teaching in order to facilitate a system where every student reaches out to and constructs one’s own knowledge – with the teacher acting as no more and no less than the motivator and facilitator – by asking questions, going after the answers, reading, exploring, dreaming, formulating and testing hypothesis. It
is indeed very frustrating that this nation – even 56 years
after Independence and 53 years after declaring itself a Republic
– cannot provide any worthwhile schooling to a huge majority
of its citizens. This is all the more unpalatable because for
thousands of years India showed the world the way to construct
knowledge, to educate its children creatively. We have allowed
the colonial model of school education – that aimed at nothing
but churning out clerks to bolster up the British Raj – not
only to triumph over our very own and very successful systems
of schooling but also to continue to blight even today all our
aspirations as a nation of creative people. None denies that we are a poor nation but to blame poverty for the lack of education amongst our people is pitifully dishonest. Yes, a huge number of our children cannot afford to go to school even when schooling is free. However, that is because we have failed as a society to remove the obstacles to their coming to school. And that is because we haven’t allowed education to filter through to that level where it becomes the most potent tool for solving our problems. Don’t we see clearly that even those amongst us who go (or have gone) to school, hardly gain the kind of knowledge and skills that school education should endow us with? How long can we afford to think that we are a knowledgeable civilized people but cry on others’ shoulders when it comes to acting on our own and solving our own problems? Sadly, we have become so desensitized with all our woes today that we fail to comprehend what a sorry figure we actually cut amongst others. India can never shine unless it can provide all its children with proper education. We must recognize that there has been a concerted conspiracy to keep us ensnared in slavery as a nation – and the inadequacies of our education system have been most crucial in perpetrating this conspiracy. There can be no doubt that if this nation was properly educated we would have been among the topmost countries of the world in every sphere. All
of us at Oakridge – students and teachers – are surely
privileged to be part of a schooling system that helps us stand
entirely on our feet. Let us clearly understand what we are attempting
to do here, why this venture is so important and how we can serve
this nation through such a initiative – and do something
concrete about the same. |
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Good
schooling must – without exception – be considered the
birth right of any and every child born and/or living in Independent
India. The quality of schooling that a society provides its children
with has a direct bearing on the nature of its national character
– for school education necessarily addresses itself to the
task of facilitating the building of personalities of every upcoming
generation of citizens. The primary aim of school education is
to get growing human beings ready to face life and the world from
the general point of view and, at the same time, to develop all
their individual talents, aptitudes, skills and attitudes well
enough to encounter life and the world on a one-on-one basis.
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Academic |
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Let Me Show You What I Know Studentled conferences are a celebration of the child’s learning. When a child is encouraged to take charge of assessing, evaluating and reporting and is allowed to demonstrate his abilities, it enhances his self esteem and initiates further learning. Parents are the most important people in the life of the child with whom he would like to share his learning and growth. The Studentled Conference(SLC) provides an opportunity for the parents to get a holistic picture of the programme in school and support the child in becoming a responsible key player in his learning. The process begins at the beginning of the academic year when children set goals for themselves and develop their portfolio. They continue to assess and review their work and enhance performance. They prepare displays and models according to units and make presentations. The studentled conference is planned towards the end of the year. Children are responsible for the planning and organization of the event. They send out invitations to parents and prepare checklists as they go along. On the big day they invite their parents to the classroom and share their learning with them. They reflect on their strengths and weaknesses and set new goals. Mrs.
C.Adilakshmi |
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Children of classes PP1 to V of OIS had their first Studentled Conference (SLC) in two sessions: Classes III to V on 13 March 2004 and PP1 to Class II on 27 March 2004. Student-led conferences provide students with an opportunity to talk with their parents about their educational progress. Each student invites his or her parents to attend a meeting concerning their educational goals and progress in meeting those goals. During the meeting, the student shares examples of his or her work using the portfolio. Portfolios include samples of work, which reflect student learning and self-assessment. The student also analyses his or her strengths and weaknesses and reflects upon the educational consequences of choices the student has made. The classroom walls and display centres are set up as learning centres where the student can demonstrate or show the parents activities done in the term. They also look at the PYP student profile. The student has a lead role to play in a SLC. The teacher is only a facilitator. Parents have a new and important role in this conference—listening to their child and listening to him/her express himself/herself as a learner is a very powerful window into the child’s mind. Ten days prior to the SLC the class teacher sends a letter to the parents to check their availability and willingness to attend the SLC. The student invitations with individual time slots are taken home by the children. Finally a letter from the Headmistress reemphasizing and relating a few dos and don’ts for the SLC is sent. We are glad to report that the whole process went off without a hitch because of the thorough planning and ground work by the teachers, absolute cooperation from the parents and the tremendous effort and beautiful performance by the children themselves and not to forget constant encouragement and guidance from the Headmistress and the cooperation of the management and administration staff. It was truly a sterling presentation. Hema Chennupaty |
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Meeting
of PYP Minds: 30 Pre-primary and Primary teachers of Oakridge International School accompanied by Mrs C Adilakshmi, the Headmistress, set off for Pune at 6.00 clock on 28 February evening, to attend the second South Asian International Baccalaureate Schools Association (SAIBSA) Meet at Mercedes Benz International School ( Pune). We reached Pune in the morning and after rushing through our baths and missing coffee and breakfast we boarded a bus (which we just managed to catch thanks to Mrs. Adilakshmi's 100 meter dash to stop the bus that was leaving without us) to go to MBIS that is a 40 minute ride from Pune. We reached the school at 9.15 am and were received by the MBIS volunteer students and taken through the registration process. The other schools that participated (in the PYP session) were: The American School Of Bombay, PEN School and Ecole Mondiale from Bombay, Mahatma Gandhi International School and Ahmedabad International School from Ahmedabad and G D Goenka International School from Delhi. . After refreshments, the Director of MBIS, our collaborative efforts with parents and grand parents by involving them in our inquiry. All of us learnt a few things as well. We learnt that we needed to integrate the trans Disciplinary skills more effectively in the planners and field trips were a good way to introduce a new topic. Most of all, we learnt that we were heading in the right direction and with minor changes in our focus and the planners, we were on track. We too need a pat on the back! Mrs. Glynis Bebb, Head of the Primary School and the PYP Coordinator of Mercedes-Benz International School, led the Job-Alike sessions for classes IV and V.She welcomed us to her own classroom along with 15 other teachers. PYP Coordinators like Ms.Janel Naylor from Pen School, Geena Jacob and val Taylor from GD Goenka World School and Mrs. C Adilakshmi from our school initiated the discussion. We discussed about the PYP Exhibition, which is supposed to be done in the last year of PYP. The child generally presents a Unit of Inquiry in the form of a video show, audio presentation, a book, a PowerPoint presentation, project model, collection of poems or any other way he/she wants to Mr. John Bastable gave the welcome address. The IBO South Asia representative Mrs. Farzana Dohadwala also addressed the gathering and briefed us on what SAIBSA was and how it was started to facilitate teachers of IB schools to meet, interact and benefit from such forums. Dr. Wilkinson, Head of Mahindra United World College presented the SAIBSA progress report and said that the next SAIBSA meet would be held at MUWC , Pune. We were then divided into groups of PYP, MYP and DP and taken to different rooms for the first session. The Oakridgers all headed towards the PYP domain.The topic we first discussed was “Aspects of PYP”. We looked at the Student Profile and tried to identify with each of the profiles. From this exercise we came to the conclusion that it was difficult to belong to any one profile and that all of them are interrelated. We were then asked to get into smaller groups and look at the profile again with respect to attitudes and skills. Another topic we discussed was teaching as a collaborative effort between parents, teachers and children, and how to make this a smooth, fruitful and productive present it before the parents, friends and teachers. We all discussed and brainstormed about ways to plan and conduct the exhibition and also tried to find out how to involve parents in this exhibition. Next we presented and discussed the Programme of Inquiry year planner for our school, which was appreciated by all the schools. Most of the schools read out their Central Ideas and Inquiry Into for all the six organizing themes. We presented it from PPI to Class V and all the PYP coordinators unanimously accepted most of our Central Ideas. As we read out the Central ideas, we also tried to find out creative activities to prepare the children process. After lunch we dispersed into Job-Alike sessions the Pre Primary, Classes I to III and Classes IV and V.
In the Job-Alike Pre-primary session the participating schools appreciated the way the Programme of Inquiry was transacted in different units like Nursery Rhymes, Caring for Living things, Transport, Fairy Tales, etc. in PP1 and PP2 classes of Oakridge International School. They acknowledged that there was a lot of collaboration in our plans and appreciated the level of knowledge, writing patterns and the colouring skills of PP2 children. Portfolios and theme board work of the OIS children that we shared with the teachers of other schools were generally appreciated. Yogini Chadha and Avnit Singh of MBIS led the Job-Alike session for PYP years I,II and III. MBIS teachers shared with us their central ideas and assessment of the current units. Our teachers had fruitful exchanges on the various planners for the years I,II and III. We discussed the assessments and the action component of the planners. It was heartening to see the teachers of other schools taking notes and asking us to elaborate on the integration of Math and English in the Units of Inquiry. We also shared our experiences on integrating art and craft and role-play in the units on Festivals, Our Country, etc. We highlighted for inquiry.
In the last session the PYP group got together again and looked at SLC (Student-led Conference) and Special Needs. We were very eoger to know how they went about organizing a SLC, as we knew we had one coming up soon. This session was very useful. We were also very pleased to know that our school was doing a lot where supportive instruction was concerned. The same techniques, stralegies, methods, teaching aids, etc were used here too. We came back home with a happy feeling that we were on the right track vis-a-vis the PYP. These sessions help everyone to keep track of their methods and techniques and also help to exchange ideas and views with similar work groups. It was a heartening experience and a very fruitful one too.
Geeta
Krishnan,
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Teachers
from many international schools participated to discuss the aspects
of PYP and exchanged their ideas in writing effective planners,
sharing successful learning activities and having an appropriate
Programme of Inquiry and assessment. It was a good experience
for all the teachers to exchange views and ideas.
Finally
we exchanged some of our planners with Mercedes Benz School, which
will definitely be beneficial for both the schools.