WELCOMING ABOARD THE NEW PARENTS
An online orientation session for the New Parents of 2020 was organized, keeping with the new normal, to welcome them aboard on June 2, 2020. The session was aimed at building a shared understanding of our vision, values, and establishing a lasting connect with the child's alma mater.
The orientation began by welcoming the new parents, providing them a platform to interact with the Senior Leadership, and to know each other. It was followed by sharing the journey of the foundation, its philosophy, ethos, and about all the initiatives taken by the foundation.
The Parent partnership program was shared with the parents, emphasizing on the strong connect between the school and the parents. At Shiv Nadar School, the parents are valued as ambassadors and spokespersons through shared visions and sharing of precious feedback towards continuous and comprehensive School health and happiness.
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The Butterfly Times: Giving Wings to the Primary School Students
The Shiv Nadar School Noida is pleased to announce the inaugural issue of the Butterfly Times, dedicated to the Primary Years. The Butterfly Times is honoured to salute the indomitable courage of Anne Frank - who features on most lists of teen icons.
Having a fair proportion of contributions from Grades 3 – 5, The Butterfly Times is another effort of the school to evolve as a useful platform for students to hone their Reading, Researching, Reflecting, and Writing skills.
We hope that students and parents alike will enjoy the great read of The Butterfly Times.
The May 2020 edition of The Butterfly Times can be accessed here
PARTNERING FOR STUDENT WELL-BEING : ONLINE PANEL DISCUSSION
The first series of discussions “Partnering for Student Wellbeing” was held on the 27th of May 2020. The theme for this session was “Respect, responsibility, and inclusivity: with regard to gender and sexuality “.
This discussion had a panel of 6 – 2 parents: Ms Aarushi Bhattacharya ( parent of senior school), Mr Arunabh ( parent of primary school) Singh, 2 students from the outgoing Grade 12 - Ananya Meghani and Trishan Dolny and 2 educators: Ms Shanaaz Khan ( Head of Social Science) and Ms Nooraa Sinha ( Head of Wellbeing and Counselling ). It was moderated by Ms. Manjima Chatterjee ( Head of Arts)
The invitation to attend was extended to parents of Grade 6 – 12. They were interactive in their questions and comments and it was a very enriching discussion. For all of us, the highlight was having a student voices amongst us, telling us with deep reflection and clarity what they need from us as educators and as parents.
The future sessions too will represent students, teacher experts, and parents.
Education for Life: A Session by Dr. Ravindran for the New Parents
The renowned Educational Psychologist, Counsellor Trainer and Teacher Educator, Dr. V.S. Ravindran, addressed the Nursery parents on the very purpose of ‘Education for Life’ on Monday, May 18, 2020. Keeping in times with ‘the new normal’, the online session covered various sub-topics and concerns related to parenting in the current times.
He commenced the session by getting the parents to take the new normal in their stride with regards to the online classes for the early years’ children and not to get pressured if children were taking time to adjust to the newer ways of learning.
He further outlined the importance of parenting with special emphasis on disciplining children, ‘rules remaining rules’, and inculcating the value of relationships in the child. Parents were also briefed about handling tantrums in children and sibling relationships. The session concluded with a number of queries and concerns put forth by the parents, for which Dr. Ravindran gave a framework for parents to ease out parental anxieties. The session was extremely helpful for the parents in understanding how much communication helps in understanding one’s child.
Turning Ideas into Action : Student Council Elections 2020
As educators, it is always incumbent upon us to nurture the seeds of leadership and empowerment that have been sowed and ensure that they bloom despite the challenges of the new normal. It was thus decided that we continue with the process of formation of the New Student Council (Phase II- Vice Council Elections).
A platform of the students, for the students and by the students, the Student Council is nothing short of a laboratory of leadership. Built on the premise of empowerment, agency, teamwork, consensus building and self-exploration, it enables the students to come out of their comfort zones and hone their abilities to be future leaders.
Beginning on 8th May 2020, the process included an online orientation of Year 11 students, followed by an application round (with a statement of purpose), clearing up rounds of Group Discussions and Personal Interviews. The candidates are now slated for digital campaigning.
Our Student Leaders - Council Heads and Electoral Literacy Representatives from Grade XII have also conceptualized and built a comprehensive website designated for this purpose, containing all details related to this election and providing a genuine platform for the candidates enabling the larger student community to know their prospective leaders better.
Continuing with the school’s philosophy of life-long learning and standing true to the core value of ‘sense of purpose and responsibility’, our student leaders have set themselves as good role models. Truly exemplifying student-led learning, they have taken up the challenges whole-heartedly, with a positive attitude and an encouraging smile. And in this whole process, they themselves have, unknowingly, started on the path of self-discovery.
We are proud to share with you the link of the website: SNS elections 2020
Anandam Baithak 2019-20 Grades 3 and 4
Anandam is a time when we get together to celebrate our children's learning in the Aha Arts program. It is a beautiful process of the child discovering an interest in an art form, finding appreciation from their peers and looking for the 'Aha' moment. Students of Grades 3 and 4 put together the Anandam Baithak with performances that captivated the audience completely!
Visual Arts
Students explored various mediums and materials in Visual Arts. Based on the theme ‘Relationship,’ they tried to capture family photos through painting and created photo frames using cardboard and handmade paper. Students designed an advertisement on their favorite toy using wet and dry colors on paper and learned 3D writing. This was a project related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Some of the students' works were selected for display at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Noida through an exhibition based on the same topic. Students created paper casting 3D sculptures using old plastic bottles with tissue paper and glue. They also explored papercraft design with paints and dry colours.
Theatre
Creative drama is a form of process drama that focuses on the use of story dramatization techniques. It has been used extensively to promote language and literature skills as well as creative and critical thinking.
In the theatre play ‘The Journey’, students picked up the themes ‘Mission Mars’ and ‘Do not litter’ for their culmination showcasing. Their performance was well appreciated by the audience.
An original story ‘A True Patron’ was put together that centered around a girl who, to prove to the adults around her, starts practicing what they say. When she is grounded for not sharing her things, she turns the table around and starts sharing generously.
‘Looking for a Change,’ was an attempt to draw attention to difficulties in sustaining our lives and functioning towards their betterment. The play highlighted solutions by seeking immediate redressal to these issues within our social boundaries.
Dance
The Odissi students demonstrated the results of their first forays into Odissi, such as standing & sitting postures, sculpturesque stances, footwork, hand movements and rhythmic patterns along with the padhant (sound rhymes that are spoken).
The Kathak students demonstrated their first forays into Kathak by way of spins, footwork, hand-movements and basic rhythmic patterns along with padhant (sound rhymes that are spoken). The Kathak and Odissi students presented these elements of their dance forms in a jugalbandi set to our National Song, ‘Vande Mataram’.
The Chhau learning showcase consisted of basic steps of Chhau Dance, such as Chali, Ufli and basic sitting and standing postures.
In Bharatanatyam, students explored various types of body movements with the use of the Pada Bhedas (different feet positions). They focused on sustaining the position of Araimandi - which is the basic position of Bharatanatyam and practiced adavus in this position. In order to do this, students were exposed to different warm-ups to train the body. The Bharatanatyam and Chhau students presented a jugalbandi on our National Song – ‘Vande Mataram’ where they presented expressional sequences interspersed with pure dance movements or bol in their respective dance styles.
Music
Students in Hindustani Classical Vocals, presented the swarmalika, followed by the bandish ‘Tore Jaun Re’ in Yaman-Kalyan in Teen Taal and concluded with a beautiful Sufi qawwali ‘Nit Khair Manga’ by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
Western Vocals students presented ‘Happier’ a song by Marshmello, ‘Something just like this’ by Coldplay, and Un Poco Loco from the animated movie Coco. The foot-tapping numbers received loud applause from the audience.
The Orchestra students presented their learning of the basics of music followed by the melody ‘Ode to Joy’, by Beethoven. The students also presented a medley of instrumental folk music from the states of Assam, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
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Author on Campus - Ms. Tanu Shree Singh
It was an honour to felicitate our homespun author Ms. Tanu Shree Singh at Shiv Nadar School, Faridabad. With her dainty demeanour she was able to deliberate a cogent issue, whose undercurrents are fast rising and reaching our homes. The book named ‘Darkless’ was an introspection on to how our children deal with the darkness of their fears and how it clouds their whole persona. The book simply reminds us, that all our little bearing need-is our bare hands and ears to brave such an engulfed emotion. The book was a nudge, well taken by our faculty and parents.
The author, Ms. Tanu Shree had encapsulated a 30min session with vivid articulation and humble humour for the children of Grade2 and 3 separately. They were delighted to have themselves clicked with the author and the prize was a duly signed copy of the said book. The event was significantly applauded by all.
Origami Session
Two artists from Chennai regaled the students of Shiv Nadar School, Faridabad with the beauty of Origami.
The students were impressed with the economy of movement and the beauty of creation.
They kept the students engaged through various paper crafts. The innocence of the artists were appreciated by all.
Anandam Grades V & VI, 14 February 2020
Anandam (2019-20) – Grades 5 and 6
The yearlong odyssey of Grades 5 and 6 students’ learning in the field of AHA Arts culminated on 14 February ,2020 through ‘Anandam’.
AHA Visual Arts students explored water based mediums, acrylic on canvas, painting glass surfaces with reverse painting technique and used paper craft and mixed media like wool, thread and paint to create artwork. Students also learned pulp-making and paper making, and created textured paper using a starch coating. It was a delight to see the polygonal patterns and shapes in two dimensions to create pieces of art.
In sculpture making, students used wire sculpture to understand the importance of armature and explored clay modelling, paper casting both relief, standing sculpture and using foil paper as a medium. Most of the relief sculptures were based on animal studies, which helped them to enhance their understanding of animal anatomies.
The AHA Instrumental music students performed an arrangement in Raga 'Yaman', presented a melody called 'Waltz in A minor' by Frederic Chopin and an orchestra piece 'Santorini' taken from Yanni's album 'Live at Acropolis. The Western Vocals students presented the songs ‘A Million Dreams’ from The Greatest Showman, ‘Believer’ by Imagine Dragons and ‘Don't Give Up on Me’ by Andy Grammar. Students in Hindustani Classical Vocals showcased their talent by presenting Raga Kedar.
The AHA Odissi students presented a mythical story ‘Mahakaali Mangalacharan’ through a splendid performance. Chhau students showcased the concept of Abhyaas highlighting how a soldier uses body line and movements and the correct technique to spin in the air while taking high jumps. The Bharatanatyam students showcased various adavus and identified the process of combining the adavus with music and rhythm while coordinating with movements of different body parts. Students also showcased their journey through a presentation titled Shivoham. Kathak students explored a major aspect of Classical Dance called ‘Jugalbandi’ which is a medium of conversation in the form of questions and answers between dancers, musicians and also the audience.
In the Theatre play ‘Kaamchor’, students used satire to bring out the idea of being a kaamchor depicting with the help of examples from their own lives in order to build an association with the form and idea. A Street Theatre ‘What is a Good Day to Save the Earth?’ was presented to understand and investigate climate emergency as it exists today. The play also traces the difficult journey of the environmental activist Greta Thunberg and her fight against the people/ institutions responsible for the plight of billions. The Comedy play ‘A City of Heroes’ highlighted a series of vignettes that sheds light upon the multiple questions revolving around the term ‘Superhero’. Students picked up characters from a fictional world who face conflicts that are valid in our real lives. ‘Dog-napped’ was an adventure play that showcased the team’s attempts to play with the basic elements of adventure/ mystery fiction. One could see clearly students’ understanding of different elements of the genre through the play.
Citation Ceremony, 31 January 2020
The Citation Ceremony for the graduating batch of 2019-20 was held on 31st January 2020. The batch, who have been christened 'Ardent 61' received citations and best wishes for their journey forward, in front of their parents
The theme for this year's citation was 'Integration' - a coming together of the many cultures, colours and communities which make our nation great. Our Guest of Honour, Mr. Pawan Gupta, educator and co-founder Society for Integrated Development of Himalayas(SIDH), graced the occasion and shared his vast knowledge and depth of understanding on “What education needs to be in the 21st century”.
The ceremony began with a ‘Guard of Honour’ with the students being accompanied by their mentors and teachers as they marched to the Wild Cats Hall.
The highlight of the ceremony was the Citation awarded to each student, with a student profile and a crystal Lotus momento, representing our school's logo. Students received some books towards continuing our learner's journey of Education for Life. Their Batch photograph, framed together with a beautiful poem ‘Roots & Wings” by Denis Waitely was also presented to them. The ceremony was a celebration of their years at Shiv Nadar School, becoming young adults who will be engaged and aware members of society. The ceremony concluded with our teachers serenading the students with a song wishing them the very best, followed by High Tea for parents and guests.
In keeping with our school's values, the citation ceremony was eco-sensitive and minimal, with the focus on celebrating each student for the unique, indomitable souls they are, ready to be change makers of the world.
We are sure our ARDENT 61 will be the torch bearers of change………
