Newsletter Vol.3 from the Principal's Desk
Dear Parent
Three weeks of the New Year are underway, the children are back where they belong, the laughter fills our corridors and the sun shines brighter on Shiv Nadar School. Wishing you a Happy, Engaging, Meaningful and Joyful New Year. May your aspirations be fulfilled and you remain healthy and robust through the year.
We closed the year with some interesting, significant and impactful events.
The students of Grades 7 and 8 stood first in the Regional Round, Northern Region, Robotics Championship. They proceed to Bangalore in the first week of February for the National Round.
Dr. Amrita Dass, the iconic Career Counsellor, Founder Director of International Career Studies organisation, led a session on career counselling for grade 8 parents and students in December.
Middle School students marked C V Raman Day with a day dedicated to STEM presentations, experiments, explorations and gaming stalls.
On their journey of steady independence, grades 3 and 4 spent a night in the school late November and did the many splendoured things they wouldn’t otherwise on a Friday evening at home. I am sure they shared their experiences with you.
Our first time participation in the Carol Singing Competition at the Holy Child Auxilium School, Delhi made us immensely proud. Grades 3, 4, 5 students of AHA Western Music picked up the first prize and left their imprint on the event with aplomb.
We also picked up the second prize at the Inter School Folk Dance Competition. Our dance theme belonged to Sambalpuri folk dance of Odisha.
Basketball girls’ team has trained and played matches, gaining strength and moving notches ahead in stamina, skill and spirit.
In the 3rd week of December, we organised an Art Festival, inviting stalwarts from the Art World. Artists, Manu Parekh, Jayshree Burman, Gogi Saroj Pal, Pradeep Maitra and more took sessions, art workshops with grade 4 to 12 students. Students from Noida and Gurgaon School too participated in the day-long Art immersion program.
We closed the year with a Music and Food carnival as you know. Thank you for joining in the revelry with evocative food, electrifying music and ‘let your hair down moment’. We clocked a footfall of over 3000 or more people from our community.
The New Year brings tidings of gathering momentum in the last tri-semester of this session. The phase 2 of our building is coming up with state of art facilities of squash and badminton courts, swimming and a vast running track. The multi-purpose hall is quite incredible and will be with us by July 2019.
We will soon invite you for its inaugural.
The New Year has begun with our Middle School students Graphics and Robotic teams blazing through 10 teams of Gurgaon Schools at the Techno Fest, at Presidium Gurgaon, winning the trophy for both Robotics and Graphics in Junior and Senior Category.
And now round the bend are few significant events you would like to note:
Republic Day - Flag Hoisting on 26th January at 9 am
Anandam in February for grades 1 to 8
Nursery and Kindergarten Learning Walk Days
Kindergarten Long Fridays in February – Transition to grade 1
Final Examination for Middle School, 15th February commencement.
Start of Coffee Evenings across 1 to 8.
Post Admission Orientation Days in March
Close of Term on 16th March.
These are some of the highlights I share with you. Every day is rewarding to see the growth, movement, and learning curve of each child, perceive the pangs of the young adolescents in our midst, revel in their Eureka moments and be the anchor in their journey to adulthood. We stand fortified each morning with an undeterred eye on our vision, our core values in our mind, and unconditional love for our children in our hearts.
With Best Regards
Anju Wal
Principal
Shiv Nadar School
Faridabad
Shakespeare Day
Students of Grade 5 introduced the life and works of William Shakespeare through a powerpoint presentation.They also brought alive the immortal characters of his plays by enacting their famous lines. Students of Grade 6 and 7 presented Julius Caeser - among the greatest of Shakespearean tragedies. The crescendo of this performance was reached a the point of Caeser's assassination. Mark Antony's iconic speech was delivered by five different students representing various emotions and moods of the Romans.
It can safely by said that the legacy of Shakespeare found a fitting celebration in this effort by the students and teachers!
Summer Sports Camp
In a summer sports camp organised at Shiv Nadar School, Faridabad, students from grade 1 to 7 were coached in Basketball, Football and Cricket. Their fitness and practice routine continued in full swing each morning, and the students enjoyed coming back to the school even during their summer break!
Visit To The Parliament Museum – Grade VIII
(Photography was prohibited and hence were not allowed to carry the camera inside the museum.)
Grade 8 students visited the Parliament Museum on 22nd March. They learnt about the museum through a lady who was part of the tourism team there; who introduced them to the different aspects of what would be in the museum. It was based on Democracy and how India had introduced it through various generations and civilizations. The children then began their journey around inside the museum and saw numerous stills from the glorious history of India. In the beginning, there were statues of women weaving, emperors with their subjects, peace missions to other countries and many other stills from the life of Indians from the past in general. Some of the displays even played audios. As a token of reverence, a small quantity of Gandhi Ji’s ashes were kept in a box and displayed in a small pot. This display got increasingly crowded as all the students wanted to see it.
They then went on to experience the most anticipated display, a simulation of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru giving one of his famous speeches ‘A Tryst With Destiny’ in the Lok Sabha. The children sat on benches identical to the ones in the Lok Sabha amongst statues of renowned politicians. The lights were dimmed and the statue of Nehru came to life under a spotlight, addressing the room full of children, an exciting and inspiring end to not only the day, but the entire year.
Grade IX students educational tour to New York
The National Model United Nations 2018 conference conducted in Hotel Hilton and Sheraton from 25th-29th March in New York was an educational, enlightening and enthralling experience. Since it is an event in the world at a college level, it hosted around 5000 students this year. The sheer magnitude and diversity of the conference and students participating, credits the participants and organizers with the quality of mindfulness, responsibility and eagerness to sustain and develop the world we all reside in. Interacting with other participants, as delegates of member states and as students of Grade IX Shiv Nadar School Gurgaon and from different parts of the world increased our knowledge about the world and gave insight to the different perspective of people. The whole experience also improved our debating and negotiating skills.
At the opening ceremony we had the honor of meeting Professor Luis Moreno-Ocampo and other personalities who are active global citizens. The theme for this year was “Transform Our World”, in order to promote the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals and to find solutions to problems effecting the fulfillment of prosperous lives for all.
Since this conference requires weeks of preparation, research, writing as well as embodying the diplomatic and collaborative spirit of the United Nations, the participants were seen to be united and collaborative without much competitiveness hindering their progress towards finding adequate solutions to current global problems. There were certainly attempts to gives ones best to distinguish oneself from the majority during committee sessions, be it through speeches, leadership, quality of content and also ‘clothes’.
The NMUN was different from the Shiv Nadar School MUN in terms of size, involvement of students, creativity and also diversity.. The creative solutions incorporated in the resolutions of the NMUN delegates was eye opening. They viewed the problems with an open mind and different perspective. As mentioned before the participation of people from different countries and cultures provided diversity in views. Delegate seminars were conducted where topics ranging from a media panel to discussions on climate change, disarmament etc. were addressed.
The closing ceremony held at the (real) General Assembly Hall were very exciting as few civilians actually get a chance to visit the Hall. We were addressed by high-level speakers of the United Nations organization who gave an insight on what a global citizen actually is. It was truly an inspirational and enjoyable experience which increased my knowledge a ten fold times and stretched my capabilities.
Grade – VI – A TRIP TO THE PARLE – G BISCUIT FACTORY
19th March'18 - Grade VI students visited to the ''Parle'' factory in Neemrana. In the factory, we were taken into 3 rooms where we saw the process of the famous Parle-G biscuit being made. The rooms were sealed with glass on one side for hygiene and security reasons. A factory employee was accompanying us and explaining the process of biscuit making. After we had seen the machinery at work, we were also shown a video on how other Parle products are made. It was a great learning experience. As a token of thank you the students were given the biscuits which they all enjoyed very much on the way back to school.
Under 17 Father Agnel Interschool Football Championship
Shiv Nadar School Noida participated in the "under 17 Father Agnel Interschool Football Championship" held at Father Agnel School from 31st July to 3rd August 2018.
It was a proud Moment for all of us when the under 17 Boys Football team of Shiv Nadar School, Noida became the "The Tournament Champions"
The road to the Championship Trophy:
First Match:Shiv Nadar School Beat Summer Villa School by 5-4
Second Match:Shiv Nadar School Beat Apeejay School by 3-2
Quater Final Match:Shiv Nadar School Beat Father Agnel School by 6-5
Semi-Finals:Shiv Nadar School Beat Army Public School by 3-2
Finals:Shiv Nadar School Beat Delhi Public School Noida by 5-4
The Winning Team members are:
- Vansh Mittal (grade 10)
- Aadil Zahir (grade 11)
- Bisman Singh Bagga (grade 10)
- Rachit Raj (grade 8)
- Udaijeet Wahi (grade 9)
- Harshul Varshney (grade 10)
- Chaitanya Kaktikar (grade 11)
- Avirath Agrawal (grade 10)
- Aditya Singh (grade 10)
- Pushkal Goyal (grade 11)
- Aditya Saini (grade 10)
- Aaryan Maheshwari(grade 10)
- Devansh Arora (grade 10)
- Sparsh Sadh (grade 10)
LE PROJECT EXILES – A Short Report
Introduction-The word 'Exile' goes beyond the realm of being just another word from the English language. A sentiment, a thought, a feeling so deep that perhaps even when the dictionary describes it as ‘the state of being barred from one's native country, typically for political or punitive reasons’, it is unable to bring forth what a lost home or a lost childhood or what a family forced apart could mean to people who have experienced it.
The Exiles Project
In an attempt towards understanding this sentiment, students from the Shiv Nadar School, Noida has been engaged with ‘The Exiles Project’ for over a year. The Project that started in April 2017 is a global attempt to understand and introspect the horrors of the World War I and how we are still trying to cope with lessons that the human race refuses to learn. 2018 marks the hundredth years of this war and this project articulates the effects of war that creates ‘exile’.
The project combined history and contemporary realities through the lens of puppetry, film and object theatre. This was done in collaboration with the French puppetry group Le Tas de Sable Ches Panses Vertes and the Indian puppet theatre group, ‘Katkatha’, reviewing the First World War on its centenary, focusing particularly on the exiles and migrations caused by war. In its first edition, in 2013-14, children from across the world came together in France to look at the causes of the war, and the ways towards peace.
In its second edition, the project focused on the end of the war, its outcomes and the millions of humans it pushed into permanent exile. Students from the Shiv Nadar School, Noida looked at the subject not only through personal stories and conversations with those who have experienced it, but also researched the travails that war can create for those who create war-like situations, as well as those who get caught into it unwillingly.
Representing not only their country and school, but Asia too, the eight students travelled to Amiens, France from the 15th to the 19th of May, 2018, where they presented ‘Faslein’ or distance using the mediums of shadow puppetry and theatre. For this tremendous effort, the team received a standing ovation. Several students from France, South Africa and Morocco who were also part of the project participated in the culmination at the Le Safran Theatre Hall at Amiens too. Some students from Brazil and Argentina who were unable to attend in person shared their experiences of the engagement through films etc that was shared with the audience present.
The sensitive portrayal of ‘exiles’ by the students was highly evocative and won the hearts of those present, resulting in connects with people from across the world. It remained an absolutely befitting culmination to a long engagement with war, peace, people, displacement, families and friends. Many transcended the confines that borders can create only to remind themselves and those around that colour, race and nationalities do not always divide, but if diversity can be celebrated with the creation of ‘Vasudev Kutumbakam’ – The world is one family, a tradition that our country has long been part of, can very much be a possibility.
To these torchbearers from the Shiv Nadar School, Noida, the harbingers of a better world today and tomorrow, the work has only just begun!
Joy of Sharing Week (2018-19)
The Joy of Sharing has a very special reason attached to it for us. It is our founder Mr.Shiv Nadar’s birthday. It also has social and a global connect associated with it, we aim at building the experience of sharing and giving, which helps build the spirit of brotherhood and gratitude amongst our children for everyone around. The Joy of Sharing Week began on July 9th, Monday, with the children attending a Sargam session. The teachers presented a role play to emphasize ‘Sharing’ as a value. Over time as educators, we have reflected on how important it is for us and our children to ‘share’.
In the spirit of sharing children from Kindergarten also visited Nursery Homerooms to share butterfly pen stands made by them while the nursery children made a fan for their friends! Apart from refining their fine motor skills it also aimed at developing their creative and aesthetic sense.
Grade 1:
Why would the Grade 1 children not be involved in the sharing session! So they came with their teachers to meet children from Kindergarten and read them their favourite stories! The students also explored the 3 R’s(reduce, recycle and reuse) through activities and discussions. The students also planted a seed and also planted tulsi saplings in a kulhad. These will be sold to the parents on July 28th.
Grade 2:
The grade 2 students discussed the qualities of Joy givers. They visited Pre-primary and Grade 1 and recited a poem. They shared their idea of spreading happiness and volunteered to help the little ones whenever they needed any help.
They were introduced to values like Kindness, Appreciation, Forgiveness, Helping and Sharing through songs and videos and encouraged to share how they could practice the values. They wrote a message for their friends on post-it and put it up on the Shout Out Board.
They also learnt how to make candles. They exchanged these candles with others along with a message
Grade 3:
Students took turns to talk about what gave them joy.
They also discussed about what NGOs do. They brainstormed on different ways in which they could raise funds for NGOs. They also understood the importance of reusing and reinventing materials. They created different products using waste materials which will be put up on sale on July 28, 2018 for parents and staff members.
Grade 4:
The grade 4 students discussed what sharing meant to them, what is their role and responsibility in society and how they can use it to help others. Students then thought about and created useful products out of waste material. They made coasters, Photo frames, Pom pom key chains and bangles, Decorative bottles, Pen stands, jeweler boxes, and Bookmarks. The items created will be put up on sale on July 28, 2018 for parents and staff members.
Grade 5:
The grade 5 students shared pickles that they made with the school community during lunch time. They were given badges to celebrate their small actions that reflected practices of sharing. They also discussed the need to carry out Fundraising. They also discussed about how they would do it.
We were also joined by Ms Nadia Malhotra, from the Pre Primary Parent community as the Parent Volunteer, on the first day. She immersed herself in the festivities of Joy of Sharing week and also observed and documented the activities for the same.
Grade – VI – A TRIP TO THE PARLE – G BISCUIT FACTORY
19th March'18 - Grade VI students visited to the ''Parle'' factory in Neemrana. In the factory, we were taken into 3 rooms where we saw the process of the famous Parle-G biscuit being made. The rooms were sealed with glass on one side for hygiene and security reasons. A factory employee was accompanying us and explaining the process of biscuit making. After we had seen the machinery at work, we were also shown a video on how other Parle products are made. It was a great learning experience. As a token of thank you the students were given the biscuits which they all enjoyed very much on the way back to school.