Culminating activity for Human Body and Communication
Learning at Shiv Nadar School is experiential and hands-on. In sciences and social sciences/EVS, we follow a project based approach, where curriculum objectives are summarized into a ‘driving question’. Students then discuss ideas, brainstorm and meditate upon the question, post which they carry on investigations in their independent groups. Collaboration and Critical Analysis are key components of PBL. It is also an approach in which text-book learning is contextualized to the real world.
Grade 4
As a part of their first theme, ‘Human Body’, students of grade 4 learnt about various concepts such as skeletal system, muscular system, digestive system, functions of these systems, process of digestion, healthy food habits, how does the body work . Students were deeply involved in researching about various exercises that help us keep our body fit. Based on their research work and classroom study, students' presented their learning in the form of a health camp. As a part of closure to this theme, students were divided into teams and each team had a role to perform. One group was involved in the skeletal rap, another in talk about our body parts and healthy food habits while other groups set up whole body checkup (eyes, ears, face, nails, weight, height and BMI) and exercise room.
Grade 5
As a part of their first theme, ‘Communication’, students of grade 5 studied about what is communication, means of communication and its timeline, ethics of communication such as soft skills and interpersonal skills, netiquettes, plagiarism and how advertisements affect us. Students as a part of their culmination, prepared presentations, speeches, street play, shadow play, skits, lap books, posters and they also depicted their learning of themes through info-graphics. Students were quite engaged throughout the culmination. Students also presented the power of communication through a motivational speech as a sports coach and a politically influencing speech as a politician
FUTURE READY LIFELONG LEARNERS
Shiv Nadar School Career Guidance Centre (CGC) is very nascent in Faridabad campus. It is a non-judgmental, open-minded space to connect and collaborate with students to make them future ready in the ways that best resonate with each child's personality. The CGC gives concrete shape to students' goals and interests, options for higher studies and ultimately, career choices, in a supportive environment.
The CGC has a clear mandate to create a cadre of young people well-equipped to decide their paths forward into the world beyond school. It provides excellent tools, programmes and platforms so that children make confident and informed choices.
Walk the Talk is one such initiative wherein experts from different fields come to talk to students. Such sessions serve to dispel existing queries regarding certain career choices, as well as to inform students on new and emerging professional and academic domains.
You will be happy to know that we hosted our first 'Walk the Talk' session with RJ RAHUL MAKIN wherein he shared his journey, experiences, challenges and various opportunities that came his way.
He talked about the importance of reading and to be updated about the world around. He spoke about his success mantra with our young scholars i.e. one should follow his/her passion with complete dedication, hard work and right attitude. He shared some really great insights and real-life stories which had a positive impact on our children. He said “Just be yourself, as you cannot mask yourself for too long’. He stated that every individual should identify that one innate talent that he/she is born with and pursue it wholeheartedly.
There were two special things about the session, one that we had RJ Rahul Makin on board and second that the show was hosted by and for the students of Shiv Nadar School.
Our Grade 9 students found the session an enjoyable learning experience.
“Motherhood: All love begins and end there.”
The day that recognizes the essence of a mother was celebrated in high spirits and happiness which was enjoyed by one and all. Keeping the emotional connect of a mother and child, the Pre-Primary section of Shiv Nadar School, Faridabad planned its fifth special celebration on Mother’s Day.
The Day began with special Zumba session by Ms. Rupali, followed by Breakfast in dining area. The children were eagerly waiting to surprise their mothers with a special song to bring a smile on their mother’s face. They also played the game passing the parcel. All the mothers enthusiastically participated and enjoyed the game with children. Post this, children and mothers participated and enjoyed the co-scholastic sessions.
The last leg of the event was a craft co-creation by students and their mothers. They were given waste material to create a photo frame. The participants came up with new and innovative ideas to make the frame. It was a pleasure watching the dynamic and energetic mother and child duo preparing something unique, something special. The outcome of their efforts was marvelous.
All in all it was an enjoyable and memorable day for each and every mother and child.
Visit to National Museum
To take a deeper dive into history and special focus on Indus valley Civilization students of grade 6 were taken to the National Museum located at Janpath Road New Delhi.
The enthusiastic students were oriented before embarking on their visit and given an activity booklet on Harrappa. The activity booklet designed as a treasure hunt activity compelled students to view the artefacts and find answers to the questions given in the booklet. Students scanned the Harrappa Gallery and displays in a focused manner to know and understand and answer the questions given in the activity booklet.
The students looked at the presentations with interest and awe. Thy appreciated the designs on the clay pottery,the small scales and weights and the skeleton diaplayed spurred their curiosity and many questions were put to the teachers.
The booklet had questions on the various tools excavated from the various sites of Indus valley civilization and their uses. The students were very satisfied on being able to find answers and complete the treasure hunt. The students were then taken around the Shunga, Mauryan ,Kushan,Gupta and Buddhist galleries.
The visit culminated with a visit to the Anubhav Gallery designed for persons who are visually challenged and visitors are allowed to touch the artefacts for an experiential learning.
Pre-Primary 'Fun’ Fair
The ‘Fun’ Fair, as the name suggests was a fair meant to have fun and celebrate learning!
As a befitting end to the year's learnings, the Nursery and the Kindergarten children set up stalls with various games and activities to engage their parents.
It was interesting to see four year olds manage stalls with elan. Being true to our vision of creating leaders this was a first step into giving them responsibilities, while the facilitators stepped back. The children took it upon themselves to invite parents to the stalls as well as give instructions pertaining to the activities.
The children put up stalls of wrapping paper, cards, bookmarks, sprout salad and beverages. The collection from these stalls would be used for charity during the Joy of Sharing week in the session 2019-20
The Story Weavers of Kindergarten! Our very own authors and illustrators
At Kindergarten, with the surge of language and expression, the children graduate to the next level of reading and engagement with books. The children were asked, “You read so many books by different authors, would you like to be an author too?” It was met with great enthusiasm by the children. Hence, was born a project where each child at Kindergarten was involved in making of a storybook.
From the costumes of the characters to the colour scheme of caricatures to each word in the storybook was a result of many deliberations, word blasts and brainstorming.
A completely child led project, it allowed each child’s creativity to soar and at the same time helping the spirit of teamwork to foster.
Anandam- Grade 3 & 4
Anandam is the culmination of AHA Arts programme. It engages with traditional art forms actively, working individually and in groups with each other in consonance until they find their equilibrium.
The Visual Arts students of grade 3 and 4 showcased paintings, craft items, sculpture and mixed media artwork using different mediums and materials. They further shared their experiences with the parents during the walkthrough.
In Hindustani Classical Vocals, students presented ‘Raag Yaman’. They began the presentation with Swasti Mantra followed by the Sargam Geet and Bandish in Teentaal (16 beats) and concluded by singing a Tarana.Students of the western vocals basket presented ‘Thunder’ by Imagine Dragons, ‘Count on me’ by Bruno Mars and ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry. The songs were enjoyed and appreciated by the audience.
The AHA music students in the Instrumental basket presented a scalar exercise played in harmony followed by a medley of Cha-cha-cha, a genre of Cuban music. The students displayed coordination of various harmonies on keyboards, guitars and ukuleles, put together along with rhythmic sequences on different percussion instruments, such as Cajon box, Djembes, bongos, scrappers, drums and cymbals.
In Odissi dance presentation, students performed on Geet Govinda recital - "Muha Muhi Kishore" - in which they portrayed how Radha and the Gopis are enamoured by the divine beauty and grace of lord Krishna. The mesmerizing performance left the audience spellbound.Through the Bharatanatyam performance, students demonstrated the first two series of Adavus: Tatta Adavu and Natta Adavu. They also demonstrated the 5 types of animals through Dance.
‘How to eat like a child’ - Based on the book by Delia Ephron of the same name, students of the theatre basket presented twelve lessons on how to be a child. Some of the lessons presented were: how to beg for a dog, how to trouble your sibling, how to act after being sent to your room and how to play. The presentation was filled with light moments highlighting the ups and downs of childhood!
'FarFarLand’ - Adapted from the famous work ‘Andher Nagri Choupat Raja’ by Bhartendu Harishchandra, the play FarFarLand pin pointed the loop holes that are there in the socio-political systems. The play aimed to awaken citizens to their rights and the importance of their opinion in a political structure, such as our democracy.
‘Pa…se…Paani’ – This play was an adaptation of Sukumar Ray’s Abak Jalpan (Bangla). The play was an attempt to begin a dialogue towards unpacking our unresolved conflicts and creating multiple avenues to find probable solutions.
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
Inter-House Elocution Competition
An interhouse elocution competition was recently organised in Shiv Nadar School, Faridabad. Students from grade 3 to 6 participated in this event aimed at encouraging fine public speaking skills. While grade 3 and 4 spoke on ‘spring’ as their theme, the senior grades inspired the audience by giving speeches on ‘courage’.
Anandam
The Aha journey of creative exploration found a vibrant culmination in Anandam this time. Dance, theatre, music and visual art - all learnt so diligently during Aha classes - came alive on stage and in art installations, for all to witness. Presenting some glimpses of the same!
