Three weeks into the new academic year, and
it is evident that the school is well settled and into a host of activity.
August is typically a month of multiple activity for the senior school so that
various activities which take students out of regular class take place before
they focus in earnest on the academic programme. It is equally a time to
familiarise parents with our systems and processes and deepen your
understanding of the IB programme.
New staff
Over 30 new members of staff have joined the
school, having been through a rigorous special training programme conducted
before school opened.
The training included both IB features as well asour philosophy and approach at Pathways.
We are happy to welcome them to the school.
Our
new Head of Design Technology Mr Stephen Jones has taught and been Head of Department
in schools in China, Vietnam, Oman and India.
We
are also pleased to have appointed Ms Pooja Kapoor as our Parent Relations
Coordinator. Her role is to track and troubleshoot concerns you have raised,
primarily in areas of administration, finance, transport etc. The usual path to
raising academic issues via Form tutors and the Principals remains in place.
Interschool
Event on Masculinity
One of the hallmarks of an IB education is to
encourage students to think more deeply about ideas we take for granted. With
this in mind we are pleased to be hosting an inter-school event on Masculinity.
Today when we think of gender the automatic option is often to think of women,
of feminity and feminism. But a focus on masculinity is as important.
Masculinity too is created by society, by social expectations of what boys and
men are expected to be like. From time immemorial boys have been taught, at a
young age, that to be ‘a man,’ they must suppress their emotions, become
dominant and be superior to women.
This has a powerful effect, not only on the
emotional lives of men but also shapes the economy and culture. Senior school students will examine
masculinity through discussions, debate, music and drama. Please note
that because of this event Thursday 27th will be a full – length day till 3.40.
The shorter day till 2.20 will be on Wednesday 26th.
Career Day & University Visits
August and September see multiple activities
organized on college admissions and career guidance, as Grade 12 students begin
to apply to universities.
A number of college visits are organized with
universities . On Career Day this week 18 US university admissions officers
visited the school, and parents and
students came together to understand the US application process . Coming up
ahead are visits from universities from Canada, the UK and India. Elsewhere you
can see the list of universities our graduating students got admission in.
Events of
Note
The Primary & Middle School form mornings, introductions to the PYP & MYP and trainings on Phonics have been very
well attended and all parents have expressed appreciation for the deeper
understanding which they have got of the academic programme.
The
secondary school Awards was a delightful way to begin the year by celebrating
the academic success of students from the last academic year. This was a
fitting round off of the very good IB & IGCSE examinations. The number of students who stood out for
their excellent results has risen steadily over the years.
The
Primary School gears up for the Primary Student Council elections at the end of
this week and as posters come up around the school, the level of excitement has
been rising.
Administration Issues
I would like to thank all parents for
supporting the strict use of Exeat cards for admission. Meanwhile we continue
to liaise with Noida authority on the repair of drains outside the school
boundary. The Administration department
will also be launching a drive regarding parking outside the school walls.
Despite requests, a number of cars are continuing to stop or even park in the
middle of the road to drop off children. This is both a nuisance for those who
follow the rules and dangerous for children crossing the road. A new, stricter
system will have to be implemented from next week and I appeal to all of you to
comply with the instructions of the security team. This is not an area where we
would like to hold our students responsible but we will need to do this if
instructions are not followed.
Dr. Shalini
Advani
School
Director
