Grade 4 Visit to the Tibetian Colony by Megha Arora Form Tutor Grade 4

Form 4 went to the Tibetan Colony in Kashmiri Gate as a part of their unit of Inquiry on Migration.

This part focused on effects of migration on culture, community and opportunities faced in the new lands. The students were thrilled to see a mini Tibet in the very narrow yet very vibrant streets of the colony. From Tibetan food to artifacts and souvenirs it was all like we were in a different country altogether. The students’ first stop was a Tibetan temple where the monks chanting was a treat to the ears. With idols of the Dalai Lama, the students sat inside the temple and felt how it was different yet with the same peace of being close to god. 

 

From there we went on to a Tibetan School where the students got

to interact with the students and teachers both. In their interaction with the teachers, the students asked them their questions about what made them leave their country and come to India, how difficult was it to settle in a new land, what challenges did they face while migrating, why did they want a colony of their own and make it look like the one back in their own country. The students from this interaction picked up a lot on forced and voluntary migration, push and pull factors and also the political disturbances in China and Tibet.

They were particularly sad to hear that the Tibetans were not even allowed to practice their own religion and study their own curriculum and that they were grateful  to the Government of India to allow them to do all that in a land alien to them.

In all, the students have picked up a lot from the trip and is definitely going to be an ever memorable one.

From the Director’s Desk

Recently while being interviewed by a journalist from The Hindu newspaper, I was asked What, according to you, is the main purpose of education? It is a seemingly simple question but a most important one and worth discussing as a community at Pathways.  I would therefore invite you to answer this question and email me at  shalini.advani@pathways.in so that I can include your answer in the next newsletter.  Please keep your answer as short and specific as possible and include your child’s name and grade.

My answer was as follows: “The purpose of education is to enable each young person to be the best they can possibly be, and this includes both being best for themselves and the best for their world”. In other words, if you are excellent and get to the top but in a way which damages the people around you, your environment or your society, then your education has not succeeded. Equally if you are good and kind but have a lot of undeveloped potential, your education has not succeeded. 

Awards

                                    

Thoughts of excellence are at the top of my mind in the week after our Academic Awards ceremony. It is always wonderful to see our children excel or be awarded for consistent hard work or certain skills. We  were  delighted  to 

have two most distinguished Chief Guests to hand out Awards: Mr IP Khosla, former Indian Ambassador to Bhutan, Afghanistan and the Hague for the secondary school and Ms Priyamvada Taneja IB Representative in India for the Primary school.

Teachers Day

The student body this year did us proud in the passion and enthusiasm with which they planned Teachers Day.

It was all deathly secret with no adult having a clear idea what was planned. On the day, teachers were greeted with flowers and an extensive programme which showcased our students talent to display their best. From  musical

performances to dance to mimicry they had us enthralled. They also persuaded teachers to showcase their own talents – singing, being quizzed, impromptu acting, sharing stories, doing a fashion show….All of it was done with the affection and respect which is a very special characteristic of Pathways.

In Celebration

I would like to highlight two areas of achievement.

Our student Shreya Gupta had a piece published with her byline in India Today on the important area of college admissions. It is great to read the confidence and authority with which she writes as you can see if you go to the 9 Sept, 2013 issue of the magazine India Today.

I would also like to congratulate Ms Pihu Kapoor for receiving her specialist degree in Early Childhood Education from Tertiary College New Zealand.

Please remember

· that from Thursday 12^th September till end October, school will close at 3.40 not 2.20 pm.

· MYP introductory meeting for parents of Form 6 downward is on Saturday 14^th September

·  Saturday 14^th is a working day at the usual time for students. 

Dr. Shalini Advani

School Director

Awards

“Error is only the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently” – Henry Ford

The secondary school awards ceremony did not mark perfection, or a  path  with no  mistakes, it was in fact, a show of appreciation for 

THE COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AWARD being given to ANYA LAURIA by Director, Pathways, Mr. Praveen Jain,for       

            demonstrating  leadership skills  in  several  areas  within the school community, in the Class of  2012-13

those who tried their best, to their full abilities and reached their goal. It was for the students who stayed dedicated throughout. Whether it be the special awards, the academic awards, or the investiture ceremony, the whole room was full of this proud aura. I’m sure most of it came from those sniffling parents on the right, but the students cheering and hooting for their friends from the left was like a cherry on top of a perfect day.You know how when someone announces the chief guest’s turn to speak and the whole audience inwardly groans, and then continues to glare at the chief guest throughout his or her speech? This time, the negative reactions came to a stop still after the groan. The chief guest’s speech was so engaging and interesting, that it was almost surprising. He was frank and honest about his job and his experience. It completely perked the audience up.

Sure, we go to the same school. We see each other everyday . . . but this feeling of the whole school united, is rarer than you’d think. But this unison being rare is what makes it special.

Anya Lauria Gr 8A

                     
                 

                    THE ETHICAL LEARNER AWARD being given to MEHAK DIWAN by Director, Pathways,

       Mr. Praveen Jain, for being balanced and principled in her conduct in all school areas, in the Class of 2012-13

        

It  was  there that I felt it all been acknowledged. Don’t get me wrong I had been, several times in the past but it gave me a different feeling when they called my name out and announced my winnings. My heart raced fast and my head felt heavy. As I walked up the stage and shook hands with Dr. Advani I felt so proud of what I’d done. Every eye was on me, I had earned this. Standing there on stage, with the yellow spot light right on me and my certificates held tight in my hand I knew I would do anything to live this moment again. I would try harder each year just for this glorious moment, and hope it felt just as similar yet different each time.

Mehak Diwan Gr 8A

It was a lovely day on 30th Aug. because it was the award ceremony and we were all getting awards for last year. All the children were excited because each of them were getting awards. The children were so happy that they could not stop jumping.

Even our tiny students were full of joy and happiness. They were not only getting awards for Hindi and Maths but they got them for the good skills that they use. The new students also took part by giving guest the welcome gifts and helping the teachers.  My favourite part was the song presented by the choir. I think all of us really enjoyed the day, especially the grade 2 melodious song. I hope all parents liked it.

Natasha Gupta Gr 4

In the award ceremony we and our parents had lots of fun. We got our last years awards in front of our parents. And I know that the parents were proud of their children. The room was filled with the Children’s smile like a smiley ball.

Falak Suteri & Aadya Verma Gr 4

From the Middle School Principal

"The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

We have moved into the fourth year and every new session, we rededicate ourselves to move forward towards new areas of excellence with enthusiasm and energy.  Each new year also brings in exuberant students from primary school who join grade 6 in the middle school.

It has been a month since current session began and there have been many new things which we implemented this session.

Middle School Parliament: This was the first event aimed at providing the students with leadership opportunities. Tutors discussed with the students and other teachers  the profile of a student as a member of the middle school  parliament.

Based on these discussions, a job profile of the parliament member was created and shared with all the students. They thereafter selected two students  to represent  them in the parliament after following process of nomination and voting. Minimum two nominations were required to qualify for standing for elections. The students who were nominated were to prepare speeches and address their classmates on why they are the best candidate to be voted as member of the parliament. 

I congratulate all the members of the middle school parliament. I see them involved  and taking charge of their responsibilities.

Newsletters and Blogs in the middle school are led  by a team of students.There are editors , photographers, technology directors and designer. This year, for the middle school blog, students of form 7 & 8  have been asked to apply for various editorial board positions. The team will be selected by a panel of five teachers. The students will be chosen as per specific criteria for each role.

Personal Project : Form 8 has been initiated into the selection of the personal project of their choice. It is crucial that the student acknowledges the contributions of others in the completion of the personal project and do not misrepresent work as his or her own when it is not. Students will gather information and ideas from various sources and will select what is most relevant and reliable for the completion of the project. When reporting the project, students  acknowledge these sources and this aspect is noted and given weightage. A workshop on how to highlight references was conducted for the students by Mr. Mohit Singh, our new Geography teacher.

Workshop at British Council :  Grade 6 students went to a workshop conducted by the renowned British children’s writer and illustrator, Emily Gravett on 31st August, 2013, at the British Council.

Emily Gravett has won several awards including the Kate Greenaway Medal, a British literary award that annually recognizes ‘distinguished illustration in a book for children’. This workshop was a part of Ghummak Narain- The Travelling Children’s Literature Festival. The session  included  activities related to both reading and illustration.

We are committed towards shaping and developing talents and nurturing champions. We are  also aware that it is not something that can be achieved overnight.  Nevertheless, we will continue to strive, in partnership with parents, and collectively  help our students excel and take the school to greater heights.

Mrs. Sunanda Sandhir

Middle School Principal

Primary Student Council 13-14

Primary Student Council

2013-14

Position	Name
President (boy)	Aryaman Thakore
President (girl)	Mitakshi Mathur
Sports Captain (boy)	Paarth Kohli
Sports captain (girl)	Drishya Nair
Air House captain	Nandini Gaur
Vice captain	Prithviraj Shahani
Water House captain	Stuti Singhal
Vice captain	Rajlaxmi
Earth House captain	Asmi Khungar
Vice captain	Shreya Gupta
Fire House captain	Louis Ahmad
Vice captain	Aryamaan Bhattacharya
Parliament	Priyanshu Singhal
	Ananya Jha
	Aishani Durrani
	Muhammad Taseen
Environment Secretary	Muhammad Taha
Magazine Editor	Tanvi Amrit
Technology Secretary	Aditya Jain
	Rishab Menon

Parent & Me by Meher Khan, KG Coordinator & Form Tutor Gr KG C

Parental involvement in the child’s education builds a strong foundation for their overall learning and growth.

Our early learners – Pre Nursery, Nursery and Kindergarten students and teachers invited parents to share their daily experience at school on the eve of ‘Parent and Me.’

The day began with welcoming parents into their respective classrooms with Form Tutors and Assistant Teachers briefing them on the day’s schedule. The day unfolded with our specialist’s magic and interactive story session with the Form Tutor/Assistant Teacher.

Our excited parents

accompanied their wards to the specialist’s sessions. Physical Education teachers warmed up the parents with a few stretching exercises, which was followed by teaming the parent- student for ball games. Kindergarten enjoyed mindboggling math and letter games.

In the Indian Music session, the classroom echoed with harmony and rhythm lessons that ended with percussion instrument play with the song. This was a truly amazing experience with melody.

Western Music session was equally energetic and had everyone singing together to the rhythm with the instruments.

Drama was our next venue and it was time to participate in the Cinderella act out ….Whoosh!

Everyone was thrilled to transform into the famous story characters and enact roles with loads of enthusiasm.

Our last specialist session was dancing to the brilliant beat of the song – Jai Ho!

 A variety of story sessions were conducted in the classrooms that were enthralling and engaging for the audience and the storyteller.

Pre - Nursery enjoyed the story with puppets and dolls– “There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback. This was followed by coloring, cutting and pasting story characters on paper.

Nursery read a sing along story, “We are going on a bear hunt.” Children performed the story with action and movements and engaged the parents with their confidence and excitement.

Kindergarten A enacted a story by Julia Donaldson titled “A Squash and a Squeeze “supported by headgears which they had worked upon before the performance. The parents enthusiastically participated in the act. The children enjoyed making animal noises. The act out ended with dancing on the Squash and Squeeze Song.

Kindergarten B presented “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle as the story feature for “Parent and me” day and had the children and parents “hungry” for more! The parents and children then pretended to be caterpillars and walked around the class looking for food. All in all, a fun session!

Kindergarten C welcomed the parents with a few songs – Hurtle turtle, The Mice are Nice. The session centered on the story “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Joffe Numeroff.  The students created a story circle with the story objects. A treasure hunt to locate the story objects was carried out by the parent- student team, culminating in creating interesting snacks with cookies, cornflakes, jam, peanut butter and confetti…yum!

The day was a huge success and surely helped in strengthening the bond between home and school.

A Visit to Doll’s Museum on 23rd August 2013 by - Sania Arora, Form Tutor 2A

Public Spaces are best explored when they are visited, with that thought in mind, on a hot Friday morning, the children of Form 2 were all geared up to go to the Doll’s museum, a place where none of them had been before. On being asked what are you going to do there? One of the students replied, “It’s my first experience of interviewing different people, just waiting to be there!” With all the bubbling energy and enthusiasm, they set out for their learning experience.

The visit was an experience full of fun and frolic. The children interviewed different people at the Doll’s Museum to inquire into the purpose of the public space and list its characteristics. They identified and analyzed the role of various people working in that public space.

Not only did they understand the need of a public space but also its importance in terms of being an inseparable part of society.

Students have now started discussing about the importance of hygiene in public washrooms as they described the washrooms at the museum as “Not So

Clean”. They have been discussing about the ways in which they can create awareness for the same.

This is exactly the kind of inquiry we look forward to as it compels our students to take action and think out of the box. An educational trip in the first unit of inquiry made it all the 

more special and exciting.  

Our students interviewed Mrs. Shanta Srinivasan who       

manages  the museum. She is also the daughter  of 

Mr. K. Shankar Pillai who  is the  founder of the Doll’s Museum  

                                                                                                

Metro Ride by Ms. Aneesha Sahni, Early Years Coordinator & Form Tutor Grade 1 B

Form 1 went for a metro ride from Noida City Centre to the Mayur Vihar Extn. Station on 4th September,

as their current unit of inquiry is on transportation. It was a wonderful learning opportunity for them as they were able to observe the system for this mode of transport. They experienced travelling as a group through a group booking and also as an individual with a token.  Students were quite observant and questioned the teachers regarding the speed of the train and the various signs on the station. They were reading everything inside the train and listening to all the announcements carefully. At the Mayur Vihar Extn. Station, each student was given a route map and a brochure by the Metro Staff. Safety of all the students was the first priority. Arrangements were made in advance with the Metro staff ensuring a safe boarding and disembarking. Students were not allowed to take photographs because of security measures at the metro station.

Teachers Day Celebrations

Smiling Faces

Primary School Song Presentation

                 Secondary School Music group presentation

Dance Performances

 

                                                                                                     Skit by Secondary School

                            Quiz Master

                                                                                                                     On the ramp

From the Director’s Desk

A very warm welcome to the first news update of the new academic year. I would like to extend a special welcome to all those families who have joined us this year. This communication comes once a fortnight and gives you an overview of the school in many voices –  in addition to myself, from students and teachers. It enables us to make announcements, alert you about upcoming plans and share areas of concern. Essential to the successful development of our children is a shared understanding between families and the school about what we are seeking to achieve. 

Results

We have been happy with the results both for the IB Diploma students and the Form 10 IGCSE students. At the IB, Partha Sharma was the top scoring student with 42 points. At the IGCSE,

whose results have just come out, we are delighted that our highest scoring student Supriya Ganesh (pic. attached) achieved 5 A* and 3 A grades. Sameera Khurana achieved 3 A* and 4 A grades and Tavishi Gupta achieved 2 A* and 6 A grades.

In a very different type of result, we cogratulate Ansh Anand of Gr 4  for getting two silver medals in the Inter School Swimming Competition at Cambridge School, Noida.

  
 Events In School

Although school has been open only two weeks and there have been an unusual number of holidays this month, there have been very many events already. The orientations for new students

and parents, the day-long orientation to  the IB Diploma for Form 11 students,  the welcome assembly helped new students to get important information.

Groups of senior school students have had exciting and challenging experiences at Model United Nations 
events and student conferences              MUN Training at Pathways Aravali 

A group has gone to participate in the Doon School Model UN. Another group of students accompanied by the IB Diploma Coordinator Ms Geeta Verma travelled to Warwick University for the IB Student Conference.  We were the only school from India amongst Schools from     

    IB Student Conference, Warwick University

South Africa, various countries in Europe, Australia, Singapore, China. Another group attended a MUN training at Pathways Aravali.

To commemorate peace and remember the destruction of nuclearization senior school students were fortunate to host the noted writer and speaker Professor Achin Vanaik who was inspirational in his analysis of the reason countries opt for nuclear weapons. 

                               

Prof. Achin Vanaik, the founder member of the "Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament" 

This followed after an assembly on this theme conducted by the students.

Upcoming Events

Please do earmark the Academic Awards ceremony for Primary and Secondary school – 27th August for secondary awards and 30th August for Primary school.

Shalini Advani
School Director