From the Director's Desk

One of the presentations at this week’s school assembly by Form 9 was on the use of technology, especially Facebook.  In the quick survey which was done it was clear that almost every secondary school student, some in the primary school and almost every teacher is on Facebook. Until it is replaced by a newer version therefore, Facebook is a part of everyone’s life, whether we like it or not.  For many parents – many of who have FB accounts  too – there remains a big discomfort with the way your(usually teenage) child is using it and using technology.

 The assembly seemed a good time for students to reflect on how we are to live life in a Facebook world and I am using this newsletter for the same purpose. I shared with students how as a teenager I was often in trouble with my parents for endlessly being on the phone with friends.  Facebook allows  sharing and chatting with friends – but in a somewhat different way. A phone conversation is public – ie everyone can see you are on the phone and this makes it controllable by parents. But on FB, a  parent or an adult can be fooled into thinking that a child is completing homework or doing an assignment on the laptop. The ‘chat’ window can be quickly minimized to create the wrong impression of hard work.

Challenges of Parenting

This is why it is so essential that we develop in young people the self- discipline to monitor themselves. Because the freedom given by blogs and wikis and social networking is also its biggest challenge. Adults can only supervise and discipline to a limited extent. If a student does not understand the importance of concentration for quality, he or she will always have a chat or comment on status in the midst of writing an essay. And there is no way parents or teachers can prevent this.

It is therefore more important than ever before for us to focus on creating a sense of personal responsibility, of self- monitoring. To understand that it is fine to be on FB but also sometimes to not log in. In other words it has become very important is for a young person to understand how they learn, what helps their learning and what restricts it.
 

Our Learning Culture at Pathways

It is for all these reasons that we focus on teaching self- discipline and also self -reflection.  Parents of Form 6 and 7 will soon receive an invitation to the Student Led Conference in December. The primary school one follows later in the academic year. Throughout the school students write reflections on learning areas or on their own progress. They are encouraged to set personal goals and targets for themselves. I would be interested in hearing back from parents and students on any thoughts you have on this subject. Please feel free to email me at shalini.advani@pathways.in
 

Events Past and Upcoming

It was wonderful to see a number of Pathways families at the Kahaani festival. Over the two days there were over two thousand people at the various events. We hope to promote culture and performance on an ongoing basis at Pathways.

On our children’s day celebration, I was proud to see the care with which our senior students organized a special event for the children of Hazipur village school. This included sharing lunch with them and a sports events at which prizes were awarded.

The Inter School tennis event gave an excellent focus to this sport. This week we are happy to host the District Level Inter School Squash tournament.  Meanwhile inter-house soccer tournaments are beginning. 

Also beginning next week is the Readathon, a way of encouraging reading for a cause. And today we are looking forward to welcoming the Australian writer and illustrator Frane Lessac who is part of Bookaroo and is coming to school to talk to students from Form 5, 6 and 7.

A reminder to please fill in the form for the Parent organized Food Festival on 20th December, if you are able to participate. Our students thoroughly look forward to being spoilt and fed by their parents!

Shalini Advani

School Director

From the Middle School Principal

Education is not just academic learning, but also involves social, ethical and emotional competencies. Students at middle school are therefore exposed to multitude activities, both in the classroom and outside it.

Form 6 students have finished a unit in Geometry and are now composing a song to revise the math concepts learnt.  Well, Math need not just be numbers and shapes after all! In history Form 8, after having studied World War 1, are analyzing and writing their own version of the - ‘Treaty of Versailles’ -according to their understanding and historical perspective .

Students of Form 8 are working on their Personal Project where they will be writing a report based on their research and process. Ms Geeta Verma, IB coordinator therefore conducted a workshop on Academic Honesty. She reiterated the importance of original and authentic work where ideas and work of others is acknowledged and referencing of all sources is done.

Form 8 is also attending a dance appreciation workshop- Left Foot Right, conducted by ‘Gati Dance’. It is about joyful learning through dance and not just learning a dance form. The aim of the workshop  is to enable the students to experience and appreciate the arts, which develop values, skills and attitudes in a person.

               Grade 8 Dance Workshop

Frane Lessac, an author and illustrator of international renown visited and addressed  Form 6 and 7 students . She has well over 20 published books to her credit and was awarded The Muriel Barwell Award for Distinguished Service to Children's Literature.

 

Middle School also begins a Read- a- thon on 27th November,2012.The initiative is to support the underprivileged by raising funds in our own little ways .Read  for  GOONJ is designed for our children to read to raise funds  by getting sponsors for the pages read and thereby improve their own reading skills.

This year some of the middle school students have been initiated into Model United Nation and will also be training for it .Many of them will be experiencing and participating in Inter-school MUN which is going to be hosted by Pathways Noida. A team of five students will also be going to Singapore to attend International MUN in February .

We will continue to engage students in such activities which make learning interesting and more meaningful.

Sunanda Sandhir

Principal Middle School

Kahaani Festival

Kahaani, a story, a daastan, a tale, a narrative, are all synonymous with one word- entertainment. Since times immemorial stories have been an integral part of one’s growing up years.

Inauguration Ceremony of the Kahaani Festival                                      Are you Icky, Yucky or Mucky, story by Anita Roy

 

 Every child deserves the joy of telling tales and listening to them. Every child has a story where each day adds new twists and turns and the plot only gets better when there are others to share it with!

A Midsummer Nights Dream Theatre performance by Wide Aisle Productions

The Kahaani festival sponsored by Pathways School, Noida gave just the right opportunity not only to every child but also to the child within an adult. The festival brought children and storytellers together to weave a magical world with the wonder of stories. The festival enchanted and empowered audiences as they explored a multitude of narratives from India and around the world!

                                                                                                        Nagada Workshop

Stories were told through puppetry, poetry, music, written and oral traditions of all kinds. Audiences had the opportunity to create and share their stories and explore the various tools of story-telling; narration, writing, animation and traditional forms of illustration. Personal stories were explored and shared through festival workshops.                                            Bandar Bhalu ki Kahaani by Anupa Lal

Some of the storytellers and illustrators at Kahaani 2012 included famous personalities like Anita Mani, Prayag Shukla, Anupa Lal, Manisha Chaudhry, Smita Vats, Dr. Varsha Das, Atanu Roy, Subhadra Sen Gupta, Bulbul Sharma and Sachin George Sebastian. Performances by the Ishara Puppet Theatre - Dadi Pudumjee (Puppet), Katkatha– Anurupa Roy( Puppet), Akaar- Puran Bhatt( Traditional Puppets), Rene Singh (Music), SALTBUSH (Australia), A Midsummer Night’s Dream by WIDE AISLE PRODUCTIONS(Theatre) enthralled the audiences.

The festival rendered an opportunity for children to express, find their voice, explore, play and dance with performers providing a unique immersive experience, where the audience too became part of this visually beautiful journey.

Aarti Khurana

English Faculty
                                                                                        Theatre Performance - Mid Summer Night's Dream

What is a kahaani after all? My Hindi-English dictionary says “story,” - but this word just doesn’t seem to be enough. Kahaani has a sense of mischief, mystery, and mistiness to it. It is a journey into another land, it should

seem.           

             Music Performane by Rene Singh
 

So it was with the Kahaani Festival 2012 at Pathways School Noida, which was hosted on the 17th and 18th of November. This weekend-long storytelling festival saw

 us descend into unknown worlds. I myself witnessed, for the first time, a puppet show with audience interaction (think of enthusiastic kids pulling the screen on the puppeteers, who magnificently keep the show going!). Many of us participated in live workshops on the nagara, or historical discussions of the newspaper as a literary form. For the younger ones, a little dance floor was set up in our Primary Block. The highlight for many, of course, was a performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, executed by a small but masterful cast that took the audience in its sway. These entertainments and learning experiences continued throughout the weekend, attracting visitors from both our school community and afar. It was, in the truest sense, a memorable time for all of us. Events like these offer an insight into new art forms, reminding us of all that we have left to learn. For the Pathwayzian community, having events like this right at our doorstep is an invaluable opportunity.

Partha Sharma

Magazine Editor

1st Pathways Noida Inter School Tennis Competition

“Champions keep playing until they get it right” -Billie Jean King

It gives me a great pleasure to inform you  that we hosted our 1^st  Pathways Noida Inter School Tennis Competition in our School on 9th  & 10th November, 2012. The different schools from Noida and our Pathways Gurgaon and Aravali also participated in our competition. There were  46 students who participated in the competition in 2 groups of boys and girls U/14 & U/17.

1.            Pathways School Noida

2.            Pathways School Gurgaon
3.            Pathways World School Aravali
4.            Kothari International School Noida
5.            Bal Bharti Public School, Noida
6.            Step By Step School Noida
7.            Genesis Global School Noida
8.            DPS Noida
9.            Jaypee Public School Noida

The students of our school performed well considering that this was their first Tennis tournament. Here are the details;

1.            Parth Kapoor – Form 9 – Reached quarter finals

2.            Gantavya K   -   Form 9 - Reached quarter finals
3.            Samridh A    -   Form 7 - Reached quarter finals
4.            Vishesh        -    Form 8 - Reached quarter finals
5.            Ananya Jain -    Form 6 – 4TH Position
6.            Taapsi Kohli -    Form 8 – 2nd Position

Deepak Thakur

Head of Physical Education Department

 

           Inter School Tennis Tournament - An Experience

“Losing is not bad but giving a fight back and then losing is what is important”.  This was what my coach Mr. Amit Nair said before I went to play my sport, Tennis. Playing a match after so many years was not easy, I was scared and nervous - not scared of losing but of disappointing people who had their hopes high. It started off with one match, followed by 2 matches and then before I could even think about my game I was in the finals. It hadn’t been easy for me to cope with the high expectations. The most proud moment of the whole tournament was when I had my tennis jersey on with my name written at the back and my school’s name at the front. I was very happy with me reaching the finals but the smile on my coaches, friends, family and the teachers face doubled my happiness leaving me speechless. It is just the beginning and I am sure next time the trophy will be ours. This win was for my coach, Mr. Amit Nair and all those people who believed in me.

 

Taapsi Kohli

Form 8

Children’s Day in Pathways

Although Children’s Day is celebrated on the 14th of November, we in Pathways had no less of a celebration on the 16th of November. Solely for the purpose of entertaining us, the teachers sang and danced for us. The Primary School teachers performed a play called ‘The Grumpy Dragon’, which according to me amused the Primary students quite a lot. Even for us, Secondary students, it was a thoughtful act. Next up were the Middle School teachers, performing a parody of the hit song, ‘Gangnam Style’. They called it ‘Pathways Style’. It was hilarious not only because of the teachers’ dancing, it was also fun to watch them rap to the lyrics that was composed by them reflecting what we students have to be involved with on a daily basis. For a final group performance, the Senior School teachers imitated some of the Secondary students and we, as an audience, had to guess who they were imitating. It was an exhilarating and mind-blowing performance. After this, we thought the assembly might have been over, but we were wrong. A couple of other teachers performed to a few songs and Pankaj Sir, from IT even recited a song backwards; it was truly marvelous to watch. We owe our teachers a token of thanks, not only for a fabulous Children’s Day, but also, for being fantastic as teachers throughout the year.

Shubhi Raghav

Grade 7B

Interact Club

The Interact Club took the initiative to share our celebration of Children's day.  The members of the Interact club and the CAS group of 11th and 12th grade students celebrated this day with the students of Prabhodhan school at Hazipur Village. We got a perfect attendance on this day as we had told the village children to tell their friends that they will be served with food, be allowed to play games and participate in varied sports, and would get gifts at the end of the celebration. 
 

The day began with a shared lunch in the school cafeteria. Our visitors thoroughly enjoyed sitting with Interact club members in the cafeteria, and being well looked after by them.  After time for free play, it was time for the games to begin. The village students had been prepared for certain races during their regular  visits to the school in our weekly CAS – Service sessions . We organized different races for them ranging from Sprint to Obstacle races . The children who stood first, second and third position were given prizes at the end of the races. At the end the members of the Interact club and the CAS group presented all village kids with a nicely packed gift comprising of a colouring book and crayons for the children. At the end , one of the village kid also spoke about the entire event and thanked us.  All the village children went back happy and the smiles on their face gave us happiness. We all enjoyed our CAS lesson with the kids.

Vidushi Sachdeva

Grade 11-A 

From the Director's Desk

I would like to begin by thanking all those of you who wrote or expressed your appreciation of our very successful Founders Day. The sharing of their learning through the exhibition and the vibrant programme showcased the wonderful talent of our students. If in the lead up to Founders, they learnt that hard work and attention to detail can be fun, all the applause they got on the day showed them a taste of success. Through every event, we look for the bigger learnings which go well beyond simply putting up a show. And true to the spirit of internationalism students share their responses with you in different languages later in this blog.

Diwali

Focussing on Diwali, students from Form 10 presented a thoughtful and unusual take on the festival. It included a television-style discussion group on today’s practices, the production of fireworks, commercialization, the rise in adulteration of sweets etc.  Looking for contemporary relevance, a new way of finding meaning in a traditional tale came through a student-made film which transposed the story of Ayodhya and vanvaas to the contemporary world of teenagers and a boarding school. In this very modern story, the central ideas of the triumph of good over evil, of brotherhood and jealousy came through in a different way. It was an excellent demonstration of how our students apply established ideas to new situations, cleverly using technology to do so. 

Linked to Diwali celebration, Friday was National Dress Day. At the primary school assembly children wearing traditional clothes from areas as varied as China, Japan, the US, Germany talked about their dress in a spontaneous display. The fabulous range of clothes from India including Punjab, Rajasthan, Bengal etc  created awareness of the relationship between dress and culture

 

Professional Development

Teachers from the Primary school attended a two day workshop conducted by the IBO. Workshop leader Jason Graham who flew in from Indonesia, focused on Teaching and Learning practices in interactive and stimulating sessions. This is what he had to say about the experience: "I was just in India running a PYP workshop with the great teachers at Pathways NOIDA in New Delhi. What a fantastic experience. Every time I run a workshop I always take away so much.  I learn so much.  This one was special."  The workshop was part of our ongoing journey towards full  PYP authorization, a process which takes a minimum of three years.  Next month we will welcome Khushnuma  Ferazndi from the American School in Mumbai who is the IB appointed consultant to the school. Meanwhile our teachers led by the PYP Coordinator Dr Swati Sawant and Mrs Lamba are hard at work putting together the documentation required for the process.

School System Issues

Please do remember to let the Form tutor know if your child is absent from school. This communication network helps ensure safety and will assist teachers in supporting work which has been missed.

Some of you will have found that in the uniform shop jackets or sweaters are not available in all sizes. We have been constantly pursuing this with our supplier who assures us that they will be in stock by next week. 

Upcoming Events

Please do remember to drop in to the Kahani festival hosted at the school on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th. The events are particularly attractive for primary school but will be of interest to all those who enjoy storytelling, puppetry and performance.

The first inter-school tennis tournament is on this Friday and Saturday. Schools from Noida, Delhi and Gurgaon are participating.

The Gati dance group are conducting a special 3 day workshop on dance for students from Form 8. This will run from Thursday to Saturday.
 

The Australian illustrator and writer Frane Lessac who is in India for Bookaroo, the children’s literary festival, will visit school to talk to students from Form 5 – 7. You can find out more about her at http://www.franelessac.com/.  Many thanks to our parent Jaya Bhattacharya Rose for setting this up.  

Finally, middle school inter-house matches for soccer begin in the last week of the month.

Shalini Advani

School Director

From the Secondary School Principal

I proudly want to share the achievements of two of our Grade 12 students in this edition.   

          

  Evan Luthra

Our students at Pathways have within them one common denominator- the propensity to question, reflect and offer, sometimes even construct a solution to address a difficulty that enters their cognitive purview, including global  concerns such as the geopolitical situation of India, the global fiscal condition or even technological innovations and hazards. One such student Evan Luthra all  has developed 18 software applications.  Already due to his brilliance and popularity he has about 5,00,000 followers on his blog. He has been invited to Google conferences where he made his presentations in front of stalwarts in technology and received remarkable praise for his excellent work. He has made his presentations in the Google Conferences of Gurgaon and Mumbai. Evan also received a special commendation after presenting in Amity University Noida. This is the confidence and the exceptional achievement of Evan Luthra that we are all so proud of! He is indeed an example of being and thinking different, of harnessing his creativity and therefore is on the path of being accomplished. He was able to achieve it because he bridged the gap between his ideas and action. As Alfred Whitehead says, “The vitality of thought is adventure. Ideas won’t keep. Something must be done about them.” Congratulations Evan. We are very proud of you!

You can watch the video of his presentation on

 

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/16302360/EvanGoogleTalk.mov

Shubhang Arora of Grade 12,

who is already on a mission to spread awareness of issues he deeply cares about- by writing in newspapers, online blogs and articles. As they say, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” He attempts to reach out to people through his writing about current affairs and issues that affect us at large such as the loopholes in providing basic education, the concern of FDI in retail in India and of course the glaring and blatant corruption that our political system is plagued with. It is this character, belief and approach of this kind that endorses the ancient Chinese proverb- When winds of change blow, some people build walls and some other build wind mills. Such an effort from an individual, who is only at the threshold of adulthood, is what we are very proud of! Congratulations Shubhang and keep the good work going!

Shubhang’s online articles can be accessed on

http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/fdi-retail-pros-and-cons

 http://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/delivery-public-services-challenges-ahead

The other two articles were published on ‘Millennium post’ dated 31st October 2012 and ‘Pioneer’ on 30th October 2012.

It is only rare that we find such exceptional achievers, but from them we draw great inspiration, even as adults. I see each child in his own way creating, building or even reversing his/her ideas about everything he/she is learning- everyday. With our youth, who are able to scale greater heights with their intelligence, awareness and vision, we are delighted to assist them as they explore their future.  As Tolkein says, “Not all those who wander are lost.”

 

Umar Jaffar

Secondary School Principal

Diwali Assembly

  On the sixth of November, Form 10 B, put together an assembly centering around the theme of Diwali. We began with a newsroom-styled debate, with people from different parts of the school participating to share their perspective. We discussed the in vitro-fertilization situation— how more women get this process done on Diwali as they believe it will improve their chances of getting pregnant, the gambling that is done on the day, firecrackers and the crass commercialization of the festival. The participants offered fresh and new perspective on the issues.

After the newscast, a video depicting “Ram Leela” in a modern day era was shown. Ram was a mortal, a young boy who was sent to a hostel, where he met Ravan- the school’s head boy. Needless to say Ravan kidnapped Sita, Ram’s iPhone. Ram joins forces with Lakshman then carry out an elaborate plan to retrieve Sita- and take Ravan down. In the end, of course, good triumphs over evil. 

Supriya Ganesh

Form 10 B

Founders Day - Reflections

On 20^th October 2012, we had our 2^nd founder’s day which was a success!!!! First we had a carnival in which the early years children were dancing and it was amazing. We had various performances such as primary play, Korean dance and Russian folk dance. Our parents were surprised to see us performing amazingly!!!!! We all look forward for our next Founder’s Day!!!!!!
 

Louise Wydemans and Arshee Sahni

Form 5


FUN FOUNDER's DAY !!
 

The theme of this founder’s day was internationalism...

This great event begun with some cute kindergarteners smiling and laughing in the carnival. The whole function showed cultural dances & songs from around the world. The founders day taught us many things that we didn’t know.

The founder’s day was a great success and every parent and guest loves the function.

Neel Barun & Jin Torrington

Form 5

 

“My Founder’s Day experience was very good.

 I made many new friends and at the same time I got to know about many new things, like different forms of dances : both Indian and international and about folk tales from around the world, especially Maori tales. As I worked on the Kalinka Dance from Russia for the Exhibition project I learned more about it. This helped me get into the mood of the dance more easily when we performed it because I understood the theme and the reason behind the steps. 

I really had a lot of fun!”

Ramsha Khan

Form  7A

"This Founder's Day was my first, and unfortunately, my last. It was quite a whirlwind of experiences for me. I tried what I thought was impossible, and discovered hidden talents. All our blood, sweat and tears paid off, as our performances were a huge success. The fond memories we shared, will be with me forever."

Divya Vijayakumar

Form 8B

“Actually it was my first experience of Founder’s day in Pathways. I had fun participating in the exhibition, as I love doing art and craft. While we had rehearsals I saw a few items. I think the Korean dance was the best after the Russian dance. They danced so well! My parents also loved it. Overall, I think this year’s founder’s day was awesome!”

Soohyeon Na 

Form 7B

“I thought that this year’s founder was pretty good. It was fun to rehearse with Ms. Elina and to learn something from another culture. I hope that next year will be as much fun as this year was!”

Anjali Peterson

Form  6B

El día de los fundadores- 2012    -  The Founders Day-2012

El veinte de octubre era un día muy importante para la escuela de Pathways Noida porque esta fecha significa el día de los fundadores. Este ano era el segundo año de la creación de nuestra escuela magnifica y todos los estudiantes y los maestros estaban estallar con alegría para celebrarla. La tema de la celebración era internacionalismo y todos los estudiantes tuvieron que participar el algunos bailes, canciones, y las varias barajas. Los participantes tuvieron antecedentes de culturas diferentes con muchas lenguas, comidas, y ropas de mucho variedad. Todo eso era representado en la celebración en nuestra escuela en métodos diferentes. Habían muchas bailes de diferentes partes del mundo, por ejemplo el flamenco de España, el baile de Corea, el bhangra de Punjab, etc, y también había cosas que representa la unidad entre todas las personas. Este aspecto era representado en la forma de una canción famoso que se llama" Nosotros somos el mundo".  Nosotros nos divertimos mucho y para mi y los compañeros de mi clase, era un día muy especial porque era el  ultimo día de los fundadores. Era un día muy memorable y yo nunca voy a olvidarle.     

Sudeshna Dutta

For 12 B


Le jour de “Founders”

Le 20 octobre, on a célébré le jour de “Founders”. On a organisé des expositions de cultures

différentes. Il y avait des danses, des chansons et des pièces de théâtre.

Moi, j’étais très heureux de notre succès. On a fait un programme magnifique.

Partha Sharma

Form 12 B / French

 

स्थापना (फाउंडर) दिवस

हम अपने विद्यालय के स्थपना दिवस को वार्षिक उत्सव के रूप में पूरी खुशी और उल्लास के साथ मनाते हैं | पिछले वर्ष के स्थापना दिवस का कार्यक्रम भी अतिउत्तम था और सभी को बेहद पसंद भी आया था | इस वर्ष के स्थापना दिवस का विषय था - ‘ अंतर्राष्ट्रीयता ’ | सभी कक्षाओं के विद्यार्थियों  ने इस कार्यक्रम में भाग लिया | प्राथमिक कक्षाओं के विद्यार्थियों ने बेहद ही दिलचस्प नाटक , नृत्य और गीत - संगीत के कार्यक्रम प्रस्तुत किये | माध्यमिक कक्षाओं के विद्यार्थियों ने भी अलग-अलग देशों के गीत - संगीत नृत्य, व नाटक प्रस्तुत किये | यह हमारे विद्यालय का दूसरा स्थपना दिवस था | पिछले वर्ष की तरह इस वर्ष भी हमने दर्शकों को बहुत मनोरंजित किया | स्थपना दिवस की तैयारी के दौरान भी हम सभी को बहुत मज़ा आया | हम सभी को उम्मीद है कि अगले वर्ष, हम और भी अधिक बेहतरीन और मनोरंजित करने वाले कार्यक्रम प्रस्तुत करेंगे |

धन्यवाद !

सौम्य जोशी ( कक्षा ११ वीं )