Welcome back – and to those parents, students and teachers
who have newly joined Pathways, a warm welcome in this cold month of January. I
hope that the impact of the cold weather has been made more bearable by the
late start to the day. This comes with its own challenges because of increased
traffic, especially for those coming from Delhi who have been slowed down by
the closure of the Kalindi Kunj bridge. But this has now opened on the way to
school which makes it simpler for everyone to get to school punctually.
What’s Special About
Pathways?
Students campaigning & Polling
This week we have been interviewing students standing for
election for the secondary school Student Council. It is instructive to listen
to their views about the school and what they like about it. Uniformly they
love the sense of community, the supportive, friendly student body and the very
special relationship between students and teachers .
This is important feedback because all educational research shows that young people learn best in a supportive, secure environment where they feel valued as individuals. New students spoke about our systems for enabling them to settle down and make friends. Other things they pointed to was the variety in the day which mingled academic with dance, drama, clubs, PE etc so that it didn’t “get too heavy”, the infrastructure for sport, the use of technology.
Students campaigning & Polling
This week we have been interviewing students standing for
election for the secondary school Student Council. It is instructive to listen
to their views about the school and what they like about it. Uniformly they
love the sense of community, the supportive, friendly student body and the very
special relationship between students and teachers .This is important feedback because all educational research shows that young people learn best in a supportive, secure environment where they feel valued as individuals. New students spoke about our systems for enabling them to settle down and make friends. Other things they pointed to was the variety in the day which mingled academic with dance, drama, clubs, PE etc so that it didn’t “get too heavy”, the infrastructure for sport, the use of technology.
Model United Nations
Next week we host our first inter-school Model UN. For the
first time in the NCR this is a middle school event, being attended by students
from many schools including Sri Ram, Sanskriti, British School, Bluebells, Step
by Step, Genesis, Modern School etc. To participate in and to host such an
event is excellent learning for students from Form 7 -9. You can find more
details at
What’s New?
The new look of the Dining Hall
Over the winter vacation the school project team and the
administration has been busy getting new spaces ready for the new semester. The
cafeteria is now painted in a cheery yellow, red and parrot green. The library
has been extended and is now double its size. The Design Technology Lab has
been fitted with the welding area and paint booth. Some Primary school
classrooms have moved up to the second floor: there are now two sections in
Form 4 and three in Nursery. On a more challenging note, the area before our
front gate remains dug up and access to the school remains Gate 2. The area
beyond Gate 3 is similarly blocked. We continue to hope that the authority will
make speedy progress. Meanwhile our new security agency (we have now moved our
security management to the well-known Group 4 company) is energetic in managing
traffic in the morning at drop off time. I would appeal to you to avoid
stopping your cars in the middle of the road for drop off as that creates
blockages for others.
Student Council
In the best democratic tradition of Pathways, our new
student council has been elected. I am delighted to congratulate the students
of our council. President - Sonal Chawla, Vice President - Ichha Bhan, Sports
Captain Boys- Pratyush Gupta, Sports Captain Girls - Isha Agarwal, Air House Captain - Vivek Verma, Vice Captain - Parth
Kapoor, Water House Captain - Saumya Joshi, Vice Captain - Sohini Singh, Fire
House Captain - Siddharth Sharma, Vice
Captain - Radhika Sharma, Earth House Captain- Abhimanyu Bhalla Vice Captain - Divian Baheti
Professional
Development
Both our Primary Years Coordinator Dr. Swati Sawant and our
Diploma Coordinator Ms Geeta Verma attended the IB Schools Association meeting
in Lonavala, at a gathering for IB schools in the region. Ms Verma has been
appointed a member of the Executive Council for the northern zone, a position
which will enable her to raise issues and shape decisions which confront us as
an IB school.
Dr. Shalini Advani
School Director
