The school academic year
2014-2015 was filled with Curiosity, Creativity and Collaboration as primary
students sought ways to follow the big ideas through the UOI themes and began
to learn how to learn. Primary classes focused on the skills of being self-managers,
thinkers, collaborators, researchers, communicators and creators, and the
language related to these concepts.
At our Primary school assemblies all
primary school students got an opportunity to celebrate not only the festivals
but also their learning in class.
Term 1 highlight was the’ Lion
King’ not only for its grandeur and performances but the exposure every child
got though the process of the production.
Apart from this the students Nukkad Natak for Social Cause - ' Ek Mutthi anaaj'
collected funds through Read – a thon as they looked at equipping a Library for
the ‘Bal Sansaar’ a local school supported by Pathways. Our Student leaders
began to get more involved with many whole school events and raised queries and
made several suggestions to their teachers to participate in house and
interschool events. The teachers took ideas from students seriously and we saw
many students participate in several cultural events organized by other schools
in the NCR or South Delhi regions. It was very reassuring to watch our students
make a mark with their presence wherever they went for Drama, Music, recitation
and Sports. Pathways Noida hosted an Inter- School Tech Fest -P.A.T.H (Pathways
Annual Tech Hangout). Amongst many categories, Our Primary students won laurels
and prizes too.
Apart from this the students Nukkad Natak for Social Cause - ' Ek Mutthi anaaj'
Term 2 saw the teachers introducing
a new Math book to raise Math standards and this came with its own challenges
of bringing in a new resource mid-way through the year. It was very welcome by
parents as many spoke to me on this during the PTA. Also, as we go through year
end reviews we certainly see significant comfort and raised Math levels for
many students. We also had many parent volunteers to read routinely with
students from Form 1 , 2 and 3.
This has shown good results as we looked at
raised Form 3 lexile scores. And, now we are looking forward to extending this
next year to Form 4 as well. Students got really involved with Sports day and
inter house sports activities. The Early Years students had their sports
fiesta. They presented ‘ Kuk doo ku” at the Rhyme Time Day. Rhyme Time Day
The teachers packed active learning and very passionate and explicit teaching into the school days
of the Fifth Formers as they worked on their Exhibition just before they end
their years at Primary School.
PYP Exhibition
Very recently students have been engaged with
the plight of people in Nepal and have been running a collection of things that
we could send them to ease their misery.
PYP Exhibition
As we come to the end of the year
we have begun to look for ways to keep our students thinking and sensibly
engaged during their summer holidays. A tip here, many parents feel obliged to
fill their children’s every waking moment during the summer because if they
don’t they are afraid of complaints of “I’m bored.” Learning to say, “I’m sure you’ll find something
interesting to do” is a great tool for a parent.
Next time your child whines about
being bored, simply delate a few simple items off your own overcrowded To Do
list.eg: Try car washing. Put the dvds into the right cases, water the
flowerpots, sort the laundry, clean the bath, make your bed, decide which old
toys you want to give to charity. It doesn’t matter if they don’t do it as well
as you would - that’s not the point – it’s giving them a little responsibility
which is great for their sense of self-esteem. Older children can plan activities
– give them a budget and let them research which theme park they want to go to
and how to get there. They will be learning something and next time they are
bored they will find something to do themselves rather than whining about it.
Have fun and enjoy being with
your children as much as we have enjoyed working with them through the year.
Mrs. Usha Lamba
Primary School Principal
