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From the Principal’s Desk

October 2017

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The month of October has been short yet filled with immense activity all round.

During the school assembly for the middle and senior school, I addressed the students on the need to display resilience in the face of adversity and failure. Some of the students also shared their thoughts and experiences on how they have tackled challenging situations in their lives. From this academic session, we have introduced a new award that that will be given to students who have displayed grit and resilience to overcome challenges and perhaps temporary failure as well in their lives. I also gave away the Gold Star awards for the academic session of 2016-2017

during the assembly. The Gold Star is a leadership award and is given to students

who have not only just done well in their academic pursuit and involvement in

whole education but have also successfully undertaken a service project with an

objective to make a difference in the lives of others. The winners for the session

were Avani Lankapalli (Grade 7), Shaila Malkani (Grade 7), Sriya Chintalapalli (Grade

8), Ananya Chaudhuri (Grade 11) Prakruthi Pradeep (Grade 11), Sanjna Agrawal

(Grade 11) and Nuha Hasnain (Grade 11).

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In our endeavour to further strengthen the emotional well-being of our students,

the school counsellors have begun circle time across all programmes. These

sessions are conducted in small groups (mostly section wise), where the focus is on

sharing experiences, stress management and building peer support. These sessions

will be conducted twice a term.

Further, we also extended an invitation to Mr Ramgopal Vallath, a motivational

speaker and also an ex-parent of our school. Mr Vallath visited school on October

06th, addressed students of Grades 8-12 and spoke about the importance of

gratitude for the blessings in one’s life, the need to be positive, to set goals with

focus on smaller milestones and to take care of oneself in all aspects. The students

took inspiration from Mr Vallath’s own experience where after an incredibly

successful corporate career, he was afflicted by a crippling auto-immune disease

that left him to sign up for a clinical trial in an attempt to reboot his body. Mr Vallath

shared with the students how positivity, resilience, grit, a sense of humour, goal

setting and immense gratitude helped in his recovery process.

The Gold

Star

winners

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We continue to foster creativity and innovation in our students by providing them with opportunities that see them engage and interact with members of the community and make them want to make a difference in society. In our attempt to do so, we have designed and set up STEAM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math] and Future Technology labs. These labs have been envisioned as playgrounds for development of coding and entrepreneurial skills. During the visit of the Board of Trustees on October 24th, the students across all three programmes showcased their projects on STEAM as well as coding. Our PYP students showcased their coding skills by effectively using sequences and loops. Their motivation was clearly evident in this mainly self-directed method of learning. The PYP students also showcased their projects based on Communities and another on Life Skills curriculum which they undertook using the design thinking process. Our IGCSE and DP students showcased their projects, again which used the design thinking process. Here, the students using computer aided designs [CAD] developed a prototype on how to generate energy using play park equipment like the merry- go-round and slides for instance, which can be used to light up dimly lit roads, thereby reducing accidents and crimes. Students also printed a model of the prototype using 3-D printers.

Mr Vallath’s

address on

October 06th

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This academic session has seen much focus on reading habits in both students and teachers. We strongly believe reading fosters empathy, curiosity and imagination which fall under the broad umbrella of creativity. Reading also helps one strengthen their critical thinking skills. And creativity plus critical thinking leads to innovation. PYP: The PYP has seen much excitement as practices for Indus Day have begun. At the same time, there has been a successful attempt towards maintaining a balance with academics as well. Our Grade 4 students are now inquiring into the transdisciplinary theme titled, “How we express ourselves” which uses photography as a means of expression. We invited Mr Shyam Sundarajan, a Grade 4 parent who kindly agreed to introduce our students to the application aspects of photography and how this medium can be used to tell a story. We extend our appreciation to Mr Sundarajan for taking time out from his busy schedule to meet with our students, to share his experiences with them and for overall helping them gain a better understanding about photography. MYP: The MYP ran a workshop on assessments for parents of Grades 6 to 8. There were quite a few parents who attended this session where the focus was in providing parent participants a hands-on experience in grading student work using IBO MYP assessment criteria. The Parent Teacher Meeting for Grades 6-12 was held on October 07th which provided an opportunity for parents to meet with the faculty to help understand their child’s progress and performance in the first mid-term assessments. Grades 8 to 10 students also attempted their PSAT examinations this month. DP: Grade 12 students have begun their universities application process. Their predicted grades were released and students applying to UK universities saw their deadlines fast approaching as did those applying through the early decision/early application route. The Grade 12 also had a four day intense Theory of Knowledge Camp where they completed their TOK essay from the topic each student has chosen from the list released by the IBO. Camps and Trips: The Indus School of Leadership (ISL) conducted camps for our Grades 6 and 10 students this month where students were pushed out of their

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comfort zones by setting them challenges which required for them to set goals, display strength, resilience and team work. The ISL also conducted two expeditions this month. One was the Climbathon on October 08th. This was conducted in Yellagiri hills with the objective of creating an inspiring and stimulating experience through challenge and competition which helped foster mental toughness and physical well-being and involved running and trekking. Appendix 4 of this newsletter lists out the participants of this expedition.

The second expedition this month was the Indus Ganges white water rafting expedition in Rishikesh between October 14th and 20th. We had 18 students of Grades 8, 9 and 11 participate and saw them successfully complete a 104km rafting expedition in rivers Alaknanda and Ganga. Apart from rafting, they participated in a zipline tour over the Ganges, an 83mtr bungee jump, rappelling from an 80ft natural rock and also a spiritual tour of the river Ganga. It was indeed heartwarming to see the students lead the adventure filled experience with great passion, responsibility, direction, team work and humility. Appendix 3 lists out the participants of this expedition.

CLIMBATHON- October 08th

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CAS: Our middle and senior school CAS has also seen much progress this month. Students continued to work on their mega projects as well as the women empowerment projects.

River Rafting

Expedition

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Inter-school competitions: Three teams from the middle school (Grades 7-10) comprising of two members each took part in the inter-school Wissen quiz competition at Greenwood High International School on October 13th. Further, our students also participated in a Tech fest competition at Amrita University which included designing a game, a quiz, castle wars and a competition called ‘Final Destination’ where our team stood third. Our middle school students also participated in JMUN at Oakridge International School between October 13th and 14th. Our students did extremely well in the competition where nine out of the 10 participants won accolades. A list of winners is mentioned in Appendix 5. Sports: We also had students participate in the Karnataka State Open Badminton tournament for Juniors at the Kanteerva Indoor Stadium, Bangalore. The three students who took part in the competition are mentioned in Appendix 1. Further, our junior boys and junior girls took part in the Mallya Aditi International School Basketball competition on October 07th and 09th. The list of participants is shared in Appendix 2 of this newsletter. On October 30th and 31st, we hosted Eagle Cup 2017, an inter-school Sports Fest. The event has seen much enthusiasm and we had 21 schools with over 800 students participate in the various competitions in different categories across five different sports, namely football, basketball, tennis, cricket and badminton. This is purely a Grade 12 student initiative and saw them invest their time, energy over brainstorming sessions which ensured effective planning and organization of a very successful event. The results of Eagle Cup 2017 will be shared in the next newsletter. Boarding: Despite the holidays this month, boarders have been a busy bunch. During the long weekend between September 29th and October 02nd, we had fifty boarders who stayed back. With not enough takers for the trip to Kerala that was initially planned, we instead planned two day trips within Bangalore. Day 1 involved a visit to the heart of the city. Students began their morning quite early where we left school at 7:00am. Students had the option to eat either at MTR which is one of the oldest restaurants in Bangalore or at the Egg Factory. Post breakfast, we explored different parts of the city on foot and the places we visited included Chinnaswamy stadium, Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha and the High Court. Students

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had a wonderful time in Cubbon Park where they indulged in a game of football/badminton. We also took them on the Bangalore Metro and this was certainly a unique experience for the boarders who generally do not use the metro train to commute. We then went to lunch to Mamagoto which is a Pan-Asian restaurant quite popular in Bangalore. Dessert was avoided at the restaurant as most of the boarders had spotted a Keventers kiosk in the same building and we then had a happy bunch of kids board the buses to return to school. Some of the pictures from this trip are also included. The second trip was to Play Arena where the students engaged in go-karting, rock climbing, video games, indoor football amongst others. A day ahead of the autumn break saw the boarders celebrate Diwali (festival of lights). Each boarding wing put up a cultural show which included folk dances and a skit. The sports complex was decorated with beautiful clay lamps, rangoli and flowers. It was a pleasure to join the boarders in the evening’s celebrations to wish them a wonderful autumn break with family and friends. The boarders and staff took a conscious decision not to burst firecrackers this session to show solidarity in the fight against noise and air pollution. At the end of the programme, the names of the best and most improved student from each boarding house was announced. The house parents also met with the teachers during the PTM and have spent considerable time working on academic support plan that will need to be in place for each boarder on their return post the autumn break.

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BOARDERS OUTING TO BANGALORE CITY

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I thank you for your continued support and feedback in helping us make Indus a school that we all take immense pride in. Please do not hesitate to contact me in case of any concern or feedback that you would like to share. Warm regards, Mrs Sarojini Rao Principal

Dates For Your Diary DATE EVENT

November 01 Karnataka Rajyotsava [Holiday]

October 31 - November 03 Grade 10 Camp [Group 2]

November 06 - 10 Grade 11 Camp [Group 2]

November 11 PYP 3 Way Conference; Working Saturday

November 13 - 17 Grade 11 Camp [Group 3]

November 14 Children’s Day Celebrations

November 16 -23 MYP Practical Exams

November 20 -23 Grade 12 Camp [Group 2]

November 23 - 26 Grade 12 Camp [Group 3]

November 23 PYP Indus Day [Reception to Grade 2]

November 24 PYP Indus Day [Grades 3 to 5]

Appendix 1: KARNATAKA STATE OPEN JUNIOR BADMINTON TOURNAMENT

Organised by Karnataka State Badminton Association on 23th and 24th September 2017 at Sri Kanteerava Indoor Badminton Stadium, Bangalore. Participants of the tournament were:

Sl. No. Name Class

1. Justin Rosangpuca Ralte 6

2. Ayush Thaker 6

3. Kanishk Guptha 7

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Appendix 2: MAIS SPORTS FEST 2017 (BASKETBALL)

Organised by Mallya Aditi International School on 7th October (Saturday) and 9th October (Monday) at Sri Kanteerva Indoor Badminton Stadium, Bangalore. Participants of this fest were:

JUNIOR BOYS

Sl. No. Name of the Participant Class

1 Aadhav Pillai 9 C

2 Shrikar Chakravarthy 9 D

3 Gaurav Kalkunte 10 A

4 Ronit Lachhwani 10 D

5 Lalith Ilangovan 10C

6 Anilesh Ghatak 10 C

7 Minsik Kim 10 E

8 Siddarth Chakravarthy 10 D

JUNIOR GIRLS

Sl. No. Name of the Participant Class

1 Sriya Chintalapalli 8 A

2 Sneha Agarwal 8 C

3 Soumya Bothra 9 A

4 Sharanya Praveen Agadi 10 C

5 Shreya Prasad 10 C

6 Shruthika Senthilkumar 10 C

7 Anjori Sikiri 10 C

Appendix 3: INDUS GANGA RIVER RAFTING EXPEDITION

Sl. No. Name Grade

1. Alexandre Marques 11

2. Sidharth Rao 9

3. Jay Khandwala 8

4. Abhinav K Devulapalli 9

5. Arnav Dey 9

6. Kirtana Elan 11

7. Vishnu Priya Dendukuri 11

8. Sumana Soruppu 11

9. Akash Dhiraj 9

10. Harshini Punukollu 11

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11. Tanvi Dinesh 11

12. Pavan Rohan Reddy 11

13. Adrien Lee 11

14. Aarti Manoj 11

15. Sathvik Kashyap 11

16. Ansh Soni 11

17. Aadi Narayan 9

18. Moon Young Yang 8

Appendix 4: CLIMBATHON WINNERS

Rank Category Boys Girls

1 IX Brahm Kapoor Charvi Reddy

2 IX Bharath Raj Nikita Krishnan

3 IX Louis Lemperle Shivangi Shyam Sunder

1 X Ujal Gurun Saniya P

2 X Aman Beria Akshi Pant

3 X Devansh Surana Prerna Agarwal

1 XI Prajwal Y S Bhavana Gourish

2 XI Manogna Janakar Suchetha Reddy

3 XI Paz A Sangma Aarti Manoj

1 Adult K Karthik Brinda R

2 Adult Zarathusht Sheetal Sen

Appendix 5: JMUN WINNERS

Verbal Mention: 1. Sriya Chintalapalli who represented Iran at the Disarmament and International Security

(First Committee) 2. Pratibha Pradeep who represented France at the UN Economic and Social Council 3. Shradha Desai who represented Iran at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees 4. Aman Sharma who represented Iran at the World Health Organisation

Best Delegates: 1. Navya Agarwal who represented France at the Disarmament and International Security

(First Committee) 2. Namit Kumashikar who represented Iran at the UN Economic and Social Council 3. Sahith Daglur who represented France at the UN High Commissioner for Refugee

Outstanding Delegate: Siddhant Agarwal who represented Pakistan at the WHO Best Position Paper: Anaaya Dalal who represented France at the United Nations Security Council.