PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER

October 2017

Dear Parents,

Greetings from IIS Pune

Primary Years Programme (PYP):

Dussehra and Diwali Celebrations

Dussehra and Diwali are the two most important festivals celebrated in India which symbolizes the

victory of good, over evil. Our PYP students celebrated these festivals with zest and zeal. Students of

Grade 4A conducted a special assembly to recreate the Ram leela so that children could draw

connections to the significance of Dussehra.

The PYP students celebrated an eco–friendly Diwali, keeping the joy of the festival intact, without

fireworks! Our students of grade 4B conducted an informative assembly on Project -Green Diwali and

brainstormed about the hazards of air and noise pollution caused during the festival because of

excessive use of fire crackers. They also suggested ways to celebrate an eco- friendly Diwali, this year.

All our PYP students took a pledge to celebrate Diwali without adding to the pollution. As a part of

Project -Green Diwali we also collected 218 saplings that have been planted already.

All the engagements were designed to develop a sense of responsibility in students along with

members of our staff towards protecting the environment. The children also reflected on the

celebration by filling in a google form on Green Diwali. The Hindi learners of Fourth Grade completed

their inquiry cycle on how, fire crackers are made and the chemical present in that effect the

environment. They presented their understanding and thoughts with the objective of spreading the

awareness to keep the environment safe.

Some more of the glimpses of Diwali celebrations at IISP Pune:

Prep 1 and 2-

Our youngest chefs of the early years, embark on a culinary adventure by making cake - pops as a part

of the Diwali celebrations at IISP. This activity helped our young learners learn and practice some basic

math concepts, while building on language skills.

We have a bunch of confident preschoolers who are all set to try their hands at experimenting in the

Kitchen!

Grade 1

As a part of the week long Diwali celebrations, and Grade one’s- unit of inquiry ‘Where we are in place and time’, the students were engaged in constructing a mud fort (Killa) on 9th October, 2017.

This tradition of mud fort making by our little eagles was an opportunity to enjoy nature, the mess while building on creativity and innovation.

The students of Grade Two made Diwali greeting cards and wrote priceless messages on Eco-friendly Diwali whereas Grade Three learners were at their creative best to make door and diya danglers to decorate their classes and school for the occasion of Diwali.

Poster Making Challenge

Our learners of Grade 3, 4 and 5 participated in a poster making challenge on the theme- ‘Harit and

Swasth Diwali’ to create environmental awareness in the school.

Rangoli Challenge

The students of Grades 4 and 5 participated in the inter house rangoli making challenge with immense

zest and enthusiasm. They made intrinsic designs using an array of colours, flowers and, diyas

displaying the true spirit of celebrating Diwali.

The winners of the challenge was the Pegasus House and runners up Orion House.

STEAM LAB The Steam Lab at IISP was inaugurated and most of the classes of PYP visited steam lab on Wednesday 11th Oct’17, being their first visit the learners explored the new place. The facilitators Ms. Dhanashree and Mr. Anurag guided the students through the steam lab by dividing them in different activities laid at the tables, some with legos and, some with robotics tool kits. These activities were held in groups to promote a culmination of various ideas and to make thinking visible by giving each group a particular task and asking them to work as a team.

Inter House Challenge

The Inter house PYP General Knowledge Quiz Challenge was held on 6th October, 2017. Our PYP

students from all the four houses participated with enthusiasm and commitment to present their

awareness and understanding of Current Affairs, Sports, Geography, Mathematics and Language skills.

The participants of the challenge were –

Hercules Pegasus Phoenix Orion

Akshay Bodas – Gr5 Upamanyu. M– Gr 5 Bhavishya Singh – Gr 5 Mishka Porwal – G4

Aarav Bora – Gr 4 Parinoor Sekhon – Gr4 Ronith Lahoti – Gr 5 Ananya Vyas – Gr4

Sohm Anchan – Gr 4 Jayden Kundi – Gr4 Evana Gada - Gr4 Kavya Vasudevan – Gr 4

Aaryan Jagdhale – Gr 3 Revantha Rai – Gr3 Pranav Pineroli – Gr 4 Aaryav Grover – Gr 4

Chinmaya Bhat – Gr 3 Veer Thakurdas –Gr 3 Rithvik Thachapilly– Gr3 Ruhi Raghavan – Gr 3

Prajwal Rao – Gr 3 Purab Vekaria – Gr3 Arjun Velluri – Gr 3 Kuhu Rajadhyaksha- Gr 3

The winner of the PYP Inter House GK quiz challenge was the Phoenix House!

Middle School Programme (MYP & IGCSE):

End of Unit Celebration:

MYP celebrated the end of unit one through a special assembly on global contexts, their understanding

with independent student interpretation as well as public performances by all sections of the MYP.

Students practiced with their respective homeroom teachers and chose the performing arts such as

music, dance, drama, art and visual media to portray a myriad of concepts under the assigned themes.

The three grades were assigned the following global contexts which students chose to depict in their

own creative fashion:

Grade 6: Personal and Cultural Expression

Students of grade 6 A chose to tell the tale of two travelers who trotted the globe discovering the

delights to countries like South Korea, Egypt, Brazil, United States and chose to focus on heritage and

culture building as a big part of building personal identities. Students of Grade 6B chose to tell the tale

of India through dances, songs and emphasized the fact that language plays a big role in the formation

of identities. Students of grade 6C divided themselves groups with a special focus on India on a specific

country, like India, USA, UAE, New Zealand, etc. They presented skits, quizzes, and fun facts about

various places to the audience. Their main objective was to focus on aspects of culture like food,

clothing, architecture, etc. to present the basic idea of their heritage.

Grade 7: Globalization and Sustainability

Grades 7 A and 7B combined to present a musical piece with creative combinations of vocals and

instruments. Students of grade 7C opted to work with mime as they depicted the benefits of protecting

nature and ended with a song on the same.

Grade 8: Scientific and Technical Innovation

Students of grade 8A presented a guess who of famous inventors and had a brief debate on why their

invention was important in History and should be awarded the Nobel prize. Grade 8B conducted a

guess who session through a role play while students of grade 8C conducted a quiz competition for the

audience based on discoveries and inventions.

Field Trip to Aga Khan Palace –Grade 8

On 31st October, 2017, grade 8 students of IISP visited the Aga Khan Palace for a History study tour.

The unit under explorations was revolutions. They were interested to study about the Indian

revolt/revolutions of 1857 and the Indian Freedom struggle in context with this unit.

The Palace, now converted into a museum, houses many important things about Mahatma Gandhi, a

key figure in our freedom struggle movement. There are paintings/pictures showing different phases

of the aforesaid movement. All the artefacts reflect the spirit of nationalism that was inculcated by

Gandhiji. It is also famous to be cremation for this leader along with Kasturba Gandhi. It is due to such

reasons that the Aga Khan Palace has been declared as a monument of national importance by ASI.

Samadhi of Kasturba Gandhi and Mahadev Desai

Diploma Programme (IBDP):

Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS):

Days of hard work turn into happiness when all our efforts get noticed. On 5th October 2017, the

installation of RO Plant by Indus International School got published in the Marathi newspapers. Every

day, almost 500 litres of fresh filtered water is utilised by Angrewadi village.

CAS- MEDICAL CAMP, 2nd October 2017 at Angrewadi Village

A Student Led Initiative By -Raashi Mutha, Indus International School, Pune

“Be the change you wish to see in the world” these remarkable words spoken by one of the most

influential personality in history and the Father of the Nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi inspired

me to do my bit of change I aspire to see in the world.

As the CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) prefect of my school and CAS being a vital component in the IB

Diploma Programme, I had the incentive and leverage to organise an event in any component. The

component of Service appealed to me the most, as the need of the hour and a way to give back to society.

Three months back the idea of organizing a medical camp for people who are not easily exposed to

medical facilities struck me. With that on my mind, I approached my father and asked him if he knew

someone who could help me conduct this camp at a nominal cost. Talks began then, with our family

physician, Dr.Vinod Shah, an acclaimed and renowned personality in the field of charity and the founder

of the Janseva Foundation. After multiple meetings, we came down to deciding to have a medical camp

for the villagers of the Angrewadi village in the Mulshi Taluka district and just a kilometre away from my

school.

I choose this village as they are the community directly affected by my school and the thought of the

hard-work I see them put on their fields that I cross every morning while going to school, touched my

heart and I felt indebted to them. Since the Janseva Foundation has years of experience, they agreed to

support our cause and offered their doctors, facilities and medicines at a subsidised rate. After consulting

our Principal, Mr. Sandeep Chhabra and my CAS coordinator, Ms.Anupriya Dhooli, we decided that 2nd

October would be the best day to celebrate serving the society, just like Gandhiji served the society all

through his life.

After following a timeline and getting everything ready, the day had finally arrived. With my school

and parents’ support, we successfully conducted the camp on 2nd. Every villager’s eyes, blood

pressure and blood sugar was checked.

They were given enough vitamins and minerals, sugar treatment medicines, spectacles and eye-drops,

free of cost, which would be sufficient for them to recover from their ailment. A small awareness speech

was given and the ‘gram sevaks’ were felicitated as they allowed us to conduct the camp on their ground.

With cooperation from the schools and village’s side, we got a response of over 150 people.

This event has touched the hearts of multiple individuals and my aim of contributing to society was

successfully achieved. I also like to extend my gratitude to the Head of School, Ms.Naaz Kirmani and the

DP coordinator, Ms.Ashima Shrivastava was gracing the occasion with their presence.

I wish to extend this initiative to larger communities and continue to help people who make our lives

comfortable each day.

JOY OF GIVING WEEK A COLLECTIVE EFFORT FROM 3RD OCTOBER TO 10TH OCTOBER 2017

Our lives are richer when we share, and that great inner joy comes from helping others to better their

lives. Truly giving from the heart fills your life with joy and nourishes your soul. Giving takes you out

of yourself and allows you to expand beyond earthly limitations.

Ms Radhika is very closely associated with Goonj which is a multi-award winning pan India social

enterprise, which uses the underutilized material of cities as a tool for fueling wide spread development

work across villages of India.

This year Indus International School, Pune celebrated the Joy of Giving Week from 3rd October to 10th

October along with IELC Bhonsalenagar and IELC Koregaon Park.

It was started at our two centers with a simple motive of contributing towards the social cause and

making a difference in the society.

Parents and public started coming on time. Lots of things were donated like Cereals, Rice, School Bags,

Stationary, Toys, Games, Shoes, Uniform, Lunch Boxes, Water Bottles, Folders, Rubber Bands, Drawing

Pads, Note Books, Story Books etc.

Ms Sandhya Phalak donated General Clothing, Sarees, Bedsheets, while others teachers gave away

Blankets, Belts, New undergarments, Shoes and Slippers, Utensils, Umbrellas, Curtains, Basic

toiletries, bags & suitcases. Mr Saurabh Tiwari gave his support through cash payment.

True joy lies in the act of giving without an expectation of receiving something in return.

“Joy of Giving: The more you give of yourself, the more you find of yourself.”

RAMNADI BACHAO ABHIYAAN

Visit a nearby river. You can't begin to fight pollution until you see the problem for yourself. Spend

some time on the closest river to you, so that you can begin to understand the beauty and the variety

of life it supports.

Thus on 5th October 2017, Ramnadi Bachao Abhiyaan was initiated by some villagers and Grade 11

students. A drive was initiated when our students walked from Manas Lake to Bhugaon Mandir holding

banners and spreading the message of cleaning Ramanadi river through joint support of the people

living nearby.

Educate yourself. You can't begin to protect rivers until you know what their problems are. Contact

local environmental groups for information about rivers in your neighbourhood.

FESTIVE WEEK CELEBRATIONS WITH OUR BUS ATTENDANTS Diwali cards were prepared by our bus attendants for their family members with the help our Grade 11 students.

Career Cell:

Early Applications

The month of October was most crucial for Grade 12 students and the Placements team. We had the

predicted grades declared in the first half of October which helped our students to apply for the Early

Applications by 15th Oct and 1st Nov 2017. High number of students from the class of 2018 decided to

apply for Early Action and a few for Early Decision. With consistent information being shared with

parents, there is a certain amount of increase in parent’s participation in the application process.

Parents were keen to join the students in family conferences, attending university presentations and

school workshops and information sessions. We are confident that this support from parents would

help our students immensely. Our boarding student have been equally responsible towards their own

application process, attending university presentation with utmost attention and asking all the

important questions given the fact that their parents are away and not always can attend these sessions.

We would like to assure boarding students’ parents that their children are equally involvement and

infact have been independent to take care of their application process and academic performance.

Many families are exploring other options for undergraduate study besides the usual focus only on the

US, UK, and Indian universities. Some of the countries that this year’s graduating class is already

applying to are Canada Germany, France, Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia,

Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE, and Japan. Other options are opening up as universities

visit our campus from other countries and as our reputation grows for providing students to their

campuses that are community-minded, worldly, and capable leaders.

University Visits

We had several universities vising our campus in the month of Oct and early Nov

University of Salford, UK

Miami University, USA

University of Cincinnati, USA

Tel Aviv University, Israel

Ashoka University, India

Ms.

Parneet Shergill, Senior Manager, Outreach at Ashoka University giving a detailed presentation to

students of Grade 12 and their Parents.

Ashoka University, an INR 500 Crore philanthropic initiative in Delhi NCR, offers a holistic

undergraduate option with a generous scholarship scheme that will benefit meritorious students of

our school. Ashoka is renowned as India's best Liberal Art College offering insightful programs. For

seven years now, Ashoka has pioneered interdisciplinary education in the country. The University’s

innovative curriculum, outstanding faculty and the promise of a fulfilling experience on campus and

through exchange programmes with partner universities like the University of Pennsylvania,

University of Michigan, King's College London and University of California, Berkeley, has attracted the

brightest of students to our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes alike. At Ashoka, you will find:

Undergraduate programmes offered in 104 subject combinations, in major-minor, double-major and interdisciplinary formatsFull-time faculty from universities such as Harvard, Oxford, Stanford and Yale, ensuring focused engagement in class and beyond

Vibrant intellectual community of inspiring teachers and highly motivated students on a fully-residential campus

Student exchange programmes with Ashoka's partners Penn, Michigan, UC Berkeley, King's College, London, where students can take credited courses

Holistic admissions process with INR 21 crores of scholarships taking into account students' academic rigour, extra-curricular engagement and personal context

Peer group of outstanding students who have chosen Ashoka over Carnegie Mellon, Yale-NUS, Hong Kong University, St. Stephen's College, BITS and IITs

With strong emphasis on the sciences and the humanities, an Ashoka education will inculcate a liberal

and collaborative mindset, exposing students equally to cutting-edge research and practice thus

ensuring utmost competence in their chosen fields.

www.ashoka.edu.in | admissions@ashoka.edu.in | www.facebook.com/ashokauniversity

Miami University

Officials from Miami University, USA and University of Cincinnati, USA giving a presentation to

Grade 12 students and parents

Nationally recognized as one of the most outstanding undergraduate institutions, Miami University is

a public university located in Oxford, Ohio. With a student body of nearly 19,000, Miami effectively

combines a wide range of strong academic programs with the personal attention ordinarily found only

at much smaller institutions.

Cost: The cost of tuition and fees for the 2017-2018 academic year on the Oxford campus totals

$14,957 for first-time Ohio residents. For first-time non-Ohio residents, the cost is $34,210. Room and

board is $13,202 (amount is based on a weighted average and depends upon student options).

https://miamioh.edu/index.html

PSAT The PSAT & PSAT8/9 examinations were conducted at Indus on 11th Oct 2017 for the fourth consecutive year. Students of Grade 9, 10 and 11 appeared for these exams. We could see a sharp increase in the number of applicants with a total of 84 students registering for the test. There were a few students from other schools in Pune appearing for PSAT at our campus. The PSAT score reports will be received by Jan 2018. The PSAT assessments offer an important step in helping students prepare for university. Administered by the College Board, the makers of the SAT (the SAT is a university admissions test taken by students as part of applications to universities in the U.S. and across the world), the PSAT is similar in format to the SAT. Research indicates that students who take PSAT score significantly higher in the SAT. For most students, PSAT is the first real exposure to a standardized multiple-choice assessment.

Students of Grade 9, 10, and 11 appearing for PSAT at Indus

SAT / ACT, TOEFL/ IELTS

The Year 11 students have been busy preparing for their SAT and ACT exams to be taken in Dec 2017.

These scores are a critical component of successful admissions to US universities. Many Year 12

students who plan to study abroad are taking their English language proficiency tests; TOEFL or IELTS.

These tests are required by many universities worldwide and many times also for obtaining a student

visa.

Upcoming University Visits

O.P. Jindal University- 8th Nov 2017

University of St. Andrews, UK- 9th Nov 2017

Sciences Po, France- 15th Nov 2017

Macromedia U. Applied Sciences, Germany - 17th Nov 2017

University College Dublin, Ireland- 20th Nov 2017

University of Western Australia- 28th Nov 2017

Sports Arena:

Squash

On 4th Oct., the District Level Squash Tournament was organized by the Zila Parishad at Pune.

Following students made IISP proud by winning the competition & reaching the next level.

Under 17 Winners

Alim Dhanani Neeraj Sankla

Under 19 Winners

Siddharth Suri Dev Phadke

They also played for Zonal Matches on 22nd & 23rd of Oct. at IISP & reached the State Level by winning

the competition.

IB NATIONALS TRIALS

For the first time ever, the selection trials for 63rd School National Games took place at the Indus

International School, Pune with the effort of Indus PE Team, support of Head of Sports Mr. Ajit Singh

and under able guidance of Principal Mr. Sandeep Chhabra. We organized the selection trials on 28th and

29th of October for all the International Board Schools in India on our own campus. This was made true

by an effort from the Sports Head, Mr Ajit who approached SGFI to let IB schools to participate in school

national games as a separate unit.

IB schools such as MIT Gurukul, Cathedral Vidyagyan, Pathways, Mercedez Benz, etc participated in the

selection trials.

With this the eagles of Indus being able to showcase their talent, rigor, and dedication to each of their

respective sports & participated in sports such as Badminton, Cricket, Squash and Basketball which were

the highlights. Of these sports, the young eagles of Indus were able to make their school, families and

friends proud as 24 of these aspiring students were selected for the National level competition in their

respective sport

Thanks to Capt. Bharti and Mr. Sandeep Chhabra without their support and guidance such an event was

not possible.

Selection trials for other events such as Athletics, Lawn Tennis, Skating,& Table Tennis also took place

at other IB schools. Following students from IISP got selected for participating in National Games.

Athletics 1. Jeong Bin Lee 2. Jagat Pratap 3. Chirag Chopda 4. Geet Saraswat 5. Seong Min Jae Badminton 1. Gursheesh Singh 2. Atharva Adsul 3. Niraj Sankla 4. Manas Mishra 5. Nipitpon 6. Anshulika Deshmukh 7. Ananya Bhaskar 8. Geet Saraswat 9. Niki Khakhrawala

Table Tennis 1. Mihir Shah 2. Adityavardhan Trimal Cricket 1. Aadit Ganesh 2. Arjun Ganesh 3. Vishal Arun 4. Atharva Sanas 5. Vedant Sanas 6. Om Shah 7. Sanket Lengare 8. Shiv Kirloskar 9. Harsh Solanki 10. Aryan Bhaskar 11. Anuj Verma Squash 1. Karan Patel 2. Jai Patel 3. Alim Dhanani 4. Niraj Sankla 5. Siddarth Suri 6. Dev Phadke Skating 1. Bhoomi Sharma 2. Bhuwan Sharma 3. Mahek Longani Basketball 1. Armana Jung 2. Meghan George 3 Shreya Janolkar 4. Sahil More 5. Sarvesh Dahivadkar Lawn Tennis 1. Ishan Shubedar 2. Krish Desai 3. Arnav Madani 4. Bhavin Deadakiya 5. Soham Gupta 6. Shambvi Adkar 7. Sanjana Jadhav

Boarding at INDUS:

Royal Cremation Ceremony for H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej

The Royal Thai Consulate - General, Mumbai organised a volunteer activity on 8th Oct’17

to make funeral cremation flowers as a tribute to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

These flowers were used during the Royal Cremation Ceremony organised by the

Consulate on 26 October 2017 in Mumbai

The Thai Children of Indus were at their best behaviour and participated in the flower

preparing ceremony enthusiastically. The Consul General thanked the school for the

show of support for the late king and the Thai national cause. The Consul General gave an

invitation to the school for the final ceremony in Mumbai on 26th October.

The Consul-General of the Royal Consulate of Thailand in Mumbai, Mr. Ekapol Poolpipat,

hosted a lunch for our students at his residence in Colaba from 11.30 am to 1.00 pm on 26th

Oct’17. They then moved to the ceremony venue at the Coomaraswamy Hall. The

proceedings in Mumbai were being synchronized with the ceremonies taking place in the

Royal Palace at Bangkok through a video linkup. Our children completed the flower-laying

ceremony late in the evening after the King had completed the formal part of the

ceremonies in Bangkok and departed for school immediately after that.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS AT IISP:

MYP Rubik Cube Competition – 10th Nov 2017

Parent Teacher Meeting (PYP) – 11th Nov 2017

Investiture & Awards Ceremony – 13th Nov 2017

Children’s Day Celebrations – 14th Nov 2017

PAC Meeting (IISP Team) – 24th Nov 2017

Leadership Camp begins for Gr.8 – 27th Nov 2017

Mufti Day/Rubik Cube Competition (PYP) – 30th Nov 2017

Leadership Camp ends for Gr.8 – 1st Dec 2017

SANDEEP CHHABRA

PRINCIPAL

October 2017