THE STONEHILLNEWSLETTER

WELCOME MESSAGES

THE PRIMARY SCHOOL

THE SECONDARY SCHOOL

THE BOARDING SCHOOL

SPORTS NEWS

THE STONEHILL PTA

BACK TO SCHOOL BARBECUE

DIWALI MELA

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Volume 6, Issue 3, December, 2015

WELCOME MESSAGES As we approach the end of the first semester of the 2015 - 16 academic year, we can already look back on many achievements and accomplishments. Our students and staff have been exceptionally active, not only in implementing and upholding our rigorous academic programmes, but also in other areas. Stonehill is a school which educates today’s young people holistically, to better prepare them for whichever direction the future may hold. We are proud to offer extensive—and continually growing and developing—programmes in the arts, sports, service learning, and cultural exchange. In addition to comprehensive programmes in visual arts, design technology, and drama, our students are able to partake of individual and small group instrumental music lessons during the school day, as a supplement to their regular music lessons in the curriculum. We currently offer tuition for several instruments, including violin, viola, cello, piano, guitar, and drums. Our students perform both in school and out of school at various events; recently, our children’s choir performed at the Overseas Women’s Club’s Christmas event in Bangalore. Our extensive sports offerings are a big draw for our students! We recently sent football and cricket teams to matches in Hyderabad, India, and Phuket, Thailand. We are also involved in local sports events such as our swimming galas, where five or six local schools gather at Stonehill for a day of friendly competition and sportsmanship. A star feature of our sporting opportunities is the Embassy International Riding School, one of the premier equestrian centres in India, which is located adjacent to our school. Stonehill students are able to ride regularly as part of their after-school activities. One of our most popular after-school activities is the opportunity for our students to interact with students at the nearby government school. This service learning experience allows our students to plan projects, teach their peers, and share insights and resources with others. Finally, we were very privileged to host a group of German exchange students in November, as part of our emphasis on multicultural experiences.

We shared Indian customs and traditions, including Diwali celebrations, and look forward to our return visit to Germany in February, when our students will be exposed to the German way of life. Academic rigor and high expectations are fundamental at Stonehill. Our arts, sports, service learning, and cultural exchange programmes serve to enhance and further promote the individual achievement and future success of every child. With best regards, Dr. Beverly Sortland Head of School This academic year started off on a positive note under the able guidance of our new Head of School, Dr. Beverly Sortland. The GC believes that Stonehill will grow to new heights in the coming years, steered in the right direction by Dr. Sortland. The School also has a new Executive Governing Council member and we are delighted to introduce to you Ms. Maureen Stewart Nordberg, who joined us on 9th September, 2015. Maureen is originally from the US and has lived in several countries such as Germany, Indonesia, Turkey and Spain. She is currently a Senior Manager at Amazon, Bangalore. We are sure that Stonehill will benefit hugely from Maureen’s vast international and corporate experience and that her expertise and background will bring a whole new perspective to the Governing Council. The Annual GC Retreat was held on the 11th and 12th of September; it was attended by all Executive Governing Council members, as well as the Business Manager and members of the ELT. The central theme of the Retreat was to arrive at goals for the year, and a newer, stronger Mission and Vision for the School which will be the focus in the coming year. On behalf of the entire Governing Council, I wish you all a very happy 2016. Best regards, Mr. Vikram Shah Chairperson, Governing Council

THE PRIMARY SCHOOL The new academic year started well in the Primary School. Both the New Family Orientation Day and the Meet the Teacher evening were well attended by parents. Since the start of the year we have hosted a number of events to support parents and keep them informed about the education we provide. The workshops on offer over the past three months have included Helping EAL Learners, Supporting Guided Reading, Internet Safety and Supporting Third Culture Kids. We have had a very busy sporting schedule since the start of school. We hosted a PYP Sports Day, an Early Years Sports Day and a Swimathon. We also introduced a Weekend Sports Camp to enable the children to connect and form friendships at the start of the year. We hosted two sports events (a 7-a-Side Soccer Tournament and a Swimming Gala) where we invited students from 5 other local schools. In addition to this we have had a packed Extra-Curricular Activities Programme as well as Inter-House lunch time cricket and football tournaments. In November we took the primary football teams to Thailand to compete in the British International School Phuket Football Tournament. This was a fabulous experience for all involved. ICT use and integration in the Primary School, since the introduction of the 1:1 iPad programme, has increased, and is a prominent part of teaching and learning processes across the Primary curriculum. P4-P8 students have created their own personal blogs, which serve as their Student Portfolio, an essential and integral component of student learning and reflection within the PYP. Similarly, teachers have been working closely with David Rynne, our new Whole School Technology Coordinator, to support and enhance student learning and teaching experiences across the Primary School, through the use of contemporary and constructive ICT approaches. Our Primary School recently underwent the five year evaluation visit from the International Baccalaureate (IB). Two IB representatives spent time reviewing the school’s self-study report, observing lessons and speaking to parents, teachers, governors and students. The initial feedback that we have received from the IB Evaluators has been overwhelmingly positive. The happy, friendly, supportive atmosphere was commented upon, as well as the high standard of teaching and learning. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to everyone involved in this process. Based on the initial feedback from our visitors, it is clear that we are offering a high quality learning experience for the children in our care. The full report that has been reviewed and approved by the IB will be shared with parent community as soon as it has been received. We are proud of the education we provide in the PYP and the events, activities and high quality learning visible since the start of the year are testament to the quality of our talented teaching staff. We look forward to Semester Two!

Best regards,

Simon McCloskey Primary Principal

Assistant Primary Principal

Shannon McMahon, the school PYP Coordinator, was recently appointed as the Assistant Primary Principal. The change in job title has been made to better reflect the important role that she plays within our school. In addition to her responsibilities as our PYP Coordinator, Shannon assists with the day to day running of the Primary School and leads the section in the Primary Principal’s absence. We are extremely fortunate to have such a talented and experienced educator at Stonehill and I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Shannon for the contribution she has made to our school since her arrival and congratulate her on this new role.

Inquiry Based Learning via Visiting Authors The Primary students at Stonehill International School have been lucky enough to have not one, but two bestselling children’s authors visit them in the last couple of months!

Mr. Ken Spillman visited in October, and thoroughly entertained the audience. He enacted excerpts from all the books of his Jake series, which left the students laughing at the antics of both Mr. Spillman and Jake! In the question and answer session, many students wanted to know more about Jake and when the next books would be out, as well as how many more books they could expect from this Series in the future. Many students went home with multiple signed copies of Mr. Spillman’s books.

In November Ms. Anita Nair came to visit. She had the audience rapt with attention as she spoke of her bestselling children’s book ‘Who let Nonu Out?’, a book inspired by her son and events that happened when they moved houses many years ago. The story captivated the kids as most of them could relate to the challenges and struggles of moving to a new place; it also caught their fancy as the story was about a squirrel called Nonu! Ms. Nair was pummelled by a barrage of questions like “How do you get ideas for your stories?”, “What was your favourite story growing up?”, “Which one of the stories that you wrote is your favourite?”, and a rather impertinent question of “When were you born?”! Ms. Nair answered all of the questions and spent time tirelessly signing all the books that kids bought.

Stonehill’s Information Literacy Programme actively encourages students to develop reading in their everyday lives. The school believes that inquiry is a fundamental building block of both teaching and learning, and that it empowers students to follow their sense of wonder into new discoveries and insights about the way the world works. An empowered learner calls upon information literacy and inquiry skills to connect with what he or she knows, ask intriguing questions about what is not known, investigate the answers, construct new understandings, and communicate to share those understandings with others. Author visits further underline this, as students learn through inquiry-based interactions with an author. This approach enables students to become independent, life-long learners.

Ms. Lamiya Bharmal

Primary Librarian & Information Literacy Teacher

Primary Guided Reading Programme

At Stonehill, we value the experience and expertise of our parent community. In the Primary School, we welcome parents to play active roles in many of the learning experiences throughout the year. In particular, and most important to our students’ development, have been the parent contributions to our grade level reading programmes. The commitment of parents to supporting reading inside and outside the classroom has had a significantly positive impact on student learning and reading development.

On 10th September, the Primary Guided Reading Workshop was held, and proved to be a resounding success. The workshop detailed the approaches we take as a school to developing reading strategies and confidence in our students. The workshop also served as a training for parents interested and able to play a role in our classroom reading programmes.

Ms. Pareen Tankariwalia & Ms. Shannon MacMahon Primary Language Coordinator & Assistant Primary Principal

THE SECONDARY SCHOOL This academic year has been off to a great start. The Back to School Orientation morning, held in September, was well attended by parents. We received great feedback from parents who were appreciative of all the good work done to enhance the learning experience of their children. All MYP and DP students were informed about the revised Stonehill Academic Honesty Policy. Some concepts discussed were malpractice, plagiarism, collusion and referencing. The students read through a list of do's and don’ts and subsequently signed an Academic Honesty contract. The IBDP evaluation visit also took place in September. I am pleased to say that we received 7 Commendations, 6 Recommendations and no matters to be addressed in the evaluation report. This is an outstanding validation of our Diploma Programme and reflects upon the hard work of everyone involved. I would like to thank Dr. Darryl Davies for organising this entire process. This year, the Secondary School launched our Service ECA for all MYP and DP students. In collaboration with the Stonehill Government School, this voluntary activity has been a fascinating experience. With highly involved and engaged students from both schools, it is indeed an outstanding effort of service as action. The Secondary School has had a busy sporting season this past semester. Stonehill teams have participated in local, national and international competitions as part of STAC, ISACI and the International Schools Football Tournament respectively. In the CIS Football Tournaments, the girls’ team took home the silver medal. In the ISACI games, our boys’ basketball and cricket teams came in a very close third place, while the girls’ volleyball team won the tournament and the girls’ football team placed third. The Arts saw a huge boost of thriving activity this semester. We hosted an Indian classical music recital featuring Pandit Shubhendra Rao on the sitar and Saskia Rao-De Haas on the Indian cello. It was a magical performance that created awareness among our students and our international community about Indian classical music. There were several inter-house competitions like debate, Mad Ads, World Mathematics Day Countdown competition and so on. The MYP Arts showcase in November showedoff all the work that students working on in Music, Drama, Visual Arts and Design. It was enjoyable afternoon that perfectly showcased the talent of our students In October, we successfully hosted our very first student exchange programme with twenty-four students and two teachers from Gymnasium Landau, Germany. This cross-cultural exchange programme was a wonderful experience for both our students, as well as the visiting German students. I’d like to thank Ms. Preethi and Ms. Rituparna for organising this event and parents, teachers and students for all of their support. We have a dedicated and extremely qualified team of teachers, administrators and staff in the Secondary School that is committed to development of Stonehill. I eagerly look forward to our next semester.

Best regards,

Narendra Mehrotra Secondary School Principal

IB Diploma Programme

Stonehill went through its first IB Diploma Programme 5 Year Evaluation process in September. This involved all DP stakeholders – parents, students, teaching staff, non-teaching staff, administrators, and Governing Council members – taking part in a year-long self-study process that culminated in a visit from an IB team. At the end of the visit, the IB visiting team completes a report that can contain 3 possible outcomes:

• Commendations - areas where the school has either addressed the DP Standards and Practices in ways that solve challenges that are often not solved by other schools or has implemented the Standards and Practices in an outstanding way.

• Recommendations - ways in which the IB suggests that the programme can be further developed in the coming years.

• Matters To Be Addressed - these are areas identified where the school programme authorisation could be in jeopardy if they are not addressed immediately

I am pleased to say that in our evaluation report, we received 7 Commendations, 6 Recommendations and 0 Matters to Be Addressed! This is an outstanding validation of our Diploma Programme and reflects the hard work of everyone in the DP at Stonehill. Amongst the Commendations we received were:

• All aspects of the teaching and learning, with the team saying that there is clearly some interesting and exciting teaching and learning taking place.

• The pedagogical leadership provided in the DP. • The open communication between all stakeholders, based on understanding and respect between parents,

students and teachers; the team were impressed by how everyone was on the same page with regard to the development and philosophy of the DP at Stonehill.

• The active participation of the school in the IB community; the team were very impressed by the number of IB workshop leaders and examiners on staff as well as by the participation of the school in local, national and international IB events.

• The teaching and promotion of academic honesty in the DP. • The analysis of assessment data and examination results to provide actions that will help to improve future

attainment in the DP. • The thorough and well-documented evaluation process that the team described as "exceptional". • The IB also rated every area of our Diploma as "Showing Satisfactory Development".

While it is nice to receive such positive feedback, it was also great to see that the 6 Recommendations provided by the team had already been identified during our own Self-Study process and formed part of our DP 5-Year Action Plan. This validates that we know the direction that our DP should be moving in and areas that we know can be developed further in the coming years. I would like to thank everyone involved in the 5 Year Evaluation, both in school and at the IB Asia-Pacific Regional Office, for all of their help and support during the last 18 months of this process.

Dr. Darryl Davies IB Diploma Programme Coordinator

MYP Service Programme

As a community, through conversations with both teachers and students, we thought it would benefit our students enormously if they were able to get an authentic glimpse of India by interacting with students from other walks of life. At the same time the next chapter of the MYP, which came into effect last year, introduced service as a vital part of the programme. These two facts came together to kick start our MYP Service Programme. When we first started thinking about it in 2014, working with the Stonehill Government School and building on the relationship that exists between the two schools was a natural instinct. Early this year, the teachers of both schools met and collaboratively decided on the projects that would most benefit students. These projects include science experiments, social sudies skills, math skills, nutrition and healthy living, sports, newspaper, English, and history through drama and computers. Our students were given the option to do this service as well as to pick a project to work on, and to our delight nearly 100 MYP students, along with a few D1 students, signed up for the Service Programme! The programme also has 100 students from the 7th and 8th Grades of the Government School, who chose the project they would like to pursue. Some of these projects take place at the Stonehill campus and others at the Government School.

The first three sessions were used for planning by the Stonehill students, in order to outline the lessons in preparation to be teachers and mentors. Though we have teachers facilitating each project, all the planning has been done by the students. It is an exciting project which will surely provide many new experiences and learning for both Stonehill and the Government School children. Having completed the planning sessions, students of both Stonehill as well as the Government School finally got together on October 29th.

Forty-three Stonehill students were transported to the Government School to begin their projects, while fifty-two students from the Government School were transported to Stonehill to work on our campus. It was really interesting to see our students start learning how to be teachers. Watching students of completely diverse cultures and languages interact and communicate with each other was fascinating. We realised that language matters, but that there are many other ways to communicate. The projects will culminate in an exhibition on December 11th.

Ms. Evelyn Kelton CAS & MYP Service Coordinator

German Student Exchange Programme

For the first time at Stonehill, we introduced a Student Exchange Programme in collaboration with Gymnasium Laundau a.d. Isar in Bavaria, Germany.

The team of 24 students accompanied by 2 teachers spent eleven days in Bangalore, and their visit was replete with a melange of colours and a blizzard of city visits and school activities. Our guests schedule was action packed: They attended classes with their Stonehill buddies, went on a Bangalore tour and even managed a trip to Mysore! Over the weekend they spent time relaxing with their host families. A few students and families visited Commercial Street and Bannerghatta Zoo.

At school they had special classes, where they were introduced to Hindi and host culture festivals and customs. The learning continued with cooking classes, where they learned to make aalu parantha’s (stuffed potato bread) and Gulaab Jamun (Sweets).

They also visited the Stonehill Government School and spent time making art with the students there for their classroom boards. On 29th and 30th October they enchanted the school community with a small presentation about Landau and their school, followed by a performance of the traditional Bavarian folk dance.

The icing on the cake was their opportunity to partake in the Diwali celebrations in our school. Amidst much fanfare, the Landau students had a glimpse of how the spirit of Diwali permeated throughout the Stonehill community. The crowd applauded enthusiastically as the students took part in the fashion show along with their Stonehill buddies, in what proved to be the very essence of an exchange program; immersing themselves in the host culture and enriching their experience! This was followed by a high tea at Mr. Jitu Virwani’s house for our departing guests.

As this first-of-its-kind school exchange comes to an end, we would like to thank everyone who was a part of this remarkable event. We specially thank our host families who took such wonderful care of our exchange students. The German students grew very fond of them in the short while that they spent with them. Here’s to forging new friendships with individuals and schools across the globe!

Ms. Rituparna Bhattacharya & Ms. Preeti Menon German Exchange Programme Coordinators

M2 Student Plays International Tennis

One of Stonehill’s M2 students, Maanav, qualified to play in his first overseas match in the Asian Tennis Federation matches in Dhaka, Bangladesh in September. He played in the U14 tournament, where he was the youngest player to be selected. Maanav played exceptionally, and finished 9th among a strong crop of players while beating some much higher ranked players in the process. Officials commented that he displayed exceptional temperament and skill, that is unusual in a debutant. He has also been selected as a ball boy for the International Premier Tennis League tournaments in New Delhi in December. Ball boys are selected based on their abilities as tennis players, and provide them the opportunity to watch professional tennis players in action. We congratulate Maanav on his tremendous achievements.

Stonehill Wins Indus Street Play Competition A group of MYP and DP students participated in Indus International School’s “Steel Your Words” competition – an inter-school literary fest of drama activities, speeches, and debates. They joined teams from Indus, Presidency, and Bishop Cottons in a series of intense yet friendly competitions, and everybody left with a broader head of knowledge. The highlight of the day came from the Halla Bol, or street play segment, in which the Stonehill team had to create a performance on the theme “India 2025” – the message being that some things need to be changed right now to make our future better. The performance was packed with energy and creativity, providing food for thought over some of the problems that India faces, and it led to Stonehill taking the first prize! We must add that all performances in this category were of a very high calibre.

Other activities included a debate on current topics and global issues, where Johannes (D1) and Anvit engaged in a series of arguments and complex discussions (emphasis on complex; they were quite difficult but handled well!); ‘Spellbound’, a spelling bee in which Zubin from M4 took home third place; and Paper Tales, an activity which revolved around dramatic monologues and storytelling. Overall the winner was Indus, but all of the students left in good spirits (and with about twelve books each!) from winning the Street Play and from generally having a good time there! Thank you Indus, we hope to see you at Stonehill soon for something similar!

Olivia D1

THE BOARDING SCHOOL As we come to the end of 2015, it is heartening to look back at how Boarding began in August of 2014, and where we are now. Stonehill is in a very good position to grow its numbers and develop the boarding program during the next 3-5 years. The completion of the third boarding house to accommodate Junior Boarding for 2016/17 is under way; and the hiring of nonteaching house parents from January 2016 allows us greater flexibility and complements our developing full, weekly, and flexible boarding programmes. It is undeniable that boarding schools should nurture their pupils 24/7. Such a requirement is relentless and boarding house staff are never off-duty, free time or not. The topic of exactly how much free time boarders should be given is something of an ongoing debate with varying views. One thing is for sure, any free time must be supervised, albeit discreetly, to ensure students are being productive with that time, even if that means simply indulging in a quiet chat or watching television with their friends. Even a relaxed game of basketball or cricket, although constituting a ‘free time’ activity, is still very much a learning experience.

Socially the children are interacting, learning to support and challenge their peers, and importantly, growing as individuals. Boarding schools need to use free-time activities to their advantage to help students grow and develop maturity. Free time can always be used imaginatively to help with academic development too, including the use of particular board games, quizzes and conversations about subjects, news events and social media. These are normal things parents would do at home and it is this culture that we strive to replicate in our boarding houses.

Weekends should be more relaxed for boarders. The boarders should expect to have a later breakfast - the key here is that this is something different to distinguish between the week days and the weekend. Where possible, at Stonehill we try to ensure Saturdays are well structured with an activity or activities so that everyone is active and doing something they enjoy. Sundays should be more relaxed but with an element of structure. The morning might be spent communicating to family, doing some clothes washing, ironing or just watching some television. To add to the structure, students are expected to take responsibility for organising their clothes and equipment for the following Monday. The afternoons may involve use of the gym or a set time on the football field, swimming pool or basketball court. Quiet reading or reflection are valuable activities on their own.

Completion of schoolwork, assignments and homework should be attended to in a set time. As the full time boarders settle into school they develop friendships with day students or weekly boarders, which then provides opportunities for outings with these friends on weekends.

Finding the right balance can be difficult, but the use of down time does not mean it has to be boring and useless. The challenge for Stonehill Boarding will be to provide activities for individuals as well as groups, and also provide skills for students to manage and use their time wisely and efficiently. Boarders are normally involved in anything and everything schools can provide. The end of November saw 8 boarders involved in ISACI Cricket in Hyderabad and 4 in MUN in Delhi. Well done to them all!

Best regards,

John Bussenschutt Head of Boarding

SPORTS AT STONEHILL

Secondary

At Stonehill we are a founding school of ISACI - The International Schools Activity Conference, India. ISACI is a series of tournaments hosted in rotation by 4 schools across India: Stonehill, the International School of Hyderabad, The British School of New Delhi and Mercedes Benz International School, Pune. This is the second year of tournaments for our Senior students, and the standard and commitment continues to grow. A big part of the ISACI experience is the homestay and students make new friends that they will keep for the future. ISACI 1 - 8th- 10th October 2015 GIRLS FOOTBALL & BOYS BASKETBALL The Stonehill Tigers took part in the first ISACI tournament of the year, hosted in Pune for the boys’ basketball and here at Stonehill for the girls’ football. The Stonehill under 19 boys’ basketball ended with a well-deserved 3rd place with plenty of promise for the rest of the year, as well as the promise of going further next year.

The girls had a distinct home advantage playing at Stonehill. They were the only team that had played on Astroturf, and it was clear from the beginning that Stonehill was well prepared and the most skillful team. Although finishing 3rd was a disappointment for Stonehill, all the girls who played for Stonehill can be proud of the standard of playing expertise as an entire team.

ISACI 2 – 28th – 30th November GIRLS VOLLEYBALL AND BOYS CRICKET The boys travelled to Hyderabad for their cricket matches and the girls were hosted at The British School, New Delhi, for volleyball. Both teams had been training hard and were ready and primed for the competitions.

The boys are to be congratulated for becoming a very good team. All 15 boys played in the matches and all participated extremely well. Stonehill came in a very close third overall. The Girls volleyball team played excellently throughout the tournament, and our Tigresses won Stonehill's first girls ISACI gold medal. Well done girls! After the Christmas break we are looking forward to an ISACI middle school tournament in Hyderabad which includes basketball and football for boys and girls. The senior teams will start the next ISACI season with our Tigers defending their boys’ football title from last year and the girls looking to do one better than last year and win the basketball. The last big event we will be participating in is the ISACI swimming gala, which will take place at Stonehill in April. This will be a massive event and we will again be defending our title of champions. As well as ISACI, we participate wherever possible in tournaments that come up locally in Bangalore. Although unfortunately, many of these have been cancelled due to unseasonable weather, we have been able to take part in football tournaments at CIS, where we have done very well; however, the opportunity to enjoy learning more and visiting other schools is the primary purpose of participation. PHUKET FOOTBALL SEVENS 6th-8th November 2015

Sixty-four Stonehill students from P6 – M4 flew to Phuket, Thailand for the Phuket 7’s Football Tournament in October. Every year, it is organised and hosted at the British International School, Phuket, and this was the 14th event. This Football Tournament is the biggest schools’ Football Tournament in Asia, with 1700 competitors from 40 different schools across 12 different countries; Stonehill was the only school representing India. The Tournament spanned two days with matches played in groups, then play-offs on the second day.

Our Stonehill Squad had been training since returning from the summer break in August, and the extensive coaching was evident throughout the Tournament. The students were fantastic ambassadors for our school; we were by far the smallest International School in the Tournament playing against some of the best players in Asia from large, prestigious International Schools. This did not faze our students and they performed with strength and pride for our school. The team spirit was fantastic. For each child the trip is about developing as a player, developing as a team and developing as a person. The experience was a huge success.

Primary

SIS PYP Football Tournament

Every year Stonehill organises a 7-a Side Soccer Tournament with Canadian International School (CIS), and TRIO World School. This year we spread our wings further and invited Vidyashilp Academy, The International School Bangalore (TISB), and Presidency School. As the day progressed, there were lots of fantastic matches with students exhibiting good sportsmanship. We have every reason to be proud of the students in P4 to P8 who represented our school. Our under 11 girls came second to Vidyashilp, while the under 11 boys came a close fourth, with CIS as winners, followed by Presidency in second, and Vidyashilp in third. Our under 9 mixed team gave a good performance in a category that was won by the CIS A team, followed by TRIO and Vidyashilp. Stonehill Primary Schools Swim Meet On October 20th we hosted our annual primary schools swim meet. We had about 80 students participating from six different schools (TRIO, CIS, Bangalore International School, Presidency School, Nagarjuna Vidyaniketan and Stonehill) in individual races as well as relays. In addition to achieving many personal best times, all selected swimmers from P5 to P8 represented Stonehill extremely well. Students also did an excellent job promoting sportsmanship and showcasing competitive sports at our school. The Stonehill Sports Department would like to thank the parents and the Student Athletes who have worked so hard this year to provide such a vibrant and exciting Sports Programme.

Mr. Adrian Shepherd Head of Physical Education

THE STONEHILL PTA

The Stonehill PTA would like to thank all parents, teachers, administrative and support staff for all their help this past semester.

The year started of wonderfully with the welcome breakfast for the teachers in August organised by parents. In September we had our first big PTA event, the Back to School Barbecue, where we partnered with The Hilton Hotels, The Marriott Whitefield, Royal Enfield and Coke India; the food for the event was made by our wonderful Stonehill cafeteria staff, led by Chef Arjun. With live music performances by students and teachers, it truly felt like a family gathering.

The annual Kynkyny Art Exhibition held in October raised Rs. 1.5 lakhs in aid of one of the charities supported by the PTA – Iksha Foundation. For the Diwali Mela in November, our dedicated team managed to bring over 30 vendors for the bazaar; profits of which went to Morning Star Ashram, along with dry goods and other necessities that we collected. The cultural performance by students, parents, teachers and staff was the highlight of the event. This year, we have supported the Stonehill Government School with their sports programme, as well as awarding two deserving students with scholarships. Our next big event is the International Food Fair, and is all set to be held on Saturday, 6th February 2016. We plan to have 12 – 15 stalls selling food that is unique to those countries; there will also be cultural performances from different the various cultures that make up our Stonehill community. I have enjoyed my journey as PTA President so far, and eagerly look forward to 2016. From all of us at the PTA, here’s to a very happy 2016!

Best regards,

Mrs. Saira Jethnani PTA President

Back to School Barbecue

Above - Students and Staff of Stonehill provide perform for the barbecue

Below - Parents, students, staff and friends enjoying the various attractions of the event

Back to School Barbecue

Parents, students, staff and friends enjoying the various attractions of the barbecue

Diwali Mela

Stonehill students, Government School students, staff and parents perform at Diwali Mela

Diwali Mela

Students, parents, staff and friends enjoying the Diwali Mela

Diwali Mela

Students and staff perform at Diwali Mela

Stonehill International School 259 / 333 / 334 / 335 Tarahunise Post, Jala Hobli, Bangalore North 562 157, India

T +91 804341 8300 | M +91 90083 07684 E info@stonehill.in, admissions@stonehill.in

SCHOOL CONTACTS

ADMISSIONS PRIMARY SCHOOL SECONDARY SCHOOL MS. RISHIKA GANAPATHY MS. NIJIKA BHARADWAJ MS. ODETTE SACHIDANANDA

TRANSPORT HEAD NURSE BOARDING SCHOOLMR. RAHUL. I MS. CHARLETTE MACDONALD MR. JOHN BUSSENSCHUTT