From the Principal's desk - Indus International ...

From the Principal’s desk

                                                                  February 2021

 The difference between what we do and what we are capable
  of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.
                                                      - Mahatma Gandhi

Dear Parents and Guardians,

February was a very important month for Indus, as we strive to sensitize our
students towards the need for a sustainable and equitable path for the larger
community around us. This will be a crucial move that all of us will have to make,
for the sustenance of life – both ours and of what is around us. Towards this,
students across all three programmes have actively taken up projects that will
mitigate the effects of climate collapse and pollution, with great vigour and
involvement. Inspired by General Ray’s words, where he stated that ‘Climate
change readiness must become part of our DNA, our culture, our lifestyle, and a
future that has already arrived’, students have geared themselves up to become
climate literate and climate change leaders through experiential learning.

The students of Grades 6 to 8 who are working towards afforestation, have been
researching about the disappearing green cover of Bangalore and types of trees to
be planted. Systematically, they have been contacting agencies, NGOs, and
organizations to understand the issue and chalk out an efficient plan of action. The

students along with the Grade 4 and 5 students had a very informative session with
a local organisation called the Voice of Sarjapur association, who motivated them
to direct their efforts against arboricide. The speakers shared their insights,
expertise and experiences and discussed practical methods for afforestation. They
also discussed the importance of being an engaged citizen and encouraged our
students to take action in areas closer to them.

The Grade 9 - 12 students enthusiastically commenced their work towards
rejuvenating water bodies. Having complete student agency, our young eagles
divided themselves into teams and started hands-on work. To gain good
knowledge, they attended several information sessions by environmentalists and
went on site visits to nearby lakes to study the ecology and drainage system.
Representatives from these grades met the Honourable Minster for Ecology and
Tourism and presented their project plan.

Simultaneously, every programme is accomplishing their programme requirements
and working on the related design thinking projects on Wednesdays as a part of the
Innovation Curriculum.

PYP:
End of Unit Exhibitions: Students from Grades 1 to 5 celebrated their End of Unit
exhibition on 11th February. They presented their understanding based on their
Central Idea and Lines of inquiry and applied their understanding of the Design
Thinking Process to identify strategies to develop the competencies to be future-
ready. We commend them for their great ideas and presentations.

Grade wise Open Forums: PYP believes in continuous improvement as we reflect
on our current teaching practices, systems, and processes. A grade wise open
forum with parents held in February helped us gain perspectives, discuss, and share
feedback, concerns or queries. An action plan was also shared with them, with an
assurance that their feedback will be taken into consideration as we go further into
the academic year. We thank parents for taking time of their busy schedules and
discussing the same with teachers.

Grade 3 students attended a guest lecture in connection with their unit under the
transdisciplinary theme ‘How we organise ourselves’. Dr. Rajagopalan Vasudevan,
a prominent scientist, highlighted the importance of reusing plastic to construct
roads whereas, Ms. Anu from the Solid Waste Management Round Table, (SWMRT)
shared her knowledge of composting. With these power packed talks, students
have gone a step ahead to initiate change within their communities and worked
towards the various problems they have identified. Well done students!

Our heartfelt gratitude to our speakers for having spent an impactful time to speak
with our students.

MYP:
Virtual Personal Project Exhibition: This year, our Grade 10 students presented
their personal projects virtually for the first time. It was indeed a proud moment to
see the diverse projects that demonstrated creativity and critical thinking skills of
our students. The feedback received from parents, teachers and the student
community were heartening and extremely rewarding to both students and
teachers alike. To view our students’ projects, please use the link – MYP PP Virtual
Exhibit (google.com)

Grade 10 students completed their Language Acquisition Exams successfully and
are now in the process of completing their vocational subject e-portfolios. Our
students are diligently preparing for their mock exams and teachers are doing
criteria-based intensive revisions.

Grade 8 students had orientation sessions for MYP Year 4 – Year 5 and were advised
on subject options, expectations of MYP and personal project.

The Start-up school orientation got the Grade 6 to 8 students excited. The students
have had two interactive and productive sessions that focused on creativity,
imagination, the art of asking the right questions and the need to make a difference
to the world we live in.

DP:
After a hiatus of almost a year, the school came to life as our Grade 11 boarders
returned to campus. Select DP teachers started with offline classes twice a week
for these boarders and the laboratories were made available to them for their
Internal Assessments (IA).

The Grade 12 students have finished their first set of e-coursework submission and
the DP team is in the process of uploading the documents on IBIS. Intensive revision
is in progress for Grade 12, while they are simultaneously polishing their IA. In a
Town Hall meeting, it was conveyed to Grade 12 parents that Indus will take the
examination route prescribed by the IB and all relevant information have been sent
to parents.

College Counselling and Guidance:
Some of the top acceptances which our students received this month were
University of Cambridge (Math), University of Glasgow (Medicine), University of
Michigan, University of Nottingham, and Royal Veterinary College for Vet Med,
UIUC, University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, King’s College London,
and University of Manchester. We are expecting some more acceptances from
highly ranked universities in the following weeks. The counselling team completed
four higher education sessions for Grade 11 students in February. An information
session for Grade 11 parents was also conducted on 15th February to outline the
counselling programme. Currently, counsellors have scheduled personalized
counselling sessions with Grade 10 parents and students to discuss the way
forward.

Boarding:
The Indus boarding team welcomed the group of Grade 11 students in February
after a long wait of almost a year. We also have many first-time boarders join us
and it is indeed a significant and enriching experience for them at Indus. The school
has signed up with Apollo Shine and has taken all precautions to ensure the safety
of our boarders. The boarders started their weekly routines in boarding and school

with all safety measures and protocols. The core boarding team is spending
meaningful time on ensuring children are happy and comfortable in the boarding.

Boarders were taken on a campus tour to understand the school campus and the
weekends were packed with activities such as library visits, movie evening and kite
flying competition, while relishing delicious snacks during these activities.

The boarders along with their regular evening sports have been offered Yoga and
Zumba sessions during the weekend, which they enjoy immensely.

Hall of achievements:
We are happy to announce the achievements of Rhea Sawhney of Grade 10 who
participated in the recent Karnataka State Shooting championship 2021 from 23rd
to 28th February. Apart from being ranked fourth in the Young Women category
and fifth in the Senior Women category, Rhea also won two gold medals in two
team events, which were in the young women and junior women category. She has
also been selected for the pre-nationals. Congratulations Rhea!

Urja Parikh of Grade 9 participated at the 43rd Jubilee Golf Tournament for 9 holes
played at the Golmuri Golf Course at Jamshedpur. Urja fared extremely well and
was declared second runner up with a score of 12 over gross.

Anvi Kurade of Grade 9 had her original story published in the Kindle book by
Scholastics.   The    link    to     find     the     kindle    e-book     is:
www.amazon.in/dp/B08THTW3WK.

Vidushi Keni of Grade 11 finished in the top three at the Young Master Southern
India Classic golf championship held at Boulder Hills Golf and Country Club,
Hyderabad from 9th - 12th February with a good scoring average.

Arnav Nevatia of Grade 10 featured in Times of India, dated 21st February for his
contribution to music as he has developed an alpha wave to address depression,
anxiety, and stress in youngsters. Arnav based his Personal Project on something
that he was passionate about and something that is of consequence in the current

pandemic times. He is an avid drummer and has a keen interest in music. He self-
taught music production and then published his music piece "Strands of Cirrus" on
multiple streaming sites like Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify
etc. Congratulations Arnav!

The link to the news article is: https://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/58610141

Parents Advisory Committee (PAC) Meeting: PAC members met with the school
leadership team on 12th February to discuss and understand the suggestions and
concerns of the parent body. Members of the leadership team discussed each of
these in detail with the PAC and provided a comprehensive action plan for moving
forward. We thank the PAC team as well as all parents for their regular feedback
and timely suggestions that helps us continue to provide an enriching learning
experience for all students in our care.

As always, Indus with its waves of activities has been shifting the shores of learning
and I will meet you with more exciting updates in the upcoming newsletters.

Warm regards,
Sarojini Rao
Principal
Indus International School, Bangalore

                          Dates for your diary: March 2021
                Date                                     Event
             1st March                     Grade 11 Mid-Term Test 2 begins
          8th – 12th March           Summative Assessment week for Grades 6-9
          9th – 12th March                      PYP 3 Way Conference
             15th March                  Grades 10 and 12 Mock exams begin
       27th March – 4th April                        Spring Break