The Tiger, 20th May, 2022
Head of School Message
Congratulations to our D2 students who will be graduating on Saturday, 21st of May. This will be our 11th batch of graduating students. Congratulations to our students, parents and faculty.
There has recently been a gradual increase in the number of COVID cases in the community. The number of positive cases are relatively low but we are monitoring the situation very closely. We have a few COVID cases in our Boarding as well but these students have been isolated and are following COVID safety protocols.
As a reminder, if there continues to be a spike in a particular grade level, we may require that grade level to stay at home and continue remote and distance learning. We will communicate this information as early as possible. As of now, please note on-campus learning will continue.
For the safety of the entire Stonehill community, we continue to strictly follow COVID safety protocols and ensure safe distancing, wearing of masks, and regular hand washing and sanitising.
Lastly, we are looking for interested parents who would like to volunteer to be a part of our Parent Teacher Association (PTA) for the next academic year 2022-2023. The PTA is a not-for-profit organisation that exists to fulfil the following mission:
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Enhance the educational experience of all students at Stonehill
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Welcome new families
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Develop closer connections between the school and home via parent involvement in school or PTA events and activities
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Promote positive community spirit in the school environment
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Coordinate parent volunteers and support of PTA and school activities
The PTA organises multiple events that are aimed at encouraging community spirit and togetherness like the Back-to-School BBQ, Coffee Mornings, the International Food Fair, Diwali Mela, Bake Sales, Staff Appreciation Day, and various other charity events.
The PTA will be holding an informational session for all interested parents on Monday, May 30th between 2:00 pm and 2:45 pm at the parent lounge in the Administrative Block. If interested please contact: pta@stonehill.in. We hope you will join our PTA team!
Dr. Brian Brumsickle
Head of School
Whole School News
Say Hello to Our New Teachers For the Next Academic Year-2022-23!
Alexandra Carbonell
PYP Visual Arts
About Alexandra
Alexandra Carbonell grew up in a bilingual household and loves learning new languages. Over the years, she has taught in many different countries. In her spare time, she loves painting, drawing, creating in general, reading, travelling, cycling and discovering new music and great films. She will be joining Stonehill along with her husband, Luke and their son Vincent. Her family is excited to join the Stonehill team and explore India. She looks forward to the fun, creative projects in the 2022-23 school year.
Luke Osborn
Primary PE
About Luke
Luke Osborn is originally from New Zealand but has been teaching abroad for the last sixteen years in Korea, Vietnam, Morocco, China, and now India. He is a passionate basketball coach and a former New Zealand NBL player. Luke is especially concerned with students' social and emotional well-being. He is joined by his son Vincent who will be in grade 3 and his wife Alexandra who will be teaching PYP Art.
Neris Naranjo
PYP Spanish
Jim Elvin
PYP Performing Arts
About Jim
Jim Elvin is a Performing Arts Teacher. He is from Meghalaya, India. He has taught in schools in Assam and Gurgaon. He’s an adventurer and believes in learning about diversity by travelling and exploring new places and trying authentic cuisine from around the world. He enjoys interacting with people from various walks of life. He likes to go off the usual path and discover new avenues wherever he can. He also spends his time being active and enjoys running short marathons. He looks forward to being a part of the Stonehill community and making lifelong memories.
Devika Datta
P6 Homeroom Teacher and Learning Leader
About Devika
Devika Datta has been an educator for the last fifteen years having taught the PYP and MYP Language and Literature. She is from Assam, India but has been working in Gurgaon, India at Pathways World School. Besides being a teacher, she is a mother, a dreamer, a needleworker, and a reader. While she cherishes the moments spent with her family and friends, she also relishes moments spent in solitude. She likes gardening, writing poetry, reading multiple books at the same time, and working on crochet projects. She is happy to be a part of the Stonehill Community and looks forward to learning and growing with the diverse faculty and students.
Madhumitha Ravi Shankar
P4 Homeroom Teacher
About Madhumitha
Madhumitha Ravi Shankar has been an elementary teacher for over 15 years with a brief stint as a pedagogical leader, working in various international schools in India. She is passionate about making a difference in the lives of young children. In her free time, she loves the challenge of a good DIY project, singing while cooking, and lounging with her two wonderful dogs. She looks forward to collaborating, learning and growing with everybody at Stonehill!
Bibina Selwin
P1/P2 Teaching Assistant
About Bibina
Bibina Selwin is from Kerala, India. She was born and raised in Muscat, UAE. Though a B.com graduate she has always seen herself working around children. She worked as an after school teacher at The Free Thinking School in Koramangala, Bangalore for a year and has worked as a pre-primary teacher at United World Academy for four years. She is ready to learn and thrive and is extremely excited to be an assistant teacher for pre-primary.
Beaural Lisha
PYP, Teaching Assistant
Swapanjyoti Sarmah
PYP Teaching Assistant
HaoWen Cheng
MYP/DP Chinese and MYP English B
Rafael Santos
MYP Spanish/Drama/English
Sonia Ortiz
MYP/DP Spanish
About Sonia
Sonia Ortiz is originally from Spain. She has lived and worked in the U.S.A, Sri Lanka, Japan and Vietnam. India will be her fifth home abroad. A curious lifelong learner, her interests include travelling, exploring, reading and eating out. She is excited by Stonehill's mission and vision and its commitment to individual excellence. She will be teaching Middle and High School Español. She is looking forward to the exciting times ahead! ¡Hasta la vista!
Sunanda Rao
MYP/DP Mathematics
About Sunanda
Sunanda Rao will be joining the secondary Mathematics faculty at Stonehill. She is joining us from Singapore after an eight-year tenure at St. Joseph’s International School, Singapore. The past fifteen years of teaching Mathematics in four different international schools in three different countries including the role of the Head of Department have given her insightful experiences. She is an IA moderator, an examiner for SLAA Mathematics. She is an Accreditation Team Visitor for the Council of International Schools (CIS). Besides that, Sunanda is a professional Bollywood singer and feels that twenty-four hours in a day is just not sufficient for teaching, singing, cooking, community service and so much more. She is excited about joining the international community at Stonehill.
Alumni Visits Stonehill
It's always wonderful when we hear back from our Alumni. In the last two weeks Neil Sairam (Class of 2021), Asima Kidwai (Class of 2021) and Jayati Gupta (Class of 2020) visited us on campus. We are happy that they are thriving global citizens and it's reassuring to know that Stonehill has provided them with the groundwork for success. We wish them every success in their future endeavours!
Jayati is currently in her second year studying Computer Science at University of British Columbia, Canada.
Asima is currently studying Political Science and International Relations at the University of Toronto, Canada. She describes the learning environment at Stonehill as, "challenging yet, supportive, and engaging. My teachers and classmates created a very personal experience in the classroom that made learning feel comfortable and encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone.
Outside of the classrooms, the opportunities to play sports, go on class trips, attend leadership competitions, and participate in clubs such as Student Council and Activities Council, equipped me with many essential learnings and skills. I learnt to be a critical thinker and a good communicator, and I became self-aware and empathetic as a person. A favourite memory of mine was starting the day at homeroom with Mr.Premson and my friends, where we would spend the mornings chatting, joking, dancing, or even meditating when we felt stressed. It always felt like home and made my day."
Neil is currently a sophomore in the George Washington University in Washington DC, US. He is double majoring in Political Science and International Affairs with a focus on American-European Relations and minoring in French. Here's what he had to say:
"I learned many things at Stonehill but the most glaring piece of learning that I imparted was the drive of the students and the encouragement of the teachers that pushed me to be better and frankly who I am today.
Our graduating class as a whole have so many memories but creating a Student Council that cared for its students and leading it as chair was something I most treasured."
Neil and Asima
Neil and Asima with Mohammed Nasir
Jayati Gupta
Jayati with her teachers
Primary School
I-DEA!
I am in the middle of an incredible workshop led by Council of International School (CIS), one of our accrediting agencies.
This is a workshop that crosses many bounds and provides opportunities for learning and change.
I-DEA stands for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Anti-racism.
Some inspirational key points:
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Stop being nice and tip-toeing about racism. Have the deeper discussion on discrimination, racism and anti-racism - it’s an easy label but what does it mean - dig it out - have “real conversations”. Embrace this self-imposed disruption as a GIFT for change.
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Be critical of self - all isims…welcome discomfort for personal and systemic growth.
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Fight for Equity NOT Equality.
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Publicise organisational anti-racism - put it on the website and live it.
Restructure to ensure anti-racism is a part of everything we do - have communal frameworks that drive meetings, professional learning and interactions.
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Define ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE using I-DEA (LOVE this one!)
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Microaggressions come overtly and covertly…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDd3bzA7450
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Warm Demanders are people who have strong beliefs about being anti-isims and believe everyone can change.
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They show strength
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They listen with affinity and intentionally try
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They challenge and offer choice
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They affirm peoples humanity
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They help people see the BIG picture
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Warm Demanders do not seek or use hierarchy and power to lead. They have authority through the building of solid, warm, legitimate relationships by understanding and building a sense of belonging.
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Pillars of growth, stewardship and equity are our focus… not learning about these pillars but LIVING THEM!
I still have two days in which to reaffirm my beliefs and grow. This is an opportunity that I wish everyone could be a part of. Recognising that we as an institution have a responsibility to our learners to be better, do better and openly work toward equity through open dialogue and commitment.
As an aside, previous to this workshop, we decided to write our Progress Reports in non-gender based language. This is our way to support all learners, and will be the start of significant anti bias initiatives across our division.
Karen Crooke
Primary School Principal
PYP Counsellor
Helpful Hints for Dealing with Children Exhibiting Challenging Behaviour
Challenging behaviour always has a backstory! When we help our children by first de-escalating the situation, we can then help them with strategies to regulate their big emotions. A dysregulated adult cannot help calm a dysregulated child. Therefore, when a child is engaged in challenging behaviour or is experiencing anger, stress, or frustration, as difficult as it may sound, the adults need to try and stay calm. Remaining calm does not imply that you approve or don’t care about how your child is behaving. It simply means providing them the safety and support that they need in order to self-regulate. Here is a three step formula you could try using:
Step 1: Calm yourself down
This might involve giving yourself a timeout, taking a few deep breaths, having a snack, drinking a glass of water, connecting with a friend, or even asking for help.
Step 2: Take time to reflect
After you’ve calmed down, it would be wise to notice the feelings and the thoughts that came up. Think about what your child might need in order to prevent that behaviour from occurring again. Before you talk to your child, check to see if you are calm enough to do so. Also, think about how your child must be currently feeling.
Step 3: Make an effort to re-connect
Ensure that your child has had some time to calm down before you reconnect. Acknowledge and validate their feelings. Offer choices in regards to next steps and how they can deal better with a similar situation next time. Discuss consequences and follow through to maintain consistency. Ensure your child knows you still love them.
Neeti Sarkar
PYP Counsellor
Primary News
P3 - An Inquiry Into Who We Are
The P3 learners have been open-minded inquirers. Under the transdisciplinary theme, ‘Who We Are’ they are inquiring into how communities create a sense of belonging. Our learners have been demonstrating their growing thinking and social skills as they explore and investigate what it means to be a community and the different communities they belong to. One learner mentioned “a community is a place where people live and play.” They also explored what it means to belong and how they know they belong to a community. Some of the learners responded, “...because we come together and talk to each other” and “My dad works here and my brother is around.”
They have also been looking for similarities that they share with each other, and how these similarities create a sense of belonging. Our learners listed several similarities like, “we are kind to each other” and “we live in homes”. They eagerly got into pairs and shared the similarities with one another.
Through open-ended play and as thinkers and young innovators, our learners came up with their own ideas of creating different spaces in their classroom that they see in a community. They suggested a restaurant, a salon, a hospital, a bank, an arts centre and a library. They engaged themselves in creating a variety of roles and taking on different responsibilities in the community.
As a group, they collaborated and shared ideas and learned to be open to different perspectives. Along the process they made conclusions that belonging to a community comes with rights and responsibilities. They are now more mindful of how they can be caring and responsible in the community.
The P3 Team
Secondary School
Ending the year - What’s left?
It seems very strange to be on campus in May. Since joining Stonehill in August 2019, I haven’t experienced an ‘end-of-year’ at the school, as the past two years have been completed remotely. It has been very pleasant to spend most of this academic year on campus. Hopefully, this is how things will be in future.
So what’s left over the remaining twelve school days. Now that the M5 and D2 IB exams/eAssessments have finished, it is time to move on to our other grades. Between May 24th and May 31st, students in M1-M4 and D1 will be completing final assessments for the year. Some of these assessments will inevitably look more like ‘exams’ than others, particularly in the older grades. While exams seem a little archaic as a form of assessment, they are still the default mode around the world of assessing students’ knowledge and skills. In IB schools, students spend most of their time working on longer projects and presentations. However, it’s important to run exams every now and then (usually from about M3 upwards) so that students become accustomed to responding to prompts in this way. Some students struggle with tight time-limits, others struggle with hand-writing, while others suffer from the pressure of a high-stakes assessment. It’s better to deal with these challenges in earlier years rather than finding out in D2 that a student is uncomfortable taking exams.
Teachers should have enough lessons at the end of the academic year to go over final assessments with their classes and to finalise achievement grades for the year. Final reports will come out on Tuesday, 7th June.
Before that, we will also be running two events on campus. Firstly, on the 2nd of June, the plan is to run an Arts Festival for our students. Different workshops will be set up around the Secondary School so that our students can learn an art form of their choice. Hopefully, our D1 students will be able to run some of these workshops. Speaking of our D1 students, they will also be completing their Group 4 (Science) collaborative project before the end of the year. Additionally, on June 1st we have organised for some informal class and grade-level photographs to be taken. We will email these to both the students and the parents.
Finally, on June 7th, we hope to be able to run a final assembly for the Secondary Students. This will include our awards ceremony in which we recognize students for their success in academics, arts, sports and service projects throughout the year.
Although we still have some restrictions in place due to the resurgence of covid in Bangalore in the recent weeks, at least the end of this year will look something like what the end of a school year should look like. Let’s hope next year is completely back to normal.
Joe Lumsden
Secondary School Principal
Secondary Focus
MYP Product and Digital Design
The M1 students have been working on their product design unit and most of them are almost at the end of their creation stage.
They have been creative with their woodworking skills and have designed a desktop and an organiser.
The M2 students have also been working on their product design unit.
They had to design and create a shelf/hanger/birdhouse using their woodworking skills. Before working on the product they came up with ideas and drew them with measurements.
The M3 students have been working on a unit where they created client-specific products such as wall clocks and storage units. The products have been designed and created by the students as part of their solutions to specific problems. Here is a glimpse of their work in progress.
The students use tools and equipments to demonstrate their skills:
Process of making the product:
The students created a 3D prototype on a CAD modelling software and the same design was translated into a working prototype using materials such as plywood.
From the sketch to product
The M4 Digital Design students worked hard on completing their last unit. Being an open unit, the students were able to work on a variety of different product types including (but not limited to) websites, videos, apps and animations. As a final part of this process, the students worked on developing a series of testing methods and running product evaluations to measure their own success.
After having successfully finished their ePortfolio unit, the M5 digital design students have now started to work on a new unit which involves the use of Arduino microcontrollers.
They explored a series of guided lessons and developed their programming skills by coding a variety of sensors. In this final unit, the students are allowed to work in groups. They will design and create a product of their own using the different electronic components available to them. At this point, they are working on Criterion A, carrying out an inquiry process.
Mohammed Nassir
HoD Design, MYP Design & IB Design Technology
DP Business Management
The D1 Business Management classes have been focusing on topics such as corporate culture, human resources, acquisitions & mergers, globalisation, etc.
The students researched these topics and applied them to the real world. They presented and discussed their findings in class. Here's an example of a case study done by Shreyas and Sunav.
How Has Discord’s Corporate Culture Attributed to its Global Success?
Discord is a social networking platform used by millions of people across the world daily. The free platform blends the approachable chat UI found in apps like Slack with video and voice chat, and Skype. It has quickly become one of the most popular platforms, reporting 250 million users, with 14 million people logging on every day. It allows for people from all sorts of communities, cultures and backgrounds to thrive in social communities that range from gaming to education.
A large part of the company’s success stems from the corporate culture within the company, i.e how the employees work together to create and maintain the platform. Not just the idea itself, but the people behind it. Surveys have shown that employees thoroughly enjoy working for the company. Being an integral part of a global organisation can be stressful. However, creating a positive working environment that encourages social interaction and creativity is exactly what appeals to the end user. We’re always looking for like minded people, and to have them run such a widely used social platform appeals strongly to us. It’s the whole vibe of the company.
The company has a decentralised structure. A CEO as a head of the organisation, and a lot of decision making authority being moved down the hierarchy. There is an abundance of transparency and involvement in decision making, which leads to less misunderstandings between coworkers and has helped the company grow. The business has a culture score of 4.5/5. Out of 271 Discord employee reviews, 91% were positive.
The remaining 9% were constructive reviews with the goal of helping Discord improve their work culture. The Customer Support team, with 100% positive reviews, reports the best experience at Discord compared to all other departments at the company.
“This is the first time I have felt truly supported and cared about in a position since being an undergrad student many moons ago. My manager rocks, my team rocks, I feel valued- and heck yeah the perks rock. 10/10 recommend giving it a try and seeing if your values align with the company!”
Employees also get paid really well. The average estimated annual salary, including base and bonus, at Discord is $140,755 or $67 per hour, while the estimated median salary is $143,519 or $68 per hour. Moreover, it’s not just the decision making authority that gives the company a sense of companionship. Employees are encouraged to decorate their workspaces, be wacky and even attend workshops if they’d like!
Hence the corporate culture has helped Discord maintain the sense of unity, promote a sense of value, encourage employees and develop a sense of responsibility towards the company.
Sathish M.G
MYP Individuals and Societies & DP Business Management
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