The Tiger, April 28th 2023
Head of School Message
Our D1 students had their Theory of Knowledge presentations this week, and it was a fantastic event. I was particularly thrilled to see many supportive parents attending this impressive event on campus. I was very proud of the remarkable exhibition and the manifestations of their inquiry, discovery, and journey.
Congratulations to Ms. Vinita Nair, TOK Coordinator, and Ms. Manpreet, DP Coordinator for their coaching, guidance, and inspiration.
These next few weeks is assessment season for our Secondary students. We wish them every success as they prepare for their exams.
Please note that May 1st is May Day and is a holiday. School will resume on the 2nd of May. I wish our entire Stonehill community a lovely long holiday and a delightful May Day.
Due to Election Day on Wednesday, May 10th in Karnataka, offices and schools including Stonehill, will be closed. Communication regarding learning for that day will be communicated by the Divisional Principals.
Have a much deserved holiday and a lovely long weekend ahead,
Dr. Brian Brumsickle
Head of School
Whole School News
Stonehill Tigers won the BAASC U-15 Middle School Football Championships held at Canadian International School with five other competing schools. Our team won 3-1against Legacy School in the finals. Go Tigers!
Stonehill Wins Under 9 and Under 11 BAASC Swimming Competition!
The Primary School BAASC swim meet at Stonehill International School with TRIO World Academy, Canadian International School, and Bangalore International School ended with Stonehill winning first place in both the under 9 and under 11 categories. Congratulations to our Tigers!
Our M4 students won the first prize at IIT’s TechRadiance Innovation Challenge, a national competition held in Hyderabad. Their Pill Dispenser project was called out as outstanding in a fiercely fought competition! Congratulations to the students for their focus and commitment!
Stonehill Hackathon 2023
Stonehill Hackathon is an event where students come together to collaboratively work on solving a specific problem or developing a new product or service within a specified time.
The fourth annual Stonehill Hackathon will be held on the 29th and 30th of April, 2023. In this 24-hour-long competition, students will be encouraged to brainstorm and develop creative solutions to real-world problems.
Primary School
Parents away from home
It has come to my attention that we have families where parents are away from home for extended periods of time. In these cases, the children are being cared for by a housekeeper. In cases such as these, it is advisable to let the Homeroom teacher and Ms. Neeti know. Neeti will then make a concerted effort to check-in with your child and support them emotionally throughout the whole time. The Homeroom teacher will of course do this on a daily basis but will help your child get organised so they can meet the educational expectations.
Litfest
Litfest was a wonderful week filled with learning about multilingualism. The transference of this learning to our everyday routines is already evident in some classrooms - from P1/P2 using some of the language they learned, to P8 utilising their understanding when discussing “bias”. A reminder: Transference is what we are after so Litfest is a great example!
Some exciting activities ahead…
The week of 8th May
PE Showcases
The PE department will invite parents to a lesson - no pressure, just showing learning within a controlled environment. Luke and Avinash will be in touch.
Art Exhibition
The Visual Arts department will put on a display of work that you can wander through once you have been to your child’s PE lesson.
The week of the 22 May
Swimming Spectaculars
Chaitanya will send you an invitation to attend your child’s swimming lesson. This is a great opportunity for you to see what your child can do in the swimming pool - no pressure, just showing learning within a controlled environment.
End of semester reports will be released on the 2nd of June. A reminder that our reports are released through Toddle.
Transition Day for all Primary children will be on the 6th of June. This is when the children move to their next grade to get the feel for the space. It helps with space and place issues - on top of meeting their new teachers.
All the best - have a lovely fortnight,
Karen Crooke
Primary School Principal
PYP Coordinator
Provoking Curiosity, Inviting Wonder
In the PYP, being 'inquirers' for our teachers and learners, is a way of living. We constantly look for opportunities that:
- prod learners' curiosity
- provoke wonder
- offer intrigue
- trigger background knowledge
- inspire questioning
- frustrate just enough for the children to want to know answers
- tease them into engaging
- stimulate interest
- promote enthusiasm for life-long learning
Inquiry encourages us to think, challenge and extend our ideas. This is where magic begins and spontaneous inquiries often stem.
Here’s a great example of a spontaneous inquiry that happened in Bangalore on Tuesday, the 25th of April at 12:17 pm. The news spread throughout the Primary campus that a rare celestial phenomenon, known as Zero Shadow Day, which occurs when the Sun is directly overhead, will cast no shadow on vertical objects for a brief period of time.
The news sparked excitement for investigation and provoked many questions amongst our learners. The main investigators set up an experiment with vertical tubes outside the school cafeteria.
The images below show teachers and inquirers from different grades fully absorbed in observing, questioning, calculating, measuring and discussing - all sharing knowledge and learning from each other.
PYP Counsellor
Helpful Hints For Teaching Children About Consent and Personal Safety
“Teaching young children about body safety is like putting on a seatbelt - you hope they never have to use it, but it’s there just in case!” - Jayneen Sanders (author, teacher, and advocate)
Educating children about consent and personal safety is a collaborative effort of the child’s educators and the parents/caregivers. Every year, we address these topics, preventatively, openly, and with sensitivity, in multiple ways, and especially in classroom lessons on this important subject. Sometimes, parents are not quite sure how they can support us in this endeavour.
If you’re looking for tips to teach your child about how to keep themselves safe, read on.
Talk openly with your child
Your children needs to know there is nothing they cannot tell you. They need to know that you trust them and that you will believe them if they told you someone has not respected their body safety rules.
Use the correct terminology
If a child does not know the “real” names of their body parts, in the unfortunate case of some form of abuse, the child will not be able to tell their parents/trusted adults what exactly happened.
Teach them that they are the boss of their own body
Children need to know that they are allowed to say “no” if they don’t feel comfortable being touched (even if it’s a hug from a relative). We also need to teach our kids that they need to ask for consent too. It works both ways. As caregivers, don’t allow adults to force your child to hug or kiss them if your child does not want to.
Address secrets and surprises
Children need to know the difference between safe and unsafe secrets and that unsafe secrets should never be kept. A secret which makes them feel sad, bad, embarrassed, confused, or uncomfortable, needs to be shared with you, even if the secret came with some threat from the perpetrator.
Be alert
While stranger danger is something we should definitely educate our children about, it is important for us, as adults, to understand that more often than not, perpetrators are not strangers but are in fact familiar with the child and have fair access to the child. Therefore, as adults, it is important to use your discretion about who has access to your child. Ensure your child is not left unsupervised in the care of an adult you don’t fully trust, and be wary of any adult who is always ‘there’ to help out and take a special interest in your child.
Wondering how to start these conversations with your child? I recommend using these books that you could read read together:
- My body belongs to me by Pro Familia
- Your body belongs to you by Cornelia Speiman
- I said No! by Zack and Kimberly King
- Some secrets should never be kept by Jayneen Sanders
- The Kid Trapper by Julia Cook
If you’d like more information, resources, or support in regards to child protection and body safety, don’t hesitate to write to me at neeti.sarkar@stonehill.in
Neeti Sarkar
PYP Counsellor
Primary News
PYP Learners - How We Express Ourselves
Pali Chandra Productions 2023 presented by Vrinda Bhandula, Swarashri Shridhar, and Janhavi Thorat, professional Kathak artists with over 11 years of experience, came together to present 'Anukram', a Kathak journey at Stonehill.
The PYP learners attended an interactive guest session under the Transdisciplinary theme, 'How We Express Ourselves'.
The learners observed Kathak, a classical dance form as an art of storytelling, and experienced a dynamic mélange of Mughal nuances, rhythm, and intricate techniques to express feelings, ideas, and creativity.
'Anukram' is a traditional order in which a Kathak performance progresses in an attempt to lead the audience on a journey with their storyteller.
In conjunction with the transdisciplinary theme, ‘How We Express Ourselves’, the P7 learners supported student agency as they created and responded to performing arts through drama performances as their summative task. The students created original scripts along with drama based on adaptations from various existing stories. They were open-minded, risk-takers, and communicators in their learning journey.
Jim Elvin Minj
Performing Arts Teacher
Tiger Awareness Day
Did you know that over 100 years ago, thousands and thousands of tigers roamed freely around India? Did you know that today only about 4,000 wild tigers remain? These beautiful animals have almost been hunted to extinction. Luckily, organisations like Wildlife SOS are working hard to conserve many endangered animals.
Hello, we are Kripa, Tanya, Soyun and Tanush and we represent the PYPx Animal Welfare group. For our inquiry, we decided to create awareness amongst our peers about the protection of tigers and other big cats. We learned that deforestation, where tigers are losing their habitat, is a major reason why the numbers of Tigers have decreased so much. Another reason is their beautiful coats, where poachers sell their skin for wall decorations.
During the PYPx, we were able to show students the value of protecting endangered species through our presentation. We also decided to introduce a sustainable event that we could celebrate at Stonehill annually to continually remind people of animal conservation. So, we started Stonehill’s Tiger Awareness Day.
The aim of Tiger Awareness Day is to celebrate the tigers of India, where our generosity can make a change. This year, we were able to make cookies, design and create stickers and badges, and sell paintings, with all profits being donated to Wildlife SOS. Through the kindness of our community, we were able to raise 30,000 rupees. Next year, we hope to do even more in helping to protect these majestic creatures.
We would like to thank everyone who supported our event, especially Huli, Stonehill’s mascot, who shared his friendship with the students and teachers around the campus.
P7- Where Are We In Place and Time
The Stonehill community responded to a survey to support our provocation for our current unit of inquiry, ‘Where We Are in Place and Time. A total of fifty-seven students, parents, and teachers from our Stonehill community shared their significant historical events from a personal, local, or global point-of-view.
The students' interests were piqued as they sorted these events into three categories; ‘I have read or seen,’ ‘I have experienced,’ or ‘I have never heard’ of this event.
The students were also asked to consider how these events affected their families, themselves, or people they know. There were wonderful conversations about historical perspectives, and significant events such as COVID-19, Rajkumar, and the birth of a child. These were only a few of the significant events in history that were collected from the students, parents, and teachers of our Stonehill community.
During our provocation week, the learners looked at significant events in History through the lens of historical thinking concepts.
They observed artefacts brought into the school by the community to create a museum filled with historical significance.
Based on the students' individual and collective definitions of historical significance the students formulated research questions related to what they "See, Think, and Wonder". The learners also responded to six historical thinking conceptual questions during a visible thinking routine known as Chalk Talk. Here are some students' responses.
What are the causes that are hidden from view?
How do we know what we know is true?
How can we begin to understand the views of the past?
How do we decide what story to tell and whose story to tell?
What do sacrifices by people in the past mean for us today?
Does change mean progress?
Secondary School
Restructuring Leadership in the Secondary School
We have reached that time of the year when our attention is often divided between ensuring that the year finishes off strongly while also putting in place plans for the following academic year. It’s those plans that I want to share with you today.
Almost all of our Secondary School teachers will be with us again next year. However, there are some changes in leadership positions.
As you all know, Ms. Manpreet Kaur will be taking over as Secondary Principal next year. Ms. Jenni Browne will be moving into the DP Coordinator spot and a new recruit, Ms. Saba Husain, will be joining Stonehill as the MYP Coordinator.
Ms. Praseeja Nambiar will be serving as our first IB Careers-related Programme Coordinator next year. This is the fourth IB programme and is designed for students in D1 and D2 who would prefer a more hands-on, creative educational experience than the traditional DP. The programme will be ready for launch in August 2024 and we will be sharing all details with next year’s M5 students and parents.
In addition to our Coordinator appointments, Mr. Jay Terwilliger will be serving as Pastoral Head. This role has been created to allow a member of staff to focus on behaviour and discipline at the school. Don Jay will be reviewing the systems and structures that we have in place to hold students accountable for behaviour, as well as following up on all incidents that require attention next year.
Due to the increase in enrollments in DP, we have also allocated a coordinator for each DP core component: Ms. Gunjal Chatuverdi will continue as CAS Coordinator, Ms. Vinita Nair will continue as ToK Coordinator, and Ms Maitreyee Banerjee will join the core team to coordinate the Extended Essays of the students.
This year saw the introduction of the House System for sports. Next year, the House System will be implemented in service activities, arts events, academic competitions and other aspects of school life. With this in mind, we have asked Mr. Harry Martin to be our House System Lead Teacher. Harry will have the support of four members of staff serving as House Masters for each house. Some of these terms sound a little British and archaic, but the house system is very popular with students and teachers and will help bring to life many of the events that we run at school.
Secondary News
Art Students Tackle 21st Century Issues
The Arts at Stonehill have been thriving lately, with our M5 students in Music, Visual Art, and Drama using their artistic skills to raise awareness and create dialogue around important issues facing our society.
Recently, these students completed their ePortfolios, which focused on how Art exposes 21st Century issues. They had to complete four tasks which required them to research, develop original pieces, perform or exhibit these pieces, and make connections within their learning. Our students tackled issues like climate change, mental health, and social justice, among others.
It's amazing to see how our students used their creativity and talent to make thought-provoking pieces. Their ePortfolios showcase the breadth and depth of talent in our Arts programme, and we're lucky to have such passionate and dedicated students and teachers in this area.
A highlight will be the upcoming performance by the M5 Drama students on the 3rd of May. They will be performing for their year group and parents, and we can't wait to see them bring their work to life on stage. It's surely going to be an unforgettable experience, and we hope to share footage of their performance.
We encourage you to ask our M5 students in Music, Visual Art, and Drama about their work. Their passion and creativity are inspiring, and we're proud of the way they're using their artistic skills to raise awareness of important issues.
Overall, the Arts at Stonehill are alive and well. We can't wait to see what our talented students will do next and we continue to support them in their artistic endeavours.
M1 and M2 Drama: Reenactments of famous Art and Cult classics
We are halfway through our Drama class with the M1C and M2C students. Every lesson is a showcase of creativity and improvement of skills.
In the last few weeks, we did a lot of activities to build stronger cohesion in the group. The students played concentration and team spirit games. We also watched some clips of iconic and cheesy acting. These activities ignited the students' creativity and it is always fun to watch how many twists they can make out of a small scene.
After doing some interpretations of famous movie scenes, the M1C students made some reenactments of famous paintings. This was a particularly fun activity where everybody enjoyed posing for the camera.
DP Economics
The Guided Inquiry Project encouraged the DP2 students to review country-specific information on economic development. The teacher provided resources to guide the students to collaborate, create, communicate and think critically. They examined the policies from different countries and analysed how those contributed to their growth and development. They also evaluated strategies to promote changes, with a focus and emphasis on meeting their related SDG goals.
Revathy Ravikumar, HOD I&S, DP Economics
M2 I&S
On the eve of Earth Day, the students of M2C engaged in a Socratic Seminar discussion using debate cards. The students role-played as representatives of different countries at the Climate Change Summit and decided whether they were "for" or "against" making a change. They presented their points of view persuasively and accurately. Additionally, the students watched a documentary on Earth Day and its significance.
Saleth Premson, Secondary Librarian, MYP I&S
Boarding News
On the 23rd of April, our boarding students took part in a lake clean-up drive at Hesaraghatta as a part of Earth Day celebrations. The students volunteered their time and effort to clean up the lake and surrounding areas. The clean-up was organised by Mokshitha, M4, who took the initiative to take up a portion of the responsibility herself.
We are excited to announce that we have harvested our first crop of tomatoes, beans, and brinjals from our sustainable garden. The students worked hard to plant and care for the garden, and we are proud to see the fruits of their labour. As a gesture of appreciation, we shared the harvest with our employees, and everyone enjoyed the fresh produce.
A big congratulations to one of our boarders, Shayan, D1, who attended a summer camp at the Indian Institute of Hospitality in Gurgaon. We are proud of his accomplishments and are excited to learn about his future endeavours.
We encourage all our students to take advantage of these kinds of opportunities and explore their interests and passions. We look forward to seeing more of our boarding students participate in various activities and programmes.
We are thrilled to announce that boarding staff and boarding reps have planned various engaging activities to keep our boarding students entertained during the upcoming long weekend between the 29th of April and 1st of May. The boarders are encouraged to participate in these activities and make the most of this opportunity to socialise, learn, and have fun.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,
Glen Johnson
Head of Boarding
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