Discovery Centre SmartSchool Principal’s Message Assalam-o-alaikum! It is with great pleasure that I write to all of you thanking you for your continuous cooperation and support. This term has started and moved on well with a lot of exciting activities happening and coming up. I would like to welcome all our new students, parents and teachers to the Discovery Centre SmartSchool family. I hope we will keep working together towards ensuring that our students get quality education with opportunities to develop real life skills. As we approach the middle of Term I 2011-2012, I would like to bring to your attention to some of the interesting activities the children have been involved in. The children are to be commended for all their endeavors in all areas. I would like to give you an overview of the happenings of this term so far!
School Name F-46, Block 4, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan Phone: 9221-35823203 E-mail: ch-bdck@beaconhouse.edu.pk
Contents Principal’s News
1
Project Based Learning
1
Upcoming Events
1
Student Council
1
Morning Assemblies
2
Independence Day
2
Teacher Training
2
Roald Dahl Day
3
School Societies
3
Parent Teacher Meeting
3
Poster Competition
3
Kangaroo Math
3
Thinkquest
3
Project Based Learning This year, we have redesigned our projects to ensure further development of our learners’ critical thinking and research skills. These projects are structured in a way to arouse student curiousity and set them up for tasks that are manageable yet challenging.
Student Council Elections Upcoming Events ♦ ♦
Sports Day Children’s Day
To ensure a smooth and organized link between the management and the students, a student council body was elected by the students of Class III to VIII. The student body took an oath to uphold the standards of Discovery Centre SmartSchool and to responsibly fulfill their duties towards the welfare of the students.
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Discovery Centre SmartSchool
School Newsletter
Morning Assemblies This term, class morning assemblies have been structured in a way to enhance our learners’ social and emotional development. Ramadan: The Ramadan Morning Assembly focused on tolerance and being kind towards parents. Eating Healthy: Class III students presented a skit on the impact of breakfast on a child’s class performance. Pollution: The students of class VI presented the ill-effects of the rising pollution on health and on Earth.
Independence Day Celebrations The 64th Independence Day was celebrated with national zeal and traditional fervour at the school premises. Children from all classes participated enthusiastically by singing national songs and delivering speeches. The speeches paid rich tributes to great freedom fighters and wished happy and prosperous future for students. The event was concluded with the National Anthem.
Teacher Training All new teachers of Discovery Centre SmartSchool attended a 3-day Orientation and Induction session to familiarize themselves with the Beaconhouse standards. They were given training on teaching strategies, using the Beaconhouse Curriculum effectively and on the company polities. Selected teachers also attended training for effective teaching strategies in September. An in-house training session on Effective Group Work was carried out in September.
Roald Dahl Day With the rain washing out preparations for the actual day to celebrate Roald Dahl’s birthday, the school celebrated it on Thursday, 21st of September 2011. The day started with a morning assembly emphasizing on the importance of reading. A skit from “Matilda” was presented to encourage a love for reading among the learners. All classes carried out different activities as a tribute to the greatest child-author of all times. Designing the “Rolly Polly Bird”, dialogue writing between various characters of Roald Dahl and role play were among the mentionable activities.
Kangaroo Math Competition The learners received their certificates for the International Kangaroo Mathematics Contest Pakistan 2011 in October 2011. Former class VIII student Syed Ali Raza Rizvi and Class IV Student Mohammad Haris received medals for their outstanding performance in the competition.
School Newsletter
Discovery Centre SmartSchool
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School Societies To promote co-curricular activities, the school has formed four societies. The debate, environment, media and magazine society will encourage learners to try and test their skills in various activities apart from the regular school activities. Debate: The debate society will organize in-house and out-house English and Urdu debate days to encourage learners to polish their public speaking skills. Magazine Society: The magazine society is in its second successful year. This year however, they plan to publish two magazines instead of one. Environment Society: The environment Society will ensure a neat and attractive environment at the school. Various planting and decoration activities are in the pipeline. Media Society: The media society is planning a weekend radio show online, to update the parents on the current events of the school.
Parent Teacher Meeting The first parent teacher meeting for the Academic year 2011-2012 was held on Monday, 10th October 2011. Healthy discussions about the childrens’ progress and development were carried out between Parents and Teachers. The first assessment results were discussed and action plans were made by teachers to ensure a positive change in the upcoming months. All suggestions by the parents were taken seriously and will be taken into consideration during further planning.
Poster Making Competition Class III student Saadullah Asad’s painting submitted to the Suparco for the National Poster Making Competition for the theme “Next 50 years in Space”. The painting was selected third in the 12 images used on their calendar. Well done Saad!
Thinkquest International Competition Classes II to VIII participated in the Thinkquest International competition 2011. They chose different problems affecting the community to research, design and implement solutions. They received letters of appreciation and certificates from the Oracle Foundation for their ideas and hard-work.
International Library Month Discovery Centre SmartSchool celebrated the International Library Month in October 2011. Students from Classes I to VIII carried out various activities. They wrote book reviews, had book discussions, celebrated popular recorded radio shows and TV shows on the Importance of libraries among other activities.