Newsletter Vol : 0905
Introduction..... Dear friends, Vacations are over, students are back and we are back, with one more edition of our newsletter coming to you. We have hoards of news about happenings at our school, field trips and other events. Various activities related to our UOIs, Maths and English were conducted and along with these, we also celebrated Navratri, Hindi Week, Gujarati Week and organized an Art Mela. The Dangs Trip organized for the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th was thoroughly enjoyed by the students and teachers alike. The ‘PRAYAS’ team needs to be appreciated for making all the arrangements and making the effort to bring the people and nature together. They have been involved in various activities at school and enjoy interacting with students.
Our efforts to continuously learn and evolve saw Vardan and Ankita along with teachers Runa Nath, Hasina Saifee and Sanjana Amarnani attending PYP – Regional Workshops at Mumbai. The focus of these workshops was the ‘Written Curriculum’ and ‘PYP in the 3-5 years’. Zahabiyah Shaikhmahmood, Grade 1 class teacher, attended a workshop, ‘Connecting up the brain, body and emotions in the learning process’, organized by DPS –Tapi.
Creative mela Air all around My big book of school Decision making Nation Reading Connecting with nature Machine making life Easier or Difficult
Exhibition Share the planet Health and Hygiene Experience to share Marketplace Let’s enjoy the weather
We are also happy to announce, that we are having our Pre-authorization visit, by IBO officials, on the 7th and 8th of December. This visit is an important one in our jouney towards becoming an authorised PYP school. Well, more news of happenings at school waiting for you in the following pages. Enjoy yourselves. Happy Reading! Gowri
Come..See..Get conquered.. said the invite.....
MELA CREATIVE MELA It was an invitation to a “Creative Mela”
Noble, Vairagi and Raguveer had
held at the city’s Fountainhead School.
organized a splash painting activity
It sure was a mela, but with a dif ference.
for the students where they would use
Various artists from the city had been
leaves, spoons and brushes to splash
invited to share their talent with the
paints onto a plain surface. It truly was
students & guests and they also had a
an activity that students thoroughly
fabulous display of their creations.
enjoyed. Kinjal Shah with her rangoli
Tejas Danecha’s pencil sketches were
designs gave a lot of ideas for the coming
awesome and so were the water colours
festive season. Embroidery artists also gave a brilliant display of their work for which Surat is known for.
by Naisargi Dave. Ankur Desai and
Apart from these artists from outside,
Jwalant Patel with their sculptures and
Fountainhead School had some
Maharshee with his clay modelling were
great artists among its staff who
very inspiring. Tejas Shah’s caricature
displayed their creative side with
drawing was enjoyed by all. Stela Patel
demonstrations of warli painting,
and Swati Vachhani encouraged the
origami, nail art, mehndi, tattooing,
students to be part of their Kutch art
rangoli etc. Works of the visiting
display.
artists and the creative
www.fountainheadschools.org, email- surat@fountainheadschools.org,blog-fountainheadschools.blogspot.com
works of the students were on display. There was also a display of paintings on Gandhiji. There was a talent corner where parents, visitors and their guests could try their hand at sketching and painting. It was the first of its kind held at the school and it promises many more to come. Gowri
Creative Mela
Air….Air….Air…. all around us! The teacher of grade 1 had to start a new unit of inquiry and to “tune in” the students, filled the classroom with objects which
holding a big news paper and then discovered “ when we are going along with the air, the paper is flying and when we go against the wind, air is pushing the paper”.
displayed varied properties and applications of air. After entering the room, children got excited to see different air toys, flute, whistles, bubbles etc and started playing with them. After sometime, they started inquiring as to why those things have been kept in their classroom. Then one of them pointed out that all the
With the guidance of teacher, students made pinwheel, paper plane and sail boats and observed how some shapes moved faster. Students performed all the given experiments very enthusiastically and made inquiries about it. At the end of the unit the students had with them answers on various applications of air such as
things have relation with “hawa”.
jumping bags, glider, pichkari, hot air
After that inquiry started, aided by
balloons and sailing boats etc and this
the questions put forth to them by the
was an evidence of their understanding
teachers. To see how air pushes and pulls
about the different properties of air and
things they ran in the school campus
its related applications.
Grade-1 teachers.
My big book of school..... Students have shown great persistence in learning and have always been active to take part in inquiry. Our 2nd unit was “My school” in which they have learnt not only about the school but also about the people of the school. We had done an activity called ‘guest speaker’ in which some of our school people came and student were interacted with them. The activity evolved into a wonderful age-appropriate and spontaneous discussion on caring for their own school and it’s people.
During the activity they came to know not only about the work done by the school’s staff but also they came to know about their daily routine and how they are balancing their life style. Thereafter students made a book with all the interaction done by them and they presented in front of the class (individually) We believe what makes
this style of education work is that it plays to a child’s strengths in a meaningful context and therefore everybody wins. Runa (Nursery Light)
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE A DECISION????? Well, Grade 5 can teach you how & they did exactly that on Friday the 13th of November. Decision Making encompasses all age groups , gender & class of people. It involves reasoning & analysis of situations & therefore considered important enough to include in our UOI-Who we are? The students of Grade 5 presented a short skit to explain the “Steps to make The students of Grade 5 presented a
a Decision” & put up displays on “Tips to
short
skit to explain the “Steps to make a Decision”
& put up displays on “Tips to
make a Decision” & “How to take a
make a Decision” & “How to take a
decision under pressure”. The skit was
decision
enjoyed by all students and the teachers
under pressure”. The skit was enjoyed by all
students and the teachers found the “Tips” & “Decision under pressure” especially useful.
found the “Tips” & “Decision under pressure” especially useful. Grade 5
One Nation Reading Together 2009..... 27th November 2009- it was a day when Fountainhead School, Surat joined schools all across the country to celebrate reading as a pleasurable and enriching activity and the best part of this event organized by Scholastic India was that it had a noble cause attached to it.
reading game which had the element of developing listening skills along with having lots of excitement and fun; students trying to identify verbs, nouns, etc while reading a passage; preparing posters highlighting the innumerable advantages
Right from Nursery to Grade 6, the whole of Fountainhead School joined hands to be a part of this event. All the students took the reading pledge (beautifully penned by Gulzar) followed by a string of interesting activities where we had the children listening ardently to read- aloud sessions and thereafter putting down their reflections in the form of drawings; performing dramas based on the attributes of the learner profile; teachers putting up a puppet show for the younger ones; students being part of reader's theater where they showcased their artistic capabilities by delivering dialogues complete with expressions and voice modulations; students having a
and joy that come along with the reading of a book; compiling various stories written by the children themselves; making bookmarks and it was such a pleasure to see that students could identify the different genres of literature and prepared bookmarks according to genres, for e.g. a horror story had a bookmark with a danger sign on it.
It has been a wonderful and great experience for Fountainhead School to be a part of this event where one such act of ours is in turn going to help so many needy children have access to the reading of books and benefit from the same. We certainly look forward to being a part of such noble events in future as well.! Monica
connecting with nature..... Ever explored the breathtaking world
The children had many experiences
Students of Grade 5th & Grade 6th did a
of nature?! It’s amazing to discover
ranging from learning to entertainment.
commendable job when they gave support
that nature not only mesmerizes us
At one time they were trekking to find
to the 200 years old tree in the Dangs by
with its enthralling beauty but at the
out the source of the river Gira and next
laying boulders around it – their way of
same time, if given a thought, teaches
they were out to reach the top of the peak
giving back to the nature. The star gazing
us ‘the way to live life’.
& have the exotic view of the Saputara
activity through the telescope was something
Ranges and Dangs Forest.
that thrilled the children. They all were quite
Just have a look at the rivers,
excited to see the moons of the planet
mountains, the trees, the animals,
Jupiter. Their day would start with exercising
the birds……and you can feel that
& jogging early in the morning and end with
each component of the nature has a
having lots of fun. The children will definitely
specific purpose (aim in life), a
remember ‘HONOLULU BABA’ which had
systematic and organized way to work
them in splits of laughter and will agree that
(discipline), everything complements
the experience they had in Gira river can
each other to work in harmony and
anytime beat the water parks we have.
maintain the ecological balance (team work & synergy) each component so important to the ecology & each one giving so much (making you feel humble) & asking only for UNDERSTANDING THEIR IMPORTANCE. Isn’t that simply great!! Our grade 6 students experienced this when they had been on a Nature Camp to the Dangs Forest. The camp was organized by the ‘PRAYAS TEAM’ and the whole trip was truly a very enriching one.
The children also learnt to manage
To sum it all, it was a great exposure for
things on their own and be organized &
everyone – students as well as teachers,
disciplined. They tried to be as close as
and we would certainly like to thank &
they could to the nature. The children
appreciate the ‘Prayas Team’ who looked
were very particular in keeping the
after every detail with precision, be it the
surroundings clean, used salt in place
students’ learning, entertainment, security,
of toothpaste, avoided the use of
food and other requirements and made it
detergents and it was so nice to see
a memorable event for all of us.
them doing everything without cribbing.
Monica (Grade 6)
Machines-making life Easier or Difficult ??? “ We have developed machines to make our lives easier. “ was the central idea of the last unit taken by Grade-3. But, somehow we teachers felt that this unit will make students’ life difficult ! The reason behind it, was that we have to teach our LITTLE ones the HUGE concepts of simple machines, friction and gravity. So, we decided to make it interesting for them and their life easier !
We started the unit with the tuning-in activity of provocation table, where we kept a large number of objects like juicer-mixer, skates, ladder, spoon, bat etc. The students used their thought process to inquire the relation between all the objects that they explored and this activity tuned them for the unit. The students had fun in their learning about the concepts of gravity and friction, with the help of monkey bars and slides in the Jungle gym.
The workstation activity for understanding levers, provided them with hands on experience and even helped them in understanding the different classes of lever. Students gave a very enthusiastic and overwhelming response to the cart and winch making activity. The list of
Overall this unit, made the students and
learning experiences in this unit was a
the teachers, THINKERS and this unit
long one but we would like to mention
was so much enjoyed by the students
a few. They were: screw inspectors,
that even after completion of this unit,
work-relay games, interviewing school
whenever they come across any machine,
workers, making 3D-models of simple
they identify the simple machines in them.
machines, making lemonade and viewing videos about complex machines.
Smriti Arora (Grade 3)
Visit to Art exhibition...... There was an art exhibition held at the Regent Mall where displays of artwork from a range of Indian Contemporary artists were put up. Grade 2, as part of their UOI –“Through the arts people use different forms of expression to convey their uniqueness as human beings”, had an interesting and informative visit. Paintings of different artists like Shri Haku Shah, S.H.Raza, Thotha Vaikuntam, Manu Parekh, Amit Ambalal, K.G. Subramanyam, Jogan Chowdhary etc were displayed. The children got to explore areas of interest of each artist’s work, and came up with their own perspectives as to why a painting was done in that particular way. S.H. Raza’s work is mostly based on abstract and geometrical patterns.
paintings, baskets from Africa, and a variety of masks, all from different places around the world. The students had good exposure to different forms of art forms.
Thota Vaikuntam’s paintings centered around the traditional South Indian people. The children explored the bright colours and pictures of animals in the paintings of Amit Ambalal. They connected Jogan Chowdhury’s painting to Aboriginal art, as he too used circles and dots in his work. Following the art exhibition, we visited the home of Anuradha Viswanath The visit to the exhibition was a new (our librarian) to view her impressive experience for most of the children and collection of art. She showed her a good eye-opener into our incredible assorted pieces of pottery, world of Art. Grade 2
“HOW WE SHARE THE PLANET?” This was the theme of an exhibition held
An added attraction to the exhibition was
by Grade 5, on the 13th of Friday, in
an art activity for the visitors. The
November. The exhibition showcased
Pre-primary students coloured lots of leaves,
our Ecosystem; its biotic & abiotic factors,
fruits, butterflies, caterpillars, crabs, fishes,
its biomes, water biomes, trophic levels,
sea-anemones, etc. while Grade 1 & 2 had
food chains & food webs. The exhibition
to draw any living thing of their choice.
was well attended & the interest shown
Grade 3, 4 & 6 had to write a slogan or
by the visiting students was excellent. It
draw a picture about conservation. The
was of special interest to Sr.K.G.
teachers too drew lot of pictures with
students as they have a connected UOI
messages on conservation.
on “Habitats”.
The drawings across the age groups were excellent & were put out on display in the assembly for all to see. This exhibition was truly a learning experience for the Grade 5 students as they were fully involved in the preparation, presentation & winding up activities related to the event. The responsibility with which the art activity was conducted, especially the organising of students in groups, distribution of papers & colours, coaxing & encouraging the younger students to colour, collection of material right up to the return of all art material to the relevant department needs to be appreciated. “Hats off” to the students of grade 5 for a job well done.
The students also mentioned that apart from educating others they too had an opportunity to learn a thing or two from the younger students. Truly, the opportunities to learn never cease to amaze me! Gowri (Grade 5)
Health and Hygiene ..... What do we mean by nutrition? What’s this food pyramid all about? How do different food groups provide us balanced diet? Why sleep, exercise, recreation, hygiene etc. are essential for our physical and mental health? These were some of the question faced by the young inquisitive minds of Senior KG during the second UOI on “Healthy Lifestyle”. They understood that as we need nourishing food and exercise for our body, similarly we need good amount of sleep and recreation for our mind. They got the a fair idea about different food groups and at the same time understood their respective places in the food pyramid including their favorite junk food which occupies minimal space as it can be eaten only once in a while.
Visit by a dietician, Mrs. Anita Singh further helped to broaden their knowledge on balanced diet. Activities such as Healthy Island wherein children were able to place the picture of the food accordingly in the food pyramid were an enjoyable one. Other areas such as oral hygiene as part of the personal hygiene was highlighted so as to make them aware of the cleanliness of teeth in order to avoid unpleasant experiences such as cavities, toothaches. How to take good care of the teeth was briefed by the dentist couple Mr and Mrs. Shah. Children underwent oral checks and were handed over the check-up cards. Our PE teacher focused on different types of exercises such as Yoga, aerobics etc.and their significance in our daily routines.
We could conclude that this UOI on healthy lifestyles can help the children in understanding the importance of making balanced choices of the food, necessity of sleep, exercise and recreation. Sr. KG
Wonderful experience to share The excitement roared through the corridors of Classes when it was announced that there was an educational nature trip to Dang forest that was going to take place. Students got busy discussing the things to be carried and the enjoyment they will encounter there. There were a number of questions that teachers faced when they met the parents early in the morning on the day of the trip. On the way to Dangs, children enjoyed the journey where they ate most of the times and played games.
We reached the campsite around 12 noon. When students saw the place that they were going to stay, a glimpse of amazement flickered on their face. It was a beautiful scenario, almost surreal, as if somebody is seeing a painting hang on a wall. A place where there were tents and nearby a river was flowing with lush green woods around. The chirping of the birds, the shining sun on the water making it sparkle, the music of the river nearby almost made it a dream. On the first day, we did a short trek inside the forest , inquiring about many things like how the local people used the land for farming, how
Dangs got its name, how people stay here, what wild life one can find here. It was quite exciting as we were told many new things which otherwise we wouldn’t be aware of. We also had a bath in the river which was the most enjoyable of all. The next day, early in the morning we went to an open
clearing in the forest to play games and after we returned, we all bathed in the river for 3 hours. In the evening we went for rappelling and rock climbing. As it started getting darker, we headed back towards the camp. In the night after a hearty dinner, we had a star gazing session. We were amazed to see that the whole sky was filled with twinkling stars. We saw Jupiter through the telescope and that was the most exciting part of the day. Students played around the campfire and sang songs till late night. The third day was sad for children as they were not ready to leave the place and go. They wanted to stay and enjoy the nature. The trip was a healthy mix of enjoyment and learning as students learnt many facts about our mother nature and how different animals hunt each other and the way that they live. The organisers of the camp “Team Prayas”
(http://www.prayas-india.org/) did a wonderful job in organising this camp. On the whole the trip was enjoyed and will be cherished for the years to come. Shraddha Pachauri
Market Market everywhere..... was made exciting for Grade 4 as the The unit was triggered off with a “Barter
students had many field trips exploring
Places like Shanivari market ( a second
Day at School” where the students
markets in the city of Surat.
hand goods market), Dhiraj sons (retail
exchanged their old things with a better
store), Textile market, Tarwadi market,
one. This activity helped the students to
Mandi on wheels (vegetable and fruit store)
understand the failure of the barter system and the emergence of markets. Students then proceeded to explore major markets of Surat. The unit on “How we organize ourselves”
and Sahaj super market were explored to understand the emergence of a need of a market place, the supply chains that help markets run efficiently and the unethical practices going on in the markets.
Students also visited villages to see and understand the demand and supply chain. The field trips were engaging and students learnt a lot by visiting the places that they had never visited. Overall, the unit was very well explored by the students and the outcome in terms of students’ inquiries and understanding was much beyond our expectations. Shraddha Pachauri
Let’s enjoy the weather To further promote the
We feel hot in summer”, “we feel cold in winter”, we use umbrella during he rainy season”, “we come to school in the morning”, “we sleep at night”, that was the prior knowledge of Jr.kg children at the beginning of the UOI- Our activities are usually connected to the earth’s natural cycle under the TDT- How the world works? In order to provoke learning, the classes were decorated according to 3 seasons and day & night. The children explored all the classes and came up with various questions at their level and made connections during class discussion. .
inquiry each class was divided into 3 corners. Each corner represented a particular season i.e. summer, winter and monsoon. The corner displayed the objects brought by the children themselves which was later used for show & tell. Each child gave the presentation about his/her object which helped them to comprehend the activities (summer & winter). It was a great learning experience for both the students and the teachers Jr.KG Teachers
CO MIN G UP th
SOON
Sports Day - 24 Dec Parent Teacher Conference - 8-9 Jan Annual Day - 26-27 Feb
Edited by Gowri Murali and Designed by Bhavisha Parikh