SIS # OCTOBER 19 # 07

RESIDENT DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE HEADMISTRESS’S MESSAGE

At Swarnim International School, we work towards providing a I would like to share an incident which might give us insights about a
challenging, enriching and stimulating learning environment. pertinent issue which is worrying all educators and parents alike -the
We have a strong emphasis on academics, but as part of a issue of value education or alternatively, character education.
greater picture. That's why we have term books, which keep a
school bag light, we have daily reading and we have exams only A 6 year old girl complained of dizziness, numbness and “heart
from Class IV onwards. palpitations” to her class teacher repeatedly for a few days. The
teachers were extremely concerned and the matter was reported to
We encourage children to maximise their potential and explore me. After an interaction with her, I could gather two facts; first, this
new possibilities available to them. That is why as part of the was her ploy to seek attention and second, she was imitating
holiday homework we had Having Fun and Being Outdoors. someone's mannerisms. We informed her parents, who revealed that
her mother was suffering with such symptoms.
Independent skills and curiosity are developed in order to
We were aware that the child was not “lying”, she was “role playing” to
enable children to naturally inquire into new concepts. That is
elicit importance from others. This continued for a few days and then
why we request parents not to send students for tuitions, rather
it stopped suddenly. Her mother came to meet us and said that one
to let them discover the world as they are ready for it.
day her daughter went up to her after returning from school and
confessed that she was lying about her illness in class. She would
Whether on the stage, sports field or while serving others, we never do such things again, because she realized that no one would
want the children to discover who they are and what they are believe her anymore, like the story “the shepherd who cried wolf”.
truly capable of achieving. That is why we have a range of Incidentally, this fable was narrated to them in their class. Children
activities from Reading Week to Learning Life Skills to Collecting were asked to ponder over what they learnt from it. Needless to say,
clothes for flood victims. And of course, our much awaited this little girl had a lifelong learning. That is the impact a well
Annual Day and Sports Day, always replete with a social narrated story can have on children.
message.
We must realize that values or ethics cannot be instilled through
We want children to be aware of themselves of their true lectures or imposition. If we want our children to internalize certain
intrinsic nature and to be confident about themselves. That's moral values for a sustainable future, we need to find better ways
why we have yoga and meditation, and self defense classes and than we did all these years. The premise of our ancient traditional
a range class room of activities based on Multiple Intelligences education system was value based learning where knowledge was
so that each child can discover their best learning styles and incidental. It is ironical that in this knowledge age we strive hard to
what interests them the most. fill their minds with information which is at their fingertips at the cost
of moral education. In our school, we appreciate children who
We believe we need to work together to create an environment evince good qualities on the Tree of Appreciation to reinforce those.
for true development that will benefit our children. That's why
we have a Tree of Appreciation, Star of the week, and Fruit Week. In school we attempt to craft pedagogies and supportive structures
to foster the development of positive, ethical, pro-social inclinations
We are proud of our students' accomplishments and look along with academic achievements. We try to have an eclectic mix of
forward to parents' partnership to construct on their existing methods which comprise of parenting strategies, peer interactive
strategies, cooperative learning, role-modelling, developmental
knowledge. That's why we have Workshops for parents,
discipline and character education through various activities.
Grandparents Day Celebrations, Good Touch Bad Touch
sessions, and Traffic Awareness.
At Swarnim, we believe in invoking one's good self through self
realization. For very small children, this comes through when they
We also believe in continuously bettering ourselves through can relate to characters and settings. And they can do that only when
better infra structure and professional development workshop stories come alive for them. Thus, whether it is the Annual Day or the
for teachers. That's why our teachers are always learning new Sports Day, Swarnim has a social message to convey. When children
and better ways to improve. practice for these events, I quote what danseuse and reformer,
Alokananda Roy, commented after watching our show “I Can, I Will”,
With this in mind we present to you the activities that have “Somehow these values percolate deep within them and remain with
taken place in school in the last 6 months. them life long.”

Swarnim reiterates its commitment of growing good human beings

with the synergy between parents and the school. We wish this
festive season light up our darkest corners.
 CURIOUS CLASSROOMS GLIMPSES
“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which
they can learn.” - Albert Einstein

Nursery
The children of Nursery identified letters E, F, L and H on
their own. They were given a maze of letters and were
asked to circle the specified letter. For the toddlers it was
nothing less than a treasure hunt!

LKG
Lesson planning at Swarnim is always a very interesting
job because it is a blend of studies and fun. Recently
various shapes were introduced to LKG children using
different wooden blocks. Shapes were drawn on the
classroom floor. The students were asked to pick up one
wooden shape block at a time and stand on the same
shape drawn on the floor and name it. This method
appealed to all children with varied learning styles.

UKG
The students of UKG revised the topic describing words
in the lap of nature. They were asked to observe nature
and collect a few things from the garden. They were
given a worksheet where they were asked to describe
the things they collected and paste it on the worksheet.
The children could touch, feel, see and smell the
different things of nature that they collected. This was a
sensorial activity to reinforce the concept of adjectives.

CLASS 1 - Number Facts

Children did a group activity with addition strips to
clearly understand the addition properties. Even the
ones who shy away from numbers had a field day
juggling with them.

CLASS 2 - Human Abacus

Children learnt the concepts of place and face value of a
digit with the human abacus. Three students formed the
abacus while the others put paper strips around them to
represent the number displayed. It was a refreshing
break from checkered notebooks to drill a very
important fundamental concept of arithmetic.
 CURIOUS CLASSROOMS GLIMPSES
“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which
they can learn.” - Albert Einstein

CLASS 3 - Detect Detectives

Who does not love mysteries and adventures? To arouse
the curiosity in the students to read Bengali books, an
activity about the fictional detective characters in
Bengali Literature and their creators was conducted. The
students played a match & pair game on famous fictional
detectives like Feluda, Byomkesh, Kakababu, Mitin masi,
Pandab Goyenda etc. and their creators Satyajit Ray,
Saradindu Bandopadhyay, Sunil Gangopadhyay,
Suchitra Bhattacharya, Sasthipada Chottopadhyay etc.

CLASS 4 - Landforms
Students applied their knowledge about different types
of landforms in making clay models and using visual aids
like pictures, drawings, cut-outs etc for a class
presentation. This activity reinforced some of the
observable differences among the features of the
landforms. It also helped the children to visually
understand the varied landforms.

CLASS 5 - Dumb Charade

The students played DUMB CHARADE with Hindi Idioms.
One student acted out the idiom and another one tried
to guess it. They made sentences using those idioms.
Learning Hindi can be fun too!

CLASS 6 - Troubleshooting

The students of Class VI were facing a peculiar problem.

When they went for their P.E class, they often lost the ball as it
was accidentally thrown, hit or kicked over the boundary wall
while playing. They needed something to locate the ball. So,
they made a periscope for themselves. As science students,
they learnt recycling too by using cardboard from old cartons.
They measured and cut the cardboard. They put mirrors at 45
degrees and parallel to each other. And when the periscope
was finally made, they could locate the ball and get it back.
 EXPOSURE AND ENRICHMENT
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to
change the World.”-Nelson Mandela

India's leading entertainment franchise, Nickelodeon,

returns with the Indian chapter of its International
property - Together for Good, with a campaign titled,
“Pressure ko bolo bye”. This year, Nickelodeon puts up a
fight against 'pressure and anxiety amongst children', in
partnership with Early Childhood Association. To start this
initiative, India's favourite Nicktoons Motu Patlu visited
Kolkata at Swarnim International School on 9th April, 2019.

The kids of the school had a real blast with “Motu Patlu”
besides learning a few important things.

The brand started the extensive awareness-drive at the

school with a two-fold module to discuss four topics -
Mindfulness, Exam Stress, Peer Pressure and Bullying. The
module for kids was exclusively designed with fun and
interactive group activities with Nicktoons that stir
changes and motivate children. Quirky Certificates were
given to students, teachers and parents who attended the
sessions.

WORKSHOPS:
Besides the mandatory annual Professional Development Week at the beginning of
the academic session, Swarnim teachers continuously learn and upgrade themselves.

22nd June – All teachers attended a workshop in the school on Positive Behaviour
Counselling by psychologists and counselors from Caring Minds .

24th June- Our teachers, Ms.Ratna Dev, Ms.Nisha Nair and Ms.Sumana Maulik
participated in English Language Teaching – Teacher Support Program by British
Council at Auris Hotel. Renowned English trainer Mr. Prakash was the facilitator.

29th June – On Father's Day, besides the celebration fathers also attended a
workshop on “Good Touch, Bad Touch” conducted by Young Indians

13th July – Pre primary and primary teachers attended the Early Childhood
Association Conference – Crossing the Line at BCC&I. Many eminent personalities,
heads of school and educators shared their experiences and knowledge. The topics of
discussion spanned from value education in early years to innovative teaching
methods.

31st August - A workshop on 'Smart Parenting' was conducted by Ms.Mohini Ojha,

special educator from Caring Minds .It addressed the challenges that parents face in
bringing up children in this digital era.

22nd Sept – Ms.Somrita Adhikary and Ms. Anushree Keshan attended a workshop on
English Teaching Strategies organized by the Oxford University Press at The Park.

26th Sept –Swarnim was glad to have Ms. Suchismitra Sen Basu of One Earth conduct
an interactive session with primary students and teachers regarding Environment
Awareness. Ms. Sen Basu was pleasantly surprised to find our children quite aware of
the dangers to environment and also vocal about the measures to tackle those.
Children were given a 30 day task- calendar as vacation homework.
 HIGHLIGHTS OF EVENTS
“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity,
he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.”- Clay P.Bedford

YOGA DAY YOGA DAY WORLD DANCE DAY

READING WEEK READING WEEK

SENSE STATION READING WEEK READING WEEK

PARENT ORIENTATION MOTHER’S DAY

TEACHERS’ DAY RABINDRA JAYANTI MUD DAY

 HIGHLIGHT OF EVENTS
“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors
into window”- Sydney J. Harris

GRANDPARENTS’ DAY FATHER’S DAY DOCTORS’ DAY

DURGA PUJA CELEBRATION BENGALI NEW YEAR

INDEPENDENCE DAY KARATE YELLOW BELT

KENKEN QUALIFIERS
FOR NATIONAL LEVEL

FANCY DRESS
SWARNIM INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
12 N. S. C. Bose Road, Kodalia, Kolkata 700 146
P: 0332477 4052/4001, +91 90733 77590 | W: www.swarniminternational.in | : /SwarnimInternationalSchool