2 0 2 0 - 2 1 p r i m a r y t h e o r c h i d s c h o o l

Dear Parents,

Namaskar

Hope this newsletter finds you in the best of your health and spirits !

The handshakes have turned to namaskars, the warm hugs have restricted to hellos.

The beginning of the academic year 2020 has been game changer for the world at

large. The virus changed our outlook towards the life. And the change was so sudden

that we still seem to be adjusting to the new world. What is most gratifying is that we

evolved with the change amidst all instabilities and randomness. Nothing deterred us

from providing the best of education to our children and making them future ready

in all aspects.

I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to each one who have been

instrumental to support us in this unprecedented times.

To start with I would like to thank our leaders Dr. Lakshmi Kumar, Ms. Namrata

Majhail , Ms. Sangeeta Kapoor for leading and guiding us in combating the challenges

of the new normal. Their ideas and insights helped us to switch from brick& mortar

school to a digital school seamlessly. Their foresightedness and predictions prepared

us to adjust to the new environment and handle the uncertainties with certainty.

THE ORCHID SCHOOLPRIMARY

2020-21

Newsletter # 1

N E W S L E T T E R # 1

Salute to our team of teachers and my Co-ordinator for rising to the occasion andworking relentlessly to keep the flag flying high. Teachers upskilled and upscaledthemselves overnight to build a unified learning system and bring un-interrupted education to their students.. Their commendable efforts, commitment and passion brought myriad learning experiences for the students even when the world stoodstill. They are not only building the academic competencies but are also working as a niche for our students for their mental and social well being.

Immense gratitude to all the CPVs and parents for collaborating dynamically with us.Without your strength and support it would have been impossible for us to sailthrough. You shared our responsibilities amidst juggling with home and work. Yourundaunted support and credence motivated us to wade into the unknown territory ofvirtual teaching confidently.

Last but not the least, a big shout out to our young learners for adapting and adoptingthe new normal with grace and poignance. They took the least amount of time tomaneuver the technology and get adjusted to the new norms.

We picked up the pieces that we were left with and created the best for ourselves andour learners. This newsletter takes you through a few of them though a lot more hasbeen done.

The highest education is that whichdoes not merely give you

information but makes our life inharmony with all existence-

Rabindranath Tagore


Learning Journeys

Learning KitTeachers curated a magic package for our students comprising of manipulatives,worksheets, puzzles and hand skill projects. Idea was to increase the affective andpsychomotor domain's engagement of children, keeping them engaged not justonline but also offline , addressing the writing needs of the students which normallydoes not get addressed much on the online platform. Students eagerly wait for this Pandora box every month to find out what's in it thistime. The pictures shared by many of you with us tell how much they enjoy doing theactivities given to them in the kit.


Learning Cycle- DIY Model

TOS firmly believes that education is a vast term and schooling is just a part of it.Though an important one. However, learning goes beyond the school and four walls ofthe class room. Learning is about knowing your surroundings well and absorbingfrom it. Learning when it comes from the student's life and context, it becomes morerelevant and purposeful for students. Learning Cycle -DIY model brings coherence in learning and living. It is about "learnwhat you live and live what you learn. "The activities which are selected for the DIY cycle are from day to day life and are thenintegrated with Language, concept arithmetics, values and observations. Foldingclothes, preparing breakfast, creating rangoli pattern, laying the table , cleaning thecupboard are some of the activities which have been integrated with various concepts, skills and values.


Few glimpses of learning through house hold work

N E W S L E T T E R # 1 Annual Theme

__________________Vaishnav Jan to

Like every year TOS observed the annual theme "Vaishnav Jan To" this year on 150years of celebrating Mahatma. Theme focused and celebrated virtues like integrity, compassion, courage, humility,selfreliance, loyalty, empathy in various ways across the levels.

Std I and II students looked adorable on being dressed up like Gandhi ji and Kasturba.Teachers narrated them various stories from Gandhi ji's childhood. Apart from it,students of std I created Charkha craft using materials available with them. Std II teachers conducted puppet show depicting age appropriate ethical dilemmas.Students were absorbed into provoking discussions during the puppet show.


Std III students did an interesting experiment on 'SelfReliance' where they had to do their daily chores

without any reminders from parents for 10 days incontinuation. Post experiment students interviewedtheir parents to know how did they fair in the given

task. The experiment was well appreciated by theparents and the students. Wonderful reviews from

parents speak about the impact of the experiment onthe students.


Std IV paid tribute to the father of the Nation in a unique way. Students participatedin the poster making activity. Apart from this students also recreated some of the

important moments and anecdotes from Gandhi ji's life in a video format.

Whole school "Peace- Prayer " was organised where people practicing differentreligion and faith sung hymns and verses.


Experiential Learning

TOS strongly emphasizes on and believes in experiential learning. Experiences areimportant in shaping students life as it stays with them for ever. Students use all theirsenses when they are exploring a new object or experience. Experiences increasesmotivation, engagement levels, communication and consequently further developstheir understanding of the world. Virtual teaching could not stop us from enrichingour classrooms through activities and events. Some glimpses of our buzzing classrooms at home:

Std IV

Math- Art Integration


Fun with Science

Ganpati & Limerick

Synonym game


Learning reflection - Poster

Std IIIOrigami Fun


My Little herb garden

Kadha- A magical potion


Hands-on Math

Std III students exploring beaks using things athome


Std II

Chapters become fun when you do arole play with self made props.

Kitchen is the best lab one canhave. "Learn what you live andlive what you learn "exemplified .

The best way to learn garbagesegregation is to do it yourself !

Students learnt about differenttypes houses and the places they

are built.


Std I

Me and mybody- both

areimportant

Six is Fish andSeven is dragon-

Math -Artintegration

Creative project onclothes


Std IStd I students were involved in cooking activity along with their peers and teachersunder parental supervision. Menu - Aloo paratha seemed tedious, messy, lengthyprocess, all these words disappeared the moment our chefs took over. Task mastertransformed into `Master Chefs`. Children thoroughly enjoyed the process and displayed their parathas with pride. The activity was integrated with language wherein they wrote the method of cookingaloo parathas.

Cooking motivates and empowers children to make healthy food choices throughhands-on learning. The activity revolves around interdisciplinary approach blendingeducation in Math, Science, environmental sustainability, and languages.

Chefs At Work


Story telling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world- Robert Mckee

They were the good old days when we would lie beside our aajis and azoba, daadis ornaanis, as they took us on fantasy journeys with their tales. And how much we lovedto do that!

Story telling is a great activity of learning. Stories make great contribution in child'slearning curve. They enhance listening skills, adds new words to child's vocabulary,refine their communication, put new ideas and thoughts in one's mind, makes themcurious , encourages them to ask questions and most importantly instill love forlanguages. Keeping these countless benefits of stories in mind , we have beensuccessfully running Friday Stories.

Friday Stories


'Polygons and Shahi Tukda' a sweet parallel was drawn between twoof them by students of grade IV. Students prepared a Mughlaidelicacy Shahi tukda giving it a mathematical twist. Activity started with a discussion on the history of the recipe, itstravel from far land to India, how and when did it come to India , whobrought it and how it got changed here. Discussions on the dessert was as interesting as its preparation. Students cut the bread pieces in the form of polygons they had learntin their Math class. They took pride in their creativity!

Std III A kitchen is a learning lab. It can be used to make the concepts come alive. Grade 3rd hadfun making modaks .The activity involved integration of subjects like Math, Science,Geography and included fine and gross motor skills. It was a delight to see them moulding modaks!

Std IV


STEM Challenge- Std III STEM is a way of thinking and doing. It inculcates perseverance and problem solving.And we witnessed that when our 3rd graders were working on their balloon powered toy. It was not just a toy for them but a challenge that they strived to overcome. It was a fun filled activity with amalgamation of Math, Science and hand-skills .Students thoroughly enjoyed the event and had ample of take aways.


With the commencement of lockdown due to the pandemic, the School adopted anonline mode of teaching and learning. This has brought with it several deliberations,challenges, reflections, creative work and a door to new possibilities.Teachers thought and explored various ideas to compensate and bridge the gap oflearning that would happen otherwise during regular school.

Blended learning is a combination of online and offline activities. We at TOS give lotof emphasis on the blended learning approach. Along with online classes student's learning was supplemented with offline activitiesdesigned and curated by the teachers. These activities includes research work, handsskills, puzzles, games and many more activities. We are extremely grateful to the parents for standing by their children's side in theirnew blended learning adventure and being an integral part of it. Here are the few glimpses of offline activities which are shared with us by you all:

Offline Activities

Std I


Std II


Std III


Std IV


A session on Forts by Dr.Sachin Joshi

STEAM workshop by Mr.Pawan Iyengar

Laying the Labyrinth-By Ms.Snehal Welde

Illustration workshop byMs. Maithili Joshi

Learning beyond books


Nine Days -Nine StoriesTOS celebrated Navratri by sharing the inspiring stories of the women who have

reached the pinnacle despite the struggles and hardship in their lives. Teachers narrated the stories of women from various walks of life and spoke abouttheir triumph over the tribulation. Students were asked to reflect on stories they

heard through illustrations, short write ups, takeaways, poems etc. A glance throughthe event:


Parents are the most important teachers of a child. It is imperative forteachers and parents to share a strong bond. A strong home-schoolconnection set a stage for the child who will grow up with love for learning.

I would like to assure you we will not leave any stone unturned when itcomes to students well-being and learning. Teachers are consistentlyworking hard to deliver best learning environment for the students.

Once again thank you parents for walking that extra mile with us tostrengthen this bond to give best to our child. Your unparalleled supportin this unprecedented times have given us a courage to maneuver thevirtual learning smoothly. I would like to end this newsletter with beautiful acrostic poem by ourstudent:

Warm RegardsSonali Khambete

Unit Head -Primary

2 0 2 0 - 2 1 p r i m a r y t h e o r c h i d s c h o o l

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