NEWSLETTER MARCH, 2017 DPS STS JUNIOR SCHOOL

VOL: 1, ISSUE: 5

Activities of Playgroup : The students of Playgroup held a Pop Corn Party as a part of their cooking activity. They not only enjoyed the treat but also gathered some real life experience while making it! They also made necklaces with beads, related to the theme of letter-N. Activities of Nursery : The Nursery students were engaged in the craft activity based on the letters O, P, Q, R, S using coloured papers. They cut square shapes out of colourful papers with teachers’ guidance. The students coloured the map of Bangladesh as part of general knowledge, to commemorate our Independence Day.

Activities of Pre KG : Pre KG children have made a few colourful booklets on different word families as a part of English activity. They have learned the concept of addition with objects and numbers. Under Environmental Science, they learned about different professions and various types of transports. They also enjoyed a session of Gymnastics

at the indoor play area under the supervision of sports teachers. They were excited to try somersault! Activities of KG : The children of KG had a real exposure to nature through the ‘Pet show’, which took place on 16th of March, 2017, at the green field. They brought their pets to School in the morning and displayed it for the whole day. Among the pets there were fishes, dog, turtles, rabbits, fantail pigeons, myna and other small birds. Children inquired about the pets’ food habits and had the opportunity to spend the day with the animals. This show was arranged to increase their love for nature and develop their naturalistic intelligence. Children from Day-care, Play group, Nursery and Pre-KG also visited the show. All of them enjoyed the event immeasurably!

~~Academics~~

Pre Primary

Annual Sports Day : On 4th of March, 2017, the Annual Sports Day of Primary section was held at the State of the Art Senior Section from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. in attendance were the Honourable Vice Principal, Head of Junior School, Head of Primary Section, enthusiastic students, hard working teachers and supportive parents. The programme was inaugurated by the Vice Principal. This was followed by the 24 sports events for Grade 1 to 4. A "Dress as you like" event was held for the students to make the programme colourful. Some students wore amazing dresses honouring the freedom fighters, some dressed as archaeologists, sports players, pilots, zombies, dentists, while some others also dressed as the Vice Principal and as Florence Nightingale. Medals were given out to the students to conclude the well organised and successful programme.

The Bangla Olympiad Show : The students of DPS STS Junior School have earlier participated in the renowned Bangla Olympiad and won prizes and certificates. Their Bangla Olympiad performances were later presented in the Junior School premises on Monday, 13th March, 2017. The students of grade- 2, 3 &4 staged beautiful dance performances and melodious songs in the presence of Ms. Sumona Karim, Head of Junior School, Ms. Juliet Gomes, Head of Primary School, teachers and the parents of the participants. The parents and the students applauded on their fantastic performances.

Annual Art Exhibition 2016-17 : The DPS STS Junior School arranged an elaborate Annual Art Exhibition on Tuesday, 21st March, 2017. The art show in the exhibition added a twist to the aesthetic features of the whole exhibition. A wide array of artefacts and vibrant collection of paintings left spectators in wonderment. The exhibition housed a total of 250 paintings and over 300 artefacts dexterously prepared by young painters of grades 1 to 4. The exhibition was inaugurated by the Honourable Principal, Mr. Harsh Wal and Vice Principal, Ms. Madhu Wal. Later, they

~~Co Curricular Activities~~

Primary

handed over certificates to the best paintings’ winners. The parents also visited the exhibition to encourage all the participants and the winners. They were in awe to find such amazing artworks done by the young souls.

Annual Exhibition 2016-17 : The Annual Exhibition of DPS STS Junior School was held on Tuesday, 21st March, 2017 in the Junior School Premises. All the students of the Junior School participated in the Annual Exhibition. Our Honourable Principal, Mr. Harsh Wal, Vice Principal, Ms. Madhu Wal, Head of Junior School, Ms. Sumona Karim, Head of Primary Section, Ms. Juliet Gomes and our encouraging parents were the special guests of the event. All the students under all the faculties, guided and supervised by their teachers exhibited their knowledge, zeal and enthusiasm through their 2D, 3D models, projects, presentations, chart papers, posters and so on. All the subjects put up fabulous projects to educate and exchange different knowledge and information related to each subject. Role play, magic shows and presentations were beautifully executed by the students of grade-1-4. The whole campus was flamboyantly decorated and ornamented with banners, festoons and crafts by all the students of Primary Section. The festivity engaged all the parents and they appreciated the effort of the students wholeheartedly.

Movie Show : A visual story enables learners to understand profoundly. So, it was time to watch ‘The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’, a Harry Potter series, and the viewers were all 4th graders. The movie was shown on Thursday, 9th March, 2017, was also a part of the preparation for the Annual Exhibition 2016-17. The theme of grade-4 English Annual Exhibition was the book ‘Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them’ by J.K. Rowling. To introduce the students with the beats and the characters visually, the movie was shown to the students of grade-4. Our assiduous IT Department and Executive Assistant gave a commendable service to make the Main Hall ready with necessary equipments before 11:00 am. Grade 4 class teachers and subject teachers attended the students in turns till dispersal time, and Grade-4 coordinator kept on monitoring the students time to time. The students enjoyed every bit of the thrilling movie.

Making Book Marks : The students of grade-2 made an artwork with ice cream sticks and colour paper. They made a dog face with paper to practice the origami skills and drew the face with black marker. Then they pasted a stick in it. The students expressed their creative knack in art and made colourful book marks. Independence Day Celebration : On 29th of March 2017, Independence Day was celebrated at the Junior School Auditorium by the students of Grade-1 to 4. Patriotic songs, breathtaking poems and amazing dance performances were presented by each Grade’s students. Speeches were delivered in both Bangla and English on the significance of Independence Day. Head of Junior School, Ms Sumona Karim and Head of Primary Section, Ms Juliet Gloria Gomes were present along with all the teachers and students to encourage the children.

Annual Sports Day : The Annual Sports Day of Pre Primary Section took place at the Senior School Premises on Saturday, 11th of March, 2017, in two segments. Parents were invited to enjoy and get involved in the fun-filled event. Few children from KG participated in the inauguration programme by taking oath and handing over the torch to the Head of Sports, Mr. Aminul Islam. Playgroup and Nursery grades took part in the first segment where the students of each section participated in their respective events. Physical display with music was performed grade wise. Pre KG and KG grades participated in the second segment with their section wise events. Students of both the grades also displayed physical demonstration with rhythmic songs holding colourful pompoms. The parade of the participants of ‘Dress as you like’ was very attractive. Despite having a bad weather the programme was a great success and a much appreciated one!

Pre Primary

Discussion on Independence Day : A special discussion was held on Thursday, the 23rd of March 2017; at circle time to commemorate the Independence Day of Bangladesh. Teachers talked about the history of our independence, showed video clips of 1971, played patriotic songs and had an interactive discussion on the topic with the students. A take home craft item was given to the students at the end of the day.

Participation in Sheikh Russel Chess Tournament :

Among 102 participants in boys’ group from other schools, 6 boys from DPS STS Junior School were awarded with certificates in the Sheikh Russel School Chess Tournament. Honourable State Minister of Agriculture, Ms. Matia Chowdhury inaugurated the tournament as a chief guest on 18th March, 2017. On the 20th March, 2017, Ms. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, our honourable Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament handed over prize and certificates to the winners, held in The National Museum, Shahbag, Dhaka. The following students from Primary Section achieved certificates in the tournament.

We are happy to announce that the following Pre Primary teachers have completed their Early Childhood Care and Education Training from a renowned institution named ‘Vidhyanidhi Education Society’, Mumbai, India. This passionate group of teachers had gained a high level of competence to meet the challenges of Global need and classroom teaching through the online course. The names of the Pre Primary teachers who have already completed the course are as follows:

Marzouuq Chowdhury - 3E Samian Rafi Bhuiyan - 3B Md. Farzan Ali - 2B Zaif Khandkar - 4E Myth Azmain Rahman - 4E Zaarif Kabir - 3D

~~Achievements~~

Ms. Tazeen Rahman Ms. Sharmeen Rahman Ms. Shaila Sharmin Ms. Salma Akhter

Professional Development Training : A day-long Professional Development Training was held at the Junior School Premises, on Saturday, 18th March, 2017. The facilitator was Ms. Neeti Tripathi, who had taken the session in three segments throughout the day. She is an innate educator, professionally trained and experienced in teaching expertise covers the Indian Syllabi and IBPYP. She has twelve years of experience interlined with education and this has made her today as a highly focused and motivated professional, proactive towards progression. The target group was the teachers of Primary and Pre Primary wings. She enlightened the 21st century education system and focused on making international citizens. The trainer discussed different innovative techniques to be incorporated in the teaching and assessments. Some of the methods she discussed were drawing a Mind map, providing Graphic Organizers, incorporating Thinking Hats and Thinker’s Key. She also focused on different ways of assessments that are more precise and transparent for teachers, students and parents. Among the discussed methods rubrics, Bloom’s Taxonomy were fairly highlighted in the session. The later part of the event consisted hand-on activities for the teachers that they enjoyed thoroughly.

English Language Proficiency Workshop : The Head of Pre Primary Section, Ms. Dushani Rajaratnam conducts workshops on English language proficiency for the teachers of Pre Primary Teachers every Thursday from 1:50 to 2:30 p.m. Teachers’ Training Session : Our in house trainer, Ms. Samsun Nahar took a training session on Lesson Plan Management on Thursday, 30th March, 2017. The target group of the training was all the teachers of the Primary Section. The trainer focused on different techniques and criteria that are required to make a lesson plan more effective and fruitful. She discussed different steps of a lesson that includes reflection, ice-breaking, presentation, evaluation, feedback and so on. The session was followed by a group activity that the teachers actively took part in.

Mr. Abdul Alim, Assistant Manager, IT got married on 17th of March, 2017. We congratulate him and wish him a happy married life.

~~Workshops & Trainings~~

~~Felicitations~~