JANUARY 2018

January - 2018 The Monthly Newsletter “Every individual has to perform his duty. Man is mortal, but his work is not. Therefore, work is greater than wealth.” His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan

02 0304 0607 0810 11 SALAD TO SAVOUR12 1314 1516 A TRIP TO LEARN

As per the directives of H.H English and could alsoSheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, include hand-drawn pictures2018 is being celebrated as that depict the culture of thethe ‘Year of Zayed’, to mark nation. On evaluation andthe birth centennial of H.H. scrutiny, the best story fromSheikh Zayed bin Sultan each school will find a prominentAl Nahyan. To support the place in the prospective bookcommemoration, the National titled ‘Zayed – 100 stories’.Archives conducted a workshop The optional activitieson 20 Nov ’17 in collaboration include three activities,with the Ministry of Education. namely, a documentary onThe objective is to inculcate H.H. Sheikh Zayed binthe spirit of nationalism Sultan Al Nahyan, a handyequally in all schools across model of Qasr-al-Hosn madeUAE, through activities, from recycled items, a magazinesome of which are compulso- by school that depicts detailsry and some optional. about the Founder of UAE.Compulsory activity includes The magazine to carry hiswriting a story on H.H. pictures, quotes and hisSheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al experience with his familyNahyan, where, the story and people around.could be a concoction of Each school to select twoimagination and reality, teachers and ten studentswithout deviating from the who would diligently workcharacter of the Founder of for the successful completionUAE. The story could be of this project.written either in Arabic or in K. Parvathi (Dept. of Social Science) 02

“MASAR”ADEK ONLINE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM he School Development Learning Environment that was clearly explained. The Division (SDD) of helps evaluating the users by session also checked thePrivate Schools & Quality performing observations and knowledge of the delegatesAssurance Sector of ADEK track progress. with regard to MASAR, whatinvited school leaders to the Apart from the Objectives they wish to know and whatlaunch of “MASAR” – ADEK and Features of MASAR, we they have grasped from theOnline Professional Development were also given a clear session.Platform, designed for teachers understanding on the roles The session was cascaded byand school leaders. The event and responsibilities of the me for our staff, in an elabo-was held on 13 Dec ’17 at CPD Coordinator as well as rate interactive session, inPark Rotana, Abu Dhabi. teachers, that include enrolment, our auditorium ‘Ram Manch’MASAR is the learning platform updating information, completion on 06 Jan ’18.for the professional development of assigned course, trackingof organization resources, the progress, to name a few.Professional Learning Tool User Id and Password werewhich supports the lifelong provided to the delegates andlearning process, and Virtual the procedure to be followed K.T. Nandakumar Vice Principal03

REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATION he Republic Day celebrationwas held at Bhavan’s Abu Dhabion 24th January 2018, whenthe day began with the hoistingof the Indian flag by ourPrincipal Ms. Girija Baiju,followed by the inter-housemarch-past.The ceremoniousparade by the students ofGrade 1 to 11, which wasvery colourful and vibrant,brought alive India’swell-known diversity andculture. 04

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SPELLBOUND WITH SPELL BEE“Spelling is important because The Four of our proud prodigies are:it aids in reading. It helps Category 1 - Jemi Eldho – G 1Acement the connection that is Category 2 – Aarush - G 3Ashared between sounds and Category 3 - Arjun Anooj – G 5Dletters.” Category 4 - Nivedha Mayilvanan – G 9AThe grand finale of the successful5th year of the prestigious It gives us immense joy to share that in allBhavan’s GCC Spell Bee was the four categories Bhavan’s Abu Dhabiheld in our auditoruim ‘Ram stands Second, bagging INR 1000 as prizeMach’ on 20th January 2018. money. We congratulate all the participantsThis competition continues to and their parents for the stupendous andbe one of the numerous enjoyable dedicated e ort.competitions that provides ourstudents a platform to learn, in Aneesh Naira fun-filled style. As a result, Coordinator – Bhavan’s GCC Spell Bee 2017-2018children gradually and steadilyget trained to read and write 06more effectively. Nearly 400students registered this yearfor the four categories, conductedin four levels.The School Level was conduct-ed on 23rd September 2017,from which 50% of theparticipants qualified to theNational Level that was held on9th December 2017. Nearly 90students qualified to theKnock-out Level from which 4students emerged unbeatablein the Finale, representing our-school at the GCC level.

INDIA FEST 2018 As a part of the 69th Republic Day celebrations, Bhavan’s Abu Dhabi conducted ‘India Fest’ on 24th January 2018 from 5.30pm. The evening, dedicated to our students and their parents, served as a platform to exhibit the very many talents that stay embedded in them, including singing and dancing.Janarajani Malalagama(HoD – Dept. of Fine Arts) 07

TOGETHER WE GROWBhavan’s Abu Dhabi offers time and doors to the nuances of learning.support to help teachers grow in their We habitually conduct Professionalrespective subjects, in order to meet the Development sessions internally as wellneeds of the evolving audience. Irrespective as attend external workshops to hone ourof the number of years we spend in the skills related to teaching that involvepleasure of teaching, we strongly support interactive sessions, activities andthe belief of our Management that every presentations. Learning, definitely, neverday is a brand new day that opens multiple ever ceases…………Sl.No. Date Department Topic Session conducted by1. 03 Jan ‘18 Mathematics (Secondary) “Effective Ms. Padmaja Menon2. 03 Jan ‘18 Science (Primary)3. 05 Jan ‘18 Science (Primary) Mathematics Projects”4. 13 Jan ‘18 Science (Primary) ‘MIP in Lesson Plan’ Ms. Prabha Thomas5. 18 Jan ‘18 Science (Primary) ‘Classroom Activities’ Ms. Pushpa Joyce ‘Role of Interactive Ms. Sharmila Pranesh Sessions in Science Ms. Sreeja Gopinath Teaching and Learning’ ‘The Importance of Incorporating Scientific Methods in Teaching’ Jayabharathi Krishnamurthy (Dept.of Mathematics – Secondary) Suma Pramod (HoD, Science- Primary) 08

Professional Development - External Ms. Sabira. A.R (HOD Arabic – Primary) and Manoj Prabhakaran (HOD Mathematics – Primary) attended the workshop ‘Reinterpreting Bloom’s Taxonomy to drive successful teaching and learning’ that was held on 11 Dec ’17 at Sunrise English Private School, Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with PEARSON group. The workshop, conducted by Ms. Ruvneet Bains (Assessment Expert and Teacher Trainer), aimed at giving a deeper insight on various skills required to meet the ever-growing demands of teaching-learning process. Manoj Prabhakaran (HoD, Mathematics – Primary)09

ELOQUENT ENGLISHQuizzes play a vital role in acquiring The Wikipedians, Free Thinkers andknowledge and skills, and provide an Master Minds bagged the top threearray of benefits for both the learner and positions and rejoiced in victory. Thethe instructor. With the aim to aid parents of the finalists also showed greatlanguage development, the Department enthusiasm and proactively participatedof English (Primary) organised the in the fun-filled games like ‘TongueEnglish Language Quiz for Grades 4 & 5. Twisters’ and ‘Spell It Aloud’.The budding language champs successfully Promoting group harmony, the eventqualified the preliminary round and inculcated sound competitive streak inmade it to the finale with their spectacular students.performance, which was skillfully judgedby Ms. Harsha Sreekumar - parent ofNaila Sreekumar (G-1F), Neeta Sreekumar(G-4H) and Neha Sreekumar (G-5C). Divya Sharma HoD - English (Primary) 10

Salad To SavourCulinary Competition of French recipes is The presentations were adjudged by Ms.held every year with the aim to develop Yashavanthi.D (Teacher-Kinder Garten),the culinary skills, creativity and team based on First Impression, Hygienicwork clubbed with the need to understand Preparation, Design / Creativity/ Taste/-the importance of eating healthy. Texture, Appearance and Attention toThe students of French (Grade 9A and 9C) Detail. Our girls from Grade 9A won theparticipated in the French Salad Creative First position and the Boys from Grade 9CCompetition in the month of November took the Second position.2017. par Département de Français Fidele Furtado11

QUIZZING MATHThe Department of Mathematics (Secondary) conducted a quiz competition for thestudents of Grades 6 to 9. Preliminary rounds were conducted in classes for all thestudents individually and the qualifiers competed in the Finals, where they were categorisedin Groups. Girls from Grade XI were chosen to deftly anchor the event, who also playeda pivotal role in supporting the successful conduct of the competition. THE WINNERS ARE First Place: Siddhanth Taneja – 8F Abhay Lejith – 8D Ashwin Suresh – 6D Aravind Sarath Chandran – 7C Second Place: Kalyani Jijith – 9B Gauri Dubey – 9A Riddhi Purvaja – 7A Neha Ray – 6C Third Place: Nivedha Mayilvanan – 9A Tilottama Ghosh – 7B Nikhitha Kandasamy – 6A Vibha Ramesh Rao – 6B Jayabharathi Krishnamurthy (Dept. of Mathematics-Secondary) 12

30TH CBSE GULF COUNCIL PRINCIPAL CONFERENCEThe 30th CBSE Gulf Council Principal Conference was held at ‘Leela Palace’ in Chennai,India, from 2nd to 5th January ’18.The Gulf Council meets annually when all the members get together to discuss various issuesto arrive at viable solutions. New members are also elected who ensure the objectives of theCouncil are effectively carried out, some of which are:• to promote cooperation among the member-schools• to share expertise, publish/circulate relevant literature to aid mutual growth• to organise cultural, literary, educational, art, sport and other curricular/extra-curricular activities to foster healthy competitive spirit among students and createbetter understanding of the rich heritage of the multidimensional Indian and Arab culturesMr. Siju Thomas (Chief Mentor - CTIPS), Dr.T.P. Sasikumar (Chairman-‘Shiksha’) andDr. Dheeraj Mehrotra (Academic Evangelist – ‘Next Education’) were some of the eminentspeakers who effectively conducted various sessions that aptly cater to the ever-evolvingmethods of teaching. Girija Baiju Principal 13

COOKING EXCELLENCETHE FIRST REALITY SHOW ON TV FOR KIDS IN THE MIDDLE EASTBhavan’s Abu Dhabi stands proud to have and tasty dishes.participated in the first ever Kids Though our children were exhaustedReality TV Show in the Middle-East, from the long hours of shooting and thehosted by KKompany. Our young culinary strenuous travelling to Dubai every otherexperts Hizana (G-9A), Srilekha (G-7B) day, they untiringly put up a very tough& Shreedhanya (G-3E) effortlessly won fight with abundance of enthusiasm andthe audition round held in Dubai on 16th excitement right from the auditions.Dec '17, competing with 52 schools that Their positive attitude provided me withhad registered. Each round after the lot more energy to support them to theaudition level, was judged by celebrity fullest in planning and preparationchefs from some of the well-known hotels and also face the challenge with morein India and Dubai. determination.The League Round, held at Horizon The show is slated to be aired on some ofInternational School, Dubai, on 13th Jan the Indian TV Channels.'18, involved Fusion Cooking when ourgirls defeated The Millennium School,Dubai. This was followed by thequarter-final on 15th Jan '18 that carriedthe round of Traditional Dishes. Withease, our girls effortlessly defeatedGem's Founder International School,qualifying to the semi-final held, on 17thJan '18.It was not easy for our students to be Asha Jaincreative in cooking when the cameras Dept. of English (Secondary)were rolling and strict time frame set.Inspite of such shortcomings, our girlsimpressively amazed the judges and theorganizers equally, with their innovative 14

PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTIONThe Grade-11 students of The objective of this work- were highly interesting andPsychology, along with Ms. shop was to introduce the motivating. The interactiveMary Joseph (Counselor) diverse fields of Psychology session showcased researchand K.T Nandakumar (Vice both as a university pro- and case study examples inPrincipal) attended a gramme and as a career. Psychology. Studentsone-day workshop ‘Psycholo- Participants were engaged received a rare opportunitygy in Action’ organized by in discussion as well as to conduct and attend theHeriot –Watt University, experimental activities. The practical experiments onDubai, on 9th December sessions on some of the ‘Social Loafing’, ‘Edinburgh2017. topics ‘Psychology: A Path to Handedness Inventory’ and ‘The Breed -Noble Personali- Success’, ty Inventory’. The faculty ‘Personality: experts from the university Where Mind provided an enthralling and Body experience that gave our Connect’, students a clear feel of ‘Cognitive studying in a university and Neuro- setting. psychology’ Nandakumar K.T Vice Principal15

A TRIP TO LEARNBhavan’s Abu Dhabi provided of kayaking, sailing, rafting, every student into a holisticme with the opportunity to rock-climbing, swimming, individual.travel to Indonesia (Bintan village-walk, archery, volley-Island) and Singapore to ball, basketball, bonfire,participate in the ‘Global music and dance.Citizen Camp Series’ from Such experiences will not only28th Nov to 3rd Dec ’17. The energise us to develop more5-day tour, designed and techniques to make learningplanned by Explorars and fun, but also help studentsmeticulously steered by the understand the history andProgramme Director Ms. heritage, as well as strength-Nimmi Chopra, had a team of en team work, leadershipteachers from various schools skills, problem-solving abilityof UAE. and also provide hands-onWe were given the experience experience that would develop Manoj Prabhakaran HoD- Mathematics (Primary) 16

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