June & July MIDDLE SECTION document

AHLCON INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL MIDDLE SECTION JUNE & JULY’20

INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY It is a matter of pride that United Nations has declared June 21st as “The International Day of Yoga” and the same was celebrated with vigour and enthusiasm all around the world to spread awareness about the importance and effects of yoga on the health of people. In view of Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s ‘International Yoga Day’ was celebrated on digital media platforms and there were no mass gatherings as per the Government’s guidelines. This year’s theme was “Yoga at Home and Yoga with Family’. All teachers, officials and school students joined the celebration virtually at 7 am on June 21, 2020 as per the given link. All the participating students shared their photos and videos with their respective class teachers. A VIBRANT COME BACK OF OUR AHLCONITES AFTER SUMMER BREAK BREAK Second inning of virtual classes has started with full of positive vibes, zeal and enthusiasm. On 2nd July, 2020, special assembly was conducted by class VI- A. Wellbeing session was conducted with a video giving a beautiful message on practicing various ways to wellness. It included kindness, expressing gratitude, staying positive, be yourself and smile all the while, so that it becomes every day’s practice. Students participated enthusiastically by stating one word describing how gracefully they had spent their summer vacations. It was presented in the form of a word cloud. Platform of Digital tool “Mentimeter” was used in creating this word cloud. Session was concluded with warm wishes and gratitude.

KAMP-NASTA 2019-20 To prepare our children for tomorrow, there is a critical need to quantitatively assess the awareness and knowledge of students on various subjects regularly and objectively. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and National Institute of Science Technology and Development Studies (CSIR- NISTADS) initiated Knowledge and Awareness Mapping Platform (KAMP) to identify and promote gifted and talented students of Classes 5 to 10 in the field of Science, Technology and Humanities. KAMP – National Assessment for Scientific Temperament and Aptitude (NASTA 2019) was conducted in Ahlcon International School on 27 January, 2020 (Paper-I) and 28 January, 2020 (Paper-II). 31 students from Middle Section appeared for the exam that focused on topics from Science, EVS/ Social Science, Mathematics and Digital Literacy. The students performed very well in both the papers. Two students of Middle Section- Newaan Bhardwaj of class VI and Akshaya Rohtagi of class VII (Session 2019-20) made us proud by being among the District toppers. The program proved to be a huge success as it gave the learners a platform to enhance their creativity, develop meaningful learning and critical thinking skills. ACHIEVEMENT OF OUR AHLCONITE Gurbani Jagga of class VIII B, had participated in 'Blub World Teenage Tunes' online open Mic for TEEN poets on 10 July, 2020. The organiser of the competition was Ms. Veena Gaur. She recited a self-composed poetry on 'LOVE FOR NATURE’ and won the competition along with special mention for praiseworthy poetry. She shared that ‘Nature’ is very precious for all the organisms. It provides us with abundant things like fruits, fibers, vegetables, etc. The most important thing is that nature provides us oxygen without which we can't survive. She also mentioned that she never throws waste materials here and there and always try to keep her surroundings clean. Also, I plants 1 sapling per month to protect our nature. That's how she shows her love towards nature.

Literary Week: Author Session-2020 Amidst lockdown, students have seen the silver lining and have enjoyed the new norm and the new flavour of online learning. In our efforts to keep them excited and happy, a novelty was planned and 22 May 2020, became a red-letter day for the students of Ahlcon International, Middle Section on the occasion of Literary Week. The Authors’ Session was organized by both English and Hindi Department and the two renowned Authoresses Ms. Munmun Ghosh and Ms. Shradha Pandey were the ‘Guests of Honour’ for the day. Ms. Munmun Ghosh is a Mumbai-based writer – a journalist and novelist, musician and yoga exponent. With a Masters’ degree in English Literature from Mumbai University, she has been a full-time journalist for a range of publications – Stardust, The Daily, The Economic Times, Mid-Day, Dignity Dialogue, and Indya.com. She currently writes articles on different social issues as a freelance journalist, to promote different social cause. Her creative writings encompass her first work of fiction ‘Hushed Voices’ (2007), second book ‘Unhooked’ (2012) too was a fictional venture and her third book is ‘Thicker than Blood’ (2016) is a gripping story on dynamics of marriage. Ms.Munmun ignited the minds of the young learners and the budding writers with her pearls of wisdom. The students enthusiastically participated in the interactive session. She inspired the student to keep the mind as healthy as our body; by feeding it with positive thoughts and happy experiences. She pointed out that the joy of reading books is incomparable as the mind visualizes the beauty of thoughts while a movie focuses mostly on the actions. To develop writing skills in them, she motivated students to read good books and build rich vocabulary and learn about the culture of their country. To have a mind of rich with positive thoughts she asked students to practice yoga and meditation. The Presence of Ms. Shradha Pandey, the very prolific and noted story writer for children in Hindi added to the joys as she is very popular among children. She has a rich teaching experience in various reputed schools India and abroad and she loves being amidst children. Most of her writings are centred around children and are widely acknowledged. Her stories articles, poems and drama are regularly featured in magazines like Navneet, Bal Bharti, Nandan, Bal Prahari, Bal Vani, Modern Education Review to name a few. Her books - Satrangi Duniya ke Athrangi Sapne, Samay Ki Ret Par, Haathi Mere Saathi, Jhilmil Taare Aakhon Mein Saare, kahi-ankahi and Bioscope an E-book have been widely read and acknowledged. She has been felicitated with several honours like- Gomati Gaurav Samman, Shabd Shilpi Samman, VAMA Samman, Akhil Bharatiya Anuvrat Nyas Samman, Shikshak Sahityakar Samman, Riti Rekha Samman to name some. The authoress, Ms shradha Pandey, gave some golden rules to the students. She told the students not to wait for tomorrow as there is never a tomorrow and as writing is a continuous process; thoughts should be written and recorded instantly so that they could be picked up later and refined as required. The Session became an event to be cherished forever.

CLASS ASSEMBLY: NATIONAL DOCTOR’S DAY “GOD CANNOT BE EVERYWHERE SO HE SENT THE DOCTORS WITH EXCELLENCE AND SELFLESSNESS” National Doctor’s Day is celebrated across our country on 1July,2020 in memory of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy who served as a Physician and a Freedom fighter. The students of class 6-D saluted the Doctor’s for their relentless service in order to save the human fraternity from the COVID-19 disaster. Doctors are our Frontline workers who have put their lives into danger and worked for safeguarding the people from the deadly virus. We, the Ahlconites, support and showed our gratitude to the Doctors across nation on this day. The main purpose of the assembly was to thank the efforts of the Doctor’s as Saviors from the dangerous Corona Virus. Ronak Jain of 6-D presented his views; “Do you know why temples, mosques and Gurdwaras are closed during the COVID-19 as God is busy doing the duties in the wide world, doctors are no less than God who were saving hundreds and thousands of patients as our front- line workers who were putting their lives on risk.” Ms. Aanya Chopra, a student explained how the Doctors are working round the clock so that the patients get best medical care, sacrificing their personal lives so on this day, we remember these heroes for their work. Ms. Namrata Bahl, Class Teacher explained how the doctors are doing well for the nation; they are helping the nation to survive amidst the Pandemic. The efforts of the Students were appreciated by the class teacher. The Padlet link and Flipgrid link was explained to write and record their views about how they have spent their vacations. ASSEMBLY ON ‘THE WORLD POPULATION DAY’ World Population Day is celebrated on 11th July globally every year. Students of class VI D got the privilege of presenting a special assembly on the theme ‘The World Population Day’. The world population day is all about raising the awareness about the problem of increasing population globally. This is a serious global issue that had to be addressed with immediate effect. In the year 1989, the Governing Council of United Nations Development Programmes declared this International Day for creating awareness among the people. No excuses protecting a woman's life is a priority, in all circumstances, and at all times. This year's theme for world population day is ‘Safeguarding the Interests of Woman’.

CLASS ASSEMBLY: WORLD PAPER BAG DAY AND SIMPLICITY DAY The morning sets the day and the assembly paves the way for our students to rejuvenate their spirits. On 13 July, 2020 class VI students celebrated ‘National Paper Bag Day’ and ‘Simplicity Day’ by highlighting their importance in the morning assembly. Students shared their resources and encouraged everyone to make use of paper bags as an initiative to combat environment pollution and climate changes. They took part in the activity very enthusiastically and pledged to use paper bags more often. One of the sections observed the celebration of ‘International Malala Day’ where the students came up with valuable information about Malala Yousafzai. They also used a digital tool (near pod) for conducting a quiz on the same theme to reiterate the importance of these days. The assembly provided an excellent opportunity for students to be aware and learn about significance of wise use of resources. AHLCONITES - CREATING MASTERPIECES Talent finds its own way. When everyone is locked up in their home, our students are still looking for opportunities of creating their own masterpieces. The concept of sharing their creativity, art work, cooking and their achievement was introduced and they produced it in the form of “Achievements Shout Out for the Week”. It gives us immense pleasure when we see our kids are growing and taking the charge of household chores and helping their parents in preparing meals for the day. Yet some preparing craft works while others worked tirelessly in brushing up their skills. It makes us proud as teachers to shout out their achievements for every week. Sharing some glimpses of our talented Ahlconites of Class VI A, who are unstoppable and creative masters in their own way.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING SESSION BY , MR. SANJAY YADAV “Learning is magical and through Social Emotional Learning we can create conditions that allow all kids to access that magic.” Mr. Sanjay Yadav, Principal, Ahlcon International School took a wonderful session for the Middle School Teachers in which he emphasized that when physical distancing is deemed necessary, social, and emotional connectedness is becoming even more critical. He also mentioned that although, we are not only in quarantine, but also on mouse arrest. Hence we have been dealing with ‘Generation Z’ Students who are enduring social complexity and emotional problems. It should not propel further; he gave a marvellous intervention example of ‘Perry Pre-School Project’ to improve children’s capacity for future success in school as well as in life. So, to enhance their soft skills, emotional intelligence, social awareness, and relationship management teachers must act like parents. He also suggested some activities like mutual appreciation, apology and provided positive affirmations. GenX needs Social-Emotional Learning to expand their empathy, attention span, patience and internal motivation. KOREAN ESSAY WRITING COMPETITION Keeping up with the culture of providing the students with the ever-expanding opportunities, The Cultural Centre of Embassy of the Republic of Korea organised an Essay Writing Competition named ‘All India 8th Korea-India Friendship Essay Competition 2020’ for VI- VIII class students. This Essay Writing Competition is planned to be non-intrusive, less time consuming, yet interesting for the students. The topic of the Essay was ‘How Will I Introduce South Korea to my Friends’. Our students participated with full zeal and enthusiasm.

PARENTING THE 21ST CENTURY LEARNERS IN LOCKDOWN Parenting itself is a challenge and during lockdown the parents tasted a different flavour altogether when the children were home 24/7 with nowhere to go and no one to visit them. While talking to my students during our Spoken English class and in my virtual tour through other classes, some of them expressed how daunting it was to have their parents watching their every move and every step. A few shared that they were being scolded more than before. I could sense a feeling of hopelessness clouding their emotions. At the same time I was acutely aware that the parents are having a hard time maintaining a work life balance and managing homes without the assistance of house keepers, maids, baby sitters and domestic helps. Routine had gone for a toss and shutting down of eateries/restaurants had placed an added burden of expectations on parents, to provide mouth-watering delicacies to children who could not have the luxury of dining out now. With these observations in mind, I planned a parenting session for the parents of Middle Section wherein I customised my session to cater to the needs of parenting in lockdown and also addressing the key concerns raised by the parents during PTM. I planned the first session on 12th of April 2020 for all the parents of Class 6th and on 14th June for all the parents of 7th and 8th.More than 85% parents attended these sessions and gave an overwhelming response. It was voiced that such sessions should be held from time to time to lend a support to struggling parents who have the best intentions for their children but are clueless about handling aggression and tantrums of their kids. The relevance of such sessions is profound and discussions with parents reiterate their faith in teachers and in school. By God’s grace, other organizations also requested for these sessions and gained a lot from them. By Ms. Sunita Rajiv (AHM MIDDLE SCHOOL)

REPORT ON ‘NURTURING THE FUTURE’ WORKSHOP Ahlcon International School firmly believes in the robust professional development of its teachers. Keeping this purview in mind a workshop titled ‘Nurturing the future’ was organised by Dr. Ashok Kumar Pandey on 30th May, 2020 for the teachers of Ahlcon International and Ahlcon Public school. The workshop began on an edifying note wherein the teachers were made to discuss a melange of prevalent educational issues. Furthermore, to make the teachers avid leaders, different Harvard Business Review Guides were assigned to each group which comprised of teachers from both the schools. The next task at hand was to pen down the synopsis of the assigned guide after giving it a thorough reading. The key points of each book were highlighted by each group in the form of a presentation on 11 July, 2020. “It was happy learning and interaction between all the colleagues where everyone shared their ideas and opinions. The main takeaway of this project was to- Read, Read and Read!”, as shared by Ms. Jyoti Sharma “The workshop was very meticulously designed to improve the reading capabilities of the selected participants, thus leading to capacity building for shouldering the future of the institution.” said Ms. Kanika Wadhera “It was an enlightening journey that provided us with an array of handy tools, self-tests, and real-life examples to help and identify our strengths and weaknesses and enhance critical skills.” as shared by Ms. Rita Aggarwal

CLASSROOM WORK FEATURED BY HIGHR’S #CAUGHTBEINGTEACHERTASTIC CAMPAIGN Maths is beautiful. But sometimes it can be hard to see, and even harder to convey to students who don’t yet share your passion. To make the subject approachable and engaging, it is important to draw real-world connection to the topics Few of the classroom activities conducted for class VIII were featured by Team Higher on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as a part of their campaign #CaughtBeingTeachertastic for #TeacherAppreciation week. The activities focused on drawing real-world connection to the topic to make it more approachable and engaging. It is well known that real learning happens when students are able to relate the concepts to their own experiences. Initiating the topic of ‘how to locate a point on a plane’ by giving a very simple example like ‘how do you find your seat in a movie hall by looking at your seat number’, or ‘how do you indicate the position of your desk in a classroom’ instantly engaged the learners into thinking critically and essentially visualizing an abstract concept. Students came up with examples of a few other situations where they could link the concept of Cartesian plane with real life situations: like they are able to solve a jigsaw puzzle using their knowledge of rows and columns, how they are able to read a time table. This is where we realize that each student brings their own brand of genius! By Ms. Risha Imran

REPORT ON EDUCATOR EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME As rightly said, “Teaching is a profession that creates all other professions”. Ahlcon International School is always at the forefront in empowering its teachers in various professional developmental courses from time to time. As a part of this endeavour, Ms. Ritika Kumar and Ms. Sunanda S. Kumar got an opportunity to attend a series of online Workshops on the Modern Learning Environment by University of Queensland from 22nd June 2020 to 25th June 2020. Dr Gurion Ang from the Faculty of Science was the resource person. Dr. Ang emphasised that Modern teaching and learning is dynamic, experiential and also evidence based. The modern learner is a need based learner who responds to multiple stimuli. Experiential learning may involve experience, experimentation, reflection and conceptualisation. Modern teaching should go beyond the classroom and have authentic assessment. Repackaging our teaching into modular format will promote self-directed learning and reflective learning. Self-directed learning empowers the learner and reflective learning provides immediate revision. We can be creative in using work integrated learning strategies in our practice. Mood learning is an exciting field of future teaching and learning innovation. Authentic assessment provides students an opportunity to apply themselves and their knowledge. We can consider incorporating more real world imagery into our classroom and use cognitive verbs thoughtfully.

JOURNEY OF VIRTUAL LEARNING Every year, the month of April is all about a new journey, new excitement, and new goals, be it for a teacher or a student. But the year 2020 was different, as coronavirus has forced the educators to rethink and redesign the ideas of teaching. Educationists became acutely aware that the teacher’s learning must continue through this period of uncertainty. Therefore being a tech-savvy person and a computer teacher, my mentors gave me the opportunity to train teachers on how to use the digital platform for online teaching. Under the guidance of Ms. Sunita Rajiv, AHM Middle Section, I conducted various sessions for teachers at Ahlcon International School. Similar workshops were organized by me to conduct online training session for the school teachers of DLF World School (Greater Noida) and Ahlcon Public School (Delhi). The tools taught in the session were: 1. Microsoft Teams for online classes 2. MS Powerpoint and MS excel 3. Online creative tools for teaching Also, Team Highr announced me as the winner of the Sketch note contest for the webinar held on 6th July, 2020 on the topic ‘Making Feedback Count’ and the same was featured on their Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages. I used various graphic editing tools like MS Powerpoint, Adobe Photoshop and PicsArt to create the sketch note. Let’s continue exploring and learning as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam quoted –“Learning gives creativity, Creativity leads to thinking. Thinking leads to knowledge, Knowledge makes you great.” By Ms. Lovey Gupta

REPORT OF VIDYADAAN 2.0 VidyaDaan 2.0 is conceptualized as a Common National Program for Individuals & Organizations across the country to donate/contribute e-learning content for school education to ensure continuity of quality learning through DIKSHA PORTAL. Ahlcon International School was a part of VidyaDaan 2.0 National program as an organization by sharing-learning resources in the education domain to ensure that quality learning continues for learners across India for the curriculum of CBSE. During May 2020, 11 teachers along with Ms. Sunita Rajiv, AHM Middle section contributed different types of content such as explanation videos, teaching videos, practice questions, competency-based items, lesson plans for grades VI to VIII for subjects like English, Science, Social Science and Maths. These resources could be leveraged for use by Centre, States & UTs and by all Private and Government Organizations through platforms such as DIKSHA and beyond.

PADLET WALL: OVERFLOWING EMOTIONS It’s an open secret that students are the store-house of imaginative expression so, when school reopened after summer break, we tried to peep into their world of imagination. On the very first day a link of Padlet wall was shared in each class by Assembly Coordinators. A breeze of gentle and unbiased messages filled the emptiness of this virtual wall and each child shared how they utilised their summer break while sitting at home. They amazed us by sharing instead of being frustrated they channelized their energy into productive work. https://padlet.com/chananapreeti31/o4yig1cs8s9le6hr

Article by Teachers’ in Brainfeed Magazine Brainfeed magazine had extended their invitation to teachers to share their story, documenting their inspiring efforts in taking care of the young champions during the corona virus outbreak. Articles by 3 Teachers from Middle Section, Ms. Sunanda S. Kumar, Ms. Preeti Chanana and Ms. Lovey Gupta, got published and were ranked among the top 50 writers.

SOULFUL ASSEMBLIES IN CLASS VI Staying positive is blessing in itself. It has been rightly said that there is good in everything happening around us. Exploring more about various mantras to stay positive, students of class VI gave phenomenal performances on the topic ‘Joy of positive thinking’ during the week July 13th 2020-July 17th 2020. The students recited poems and shared stories emphasising positive attitude and its importance. In one of the classes, a role-play of Sudha Chandra (who accomplished herself as a world-famous Bharatanatyam Dancer inspite of having an artificial limb) was done by Yashita (VI-A). A talk show was hosted with Sister Shivani (role play) as a guest encouraged everyone with her preachings on staying positive.In one of the sections the students took a ‘positivity pledge’ and promised to leave any negative thoughts behind before starting their day. Students took part enthusiastically in each activity and in VI-F the week concluded with music instrumental plays like Vande Matram and Ganesh Vandana.All the presentation are truly inspiring and gave wisdom in the truest sense. MOTIVATING ASSEMBLIES IN CLASS VII The morning sets the day and the assembly fills the day with the understanding of mind to be fully awake and is the platform for the students to showcase their hidden talent. During the week July 13th 2020-July 17th 2020 Class VII students celebrated “National Paper bag day” by highlighting their importance in the morning assembly. Students shared Videos, thoughts, poems etc. and encouraged everyone to make use of paper bags as an initiative to combat environment pollution and climate changes. They had prepared creative paper bags and shared with each other too. Students also conducted an assembly on the theme Value education and shared valuable thoughts and key points of the same. They recited self -composed poem on values and shared stories as well. These assembly sessions are very helpful in giving the students motivation and vision for their daily tasks.

INSPIRING ASSEMBLIES IN CLASS VIII The morning assemblies play an incredible role in developing a feeling of affiliation and association of students with the school. It very aptly sets the tone for the day and paves the way for the students to begin their day with the blessings of the Almighty. During the week July 13th 2020-July 17th 2020 Class VIII students celebrated “National Paper bag day” “Simplicity Day” and “Joy of Positive Thinking” by highlighting their importance and relevance in our lives through a paper bag making activity, and presentation on the benefits of being positive in the morning assembly. Students watched a video on paper bag making and shared the pictures of paper bags made by them using the resources available to them. One of the sections conducted a short quiz on the benefits of being positive. The theme was well depicted through various presentations like story narration, discussion and poem recitation. The assembly provided an opportunity for the students to be aware of their well- being and learn about the judicious use of resource for a sustainable tomorrow. KARGIL VIJAY DIWAS Special Assembly was conducted on 23rd July 2020 on the theme ‘Salutation to Kargil Heroes’ by class VIII A. Saksham Kaushal and Kanav Gupta did compering of the morning assembly and could touch our hearts. The flavour of patriotism was felt by all of us. The assembly started off with a thought of the day by Aakriti Bahl, she said and I quote, “Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it, it moves with last breath of the brave soldiers who died protecting it.” The assembly was further continued with informative facts about the Kargil war shared by Harshit Singh and Saanvi Malhotra. They poured light on how and why the war was fought. Facts like how Pakistan wanted to bring out the Kashmir issue forefront in order to leverage their positions, 7 lakh soldiers being deployed for the war and as much as 40-60 days long war was fought between India and Pakistan really amused us. Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything, in our next platter we got to listen to some blissful melodies, presented by, Tejas Maheshwari and Shashank Gupta which made us think about the soldiers giving their precious lives for the civilians of this country. Next, we got to listen to some inspirational words from Sahil Singh, who motivated us not only to do hard work and reach our goals, but to motivate ourselves at each step we take and never give up to get to our dreams and aspirations. Samridh Darad and Shanshank Gupta, passed on information in a very interesting way by presnting an interview where, Samridh played the role of an interviewer and the stage was set for Vikram Batra. The presentations were truly inspiring and gave wisdom in the truest sense to our future nation builders.

FUSION OF DANCE AND MUSIC “Students of class VIII D presented a virtual assembly on 30th July, 2020 on the theme ‘Fusion of Dance and Music’. Assembly was initiated with the ‘Morning Prayers’ sung by Kabeer, which was followed by a motivational thought by Devyani as it is imperative that we begin our morning on a positive note. Musical Jugalbandi presented by Zaid and Soham enthralled the audience and created a magical environment. Dance performances by Kunwarjeet Singh, Kaavya, Rishika and Ms. Aanya left the audiences spell bounded. And compering by Kunwarjeet was highly appreciated by the audiences. Thereafter, Ms. Sunita Rajiv, AHM Middle School, addressed the students by complementing the participants for their impeccable performance and imparted cultural and spiritual values to the students. This assembly inculcated positive attitude amongst students and served as a morale booster in such trying times. Through this platform potential and hidden talent in students was explored. Our teachers Mr. Sunil Agrahari, Ms. Lovey Gupta, Mr. Dholan, Ms. Sunanda S. Kumar also boosted the morale of the students with their encouraging remarks and appreciated the presentment by the students a lot. The Assembly was culminated with the vote of thanks delivered by Ms. Kanika Wadhera.

WEEK LONG CELEBRATION OF COLOURS OF LIFE BY CLASS VIII The morning assemblies play a pivotal role in developing and fostering human values in the students through an array of programmes.It brings in a sense of belongingness to the students with the ongoing school programmes. During the week July 27thJuly 2020-July31st 2020 Class VIII students celebrated “RakshaBandhan” “Id-Ul-Adha” and “ Colours of life” by highlighting the importance and relevance of festivals in our lives and how such festivals add colour and variety to our life and make it more meaningful. During this week of festivities, the topic of Class Assembly basically highlighted the importance and significance of different hues and colors in our life, devoid of which the life would be dull and boring. Only black and white colors in life bring monotonous and boring living whereas combination of different colours bring vibrancy and enlightenment in human life. With the awe evoking theme ‘Colours of life’, the entire week was flooded with several emotion packed items and gave the students an opportunity to showcase their hidden prowesses.

2ND VIRTUAL PTM OF MIDDLE SECTION The Second Virtual PTM was held on 25th July, 2020. It was organized to give feed back to the parents about the performance of their wards and to apprise parents about the upcoming Assessment plan. It was a good interaction. Following major points were discussed by all the teachers:  Parents were requested to visit the school blog for getting all the updates regarding Half Yearly Examination. They were also requested to give their valuable feedback.  Some parents had queries regarding ongoing assessments.  Discussions were primarily focused on academics.  Parents appreciated the Holiday Homework.  The parents were satisfied with the regular flow of information through mails.  Timely completion and submission of notebooks by the students in the MS Team.  Parents to go through the mails carefully for weekly flows and important circulars Major points discussed by parents:  Parents were curious to know about the pattern of virtual half yearly examination.  All the parents were extremely happy and satisfied with the ongoing virtual classes  Parents appreciated the teachers for the successful conduction of PT1.  Parents were pleased by the hard work put in by all the teachers to keep the students engaged virtually.  They requested for the assembly, computer classes & wellbeing sessions.

INTERNATIONALTIGER DAY The morning sets the day and the assembly fills the day with the understanding of mind to be fully awake and is the platform for the students to showcase their hidden talent. On July 29th July, 2020 Class VII -D students celebrated “International Tiger Day”, highlighting the importance of saving Tigers by conserving and saving the ecosystem in the morning assembly. They started with very beautiful thought- “Use only Cameras to shoot Tigers, not gun”. Students were informed that the country with the largest population of tigers is United States. Students shared inspiring facts, thoughts, poems, painting etc. They had made the beautiful posters on ‘Save the Tiger’. It was reiterated that Tigers play a pivotal role in the health of the ecosystem. These assembly sessions are very helpful in giving the students motivation and vision for their daily tasks.

PARENTAL INTERACTION To interact and care about the well-being, Ms. Sunita Rajiv –AHM –Middle section had a Virtual Interaction session with EWS parents and students for classes VI to VIII on 31st July, 2020 and 5th August, 2020 respectively .Around 86 Parents attended the meeting and discussed about their queries and problems related to online classes. Parents were happy and satisfied with the online classes and appreciated the school initiatives during the pandemic. HUB OF LEARNING Mr. Sanjay Yadav, Principal of Ahlcon International School conducted a session on 18th July, 2020 on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and emphasized that it is the capacity to effectively negotiate complex social relationships and manage one’s emotions wisely. SEL is identified with five components such as Self-awareness, Self-management, Social awareness, Relationship skills and Responsible decision making. It was highlighted that today’s kids need more empathy, attention span, and internal motivation. A case study was also shared on bullying behaviour and some activities were suggested to encourage SEL. It was highlighted that as educators of 21st century learners, teachers should focus on SEL of kids which is the need of the hour and support them to develop their emotional intelligence as well along with academic intelligence.

CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AT AHLCON Teaching profession has never been given so much limelight but during these testing times, teachers have adapted and responded to the situation like warriors. CPD has been an integral part of the school’s vision, as Ahlcon International School is determined to provide its teachers with the professional development opportunities. Varied in-house workshops, webinars and training sessions were organized for the teachers. Some of the key workshops are LSP Training workshop, SEL Workshop, Online Tools, Nurturing the Future workshop and many more. To know more about these workshops please click here More related links: Report written by Ms. Sunita Rajiv on ‘Namami Gange Project’ was published in the Cambridge University Press India CPD Blog Link Newsletter Link https://ahlconint-middle.blogspot.com/