Middle Section Newsletter -April

AHLCON INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL MIDDLE SECTION MONTHLY HIGHLIGHTS- 1st -30th APRIL, 2020 The dedicated team! NEW SESSION: NEW EXPECTATIONS AMIDST COVID -19 Ahlcon International School is renowned for providing holistic development to young learners. This time when session unveiled itself in an unexpected manner amidst fear, anxiety and uncertainty, the school authorities and teachers of AIS, didn’t succumb but rose courageously to handle the situation. While everything was under lockdown, the enchanting flowers of learning were blooming for the Ahlconities by the Ahlconities. The golden words of Martine Luther King Jr., “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”, were the guiding source behind our endeavours during this testing time. On 3rd April, 2020 with full vigour the new academic session commenced while exploring the digital arena. Teachers adopted new techniques of teaching by taking online classes in a well-planned manner and took the truncheon in their hands. Keeping in mind the scholastic and co-scholastic year-plans, the tools and techniques used virtual classes with students, for attendance, recorded lectures, online worksheets, voice messages, podcast, audible stories, daily tips, e-newspapers and magazines( HT Newspaper; The Hindus etc. ) and fun quizzes. The day started by the chanting of prayers and Gayatri mantra during the morning assembly, thus unfurling learning for young learners to be grounded firmly to their roots besides gaining academic excellence. Newsletter 1

Parent Feedback MS TEAM: The Portal for E-Classes This is an unforgettable lifetime memory to Covid-19 pandemic took the world by surprise. It has affected becaptured. Parents also got the opportunity everyone without exception and completely upended daily life to attend the classes through this online of everyone, especially students. Educationists became acutely sessions...... kids are enjoying it becoming aware that children’s learning must continue through this period more independent but missing their school, of uncertainty and that an effective schedule needs to be teachers and friends as well... carved for students. Mother of Twisha Pujara Cl.6 B This led to the task of selecting an effective, reliable, and safe medium to serve students' needs as well as aspirations of The best effort our school could put forth for parents. After thorough research, we at Ahlcon International the kids in these trying times. No complaints. School, gave a nod for Microsoft Teams as it can seamlessly Keep the good work up. All the very best and connect both the teacher and the learner and is easily May all Ahlconites stay safe and healthy. accessible on desktop(Windows, Mac, and Linux), web, and Mother of Himang Cl. 8 F mobile (Android and iOS). Under the mentorship of Sunita Mam, middle section teachers took up the challenge of E-learning platform has enabled teachers and conducting their online classes on this new platform. They students come close from the comfort of the efficaciously guided the parents about the usage by sharing the home where parents also indirectly get step-to-step prepared diligently by Ms. Lovey Gupta. involved. It increases the sense of This digital hub has also brought conversations, content, responsibility in the student pursuing the assignments, and apps together in one place, letting educators learning process and has acutely prevented create vibrant learning environments for their learners. This derailment of academic continuity. Sincere platform has been proving its utility by building strong and thanks fo Superb efforts on the part of the reliable collaborative classrooms and connecting learning AIS. communities well. Teams’ key features of providing educators Regards, Mom and Dad of Apoorba to quickly converse with students, sharing files and websites, Chatterjee Cl .8 F and creating and grading assignments make it unique and accepted. We r very much thankful to d dedication n best efforts of our beloved teachers. Teachers Interactive lessons and effective and timely feedback are are trying their level best n leaving no stone making Teams E -classes well accepted in this critical time of unturned to make the future of children better. Covid -19.Parents have widely expressed their satisfaction and In spite of whole responsibilities on their gratitude towards the school and teachers for leveraging the shoulders of family , they r giving their right platform and taking care of the students in such an precious time...We the parents of Ayan khan effective way. salute them from d core of our heart..we r really feel proud of ur hard work...Tq once again..regards Parents of Ayan Khan Cl. 8 F E-learning platform had been equally enriching and effective as face to face interaction, despite the teething phase the hardworking and dedicated faculty members made the transition an enjoyable learning experience Thanks teachers and kudos to your efforts. Parents of Prabhat Praveen Cl. 7 E Newsletter 2

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GOING BEYOND CLASSROOM – SPOKEN ENGLISH CLASSES FOR 8 CLASS Good English, well-spoken and well written will open more doors than a college degree. At Ahlcon International School, Mayur Vihar, the teachers are aware of this verity and are consistently working for the enhancement of the Spoken English of the students. This initiative was taken by Ms. Sunita Rajiv ,to utilise the online classes for improving the communicative skills of students. Under her guidance,all the English language teachers are rendering online ‘Spoken English Classes’ to class 8th students after school hours. Besides riveting on fluency, the values and ethics of students are also taken care of, which will open doors of growth for them as well as for others. The theme of each class is developing the life skills of students by means of discussion and dialogue. Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. The students are given tasks such as- to interview their parents/siblings, have discussions, Count their blessings, and Make gratitude jar, and so on. The teachers are going beyond didactics with the intention that children embrace learning and become good human beings.These classes have developed resilience among children armoured them to face the challenging times in a much better way. Newsletter 5

PARENTING SESSION Being a parent is no less than bliss; however, there can never be a more daunting task than to find a perfect way to parenting. Children learn more from what we are than what we teach. Therefore, it becomes imperative for us as adults to unlearn a few things and acquire many new skills to model the personality we would like our child to be. Three Virtual Parenting sessions for class VI were organised in the month of April. The event was facilitated by Ms. Sunita Rajiv (AHM Middle school) emphasizing on the role of the parents in the current era. She spoke about the importance of setting a routine for children and striking the right balance between discipline a child and giving into his or her emotional needs. She emphasised that a more participative, involved style of parenting will build trusting relationship between the parent, child and the school. It will eventually result into creating more secure and mature adults in future. To support this, she gave practic al suggestions and tips for healthy parenting. Finally the take away from the session was: “The best thing you can give your child is your time .Be there for them. No matter how busy you and your children are, take time out to be together to ‘communicate’. Create greater understanding and togetherness to build healthy environment for your child to nurture into a happy human being. The Lockdown time is harder for your child than you can imagine. Keep your stress levels under control and ensure happy atmosphere at home” The impact of the session exceeded our expectation. Some comments received from the Parents are as follows: “We absolutely loved being in the meeting. It was very enriching. We again learnt so many things which we had forgotten. Thank you so much ma’am”. “Thank you mam for the wonderful parenting session for growing children at this time of lockdown, it filled the void created between school, children and parents and keep us aligned and motivated how to make children more innovative and interactive. It was indeed a wonderful experience”. “It was great evening with Sunita Ma’am. Session was mind-blowing”. Newsletter 6

CHALLENGES OF TEACHING PHYSICAL EDUCATION TO KIDS DURING LOCKDOWN The year 2020 will be remembered in the years to come. The Covid-19 virus has brought the world to a standstill. People are locked down in their homes and this has impacted their daily lives. From teaching profession perspective, especially of physical fitness virtual session, it has been something not thought of in dreams. The session 2020-21 started with virtual sessions where classes were taken using on-line video conferencing, Zoom and MS-Teams. Physical education is something which is associated with activities on ground, training hard on the field, sweating it out there, with no such luxury anymore; it was a challenging to make students enjoy it via online mode. Physical Education classes were thoughtfully planned keeping in mind that lock down has led to sedentary lifestyle. So, in order to bring the same fun and zeal in students which they displayed in the school, a well curated plan was materialised to adapt the students to the online mode of teaching physical education. It was initiated with the pre-recorded physical exercises, where students were instructed to repeat the exercises displayed by the teacher. Although the recorded sessions were a success, but it was felt that something more could be added to bring in more engagement f rom students. So live-sessions were introduced and this not only brought us closer to students but also allowed us to engage non-participating students. This encouraged such students to come on live camera to showcase the activities being taught in the class. This new change helped us evolve and try new ways to teach ‘Physical Education’ through digital medium. REPORT - CLASS ASSEMBLY VIII “Our goal is not just an environment of clean air and water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality and natural respect for all the human beings and all other living creatures.” International Earth Day is an annual event celebrated all around the world on 22nd April to commemorate our benevolent Mother Earth and to motivate children to do their bit towards making the earth a better place to live. Middle Section of Ahlcon International School also observed ‘The Earth Day’ today virtually under the able guidance of AHM Ms.Sunita Rajiv through a special class assembly in which students of class VIII zealously presented a remarkable show. The assembly in all the sections of class commenced with power point presentation, talk, Shloka recitation on the importance of the Earth Day. Students presented mellifluous songs and beautiful thoughts, dances dedicated to our blue planet. Students of class VIII thanked Mother Earth for all its bountiful gifts in the form of all flora and fauna through short videos, posters and self-composed poems. In the end, all the students took a pledge to preserve and conserve their self - sustaining planet. Today’s assembly rekindled impassioned concerns and prompted the Ahlconites to save, love and respect Mother Nature with all their heart and soul. Newsletter 7

AHLCON ON TWITTER IN NEW SESSION Over the past decade, communication methods have changed drastically. It comes as no surprise that there is a close connection between social media and students as it has become the easiest and the fastest way of connecting. At Ahlcon International school, one such platform that is widely used to connect to global network of education is Twitter. It is good to rub and polish our brains against each other. Sharing and learning about innovative practices, views and experiences of other people, educational resources etc. helps in enriching the teaching-learning process. It also ignites a spark in students to come up and collaborate among themselves and with the teachers to carry forward wonderful initiatives. Making best use of their time at home, teachers and students are able to share their work and amazing creations with the world on Twitter. Various projects like GCED, STEM, BEST Club, Rotary Club and many more are shared and promoted on this platform. Our seniors, teachers and students are utilizing the platform by spreading awareness about various issues. Here, students are applauding everyone’s endeavors not only this teachers of the Middle school collaborated to give our little heroes a message that would fill them with positivity and strength. Students find this as a way to share their thoughts, ideas and talent and express themselves in creative ways. Many of them have come up with great initiatives, working for a good cause all by themselves. It helps them learn and realize their role in today’s world and be an inspiration for others! Undoubtedly, “Knowledge is Power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.” Online Panel discussions with our Director, Mr. Ashok Pandey; amazing ideas and online resources shared by our Principal, Mr. Sanjay Yadav; our Headmaster, Mr. Puneet Duggal talked about some noteworthy experiences related to online classes; useful teaching resources like podcast created and shared by our AHM, Ms. Sunita Rajiv, are a few examples that prove that teaching is an act of learning while sharing. Newsletter 8

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Created By– Middle Section Edited By– Binny Rawal, Kanika Wadhera and Lovey Gupta Newsletter 10