From the Principal’s Desk August 2021

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower

-Steve Jobs

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Adaptability and creativity, irrespective of the resources available, will indicate the

mettle of a leader as it has been proven time and again during these uncertain

times.

At Indus, we endeavour to inculcate these competencies in our students so that

they are prepared to thrive in a world which is volatile, uncertain, chaotic, and

Highlights of the month:

• Investiture Ceremony

• MYP Year 5 results

• Teacher Advisor

• Indus Colloquium

ambiguous. To achieve this, we aim to create a culture of innovation among the

students by encouraging the traits of creativity and innovation while finding

solutions to problems in the community.

Investiture Ceremony:

In our endeavour to help our students unlock their potential, Indus has introduced

its very own Innovation Curriculum. We might be one of the very few schools in

India which encourages its students to go beyond the requirements of academics

to see the bigger picture and realise where our education really fits in the scheme

of things. The Innovation Council is a new avatar of the traditional Student Council

where the distinguishing feature is the innovation score which was the basis of the

selection. It is a natural progression from the Innovation Curriculum. Another

distinguishing feature of the council is that it is not limited to the senior most grade.

Our first Virtual Investiture Ceremony was held on 20th August 2021.

The new council members will take on projects connected with climate challenges,

wellbeing and pursuit of happiness, affordable technologies for equal

opportunities, culture of innovation and lifelong learning and power of persuasive

communication. Our MD & CEO, Lt. Gen. Arjun Ray, in his address to the parents

and students, emphasised on how the Innovation Council members should use

their position to inspire change and transform the community around them. He

highlighted that the need of the hour is to find effective solutions to reverse

problems like climate change, and this can only be achieved through innovative

thinking.

PYP:

The PYP Counselor Dr Khaiser conducted interactive sessions on wellbeing, which

discussed tips to schedule daily routines and health tips. Multimedia resources

were used to generate interesting conversations and it was rewarding to see

students apply what was taught.

Students in the Reception celebrated Varamahalakshmi along with parents who

showcased the uniqueness of their customs and traditions through a pictorial

presentation. The little ones celebrated with glee as they got to know more about

the festival.

Students of Grade 2 interacted with nutritionist and dietician Ms. Khyati

Rupani. She discussed the importance of healthy eating and shared simple recipes

to stay healthy and fit.

Ms. Nivetha Ramesh from sankalptaru.org used a story to conduct a very

interactive session to help Grade 3 students realise plants as a life-sustaining

resource. They also had a very enriching session with Mr. Peepal Baba, Founder

member of the NGO called "https://givemetrees.org/. His session gave students

deeper insights into the concept of deforestation and its effects on the

environment.

MYP:

The IBMYP results of Year 5 students were declared on 1st August. We are delighted

to announce a pass percentage of 96 with many above 50.

I congratulate all our students, teachers, and parents for achieving such good

results despite all the challenges. As we look ahead, we will consolidate on our good

practices.

Grade 6-8: As we complete the first month of the academic year, the students have

settled in well into their class routines. The morning reading periods are filled with

lively discussions about books which they have read or are reading. The weekly

assemblies are aimed at building a sense of belonging and community that students

much need as they sail through the online scenario.

Afforestation Drive (Grades 6-8): On the occasion of the 75th Independence Day of

our country, a few students, and teachers of Grades 6-8, planted about 100 saplings

at B. Hosahalli, about 3.5 km from our school. Our MYP students Venkat Raghav

Muralidhar, Rithika Saryu, Siddharth Mitra, Venba Nathar, Nudan Nathar, Sreehari

Nandhan, Sreelakshmi Nandhan and Ashni S Yogesh accomplished the herculean

task, with a little help from a few Indus teachers, staff, and parents. While the

second wave of COVID had brought a temporary halt to their afforestation drive,

their spirits remained high. The project was a collaboration between Indus, The

Voice of Sarjapura and Sarjapura Curries.

Digital Fluency Initiative: All students are being trained in digital fluency which is

different to using digital tools. Digital fluency is about using skills for change and

transformation. As part of this initiative, students will learn various key digital

competencies that can enhance their critical thinking, situational awareness, and

research skills. We have worked out age-appropriate benchmarks for the school.

These tools will be incorporated as part of the curriculum for continuous practice.

The month of August saw students learn how to flip their learning with tools such

as screencast, Loom and Flipgrid. Research skill sessions were also conducted to

step up on digital fluency.

EduPerfect Launch: The school is now exploring EduPerfect as a leading platform

for online learning. The platform was launched with short training sessions for

students. This will be followed by tasks on EduPerfect to test efficacy and student

engagement. We foresee a successful implementation of EduPerfect to improve

personalization of learning.

Teacher Advisor:

Teacher Advisor is a concept which was introduced last year where teachers have

re-rolled themselves to lead, guide and mentor students. The larger objective is to

teach the child and not the subject alone.

Each Teacher Advisor has 6-8 students. The focus is on helping them identify their

higher purpose in life, engage in design thinking for critical and innovative thinking.

This would involve deep reading and goal setting as essential tools.

DP:

Grade 11 students are settling down to the academic rigour. Several workshops

were conducted to familiarize them with various expectations of the DP. English

support class commenced in the last week of August to help students improve their

writing skills.

Grade 12 students recorded their final English IO which accounts for 40% of the

final English grade. The Grade 12 students have also been meeting their mentors

to discuss their academic goals.

Support classes have commenced for Grade 12 students. They are being taught in

clusters to keep the teacher taught ratio low.

Grade 11 Initiative: In partnership with the NGO Bellandur Jothege, Project

Breathe - Anekal has been formed by a group of Indus Grade 11 students which

includes Aadiv Reki, Arnav Nevatia, Pooja Parthasarathy, Samarth Govil, Tharun

Vishwanathan and Naren Ramesh. They are also working with the Government of

Karnataka (Rural Department of Health) Nodal Officer in Anekal for demand

mapping. Recently they delivered Oxy-Relief kits to Primary Healthcare Centres in

Anekal.

Leadership Camp: Pandemic and online teaching did not dampen our leadership

camps. Students successfully engaged in various activities related to wellness, a

team of teams, adaptability, and climate change over a course of four days as a part

of their leadership training in August.

College Counselling Department:

College counselling department conducted a workshop for Grade 12 students to

mentor them on college admission process and profile building.

A session titled "Find out about yourself" was held for Grade 9 students to help

them identify their areas of interest and a profile building session was held with

Grade 10 students. A training session was held with Grade 11 and 12 Teacher

Advisors to help students understand themselves better and plan their future

which is getting increasingly uncertain. Grade 12 students had a dedicated session

on writing an effective UCAS personal statement. Counsellors are meeting with

senior year students and parents to guide them with their college applications.

We had a few university visits in August which included visits by universities like

Johns Hopkins, Washington University St Louis, Emory, University of Notre Dame,

Queens, Skidmore, Union, Colgate, and Hamilton. We also had a virtual university

fair, "Around the World in 30 Minutes" (including Australia, Canada, Grenada, Italy,

Ireland, Singapore, Spain, U.K. Hong Kong, and the U.S).

Participation in Interschool events:

VIVUM 21 – Indus Participation: Some of our students participated in the event

and we are proud to announce that Ria Bhatnagar, Preeya Kirani, and Raghav Gadre

of Grade 12 won the first place in the Music Band Category.

HMUN India 2021: The prestigious Harvard Model United Nations India conference

was held between 12th to 14th August. Ten students from Indus International School

Bangalore of Grades 9 and 10 participated in the conference and represented

countries such as UAE, Zimbabwe, Russia, etc. They defended their country’s

position and participated actively in sponsoring and drafting resolutions to resolve

issues.

India International Movement to Unite Nations (IIMUN): Our students attended

the flagship digital conference of the India International Movement to Unite

Nations (IIMUN) from 13th - 15th August. Aadiv Reki, Yashvardhan Saboo and Tharun

Viswanathan received notable commendations.

Sports:

Sports hour: To maintain the physical wellbeing of our students, the sports

department has started with a weekly sports hour for all grades. Students have

started participating with enthusiasm.

The PE Department has come up with a unique sports and wellness online

curriculum which will be delivered during the sports hour. The newly designed

programme focuses on the physical fitness levels of the students along with mental

agility and overall wellness.

Challenges based on recreation have been introduced to bring a fresh twist to the

workouts. The fitness components will include strength, endurance, flexibility,

agility, speed, and coordination. An element of fun has been introduced to

intrinsically motivate the students so that they can make it a part of their daily

routine while creating a fit lifestyle.

Other Achievements:

We are happy to announce that Sathvik Ishaan Sampath of Grade 12 had

represented BOSCH Basketball Team in Sri M C Srinivasa Memorial State ‘B’

Division Basketball Championship for men organised by Karnataka State Basketball

Association, which was held at Kanteerva Stadium Bangalore.

Rhythm Singhal of Grade 11 received

first prize in Under-16, Under-18, and

Senior Women's State-level Chess

tournaments. She was also the

recipient of the best female chess

player award in the Late Shri Nand Lal

Yadav Memorial Open State online

chess championship.

We are very proud of our students’ achievements, and we wish them the best.

Indus Colloquium - Future of Education and Work:

Indus International Schools with Indus Training and Research Institute organised

the Indus Ideation Colloquium on the 28th of August 2021.

We believe that the purpose of education is to prepare a child to be future-ready:

a future we do not know. With factors like the 4th Industrial Revolution and climate

change, our world is becoming more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous

than ever before. This is leading to rapid obsolescence in jobs, knowledge, and

technology. Therefore, schools must enable students to unlearn, relearn and reskill

continuously.

The aim of the Colloquium was to ideate to create a prototype of the School of

the Future. We had students, parents, teachers, principals, and experts from the

industry share their divergent views on how this can be achieved. This will be

followed by a National level Colloquium in September where we will engage in

conversations with prominent figures in the field of education.

We are all set to reopen and receive our Eagles. As the school atmosphere turns

vibrant with students, we are positive that a holistic education will prepare them

for all challenges.

Regards,

Sarojini Rao

Principal

Indus International School, Bangalore

Dates for Your Diary- September 2021

DATE EVENT

3rd September Teachers’ Day Celebrations

6th September School reopens for Grades 9 -12 (Day Scholars)

10th September Ganesh Chaturthi Holiday

11th - 12th September Grades 9-12 Boarders return for school reopening

17th & 18th September Indus National Colloquium

17th- 24th September Grade 11: Mid Term Test-1 (MTT-1) RC-A

20th September- 1st October Grade 12: Mid Term Test-1 (MTT-1) RC-A

23rd & 24th September 3 Way Conference – Teacher Advisor