News in Brief

School Reopens Mime at Punjabi University Annual Prize Giving Science Express Inter-House English

Recitation Competition Staff Corner

* Workshop at Trivandrum * Workshop at Bangalore

* Workshop by Primary Plus * Staff News Sports

Newsletter APrIl 2013

BREAKING NEWS Our School has been awarded the International School Award by the British Council for year 2013-16.

School Reopens Block No 2 The final exams bring a discernible loud silence to the school premises. Anxious wait for the result ended, the report cards were handed over to the parents and the students on March 24. After a brief, much needed and welcome break, the school reopened and brought giggles, grins, smiles and laughter back. The first day in any school is never without hiccups, but fortunately there was not any at our’s due to meticulous planning and management. April 2 was the day when a new beginning was made and a new chapter opened in the history of the British Co-Ed High School. It is written with pride and joy that the students of classes IV and V finally walked into Block No 2 on the ground floor adjoining the Senior School (Block No 1). A brief but solemn

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ribbon –cutting ceremony, without any unnecessary fanfare, was held. The juniors, after a prayer by the Principal, entered the precincts. Final touches are still being given to this building. It will be formally inaugurated shortly this year. Inter House English Recitation competition for classes IV and V:- The Principal listened to the short listed candidates and was really in awe to hear some of them. They recited some quite complex poems with great flair and sensibility.

Romeo and Juliet in Mime Shakespeare’s greatness and skill, as master playwright, can be felt or imagined only by reading or watching the performance of his plays on the stage. In the month of April, our school organized a visit to the Punjabi University for students of classes IX-XII. The students of the drama department of the university presented the play in the auditorium of Kala Kendra. The

whole performance was so beautiful and the movements so graceful that the audience could not but applaud. Stage properties were bare minimum, dresses were simple yet effective, and action so apt that we, throughout the one and a half hour show, sat spellbound. As the show ended, there was a brief introduction of all those who were involved. We had a chance to interact with the students of the department. Our young minds feel motivated already as there was a lot to learn. The show was so beautiful that one can write a lot in appreciation. We sincerely hope and look forward to such enriching visits. Annual Prize Giving Function Patience, practice and rehearsals finally paid off on the final day. Under the white shade and soothing ambience, 9th Annual Prize Giving Function of the school was held on April 12TH, 2013, in the school premises. The Chief Guest of the day was Mr. A.S.Pannu, Divisional Commissioner, Patiala Range. The function honoured the students who were merit holders, with 100% attendance throughout the year and also who had bagged the 1st 2nd and 3rd position in the class. A fairly large number of parents too graced the occasion who had come to see their

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loved ones on the stage. The Chief Guest, without hesitation, stated that the British Co-Ed High School was the best school in the district. He expressed his views that government schools have failed to impart quality education. In his opinion, public and convent schools are the torch-bearers in the field of education. Mrs. Rosa Kucharskyj, the Principal, agreed to the Chief Guest’s suggestion that he would propose to the Punjab government, that the teachers of the BCEHS would guide the staff of a government school in its vicinity in English, Maths and Science. A number of students gave an account of the activities conducted in the school and their achievements in various fields. The Chief Guest applauded the confidence of the students. Tagore House won the trophy in academics, whereas the trophy for co-curricular activities went to Teresa House. Jai Satyam received the trophy as the Best All Round Student of the year.

SCIENCE EXPRESS Science Express is a train, all about various branches of science, started by the Government of India to motivate and encourage the youth to study it. This train has been going around to each and every city of the country. This time, Patiala became its stop, and we were lucky enough, as our school took us to the railway station on 15th April to see the train. On reaching there we found, to our amazement, that it was a long, white train containing models, diagrams, presentations, and also scientific and ecological information. The compartments of the train provided extensive, valuable and in depth information on one subject only. Each compartment had a different theme and supplied knowledge based on that particular theme only. Every student was fascinated and deeply engrossed as they went around the express. All the students gained a lot and returned enlightened. STAFF CORNER

Professional Development Workshop at Trivandrum Mr Vikas Devgon and Ms Kiran Harika participated in the Professional Development Workshop for educators conducted by the British Council held at Trivandrum from 15th to 17th March 2013. This workshop introduced the teachers to the educational benefits and practicalities of international learning and global citizenship. International learning enriches teaching and learning, allows children to Explore, think and experiment out of the box.

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Global citizenship teaches the students commitment to rights and responsibilities,sustainable living,creative thinking, collaborating, self awareness and the desire to make a difference. Another interesting concept was school enterprise which is managed and run by the students who gain practical business skills ,leadership qualities ,learning by doing and working on an enterprise.

To create a story or play in 100 Words left the educators spellbound. Our students have already participated in the 100 Words competition for the Alchemy Festival, London. When we combine all aspects of international learning it leads to powerful learning opportunities for the students.

TRAINING FOR TRAINERS (T4T) WORKSHOP BANGALORE, INDIA

Training for Trainers (T4T) Workshop was conducted from 01 to 05 April 2013 at Jain International Residential School, Bangalore (Karnataka). The head trainer for this workshop was Mr. Rob Oliphant, Program Manager for The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, Asia Pacific Region. 20 delegates from the Asia Pacific Region (India, Sri Lanka,

Nepal, Bangladesh) attended this workshop. 12 delegates from all over India were nominated by the National Award Authority to attend this workshop.

Mr Ranjit Singh of The British Co-Ed High School was nominated from the North region. New cutting edge training media, methods, tools and research findings were discussed to train the trainers at the workshop. Practical session of training was conducted after every theory session.

All delegates were assigned to give a presentation on the International Award for Young People (IAYP) in pairs. Mr. Singh gave presentation with Ms. Sue Taylor (A British teacher in Nepal). This workshop filled delegates with new ideas and knowledge to train the trainers as well as the young people for all the sections of award (Service, Skill, Physical Recreation and Adventurous journey).

Workshop by Primary Plus The workshop, Quality Teaching Skills, was conducted on 30th March’13, by Mr. Dheeraj Mehrotra. It mainly centered around the revolution in education system as a result of the dramatic

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escalation in IT Sector. This advancement in technology has raised the expectations of teachers, students and parents as well. The much needed boost to the confidence of the teachers is possible by upgrading themselves with fast changing technology – computer and other electronic gizmos. The workshop laid stress on updating oneself with the internet and its diversification to match with the contemporary world of the students. Mr. Mehrotra exhorted

the teachers that in the present day scenario there is a demand for ‘Rock Star Professional Teachers’. Teachers were encouraged to upload their lectures or clippings of their lessons for better feedback and criticism. He suggested many web sites to browse to further facilitate and enhance efficiency of teachers and mentors.

Staff News

We welcome –Ms. Shaliza Gupta & Ms. Shikha Kanwar – Department of Social Sciences, Ms. Shailja Sharma, Ms. Inderpreet Kaur & Ms. Richa Verma –Department Of English, Ms. Amrit Kaur- Department Of Dance and Music, Ms. Navjot Kaur- Department of Sciences, Ms. Meenakshi Sharma- Department of

IT, Mr. Mandeep Chand - Department of Hindi We welcome back Ms. Shalu Seth -Department Of Mathematics, Sports News Skating Naman Gupta (8th) won 1 gold and 1 silver medal in Inter State Roller Skating Championship. Cricket Our School Cricket Team (Under-13) participated in S.P Sinha T-20 National Cricket Tournament held at Dehradun from April 7th to 20th. Our team won 2 matches out of 3 from their pool. Our school batting first scored 147 runs for the loss of four wickets. In reply Aryan International School, Varanasi, could score only 71 runs and lost the match by 76 runs. In the 2nd match, our school got the first chance to bat and scored 148 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. The opponents, Seth Anand Ram Jaypuryia, Kanpur team, scored 140 runs and The British Co-Ed School won the match by a narrow margin of 8 runs. Gitansh Dhawan (7GK) was Man of the Match in both the matches. Inter House Middle School Football (Boys) 20thApril, 2013

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Teresa House was declared the winner. The final positions were – 1st Teresa House 2nd Tolstoy House 3rd Tagore House Rahul Sarao(8PTE), Karmanjeet Singh Gill(6DB), Navjot Singh(7PTG), Uday Singh Virdi ,Shubham Malhotra(7GK), Angad Singh Chhina(7PTG), Mittul Aggarwal(6DB) and Jasnoor Singh(DB) were the show – stealers with their performance.

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