The Weekly Bulletin of

Stonehill International School Volume 5, Issue 49

16 December 2016

FEATURED STORIES

P8 Residential Field Trip

P8 students in Yercaud

P8 students went on a residential field trip to Yercaud in Tamil Nadu last week. They enjoyed the cold mountain climate and fresh air.

IMPORTANT DATES: DECEMBER

16th SCHOOL CLOSES FOR WINTER BREAK

JANUARY 9th SCHOOL REOPENS

13th – 16th M4 & M5 EXAMS 13th - 18th D1 EXAMS 21st PTA INTERNATIONAL FOOD FAIR (1:00 – 4:00PM)

CONTENTS 01/ FEATURED STORIES 03/ MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF THE SCHOOL 04/ PRIMARY NEWS 08/ SECONDARY NEWS 10/ SPORTS NEWS 14/ PTA NEWS

HIGHLIGHTS P8 Residential Field Trip Responsible Use of Energy MYP & DP Exams Journey to Little France in the Heart of Bangalore

THE TIGER

Students were able to take part in many different activities focusing on teamwork, social skills and having fun.

These engaging activities included human knots, spider webs, treasure hunts, crossing the bridge and much more.

To see more photographs and videos of the trip please check the P8 blog (www.pypblogs.com). Ms. Amanda McCloskey & Mr. Chris Rea P8 Class Teachers

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL Dear Friends, It’s hard to believe the December break is already here! So much has happened since the first day of school in August—the PTA barbecue and Diwali mela, the Phuket sports tournament, the Early Years winter concert, the Big Bad Blue swimming meet, the successful launch of our new learning platform and its “test drive” during our Virtual Learning Day, parent workshops, and teacher professional development days, to name just a few. And now we are in full swing with rehearsals for Grease, preparations for our Explore India Trips Week, and hosting another IBO teacher training workshop in February, among other events.

With so much going on, the December break is well-deserved. I hope you have the opportunity to relax together with friends and family and enjoy the really important things in life. If you are traveling, please travel safely. Enjoy the holidays, and I’ll see you back at school in January. With best regards, Dr. Beverly Sortland Head of School

PRIMARY NEWS

Responsible Use of Energy

P7 have just completed their second unit on ‘How the World Works’. Students enjoyed investigating how energy is consumed within the school community and how it impacts on the environment. They presented their findings during the PYP Assembly, prompting others to think about how they can be responsible users of energy.

P7 presenting their findings on the responsible use of energy during the PYP assembly

In order to understand how our school community consumes energy, students created a whole class survey on Google Forms and sent it to the Stonehill Administration. Students analysed the results in groups and came up with an action plan. They conducted surveys in ten different classrooms which give them an insight into how teachers and students can work together to save energy. They came up with a list of recommendations, displayed them in the classroom and presented them during assembly.

P7 enjoyed investigating how energy can transform from one form to another

Students really enjoyed the learning experience and are particularly excited about the scheduled switch to solar power in the primary school at the start of 2017. In order to understand how solar power works, students experimented with solar panels and were able to explain the process. This led to students evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of solar power leading to the conclusion that India has an extremely suitable climate for generating solar power. According to the Times of India (2016) India is set to become the 4th largest solar market in the world. Ms. Sarita Ngarden & Ms. Geraldine Morrison P7 Class Teachers

Hindi in P4

In Hindi classes, students have been learning how to greet in Hindi. They have been introducing themselves, learning how to describe their likes and dislikes and finding out how how to address family members. They have also been learning a few survival phrases used in daily life.

P4 Hindi students would like to introduce themselves and explain what they have been learning in the class. They have shared a few words and phrases which are used commonly while communicating in Hindi. Namaste! Mera naam Aaditya hai. Main P4 Kaksha main pudhtaa hun. Main 6 saal ka hun. Mere parivaar main meri mataaji, mere pitaaji aur meri behan hai. Mujhko icecream khana bahut pasand hai. Mujhko pizza bahut bahut pasand hai. Mujhko subji pasand nahi hai. Mere ghar main soccer ball hai. Main football kheltaa hun. Mere ghar ke pass aam ka ped hai. Main Hindi Kaksha main Hindi vowels, numbers,phrases, words, questions and answers seekhtaa hun. Main aapko Hindi main kuch (words) shabd aur phrases sikaungaa: Yes - Haan No - Nahi Aapse milkar Khushi hui -I am happy to meet you Kripya - Please Thanks - Dhanyavaad Aap - you Kripya baahar jaaiye - Please go outside Kripya andar aaiye - Please come in Aapka naam kya hai ? What is your name? Kya aapko chocolate pasand hai - Do you like chocolate?

Namaste! Mera naam Malia hai. Main P4D kaksha main pudhti hun. Mujhko icecream pasand hai. Mujhko chocolate pasand nahi hai. Hum Hindi kaksha main parivar ke baare main pudhtey hain. Hindi main mother ko mataaji, older sister ko didi aur father ko pitaaji kehtey hain. Hum kavithaa pudhtey hain. Hum vowels aur numbers bhi pudhtey hain.

Hindi main numbers

1 ek 6 che 11 gyarah 16 solah

2 do 7 saath 12 baarah 17 satrah

3 teen 8 aath 13 terah 18 attarah

4 char 9 nau 14 chaudah 19 unnis

5 paanch 10 dus 15 pandrah 20 bees

Mujhko Hindi pudhnaa pasand hai. Main hindi pudhti hun kyonki mujhko hindi maloom nahi hai. Want to know more about Hindi? Mail us at raji.vk@stonehill.in Ms. Raji V.K. PYP Hindi and Host Culture Teacher

Important Upcoming Primary Dates

• Friday 27th January - Reports issued • Saturday 28th January - PYP Cricket Tournament • Wednesday 1st February - Parent Teacher Student Conferences

Winter Holiday

We hope you all have a restful and relaxing winter break with friends and family. We look forward to seeing children back in school on Monday 9th January. Best regards, Simon McCloskey Primary Principal

SECONDARY NEWS

MYP & DP Exams

MYP examinations for M4 and M5 will be held on 13th, 16th and 17th January 2017. The examination timetable and the review sheets were shared by Mr. Jitendra Pandey, MYP Coordinator, with all MYP students and parents on 9th December. D1 examinations will be held on 13th, 16th, 17th and 18th January 2017. The examination timetable and the review sheets were shared by Ms. Manpreet Kaur, DP Coordinator, with all DP students and parents on 6th December. If you have not received any MYP/DP examination information, please contact Ms. Saathi (saathi.vinay@stonehill.in).

Secondary Trips Week

Trips week will take place from 13th – 17th February 2017. On 8th December, there was an information session on this with students during their advisory lesson. All students were given hard copies of the following documents: • Letter from the Secondary Principal • Permission Slip • Medical Form • Indemnity Form These documents were also emailed to M1 – D1 parents on 8th December; the deadline for returning the completed acceptance form along, with the above documents, to be sent electronically to Mr. Melvin (melvin.kumar@stonehill.in) was Wednesday, 14th December. We hope that you have done so. Our students have been actively involved in various activities and an extremely busy sports programme this semester. The major events that took place during this term are: • Back to School Orientation • PTA Welcome Barbeque • DP Breakout camp • Model United Nations in New Delhi • Several inter-house Competitions • Stonehill participating at the Indus Drama & Debate Competition • Diwali celebrations • MYP Arts and Design showcase • PD Days • Parent-Teacher conference • Cross Country Run We end on a high note with the annual Winter Music Concert this afternoon. I would like to extend a big thank you to all our students for their outstanding contributions for what has been an excellent term.

I would also like to thank our teachers and staff who have demonstrated dedication and commitment beyond the call of their duty to facilitate the learning process both in and out of classrooms. Finally, I would like to thank all parents for their support, particularly our Class Parent Representatives, and our wonderful and dedicated PTA. I wish you all a safe and happy winter break, and look forward to seeing students back at school on Monday, 9th January 2017 with lots of renewed energy. On behalf of Stonehill International School, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Kind regards, Narendra Mehrotra Secondary Principal

Journey to Little France in the Heart of Bangalore

12 students from M2 to M5 pioneered the way to Alliance Française and took the DELF Level A1 examination last Friday. DELF stands for Diplôme d’Etude en Langue Française (French Language Studies Diploma). The experience proved to be a success even before we could find out the exam results, which will be out in just over a month.

For the past two weeks the students systematically prepared for their exam and French suddenly became a priority in their studies. The work we did in class was focused on examination topics and questions. The amount of knowledge and skills acquired in this process was well worth registering for the exam as it also helped them gain confidence and the certainty that practice does make perfect.

The examination was also a way to promote inquiry in the curriculum as the students had an opportunity to reflect on their learning and the different approaches to acquiring a foreign language. They tested their knowledge against the standard set by CIEP, the International Centre for Pedagogical studies based in Paris, which follows CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Mr. François Stalder Head of Language Acquisition

SPORTS NEWS

Middle School Basketball Tournament

Middle School Girls & Boys Basketball Teams

On Friday 2nd December, 15 boys and 14 girls represented Stonehill at the Canadian International School Basketball Tournament. The rain forced play to resume under the covered court but the spirit was not dampened and the Stonehill teams played with huge energy and enthusiasm. Participating schools included CIS, Trio World School, Vidya Niketan School and Stonehill.

Stonehill Tigers during their matches

We played with excellent sportsmanship demonstrating some solid and emerging skills throughout the day. Our training season does not start until after the Winter break so the final results were highly commendable – second position and silver medals went to both Girls and Boys Team 1!

Stonehill Tigers during their matches

The teams were:

Boys

Girls

Team 1 Lucas Aarnav

Neil Mateus

Yuki Christoph

Fabian

Team 1 Michelle Tiriana Gemma Tove

Natsune Rosy

Augusta

Team 2 Dhruva

Vir Zac

Aryamaan Temin

Nicholas Aahan Alek

Team 2 Eysha Dana Emilia Skye Anna Judith Zinia

Girls team after their win

Boys team after their win

Ms. Elizabeth Shepherd P.E. Teacher

PTA NEWS

Happy Holidays from the PTA!

The Stonehill International PTA wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday season. We hope you all get to spend time with friends and family, and celebrate a successful 2016. The PTA is looking forward to many great events in 2017 and we are thankful for all the great support from the Stonehill community. See you next year!!

Don’t forget your shopping list…2017 International Food Fair!

The Stonehill International Food Fair (IFF) will take place on Saturday, January 21st 2017 1:00 – 4:00pm Please ensure you have contacted your Country Representative before you leave for the holidays. Getting back to your home country will be a great opportunity to stock up on needed supplies for the IFF. There will not be much time for preparation when we are all back in January. Let’s make this IFF the best yet! We thank you in advance for your time and efforts and look forward to making the 2017 International Food Fair a great success.

Chilly mornings are here, get your Stonehill Hoodie now!

The PTA is selling grey and navy blue Stonehill hoodies in sizes small, medium, large and extra-large. They cost INR 1500 and are very comfortable and neat. Please email Sal if you are interested in purchasing them. She is also available during drop off (7:30 am) and pick up time (3:00 – 4:00 pm) if your child wants to try them on for size. Sal’s email address is: salmoonsamy@gmail.com

Questions or Comments for the PTA?

If you have any questions, comments, or feedback for the Stonehill PTA, please drop us an email at: pta@stonehill.in We look forward to hearing from you! Best regards, Stonehill PTA

Stonehill International School

Tarahunise Post Jala Hobli Contacting the School: Bangalore North 562157 India Admissions Ms. Rishika Ganapathy T + 91 8043418300 Primary School Ms. Nijika Bhardwaj + 91 8043418318 Secondary School Ms. Saathi Vinay M + 91 9008307684 Transport Mr. Rahul. I E info@stonehill.in Head Nurse Ms Charlette Macdonald