The Weekly Bulletin of

Stonehill International School Volume 5, Issue 46

25 November 2016

FEATURED STORIES

Stonehill’s Primary School Invitational Basketball Tournament

In a bid to increase the number of local sports competitions, enhance skill development and provide exposure to our budding athletes in the Primary School, we hosted our very first inter-school tournament on Wednesday, November 16th.

IMPORTANT DATES: NOVEMBER

28th SCHOOL CLOSED FOR STAFF PD DAY

DECEMBER

2nd EAL PARENT WORKSHOP (9:00 – 10:00am)

5th – 7th P8 RESIDENTIAL FIELD TRIP 6th M2 MATHS FIELD TRIP 7th EARLY YEARS WINTER CONCERT (2:00 – 3:00PM) 10th THE LAST WORD: FESTIVAL OF SPEECH, DRAMA & DEBATE

CONTENTS 01/ FEATURED STORIES 06/ PRIMARY NEWS 09/ SECONDARY NEWS 13/ SPORTS NEWS

HIGHLIGHTS Stonehill’s Primary School Invitational Basketball Tournament Our Learning in EAL Learning in P1 News from the Science Department ISACI Round II Report

THE TIGER

We had 4 visiting teams from Bangalore, including Presidency, TRIO, Bishop Cotton Girls and Vidyashilp Academy. We had four of our teams participating in the boys and girls categories. There were many close and well-contested encounters.

Falak reads the Sportsmanship Oath, as Ms. Shannon looks on.

The P6 – P7 Boys finished second overall. They narrowly lost 6-8 in their first game with TRIO before scoring 12 unanswered points against them in their third game to qualify for the finals. The final was a close affair with Vidyashilp winning 22-14.

The P6 – P7 Boys Team.

Our P6-P7 Girls gave their all every game and exhibited good defensive play and teamwork. They finished third in the end coming after Vidyashilp in second place and Bishop Cotton Girls in first.

The P6 – P7 Girls Team.

Congratulating each other after the game.

Our P8 Boys won their first game against Vidyashilp (10-6) before defeating Vidyashilp by 14-4 to storm the finals. The final was tightly contested, with excellent defensive and offensive play. The Boys beat Vidyashilp 12-10 in overtime to take home the trophy.

The P8 Boys Team.

The P8 Girls category was by far the most closely contested with winning margins and overtime. The girls gave it their all but came a close third. Vidyashilp were dominant in the final, beating Bishop Cotton Girls to take the overall trophy with a 20-2 score.

The P8 Girls Team.

As is often the case with close matches, the games were intense. We are glad that in both the low and high moments, our students exhibited teamwork, good sportsmanship and grit. There were very many life lessons learned as evidenced in student reflections after the event and we have every reason to be proud of them.

Visiting Teams.

Home Teams.

Our intention is to make this an annual event in our sporting calendar. This event could not have happened without the support of the PYP teachers and maintenance staff. Dr. Kaburu & Ms. Vandana D’ Cruz Primary Sports

PRIMARY NEWS

Our Learning In EAL

P6 EAL students used a visible thinking strategy to inquire into the properties of solids and liquids. They walked around the classroom and asked questions about the materials that they had chosen from the inquiry corner. Then they carried out experiments to see how solids react in contact with different liquids. They were able to investigate and discover which objects float, sink or absorb when placed in water. Through these activities, the students explored descriptive language and explained how we use each object for a variety of purposes.

P8 EAL students have been focusing on expanding their vocabulary and developing their fluency in English through physical activities. The students have been working on writing a report about a natural resource of their choice. After reading a relevant text, they chose keywords and placed them in the classroom. Students physically moved through the words and orally constructed a paragraph based on their topic. These hands-on activities supported their organisation of thoughts as well as their understanding of how to apply academic vocabulary in their writing. Ms. Ina Chakraborty PYP EAL Teacher

Learning In P1

P1 have been enjoying their new friends, the Bee-Bots. We are still getting used to how to program them. Some of us like the left and right commands the most and make the Bee-Bot dizzy. Others enjoy the challenge of getting the Bee-Bot to do something specific like going under a bridge or through the tent.

Our focus areas in Maths this unit are patterns and shapes. At the moment students are enjoying sorting the colours and the shapes. Some are still focused on using their favourite colour.

During student-led inquiry time some of the students discovered the letter cards and whiteboard markers and spent time tracing the letters and singing our letter songs.

Ms. Sabine Wildman P1 Class Teacher

Professional Development At Stonehill we place great importance on providing high quality professional development opportunities for our teachers. Throughout the year, teachers attend seminars, workshops and conferences, both within India and overseas, to ensure that they remain challenged, supported and engaged. We believe that all members of our school community should be lifelong learners. This weekend, two International Baccalaureate Workshop Leaders will be visiting Stonehill to offer a workshop that focuses on inquiry-based learning. Inquiry is the pedagogy that underpins all programmes in the IB. The workshop this weekend will look at how the PYP framework provides opportunities for all learners to engage in relevant and significant inquiries. Participants will critique a range of inquiry models emphasizing that inquiry is an ongoing process that leads to reflection, new inquiries and deep understanding. Inquiry is true differentiation, supporting the personal construction of meaning and meaningful action. All PYP Teachers and Teaching Assistants will be participating in this three day IB certified workshop during Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Please note that School is closed on Monday 28th November to enable this IB Workshop to take place.

Cricket Tournament Postponed Please note that the Primary Invitational Cricket Tournament that was timetabled to take place on Thursday 8th December has been cancelled due to scheduling difficulties with other schools. We will reschedule this fixture shortly after the winter break.

Important Upcoming Primary Dates • Monday 28th November - IB PYP Staff Training - School Closed • Monday 5th to Wednesday 7th December - P8 Residential Field Trip • Wednesday 7th December - Early Years Winter Production at 2:15 pm • Friday 16th December - Winter Music Concert Best regards, Simon McCloskey Primary Principal

SECONDARY NEWS

The MYP Arts Showcase was held on Wednesday, 23rd November from 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm. A wonderful sampling of work from M1 – M5 students was on display from the Visual Art, Drama, Music, and Design courses. Thank you Ms. Ranmali, Ms. Evelyn, Mr. Dinar, Mr. John, and Mr. Mohammed for organising this event. A detailed report with photographs will follow next week. The Secondary staff PD day will be held on Monday, 28th November. There will be no school for students on that day. Kind regards, Narendra Mehrotra Secondary Principal

News From The Science Department

First, an interactive and fun Science themed treasure hunt was organised by Ms. Kaddy, to whom we are very grateful. When asked the reason for such a novel idea she said, "What I really want…I really, really want is getting across the message that Science is fun". The activity was an inter-house competition where students had to follow science related clues, such as, "something with chlorophyll" or "something which conducts electricity". After acquiring said object, the first one to deliver it to the teacher would earn three points for their houses. It was undertaken with the intensity of the Olympic Games, with Nehru and Chawla both tied for first place with 22 points each! The Biology lab remained a hotspot of activity, as Biology students sought to understand anaerobic respiration. They learnt first-hand how fermentation changed the food they ate; experiencing the difference between soya and soy milk or milk and yogurt. This simple experiment helped the students easily work out the complex equations and comprehend the difference between aerobic and anaerobic respiration.

Ms. Beck’s M4 Chemistry students learnt how to use the colorimeters as a way of measuring rates of reactions.

M3 students presented the particle arrangement of matter in four states. Through a role play activity, they acted as atoms and demonstrate the energy, charge, and motion of particles.

They also created informative pictures about disadvantages of thermal expansion and contraction.

Presently, students are working on modes of transfer of heat through experiments. They are investigating factors that affect the rate of cooling of a cup of coffee in order to appreciate how thermal insulation can save a lot of energy.

Things have been getting dynamic in Physics with the M4 students. They have been learning about forces and motion for the last few months, and using this as a base to investigate different types of forces that affect the motion of a helicopter. Students are creating their own paper helicopters, altering the designs, measuring the change in their motion and, in the process, gauging and appreciating the influence of force in our lives.

D1 Science students are currently making bottle rockets to demonstrate their understanding of Newton's Third Law and Principle of Conservation of Momentum. These rockets will be evaluated on their range, height, and their understanding of Physics principles.

M1 students completed their deductions of the degree of water pollution when pollutants like soda, petrol, and hand sanitiser were added in different amounts, by checking the growth of plants in the polluted water.

M2 students have kept busy by making plant posters under the guidance of their teacher Mrs. Appleby. Ms. Maitreyee Banerjee HoD Science

SPORTS NEWS

ISACI Round II Report

Girls Basketball Team.

Boys Football Team.

Our students were confident and looking good in preparation for this ISACI tournament in Hyderabad. The girls had built a small but strong team under the expert tutelage of Coach Sood, and they were looking at going one up on their position of silver from last year. The boys had some great new players, had developed some good team strategies, and were confident of success. Their coaches were Mr. Gostelow and Mr. Milne who had spent a lot of time and effort in preparation.

Both teams started well, with the girls beating 2014 champions, The British School (TBS), New Delhi, and the boys getting early goals against Mercedes Benz International School (MBIS), Pune. Unfortunately for the boys, chances weren't converted successfully and luck wasn't on their side so they ended up losing their opening match.

The second match on day one was against TBS for the boys and MBIS for the girls. TBS boys were very strong, and despite injury issues and a severely depleted team, TBS won the game. MBIS retained their strength and with some superb 3 point shooting, ended up the winners. This meant that after day one the girl’s fate for the finals was dependent on the results of their morning match against the International School of Hyderabad (ISH), while the boys would be meeting ISH in the morning as well.

Some spirits needed building that evening, but after a social event and a good night’s sleep at their homestay placements, confidence was high in the morning and teams were ready to go. Our teams fought hard and represented their school and their uniforms with pride and passion. However, ultimately they were not able to get the results they wanted.

We ended up in the 3/4 play-off finals, and unfortunately, both teams lost their placement games as well. Though it was a disappointing result, both teams played well and their coaches were proud of their efforts.

After the dinner and medals ceremony and exchanges of phone numbers and details with the other school students, we headed back to Bangalore – beaten but unbowed. As a coach, I was very pleased with the way that our students represented themselves. They were polite, tenacious, without protesting referee decisions which sometimes didn't go their way. We will build from this and come back better and stronger next time. We now look forward to the next season of ISACI – Boys cricket and Girls Volleyball in Delhi in March, as well as the Middle School tournament in Pune in February. Mr. Adrian Shepherd Head of PE and Sport

Basketball Reflection by Nitya

ISACI Round II Basketball was a great learning experience for our whole team, and I enjoyed helping to lead the team while growing together. We went into the competition not having a lot of game experience; however, we performed better than expected. With each game we learned new things and tried new things. Though the competition this year was extremely tough and we had a fairly new team, we took the challenge head on and put in effort to do the best of our ability.

The team members were very supportive of each other when things were looking down, and that’ what really kept us going. I was very surprised when some of the team members would take shots and play hard defence, and give the opposition a hard time. Overall it was a great trip and a fun time to get close to both our girls and boys teams! Nitya, M5 Girls Basketball Captain

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