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Newsletter Principal
PRINCIPAL’S NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY, 2012
Dear Parents,
Here are a few of my favorite anecdotes from history and legend that demonstrate how important and invaluable it is to think differently and keep things simple:
When Alexander as a young man came across the rope with the Gordian knot blocking the way to the throne and was told that the one who could unknot it would inherit that throne, he simply took out his sword, cut the rope, and claimed the throne.
A young 18 year old school dropout who failed to last a month in a special needs school, teased by friends and given up on by teachers, walked to the gates of Universal Studios one fine day in 1965, wearing his only dark suit and holding his father’s suitcase which had nothing inside but sandwiches and candies – with dreams of becoming a film maker. Without a job or security clearance, he strode confidently to the guard at the gate and gave him a casual wave. The guard waved back. He was in. Inside, he discovered an office that wasn’t being used, bought some plastic tiles and put his name in room 23 C – and started hanging out with the writers and directors there. Ten years later, he made Jaws, then the most successful movie of all time. And that was only the beginning. Of course we are talking about Steven Spielberg.
1903 New York Times headline – “The Aeroplane cannot be made” Three months later, brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright split the air at Kitty Hawk with their first flying machine. When asked how, their cryptic but telling response was - “Simple. We went against the wind!”
Going against the wind, against the tide, against the flow of general opinion – takes some doing. We should always respect the effort, even when we are doubtful about the validity of the stance. And value the voice of the young. After all, it took a little boy’s uncluttered mind to voice the truth that the emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes.
If you are wondering what is the context and the connection, it is very simple. Every day in school, we educators come across students who teach us a thing or two – about life, about work, and about play. Talking about play, the most high profile event of the month was of course the Annual Sports Day.
INDUS SPORTS DAY
Flag Hosting The Four Houses of IISP
  
Prepare for School Exchange the Ring
  
Beading Race Winners
  
Lemon & Spoon
 
Bindi & Balloon
 
Little Champs
  
 
Yoga & Gymanstics
  
  
  
Sack Race
 
 
IISP hosted its 3rd Annual Sports Day along with celebrations for the Republic Day on 26th January, 2012 with patriotic gusto and sportsmanship.
Students actively participated in this event, from the tiny tots of the reception to budding teenagers of the IBDP could be seen taking the ground by storm. The event began with the hoisting the tricolor flag by our honorable guest – Col (Retd) Sathya Rao, Director of Special Projects with Indus who also spoke his thoughts on how winning is not important but a true sportsmanship helps in the long run. The national Anthem was sung with fervor and spirit. The Principal- Mr Hussain delighted the audience with his message and declared the Sports meet Open after which the torch was lighted by the students to symbolize the Sports Day.
The Sports Day then began in full swing with all the four Houses - HERCULES, PEGASUS, PHOENIX & ORION students of Grade VI to Grade XI doing the March Past which was synchronized beautifully. The House which bagged the first place in March Past was HERCULES. The events that were in store for the day were 100 Meters race for Boys and Girls, there were interesting fun races especially catered for the junior champs viz: Beading Race for the reception kids, exchange of rings for Prep I, Prepare for school for PREP II, Lemon and Spoon race for grade I and a sack race for grade II. Also, the Grade III and IV enjoyed the Bindi race and Balloon race respectively. All these races were a treat for the audience as they watched these children vying for the finish line with exuberance.
One of the most striking features was the gymnastics that the children of grade III, IV and V displayed with such élan and agility. The gymnastics were equally balanced out with the Yogasanas that the Grade VI, VII and VIII students exhibited gracefully. A three legged race was also organized for the Support Staff. The students got to prove their athletic skills in the 200 meters race for Boys & girls and also in the relay race. The surprise element before the Sports meet could be announced as closed was the Tug Of War between the IISP Staff and the Parents which displayed the affinity between the two. The Parents took away the winners title.
The event concluded with a Human Pyramid display by the students of Grade X and XI which was indeed breathtaking, followed by Prize Distribution, where the HERCULES HOUSE bagged the Overall Championship Trophy followed by PEGASUS winning the Inter-House Football Trophy and with PHOENIX conquering the Athletic Championship Trophy, followed by a rocking band performance and a sumptuous lunch.
GUEST SPEAKERS AT IISP:
- IISP hosted a guest lecture by Mr. Aniruddha Chouji who works for Pugmarks on the 6th of Jan 2012 for the DP students.
 
Pugmark is an organization working towards creating awareness about basic environmental issues and encourages individual to work on it. Mr. Chouji’s emphasized about the importance of SAVE TIGER project which spoke about the diminishing rate of these species globally and hampering the proportion in environment. This session gave the DP students an insight into their unit on global issues. It also gave them different perspectives and ideas to deal with the current environment issues. It was a pleasure having Mr Chouji with us and we thank for his valuable time.
"Making best use of our in-house resources is one of the most important objectives for any organization. "
The DP Business Management students invited me to speak on Human Resources on 18th Jan2012. The students were enlightened about how the Indus International School Management systems work in all the three schools set at Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. They learnt about the intricacies involved in Recruitment, Planning, Selection, Training and Appraisals of the staff.
The students understood the system of the school and now have a clearer picture of how it important to plan, select and recruit the appropriate workforce as per requirement. They understood that all the staff members need to be trained from time to time to upgrade their knowledge. The students asked queries related to the topics and it was indeed an enriching experience for them.
Pedagogical input:
Ms Naaz Kirmani, IB Diploma Programme Coordinator, participated in a joint research study developed by the IB in association with The Ohio State University. The Research was titled, “Developing informed and engaged students for a globally connected world.” The study’s purpose is to learn how teachers working within the IB Diploma Program:
(1) Conceptualize effective global/international education that aims to prepare students to be responsible and engaged citizens in a globally interconnected world and (2) Perceive how different elements of their practice address these larger goals. One hundred thirty-six teachers participated in the study, representing dozens of countries across all three IB regions.
FIELD TRIPS AT IISP:
  
Grade 1
The students visited Raja Kelkar Museum, and were amazed to see so many artifacts which mirror the life of past generation. They were super excited to see creations in stone, ivory, metal, fabric and clay. It gave them a glimpse into lifestyle of past generations.
The students could effectively make connections with their unit, as they saw storage vessels, sculptures, musical instruments, ornaments and toys from past generation and were able to point out the similarities and differences between past and present generation. It also encouraged us to inquire more into our unit.
MSP
 
On 20th January, Friday, 2012, students of grades 7, 9 and 10 visited the India Meteorological Department, Pune. The students were shown the observatory unit where all the weather instruments are on a display viz. thermometer, rain gauge, sunshine recorder, wind vane, anemometer etc. They were given an insight into as how the numerous weather instruments are used to measure the various elements of weather and climate like the temperature, rainfall, amount of sunshine, wind direction etc. Also, the Grade 8 students paid a visit to Parvati Water works on their field trip .The aim of this trip was to expose the students to the process of treating water which is a part of their unit Air and Water. The students were accompanied by Ms. Razia and Mr. Paul.
HAPPENINGS AT IISP:
EARLY YEARS
 
This month along with academics children were getting geared up for sports day.
They have been practicing for their races and along have been building their stamina by regular exercises and breathing techniques.
ROBOTICS CLUB
Robotics is an excellent multi-disciplinary field to impart practical, activity –based, hands-on learning aimed to ignite passion in students towards Computer Science, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics using ICT.
Recently a workshop on basics of robotics was conducted by Robokul in our school. In all 12 students from grade 6 to 11 participated in the workshop. Mr. Amit from Robokul conducted this workshop. Following are the topics covered by Robokul: a) Robotic Hardware-i) Input and ii) output modules of a robot. b) Study on robotic software which included different methods of programming the sensors. c) Making your own projects: Following were the projects made by the students – i) Burglar Alarm ii) Hand Follower iii) Obstacle avoider iv) Line follower v)Following black track.
A competition was organized on 21.1.12 during the concluding session of the workshop. Team having participants Joe, Raphael and Shoan all from grade 7 won the competition. They could make all the projects successfully. The rest could also do it after several trial and error methods. Team spirit could be seen among the students.
It was fun!!!
 
 
FIRE DRILL:
A Fire drill was organized for the students and staff in the Academic block under the supervision of Director Administration – Maj (Retd) Rishi Tiwari. The aim of this mock drill was to make the students and staff aware about the vigilant measures to take during disaster and exigencies.
IOP
The students had their first of the Internal Assessment tasks in English, the Individual Oral Presentation for Standard Level and Higher Level that was held on Saturday, January 21st 2012, Audio and video recording of a part of some of their presentations, were made and transferred to CDs, for documentation purposes, and for submission to IB, as per the rules laid down.
BOARDERS DELIGHT
  
  
The Boarders celebrated Lohri with gala.The students gave instrumental and vocal performances to the delight of everyone. Also, they all actively participated during the cabin cupboard competition which is a Sunday tradition in the hostels and the winners of this competition are treated with a pizza!
The Boarders were ecstatic when they went to Plezar Point, a water park as a part of their outing. The children enjoy their weekend club activities too to the hill.
IISP UPCOMING EVENTS:
- PYP Open Day - 4th February, 2012.
- PYP Lawn Tennis - 9th February, 2012.
- PYP Day Long Picnic - 10th February, 2012.
- MSP/DP Lawn Tennis - 14th February, 2012.
- MSP Open Day - 25th February, 2012.
- MSP/DP Squash - 27th February, 2012.
- Science Day - 28th February, 2012.
Coming back to my pet musing of the month, Einstein was another icon fond of taking the road less traveled. He says, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” So doing things differently counts, because it opens up the possibility of different outcomes, and not because it will get us attention. A lesson we the ‘mature’ learn everyday from our younger ‘adventurous’ successors!
‘One of my all-time favorite quotes is by Albert Einstein, who says, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”One of my all-time favorite quotes is by Albert Einstein, who says, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different
Sincere regards,
Shouquot Hussain
Principal.
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