With the encouragement and support of the Management of G D Goenka World School,Mrs. Neeta Bali, the Head of school and Principal, initiated the process of further strengthening the spirit of internationalism in the school and applied for International School Award to British council, India. Various activities were conducted and coordinated by the ISA Coordinator, Mrs. Madhu Bhargava, in collaboration with schools in the USA, Brazil, Scotland, Croatia, Japan, India, Portugal and China. A bird’s eye view of the projects:
Formal letter from the British Council
Teacher in space-Christa McAuliffe was selected for the NASA Teacher in Space Project on 19 July 1985. She was to be the first civilian sent into space. Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, (named after the astronaut) Texas USA, called upon global partners to send Christa’s name all over the world. This school is our partner for other international activities like exchange of Book Marks every year during International School Library month October. We exchanged communication and decided to join the project. We further expanded the project in which our students not only researched about Christa but also undertook various activities mentioned in the action plan and blogged on the http://ictpyp.blogspot.in It was truly and international experience for the students.
Jamboree– A Carnival of many countries was organized in the school premises inviting parents and whole school community. Under the curriculum inquiry of Primary year’s program, ‘Where we are in place and time’, all grades selected a country to research. The school hosts students of diverse cultures from across the globe, approximately 39 countries. The focus was to encompass Geographical features, food; clothes; art and culture; languages of the selected countries and display in as original as possible. The action invoked immense response from not only the national and international origin students but from their parents as well, who reside in India presently.
World Wild Life- Originally project focused on developing ICT skills based on structured curriculum of Cambridge International Examinations, UK following the theme ‘Animals of the World’. Students also participated in an International project ‘Learn to preserve; endangered species’, launched by ‘Schools online, British Council. They shared their findings with international communities of students in Scotland,UK partner school (Oban High School), Many schools in Brazil, Egypt and Nigeria.
School also organized an exhibition to create awareness towards Environment and sustainable development at the grass roots level by “Bharat Soka Gakkai”, an NGO (Japan) which works for Peace, culture and Education on ‘World Animal and World Habitat Day’ on October 4-5, 2012.
Windows into the world of culture– As a precursor to the new academic session, a project ‘Windows into the world of culture’ was created by ISA team to engage students in research work during summer vacation.
Students were assigned European countries like Germany, France, Spain and Italy to research on the traditions, culture, historical monuments, World War I and II, national symbols etc. Particularly these countries were assigned as these are covered in the curriculum and languages of these countries are studied as third language in the school. ICT skills were given prime importance and the element was covered in the ICT holidays home work as well. This work has been uploaded on a web 2.0 tool http://gdgwsmspsst.pbworks.com as a resource which may be used by the whole school community.
Technology sharing- Students of grades IX-XII made an International Business project to export a product to Germany from India. They connected with European buyers and researched on Internet via Business leads to identify a product, locate an area in Germany and explain why there is a good market opportunity at the targeted location.
They gave a name to the company, and stated a reason for the selection of name, created company logo/trademark, research business customs, trade barriers and study competitors. Finally made a summary report and uploaded the project on a wiki or G world using web 2.0. Best projects were selected and products were developed, dummy companies were formed with complete formalities like company profile, objectives, mission and vision statements, visiting cards, and presentations on products etc. which were displayed in the Trade Fair in October 2012.
Octave– Most IB world schools have powerful cultural fingerprints of many countries. An environment of inquiry prevails in the curriculum. Project ‘Octave’ was very appropriate activity for such a back drop. In the months of October-November, International students were encouraged to come forth and participate in group singing or dancing of their own countries and become a means of inquiring into international mindedness of all the students. Food and festivals were also an integral part of the project which were undertaken by Indian and International students very meaningfully and with sustained interest levels.
World of Water– International World Water Day was held in March, as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for sustainable management of freshwater resources. It is important to connect globally to understand the issue and see what others are doing to deal with it. So we connected ourselves with eKWIP is an education program which is educating kids with International possibilities and its mission is the coalition for International initiatives works to leverage social entrepreneurship in order to make a positive impact on the local and global community.
The Tuskers- The Tuskers is a global project. It not only requires international attention but international action. Making our students aware of the problem and sensitizing them was one such effort. Organizations like IFAW and WTI organize worldwide campaigns to create awareness among students and citizens. Showing our students such award winning documentaries like ‘Born to be Wild’ and ‘Elephants don’t forget’, helped us generate empathy for elephants and they understood their role in bio diversity. All the activities were captured in stills and posted on the schools online blog for the international community.
Reading…a life long journey- Month long plethora of activities enveloping whole school was organized ruing October 2013. Sub activities such as:
- Story of writing exhibition
- Book Marks exchange with at least 6 schools in USA, Croatia, Scotland and Portugal.
- Folk tales project with Brazil, Egypt, UK, Nigeria and many more schools from India.
- Skype project with global partners
- Global collaboration project on Charles Dickens.
Scienamite- The fourth Inter -School Science Competition- Goenkan Scienamite 2012 held on December 13, 2012 was at GDGWS Campus. The theme of this year’s Scienamite was ‘Celebrating a sustainable world. Cherish it! Conserve it!”
It en-compassed a gamut of activities including, The Big Fight (Debate), Unravel the Universe (Quiz), Junkyard Wars (Music competition), Traditional Treasures (Poster Design Competition), Glorious Greens (Card Making competition) and Folklore Fiesta (Skit Competition). The eminent judges included Ms Purti Kohli from British Council.
The evidence based 500 page dossier was submitted to British Council for accreditation which has been approved for the years 2013-16.
The British council International School Award is an accreditation scheme for curriculum-based international work in schools.
