A huge thank you to parents who have attended recent webinars run by our teachers.  We have a tab on the blog for all webinars to be accessed at any time.

Many thanks,

• Ms Lisa

Dear Parents,

On Friday, September 18th, we will have a non-student day, the majority of our students are expected to sign up for a 20 minutes time slot with their child's homeroom teacher.  We will also have 'buffer' time slots on Thursday, 17th and Monday 21st.
Please have a look at the video which explains exactly how the conferences will work.  A big thank you to Ms Archana for putting the video together.

Many thanks,
Ms Lisa

Primary Coffee Morning Questions

Dear Parents and Families,

Many thanks for your questions before and after Mr Steve’s recent Parent session.

Just to let you know we are planning Parent sessions/webinars/workshops in the near future to cover a range of topics.  Our first session will be for new families to understand the Primary Years Programme, this will be led by our PYP Coordinator; Archana Gera.

  Please find responses to some of your questions below.  The questions are in green and responses are in blue, please note I have not edited parent questions:
​
Can we have two levels of Hindi for differentiated learning, advanced and beginners? I suppose at least half of the kids are pretty proficient in Hindi.
As we are a PYP school, streaming of languages is not accepted by the IB.  However, we are looking at ways of possible different grouping for the larger classes.
Why don't we use Zoom for classes at JVLR? Google Meet is not a very good user-interface. Zoom allows so much more flexibility for teachers.  When do you expect the transition to Zoom happen?
All single subject teachers are switching to Zoom and once teachers have received training they too will work towards using Zoom for most of their sessions.

Hi Stephen. A query on the asynchronous learning. We are new to the OIS family and the tools etc. are a bit of a catch up for the child. In this scenario asynchronous learning (given both of us are working) becomes a bit much especially if it is expected daily. Realistically we are in a “weekend catchup” mode with the asynchronous learning. Is there any way to relax the timelines a bit to allow kid to catch up? Thanks.
Please speak to your child’s homeroom teacher with regards to completion of tasks.

Given limitations of online, could you consider one on one sessions with the kid once a month to evaluate how they are coping up vis a vi’s then larger group and course correct if need be
This would be impossible to do considering the number of children we have at the school.  However, please feel free to ask for an appointment with an individual teacher if you have any questions or queries, we also have our Learning Support Team who are available to assist you in any way.

How about using Microsoft Teams instead of Google Meet or Zoom since we can do online classes and assignments on it.
We have explored Microsoft Teams as a Senior Leadership Team and as most of the functions were offline, we didn’t feel it was user friendly for the students and being an Apple School, we are using more of the online features for teaching and learning.

As a one school two campus philosophy there is yet a disparity in the schedule and content for the same grades at both campuses. How are we planning to reduce that?  Disparities are:
OGC started with Zoom from Day 1; Weekly schedules were better prepared from Day 1
With regards to schedules, teachers have different approaches to design schedules, some of our children are creating their own schedules independently (student choice and agency) and some students have been given a schedule, and some teachers are helping some students create schedules.

We received the very beautifully designed note books . Thankyou got that !As a new parent would like to know do we need to buy text books ?
Primary Parents do not need to buy textbooks.  We do not use textbooks in Primary school, as we are a PYP school.

Can we have online workshops from the Counselor like we had last year with Dr. Patricia?
Please contact the Learning Support team if you have any questions about counselling.

Now that the new education policy has made coding compulsory from Grade 6. how is school incorporating this into the curriculum?
As shared by Steve, a great deal of the elements of the NEP, we are doing already with our IB Programmes.

Can we have email of school counsellor if the child is facing school related anxiety.
Please contact the Learning Support team if you have any questions about counselling.

Is there a way to know in advance what all Units Kids are going to cover in each term?
The PYP Coordinator will be sharing the Programme of Inquiry with you very soon.

Do you have a set curriculum for nursery so we can get an idea what kids will learn and if yes can you share it with us.
We have a Programme of Inquiry set for the year, please ask your teacher to share it with you.

Now that school reopening till December looks next to impossible, may we request an insight into units and inquiries for next two terms. 
We have a Programme of Inquiry set for the year, please ask your teacher to share it with you.

i believe that these early years are extremely important as they are the basis of laying a strong foundation.i understand that the school is doing the best they can.But i m concerned about the impact of a virtual class room on my child as it simply cannot replace the real thing.Are you looking at newer and more dynamic ways of teaching online? we have so many resources we have access too.we need to make optimal use of them and try and introduce learning which is more hands on.Though there is 2 way communication between the child and teacher but it is no way as dynamic as it is in a real class room.
Learning on a screen can never replicate learning in ‘real-life,’ so many elements can never be accessed online, such as play time with friends, freedom of physical movement, interactions with each other.  However, we are providing sessions for our teachers to look at best practice online teaching and learning, so please give your child some time and I am sure you will see some positive changes in the near future.

Live session for Grade 2 is concerning in terms of screen time. Children have to sit and wait for each child to answer the same question. Engagement is minimal in big group. Out of interaction time of 20 minutes each child maybe speaks for 1 minute or even lesser. Repetitive answers as it’s 1 question. Can this be structured better so live sessions are more interactive and engaging? 
Grade 2 are re-evaluating their schedules and creating more opportunities for smaller groups.

Online Session time are more than 2 hours a days and in addition the assignments solving makes online screen time upto 3 hours almost. CAN WE WORK AROUND THIS?
Ask your teacher for more flexibility with the asynchronous learning.  As a school we are committing to up to certain time limits.

We need details of Academic curriculum which will be covered in this year. Please share all topics of UOI.
The PYP Coordinator will be sharing the Programme of Inquiry with you very soon.

While the oberoi-is.org page highlights 11 as the average class size, isn't 21 too many students for a single JKG group? (I am new and my expectation was classes in the 10-15 max).
Normally in school, new student's are mixed between the classes.  For the one JKG group, we placed all the new students together.  We felt it was important that they could focus on building relationships with the adults.  There are two teachers and 1 assistant linked to this class and the teachers will be doing more split class sessions, now that we have begun the year.

Many thanks for your questions,
Ms Lisa

Dear OIS:

Au revoir in French means "until we meet again or until we see each other again." So I'm not saying goodbye but "au revoir."

I wanted to thank everyone in the community for your support of our school and programme. You are the most engaged families and community I've ever worked with across 6 schools in Asia and the US. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I have moved back to the US early due to everything happening with Covid19 but had planned on moving back at the end of this year. Saying goodbye virtually is not what anyone planned, and I have to say it's the hardest part of this time. No hugs. No face-to-face explanations.

I want you to know that I appreciate you. I appreciate the parents who worked so diligently alongside me for the IB authorisation process. I appreciate the parents who took time to learn in the parent workshops and book clubs offered. I appreciate the discussions we've had and the queries about curriculum and teaching philosophy. I appreciate your passion for education, your belief in your children and in us. I appreciate the way you embrace celebrations and jumped in to help at our school. I appreciate that you wanted more and that you weren't afraid to ask for it.

I will be teaching next year in the US, grade 5, at an IB world school in Chicago, Illinois. I'm looking forward to getting back into teaching and practicing what I preach. :) My husband will be teaching MYP at the same school, and my daughter will be at a university in the same region (although still 5-6 hours away). We wanted to be back in the US to be closer to my daughter and our extended families.

We will miss everything about living in different countries and opening our eyes to new ideas, new food, new cultures, new people. I think experiencing the world has made us more accepting of differences, open to change and kinder toward everyone. My hope that everyone will continue to be able to have that experience--to get a global perspective and to grow from it.

I thank you. I thank India for allowing me to take in such a vibrant culture. I thank OIS for giving me the opportunity to work in a dynamic, innovative environment, and I thank you and your children for being the sunshine every morning and what I will miss the most.

Until we meet again. 
~Ms. Kristen

Dear families,

We were very proud to see the contributions of our Grade 5 students for the PYPVirtualX and all their evidence gathered can be viewed on their PYPExhibition site.  If you haven't had a chance please add to their padlet and leave a comment:

sites.google.com/oberoi-is.org/pypx-oisjvlr/home

We are approaching the end of school, a year unlike any other and a year where the final 11 weeks have truly shown the resilience of our young learners, supported by their families.
           
In This Last Week:                

June 01                                                         

• Learning tasks for Monday and Tuesday can be accessed on Seesaw
• Celebration Day for Grade 5

            
June 02

• Class celebrations                  

June 03

• Class celebrations

June 04

• Reports available on Managebac
• Transition videos sent to families
• 12:00 School finished for children

Along with our entire primary school community, I would like to extend our thanks to the members of the Primary Student Council who have helped to Take Care Tuesdays and a virtual round of applause for our Grade 5 teachers and students for doing such a great job with our first Virtual PYPX.
                                    
Staff Farewells            
This week, as a faculty we will celebrate the year that was and look toward what the new academic year will bring. We will sadly say goodbye to Ms Kristen and Ms Suprabha, who have been valuable members of our team, we wish them all the best for the future.  Although we are saying goodbye to two members of staff, we are happy to report that all our current staff will be returning in the next academic year; which is great to have some stability in a time of uncertainty. 
We will only have a handful of new teachers join our JVLR family; a new PE teacher, A new French teacher, two new Hindi teachers.  We will also welcome a new PYP Coordinator; Archana Gera.

End of Year Reports                            
End of Year reports will look different this year and will serve to supplement the discussion had during the ‘virtual’ 3-Way Conference. The school has reported on the units covered before ‘learning from home’ began, whilst for the second half of the semester teachers have written a narrative of the work uncovered. The Faculty are in the process of completing their End of Year Reports; these will be uploaded on Thursday when they will be available for you to access online. You will receive a message from the School when they are ready.
                                
Please note: Families leaving OIS this year will need to download their child's report cards ​as the portal will be closed to you after the close of school on Thursday.
                                
Summer Break Pack                                
A number of parents have requested activities and tasks for their children over the holiday period. In response we have developed a list of websites, online learning suggestions, links to virtual field trips and we have provided usernames and passwords for some of the sites we use and that the children are familiar with. Some of the sites and suggestions are grade specific and others may be of interest over a wider age group. A link to these resources will be sent later in the week. Parents also requested continued access to ‘Seesaw’ and this we have done. Access, just like you have had, will remain open where you can revisit learning tasks, and links should you wish too. You will not be able to however, upload to Seesaw for teacher comments.

To those children and families leaving Oberoi International School on Thursday, I wish you well for the new opportunities you have ahead of you. To those families returning, I look forward to welcoming you and your children back in August.

Kindest regards and happy holidays Stay safe and stay well,
​
Miss Lisa

Dear parents, friends and families,

We are recognising that the longer we are at home there are things that we are missing, and this is true for all of us, parents, teachers, students, non-teaching staff  and leadership alike, we are all having to rethink what is important in our lives what do we truly need as opposed to what we want.  This can only be good a good thing as we think about 'essential' items in our lives.  More families are recycling, upcycling, reducing and reusing; we are starting to realise that it makes sense to be mindful of our resources, which can only be a good thing.  

We know that our teachers and their co-teachers are extremely busy every day.  Our teachers are not only researching and posting weekly assignments but they meet with other, in their Grade levels on a daily basis.  Collaboration between teachers has always been evident in our school but now teachers are telling me that their meetings are much more effective and efficient.  Our teachers are also giving feedback to students individually on a day to day basis, they have meetings with the PYP Coordinator once a week, they have been involved in Virtual Care Calls and will be involved in 3WayConferences, report writing and 'live-teaching sessions.'  Some Grade levels have initiated 'new' systems in their Grade levels, from Nursery using a Green screen to go on a field trip to the bus depo to grade 3 virtual cafe sessions, to Grade 5 students taking part in our first PYPVirtualX and playing the part of panelists with a group of adult experts.  
Our Single Subject teachers are launching live sessions this week and have also been busy with meetings.  The Drama and music team are putting something together for the Early Years and for our Grade 5 students.  There is so much happening in these last few weeks.
Our parents have also been undoubtedly busy teaching, trying to run households, shopping, cooking, looking after family member, cleaning (which my friends in the UK find quite amusing that we are missing our house help) and some parents are working themselves.  It is safe to say that this pandemic has made us even more busy than before!
 
The Pedagogical Leadership team have been busy too, as you know Ms Nik and Ms Kristen are working from different countries and both of them are parents.  As a leadership team, we have tried to be as involved as we can and not just problem solving or holding the fort.
The leadership team have daily meetings with teachers, we are involved in senior leadership meetings, we are also researching about the possibilities for next year and taking part in many webinars to find out international perspective of schools.  I continue to look at all the regular, normal school happenings at this time of year; staff appraisals, staff allocations for next year, orders and meetings with the Senior Leadership Team.
On a student level, I meet with Grade 4 students once a week for a check in, to see how they are doing and to implement some of their ideas to make learning better for them.  I am also leading and guiding a PYPX group, which I am very excited about; we are investigating the topic of well-being.  I will also join the Early Years live-singalong sessions, which I can't wait for!  I meet regularly with our Primary Student Council to discuss 'Take Care Tuesdays' and a culminating week of celebrations, which we are hoping to focus on appreciation for our teachers.  The Leadership team have also set up a 'readaloud' channel, giving children some time to watch people they know, listen to stories they may not know.

Ms. Kristen has been busy too, here's what Ms Kristen has to say.......
"I've been busy helping to make sure that things are running smoothly for OIS JVLR Distant Learning. This means meeting with teachers of homeroom teams to ensure that education is happening in the best way possible and that it's as aligned with the PYP framework as possible. We are working together to provide students with engaging learning experiences that help them build skills and learning dispositions and gain content knowledge. I continue to coordinate planning, reports, conferences and critical feedback and make sure that documents are in order. In addition, I've been helping get our first PYP Exhibition for grade 5 running smoothly. We've quickly had to transition to a virtual Exhibition, and I've helped put together organization, timeline, information videos and am mentoring a group of grade 5 students several times a week. The students and I have had fun meeting and discussing the current situation and finding some positive ways to help out. 
And I've enjoyed doing read alouds--on videos--for OISJVLR students and receiving feedback from them on how they've enjoyed the read alouds. Next up is some poetry!
The time difference has been challenging (I'm in the US) but talking with the kids, teachers, Ms Lisa and Ms Nik and keeping OISJVLR running smoothly has been a great joy during this time."

And Ms Nik......"My role has changed a lot since we left the building and it is continually adapting. It is keeping me on my toes. I am in the UK at the moment so I get up really early to have meetings at Mumbai time. I am working a lot with our single subject team who have been trying to plan live sessions, fun tasks and interactive learning. I am spending a lot of time on Google Meet in virtual meetings with teams and individuals. In the last few weeks I have been working with the Grade 5 students, I have 4 meetings a week with my PYPx groups; they are researching how Coronovirus has changed technology and the environment. I have also joined in Morning Meetings and live lessons with different classes. We are still looking towards the future and I am having online interactions with families who are in Mumbai and around the world, that would like to join our school. The pedagogical leaders in the school are still working behind the scenes working out how the school will run and how we will move forwards. I am also talking with the Secondary Leadership Team to plan for a smooth transition for Grade 5 going to Grade 6. I’m not sure how I will need to adapt over the next few weeks as we approach the end of the school year, but I am ready for the challenge."

...and breathe...

Thank you for your continued support,

​Miss Lisa