Volume 1, Issue 2 September 2011 RS News Letter 1, ISSUE 2 PAGE 3 The Doon School, Dehradun The Doon...

Volume 1, Issue 2

February—September 2011 S o u t h A s i a & G u l f R e g i o n

RS News Letter

Kurt Hahn’s birthday falls on 5th June every year. As a tribute to him, the students of Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai put together a 5 x 5 ft portrait of Kurt Hahn, using their palm and finger prints only.

This jute canvas mounted por-trait was then displayed in the school auditorium with informa-tion on Kurt Hahn and his phi-losophy. The portrait was later shipped to Round Square Head-quarters.

TO SIR WITH LOVE : KURT HAHN

Founder—Round Square

OBITUARY

We are extremely shocked to learn about the untimely demise of Mrs. Mira Singh, wife of Mr. Sumer

Singh, Head of Daly College and Regional Director—RS (SA & Gulf Region). Our thoughts and

prayers are with Mr Sumer Singh & his family in this difficult time of bereavement. May God give

them the strength and courage to cope with this great loss.

On behalf of the Round Square family, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Mr Singh and his

family.

Summer Enrichment Programme:

In the summer each year, an enrichment programme is

run at King‘s Academy. The aim of the project is to

enrich the lives of local government school children. As

a result, our lives are hugely enriched by a two week

summer camp of intense learning, constant fun and

making new friends.

This year too, boys and girls of grade 6, 7 and 8 from

all over the Kingdom participated in the camp. They

were trained and nourished by the volunteers from

King‘s Academy, the United States and the United

Kingdom. The project has been on since 2006 and is

one which many King‘s student aspire to lead.

PAGE 2

King’s Academy, Jordan

R S N EWS L ETTER

Round Square IDEALS were closely followed in

the two weeks time during which children were

introduced to the enormous challenge of being

a ―boarder‖, learning and speaking English

throughout the day and working together in

teams for athletics and adventures. Together

we visited Petra and other Jordanian sites.

Some 110 children arrived excited, nervous,

scared and had to be coaxed to leave – the

proctors, monitors and more senior King‘s Acad-

emy brothers and sisters are also sad to see

them leave. We are in the process of trying to

bring the SEP school children back for winter

weekends.

VO L UME 1, ISSUE 2 PAGE 3

The Doon School, Dehradun

The Doon School organised a Regional

Service Project from the 4th to the 14th

of June. This project catered to two vil-

lages—Fatehpur and Katapathar and

involved two groups of students working

simultaneously at both the places and

interacting with the villagers respec-

tively. The work at Fatehpur involved

making of blocks by using mortar, which

were supposed to be used for the build-

ing of another floor of the community

center. This project was planned in

such a way that along with an agenda of

making the students understand the

dignity of labour and open doors for so-

cial service it exposed them to all the

I.D.E.A.L.S of the Round Square

The group at Katapathar was as-

signed the job of clearing of the de-

bris collected from the demolition of

a building by disposing it off from a

cliff, it also had the digging of two

holes for the construction of toilets

and cleaning of an irrigation canal

which carried rain water to the fields

and was heavily silted. The entire

work was done during the due

course of ten days. Along with all the

hard work ,there also was a mid ser-

vice project break planned for the

students wherein they were taken to

Mussorrie to relax and enjoy .

Doon School Service Project ,Fatehpur and Katapathar — June 2011

The literary activities boosted leadership qualities, team spirit

and helped all the volunteers to understand themselves in a bet-

ter way. Overall, this service project instilled a sense of fulfill-

ment and made the participants realize the realities of the life.

Towards integrating schools world-wide, ongoing online

Art Competition was held in which 11 Round Square

schools and 4 local schools have participated with 123

fabulous art-work entries. One of these entries will be

chosen as the conference logo of forthcoming Senior

SA&G RS Conference scheduled in February 2012.

PAGE 4

Chittagaong Grammar School, Bangladesh

R S N EWS L ETTER

Consecutively 9 years in a row, CGS had Bengali New

Year Carnival and through this yet another successful

charity bazaar, raised an amount of BDT 2,68,365.00 in

support of an alternative school for street children.

CGS cares for the environment and is commit-

ted to help build a better world. This year CGS

has planted 1,000 saplings in the city raising

environmental awareness.

CGS had 3 students sent on Student Ex-

change programme in July-August 2011 :

Sharia (Grade-9) to St. Philip‘s College, Austra-

lia, Aishwarya (Grade-10) to The Daly College

and Rabib (Grade-11) to The Armidale School,

NSW, Australia. In this session, two GAP stu-

dents also joined

CGS, Maria Ale-

jandra Ochoa

from Colegio An-

glo Colombiano,

Colombia and

Richard Lachlan

Mulholland from

G o r d o n s t o u n

School, UK.


The Sanskaar Valley School, Bhopal

The Sanskaar Valley School, Bhopal became a Global Member of the Round Square in March 2011. Re-

cently the school had a Round Square Week offering students plenty of ways to immerse themselves in

activities related to the IDEALS.

Students of the Round Square Com-

mittee made a presentation during

assembly in school on The Round

Square. The theme was. ―We are a

Round Square School....but are you

a Round Square person ??‖.

Further, a talk show was aired on

the local radio station – 94.3 My

FM where students carried forward

the message of experiential learn-

ing and informed listeners about

the various initiatives taken up by

the Sanskaar Valley School which

drew inspiration from the IDEALS of

the Round Square. They also spoke

about their experiences during par-

ticipation in conferences, ex-

changes and service projects.

It is said that ...Life is either a daring adventure or nothing......TSVS organized a special session of rappel-

ling to offer students not only thrill of adventure but also the experience of stretching beyond their com-

fort zone. Activities scheduled to subscribe to environmental responsibilities, students planted more than

300 trees on campus.

Promoting Internationalism, 8 stu-

dents left for Korea on invitation by

the Cheong Shim International

Academy to participate in the World

Youth Model Congress followed by

service at the Habitat for Humanity

site in Korea.

Service before Self is a calling in

life which exemplifies devotion and

commitment beyond personal

agendas. Students put their hands

and time together making Friend-

ship band and Rakhi (a decorative

item tied on the wrist by a sister to

a brother on the day of the festival)

and organized a sale in the local

mall. The proceeds were donated

to social causes supported by

school.

The Daly College, Indore

R S N EWS L ETTER

Ideas and change are very closely related. There are changes that help evolve an idea and an

idea that brings about a change.

We needed a change, and we got an "idea" to bringing about it. The idea of "bargad"; a model that could

work as sustainably and organically as possible, evolved during our preparation for the national level

Green-I Contest, held in Chennai last year out of 130 schools. The school won the contest and was

awarded with an amount of 7.5 lacs,

to materialize our idea in the school. It

is interesting to know that the school

is now planning to convert our small

project into a demonstration center,

aiming to conduct eco-friendly proc-

esses in every way possible. The pro-

ject is bring taken down to a com-

pletely new level with the involvement

of Mr. Abhishek Jhaveri, an Old Dalian

and a renowned architect from Indore

and Mr. Dhruv Bhaskar, another Old

Dalian and a green architect from

Auroville. After long and umpteen dis-

cussions with the professionals and emotionally attached students, Bargad is now ready to become a

reality. The Green Centre is not only intended to stand out of its natural surrounding by using local ma-

terial and indigenous building concepts but to harmoniously blend in it and have essential unity with

the mother nature.

The Centre will be a single-storeyed building called “Bargad”, with a library, a heritage seed centre, a

laboratory, an interactive exhibition area, an audio-visual conference room and rooftop gardening. As

far as possible, only local or recycled building material will be used for construction. There will be an

enclosed ‗kund‘ for storing rain water in the courtyard. The ‗kund‘ will have steps running down to it,

shaped like an amphitheatre, which may be used as a sitting area.

Besides Bargad, the surrounding

area will be used for organic

farming, vermi-composting, a pa-

per recycling plant, mushroom

farming, solar and wind hybrid

energy generating unit and

polyhouses.

We are looking forward to a fo-

rum for disseminating knowledge

on sustainable and eco-friendly

practices. It will be a green centre

in true sense!


Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai

Principal & Director planting sapling along with Eco

club students on 1st August, 2011 on the eve of

Tree plantation drive in the school in which around

1000 saplings were planted.

Students from MNSS,Rai along with the students of

Ousedale School, Milton Keynes, U.K.at Christ

College, Oxford in London, U.K. during Cultural

Exchange Programme in June 2011.

NCC Cadets of Naval Wing in the Annual Training

Camp held at MNSS, Rai organized by 1 Haryana

Naval NCC, Faridabad.

Students of MNSS, Rai spending time with the

children of Balgram (an Orphanage) on 17th

July, 2011.

Indian School, Al Ghubra, Oman

R S N EWS L ETTER

The annual Round Square

Carnival (a charity event) was

organised at Indian School Al-

Ghubra in the month of Sep-

tember 2011. As the evening

approached, a good turnout

of students and guests was

noticed at various stalls, set

up by the class 12 students.

There were games, food

stalls and a stage where

many students entertained

the crowd with music and

dance. Thousands of children

enjoyed an exciting evening

packed with games, music, pop- corn, goodies and magic.

There were also events such

as face painting, fortune tell-

ing, archery, mini-golf, slow-cycling and much more. The highlight of the eve-

ning was the Fashion Show with a jam packed auditorium with students, visitors

and parents who cheered as students walked the ramp. The students of ISG mes-

merized the crowd with their talent.

A student delegation from ISG attended the Sr. Re-

gional round Square Conference (Austrlasia Region) at

Westminster School, Adelaide in the month of July.

Aashna Jayakumar, one of the delegates, was invited

as a Key-note speaker at one of the sessions.

― B a k e -

Sale‖ - is

one of

the most

p o p u l a r

fund rais-

ing activi-

ties at

I n d i a n

school, Al

Ghubra .

Around 200 boxes were do-

nated under a unique charity

campaign - The Box Appeal.

A small box was filled with a

list of essential everyday

items in the true spirit of giv-

ing, for the needy people in

the Middle East Region.


Mayo College Girls’ School, Ajmer

In the month of April, Mayo College Girls‘

School was invited by ―NANHI CHHAAN‖, an

organization which promotes GIRL CHILD

and SAVE ENVIRONMENT to perform before

the Hon‘ble President of India for their Na-

tional launch at New Delhi.

Under Cultural Ex-

c h a n g e p r o -

gramme, this sum-

mer six students

and one staff mem-

ber visited Grund

Schule, Lorrach,

Germany and the

other six students

and a staff mem-

ber went to Grund

Haupt Schule,

Oehningen, Germany. The students learnt about their culture,

educational system, activities and sports.

Twenty students from Umang, Jaipur along with

four staff members came for an over-night visit to

our School. We thoroughly enjoyed their dance

performance choreographed by Shamak Davar.

Keeping in mind ―EACH ONE

TEACH ONE‖, we teach our sup-

port staff within the campus.

A ―Vocational Training‖ in

Jewellery making, Stain

Glass painting, flower

making, Poster and Card

making was given to the

students of School for

Hearing Impaired to en-

hance their skills and tal-

ent.

True to our motto ,we make a sincere

effort to spread the message of

“LET THERE BE LIGHT”

Dhirubhai Ambani International School

R S N EWS L ETTER

This year as a combined celebration of the Earth Day and Kurt Hahn’s birthday a 40 Day long activity was

planned for the entire school.

The school initiated a 3R paper project

involving Reduction, Reuse and Recycling.

The Action points were:

Reduce Paper waste: A poster campaign

developed by students to build awareness

of the environmental impact of indiscrimi-

nate use of paper and how to save it.

Reuse Paper waste: Children painted recy-

cled cartons and placed them in each

classroom, lab, printer points and faculty

rooms. They briefed everyone that any

waste paper should be placed in these

boxes. This was then sorted further into

‗usable‘ to make stationery items, paper

mashie items etc and ‗non usable‘. The

latter was then picked up by an NGO

which supports the rag pickers families by

recycling paper and paper waste.

This activity is now an ongoing process in

the school with participation from all sec-

tions. The waste paper is regularly placed

in the collection bins, then sorted and

used to make useful paper products.

These items will later be sold during the

school fete to fund NGOs supported by the

school.

The gathering of the young and dynamic

from three nations (despite the Pakistani

delegates‘ inability to be physically pre-

sent, we still include them – for they

were with us in mind and spirit, and in

Skype video chats) spent a week packed

with activities and surprises, at our long-

established, well-beloved, home-grown

peace conference – PAIGAAM. And un-

derstanding could well be the most im-

portant quality that grew within us – after

all, peace is an individual‘s battle against

half-baked conceptions handed down to

us. It is a test of our tolerance and persis-

tence, and at PAIGAAM, we are fortifying

ourselves with information and aware-

ness, and a recognition of our biases.


The Lawrence School, Sanawar

Mayo College, Ajmer

Mayo College has been a fore

runner in sending their students

on international student ex-

changes. This year a total of

44 boys went on exchanges

(both RS and Non-RS schools).

We also hosted 12 exchange

scholars from various RS mem-

ber schools.

Six students took part in Round

Square International Service

Projects at three different

places in Ladakh , Peru and

South Africa.

Dr Akhilesh Bhardwaj, M. D.,

Resident Medical Officer , Mayo

College , went as a Team Medic

on the Ladakh Service Project

during July 2011.

A ‗Service Sunday‘ at the Children‘s Home, Subathu:

Nine students spent a Sunday at The Children‘s Home,

Subathu which houses about 100 children aged be-

tween 4-20 years. The children come from poor homes,

or are orphans. The students spent a bright Sunday-

helping these children out with their activities, sharing

their happiness and joy, singing and playing with them.

They also carried some sweets and chocolates for them

and left them smiling with some clothes our students

had carried. Students also spent some time at the Lep-

rosarium, Mangoti Mod, Dharampur.

Sanawarians

raised Prince

Alexander fund

through music

and hand crafts.

The Millennium School, Dubai

R S N EWS L ETTER

On June 5th, the Round Square Day , nine stu-

dents from The Millennium School accompanied

by the Headmaster, Dr. Salim Khan and 2 teach-

ers went to the GEMS Support Staff Accommoda-

tion at Sonapur in Dubai to distribute the provi-

sion collected by the students. The students col-

lected 1150 kgs of Rice, 540 kgs of Dal , 230

kgs of Sugar and 135 pkts of Tea.

After the distribution of the provision, the authori-

ties took them around the accommodation. It is

kept very clean, hygienic and fully equipped with

all the facilities such as a well maintained

kitchen, a laundry , a gym, a computer room and

a sick room.

For the first time, a Joint Exchange Program

(for girls) was organised from the 9th to

15th April, 2011. Four Schools participated

and they were The Vidya Devi Jindal School,

Haryana, The Assam Valley School, The

Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior and The

Sanskar Valley School, Bhopal. The dele-

gates attended the opening assembly

where they presented their school flag to

the Principal, Mr. Michael Guzder and were

later formally introduced to the students of

The Millennium School. They started attend-

ing regular classes from day one itself. The

next morning the girls had a wonderful

morning at The Manzil Centre for Special

Needs Children, Dubai wherein they inter-

acted with intellectually challenged individuals and spent some quality time interacting with them. The after-

noon session was an interesting one, wherein the girls actively took part in group discussions on the IDE-

ALS of the Round Square. The next day they toured The Mall of the Emirates and went on to visit the indoor

snow park called ‗Ski Dubai‘. The Dubai Mall, the Oasis Centre and the Deira City Centre were the other

places the girls visited later in the evening. They splashed about at The Dreamland Aqua Park in Um Al Qu-

wain. The joint group dance performance ‗Tu hi Tu‘ was the highlight of the program and it was amazing to

see perfect harmony in mind and body as the girls gracefully danced away to the melodious tune. Later that

afternoon the girls experienced an adventurous desert safari which gave them a taste of the vast expanse

of sand dunes as they went about dune-bashing which literally rocked them in their seats. The four-wheel

drive in sturdy Land Cruisers across the rugged terrains of the Arabian desert brought out the true spirit of

adventure in each one of them. They gained a wonderful insight into the Arab culture at the hamlet right in

the heart of the desert where the girls got busy with henna designing, dressing themselves in the traditional

Abayyas, trying their hand at sand surfing and enjoying the rich taste of the traditional Arabic coffee and

‗Shawermas – the popular Arabic snack. The girls received their mementoes, a photograph of the group Ex-

change and a CD on their memorable dance moments from the Principal, Mr. Michael Guzder who spoke

very highly of the girls and expressed his appreciation for the wonderful learning environment being provided

by their respective school managements towards shaping such wonderful individuals of the future.


The Rajkumar College, Rajkot

To inculcate the value of help and care of our aged parents and to take care of them.

To create environmental awareness in the minds of the young to help prevent global warming, and pro-

vide clean and safe surroundings.

To develop a sense of oneness, sharing and caring.

Students of the Pre-Senior School (Form 7 & 8) have been visiting the Railway Station for the past one year

to help the aged persons.

Social

Service

E

N

V

I

R

O

N

M

E

N

T

To promote healthy environment, students frequently visit the busy areas and trim the outgrowing shrubs

so that they don‘t cause any problem to the pedestrians. Students help in keeping the surroundings clean

and fresh by picking up litter and garbage.

Blood

Donation

The Rajkumar College also promotes donation of blood. Students above 18 years of age and all teachers

participate in this noble act. We have always believed in helping the aged and the needy, creating an eco-

friendly environment and making this world a better place to live in!

The British School, Delhi

R S N EWS L ETTER

We, as members of The Round Square commu-

nity, believe strongly in its pillars and ensure that

our students become responsible global citizens.

The British School organised its first Round

Square South Asia and the Gulf Region Senior

Regional Conference - The Peace Summit, from

19th – 21st of January 2011. This summit focused

on engaging students in drama, dance, music, art

and debate on the theme of Peace.

The participants were guided by renowned ex-

perts such as the famous mural artist Tom Wood,

the acclaimed actor Neil Farelly and the illustri-

ous classical dancer Sharon Lowen. The students

were also addressed by prominent speakers and

media persons including Mr. Suhel Seth, Manag-

ing Partner of Counselage India and founder of Equus, Dr Waiel S.H. Awwad, South Asia based journalist,

Mr. Peter Leng, a journalist with the BBC, Mr. Sam Miller, Ms Suhasini Haidar, prime time anchor with news

channel CNN-IBN, Mr. Nigel Cassey, Deputy High Commissioner at the British High Commission in New

Delhi, Ms Montserrat Feixas Vihé, Chief of Mission in New Delhi for the United Nations High Commission for

Refugees (UNHCR) and Mr. Johannes Olivier, Secretary with the South African High Commission in New

Delhi. It was an enriching experience that brought together students from various Round Square schools

around the region to bask in the light of peace.

The students of our school are encouraged to be strong leaders and

move out of their comfort zones and be risk takers. In this regard, the

IAYP provided the students with challenging opportunities. As part of the

promotion of Internationalism in Round Square, we have initiated the

International Board in our school. The concept of the International Board

is to get citizens of countries around the world to celebrate their national

days by putting up a display in school. In this way we hope to spread cul-

tural awareness and appreciation for countries around the world and

truly assimilate an international culture into the school community.

The School community strongly believes in reaching out to the less privileged. Our service initiatives include

working in partnership with Deepalaya, a school for the under privileged. We have initiated a programme on

IT sustainability with them. The funding of Rs. 50,000 received from the FRS, was allocated for this pur-

pose. In addition, the school donated 50 desk tops and 5 printers along with the required furniture to set

this up. The IT dept. of the school trained the teachers of Deepalaya in June 2011. Students of our school

are now being selected to carry on this project and work with the students of Deepalaya. Our students have

been engaged actively with the CAN KIDS, an organization that works for children affected with Cancer. We

hope to continue to work with these organisations and inculcate the spirit of service among the students.


Anania Shirakatsi Lyceum School, Armenia

Videoconferencing Brings Armenia to King's Academy (May 23, 2011):

Two Round Square schools were connected via video conference, as six King's students interacted with stu-

dents from the Anania Shirakatsy Lyceum (Armenia National Lyceum) - the most recent international school

to gain membership to Round Square. This was the first in what King's hopes to be a series of chats with the

Armenian school.

After asking basic questions about the structure and schedule of their respective schools, the dialogue pro-

gressed to tastes in food and music, as well as touristic hot spots in Armenia and Jordan. Students also of-

fered introductory language lessons, as each school explained how to say "Hello, how are you?" in Armenian

and Jordanian. Throughout the conference, students from both schools had to work together to overcome

language - and occasional sound - barriers, but they warmed up to one another quickly and learned quite a

bit by the end of the call. The videoconference concluded with the Armenian students proudly singing their

school song, and both schools expressing the desire to continue the dialogue in the future.

Technology Link:

On the evening of April 5, groups of Ivanhoe Grammar School Plenty Campus students spent a considerable

amount of time chatting to students from Anania Shirakatstsy Lyceum, Armenia – let‘s call it ―ice-breaking‖,

although the chat – about music, home, sport, pets, weather, Justin Beiber……was instantly warm and laugh-

ter-filled.

In April 2011,

Anania Shirakatsy

Lyceum students

Lia and Vardine

Sargsyan went to

Cobham Hall Col-

lege, Kent , UK for

a month‘s ex-

change. They had

an incredible time

and enjoyed every

minute of their

study and stay .

Anania Shirakatsy Lyceum

organized a charity project

named ―Aid to Somali chil-

dren‖ for the purpose of giv-

ing some small donation to

the thousands of children

who are dying in Somalia

from famine . Hundred kilos

waste paper was collected by

Anania Shirakatsy lyceum

students and staff . The do-

nation was made to the Brit-

ish Red Cross.

The Assam Valley School

PAGE 16 R S N EWS L ETTER

INTERNATIONALISM:

Two delegates attended the Round Square Group Exchange

programme hosted by The Millennium School, Dubai in the

second week of April 2011. Four girls and three boys accom-

panied by one teacher from Colegio Anglo Colombiano visited

us from May 4, 2011 to May 22, 201. Ms Katy Theobald from

Oxford worked here as a GAP student for three months from

May 2011 to July 2011.Ms Brenda Sandoval and Ms Joanna

Franco from Colegio Anglo Colombiano are currently in school

as GAP students.

DEMOCRACY:

A grand and exciting initiative was a pupil

owned three day AVS Summer Festival from

7th – 9th of June, from a youthful pool bash to

a dizzy Rock Concert. Apart from all the fun

and frolic of the Fest, one moving aspect of

this initiative was ‗Run for a Cause‘. Each pu-

pil, from class three onwards ran over a kilo-

meter to raise money for charity. The entire

school community solemnly prayed for the sur-

vivors in Japan. A ‗Candle Light March‘ was

organised with a pledge to enhance and enrich

ENVIRONMENT:

AVS continued its go green drive by participat-

ing in Go Green Campaign, Green I Project and

Grand Banyan Project of the British Council

Division. A paper recycling unit has also been

installed in the school.

ADVENTURE:

Parasailing was

offered in March

and ‗Ho l long

2011‘: an in

house adventure

camp with over-

night camping

experience was

organised in May.

SERVICE:

To commemorate the birthday of the versatile Kurt Hahn, the

Social Service League of The Assam Valley School organised a

‗Free Health Camp‘ for our very own support staff and their

families residing in ‗Lachit Ville‘ on the 5th of June, 2011. A

cleanliness drive was also initiated in ‗Lachit Ville‘ and a Com-

munity Centre with five computers was set up which in turn

brought many a smile to the not-so-privileged school going

children of ‗Lachit Ville‘.

LEADERSHIP:

‗In me‘: A Workshop on Leadership for the entire class of 12 in March. In September, AVS hosted Mr. Dilip

Mukerjea, owner and Managing Director of ‗Braindancing International‘ and ―Buzan Centre Singapore Pte Ltd,‖

an organisation specifically dedicated to advancing human performance across multiple domains. Mr. Mukerjea

addressed and interacted with the school community on Teaching-Learning Systems and Leadership.

Printed and published at : Indian school, Al Ghubra, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Volume 1, Issue 2 September 2011 RS News Letter 1, ISSUE 2 PAGE 3 The Doon School, Dehradun The Doon...

Documents

Transcript of Volume 1, Issue 2 September 2011 RS News Letter 1, ISSUE 2 PAGE 3 The Doon School, Dehradun The Doon...