Principal Letter – December’22

  • 6 December 2022

Oakridge International School, Bachupally has always been at the forefront in imparting education at its best to society. The month of November at Oakridge was a cherishing time with the Managing Director, of Nord Anglia Education, India – Mr. Christopher Short. It was a celebration as he is just not a leader par excellence but a guiding light and a backbone for the Oakridge schools pan India. It is award season too, and I am delighted to share that I have been awarded the “Rashtriya Nirman Ratan Award for Education Excellence” from the Intellectual Peoples Foundation. This award is dedicated to all the teaching and non-teaching fraternities of Oakridge Bachupally who strive for excellence across all domains of education. These accomplishments are a testament to the values poured out through the lives of our teachers daily: innovation, courage, commitment, and accountability.

Milestones of the month

Sports Fest

To mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and to celebrate the launch of FIT India Movement by Government of India, a weeklong sports festival for the students right from Grade Nursery to Grade 12 was organized to enhance their athletic skills. We had Mr. Rajendra Chaitanya, the celebrated weightlifter who has several winning titles to his name, graced the occasion. The event began with March past followed by Interhouse competitions for all the seven sports activities practiced at school as well as various other drills.

A memorable experience!

Children’s day offers an inspirational entry-point to advocate, promote and celebrate children’s rights, translating into dialogues and actions that will build a better world for children. Oakridge International Bachupally celebrated World Children’s Day for a span of 5 days starting from November 14 to November 18, 2022, an outstanding launch for WCD signaled the start of a weeklong calendar of activities centered on the SDG-4, “Quality education. A multitude of activities throughout Early Years to Grade 12,” focused on the SDG-4 “Quality Education”. With the limited materials available to them, our young pupils demonstrated their creativity by building rockets and learned about SDG-12 Sustainable consumption and production and shared the proverb “A child without education is like a rocket without wings. Our tiny tots designed a beautiful canvas with their little hands that adorned our campus, we designed posters for the lesson “Building a School for My Friend,” and led interactive learning sessions on the SDGs and UNCRC. Children experimented with color and repurposed their old kerchiefs and T-shirts with motivational slogans.

Student leaders in action

Oakridgers have set the stone rolling for a fresh start to our journey of Oak Affinity. As you all know, we have set out on another ride of exploring a great many things to kindle and nurture the spirit of discovering and rediscovering the unknown. You may be good at conjuring up flavorsome savories, or an enthusiast behind the lenses, let your spirit not dim. Spread your wings and bask in the glory of the joy of unraveling.

Nord Initiatives

Investing in our future means investing in our children — which is why the United Nations has designated every November 20 as World Children’s Day. It is the time to promote togetherness around the world, awareness of the problems children faces in every corner of the globe and improve the welfare of all children. A nearby local government school was visited by DP1, students provided stationery per the requirements of each class. While singing educational phrases, CBSE students conducted a march across the campus to demonstrate their support for high-quality education. They also used cartons to make SDG cubes to add to the décor of the WCD celebrations. To support high-quality education that improves better learning techniques for kids in need, we also adopted the Aashri Society orphanage in Miyapur and donated a library to inculcate reading habits.

The global campus is a Global platform where the leaders are created @ Oakridge Bachupally with the activities planned to their age appropriate. Learners become Responsible, Confident & Innovative.

Be it the GC Creative writing competition and Comic book competition under Writer’s corner or MIT challenges under STEAM, Social Impact with UNICEF, Duathlon and Triathlon master classes and registrations under Health and Wellbeing or NAE Virtual musician of the year under Performing Arts – our students are a part of all of these and many more.

Infrastructure update

To ensure the hygiene factors of the kitchen, the food and beverages team has procured high-grade stainless-steel plates, regular food quality checks are in place. From a safety and security standpoint, CCTV footages, entry/exit records, fire hydrant, and extinguisher systems are intact and are checked periodically, in the coming months we will also be working on addressing the parking-related issues. Regular training and briefings are given to all the staff members to enhance the existing facilities at the school. The IT infrastructure of the school is being refurbished; we are in the process of procuring Desktops with the latest hardware & software versions for all our computer labs.

Professional Development of Staff

The growth of an organization is determined by the quality of resources the employees are exposed to, which not only catalyzes the process of evolution but also serves as a huge provenance of motivation to steer towards a better tomorrow. Our counselors were recently sent on a networking and training session by the Southeast Asia School counseling Network in Bangkok. The session touched upon some critical topics very tightly woven to the welfare of a child with sessions on ‘The Autism Gender Gap: An Inequity in Definition,’ ‘Teaching Abused Children to Self Sooth,’ and ‘Art Therapy in an inclusive School setting’ to name a few.

Looming Updates

The aim of Oakridge International Bachupally was always to establish a personal set of values by learning experiences that relate to young people’s lives in school, at home, and in the outside world to help create a more peaceful and sustainable future for our planet and its inhabitants. The year-end Parent Survey is a crucial assessment in gathering constructive feedback from our most important stakeholders, helping us to grow professionally and personally. We are extremely happy to find maximum participation which ensures our success in engaging with parents. Feedback helps us incorporate the necessary changes and helps us serve better as we strive toward perfection and future readiness. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts and feelings about your child’s school year through our parent satisfaction survey which will be rolled out on December 1st,2022. The survey will be active till December 10, 2022. Your opinions are valued and will help us progress further.

With enormous pleasure, we are happy to announce glad tidings with our yet another season of TEDxOakridgeBachupally on the 7th of January 2023. The theme for this event is “RIPPLES.” Stay tuned for more updates. In this regard, we cordially invite parent sponsors to partake in this event. Interested parents can send an email to Ms. Lavanya at lavanya.chittampally@oakridge.in.

Can you hear the jingling bells?? Yes, we are at the beginning of the Advent season.

Christmas is finally here yet again!! And that reminds us that we have come to the end of yet another successful year of fun, frolic, and excitement. It is time for us to retrospect, looking back at the milestones we achieved, the challenges we took, and the opportunities we missed… let us rejoice in the new beginnings we can visualize and eventuate in the days to come. A time of joy, happiness, and sharing love. We are coming up with events to share this joy with the other part of society, to see the smile on their faces and bring happiness to their lives.

May this Christmas season be a fulfillment of many desires in each of your lives. We will continue to roll out our platter of satisfaction and excitement with many around us and hope to see our students working for the cause of society at various levels.

Regards,

Baljeet Oberoi

Principal

Oakridge International School, Bachupally