Principal’s Desk Update – February 2023

  • 8 February 2023

Dear Parent, 

Nothing is more powerful than getting our learners involved, bringing the families in, and letting the students lead the conversations surrounding their learning. It’s their learning after all, right? It was a proud moment for all of us to see all our students across school, starting from our young learners of Early Years to our senior students of Grade 11 students actively involved and engaged at the Student Led Conference last week. Students shared their samples of work, discussed what they have learned and the progress they have made. Our Secondary students have conducted activities with their parents to show their learning.   

 

I am happy to give some updates about great student participation on NAE Global Campus  

  • Virtual Young Musicians of the year: students participated in various categories in music- Voice classical, Voice Popular, Keyboard popular, strings popular. 
  • Pen pals: 6 classes have registered for Pen pals. 
  • Dance Unites: Out of 10 students participated in Dance Unites- 3 of our students dance steps were choose for Dance Unites Library.  
  • Debate Club: Secondary students have competed in their first round of debate with The British International School Abu Dhabi and secured the first position. I wish them All the Best for the next rounds.  
  • International Film Festival - 5 groups have participated in the International Film Festival. 3 Documentary. 2 short films on the given theme – STEROTYPES. The results are awaited.  

 

Many Thanks to parents who filled in the parent satisfaction survey – the results have just come in and we have started reviewing the results and acting on your feedback too.  I will share the highlights and details of the survey results with all of you in my next monthly update letter.  

Our Grade 9 and Grade 11 students and teachers have successfully completed the academic year and are now getting ready to start the New Academic Year for Grade 10 and Grade 12 which commences from 13 March 2023.  

The Term 2 Examinations will begin for all the other grades from the first week of March. I am sure our students are working hard, and I wish them the best.  

I have been receiving requests from parents to know more about the weekly boarding that we have been offering this year other than the regular boarding. We have a few weekly boarders in our boarding house who live in the boarding house from Monday morning until Friday evening.  

Weekly boarding appeals especially to those students who live too far away to be day pupils. Families often choose weekly boarding to enable their children to concentrate better on their studies by reducing the time spent travelling to and from school, and by giving them full access to extensive academic and co-curricular facilities throughout the extended boarding day. 

Weekly boarding helps in developing skills to be social, independent and  responsible in a supportive environment. While boarding gives children the  opportunity to feel independent, they aren’t completely alone. They can  develop independence with the help of a supportive network of peers,  teachers/facilitators as well as their House parents /Head of Boarding and  other staff at the school. For many children, this offers the best of both  worlds: they can enjoy school during the week, work hard and spend lots of  time with their friends, then relax at home with their parents on Saturdays  and Sundays.  

I am delighted to share some university placements we have received for some of our Oakridgers. Dev from CBSE Grade 12 has received admission from Westminster for Business Management course. Ayush and Wishal from CBSE Grade 12 has received an offer from University of Adelaide for Business Management course. Arnav from IBDP has got an admission into Kings College, London for Electronics and Electrical Engineering which is ranked among the top 20 colleges in the world. 

Stay updated about more happenings in school with our Newsletter and Install Oakridge App.  Android App | IOS App 

Regards

Shaila Bhamidipati

Principal

Oakridge International School, Visakhapatnam