Memory Book

CREATIVE CORNER

Plot no 1385 & 1386, Near Arjun Farm, Shilaj - Rancharda Road,Ahmedabad- 382721, India. Ph: +91 79 26925625, Mob: +91 9979500003

Email: info@redbrickseducation.org www.redbrickseducation.org

Email: junior@redbricksjunior.com www.redbricksjunior.com

Ashok Nagar Bungalows 1, 3 & 4, Behind Sundarvan, Satellite, Ahmedabad - 15, IndiaPh: +91 79 26925625, Mob: + 91 9979500003

Vol. 3 No. 2 Feb 2012

Dear Parents,

A new beginning has started, bringing an end to an eventful academic year 2011-12. We warmly welcome new children & their families to our Redbricks Family this year. This a moment of Reflection for us, when we look back at the past year with various lenses, revisit the memorable moments and gain new learning for future.

We fondly look back at the innovative events we conducted last year, like “Sports Day” at Loyola, “Annual Day” at Tagore Hall, and “Kids Mela” on Foundation Day where we were proud to see the primary children showcase their skills. We hosted Kathotsava-a story festival with Kathalaya-Bangalore, through which we reached more than 500 children, parents & teachers coming from various schools. These events have taught us to innovate our methods continuously, ways of productively engaging children and community, and the value of teamwork and collaboration. Our School of Dreams initiative continued with Maths and Science Knowledge Buses reaching out across the city.

This year, we implemented the Project Approach in our classes for the first time. It was fascinating to see children’s enthusiasm & performance in the projects. Incredible efforts from all the teachers and parents’ support made the Project Approach a pedagogical success in our school. Children have so much potential within which comes out more when we give them opportunities to think, question, inquire and express. The project exhibitions displayed children’s learning in multiple ways- drawings, clay & 3D models, stories/rhymes, questions, vocabulary, etc. Redbricks Teachers Institute- an initiative to train educators was launched in November. We have developed a robust ECCE teacher-training curriculum and engaged multiple internal/external experts as faculties. We are proud to see our 1st batch graduating and now launching programs.

I got the opportunity to visit Reggio Emilia, Italy this year for a week to participate in a professional development program in education. It is considered to have the best pre-school system in the world, and I gladly saw many of their practices being adopted in our classrooms. Ofcourse, there were many new learnings, which our teachers will certainly adopt now in their practices. Another big milestone this year has been the start of Classes upto Grade 5 at Redbricks School. We are thankful to all Primary school parents who have encouraged us with their continuous support. We look forward to moving to Redbricks School-Santej Campus this year & making a new home for our school there. Kudos to the project team for working day and night to make our campus beautiful and safe before we move in!

In the new academic year, our main objective is to bring further excellence in our academic processes. Continuous teacher development, Management practices, Parent engagement, and a Focus on each child’s development are the keys to help us achieve this objective. I request all Parents to provide ongoing support, engagement & feedback to help us achieve the next steps in our journey.

Best Wishes,Renita HandaFounderRedbricks Education Foundation

Grade 1 | Parv Parmar

Grade 2 | RBS

Clay Models | Grade 1 RBS Drashti & Jainith | Grade 1 | RBS

Class2 | RBS

Grade 1 | RBS

Prarthana Shrivastava | Grade 2 | RBS

Grade 1 | RBS Grade 2 | RBS Grad 2 | RBS

Educational Field VisitsThe past months were filled with lots of field visits across classes to enhance understanding about various curricular related aspects. Some major field visits included-

• Playgroup - Visit to a Plant Nursery to explore and learn about different plants and flowers.

• Playgroup November – Visit to Sundarvan to explore different birds and reptiles.

• Nursery- Visit to Star Bazaar to explore the theme of utensils where colours of utensils and their shapes

• Jr. kg- Visit to Reflection Furniture showroom where they got the touch and feel of different types of furniture and also different materials used to make furniture.

• Sr. kg- Visit to Torrent Thermal Power Plant to explore the theme of Pollution. The children were in awe of the huge chimney emanating smoke.

• Jr. Kg and Sr. Kg visited My FM radio station where they met DJ Krupa. They recorded their voices and listened to them, which was entertaining and educational for the children.

Expert Visits

Dr. Arya, father of Class 1 student Arnav Arya, paid the children at Redbricks a visit to educate them on the different kinds of airborne diseases and how they should be careful from them. He gave a discourse on the symptoms of the diseases and the timing of the year when they are more likely to infect people. He also suggested preventive measures to prevent infection and stay healthy.

Fruit DayPlaygroup and Nursery classes at Redbricks celebrated this day wherein children got to class their favourite fruits and used them to make their very own fruit salad. This exercise was to help the children explore different fruits and get together as a team to make the salad. It was a means to educate them about how nature sustains all living beings.

Senior KG ConvocationOn 17th March, Redbricks Junior celebrated the convocation ceremony of the Senior KG class at the Sundarvan Campus. All the parents were invited for this event. Many grand parents also graced the occasion with their presence making the environment livelier. The class teacher gave a welcome speech followed by a video titled "Journey throughout the year at Redbricks Junior" which beautifully exhibited the activities done by the children like reading, writing, art & craft, celebrations, visits, clay work and lots more. After the graduation ceremony, caps were distributed along with the certificate followed by the song "I Am a Little Graduate.......". The students from Class 1 welcomed them with a bunch of flowers prepared by them and a beautiful song. The Senior KG teachers who taught them also shared their memorable experiences with the gathering thus adding to the nostalgia. A "Vote of Thanks" was also given by one of the teachers and the occasion culminated with a group photo session along with the teachers and principals.

Colours of Rainbow in Junior KGChildren celebrated this activity by dressing up in their favourite colour of the rainbow as they came to the classroom. The activity tested their knowledge about different colours and also gave a peek into their choice of colours.

Achievers Day in Senior KGThis day was devoted to all the achievers / personalities covered in the curriculum across the year in the classrooms. The children were asked to dress up like their favourite achiever on that day. Children dressed up as Sania Mirza, Arundhati Roy to name a few. They also spoke about their favourite achiever as they recollected from the classes. The event helped the children get a feel of their aspirational role models and achievers and also tested their knowledge about the people they admire. My Favourite Cartoon Day

Playgroup and Nursery classes at Redbricks celebrated this day by bringing to class their favourite cartoon character and dressing them up. The event gave an opportunity to children to share with each other about their favorite characters and also tested the boundaries of their imagination. Presentation skills and confidence in speaking were also enhanced through this activity.

Parent WeekIn Playgroup, Parent Week was celebrated to improve parent-school connect and familiarise them with the teaching philosophy of Redbricks. The teachers organised several activities for children and the parents eagerly participated in them. Many parents realized how difficult a Playgroup teacher’s job is, and the teachers were elated to get appreciation from the parents. The success of this week has given us a motivation to extend this concept across other classes in the coming academic year.

Grandparents Story Telling in Junior KGThree grandparents visited the Junior KG at Redbricks and captivated the young minds of the children with their stories leaving them yearning for more. The activity was a way to reconnect the young ones with the previous generations and learn from their experiences. It was an important means to instill in the children the love for stories as a medium of learning that lasts forever in society.

JUNIOR EXPERIENCES

Fun with Learning Weeks to Culminate an Eventful Year The last two weeks of the academic year were celebrated as Fun Week at Redbricks School, which involved various learning activities across the weeks. This included a Grandparents Day wherein the grandparents were invited and the children performed for them. This was followed by storytelling and experience sharing sessions by the grandparents. On another day the children were asked to explore their imaginations in an Art corner designed by teachers to extend their mental horizon. The week also included a movie-watching day wherein the children got to see the movie “Baby's Day Out” with their peers. The children also enjoyed a dance party where they came together and danced in unison. It was truly a memorable end to an eventful year.

Memory BookChildren of Redbricks School prepared a book to take them down the memory lane. This book comprised their favourite subject, best friend, best themes across the year, best projects done and reasons for the same and also the best learning experiences that the children underwent. The children learnt the valuable art of documenting experiences and learning for future references.

Expert VisitsVisit by Priyavat Gadhvi to Class 1: The founding member of an NGO called “React”, Priyavat Gadhvi paid the children a visit. The interaction taught to the children about the importance of wildlife conservation and how it is of great importance to be able to harmoniously coexist with wild animals.

Expression & Problem-Solving by ChildrenGrade 2 had started with a practice where they had a box in the class and children wrote about their feelings, concerns or any other problems that they had encountered over the week. All the chits were taken out once a week during the homeroom time and the teacher picked a few concerns and left it to children for a solution to the problem. This worked wonderfully as a team building exercise and it also resolved a lot of socio-emotional problems amongst children. The process could also see a vast improvement in the maintenance of class discipline.

Celebrating HoliOn the occasion of Holi, the Redbricks campus was beautifully decorated with “Pichkaris” and balloons to brighten up the environment. The children were engaged in a Holi Card making activity to celebrate the spirit of bright colours. Children gathered at the amphitheater to mark the celebration and listened to the mythological story to understand why this day is celebrated and what is the reason behind burning the sacred Holika. Colorful 'gulal' were kept in plates and children smeared each other’s foreheads with colorful 'tilaks'. The celebration picked up its momentum when children from the Primary school played holi along with their peers and teachers at the time of dispersal. For the meal that day 'khajur' and 'kheer' were served to enhance the spirit of celebration.

Parent Education Workshop on Assessment (Class 1 & 2 Parents)Assessment is an important element of the curriculum and it assists the students’ leaning to a great extent. Mrs. Sutapa Mishra, the primary school principal, conducted the workshop on assessment at with a larger objective to make parents understand the importance of assessment and its purpose.

The two very important aspects of assessment system were discussed in length – Formative & Summative system of assessments. Parents were happy to learn how formative assessment system works as a big motivation factor in child's learning process through ongoing constructive feedback and simultaneously acts as a reflective measure for the teacher to improve her teaching learning strategies.

A few key take away from the session:• Every child learns at his/her own pace and hence no comparisons should be made. Instead, focus on the

improvements that the child makes against his/her own past performance.• Assessment is not episodic, it has to be an ongoing process • Both the systems of assessment needs to be put in a balanced proportion to understand, track & facilitate

students learning

Redbricks Student AchieverArmaan Malik our Grade 2 student represented the under 11 Ahmedabad football team in the football tournament - " P. Madhvan Kunvarji Cup ", which was held at St. Xavier’s College ground on 4th of April 2012. The team won the runners up trophy in the match.

Educational Field visits at RBSRBS Children visited various places to enhance their understanding about various curricular related aspezcts. Some major field visits included- • Class 1 – As part of the theme “Home” the students visited the house of one of their

classmates to see a different layout and furnishing of the household.• Class 2 – Children visited Sundarvan nature park, especially the bird section. They

studied the aerial creatures and explored the features that help these animals fly.• Class 1 & 2 both visited the new school campus at Santej to get a look and feel of the

new place they would all soon be attending.• Class 1 & 2 both visited Visamo Kids Foundation to understand about the place &

hostel where some of their classmates stay.

SCHOOLING EXPERIENCES

Buddy Teaching & LearningIn grade 1 as a part of the ongoing assessment, children picked up topics from draw of lots. As per the topic assigned to each one of them, they had to conduct a 10-minute activity related to the topic. For example if the topic was “time”, the activity designed by the children was to create their timetable for the day. This practice helped children to showcase their understanding on a given topic and resulted in peer teaching & learning with students revising and learning by sharing each other’s knowledge.

Annual Day 2012 - “Udaan” - A flight to the children's world of Fantasy & Dreams

The children of Redbricks Junior and Redbricks School celebrated their Annual Function “Udaan” on18th February 2012.

The theme for the annual day “Udaan” – a trail of the colorful world woven by the children with their fantasies and dreams. Children celebrated the exuberance of life, which they depicted through colorful action songs, dances and through musical dramas.

Children of Primary school were the message bearers of “Be the Change” as they concluded the show with the soulful finale dancing to the song “Dream Big Dream”.

The Joint Commissioner of Police, Shri Atul Karwal, was the chief guest for the evening. Shri Karwal in his address mentioned the true essence of education, which allows the child to enjoy every stage of his/her development. The founder of Redbricks Education Mr. Aditya Handa in his speech reflected on the value based practices of meaningful education where he emphasized on the collaborative efforts of both school and parents for the blossoming of the child.

Kids Mela 2012On the 31st of March, 2012, Redbricks Education Foundation celebrated its 3rd Foundation Day with the annual “Kids Mela”. Kids Mela is based on the “Theory of Multiple Intelligences”, a concept closely interwoven into our curriculum. Each corner in the Mela and the activities within, stand for a particular intelligence.

From solving puzzles to making things out of waste items, the stalls had something for everybody. Live animals at the Naturalistic corner was a huge attraction for the children. There was a Kids Corner manned by the students of Class 1 and 2, and it was wonderful to see children engaging adults with their work and knowledge. A separate corner called the “Project Approach” zone exhibited the project work done by the children in the past year.

The mela had magicians, puppeteers, potters, exotic plants, fortune-tellers, balloon-sculptors and musicians & saw a footfall of more than 400 adults and children over a span of 2 hours.

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all the parent volunteers who enthusiastically planned and conducted activities in the Kids Mela with our teachers- Mrs. Jyoti Mulchandani, Mr. Suyansh Khemka, Mrs. Monica Shah, Mrs. Sneha Doshi, Mr. Milind Shah, Mrs. Nidhi Mahajan, Mrs. Ritu Sharma, Mrs. Nancy Sanghvi, Mrs. Sudha Longe, Mrs. Soni Jain, Mrs. Madhavi Balshetwar.

Redbricks Teachers Institute - Culmination of the First Batch

On 4thMay, 2012, Redbricks Teachers Institute, celebrated the last working day of the 1st batch of Post graduate Program in ECCE. The students were conferred certificates in the presence of their families on the “Convocation day” which was celebrated on 22nd June, 2012. Mrs. Beena Handa and Mrs. Renita Handa were the guests of honour and appreciated the students for their full-hearted efforts throughout the program. Students and their families shared their experiences and reflections about the program.

The institute has launched another batch of this flagship program, which will start from 2nd July, 2012 as a part-time batch for all mothers and aspiring/current teachers.

Workshops at Redbricks School

The teachers team had value added training and working sessions on various aspects of pedagogical approaches, curriculum design and classroom implementation. The learning from the various training programs as stated by the team members -

Curriculum and Pedagogy• It gave us broad understanding about

framing a curriculum.• Knowing more about the philosophy of Redbricks Foundation and its vision.

Parent and Teacher Partnership• Role of parent and teacher in context of child development.• Knowing the parent and their expectations from the school and child.

Understanding by Design- A format to plan the Units• Planning with the help of content Web & mind maps.• Planning to make learning more effective.

Vision building sessions with Mr. Aditya Handa were held for all the Redbricks team members. The objective of the sessions was to align the team with the philosophy of the school. The session also helped the team members to share their perspectives, which contributed to an evolving and shared vision for the institution. Adityabhai’s ideas about Sustainability and Gandhian Philosophy have struck a chord with all of us, and now we are trying to think in more innovative, sustainable and child-centric ways. His belief in the bottom up approach in contrast to the top down approach, where each person is accountable for what he/she does has given us more clarity on our role in the mission of building Redbricks as a high quality non-profit educational institution.

Teacher Development Workshops during SummerAt Redbricks, we organize in-service trainings for teachers continually to help them enhance their skills. Multiple trainings were kept for teachers during the summer break.

The External Resource persons for the workshops were Dr Jigisha Shastri, Dr Shruti Bhargava, Ms Pinakini Shah, Ms. Priti Dharpale.

The Internal resource persons for the trainings were Mr. Aditya Handa, Mrs. Renita Handa, Dr. Gargi Singh,Mrs. Sutapa Mishra, Ms Neha Parekh, Ms Ankita Ramani, Ms Pratibha Todawal & all old teachers.

Workshops at Redbricks Junior focused on-

• Innovative Science Teaching• Arts program for young children• Classroom Management skills• Guidance and Discipline Skills with children• Use of Montessori materials for concept building• Orientation on ECCE Curriculum and Teaching for the new teacher team• Parent-Teacher Partnership

The focus of all the workshops was to help the teachers understand the basic theories and acquire skills to adopt developmentally appropriate practices with young children.

REDBRICKS EDUCATION NEWS

A Look at The Reggio Approach to EducationThe Reggio Approach derives its name from its place of origin, Reggio Emilia, a city located in Emilia Romagna in Northern Italy. After the Second World War, Loris Malaguzzi, a young teacher and the founder of this unique system, joined forces with the parents of this region to provide childcare for young children. Over the last 50 years, this education system has developed into a unique program that has caught the attention of early childhood educators worldwide. Looking at this complex system of education is fascinating and challenging. It invites us to see the possibilities of what can be, if we are willing to take risks and let go of our traditional roles. The Reggio Approach is a complex system that respects and puts into practice many of the fundamental aspects of the work of Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky and many other education thinkers.

Understanding the Fundamentals of the Reggio Approach

Image of the child- At the heart of this system is the powerful image of the child. Reggio educators do not see children as empty vessels that require filling with facts. Rather they see children as full of potential, competent and capable of building their own theories. Children have the right to be recognized as subjects of individual rights; and active participants in the organization of their identities, abilities, and autonomy. They learn through relationships and interaction with their peers, with adults, with ideas, with objects, and with real and imaginary events of the world. Children are reassured by adults who place higher value on the search for constructive strategies of thoughts and action than on the direct transmission of knowledge and skills. These constructive strategies contribute the formation of creative intelligence, free thought,

and the individuality in the children.

Education based on Interrelationships- -A network of communication exists between the children, parents and teachers of Reggio. These three protagonists work together to create the spirit of co-operation, collaboration, and co-construction of knowledge. They work together interacting toward a common purpose; the building of a culture which respects childhood as a time to explore, create and be joyful. Each of these three protagonists has rights

The Reggio Teacher- The Reggio teacher is unique because she offers herself to the process of co-construction of knowledge. She releases the traditional roles of a teacher and opens doors to new possibilities. The Reggio teacher allows the children to:

• Ask their own questions, and generate their own hypotheses and to test them.• To explore and generate many possibilities both affirming and contradictory.

She welcomes contradictions as a venue for exploring, discussing and debating.

• She provides opportunity to use symbolic languages to represent thoughts and hypothesis.

• She provides opportunity for the children to communicate their ideas to others.

• She offers children, through the process of revisiting the opportunity to reorganize concepts, ideas, thoughts and theories to construct new meaning.

• She is a keen observer, documenter, and partner in the learning process.

within the school. It is the right of parents to participate actively in the growth, care, and development of their children who were entrusted to the public institution. This means no delegating and no alienation. Instead, it confirms the importance of the presence and the role of the parents. The school makes strong and concerted efforts to involve the parents, in the awareness of how much can be gained from close collaboration with the families for the greater security and well-being of the children.

The teacher, like the parents and children also has rights within this unique system. It is the right of the teachers and workers of each school to contribute to the study and preparation of the conceptual models that define educational content, objectives, and practices. This takes place through open discussion among the staff, ongoing teacher self-training and general staff development.

The Environment as the Third Teacher- The educators of Reggio Emilia view the school as a living organism. A place of shared relationships among the children, the teachers, and the parents. The school produces for the adults, but above all for the children, a feeling of belonging in a world that is alive, welcoming and authentic. The layout of the physical space in the schools encourages encounters, communication, and relationships. The arrangement of structures, objects and activities encourages choices, problem solving, and discoveries in the process of learning. In preparing the space, teachers offer the possibility for children to be with the teachers and many of the other children, or with just a few of the children, or even alone. Teachers are aware, however, that children also learn from their peers, especially when they can interact in small groups.

Long Term Projects as Vehicles of Learning- One of the highlights that often first attract educators to the Reggio Approach is its complex long term exploration of projects. Unlike predetermined thematic projects, the projects undertaken by Reggio educators may derive from both children’s and teacher’s ideas and interests, thoughts and theories in things worth knowing about. Teachers often work on projects with a small group of children while the rest of the classroom continues to involve itself in other self -selected activities and explorations.

The Importance of Documentation- Documentation is a key element in the Reggio Approach. Documentation serves many purposes but most of all it is used as a research tool for studying children’s learning processes. Documenting children’s daily experiences and ongoing projects gives meaning and identity to all that the children do. It is through the documentation that the teachers are able to gain insight into the thoughts of the children, determine further investigation for working on topics, create a history of the work and generate further interest. Reggio teachers are skilled observers of children. On a daily basis, they collect data via notes, recordings of conversations between children and through video taping of events and activities. The documentation is then used to analyze children’s understanding and thoughts- it is revisited by the teachers and children together. This

revisiting process provides children with the opportunity to discover their own questions and problems and to determine, together, what the next steps could be. Documentation is made visible on large panels throughout the classroom, thereby keeping the memory of the work vivid and alive.

Source: http://www.reggiokids.com/about/about_approach.php

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