CONNECT

Dassera, Gandhi Jayanti etc may be our regular celebrations. These celebrations echo a sense of history and/ re-culture.

June 2016-17

Its utmost important to keep children involved in these activities so that they live the spirit of each celebration. There are other sets of unique achievements like a championship or coming first. They should be celebrated to encourage other children to try and emulate the achievers and also to promote confidence in the achievers. Real life celebrations of small events are essential to initiate a mindset of big time achievement in children. Real time achievements are the highest level of opportunity that a child can get now. Real time performance lifts the moral, learning power and brain power beyond imagination. Let us make it a culture of small and big achievements being appreciated and celebrated every time there is an opportunity. Non-intellective skills influence cognitive skills. Let one compliment the other. Jai Gurudev.

Find inside:

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Celebrations Environment day Music day Yoga day

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Investiture ceremony

    

Creative Corner

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Leadership Programme

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Teacher Talents Development Session

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Achievements

Inauguration - Academies

GIFTED EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

From the Chairman’s desk

Self work Saturday activities Divergent Thinking GIIS 100 Days Programme

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CELEBRATIONS WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it…” World environment day which is celebrated annually on the 5th of June and is dedicated towards the protection of the environment and raising awareness on this matter globally was celebrated with much pomp and gaiety by the 10th graders of GEAR Innovative Intl. School on the 6th of June by presenting a small skit. The play incorporated various elements to show the consequences faced when the environment is neglected and abandoned. GEAR cubs exhibited their thoughts through poems, tableaux and a dance. It showcased the problems faced by our society today and how each person can contribute in saving and protecting our planet in their own way. Through the help of a dance, children depicted the dark future of mother nature, which will eventually destroy the world completely. Indeed, the air was filled with curiosity and eagerness to learn about the effects of ignoring our mother nature. It was a blissful and heart whelming to see our audience engaging themselves with a melodious song sung by the students. Now it‟s time that each and every one of us takes an initiative and puts in their effort into preserving the environment. Everyone must take this responsibility to not suffer from fatal diseases, to not pay for the air we breathe, to not being surrounded by fake trees and last but not the least, to secure the future of the next generation. - NEEHARIKA B DEEKHSADAR & SEJAL SHARMA 2

CELEBRATIONS INVESTITURE CEREMONY The Investiture ceremony denotes the leader in us, and the trust and confidence we put in our newly appointed batch. Every student who obtained leadership role felt proud as a responsible citizen in making our tomorrow… The ceremony was held with lots of enthusiasm and gusto! The air was filled with curiosity as to who will be the next school captain and the house captains. Our newly elected student council took an oath in front of the whole school, recited by the former school captain, as to be true to their posts and duties assigned to them. It was very exciting to see the chosen students wear their new pips. The event was cherished thoroughly through applauses and cheers. We hope they fair well… we wish them all the best!! -NEEHARIKA B.DEEKSHADAR My Experience Thursday, 16th June was a great day to have assembly. It was sunny and there was no rain. As a ninth grader it was very special day and I could become a captain. Naturally I was nervous. After we finished singing the school song, Chairman sir came on stage. He talked about what investiture meant. Finally he got to the part where he called upon the captains. He asked us who we thought would become the next school captain. We all shouted the names of our friends. He then said that they were from Cauvery house (my house). We were all confused. Who could it be? “Ananya Ayyaswami”, Sir said. I was in shock.

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CELEBRATIONS Only after my friends tapped my shoulder did I slowly walk on stage. My whole body was shivering. Sir proceeded to call the rest of the captains. Slowly I started realizing what this meant. I was School Captain! Yes I would have a lot of responsibility but I wanted to make my school proud and there was no better way to do it. After calling the other ninth grade captains, Sir and Savi ma‟am put the pips on for me. They congratulated me and asked me how I felt. When the rest of the captains were called, I hugged all of my friends. I was so happy and so were they. Then we took our oath. After that I had to go down and take the flag from Neeharika, our last year‟s school captain. The assembly ended with me giving the command. The rest of the day was a blur. Everyone was congratulating me. Rao sir called us to discuss Sports day and we all had things to do. It was an amazing day. One that I will never forget for the rest of my life. My parents were proud of me. My teachers were proud of me and I am proud of myself. -Ananya.A ,IX – G

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CELEBRATIONS La fête de la musique

(World Music Day) The most celebrated music festival around the world, started in France around 1980's by the then French ministre de culture- Jack Lang. This festival of joy is celebrated on the streets in France and the musicians display their talents to the public. It is said that one out of two citizens of France know how to play a musical instrument. We at GEAR respect such talents and celebrated this festival with great enthusiasm on the 21st of June 2016 famously known as "Le Vingt et un Juin.". A brilliant performance was put up by the children from 6th to 12th grades. The four key students who managed the entire show from its inception till the end were- Ria, Ritika, Thomas from 11 grade and Annika from 10th grade. A very enthusiastic student from 6th grade called Kashyap performed a famous French rhyme- "Ah les crocodiles" which talks about a crocodile who leaves his family to go to war against the elephant. Anika of 10th grade commenced the celebrations with a solo performance of "Quelque me dit- Carla Bruni" which was greatly enjoyed by the crowd. This was followed by another French- Canadian children‟s song- Allouette- sung by a group of 7th graders. It really enthralled the crowd and swept them off their feet. The most famous boulevard in Paris called the Champs Élysées has a song after it written by Joe Dassin, was presented wonderfully by the students of 8th grade. Followed by "La vie en rose" written by the most celebrated actress/singer Edith Piaf was performed by a group of 9th and 12th graders. - Reethika Grade - 11

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CELEBRATIONS YOGA DAY It was a Tuesday, the 21st of June, and there was an air of expectancy hanging around the school. It was World Yoga Day, and we the students of GEAR Innovative International School were ready for the Union, as the meaning of yoga suggests. First expounded by Patanjali Mahamuni in his Yoga Sutra, this 5000 year old practice has been gaining popularity throughout the world, more so in recent years. One of our teachers who regularly practices yoga shared her views on the role of yoga in daily life, and how it can be utilized in improving our focus and brainpower. She also taught us a helpful breathing exercise where we close our eyes, plug our ears and just hum. How simple is that? Needless to say, it aids our concentration and helps us study better. This breathing exercise is called

Brahmari Pranayama.

After which we witnessed the play about a girl named Tara who was suffering from back problems such as sciatica, thyroid complications and many more. She gets to know about yoga when she watched her neighbour performing Surya Namaskara on her terrace. She then joined a yoga class, instead of continuing with her gym class. The audience as well as the actors themselves were inspired by the play thoroughly. As the day ended, the lasting thought in our minds was: Yoga is not a one-day celebration, but an integral part of our entire life. - Rakshitha and Varallika ,Grade - 9

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INAUGURATION OF ACADEMIES A fine, beautiful morning the tale of the academies unfolded in the form of a play. It was a tale of a new girl, who wanted to know more about the academies. They were as follows: RCIA - Raman Club Inventors’ Academy deals with innovations in Science and scientific theories. RMLA: Ramanujan Math Logical Academy: tries to create enthusiasm and interest among students about interesting and complex math logical problems . Antiques Academy: The school‟s memories don‟t fade away, thanks to Antiques Academy! This place is for those who enjoy documentation of memories and events, that are later stored in a place called the “Box”. Writers’ Academy: Looks at creating future writers and poets. IT Academy: For the computer “geeks” out there, hello from cyber world! IT Academy specializes in making websites, games, and much more! And that‟s not all! HTML, Sploder, Microsoft LOGO, you name it! It‟s all there! Theatre Academy: Hola! How art thee? Thou can not escape from the charm of theatre, thanks to these actors. Drama queens-and kings too- who feel they belong on the stage are absolutely welcome to join. Naturalistic Academy: If you need a place to rest, a place to sit in peace, just step outside on the grass and enjoy the pleasant breeze… this academy is for all those yearning for a dose of Mother Nature in their lives, and how to sustain our presently dwindling greenery.

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INAUGURATION OF ACADEMIES Bio-Tech Academy: A tribute to all those future biologists who will change the world, Biotech Academy is based on hypothesis, experiments, and observation. Studying cells, extracting DNA… these are only a few of the many experiments conducted by them! Entrepreneurship Academy: Aims at nourishing future entrepreneurs. Qualities of great entrepreneurs are taken and discussed and analyzed. Global Citizenship Academy: Aims at reminding people of their citizenship responsibilities they aspire to be not good, but great citizens! Visual Art academy: gets you to colour your imagination ,learning a new skill and applying it , becomes fun for GEAR cubs. Rediscovery Academy: is an innovative academy that looks into designing new things, improving existing things, be it cars to dresses! Global Citizenship Academy: Where Each one thinks of becoming a responsible citizen, through various activities. Leadership Academy: Where the qualities of leadership is instilled in the cubs, by discussing various leaders and their qualities. We also introduced new academies to the school. They are: Shakespearean Academy Aerospace Academy, and Big History Academy The „formalities‟ done, we concluded our play with a plea for all to join academy and be an integral part of it.

- Rakshitha,Grade –9

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ASSEMBLY ACTIVITIES Prakash Badminton Academy On the 8th of June 2016 the eighth graders presented a skit on Prakash Badminton Academy. The assembly had been great so far and everybody was excited for an action packed play. It started off with an enthusiastic boy named Annamalai asking to play with a group of boys. The group of boys were playing a sport we all know and love, „Badminton!‟Unfortunately he was not very good at it and was sent away only to be found sad and lonely by Venugopala. After listening to his problem, Venugopala tells Annamalai to join him at „Prakash Badminton Academy‟. Annamalai agrees and he takes a tour of Prakash Badminton Academy, learning new moves and making many friends. Finally, his training is over and he goes back to play with the boy‟s gang and this time he is ready. He quickly counters their attacks and does an amazing smash and is declared the winner. The boys are impressed and ask where he learnt to play so well and Annamalai proudly says, “I learnt at the Prakash Badminton Academy”. During the play information and demonstrations were given by the 8th graders about each move in Badminton. The audience learnt about tosses, drop shots, smash etc. The play ended with cheers. The audience was very happy with the play and it went beyond their expectations. The 8th graders had really shown something new and creative. They had added the

humour factor which was good

to see in the play.

We cannot wait for more such

well planned and

executed skits.

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ASSEMBLY ACTIVITIES Nisha Aquatic Academy Swimming is a sport that let's your body relax as well as increases you stamina, and is a sport all of us should know and enjoy. This is the story of a young girl named Rayana who is afraid of the water but how Nisha Aquatic Academy helps her conquer her fear . Rayana often refused to come to the pool and was awfully afraid of the water. Her friend Riya realised that Rayana was missing out on a lot and being a swimmer herself wanted to share her love of swimming with her friend. After much persuasion Riya brings Rayana to ,'Nisha Aquatic academy'. Rayana decides that she has to overcome her fear and she spend months at the academy learning different strokes and techniques. She learns Freestyle, Backstroke, Breast Stroke and Butterfly stroke which is demonstrated by her friends. Slowly as time passes her coach Mr. Suyash trains Rayana, and she become a budding swimmer. Finally she is ready to face off against others in competitions where she displays all that she has absorbed over the months. Her efforts prove fruitful and she holds up her many medals and trophies. When she asks how she overcame her fear she proudly says that it was all thanks to Nisha Aquatic academy!

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CREATIVE CORNER Diary Reading :

My Passion: Tennis – Living my dream

My first encounter with lawn tennis was when I watched Wimbledon semi-final live on T.V. I had no clue why 2 players were hitting the ball from one side of the tennis court to another. On that weekend my father bought me a new tennis racket and took me to the tennis court in our apartment complex. I wasn‟t aware of how to play, and hit 3-4 sixes and all the balls were lost within few minutes. (To be honest I didn‟t like playing tennis that time.) Then I joined a tennis academy. The more I started playing tennis, I started liking the game I played there for 2 .5 years and suddenly one fine day that centre was closed due to some reasons and for next 8-9 months I stopped tennis. I felt very bad for not getting trained. Then I joined a Sports academy ,which was 30 Kms away from my home. I use to get up around 5.00 a.m. in the morning to attend 6.30 a.m. tennis session Shrinath sir use to make the game more fun to play. Then I started liking and enjoying the game. My favourite players are Roger Federer, Nadal, Wavarinka, Leander Paes. Now I am playing in 7 ATA Zeeshanavalli academy. Somedev Devarnam had visited our academy and I had an opportunity to play rally with him and took his autograph. He gave a speech about importance of Tennis. Some of them are:   

Tennis isn‟t about physical but it involves mental and emotional strength of not losing yourself in the match. While playing through a match you feel so many emotions like joy, anger, frustration, nervousness and many more. This sport teaches us passion, humility, perseverance, anger management and acceptance of winning or losing is not important but it acts stress reliever. The best part of my game is feeling when I hit that perfect shot.

Sometimes in my dream I am in a house made of tennis balls, eating and watching live French open. I will be wearing shirt with a slogan : I LOVE TENNIS. And last but not the least whenever Srinivasan Sir comes and discuss about Tennis in the assembly, asks many questions and gives whole lots of information. I like it very much and I always look forward to have many more such sessions. Now I want to come to the point about my passion where I can say that I eat tennis, I drink tennis, I dream only about tennis and I live only for tennis. Thank you, very much. - Aryan. A.H. Grade -6 K

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CREATIVE CORNER In life all of us have certain confusions or dilemmas. Like about which sport to play, which dress to wear, which book to read, or about what hobby class you want to go to. I have a dilemma somewhat like that. In fact it‟s very close. My little dilemma is am I big or small? Have you ever had a problem like this? I have written a poem to express my feelings on this dilemma. I have a dilemma which is very confusing. Sometimes I find it very amusing. I want to be big can‟t wait to grow tall. The world is so high why am I so small. I am big enough to paint my own project. But I am small when I want to wear a big and glittery locket. When you are small, you can still shout and sing, you can prance, you can dance, and you can do anything. I can‟t wear high heels but I can make my own meal, sometimes I am big, sometimes I am small. If I were big I would drive a real train, a tractor, a truck or why not a plane? I can‟t have my own Raelo watch but I can play a football match. This is a big dilemma present in my mind and the answer on, I can‟t find. I don‟t know what to do, what to say, it is so confusing rather sometimes I find it amusing. - Sruthi Grade - 6M DIVERGENT THINKING Problem discussed during Divergent Thinking session. Some one wants to fly around the globe in the same aeroplane. The aircraft can fly a quarter of the planet, with one fill of fuel. Imagine we have the technology to fuel mid air fueling. Do you think you can solve the problem? The problem is the size of the fuel tank. (Design the plane according to Intl. specification) 12

LEADERIN IN ME LEADER ME

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LEADER IN ME A leader is required everywhere to light the path for others. Everyone can be a leader and this was the foundation of the Leader in Me programme at our school. This was introduced to bring out the leader in each and every one of us. As part of grade X, the first thing we did was discuss the meaning of a leader and write down all the characteristics of a good leader. Many things such as accountability, patience, coordination and responsibility came up. According to the traits brought up, we moved on to the 7 habits of highly effective people that were to be implemented in the life of every leader. The first habit we discussed was to be proactive. This means that we should think and calculate the pros and cons before responding to a situation. As a class we listed certain scenarios from our lives where we either reacted or pro-acted. It was good to see most answers were proactive. This shows the first sign of a good leader. The next habit was very important and started that we should always begin with the end in mind. This implies that our goal should always be visible to us and everything we do should contribute towards achieving it. As tenth grader, this is a very crucial habit for us to adopt. We all wrote down our goals, strengths and weaknesses and what we are to do to achieve our goals. This was personally a selfreflective and introspective activity and made us think about our future – a topic we tend to avoid. Then we learnt how to put first things first. According to me, this is a very basic habit for organizing our work and time management. We should always work according to our priorities. We segregated our day-to-day activities in quadrants ranging from very important and urgent to least important and urgent. This gave us an insight on which things to fill our lives with first. The things that matter should be on top while petty problems can be dealt with later. Our lives will be well organized by prioritizing. We then talked about how a good leader always works out a situation sp that everybody is benefitted. As captains of the previous year, it was found that we were already doing this. This was seen as a progressive habit that would help is later in life too. The next few activities we did were class favourites. For the 5th habit- Seek first to Understand and then to be understood, our class teacher came up with innovative ideas to involve the class. We each wrote five things that defined us and put it in a bag. Each person had to randomly pick up a chit, read it out loud and guessed who the person was. It was an interesting way to learn so many new things about one another. We definitely understood each other and will put ourselves in their shows before judging them next time. Another interesting activity we did was for the sixth habit – SYNERGIZE – which means to work together harmoniously. We played team games in which we had to figure out the fastest was to complete a given task. This required coordination and teamwork. We also had to do a few tasks silently without words. This was a challenge and required mutual understanding among peers. The last habit was Sharpen the Saw. This means that we should first take care of ourselves before doing anything. If one is not emotionally, mentally and physically fit, they won‟t be able to work at our full potential. We were asked to fill out ways to keep our mind body, soul and heart healthy. This again increased our knowledge and taught us how to first take care of ourselves. Good sleep, diet and exercise are required, as much as positive energy and influential environment to keep ourselves healthy. Overall, the Leader in Me was an introspective session where we reflected upon our daily lives and chose to change certain aspects to be more efficient and deliver better. In my opinion it was a great learning experience that we will use in our life for a long time.

~Prerna Bishayee, X-G

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LEADERIN IN ME LEADER ME

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HOLIDAY SELF WORK XM

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HOLIDAY SELF WORK XM

Grade—5 Enjoyed working with colours They researched on camouflage worked on an Optical illusion using colours design and also tried their hand on bubble painting

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HOLIDAY SELF WORK XM

Grade – 4 worked on the topic FIRE .Where they researched on discovery of Fire to Fire extinguishers.

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HOLIDAY SELF WORK XM Theme based holiday self work gets the best out of students, in a way which they enjoy. It also allows them to spend quality time with their parents . It enhances what is learnt through out the year, consolidates and also allows them to explore other fields which are beyond their syllabus. Theme on Photography for Grade VI Students were asked to capture ‘Interesting moments’ and think of captions for it after researching on the kinds of camera and drawing out a time line.

Conservation of Animals

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HOLIDAY SELF WORK FM

Grade -1 worked on the topic SUN

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SATURDAY ACTIVITY - FM

FATHER’S DAY ACTIVITIES

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SATURDAY ACTIVITY-FM

ENVIRONMENT DAY ACTIVITIES

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CREATIVE PROJECT CORNER –MM MATHEMATICS

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CREATIVE CORNER Projects Of MM –Math Group Projects How it helps us This Math class we found a different way to learn. Solving sums practically step-by-step was starting to become boring. So students were overjoyed when we got a chapter based purely on theory. Our teacher thought of a rather unique way of teaching. She divided us into a group and set two tasks for us. For the first part, we had to explain a part of the chapter to the class. I found this method very effective because to teach a whole class, we have to understand the concept thoroughly first. We had to be prepared for any questions our fellow classmates might ask. For the second part, we had to make a presentation on the mathematicians who influenced the ancient world. This too was a fun way to learn. I enjoyed that class more than any other Math class because it was so hands on and easy to do. I hope we do more activities like this, because the creative aspect balances the rather logical thinking needed for Math, and makes the class a whole lot more interesting. - Rithika, Grade 9

We were in groups of five , and we were assigned the task of quickly selecting a mathematical concept reading through that chapter, and very briefly talking about it. Everyone did a good job. Then we were given a second task to find out more about 5 of the greatest mathematicians of all time .Bhaskaran II, Aryabhata, Thales, Pythagoras, and ecluid. We were to bring information as well as pictures and make a collage the next day. The day began as we were all geared up, with our information ready and all, and the fun began. This period we couldn‟t sit and remain “jobless” for the whole 40 minutes. On the country, we were multitasking; with giving all the snippets We had got, and writing what seemed like a test paper at the same time, It looked pretty, hectic, but was a lot of fun! - Rakshita .K .L.Grade-9 We also did a questionnaire based on the chapter, which was a bit challenging, but quite easy to do. This was a very exciting, fun and an innovative way to teach us this lesson. -Sheela Guttula, Grade –9 It also taught us about teamwork, and cooperation. This project was different from others as we split the work equally and worked together to produce the end product. By the end we were proud of our work. - Arya Varma, Grade –9

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100 DAY PROGRAMME - A GLIMPSE Around the world in 100 days Along with enthusiasm and new ideas this academic year started off with brilliant idea the „100 day plan‟. This 100 day plan is based on our observation, research work, analysis along with creative ideas. The 100 day plan is done grade wise where each grade is given a particular topic and the students are asked to relate each day to the topic. According to the plan, the entire class will select a particular topic on which they have to research and collect facts related to the day‟s number. In this manner, the class will collect information and facts for the next 100 days. For example if your topic is sports then we can relate 1 to the winner as there is always one winner or one team which wins in any sport. 2 could be related as there are two baskets in a basketball court and so on for 100 days. In the end of the year there will be On the 100th day a programme or exhibition will be put up. So that all the cubs will get to know the best works and ideas done in other grades in an interesting way. - Hrishaka Pal,Grade IX and Akankaya, Grade X 25

ORIENTATION First Grade orientation Program - 2016 The program began with a very brief welcome of the parents by Karunakaran Sir. Then Chairman Sir addressed the parents. Sir made a very good connect with the parents. He began with the meaning of Namaste and went on to explain the philosophy of our school. Sir said “we are for the GEAR Cubs”. It made a very lasting impression. Sir also spoke about what is different in GEAR, our research approach, assembly programmes, assessment criteria and other activities, which reassured the parents. After that Karunakaran Sir gave his brief introduction and spoke about the philosophy of our school. Followed by Nandini Ma‟am who spoke about the school calendar and many other aspects of the school. Later Nagalakshmi ma‟am gave a brief about stationery details of it and how to communicate with the school. Rathee ma‟am informed parents about uniform, in detail. Kanika ma‟am gave details about our reading programme, worksheets and five words . Sangeeta ma‟am spoke about Whole Language and creativity.

Parents were briefed on the CCE – CCE –CONTINOUS AND COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION ORIENTATION Continuous and comprehensive process by the Principal. They were clear on the fact that it is for the all-round development of the child . Parents understood that all work and no play will not help their child to become a happy and successful person. In fact letting them participate in various activities will help the child.

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TEACHERS TRAINING SESSION For a new mentor attending a training programme can be a bag full of apprehensions, questions and hidden abilities. In this perspective, GEAR training session was good, comforting and relaxing. Most of the sessions were inspirational, knowledge based and motivational. We were involved in group activities along with some thought provoking situations we might come across in teaching-learning environment. The MI introduction by Seena Madam and application of it ,was interesting and challenging. HOS/HOA/CIPE/Heuristic learning were of good knowledge and influential, which pushed us to think in detail on different topics. The senior mentors shared their experiences, hands on activities and their skills. Chairman‟s Sir and Madam‟s sessions were unique and interesting. Sir not only introduced many books on motivation and mind power but also inspired us on different styles of teaching methods. He stressed on enhancing a child‟s thinking, ability, rather than mechanically grasping a concept or memorizing. Madam‟s yoga sessions with a beautiful smile and soft voice brought us immense relief and relaxation from stressful moments. Principal sir‟s valuable inputs on discipline and leadership added value to the training . If the planning of activities were done in a more structured manner instead of random introduction, it may help us (new mentors) reduce nervousness. -Shobha Pandae

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ACHIEVEMENTS ASSET 2015 ACHIEVER”S AWARD For the Highest score Sl. No.

Subject

Student Name

Grade

1

English

Aarav U Majithia

5

2

English

Ayaan I Khan

5

3

Maths

Kevin Jais

5

4

Maths

Aditi S Patel

6

GEAR cubs bagged five awards out of the twenty four possible Topper Awards at the National level ASSET TALENT SEARCH RESULTS

Maths Scholar Sl. No.

Student Name

Grade

Percentile

1

Ayaan I Khan

5

96

2

Rishi A Nambair

6

98.5

3

ShrishtiKulkarni

6

98.4

English Scholar Sl. No.

Student Name

Grade

Percentile

1

AaravU Majithia

6

98.6

2

Rishi A Nambair

6

99.5

3

ShrishtiKulkarni

6

96

4

Yash A Lothe

7

98.7

Science Scholar Sl. No.

Student Name

Grade

Percentile

1

Aarav U Majithia

6

96.9

2

Rishi A Nambair

6

99.5

3

Arush M Gomber

6

95.6

4

Arya J Narang

7

97.8

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ACHIEVEMENTS Grade X Results

(2016-17)

Grade point Range

No of students

% of students

CGPA 10

16

37

9.1 - 9.9

12

28

8.1 - 9 7.1 - 8

9 6

21 14

Total

43

100

We are proud of our GEAR cubs who pursued their passion, kept their spirits high and proved themselves in the board exams

From piano to rock

Thomas Joseph of GEAR International School is a member of a rock band and juggled between studies and piano classes. “Time management was extremely important. I ensured that I studied in the morning, maintained a balance between extracurricular activities and academics. Playing piano or singing was like a stress buster. I followed the lessons in school on a daily basis," he said.

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ACHIEVEMENTS GEAR Cubs shine at Problem Solving Assessment Problem Solving Assessment (PSA) is a special test designed by CBSE for students in class-9 and class-11 which aims to infuse generic and higher order thinking skills among the students. The test of Problem Solving Assessment is designed to assess and improve skills like creative thinking, decision-making, critical thinking and communication abilities that lead to success in real life. The PSA test items aim to assess student‟s ability to process, interpret and use information rather than assessing their subject knowledge. It is an effort to take the students out of bookish knowledge and enable them to handle real life challenges. The PSA covers the following areas;  Language conventions (English )



Qualitative Reasoning skills  Quantitative Reasoning skills Our GEAR cubs have done extremely well in this conventional test. The number of students who have got a percentile score above 90 and the toppers names are given below: Grade XII - 2014-15

Grade XI - 2014-15

Language Qualitative Quantitative Conventions Reasoning Reasoning % of students who scored above 90 percentile

86

57

Language Qualitative Quantitative Conventions Reasoning Reasoning % of students who scored above 90 percentile

43

41

9

5

Toppers of Grade XII - 2014-15 (with their percentile score) Language Conventions

Qualitative Reasoning

Amita P Varma

Amita P Varma

99.89

98.16

Devi Krishnan

Harish Krishnan -

99.46

98.16

Quantitative Reasoning

Harish Krishnan 96.90

Toppers of Grade XI- 2014-15 Language Conventions Qualitative Reasoning

Quantitative Reasoning

Mithulya Murali

Harshad Ram B

Ronald Stephen S

98.48

98.16

94.70

Hearty congratulations to all the GEAR Cubs ; the way to go. 30