Visit to Desire Society

 

22 students of IBDP class XI visited the Desire Society - an orphanage home to HIV positive children. They have a home here in Hyderabad, one in Chennai and one in Bangalore. At the society, the children ranged from the ages of 3years to 15years. First off, the main purpose for our visit was to bring a smile to those children’s faces. We went there with plans of teaching the children basic mathematics, and other activities, and even planned out some games for them. Due to lack of time, we divided ourselves into groups and played with them. One group played caroms, we played football, and the other was taught Origami. There were about 30 children when we went, but the orphanage is home to around 50. However, they reached out to 200 more HIV positive children who actually had a family who they stayed with.

What I personally found amazing, that inspired me so much, was the smile on these children’s faces. They knew that they were sick, and would die eventually, but still, continued to go to school and were more than eager to learn. The fact that despite they were ill, they managed to enjoy life really made me see how strong they were.

A concern, which was really unnecessary, that we faced was that many of the parents and the students were unwilling to visit these children out of fear, but the head there explained us how it really isn’t hazardous. It is nearly impossible to pick up any disease, or even HIV from them, however, when we go there, we are carrying diseases to them, because they have very weak and the suppressed immune systems.

This society pays for all medical attention of these children, and these expenses are very high. The government doesn’t pay enough for these children. They even have a doctor and a nurse to pay. They send blood samples across every month to Chennai for testing. They pay for transport and everything. Money and resources is a challenge they face. The desire society does accept donations, and we who have everything and more should really stop and think of these children, help them live a better, long life.

Anisha alla

IBDP XI

CAS trip to the SOS village

 

The students of IBDP XI went on a CAS trip to the SOS village. The SOS children’s village is an NGO that operates all over India to help children integrate into society. The idea behind it is that children in need are taken into the village, and kept in foster homes, with foster mothers. They go to different schools, and when they come home in the evenings, they can receive tuitions to help them in subjects they don’t understand. The foster mothers cook and look after around 10 children in each house.

We entered the village ready with our teaching materials and snacks. The children and mothers were very friendly and welcoming, and all houses offered us refreshments. For an hour, we helped the children with their schoolwork. We then went out to a field to play football and socialize with the children. They, however, had to go to an exhibition, and left early. The manager of the Hyderabad branch told us that their main aim was to send the children back into society when they are ready. We were very surprised to find that one child had sung on the all India radio, one was selected for the state football team, and one was currently employed in Wipro. As we left, we realized that not only had the children learnt something from us, but we had learnt something from them as well! It was a great learning experience for us all.

Shruti Koti

IBDP XI

 

  

Cultural Immersion Trip

 

On Wednesday, March 9th, 10 students, and Ms. Hema Chennupaty will be leaving Hyderabad to go to Spain on a Cultural Immersion trip. The school is coordinating this trip with Spain BCN in Barcelona. We will be staying in Barcelona for 8 days, and while there, we will visit famous historical monuments, such as Santa Maria del Mar, La Sagrada Familia, el Parque Güell, and the Gothic Quarter of the city. In the mornings, we will learn Spanish, and about Spanish culture, and in the afternoons we will go on site seeing excursions.

In addition to this, we will also be participating in some serious activities, such as: visiting the Barcelona Stadium, taking some soccer lessons, and attending a flamenco dancing workshop. We will also be doing community service in a school in the evenings. All the students are very excited and we hope we can impart some knowledge about India, as well as learning a little more about Spain.

Shruti Koti and Ramya Baddam

IBDP XI

National Science Day celebrated @ OIS

 

National Science Day to commemorate the discovery of one of the greatest effect called “The Raman Effect” was celebrated with much fervor at OIS.

On February 26, 2011 a painting competition on “Science in the 21^st Century” was organized for students of classes VII and VIII. The sight of young minds adding colours to their scientific ideas on paper was indeed vouching to the fact that ‘We are living in a Scientific era and everyone both young and old is a scientist’.

The top 50 entries were displayed in the atrium. Top three Best entries won prizes. The prize winners are:

1 Prize - Priyadarshini - VIII G
2 Prize - Ahalya - VII B
3 Prize - Sri Kavya - VII F

A panel discussion involving students of Classes IX (CBSE and IGCSE) and XI (CBSE and IBDP) and the Science faculty was held between 2:15 pm to 3:15 pm in the same venue. Capt. Rohit Sen Bajaj, Principal, OIS and Mrs. J. Turaga, VP, OIS also shared their views on the three topics discussed as under:

In Physics:

“Is it necessary to spend billions of dollars on research on atoms using the Hadron Collider, when the world is in dire need for basic amenities?”

In Chemistry:

“Is organic farming the best option over inorganic farming?”

In Biology:

“With the advancement in the Human Genome Project, is therapeutic cloning of body parts the best alternative for prosthetics in the near future?”

The discussion was efficiently moderated by Mr. Biju Baby, DP Coordinator and Physic Teacher (IBDP XII)

Ms. Anusha D., Career Counselor at OIS, put up information related to careers in science and the latest trends in the possible prospects.

 

Assessment for the UOI - ‘Decision Making’

Ms.Raksha Dand

Team Leader Grade V

Around 40 parents from all the sections of Grade V took part in the  summative assessment for the UOI - ‘Decision Making’.
They spent some time with  each student and assessed them for their knowledge and decision making skills based on the rubric given.
During the interaction they put in front of the students a problem or situation for which they wanted to take a decision. Students helped them to take a decision following the steps of decision making. This reflected their learning of the process of decision making.
All the parents enjoyed their rendezvous with the students. This gave them an insight into the process of assessment at the school. We thank our Parents who made it a huge success.


 
 
 
 

Getting Started on the Road to Right Decision Making

Based on the UOI –Decision making the Grade V students conducted a talk show with the Senior management members of the school.Each Sr.Mgt member spoke about one important factor involved in decision making according to them.
During the process of inquiry the students had come up with many questions such as-

•   How do people in key position take decisions?
•   How do they manage differences in opinion?
•   Who are the people involved in taking important decisions which affect lives of many people?
•   What factors are considered while taking an important decision?
•   How do decisions impact people?

All these questions were answered by the Senior Management Team.

Managing Director Mr.Rajasekhar Babu gave relevant examples to students on decision making while answering their questions. His simple way of explaining things caught the attention of students. He advised students not to compromise on values while taking decisions and that values are a central part of who you are – and who you want to be.

He told them some of life's decisions are really about determining what you value most. When many options seem reasonable, it's helpful and comforting to rely on your values – and use them as a strong guiding force to point you in the right direction. Advice from a good friend or counsellor can be helpful in some circumstances. Although we may wish that someone else would step in to make tough decisions for us, the final decision remains ours to make.

He also added that family and friends are most important and our decisions should not hurt them.

Joint Managing Director Mr.Prasanna answering the questions posed by the students mentioned that he is very passionate about education and so he decided to join Oakridge. When asked as to what were the different factors that were considered while taking up a decision he explained -We all are decision makers and we make decisions every day every minute. Some decisions are simple and easy. But in business organizations, we face difficulties in decision making due to some complexity, insecurity, risk involved, outcome etc

According to him - Perception is key in the decision making process, because you must fully understand the decision you make along with all of the facts and information involved in the situation to be resolved.

Sr.VP.(Operations) Mr.Mallikarjuna explained to the students that while taking decisions he considers the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of the consequences of the decision. He introduced the decision making tool SWOT to the students.He told them if you are facing a problem, you can create a personal SWOT analysis - relate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats before you decide whether it would be in your best interests to take  the decision.He mentioned that by understanding your weaknesses, you can manage and eliminate threats that might otherwise hurt your ability to move forward.

Sr.VP.(Education) Mr.Ramesh Krishnan  gave very thoughtful answers to the questions posed to him during the talk show.  He said that he prioritizes his tasks based on the importance and urgency of the tasks. He told the students  that decision making is very important not only in professional life but also in our day to day life. When he has to take a decision of implementing a new idea he looks at the positives and negatives and if the positives are more then he takes a decision to implement the new idea. He explained to the students that though decision making is a scientific process and there are certain steps that are followed while decision making, certain situations in life demand that we take a decision immediately. He told the students that they should be ready for such situations.

The Principal -Capt.Rohit Sen Bajaj stressed on character building. According to him - Virtues are strengths of character that enable people to flourish as a complete moral individual.To possess a virtue is to have a definite sort of character.Character concerns an appropriate inner state of an individual,which gives rise to an appropriate response in terms of behaviour, action and decision to any given situation.

According to the Vice Principal -Making good decisions can be a tough skill to hone. When you have several options, especially those options where all seem like good ones, the act of making a choice can be overwhelming and fill you with self-doubt. Mulling over decision making for hours or days, however, can come with its own set of problems. To assess your options with focus and consider your priorities, gather as much information as you can. Think about what could go wrong with each decision you could make. Could you live with the consequences? Opinions of your friends and family members can help add another perspective to your decision making process. Consider their feedback, but remember that you are the one who has to ultimately make the decision for yourself. Pros and Cons list can help you see how the choices measure up against each other. Once you’ve made a decision, own your process and own your results. If it doesn’t come out the way you hoped, learn from it and live with it. Ducking responsibility does nobody any good.

According to the headmistress - Individual decision making is the act of making up one’s mind. As a headmistress she gives more importance to the students and their safety. These are the things that are her priority while taking decisions at school. She mentioned that for being a good leader it’s very important to identify the talents of the team you lead. Team decision making is the process through which a team chooses an alternative. Team performance depends largely on the choices made by the team. These choices, in turn, depend on the processes through which teams decide.She also emphasized that there truly are no wrong choices, only different paths.

LG Lead II

 

A group of representatives from LG lead II had come to Oakridge,Newton Campus, to promote LG sponsorship for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.There was a presentation showcasing the advertisement of LG Lead II and how one student can get an opportunity to escort their dream player.It was followed by an interactive session with the students.

Bharat, Ravi Teja

XI C

 

 

 

Session with - The School Psychologist

 

Teachers from the Pre Primary had a session with Dr. Shakila  Naidu - The School Psychologist on 24^th Feb about issues like:

· Poor scholastic Performance

· Temper Tantrums

· Hyperactivity

· Eating/ Toilet Development

Dr.Shakila also spoke about importance of child milestones and different behaviour patterns in children.

Guest Lecture – PP1

 

In connection with to the unit ‘Living things’ the PP1 students had a guest lecture by Mrs. Meetu Shringi mother of Mitansh from PP1A.She demonstrated different kinds of turtle, their habitat and their life cycle through Power point presentation. It was a very interactive session.She wrapped up the session by making a turtle using various indigenous materials.

  

Jr. School - Library Week

 

Junior School celebrated Library Week from 28^th of February to 04^th of March.

The students of all the grades from different sections participated in the Special Library Assembly. The theme was: “Get Ahead...Read; Widen your World”. Every day,a new poem was introduced on Library, Books and the value of books. Students actively involved in learning the importance of the Library, why to inculcate the reading habit and value of books through skits. On 4^th March students showcased  their  Learner Profile in connection to Library.