Academy IB Primary Years Programme – at its most enriching

03 April 2017

The Academy Junior School has had an eventful and exploratory half-semester with an array of literary, artistic and inquiry-based activities.

IB PYP Network - Annual Literature Fest

105 students attended the Hyderabad IB PYP (Primary Years Programme) Network Lit Fest held at our Junior School in February. Seven schools visited the Academy for this event including both campuses of Oakridge International School, Niraj Public School, Glendale Academy, Focus High School, Meridian School and Indus International School.

Students and accompanying faculty were guided through five stations providing opportunities for multi-sensory learning experiences and engagement with children’s literature. This took the form of treasure hunts, musical storytelling, technology, visual arts and shadow puppet theatre. The 'tech' station had a green screen app where children became show anchors, discussing books and authors; while at the art centre, they took on the role of illustrators.

“The Literature Fest fosters collaboration amongst students and teachers from different PYP schools in the city, as participating students had the chance to play and work with students from other schools,” said Academy Junior School Principal Sreelatha Kumar. “It was also a wonderful opportunity to delve into the world of children’s literature through an integrated approach using different media. It was a busy, fun-filled morning for all!”

Special days

PYP students and faculty celebrated World Read Aloud Day on 16^th February. Initiated by LitWorld, a non-profit that tackles illiteracy worldwide and which aims to strengthen young children and communities through the power of stories and shared words, World Read Aloud Day is about demonstrating that the right to read and write belongs to everyone. Junior School teachers took turns to read aloud stories in English, Hindi and Telugu to students, other faculty, admin and support staff. By doing this, they joined millions of people in over 100 countries to create a community of readers advocating for every child’s right to access a safe education.

UNESCO has declared 21^st February as International Mother Language Day. This year, Junior School marked the occasion by offering opportunities for the entire Academy family to explore and celebrate the diversity of languages and cultures we represent. The day was kicked off with an assembly narrating the Tower of Babel story and songs performed in Bemba and Nyanja, both Zambian languages. Later in the afternoon, students were treated to stories and conversations in Gujarati, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam, Czech, Marwadi, Oriya, Tamil, Kannada, Punjabi, Sindhi and German. A reflective session was conducted the following day, where students discussed their learnings such as – appreciation of other languages, open-mindedness and finding commonalities between different tongues.

World Book Day is an annual event at our Junior School, celebrated on the first Thursday of March. Students and teachers participated in a class-wise ‘Character Parade’ in the morning, outfitted as mythological gods and goddesses, nursery rhyme and fairytale characters, and protagonists of Roald Dahl and Dr. Seuss books. Buddy reading sessions followed, where grade 6 and 7 students read with their younger colleagues.
“World Book Day is about spreading the joy of reading,” said Ms. Veena, Junior School Librarian. “It is meant to celebrate literature, so that children share the spirit of reading and are exposed to the internal beauty of the great joy of reading.”

Grade 3 visual arts workshop

As part of their unit on Arts under the transdisciplinary theme ‘how we express ourselves’, grade 3 students experienced a day-long workshop dedicated to discovering self-expression through visual art forms. The guest facilitators were Siva Kumar Akula, an architect by profession and self-taught artist, and Ranganadh Komari, a widely exhibited sculptor. Students were guided through exploring different materials including canvas, acrylic colours, clay and clay tools, and displaying their creativity by making their own real or imaginary clay structures. They also learned to appreciate scribbling and doodling, and use these in their works.