The school community is excited to announce MBIS 20th Anniversary as of 2018! This endeavor is possible only because of our wonderful school community that is constantly changing with new students, teachers and staff joining each year.
To celebrate the newcomers of our school, we would like to introduce a few teachers and students that have joined our community through interviews conducted by members of the Yearbook/Journalism CCA.
The first interview we’d like to share is with Mr. Mark Gardener, who is the MYP Coordinator at MBIS.
Q: Can you tell us about yourself?
A: I’ve been in Pune for 6 or 7 weeks. Before that I was working in Singapore for 3 years as the MYP coordinator and the coordinator of GCSEs. Before Singapore, I worked in the Middle East, in Dubai, again as an MYP coordinator, for 8 years.
Even before that I was working in England. I was a teacher for Travel and Tourism Management, which was basically training people to be tourism development officers, working with tour operators, travel agents [etc] which was quite different from what I’m doing now.
Q: Any special reason for selecting India & MBIS?
A: Not particularly… I decided about a year ago I wanted to move away from Singapore and I was looking at different opportunities and what was available to see what I was interested in. I wanted a place that would be a great work environment, but also that would be an interesting place to live. There were different opportunities that came up, but I found the greatest connection with MBIS. When I visited the school in February, shortly after my interview, I clicked with the environment immediately; I knew I could contribute to this school environment and that it would be a good place for me to work and explore.
Q: How was the transition from last school to MBIS?
A: It’s still happening. I still have my belongings in boxes back in Mumbai, but hopefully by this week I’ll have them. In terms of a personal level, I’ve found it easy to transition into the school community, partly because it is a small school so it is easier to get to know my peers, but also I think the people are very supportive and friendly. I like how that even though I teach MYP1 students, I’ve gotten to know a lot of other students who were very open and very friendly. The friendliness and welcome I got here really helped me have a smooth transition after my move.
Q: What challenges did you faced while settling down in MBIS?
A: I think part of the challenge of any move, not just for me as a teacher but also the new students that have joined us, is finding out what everybody does and where to go to things. Like many students here, I had to figure out where to go for lunch, who to go to to get certain resources, where to get them from, which teacher does what, who to ask about my job… That entire process is a big part of settling in, but something that really helped is the friendliness of the people here. I’m still learning things every day, but I think the biggest thing to make the challenge of transition easier is to ask a lot of questions and try to remember as many answers as possible.
Q: How have things changed for you?
A: That’s a good question… I think with any move or transition comes the change of routine. I am someone who values routine in their life, so when I was Singapore, I knew exactly what I had to do on a day-to-day basis. It takes time to get a routine set up when you move to somewhere new, which is somewhat frustrating to begin with… but things are starting to fall in place now, so I’m slowly getting settled in.
Q: What are your views about MBIS at this stage? What makes you proud of MBIS?
A: The thing that really struck me about MBIS is the confidence and ability the students have. I’ve been working with different students, have visited different classes, and am teaching my MYP1 students, and seeing the students have confidence to stand up in front of the class and speak effectively and being able to put across points… I think that stood out to me the most. I was so impressed after teaching the MYP1s for a week, seeing how insightful the students were. The comments they made in class showed that they were constantly analysing and evaluating the information put out in class, and were able to use it to express their views clearly too. I thought that was astonishing that at an MYP level they all already knew how to do so much so efficiently. The collective sense of identity the students have as a school community also stands out to me. Seeing the unity during house matches across all grades, working together to complete the activities, and supporting each other really impressed me.
2. Interview with Mr Fernando Beukes – P E Teacher
Q: Can you tell us about yourself?
A : My Name is Fernando and i come from Namibia. I am a PE teacher for last 10 years. I love what I do and I am passionate about it. The best thing is I love working with kids.
Q: Any special reason for selecting India & MBIS?
A : MBIS is a small school with good facilities. I am looking from the PE sports point of view and MBIS has a good sports program and facilities. I like the ISACI here and I thought I could add some value to this school.
Q: How was the transition from your last school to MBIS?
A: I think the transition was easy because my last school was a PYP school. The curriculum is similar and the students are quite similar from my former last school.. Even though most of the students are Indians, students are the same all over the world.
Q: How have things changed for you?
A : I am studying to become much more organised, use my time better because the deadlines are already set and I have to stick to those deadlines. I have to show my abilities to school and what I can add. I have improved a lot!
Q: What are your views about MBIS at this stage? What makes you proud of MBIS?
A : Starting with students, they are very respectful, very friendly. The staff members are very friendly. I like the atmosphere and the PE section. I will definitely enjoy working here for another 2-3 years.
Students – Jung Won Yoon – MYP 4B
How different is this school compared to your last one?
This school is extremely small, so there are fewer classrooms. The food here is better because of the diversity. There were about 80 kids in each grade and our homework was a lot harder and longer. Before I went to Indus I was in Korea. My school over there was also very big, it had around 500 kids.
What do you like about MBIS?
I like that this school is very small and easier to navigate. There’s more diversity here and my new classmates are really friendly. The smaller amount of kids in each class so we can have better communication with our peers and teachers.
Tell me about yourself?
I’ve lived in foreign countries for 6 years now. 4 years in Indonesia and the rest in India.
I’m from Korea and I lived there for 8 years. I like art, especially digital art and manga. Manga is a comic.
Do you like India and why?
I like India, but I prefer Korea since it is my home. I like how chips are really cheap here.
How have things improved since your first day here?
I know where to go now. I’m in the right class and my google account and managebac help to make things a lot easier.
What makes you proud of MBIS?
The amount of diversity here and how well we are able to communicate.
Students : Aashi & Khushi Mejare (MYP 2 A – twin sisters)
Q : Tell me about yourself like which country you came from, your hobbies, your likings?
A: AAshi, i came from France but I am born in America. I like to do sports mainly diving and skidding.
Khushi, same thing as Aashi says, I like to do normal sports.
Q : Did you like the school when you first came?
A : Aashi, I thought it was different, I was not quite sure.
Khusi, yes for me it was different because in our old school we didn’t have computers.
Q : Do you like India and specifically something which you like of this country?
A : Aashi, i have been to India a lot during vacations. I like the food here, the best food I like is the Pani puri which you get it anywhere.
Khushi, I like the festivals, culture and food here.
Q : What was your challenge on the first day of the school?
A: Aashi, on the first day it was difficult because i met only two friends Emma and Tania and I was going around with them the whole day.
Khushi, for me the atmosphere was different and it was difficult to make friends at that time.
Q : How are the things changed for you, about Curriculum and other things?
A : Aashi, In France it was old school, old school means no laptops only writing. It was all by textbooks nothing resource bookwise. Research we would do but it’s direct, but here IB is concept based learning is new and the laptop stuff is new.
Khushi, we didn’t have computers to use, the only time we used to use computers were when we have research based project.
THANK YOU!!
Interviews taken by – Harshita Jinaga, Ira Shivadey, Ria Tulsani and Chaitra Takle
