Tis the Season

The annual Tree Lighting at The Conrad, Pune

We were proud to again be approached by the Conrad to perform at the tree lighting on December 8th. Our Primary Choir has made this a part of their annual performance routine and look forward to showcasing their learning and talents for the wider community. The Choir prepare and practice week in and week out, even choosing to spend, some of their break time to squeeze in extra practices as the time draws near. They have some firm favourites they champion to be included and Ms. Praveeta always introduces a new number or two.

We had a wonderful evening with the wider Pune community at the hotel. MBIS would like to thank them for their hospitality.

Adding some action and outreach this year, the Primary Choir also made a visit to the Carmel Care Home on Monday 10th December to perform for the residents. The students were again excited to share their programme with a new group in Pune. The children were magnificent and the hall had amazing acoustics; the residents appreciated the performance and they in turn sang a couple of songs for us. After this, we moved to “mixing and mingling” by sharing some light refreshments and presenting some token gifts.

Ringing in the Holidays with a Sing-Along was brought to you by PYP 2 – 5 students, the Primary Choir and Ms. Praveeta on Wednesday, December 12th.

Why have we chosen a Sing-Along format?

As many of you are aware, the IB PYP are undergoing a review and we are moving into the era of the “Enhanced PYP” with a greater emphasis on choice, voice, ownership and student agency.  Ms. Praveeta has been using this in her lessons to ensure that as well as covering her skill development, she is giving students greater responsibility for their own learning.

The programme, presented on Wednesday 12th, was chosen by the students; these were the songs they wanted to perform with the MBIS community.

This also supports the two strands of the PYP Arts curriculum – creating and responding.

We at MBIS believe that student ownership is critical for students to engage fully in their learning.  As adults we know we learn best when we have a personal interest in a subject. Giving students choice within a framework of concepts and ideas, allows them to feel a sense of responsibility, to engage with a passion and to feel a sense of ownership over their learning.

In the Primary, we have one more celebration left and that will be with our youngest students PS1 to PYP 1. This year was have again changed the format to allow the students more ownership of the event and they have been selecting the pieces they will be performing. We are also adding in some carnival type activities to make the morning more engaging for the students.

Ms. Helen – Primary Principal