Junior School
The focus of the Junior School program (Grades 2 – 5) is to inspire teachers and students to question, reflect, dialogue and construct shared meaning, in a resource rich environment. The role of the teacher is to facilitate a critical and creative engagement between students, that is reflected in their ideas, writings and presentations.
The school has a large green campus which attracts a variety of reptile and insect species. This diversity inspires students to marvel, wonder at the richness of nature and invites an in-depth exploration of various flora and fauna. The campus is a green oasis in the ever expanding industrialisation of the area. Urbanisation and the consequent threats to the environment naturally become the core topics of study for the students and teachers of the Junior school.
The curriculum emphasises a project based approach with a focus on learning specific skills and concepts in the domains of language, mathematics and science. Sports, yoga, music, theatre and fine arts form an integral part of the curriculum. In the Junior school students acquire basic competency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in two languages - Tamil and English. They explore numerical concepts and strategies and develop a mathematical sense and logical reasoning using factual data. The acquisition of core skills and concepts in these foundational areas are strengthened and supported through scaffolding, to reduce stress, build confidence and ensure a smooth transition to the next level.
Students take up STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) projects, where an interdisciplinary approach encourages them to share perspectives, reflect, problem solve and collaborate on a variety of issues that are either based on the curriculum or are in areas of interest to them.
In the language arts students are encouraged to share their everyday experiences bilingually through their writings, discussions and presentations. Students’ imaginations, emotions and ideas find expression in their richly descriptive personal narratives, imaginative stories and poems.
The goal of the Junior school Math program is to help students understand numerical concepts and operations, and use manipulables to construct mathematical meaning. They gradually learn to represent and interpret mathematical concepts on paper. Creative story-based problems enable students to apply mathematical reasoning to make-believe and real world situations. Through Origami, musical notes, Kolams, and garlands, students create mathematical patterns.
In the EVS program students explore ideas and issues relating to the self, family, neighbourhood, community and the larger world. Students engage in various interdisciplinary projects based on these themes. They use music, art and theatre to create a textured multi-layered learning experience.