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LEARNING - A JOURNEY

by Archana Raghuram

The International School of Hyderabad (ISH) was founded in 1972, by a group of parents who felt the need for an international curriculum, which could hold their children in good stead, whichever part of the world they moved to. In 1986 the ICRISAT in Hyderabad became the main sponsor of the school and the children of the same constituted a major part of the school's strength. But, slowly with time this school has become a destination for children of all expatriates and NRIs.

The ISH is a non-profit making institution governed by a Board of Trustees and managed by the Principal, Mr. Stuart M^clay. Mr. M^clay has joined the school recently after years of management experience in schools all over the world including Thailand and sauidi Arabia. Having started his teaching career in primary schools in England for almost 8 years, his experience and skills are well appreciated at the ISH.

A normal day at the ISH starts at 8.00 am and goes on till 2.30 pm. The day starts with an assembly and then there are eight classes with a snack break and lunch break in between. The students study under the British National Curriculum. In fact, the ISH is the only school in the entire country to be accredited by the European Council of International Schools (ECIS) for its high quality of education and training.

Its interesting to see that a regular class at the ISH has a small teacher student ration. This just shows the amount of attention each student gets from the teacher. The class as such has students who can be categorised into ordinary, intelligent and very bright kids. And the teachers interact with each in a special way that's admirable. For instance, in the maths class where addition is being taught, two or three children were sitting together solving problems, while some children were rolling the dice trying to add the numbers they rolled. The uniqueness of the teaching system is the ethos behind the British National Curriculum. Though it is rigid about what should be taught, it is flexible about the way it is taught. The motto is to make learning a challenging and enriching experience for the children. Another noticeable activity was the art class, wherein students were busy making masks of Tutankhamen, as part of learning Egyptian history. Here art and the subject are coordinated in a way so as to make learning fun.

In the ninth standard, the children have a choice between taking the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) or the Nebraska programme.

The teachers, apart from their teaching qualifications are valued more for their experience and innovative teaching skills. The Principal rightly puts it when he says, "students get out of the lesson, what the teachers put into it." The students are taught to understand a concept before they learn it. So learning by rote has no place here. The schools stands out for its articulate teaching, carefully done up class rooms, impeccably maintained school area and funnily, for the lack of a uniform!!!! The school strength stands at an eyebrow raising figure of 60.

The children are regularly rewarded with certificates by the Principal at the assembly, once a week.

The school also encourages parent-teacher interaction every two weeks apart from sending a file known as a "record of achievement" regularly to them. This file consists of all the important things the child has been learning and is carefully prepared by every child. The school took part in a tri-part serious of sports events last year and won laurels in swimming. There's a special hour of after school activities where art work, dance, music, different sports, drama and even Hindi is taught to the students. And many parents come for English lessons that are organised by the school specially for them.

The school holds the unique distinction of following the 'Literacy and Numeracy" strategies promulgated by the British National Curriculum two years ago. The motto of the school is to maintain high standards, conform to high expectations and strive towards academic excellence. At the ISH, learning it seems to be a never ending journey.

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