In one of his recent articles, essayist and novelist Pico Iyer writes what the world was becoming before COVID 19, ‘…there’s so much clamour around, we can’t hear ourselves think (or not think)… We can’t hear anything wiser than ourselves, we can’t hear what the world is saying to us and we can’t hear one another.’ This lockdown has made us pause and value the simple pleasures of family life, like reading together, cooking together, teaching our children what household chores really mean, playing scrabble the good old way. A recent UNESCO report says that 90% of the world’s student population is impacted by the nationwide closures due to COVID 19 pandemic. We are now in our sixth week of online learning and we have been able to ensure continuity of learning for our students and have miraculously been able to meet most of the learning objectives for the current academic year.

Teachers and students must work in tandem to ensure a successful online lesson. It is indeed gratifying to see that in the past few weeks, many of our students have become responsible for their own learning and they seem to have found their rhythm on self-regulated learning. However, from last week we have started to face disruptions in work submissions and also attendance. I would once again like to reiterate the expectations from students:

1. It is expected that students will complete assignments for ALL classes during this online-learning experience. The teachers are sending mail reminders to students and sometimes even to parents in case of delayed or no submission of work. We seek your cooperation in ensuring that work assigned is submitted on time. We are trying hard to adhere to the report card deadline of 14th May.
2. Students will be held accountable for work during this time
3. Students should log in each day to view assignments, and complete them in a timely fashion. Students (and parents) may contact the teacher via email using the Neev Academy email ID with questions or concerns regarding assignments.

Updates on Middle School:

1. Summative tasks are well underway for Grades 6-9 of the MYP and will be completed early next week.
2. Formative assessments are being done for few subjects in the ICSE; most have already been completed
3. Syllabus for ICSE students are near completion
4. Grade 10 students continue with their Pre DP courses in Mathematics and Sciences along with the optional modules of Media Literacy and Great Books. The Pre- DP courses definitely have set a tone for the rigour and depth which the Diploma Programme entails.

Since the past two weeks, the library team @ Neev has started taking reading sessions based on the current Humanities units of the grade. On completion of the Summative Assignments, the Humanities faculty will also join forces with the library team in yet another novel endeavour from our end to bring reading into the lives of our students.

We would like to thank our parents for providing the kindle editions for the following books:

Online sessions are not restricted to lessons alone. Mid- April, my colleagues and I had a session on subject choice with our Grade 8 students and parents. Many of our educators are now attending Webinar sessions and connecting with international educators across the globe; social learning in the true sense.

In the midst of adversities, at Neev, we are learning that profound positive change is possible, it has brought us closer, we can see what is strong and what we value, what matters and what doesn’t.Stay safe, stay happy,

Best Regards,

Gouri Kar

Middle School Head and MYP Coordinator