Involvement in the Primary School Science Fairs
Older students at NAISAK are more than role models, they also aspire to be peer educators, mentors, friends and passionate students. They lead by example and aim to inspire their younger counterparts. As Ambassadors, they strive to do more than just hear, they listen. There is an enormous amount of research in education that explains the benefits of peer facilitation in school settings. The fact remains that peer leaders in the upper grades develop leadership skills and find new ways to be productive at school. At the same time, younger students become connected to the school in meaningful ways and build relationships based on trust and communication with students they may otherwise have not had the opportunity to get to know.
It was one-of-a-kind type of experience for our Secondary students when they were presented with the opportunity to visit the very first Primary Science Fair. With the evaluation sheets in hand, they went to various classes looking at tiny hands performing experiments and eager faces ready to get a pat on their back for their performance. It was a tough job as there were many classrooms and every student in the class participated in innovative experiments. The result of the Primary Science Fair will be out soon!
Here are some of the thoughts shared by Secondary students:
“I enjoyed going around the Primary Science Fair and seeing how enthusiastic the students were. I was sincerely impressed with how much they knew about their topic. They made choosing a winner extremely difficult for us! It made me feel excited and humble to interact with our younger students and realise how talented some are.” – Anna Davis 9A
“The Primary Science fair was extremely enjoyable and it was a fun way to learn more. We learn at all ages and from all people! The experiments were creative and they varied from electrostatic electricity to making slime. The participants explained the concepts with great elocution and could answer some technical questions I asked. Being NAISAK students and aiming to be ambitious and always progress, I would like to set them a target though: try to be more self-confident!” – Shesha Taylor A
World Book Day
The Secondary School made a significant (or so we say!) impression on Thursday when students AND teachers came to school dressed up as book characters. It is rare that Secondary School teachers and students engage in such activities at NAISAK as the focus tend to stay on the strict curriculum matters. However, tempted by the wonderful World Book Day and costumes observed in Foundation and Primary last year, and with the ambition to role model as well as promote literature and a love of reading, all the teachers and learning assistants dressed up last Thursday, and students were encouraged to do so too. The students who did not dress up confessed that they are now looking forward to next year’s event and the opportunity to display their interest in books.
In addition to dressing up, the students engaged in a race to find out whom each teacher was dressed as and got some clues from the quotes written on the teachers’ door. The answers were given in assembly that afternoon.
Also, the students were given the opportunity to enter a book cover contest where they had to create in 3-D the cover of their favourite book. They obviously received guidance from the Arts teachers and the English teachers, but it is certain that some efforts made were absolutely incredible. The Secondary team is delighted to announce that the winner of the competition is Ardini Wan Edrin 9A!
“I very much enjoyed celebrating World Book Day at school, it has inspired me to read more than I used to. The activities organised by the English department were fun and different for us students. Everyone dressing up definitely brought out the creativity in us. I am looking forward to next year’s World Book Day with more engaging competitions and creative events. – Ardini Wan Edrin 9A