CIRCULAR – MINUTES OF THE MEETING – CONNECT
Date: 27th July 2017
Time: 8:45 A.M. – 09:45 A.M.
Venue: Y-Box, Fountainhead School, Surat.
In Attendance: Vardan Kabra, Ankita Diwekar -Kabra, Bhumika Parmar, Bhargavi Bergi, Ritu Khanna, Swati Agarwal, Vaibhavi Patel.
Chaired by:
Vardan Kabra (Head of School)
Ankita Kabra (Deputy Head of School / Primary School Principal)
Bhumika Parmar (Vice Principal -Senior School)
Bhargavi Bergi (DP Coordinator)
Ritu Khanna (Head- Career Counsellor)
Minuted by: Ms Swati Agarwal, Ms Vaibhavi Patel
Agenda: CONNECT Meeting
8:40 A.M to 8:45 A.M |
Settling & Introduction |
8:45 A.M. – 09:45 A.M. |
DP Results – Discussions and Queries answered |
10:15 AM |
Session End |
Minutes of the Meeting
Q1 – Difference between IGCSE & DP?
Please find Senior School Program wise details here. Click here. |
Q2 – What is PSAT? Importance of PSAT
PSAT stands for Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test. PSAT is attempted to check the ability as well as the strength area. It is a kind of a diagnostic test. PSAT in 10th and 11th helps visualize how well prepared are you for the SAT exam. Now we have PSAT associated with college board.
Our efforts:
- Suggestions for online training institutes.
- Sharing the results with the teachers.
- Asking teachers to work with students in their areas of struggle such as writing skills, etc.
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Q3 – Subject information is in acronyms and details are not there.
We have an orientation session for MYP / DP for students and parents (For DP it is when students enter grade 10 & for MYP it starts in grade 6). Handouts for each subject will be given in the session so that the students as well as the parents, are aware of the subject syllabus.We will have more sessions, will keep you informed about it.
For access to the detailed subject syllabus and other information click here. |
Q4 – What are the changes school that has made after last year’s results.
- A stringent predicted grade policy which enforces students to put in the right efforts from day 1 of the program and not just slog in the end.
- Subject selection processes to ensure that students subject choice is compatible with their career choice and current academic achievement.
- Result analysis and action plan for the students with parent involvement to ensure that students are on track.
- “Submissions Deadline” calendar and follow up systems, prompt communication with parents in case of missed deadlines
- Rigorous training to ensure that teachers are equipped to meet the DP requirements. Many of our teachers across subjects are certified IB examiners.
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Q5 – Process of International admissions and role of Parents & School Staff in it.
The international admission process starts when the student is in grade 10 with the subject selection and SAT exam preparation. We (school counsellors and coordinators) conduct series of meetings with student and parents to understand student’s interest in career, subjects, their country preference and then accordingly guide them towards shortlisting universities. After this, the country/university specific admission process starts. The school counsellors guide them through different activities to be completed in order to complete the admission process till the offer is received.
Though the entire process is managed by the school; parental involvement cannot be denied. Parents are the primary counsellors. As much as teachers and counsellors do—if not more—parents should play a crucial role in drawing a plan and shaping the career and future of their children. Parents have to encourage their ward to be involved in academic and extracurricular activities, help them to discover their innate talents and skills, develop their knowledge about the world of work, steer the child in the right direction of their career with exposure and expertise.
For detailed Counseling Process – Visit Link |
Q6 – We would like to have more options in the field of Arts.
We are also looking at introducing more subjects in Arts field e.g – Film / Product designing / Theatre / Music but due to faculty constraints it is not always possible. We have tried hiring faculties but we have faced issues like the relocation of faculty etc. |
Q7 – IB does not have accounts as a subject, what can be done?
Yes, it does not have an accounting. They learn basic accounting which is required else they are required to focus on DP. Considering this feedback from students of the previous batch, we have planned accounts classes in school during Business Management slot in Diploma program and there will be about 20-25 such classes this year. |
Q8 – How much value does private university degree hold, in terms of admission?
Private universities also come under UGC and they have to follow the guidelines prescribed by the UGC. Private universities have better placement opportunities as compared to govt. universities as they have specialized placement cell to guide the students even at the university level.
Private universities tend to be smaller than public universities so the teacher student ratio is also better and they provide a lot of opportunities like internships, international faculties etc. This exposure and learning help the students in further studies or final placements. |
Q9 – Have our students gone through competitive examination?
Opting for competitive exams varies from student to student. In principle, students can appear for national/state level entrance exams. The students from our school did appear for NATA – The aptitude test for Architecture.
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Q10 – Is French – ab initio – in grade 11 is a basic level course? Is Hindi more scoring?
French ab initio starts in Grade 11. Currently, Grade 9 & 10 is having French but if students choose French in grade 11 it will start again at a basic level. We cannot opt out it as it is a compulsory requirement for Diploma program.
In case, we have more students opting for French we can have differentiated classes for those who have already studied French and those who are new.
Hindi is scoring as it is more prevalent compared to French in our day to day life. It will be difficult to score in a foreign language as we do not use it for day to day communication. |
Q11 – Each university has specific requirements. Why an early understanding of career path is a better option?
Universities have specific requirement that is why it is important to start preparing early and understand the requirements of the universities. Career counselling process, which starts from Grade 7 in our school is with this purpose that the student is well aware of the career choices available and is in a better position to choose the right career path.
Thus, by the time the child is in Grade 11 he is clear about his choices (in most cases) and admission forms can be filled accordingly. Admission process differs from country to country. For abroad, it starts early (Oct-Nov). Admission process for Indian universities starts late. Complete guidance is given by the school counselors throughout the admission process. |
Q12 – What is IB non-regular Diploma? Would all universities recognise this non-regular diploma and regard it as an equal qualification to the regular diploma?IB non-regular Diploma basically means that you can skip one of the group 3 (Humanities) & 6 (Arts)and replace it with three Sciences from group 4 e.g. if you want to pursue medical, you can skip Group 3 & 6 and take three Sciences (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) from Group 4 instead. You can do this if you provide an evidence that this is needed for your further education.The evidence has to be sent to IB 18 months before i.e. till November of grade 11.
DP considers it non-regular as IB believes in learning a wide range of subjects.
Non-regular diploma students also get the same diploma and no where in the certificate it is mentioned non-regular diploma. It is equivalent to getting a regular diploma as the required criteria of 3 at SL and 3 at HL is met with the core components (Theory of knowledge, Creativity, Activity and Service and Extended Essay).
It is recognized by all universities. |
Q13 – Why Humanities is being preferred more nowadays as a career choice- Science is not taken by the students? Why don’t students don’t opt for Engineering?
Over the period of time, humanities has become more popular, on international as well as national level, compared to science. Subject choices also depend on where the students come from (background) and availability of subject choices. Nowadays new career avenues have opened up. Students can exercise their choice and opt for their passion.
Computer Sciences – Is there a possibility that we incline students to pursue this? Is it possible that 5yr program from this stage? Can school start with this program in addition to this apart from the curriculum in the school itself?
The future career options like data science/automation / game designing / artificial intelligence will be at par in the upcoming years.
We are inclined towards promoting coding in school so that students can take interest. Options that can be looked upon are, classes on coding after school hours or interested students can make a plan and then work upon it. |
Link to Connect PPT – 27th July 2017 |
The Head of the School thanked the parents for attending the meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 10:15 a.m.