Chitkara International School Ensuring Change with Best Future Practices

Dr Niyati Chitkara, Principal, Chitkara International School

Chitkara International School believes in developing a learningcentered approach with a positive learning environment for every student to ensure success in future, says Dr Niyati Chitkara, Principal, Chitkara International School, in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).

It is very important for school and parents to be in sync for the holistic development of children, what are the processes you follow for it?
Being the vital stakeholders of a school, parents should know about every activity within the school. It is a responsibility of the school to determine and fulfil parents’ demand by conducting need and expectation analysis at the school. This not only ensures absolute transparency but also gives both the school and parents a chance to work in sync to ensure children’s holistic development. Our processes include:

24/7 Redress Mechanism for Parents: Through a software called “School- Pad”, we have maintained a 24/7 redress mechanism. This redress mechanism of the school provides important feedback to the parents on the school’s working.

Orientation Sessions/ Hand-holding: Orientation sessions help the school to impart its vision, objectives, prospects, working and future initiatives for students to the parents.

School Visits and Polls: The school arranges school visit for each and every parent at the time of admission so that they get to know each and every aspect of the school culture. Apart from this, regular polls are conducted on “SchoolPad” incorporating new initiatives to encourage parent’s opinion.

Evidence of Learning – On Facebook, Instagram and Website: We make sure that every activity in the school is notified to the parents. The social media network helps the school to convey its ethos to parents and keep them updated so as to meet their expectations.

For innovation in school, it is very important to have skilled teachers, what measures have been taken at your school to improve the teaching experience?
With the changing needs of classrooms comes a change in teaching methodology. The landscape of education has changed drastically. Now the teaching methodologies involve smart tools along with chalk and board method for effective delivery.

The teachers at Chitkara International School are the ‘Learning Designers’. Everything at Chitkara has been designed under the tutelage of our teachers along with the matrix of innovation. Some of the measures taken at Chitkara include:

Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs): At Chitkara, teachers get enough exposure with the right training and guidance through international travels, conferences, seminars, workshops and visits. It helps them to know about the latest and the best trends in the education industry.

Faculty Exchange Programmes: Faculty Exchange Programmes provide our teachers an opportunity to come across the best global practices and improve their delivery methods in the classroom.

Digital Environment: Various technological tools in the classroom assist teachers to inculcate innovation among students. Stretching from the digital library to software, the school has fabricated a digital environment so as to provide teachers with the best teaching experience.

Motivation in the form of Green Cards and Appreciation Letters: We feel that a great teaching experience comes with motivation at every step. Appreciation in the form of green cards and letters are given to our teachers to appreciate their contribution and skills, and motivate them to grow in every dimension for their own and the school’s better future.

Research is very important for a school and its teachers to acquaint themselves with the changes taking place in the education industry. We ensure that through extensive research we imbibe innovation in the school’s practices and render the best teaching experience.

It is important to monitor progress, performance and behaviour of every student at school, what initiatives has your school undertaken in this regard?

When it comes to monitor progress, performance and behaviour of every student, the best and concrete practices need to be defined and implemented. Only futuristic initiatives or practices are fruitful and informative. At Chitkara International School (CIS), we make sure that teachers, parents and school management work hand in hand for the holistic development of every student.

Assessment Booklet: Through Assessment Booklet, scholastic and co-scholastic performance and progress of a student are monitored on yearly basis.

Planner Performance: Planner Performance monitors students’ topic-wise performance every month online to know their areas of improvement.

Performance monitoring through RTTs, OBRs, Open Door and Knowledge Polish: Practices like Revision Through Teaching (RTT), Open Book Revision (OBR), Open Door and Knowledge Polish, help the school to evaluate a student’s performance on a monthly and bi-monthly basis

SPOC/Chat Sessions: SPOC (Sole Point of Contact) and Chat sessions are conducted to review and examine students’ performance and help parents with any hassles or query.

Daily Academic Track and Behavioural Track of Students: Daily Academic Track is uploaded on “SchoolPad” daily. It helps parents to know about the classwork and homework given to students. Similarly, to gauge the behavioural patterns of each and every child, Behavioural Track is devised.

What are the practices followed at your school to embed best future practices and innovation with the teaching-learning process?
Everything at CIS falls under the realm of research. Be it ideas, strategies, new methodologies, the curriculum or the infrastructure, everything is research-based and well thought out. The whole idea behind doing extensive research is to adopt the best future practices for students.

Collaborative Learning helps the school to impart quality education on a larger forefront. Various national/international sessions, workshops and expert talks focused on multi-cultural aspect are included in the curriculum to prepare students for future.

School’s academia-industry interface, Change the Game, offers our students a wide range of opportunities and programmes. It allows students to interact with the industry professionals, educationists, leaders, and entrepreneurs and make them industry-ready.

TED Talks: Videos and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection with students. The practice offers the school an exposure to different ideas and inspires to think out-of-the-box.

The Outdoor and Indoor Learning Spaces of the school cater to the present curriculum needs. Every corner of the school talks about its unique pedagogy and offers an experience of learning while walking.

Our academic and co-curricular planners, co-curricular squads, and innovative methods of teaching such as enquirybased learning, flipped learning, blended learning and home learning programmes offer a blend of innovation and research for the improvement of the teachinglearning process.

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