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Discovery Centre Principal’s Message Assalam o Alaikum!

I would like to begin by thanking you all for your continuous cooperation and support.

School Name F-46, Block 4, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan Phone: 9221-35823203,

This academic term started with a great deal of enthusiasm.

I would like to welcome all our new students, parents and teachers to the Discovery Centre family. I hope we will keep working together towards

ensuring that our students get quality education with opportunities to develop real life skills and groom them into becoming real life learners.

E-mail: sonia.rizwan@beaconhouse.ed u.pk

The past term, our focus has been on the development of reading skills in our children and we hope to gradually groom them into proficient readers.

Contents 

Principal’s Message

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I expect the same support and a continuous feedback on your child’s

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Project Based Learning

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performance. Feel free to contact me as your child is important to me.

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International Collaborations & Skype Sessions

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Sonia Rizwan

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Guest Speaker Session

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International Mathletics Competition

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The International Library Month

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Activity Week

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The Unique Pakistan Art Competition

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Senior Mistress In-charge

Project Based Learning At Discovery Centre, we follow the Project Based Approach to Learning to promote lifelong learning in children. PBL and the use of technology enable students, teachers, and administrators to reach out beyond the

school building. Students become a part of the learning process and learn

Obhartay Sitaray Singing Competition

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to take control of their learning, the first step as lifelong learners.

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Student Council Elections

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This term learners engaged in the following projects:

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Teacher Training

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School Health Day

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Doctors’ Visit to School

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Defense Day & Independence Day Celebrations

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Upcoming Events Matheletics Competition  School Concert Library Month International Sports Day

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Parent Teacher Meeting3

Skype Session

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Class I

Parties and Picnics, Effective use of Electricity

Class II

Plants Around Us, Sounds we Hear

Class III

Living a Healthy Life, Fish and Frog

Class IV

Rebuilding Animal Homes, Our Amazing Body,

Class V

Healthy Heart and Lifestyle,

Managing Traffic outside School

Science and Technology in the Current Age Class VI

Karachi - Before and Now, Growing Nutritious Food

Class VII

Energy Crisis in Pakistan, Making use of Water and Land Resources

Class VIII

Working towards Sustainable Development in Ghana and Pakistan

They researched the problems being faced by the community, researched solutions and developed solutions on micro and macro level. The learners developed personal and social responsibility, planning, critical thinking, reasoning, and creativity, strong communication skills, both for interpersonal and

presentation needs, cross-cultural understanding, visualizing and decision making, knowing how and when to use technology and choosing the most appropriate tool for the task.

International Collaborations & Skype Sessions Children of Class IV had two Skype sessions with Claire Saxby - Author of Walking on Water.

In the first session, they asked her questions on how to make their own stories interesting and learnt about the importance of drafting. They also talked about the fear of water skiing and learnt that the author faced that fear herself.

In the second session, Ms. Claire Saxby showed them her drafts of the book, she talked about how the publisher keeps making changes in the

book and sometimes she has to re-write 20-30 times. She showed them some other books she's written and she talked about her children and showed them her dog. The children also talked about their own pets. She also read out some of her poems.

The children enjoyed it a lot and wrote about it on their class blog.

Class V had a Skype session with Ms. Rachna's Class in The Millennium School Meerut, India.

The children introduced themselves, their countries, and their culture and shared dialogue about the festivals celebrated in each country.

Learners found out that they have a lot in common and decided to keep the partnership going for the year ahead.

Ms. Daphne and Ms. Rachna also exchanged dialogue and decided on the further topics they will be collaborating on.

Guest Speaker Sessions On Friday, 2nd November 2012, the school invited a parent to class I for a discussion on joys of birth in a family to familiarize them with the requirements of a newly born baby, feelings and emotions of parents and family members after the baby’s birth. The visitor, Mrs. Sameera Babbar, brought a digital album of her child, Ayaan. She also brought clothes and toys he enjoys playing with the most. The curious children asked

questions related to the child’s favorite cartoons, toys, food, habits. Later the students created baby catalogues based on their own growth.

This visit was a part of the Social Studies unit ‘Growing up’ for class I.

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School Newsletter

International Mathletics Competition The students of classes I-VIII participated in the International Matheletics Competition in October 2012.

Among the Top 100 students was Shaheer Ahmed Bhatti of class VI-B.

Activity Week Discovery Centre arranged an activity week for children of

classes I to VI. The activities included Movie Day, Board Game Day, Cooking Day, Bake Sale and Sharing Day (Toys and Books) All activities have been organized to inculcate sense of sharing, importance of collaboration and real life skills in children.

International School Library Month Discovery Centre celebrated the International Library Month in

October 2012. Students from Classes I to VIII carried out various activities. They designed bookmarks, wrote book reviews, had book discussions, and made posters about the importance of libraries among other activities. Following children were chosen as readers of the month: Shaheer Shahzad (Class II), Aqsa Hameed (Class IV) Rehab Paracha

(Class V), Faizan Amir (Class VI A), Ayesha Dawood (Class VI B), Abeer Fatima (Class VII B) and Salman Barry (Class VIII)

The Unique Pakistan Art Competition Students of classes VI-VIII participated in The Unique Pakistan Art Competition held at Sadequain Art Gallery, Frere Hall. It was a 3 day event from 16th November 2012 to 18th November 2012.

Children made 3D monuments of buildings in Pakistan. Children were invited to visit with their families.

Obhartay Sitaray Singing Competition Students of Discovery participated in the Obhartay Sitaray Interschool Singing Competition held by the Supporters of The Citizens Foundation (STCF). It was an event not only to promote healthy competition amongst the students of different schools but also to raise funds for The Citizens Foundation (TCF).

Aqsa Hameed (Class IV) and Shahzadi Baloch (Class VI) participated in the juniors category and Fatima Mazher (Class VII-B) and Haya Najam (Class VII-B) participated in the seniors category. All four participants were awarded certificaties.

Student Council Elections Student Council Elections were held at the beginning of the term where all the students were given the opportunity to vote for their preferred student council members. The results were later announced and the elected members were vested with their respective duties and responsibilities.

was selected Head Boy and Maham Nawman of Class VIII was selected Head Girl.

Hassan Bilal of Class VIII

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Teacher Training Professional Development is extremely important for an organization to succeed. Teacher training sessions were held on topics that enhance teachers skills.

The various trainings included workshops on Blogging, Digital Movie Making, Mathematics in Real Life, English Language Development and Differentiation.

School Health Day On 15th October’ 12, the students from Grade 3, 5 & 8 took part in the School Health Day to show us how we can live a healthy life.

This fun filled event included a Human Body Pulse Rate stand

by grade 3 who took our pulse and then told how our pulse rate varies with activity, a Health café by grade 5 which was serving banana smoothies and healthy sandwiches, a calorie counter by grade 8 stand which showed us what nutrition we

need and how we can lose weight, keep our weight stable and even gain weight! Grade 8 was also doing a BMI (body mass index) and were telling the parents what their body mass was.

Class III presented a play which showed what’s good for our body and how bad things affect our health.

Doctors’ visit to School On 17th October 2012, the school invited doctors to the school for an interactive session for classes V and

VIII to create awareness on hygiene, balanced diet, healthy living, circulatory system, pulse rate, diseases and drugs (cigarette). The session was followed by a question answer session.

Defense Day and Independence Day Celebrations The staff and students at Discovery Centre celebrated the two national days with great zeal and enthusiasm. The spirit of these national

occasions was revived by the students’ lively performances and displays of respect and love for their country.