Student enrichment programme

The British School takes a holistic approach to learning. We have a skills-based curriculum as we believe that once a student has the right skills, s/he can learn the knowledge and enter the world with a stronger foundation and a broader mindset. As a result we offer each student the opportunity to participate in our student enrichment programmes. These range from after-school activities, arts festivals, Battle of the Bands, a Model United Nations programme (MUN) to charity events, to name a few.

The after school activities programme aims to bring in a holistic approach to education. Both the co-curricular programme and the curriculum foster and develop students’ skills and talents. The programme offers opportunities to enrich the students’ experiences, and hence the programme is time-tabled, within the school timings.

The students of Years 7, 8 and 9 and 10 are encouraged to choose from a list of more than 20 activities like Madhubani, Chess, Cricket, Taekwondo, Tabla, Kathak, Jazz and Bhangra. The range of activities is varied to appeal to the interest of all students. The programme reflects both the host culture, and other cultures of the world. The programme is run on Monday afternoons, with sharing of experiences and learning at the end of the academic year. Evaluation and feedback is taken from students and staff at the end of each semester. The programme is run by professionals, from outside the school, experts in their chosen fields. The programme is coordinated by the Activities Coordinator and school staff supervises the students.

After School Activities Programme. (Please click here to view the After School Activities Programme.)

Physical Education (PE) at the school goes far beyond participation in sports and more to encourage the development of a healthy lifestyle. In addition to the regular curriculum, various after-school activities are also offered. We have football, cricket, basketball, softball, handball, table tennis, lawn tennis and athletics at the school as part of PE. Through PE, the School aims to develop every student's personality in its totality to include the physical, mental and social aspects for all round development.

Students have the opportunity to be involved with Model United Nations (MUN), both internationally and locally. Model UN is a simulation of a United Nations negotiation, in which school and university students assume the roles of international diplomats. Model UN is an incredible programme that helps to build a strong sense of global citizenship and camaraderie amongst our students as well as to hone and develop their range of skills and techniques in diplomacy, public speaking and debating. Students are given the opportunity to research and prepare papers on some of the most pressing international issues of the day, and to develop policies of their own, while considering how real countries are carrying out their international commitments. Model UN also provides an exciting opportunity to build confidence and network with other schools and students around the world. We not only host our own MUNs, but also train student delegations to attend international MUNs, The Harvard Model Congress and the Global Young Leaders Conference (GYLC).

We offer this programme to all key stages in the Secondary School and as a School, we have participated and won laurels at various national and international MUNs.
We have participated in the following MUNs:
      1.  The British School MUN for Key Stage 3 – November 2008
      2.  ACAMMUN, Beijing for Key Stage 3 – April 2008, March 2009
      3.  The Doon School MUN (DSMUN), Dehradun – August 2008, August 2010
      4.  Nanyang Technical University, Singapore -  February 2010
      5.  The Beijing MUN (BEIMUN), Beijing – March 2011

 School trips
Learning cannot be limited to the classroom and school trips can be valuable and practical learning opportunities to help bring to life subjects that students are studying in the classroom.  Frequent day trips (often subject-related), and longer ones out of Delhi and the country are organised for students of the Secondary School. These trips give students the opportunity to be independent and bond with each other while providing essential life-building skills. International trips with a Modern Foreign Language/theatre focus are organised for students. The school has hosted two ISTA events and students have attended the IB TAPS (Theatre and Art Performance Symposium) Conference for the last 2 years. Students learning French and Spanish in school are also taken on an annual trip to France and Spain to soak in the culture and practise their speaking skills.

A special Sports Day is organised by the Student Council for the Deepalaya students (a non-governmental organisation that runs schools for less privileged students).  The Parent School Organisation (PSO) also organises the Christmas Giving Tree Project through which the whole school community comes together in providing Christmas cheer to children less fortunate than ours through gifts and performances.

Participation in inter-school debates and literary competitions is encouraged. The school draws on its international population to organise special cultural events showcasing different cultures, costumes and food. Events such as ‘International Evenings,’ hosted by the Parent School Organisation (PSO), are hugely popular and bring the whole community together. The aim of the International Evening is to ‘show and tell’ students of the various cultures and communities that co-exist in the school.

The ‘Blueprint’ student newspaper is a student newspaper, initiated, written, edited and produced by students. The Editorial team also produces a Yearbook, which captures the essence of the British School and the student’s memories, stories and experiences over the year.

Assemblies are used to celebrate students’ achievements and cultures, often bringing together experiences from around the world. Guest speakers are invited to share their knowledge on a variety of subjects from the environment and climate control to children’s authors such as David Hair, Anthony Horowitz to name a few. We also celebrate Peace Day, Earth Day and United Nations Day that bring awareness about the world in which the students are living. Thematic assemblies are organised around Human Rights, Children’s Rights and Peace.

Each year the Modern Foreign Languages department celebrate food and culture from around the world through the languages the students study. The languages are German, French, Spanish and Hindi. Each year students take part in a cultural show and set up food stalls that students supply. The money raised is given to local charities.

The IB Theatre group has the opportunity once a year to attend TAPS, a theatre convention run by ISTA and this is based in a school in Asia. This opportunity allows the students to work with professional artists from around the world as well as students from different backgrounds. They work through a series of workshop performance days, experiencing the culture that they are based in. In 2009 a group attended the TAPS in Penang, Malaysia and in 2010 a group attended TAPS in Beijing.

Teachers endeavour to bring in international artists where possible and a recent project within the Creative and Aesthetic arts department has seen the IB groups work together to create a performance experience based around the cultural and theatre styles from Japan. A professional artist working in Japan initiated the project alongside the teachers and this culminated in a professional performance at the India Habitat Centre in 2010.

The Jaipur literary festival was a recent international festival that provided the opportunity for the school and its community to experience first hand the work of some world renowned authors. Alexander McCall Smith, Roddy Doyle, Professor Niall Ferguson, William Dalrymple and Ali Sethi are examples of some of the authors invited to present their works to a range of different students providing first hand exposure to the works of the books many were reading and studying.

Activities like outdoor adventure and leadership skills are encouraged through the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme. This International Award for Young People (IAYP) is open to Years 9 to 13 and is a way of recognising the efforts that students are already making.

The British School is a Round Square member. The six IDEALS of the Round Square are Internationalism, Democracy, Environment, Adventure, Leadership and Service. We, as a school, have many activities happening under the IDEALS of the Round Square and feel that the ethos of the school matches the pillars of the Round Square. We had the opportunity to have an audience with (HH) the Dalai Lama. The Peace Group was set up in late 2009 in response to the November attacks in Mumbai, where many of us joined hands for peace. After meeting with H H the Dalai Lama our Peace Book called “ONE WORLD, ONE WORD – PEACE, was inaugurated as a symbol of hope for many as its pages were filled with the beautiful words written by our own students. This is something we are truly proud of. We have accepted the responsibility of playing a small part in saving our world, its environment, and keeping it a peaceful place for many future generations and we, at The British School intend to spread our vision and empower others to follow suit. In March 2010, our Art Department organised the Global Art Project  on the theme of PEACE. It was an Inter-school event and was very successful. In April 2010, four students of the Primary School participated in a PEACE Conference organised by one of the Round Square member schools in India (Sanawar).
 
Service is a prominent element of The British School’s curriculum across all year groups. We are a very privileged community  and, educationally, we believe in making a  contribution to communities with less material advantages. Our contributions must begin at home in our locality, by working with street children and others to help them fulfil their potential as human beings. As an international community, we also have a responsibility to help students be aware of their social responsibilities on the global stage. We believe that education is liberating and empowering: it can be a force for  positive change. By thinking locally and globally, we aim to develop a community of socially responsible citizens and leaders. We lead by example and benevolence is an important part of The British School’s curriculum across all year groups. We have a community service programme which allows students to not just give monetarily and in kind, but participate at the ‘hands on’ level to contribute towards the betterment of those who are less privileged. To celebrate the joy of giving, the PSO shares and provides for those who are less fortunate. Students carried out stationery and clothes drives to aid specific NGOs and groups with a hands-on approach. The ‘Giving Tree’ is another initiative where, during Christmas time, underprivileged children are asked to write, what they would like, on a card and these requests are then displayed on a Christmas tree in the school foyer. The students pick a card or cards and buy the gifts written on them, which are then sent to those children.

The Student Council organises events which enables the school to build links with local schools – an example is the ‘Battle of the Bands’ in April 2010 in which eight schools participated. The British School students also participate actively in events organised by leading schools in Delhi.