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The School grounds came alive with some exciting sporting action during the Junior School Sports Day. The 3 day event saw over 800 students participate with enthusiasm and gusto in sprints, hurdles and fun races. The events opened with an enthralling and daring fitness drill followed by yoga, martial arts, aerobics, colourful drills and zumba.

The vibrant track suits coupled with high spirits made for a sporting gala.

The young participants gave their best and displayed true sportsmanship on the field. Medals or no medals, it was a learning experience for all. The finale filled the air with patriotic spirit and fervor. The beautifully lit school building set the tone for the upcoming festival of lights. It was indeed an experience that created fond memories for all of us.

A three-day performance enhancement programme was organized from 14 to 16 October to develop and hone critical 21^st century skills and boost the performance of  students and teachers at the IB Diploma.

The sessions comprised workshops on understanding the IB DP Core, Internal Assessments, Math, Psychology and Academic Writing Skills. The resource persons for the sessions were renowned educationists and consultants, Ms.Yogesh Dhingra and Ms. Chrisann Almeida from Courseleap Education, Mumbai. The consultants and trainers are experienced IBDP leadersand carry outsignificant responsibilities for the IB, such as principal examiner and subject examiners for the Diploma Programme examinations and teacher workshop leaders. They are also subject experts for Math and Psychology. In addition,they have been leaders and teachers at progressive international schools and various international schools across the country consult with them.

The three day programme started with a session on TOK [Theory of Knowledge] where both students and teachers unpacked the IB Diploma TOK prescribed titles for the May 2020 exam. Students were actively involved in various activities with the primary purpose of enhancing and honing skills such as critical thinking, challenging and examining knowledge claims and making reasoned evaluation.

In addition, parallel sessions were held on exploring the extended essay criteria and academic writing skills and research methodology. Referencing and citation was an integral part of these sessions.

A workshop was also conducted exclusively for teachers on understanding and applying the assessment criteria in their subjects. Educators were guided to unpack the grade descriptors and assessment criteria to better understand the Diploma assessments and communicate the learning and assessment objectives to their students that will enable them to think critically and evaluate effectively.

The subject workshops for students and teachers were in Math and Psychology and focused on internal assessment, subject content and subject specific assessments.

The workshops were effective and engaging and will be followed by similar sessions in November and December this year and continue till April next year. In addition, the consultants will be advising teachers and students off-site as well.

Saumya Sharma of Class 4B won the 1^st position in the Level 6 of the 6^th International Abacus Competition held in Dubai on 29^th September 2019.

State Cycling Champions 2019-20

Avisha Chaudhry of Class 8D won the Gold medal in the U-14 Women Youth category in the State Cycling Championship 2019-20 organized by Chandigarh Amateur Cycling Association.

Jai Dogra of Class 9A won the Gold Medal in the U-14 Men Youth Time Trial category and a Bronze Medal in the U-17 Mass Start category. With these wins he has earned eligibility for the National Cycling Championship.

Students of the High School enthusiastically participated in a College Fair in the Newton Hall today. Representatives of over thirty universities from almost all continents attended the event, with the largest-ever participation by Indian universities. While the school is a preferred destination for popular universities like Ashoka, Cardiff and Bristol and OP Jindal, this time we also welcomed first-timers like Rishihood University, Plaksha, Flame, and the Technion International - Israel Institute of Technology.

The College Fair was appropriately scheduled keeping in mind the application season, which is currently underway. Since the event was open to students and their parents, we were glad to observe an appreciable footfall of engaged participants. At each of the fairs that the school organizes, it is our endeavor to bring together universities, which offer alternate intellectual, geographical and experiential opportunities. It is highly recommended that parents attend the fairs in order to gain the maximum benefit from direct interaction with the college representatives.

This year students of grades 5 through 8 ventured on their outdoor adventure camps with Youreka, to different destinations; Snow Trail for Class 5, Kangra for class 6, Tirthan for class 7 and Bairagarh for class 8.

The children participated with a lot of enthusiasm and eagerness in a unique outdoor experience with activities that were physically challenging and intellectually stimulating. These outdoor camps allow children to become independent and self-confident, while socializing and making new friends, and even learning new skills.

The children got an opportunity to connect with nature and participate in various outdoor activities, from rope course to rappelling, rock climbing, camp-out and night treks. A typical day at camp would start with a wake-up call at 6 am when children were served milk and biscuits, followed by morning exercises. After breakfast they would break up into groups and head out of camp with their instructors for activities. Post lunch they got some time to freshen up and rest before starting out for another round of activities. From dawn till dusk, every day was packed with activities.

It was a perfect chance for the children to get out of their comfort zone and get closer to the environment and nature. The children had some memorable experiences and have created life long memories from their time spent at the camp.

SFHS Camps Galore!

As apart of the annual school calendar, October is the time that students look forward to with much excitement. With the mid year exams just behind them, the next activity that takes all their attention are the annual outbound camps!

This year too students of High School participated in the inme - Youreka camping trips to Mashobra in Himachal Pradesh and Rishikesh and Tons in Uttarakhand. Paced out across 5-6 days these camping trips form the basis of the spirit of adventure and real life experiential learning. Students learn to inculcate the necessary skills of team work and sharing amidst the outdoors and the wilderness.

These camps are most methodically planned and curated by the School along with the best professionals in the industry to provide a dynamic, learning environment for the children. We have, over the years, witnessed the forging of new ties and companionships and also strengthening of old bonds and friendships amongst the children during these trips. Under the keen and watchful eyes of the school educators and the camp personnel these school camps have always held a charm and camaraderie for our children and we look forward to providing many more such learning opportunities to them.

The Strawberry Fields High School U-14 Girls Basketball team won the SECOND place thus winning Silver Medals in the UT Inter School Basketball Tournament held at Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, Chandigarh on Monday, 30 September 2019.

The U-14 Girls team, Ameera Boparai, Nanaki Bains, Hazel Garg, Gurnoor Bedi, Rajni, Heeya Bedi, Aarshi Goyal, Ananya Jain, Mannat Dhir, Meher Duggal, Mandira Datta and Rishaaya Kakkar played matches against the teams from various schools of the Tricity and were declared the Runners Up of the Tournament.

Way to go Girls!

The 44^th State Gymnastics Championship 2019-20 was held from 27^th – 29^th September 2019 at Sports Complex, Sector 7, Chandigarh.

Kunal of Class 7D won Bronze medals in both, the Horizontal Bar category and Floor Exercise category. He was placed third in the All-around Best Gymnast – Artistic category (boys) winning another Bronze Medal.

Zara Kaur of Class 4B won a Bronze medal in Floor Exercise category in the U-12 Girls Artistic category.

The other participants from SFHS included –

Sara Kaur (4C), Mehar Sethi (4D), Amaira Khanna (4E), Samaira Chopra (3A), Zaina Goel (2E), Namish Dewan (2A), Pranay Hooda (3B), Kunsh Bansal (2B)