Foundation Week 2017

Our school foundation day is the 15th October and it is celebrated differently every year. This year we spent a whole week enjoying a range of activities and competitions.

On Monday, some of the students helped to clean the school while others were involved in preparing some lovely stage decorations. Cleanliness is especially important these days since we are trying to work towards a Clean School Award (Swachh Vidyalaya Puraskar).

On Tuesday morning, we had the school’s first ever debate competition final. Teams from the yellow and green houses did very well and ultimately the green house won, arguing that social media does more harm than good. In the afternoon, Miss Olivia and Miss Jenny led the elocution competition for the second time. We heard excellent poetry recitations from students of Class IV to Class IX with three sets of winners.

Eager Audience

Class II Soloist

On Wednesday, we held a spectacular dance competition in which ten groups displayed their talents and worthy winners were selected by the judges. Meanwhile, everyone had come in traditional cultural dress, so the youngest classes spent the day learning Mizo dances outside. The day ended with an informal ‘lampui’ in the hall.

Lampui

Foundation Day

Zo Day

Foundation Day

Dance Competition

Dance Competition

The kids, including all the hostellers, went home to enjoy an extended weekend break including the Diwali holiday on Thursday. On the Friday, however, the staff and workers met together at Liandova Picnic Spot for a day of recreation and fellowship.

Staff Picnic

It has been a diverse and enjoyable week for all. Well done to all the participants who put in hours of preparation, as well as the teachers who helped to make it all happen. We expect great things in the year to come!

Exciting New Tools for Teaching

KGI to Class I and beyond will soon be putting some exciting new tools to use in their classrooms. We have recently invested in a range of innovative resources from Grolier, designed to improve young children’s reasoning skills and spoken English.

Rohini Balraj, Mizoram’s new regional sales manager and education consultant for Grolier, kindly visited the school and spent an afternoon with the teachers and assistants, helping them to familiarise themselves with the resources. Among other tools, these include Logico Primo boards which are tactile tools for developing problem-solving ability, and Talking English books, which can be read aloud using an interactive pen.

We are excited to start using these resources amongst our youngest children, to give them a great start in their educational journey. We are also proud to be leading the way among schools in Mizoram, always seeking to provide the most up-to-date resources suitable for our local context.

KGII

Grolier Learning

1st DIS Elocution Competition

On Friday, 2nd February, DIS passed a landmark moment by holding our first ever elocution competition. Under the dedicated leadership of Miss Olivia (Class I and Spoken English teacher) and Miss Jenny (KG I and English teacher), two students each from Class IV to Class IX took to the stage to recite poems in front of the rest of the school students and staff.

Class IV and Class V competed against each other with the poem Leisure by WH Davies. Class VI and Class VII prepared the poem Home they brought her warrior dead by Alfred Lord Tennyson. Class VIII and Class IX prepared O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman. Their recitations were judged on a wide range of criteria from enunciation to modulation of voice by a panel composed of Miss Tpi (Class III teacher), Dr Joanna (English and Music teacher) and Miss Tetei (Maths teacher).

All the participants did exceptionally well, and the results were as follow:

Class IV and Class V

Lawmzeli (Class IV)
T Lalnunkima (Class V)
Lalhruaizeli (Class IV)

Class VI and Class VII

Angela N Lalremsiami (Class VI)
Lalhruaisangi (Class VI) and T Lalrinfeli (Class VII)
Kylie Lalruatfeli (Class VII)

Class VIII and Class IX

Lalrinngheti Sonset (Class VIII)
Nancy Lalrinchhani (Class VIII)
Maggie Lalruatsaki (Class IX)

It was an excellent event and a great achievement for the school and everyone involved.

2nd DIS Extempore Speech Competition

The second extempore speech competition to be held at Divine Intervention School took place on Monday, 5th February. The middle and upper school classes gathered in the hall to cheer on their classmates. There were two representatives from each class from Class IV to Class IX.

From topics such as ‘My favourite cartoon character’ and ‘My best friend,’ to ‘If I were Prime Minister,’ each participant bravely took the stage for up to two minutes. Nerves were often on display, but others succeeded in captivating their audience with entertaining speeches.

Class IV and Class V, Class VI and Class VII and Class VIII and Class IX went head-to-head against each other. There were three winners from the three pairs of classes. The results were as follow:

Class IV and Class V

J Lalrintluangi (V)
Lalruatpuii (IV)
Raymond Lalbiaksanga (V)

Class VI and Class VII

Maurice Malsawmsanga (VI)
Jeremy Lalhruaitluanga (VII)
Laldinfeli (VII)

Class VIII and Class IX

Lalnunpuia (VIII)
Vanlalhlua (IX)
Caleb Lalramchhuana (VIII)

Our heartiest congratulations to all the winners and participants. The competition was organised by Miss Olivia (Class I and Spoken English teacher) and Miss Jenny (KG I and English teacher), with an expert judges’ panel comprised of Miss Babie and Miss Manuni, both English teachers from the middle and upper school sections. The Principal, R Zochhawna, also made a short address. We are grateful to all who were involved in making the competition a success.

Phonics Workshop for Teachers from Goodwill English Academy, Serchhip

On 13 and 14 December 2016, we were visited by four teachers from Goodwill English Academy in Serchhip. All of them are confined teachers from KGI to Class II who are keen to improve their quality of English instruction. They came to find out about how Divine Intervention School has been newly incorporating phonics since August this year. After just three or four months we have seen vast improvements both in the teaching and the quality of spoken English among the children.

Dr. Joanna gave a two-day workshop to these teachers, introducing them to the concept of phonics and then equipping them with ideas and resources with which to teach their children in Serchhip. Highlights of the materials include Jolly Phonics songs and the Oxford Reading Circle series of books which is tailored to the Indian context. We wish our friends all the very best!