Billabong High International School Pune unveils new initiatives for the Academic Year 2022-23
Primary School Curriculum upgrade: focused on building 'thinking & innovation' among primary schoolers School Infrastructure to be upgraded with a renewed focus on learning beyond academics and technology-based learning
Pune: Billabong High International School (BHIS) unveiled new initiatives for the upcoming academic year at its Hadapsar, Pune, campus. With a slew of infrastructure upgrades and a CBSE affiliation in the pipeline, the school will now be open to students up to grade 8 in the new academic year 2022-2023.
The new primary school curriculum rests on 4 core pillars: design thinking, social-emotional learning, 21st-century skills, and enquiry-based learning. This curriculum will transform the way ‘Primary Schoolers’ learn and understand concepts. Students from Grade 1 to Grade 8 will experience this new curriculum in the upcoming academic year 2022-2023.
Infrastructure upgrades at the Billabong High International School, Hadapsar include new fully equipped labs, studios for art and dance; additional music rooms, and a dedicated ‘Centre of Well being’ cell at the school premises.
The school is set to launch a completely revamped digital learning ecosystem ‘ARGUS’. This platform will provide innovative tools for learning, concept revision, and subject-wise analysis and tracking. It will enable personalized learning tailored to the pace and the style of each child, ensuring meaningful learning.
These announcements were shared with the existing students and parents in a grand unveiling ceremony attended by over 300 students with their parents. There was an unveiling of the new curriculum books along with ARGUS after which attending students and parents were treated to a fun carnival. The carnival hosted by the school was open to all, bringing together more than 500 children and parents from in and around Hadapsar and Pune city. It included activities such as pottery, storytelling, fun and games, music and dance, etc.
Commenting on the occasion, Rahul Deshpande, CEO, K12 Division, Lighthouse Learning Pvt Ltd, said, “The future is full of opportunities for our children who are creators, problem solvers and more. We are always taught ‘what to think’… however, at Billabong High, our efforts are directed at teaching children ‘how to think’ and how to creatively assess situations and overcome these successfully. The new curriculum upgrade, our new digital learning ecosystem, and the infrastructure upgrades are major steps in this direction. I congratulate the team at Billabong High International School Hadapsar for building a strong circle of students and parents who trust and support us.
We are confident that these initiatives will be immensely beneficial for children who are with us and who will join us in the new academic year 2022-2023.”
Ms. Shrutika Lawand, Principal, Billabong High International School, Hadapsar, said, “Since we started our journey in Pune in 2019, our focus has been to equip our children with the right tools and resources to be future-ready. We are looking forward to enriching the learning experience further, with our new primary school curriculum and with ARGUS, our digital learning platform. At the core of all preparedness is technology-based learning. Technology is and will increasingly be a part of our lives and we wish to encourage our students to embrace it early on, so that technology becomes an enabler to their success.”
Ms. Vaishali Sharma, Head of Curriculum Development, said, “In the new curriculum, we have looked at integrating aspects such as social and emotional learning and a growth mindset that will enhance the students’ ability not only to excel in school but in life. Such learning mechanisms provide a foundation for safe and positive learning. Our focus is on honing higher-order thinking skills such as creation, reasoning, evaluation, and comprehension. We believe that this will not only have a positive long-term effect on learners but also empower them academically, professionally, and socially.”