Students show ‘how the world works’

Sanjan Nagar School showcases a different approach to schooling.


Our Correspondent May 25, 2012

LAHORE:


Students showcased their work at the Annual Open House 2012 on Friday at the Sanjan Nagar School (SNS) at Youhanabad.


Displaying the projects of students from Grade 1 to Grade 8, the event was themed ‘How the World Works.’

Principal Raheela Akram told The Express Tribune that the open house takes on a different theme every year to engage students in project-based learning.

“We have been teaching students in a project-based learning programme for free. However, since last year we decided to give 50% of student’s concessions,” she said.

The school is a project of the Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust, she said.

The school has reached the ‘candidate’ stage towards achieving an International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) affiliation, she said.

She said that the open house integrated the approach of the IBO’s primary years programme (PYP).

“The school has focused on student-based learning. It allows students to take important decisions in the classrooms and even decide lesson plans,” she said. Most of the projects showcased were science-based.

She said that the students were taught about nature and the world and encouraged to display their learning through projects. The SNS has three campuses with an enrollment of almost 800 students. The PYP has been running for the past two years at the campus.

Akram said that theme-based learning throughout the year had helped students understand their emotions and behaviour, too.

She said that the PYP encouraged teaching without textbooks.

“It advocates student-teacher bond through project and experience-based learning from a young age,” she said.

The SNS teaching staff is scheduled to receive training by IBO experts from Singapore in June. “We are hoping to build our capacity to share project-based learning,” she said. We hope SNS will be only the second school to achieve IBO status in Lahore, she said.

Dr AH Nayyar was also present at the Open House and spoke to the young students who showed him their projects.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2012.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ