Middle School Programme - Scholastic

Steps done with heart, soul, mind & strength

This phase is characterized by the transition from childhood to adolescence, a time when children experience and witness dramatic physical, emotional and social changes in self and peer group. The Middle School Programme offers an expanded curriculum to match the growing abilities of children in assimilating information and grasping abstract ideas. Extending the educational exposure and experience provided by the Primary School Programme, Middle School Programme focuses on strengthening the knowledge, skills and competencies of the child through comprehensive, innovative and creative learning activities.

TEACHING PEDAGOGY

The Middle School recognizes the link between development and learning. The Experiential inquiry-based curriculum focuses on the child as a learner.

The following teaching pedagogies are effectively implemented by the educators to ensure effective teaching & learning among the learners.

Experiential Learning

Art-Integrated Learning

Inter-Disciplinary Approach

Activity -Based and Joyful Learning

Integrating Life Skills

The above teaching pedagogy involves the enhancement of 21st century skills viz.,

3Ls: Learning Skills, Life Skills & Literacy Skills
4Cs: Critical Thinking, Creativity & Innovation, Collaboration, Communication
IMT: Information Literacy, Media Literacy, Technology Literacy
FLIPS: Flexibility and Adaptability, Leadership and Responsibility, Initiative & Self – Direction, Social and Cross- Cultural Interaction

lead to higher levels of learning which shift the focus from need for learning to love for learning.

MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAMME- CLASSES VI- VIII

OWS FOCUSES ON

The Middle School (Classes VI – VIII) follows a customized syllabus based on American psychologist Howard Gardener’s theory of Multiple Intelligences & Dr. Benjamin S. Bloom’s Blooms Taxonomy.

The key areas that the Middle School curriculum addresses are:

Honing of LSRW skills i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing skills, (English, Hindi and Marathi), Compulsory Library sessions.
Building a strong foundation in mathematics, (Mind spark, Mental Math)
Social studies (SST: Geography, History, Civics)
Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics)
Nurturing an interest in General Knowledge, Current Affairs etc.,
Learners acquire and develop communication and listening skills through well designed activities like debates, group discussions, elocution, extempore, declamations, theme-based talks, drama, skits, role-play, etc. Field trips and educational excursions are an integral part of the curriculum, and extend learning beyond the classroom. These provide opportunities for cultural enrichment, personal and social development along with application of acquired skills.
Basic of Computer Tech- Focus on Microsoft Office, Linux.Learner learn and apply their knowledge of Information and Communication Technology, building on what they learnt in the earlier grades.
The well-planned and structured teaching-learning strategies involving workshops, seminars, talks, presentations, video clippings and laboratory demonstrations reinforce the understanding of mathematical and scientific concepts.
The learning gaps are identified through various modes of assessment and are addressed accordingly.
The Programme is aligned to the educational objectives, and provides a sound base for students to pursue secondary education.
Visual Art & Craft, Yoga, Performing Art Vocal Music (Indian & Western), Theatre and Dance (Indian and Western)
An emphasis on Health & Physical Education & Sports.
Guest lectures, Field trips and Nature walks add to Experiential Education.
Apart from academic proficiency, the curriculum places emphasis on sensitizing children to be caring and compassionate, and develop a sense of responsibility towards society through participation in community service activities.

CLASSROOMS

We believe that learning evolves through a two-way interaction between Educators and Learners. Hence, our classroom sessions focus on collaborative learning, rather than a one-sided approach. The teaching methodology, which we follow, is one of active engagement. We encourage our learners to take initiative and engage with their own learning process. This self-directed approach not only enables children to get involved and learn actively through their own successes and failures, but also heightens their ability to think for themselves.

ASSESSMENTS

At Oxford World School, we follow a system of continuous multi-disciplinary assessment, which could be formal or informal. We also follow a differentiated system of assessment to cater to the varied needs of learners.

The child seeking entry into OWS is evaluated on his/her skills and abilities in order to determine the level in comparison to the expectation of the class into which admission is sought. This helps the teacher to modulate the classroom transaction in order to meet the child’s needs.

To create a balanced assessment approach in teaching-learning, different types of assessment strategies are incorporated. The three types Assessments – Assessment for learning (Formative Assessment), assessment of learning (Summative Assessment) and assessment as learning (Authentic Assessment).

With the firm belief that education touches the mind as well as the being and each influences the other, information regarding each student is collected, considering their ability to apply knowledge, their learning process and how they conduct themselves in different situations. These findings form the basis of a continuous feedback process to the student and parents. A systematic follow up Programme is built around these evaluations, be it on the academic, co-scholastic or value/attitudinal front.

Formative assessments are marked on varied tasks within a class, homework, class work, projects, presentations- each of which lends to assessment, projecting a different aspect of the child’s learning. We follow the pattern of cycle reviews, one formative assessments in each term and a summative assessment at the end of every term (September SA-I and March SA- II).

The assessment structure and examination for classes VI to VIII have been prepared in view of the provisions of RTE-Act 2009 and comprises of two terms i.e. Term-1 and 2 as explained below:

Subject Enrichment Activities:

These subject-specific activities aimed at enhancing the understanding and skills of the students. These activities are to be carried out throughout the term; however, they should be evaluated at the term-end.

Languages:

Aimed at equipped the learners to develop effective listening and speaking skills. The language teacher may devise their own methods and parameters for assessment of the language.

GRADING SYSTEM

A. SCHOLASTIC AREAS

Grade	Marks Range	Grade Point
A1	91-100	10.0
A2	81-90	9.0
B1	71-80	8.0
B2	61-70	7.0
C1	51-60	6.0
C2	41-50	5.0
D	33-40	4.0
E	21-32	3.0
*Minimum qualifying grade in all subjects under Scholastic Domain is D.* 32 *and below (E) Needs Improvement. In Special cases will be detained.*

B. CO- SCHOLASTIC AREAS

For the holistic development of the student, Co-curricular activities in the following areas be carried out in Schools by the teachers and will be graded term-wise on 3 points grading scale

Grade
A	Outstanding
B	Very Good
C	Good

The aspect of regularity, sincere participant, output and team work be the generic criteria for grading in the following scholastic activities:

Work Education- Work Education refers to skill-based activities resulting is goods or devices useful to the community.
Art Education (Visual & Performing Arts)
Health and Physical Education (Sports/Martial Arts/Yoga/ NCC etc.)

C. DISCIPLINE

The students will also be assessed for the discipline which will be based on the factors like attendance, sincerity, behavior, values, tidiness, respectfulness for rules and regulations, attitude towards society, nation and others. Grading on Discipline will be done term-wise on a 3-point grading scale. (A-Outstanding, B-Very good and C-Fair).Note: Assessments are planned well in advance