Congratulations to all those boys and their parents as well as the Masters for making school history this year. The Headmaster Dr Peter McLaughlin said We have been working consistently towards this goal and I am extremely pleased that it has now been achieved.At ICSE 62% of the boys gained 90% plus with 22% gaining 95% or more. I am very pleased that the boy who tops the batch of 2016 is Madhav Goel from Oberoi House, who attained an aggregate average of 97.8%. He has since passed the JEE Mains recently and is sitting the JEE Advanced.  At ICSE the results were also outstanding. The average was above 90% for the second consecutive year in which our boys achieved this score.79% of them gained 90% or above, with 22.8% scoring 95% or more. Unlike many schools, we have an unusually demanding curriculum in Classes IX and X, as all our candidates compulsorily take Mathematics (with 80% of boys gaining 90% or above this year in Maths) and the three sciences (in which 60% of boys gained 90% or above in all three subjects). The “toppers” were Advait Ganapathy  from Kashmir House and Harshit Bansal from Tata House, who each scored an aggregate average of 97.0%. Adavit is currently on exchange at Groton School USA and Harshit at Deerfield Academy USA.’

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Daly College Invitational Debates
A team comprising of six boys was accompanied by MNP to the Daly College Invitational Hindi and English Debates, and Quiz held from 14th to 16th April 2016. The Hindi debating team consisting of Shikhar Trivedi from Tata House, Mihir Gupta from Kashmir House and Anant Jain from Hyderabad House and secured 3rd position with Shikhar Trivedi from Tata House being adjudged as the 3rd best speaker and Mihir Gupta from Kashmir House as the best interjector.

The English debating team comprised of Rishabh Goel from Tata House and Kanishk Kanodia from Oberoi House put up a promising performance. Ayush Chowdhary (467-J) and Kanishk Kanodia (495-O) represented the school at the Quiz and secured 2nd position after being beaten only in the tie breaker for the win.

7 boys participated in the 5th Mayo College Girls School Model United Nations held in Ajmer in Mid April. The MCGS MUN has become one of the most challenging and eagerly anticipated MUNs in the country hosting over 300 students from various schools across the country.

The individual awards are as follows:

Ishaan Kapoor, from Oberoi House and Tushaar Sharma from Jaipur House and Chaitanya Kediyal from Tata House were declared the Best Delegates in their respective committees

Jayadityavir Singh from Jaipur House and Atrey Bhargava from Oberoi House were declaredOutstanding Delegates.

Madhav Singhal from Oberoi House and Saksham Goel from Hyderabad House were awarded Honourable Mention.

The post Latest Debating and MUN News April 2016 appeared first on The Doon School.

House Captains

• Hyderabad House: Sasyak Pattnaik
• Jaipur House: Pratyaksh S Parmar
• Kashmir House: Madhav Bhardwaj
• Oberoi House: Vansh Aggarwal
• Tata House: Angad Singh Shergill

Prefects

• Hyderabad House: Raghav Kumar, Hamza Khan and Nihal Singh Mann
• Jaipur House: Yasir M Nizam, Varun Sehgal, Kanav Agarwal
• Oberoi House: Ishaan Kapoor, Dhruv Madhav Johri, Madhav Singhal
• Tata House: Ashwin Agarwal, Ujjwal Maheshwari, Rahul Agarwal
• Kashmir House: Siddharth Jain, Rudra D Srivastava, Dhruv Ahuja

The post Appointments for 2016    appeared first on The Doon School.

Congratulations to Raihan Vadra from Kashmir House who has completed the Master Scuba Diver Certification by PADI, the Professional Association of Divers International. Raihan is one of the youngest boys in India to have achieved this award. This is the highest amateur diver’s rating. The award requires a minimum of fifty open water dives, 5 speciality certifications (these are five separate courses and tests) and completion of the Rescue Diver Course (this entails full rescue training including Emergency First Responder rating -CPR/BLS-First Aid). Raihan has completed all this and the following are his speciality trainings: Diver Propulsion Vehicle, Enriched Air (Nitrox) Diver, Digital Underwater Photographer, Boat Diver and Fish Identification. He has also completed 50 dives in the open sea diving to a maximum of 30 metres (99 feet). This year he did many challenging dives in 25 metre coral walls with caves and 18 metre deep holes under adverse sea conditions with very strong currents.

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Seven delegates from The Doon School participated in the 2nd Chicago Model United Nation Conference India (CHOMUN) from the 21st December to 23rd of December 2015. This MUN featured four crisis committees which resulted in really less no of delegates but the competition was still fierce. The committee ranged from Indira Gandhi’s 1984 War Cabinet and Ad-Hoc Security Council to Babur’s Court during the Mughal Reign and the House of Commons. The delegates not only on improved their MUN skills but also got a chance to socialize during the MUN. The Doon School finished with flying colours when Dhruv Johri from Oberoi House was awarded the ‘Best- Delegate’ while Dhruv Ahuja from Kashmir House, Rishabh Agarwal from Jaipur House and Atrey Bhargava from Oberoi House went home with Honourable Mentions.

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Congratulations to Samarjit Singh from Kashmir House who has won an Individual Bronze and the team Gold for India in the Air Pistol (Youth) category. He scored 566 and was ranked No 1 in the qualification round.

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The following boys represented school at the city level  WWF-India’s Wild Wisdom Quiz held at RIMC, Dehradun on 2nd September 2015.

They emerged as the winners and were qualified to participate at the National level quiz competition to be held at New Delhi from October 3rd, 2015. The nationals will be represented by thirteen schools across the country.

1. Siddharth Gupta from Jaipur House
2. Karthik Vellayan Subbiah from Kashmir House

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Spring Term

Grade 5:

• Aryaman Kakkar from Oberoi House
• Harshit Agarwal from Oberoi House
• Suyash Chandak from Oberoi House
• Karan Sampath from Tata House
• Aneesh Agarwal from Tata House
• Aryan Bhattacharjee from Jaipur House
• Ravshaan Mangat from Kashmir House
• Paras Gupta from  Kashmir House
• Aarsh Ashdhir from Hyderabad House

Bronze (Grade 6)

• Anant Jain from Hyderabad House
• Mahir Kasewa from Hyderabad House
• Sparsh Agarwal from Hyderabad House
• Mihir Gupta from Kashmir House
• Devang Laddha from Oberoi House
• Yashmit Sutodia from Jaipur House
• Rajveer Kochar from Tata House
• Amritansh Saraf from Tata House
• Divij Mullick from Tata House
• Devang Laddha from Oberoi House
• Kanishk Kanodia from Oberoi House

Silver (Grade7)

Atrey Guruprasad from Kashmir House

The post LAMDA Success, 2015 appeared first on The Doon School.

1. Abhinav Kejriwal from Jaipur House
2. Gaurav Kothari from Jaipur House
3. Josh Pasricha from Jaipur House

The highest mark in English was 97%.

Abhinav has been offered:

1. Johns Hopkins University, USA,
2. University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, USA
3. Purdue University, USA,
4. University of California, Los Angeles, USA,
5. University of California, Davis, USA,
6. University of California, Irvine, USA,
7. University of California, San Diego, USA,
8. University of California, Santa Barbara, USA,
9. Wheaton College, USA,
10. Boston University, USA,
11. Drexel University, USA

Gaurav has decided to accept Singapore Management University.

Josh has accepted Christ University, Bangalore, India

He got offers from Vellore Institute of Technology, India, Ashoka University, India, Symbiosis College, Pune, India, SRM college, India, St Xaviers Mumbai, India.

The winner of the award for the highest average for Maths and Science was Suyash Raj Shivam also from Jaipur House. The highest average mark was 97.66%.

Suyash Raj Shivam has finally decided upon Hindu College, Delhi

He got offers from:

1. Rajdhani College, Delhi, India,
2. Hansraj College, Delhi- India,
3. Kirori Mal College, Delhi, India

At ICSE the highest mark in English was 98% achieved by Smithi Nair from Kashmir House.

The highest Maths and Science mark was 98% and that was awarded to Rudra Srivastava, from Kashmir House

Jaidev Singh Memorial Award and Scholarship Memorial Award and Scholarship for the highest mark in Science at ICSE (97%) have been awarded to:

• Rudra Srivastava from Kashmir House
• Ishaan Kapoor from Oberoi House
• Priyanshu Raj from Hyderabad House

Mahindra Search for Talent Scholarship Awards for 2014-2015

The following awards are made to boys who have secured the highest aggregate marks in their final examination in November of their academic year and in their ICSE board examinations held in March:

• In C form: Kanishkh Kanodia  from Oberoi House
• In B form: Advait Ganapathy from Kashmir House
• In A form: Rudra Srivastava from Kashmir House
• In S form: Madhav Goel from Oberoi House
• In S form IB: Shrey Aryan
• ICSE: Rudra Srivastava from Kashmir House

.

The post Academic Scholarships Awarded 2015 appeared first on The Doon School.

Devansh Mittal from Kashmir House and in B form reports: 

‘The first lecture on “The Internet of Things” was great. The NUS event was for pupils aged 13-18.  We were told about how almost everything is connected with internet directly or indirectly. Then we went for a gastronomy workshop which was in a manner of speaking, a cooking class but with the involvement of the science of it. We were divided into teams of four and made jelly from agar-agar powder and juice while the other half of the group made the same kind of jelly with the alginate process. We then had our lunch and continued our adventurous day by learning about an electron microscope its uses and its functioning. We went on to learn how to make a Homopolar Motor using only a magnetic cup, a copper wire, a battery and two extremely strong magnets. We went to a demo lab and learned a lot about static charge, electricity, Wimshurst machine, Faradays cage, super conductor and it magnetic levitation, why some soda cans float while others sink and friction.

The day started with a lecture on forensic science by NG Ngan Kee from the department of biological sciences. We got to know about CSI’s, fingerprints, fingerprint detection, latent blood detection and many other things. Then we remained in the lecture room for a 3D printing workshop. We gained a lot of knowledge on the application of 3D printing, its history, the various materials used in it, ways of 3D printing and it’s sustainability in the future. After an energizing lunch at subway we went to a book store in the spare time, which was followed by our arrival at The National Orchid Garden of Singapore, where there are a lot of varieties of orchids. There are also over 200 hybrids named after famous celebrities, people with an influential government post and Royal Family. Our day came to an end with a visit to Madame Tussaud’s on the Sentosa Island.

We kick started our day with an lecture from Professor Yap Yon Bing on probability where we learned that gambling never pays off however good the odds may seem to you or how lucrative the winnings seem. The Forensic Science workshop was great as it included a case study on OJ Simpson’s case and we were able to prove him guilty of the murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend by DNA analysis. We had our lunch break and then went onto explore various advancements in technology in the science centre. We also saw a 3D and a 2D show in the science centre. We moved on to see the beautiful city of Singapore by visiting China Town, Merlion and finally the famous Orchid Street which is a highlight for anyone who is a shopping freak.

This, I personally felt was the best day, as we were explained about the uses of nanotechnology by Sow Chorng Haur. He told us about nano-science, nanoscale and how small it is. He also told us that if we cut gold into small pieces it changes color. Telling us about Richard Feynman’s lecture in 1959 “There is a lot of space at the bottom”, he moved onto some future goals for nanotechnology and biotechnology. We then had a Q/A session with the admissions head and he told us about the Universities perks and student life. Then we went on to see the National Museum of History where we saw various animal specimens and also some fossils including dinosaurs and a rock that is considered to be the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs. Then we had a kind of test on what we had seen and were shown 20 specimens and we had to decide based on our recently acquired knowledge what category they fell into. Then we were free do to do whatever we wanted. Some of us went to shop at china town and the rest stayed back to catch up on sleep, rest or pack.

There were groups of 4 and all the members were from different schools. The quiz was held and we were sent for lunch, when we came back we were anxious to know who had won and if it was one of our teams. Then it was announced that there was a tie breaking question for the 1st place between Team 4 (consisting of Devansh Mittal from Doon School) and Team 14. The teams were given a hint by the teacher taking the quiz that the tie breaker was based on the city tour and then the question was flashed, at first it seemed that nobody from both the teams knew the answer but then I, Devansh Mittal, from Team 4 answered the tie breaker question securing first place for my team and a name for our school. Victorious the team of ten boys from The Doon School returned to India.

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From across the world, boys have completed their experiences in a range of courses at Summer Schools. They aim at giving boys a taste of how they might learn at university and college with the chance to see how assignments, independent reading and meeting tight deadlines are not only the preserve of life at Doon! The experiences have proved in the main to be academically rigorous, internationally and culturally diverse and fun as they lived and worked on university campuses.

Vaibhav Chandak from Oberoi House reports from Cornell’s Summer School: ’ This programme further increased my desire to study at Cornell University.’

‘ I applied for an Economics course at Duke University and a Business programme at Cornell University. I got selected for both. However, I chose Cornell University Summer College because of the fact that I place Cornell at a higher academic level than Duke University. Also, I wanted to study at an Ivy League institution, hence it was a perfect fit. The course I attended was ‘The Business World’. It was an introduction to business management and lectures and discussion sessions were conducted by a renowned Cornell University professor, Prof. Dave Taylor and his team of talented ‘Teaching Assistants’.

We explored and focused upon the different aspects to be taken into attention for a business to run successfully. There were about 250 students in the course. We were divided into two lecture groups of 125 each; both lectures were taken by Professor Taylor. We were further divided into 10 groups of 25 students each. 10 ‘Teaching Assistant’ were in-charge of these groups; each one taking a group. The course as a whole had about 60% Americans, (about 30% first generation Americans though). The other 40% consisted of about 30% Chinese people while the other 10% were spread from all over the world.

We had to do three main assignments, two of which had to be presented during the discussion sessions. We did an online business simulation which involved starting up a coffee shop and making all decisions pertaining to it. This was really exciting and was differentiated the course from ‘every other’ tedious business course at different places. We also did a detailed case study on Nike that involved reflecting on how the theories and concepts of business were put into effect by Nike to become successful.

Other than that we had to do regular reading of the textbook in advance to class so that we were prepared for lecture.

The assignments that we had to do included the following:

1. Writing a business memo/ letter to Atlantic Philanthropies to make a donation for charity and explaining how the money would be put to use.
2. Delivering a presentation for about 5 minutes on what we learnt from the business simulation
3. Making a stock pick recommendation by researching two companies

These assignments were much different from the ones we did in ICSE and were somewhat different from the ones we do at IB. We had to do more research and had to devote more time to them. We had to work on and develop these examples by re-drafting the written assignments and practicing the spoken part of the presentations.

The summer school was similar to what I thought it would be. I had envisioned earlier what I experienced later: the residence halls, diverse friends, an academically tough course and some fun apart from studying. I think it was a well rounded experience: I learnt a lot from it academically and also put in a great deal of effort to get an A+ grade overall. I also made a bunch of friends and a few probable life-long friendships. The length of the programme was ideal since 3 weeks was neither too much nor too less. It is a completely different experience from school and you also learn how to thrive and make friends in a more global environment. It gives rise to not only academic growth but also fosters social growth.

I would recommend it to any boy who is willing to learn something beyond the school classrooms, who wishes to interact with people from diverse cultures and wants to make productive use of the summer.’

Anvay Grover from Oberoi House reports from Hong Kong:

‘ My parents supported my summer school choice. Although initially I was nominated by school, my parents had no inhibitions once they learnt about the summer school. The experience was educationally stimulating as I encountered scientific topics I had not learnt before. More specifically, the laboratory experiments were a lot more advanced or challenging compared to my previous experiences.

The approach was based on a lot more on practical experiments, possibly because of the excellent medical facilities that were available at the University. The anatomy labs in particular were something new altogether. The student body was largely local (from Hong Kong) except a few students from Malaysia and USA. There were no other Indian students.

There was not a great deal of independent research or study as the work was done during the lectures or the labs. We were not required to do extra reading. The week spent in Hong Kong confirmed HKU as a possible college destination for me. It did not make me re-think my other choices.

If possible, boys should go to a summer school because it can be educationally stimulating. But I do not consider it a necessity, rather as something which should be done if feasible.’

Dhruv Madhav Johri, from Oberoi House chose to attend Berklee College of Music’s Summer School. There are currently two Dosco’s studying Music as a major at this specialist music college in the USA. Dhruv talks about his experience:

Q. Which course did you attend and did you apply to others and why did you apply to the one you chose?

A.I attended a five week performance programme for the saxophone at the Berklee College of Music, Boston. I was also accepted for programmes in Politics, Government and Music at Georgetown University and Brown University. I applied to Berklee because I wanted to explore the possibility of combining my passions with my future academic pursuits. Also I saw Summer School as a chance to study something that I wouldn’t normally opt for. I can study Economics in school itself. however I couldn’t study Jazz Saxophone Performance and is for primarily this reason that I choose to spend the summer at Berklee.

Q. Was the summer school what you thought?

A. Honestly at first I was extremely intimidated by the standard of music produced at this school!

Q. Would you recommend the experience and why?

I would recommend the programme to anyone who is unsure of whether they want to see if Music is something they wish to do. This is because I feel that Berklee helps open your eyes to the vast world of musical styles and opportunities. Also Berklee gives out many scholarships so financing oneself shouldn’t be an issue. One mustn’t however be shy to audition.

Q. Has it made you decide to study at that institution and that course and if not why not?

A. Although I have not yet made a solid decision, the programme has got me to change to Music in the 11th and the 12th grades. I would love to attend Berklee professionally for their Music business major.(please add to O house website as well as summer school site, university destinations and offers section, IB, all music sections in academic and co-curricular and also home page as part of the whole article) Add his photo and also the uni and country logo at the top of his interview.

Nikunj Agarwal from Kashmir House chose to study Applied Science and Design at UBC, Canada ‘The approach to learning was that different, but here we not only learned the theory in every lecture but had experiments and labs to try it by ourselves. From making a design and printing on our own in 3D Printing Class to programming a remote control car, we did it all by ourselves.’ Reports from Canada:

Q. Which course did you attend and did you apply to others and why did you apply to the one you chose?

A. I applied for the “Applied Science and Design Course” at the University of British Columbia as I want to pursue a career in engineering, but I do not have any specific areas of interest. This course would help me look at some engineering courses closely.

Q. Please provide a brief summary of the course?

A. This course had four different parts. They were, Mechatronics, 3D Printing, Civil Engineering and Technical Communications. All of these courses were of different length. The Mechatronics part was the longest of all and Technical Communications was the shortest. I learned to programme a remote control car using software in Mechatronics. I learned how to use CAD software to design anything to be printed using the 3D printer. In the Civil Engineering course, we were taught about the strength and foundation of buildings and how we can use more sustainable constituents in a building. In the Technical Communications course, we were taught how to present in a showcase or a presentation. What do we do wrong and what can we do better?

Q. How was the approach to learning different? Please comment upon class size, lecture size and international v US or country of origin mix?

A. The approach to learning was that different, but here we not only learned the theory in every lecture but had experiments and labs to try it by ourselves. From making a design and printing on our own in 3D Printing Class to programming a remote control car, we did it all by ourselves. The class size was not very big. We had 25 students in the class. Every lecture was 3 hours long with a 10-minute break in the middle. There were students from 12 different countries so there was a diverse culture.

Q. What assignments were you given and how were they assessed? Were they very different to how your study at ISC/IB?

A. We had to practice and go through whatever we were taught in the class when we got back to our rooms as whatever we were studying was totally new to us and we did not enough time to go at an easy pace. Although whatever was taught was very understandable, if we did not practice when we got back, next day was much tougher.

Q. Was the summer school what you thought?

A. Yes, it was. A lot of my friends have gone to a summer school before and they’ve shared their experiences with me. So, I had an idea of what exactly a summer school is like. And, it turned out to be pretty similar.

Q. Would you recommend the experience and why?

A. I would totally recommend the experience as whatever I learned there, has not only opened my mind but also has given me an experience which I could never have had here at school. It was because there were people from so many different cultures and backgrounds, and even if two people who were from the same country, were so different. During the summer school, I did not only get a chance to experience what a university lecture is like but also to make new friends.

Q. Has it made you decide to study at that institution and that course and if not why not?

A. This experience has showed me the correct path which I will follow. I will be definitely be applying to the university. This experience has also helped me decide what I will study at the university. I enjoyed the programming bit of the Mechatronics course the most and I realized that it is where my interests lie.

Varun Sehgal from Jaipur House attended Columbia. ‘I applied to these courses because they didn’t teach any subject in isolation but actually taught a mixture of two different topics, whether it be economics and politics or engineering and business.’ reports from the USA.

This is what he had to say:

‘I attended the Globalization: Challenges in International Economics and Politics at Columbia University, New York City. I also applied for the Management and Technology course offered at the University of Pennsylvania. I applied to these courses because they didn’t teach any subject in isolation but actually taught a mixture of two different topics, whether it be economics and politics or engineering and business.

The course helped students understand how political conditions affect economic decisions and vice- versa. We studied various theories of International Political Economy and used case studies to analyze the relationship between nation states. We also studied the Greek debt situation in depth and worked out various possible solutions to avoid its exit from the Euro zone. In addition, we also read different articles related to our course and presented an individual summary and critique to be graded on.’

Q. How was the approach to learning different? Please comment upon class size, lecture size and international v US or country of origin mix?

A. Our day was divided into two two-hour sessions of classes. The first was generally an interactive lecture while the second was reserved for presentations, quizzes or even field trips. My class consisted of 26 students out of which approximately 50% were American citizens. Classes at Columbia University were more interactive and having students from all over the world definitely helps by giving the class a multilateral perspective. Also, field trips to sites such as the United Nations Headquarters helped enhance the experience.

Q. What assignments were you given and how were they assessed? Were they very different to how your study at ISC/IB?

A. We were given quizzes, which were marked out of ten points, twice a week. These were quite different from tests we receive at school. We also had to give an individual presentation of a summary and critique of an article of our choice related to the opted course. At the end of the course, we had to submit the presented paper to be graded on. Writing the paper was much like writing an IB English commentary, something that we had practiced writing last term.

Q. Was the Summer School what you thought?

A. Yes. It actually exceeded my expectations, keeping me busy with academically oriented, yet enjoyable, activities to perform daily. It also exposed me to life in a big city as well, with many entertaining evening activities planned in Manhattan.

Q. Would you recommend the experience and why?

A. Yes, definitely. I feel that it is an experience that exposes you to a different way of learning and at the same time gives you a feel of what college in the United States would be like, especially if you plan to apply to that same university.

Q. Has it made you decide to study at that institution and that course and if not why not?

A. Yes. I have always wanted to study at Columbia University and this experience only increased my desire to study there. I am not sure about the course, however, because even though I enjoyed studying it, I plan to move into engineering.

And from the parents…

Mr Johri (whose eldest son, Yash is an undergraduate at Georgetown) supported his younger son, Dhruv in his pursuit of his love of music and this is what he had to say about his son’s choice of Summer School:

‘There is a lot of daily homework and numerous hours of practice required tremendous amount of independent research and initiative.’ I would recommend the summer school approach where a child is focused and passionate about the subject and the whole experience. The programme has the potential to add to a child’s persona and knowledge. I would NOT recommend it merely as a tool to add to the resume.

‘Going to the Berklee’s Music five week programme was Dhruv’s idea, he searched the details, sent his recordings, got part scholarship. We supported him as the course would give him an opportunity to explore his passion for music. Had Dhruv been going for just another run of the mill summer school programme, we may not have been so encouraging. Without doubt, it has been an exposure to the rigorous and extracting schedule of the world’s best music college, great professors and a very competitive environment. Dhruv has been exposed to disciplines like theory of music, ear training, musicianship, playing in an ensemble, studying the business of music and most importantly private lessons with some of the best in the field.

From being in awe of the quality of musicians and the sheer scale of the environment on day one, Dhruv has gained immensely, whether it is living on his own in a foreign city or performing confidently in an ensemble. The environment at Berklee is very unique because everyone there is focused on Music as a career. There were 1050 students from 48 states of America and 75 countries. There is a lot of daily homework and numerous hours of practice required tremendous amount of independent research and initiative. While Dhruv’s career choices are still some distance away he is seriously considering taking Music as a subject for his IB Diploma.

I would recommend the summer school approach where a child is focused and passionate about the subject and the whole experience. The programme has the potential to add to a child’s persona and knowledge. I would NOT recommend it merely as a tool to add to the resume.

Editorial View from the school: We could not further support Mr Johri’s view on this as going to a Summer School for any other reason than to further the love of your subject, only shows any future university and employer that your prime interest is in ‘scamming the system’. The school was also delighted to read that the emphasis was on practice, independent research and initiative. It was music (excuse the pun) to Doon’s ears!-

Ashish Sharma whose eldest son, Nikhil has been offered a place to read Law at King’s College London in 2015, sent his younger son Vivan to attend the Life Sciences Course at Imperial College. This is his feedback:

Q. Why did you support son’s application for his Summer School choice or was it very much you idea?

A. This was very much Vivan’s idea after he met a person from Imperial College, regarding Summer School. It was driven by Vivan. I supported him as it was his own initiative and as it was the only Summer School he found that was focused on Life Sciences which was his area of interest. If Vivan wants to be a doctor then the UK and Australia are his countries of choice. He already knows Australia so England was the other country option. Additionally, London in summer is an amazing experience.

Q. Do you feel that it has been an intellectually and generally useful educational and personally provided your sons with greater independence and confidence?

A. Being a Dosco, he was probably the most independent and (quietly) confident person. He has been traveling internationally on his own for at least two years and happy to live away from his environment. Additionally, his exchange experience in Denmark also helped.

Intellectually, Summer Schools are not expected to be challenging so I am not surprised. The key positive factor for me was the chance for Vivan to work on multinational group projects and make friends as a result. Vivan has remained in contact with his summer and exchange friends and I hope he keeps in contact.

Q. How international was the student body and were there other students from India?

A. Vivan indicated to me that there were very few Indian students and most of his friends were from Spain, Italy and Scandinavia. So I would say it had a more European focus. I believe there were more Indians in the engineering stream which Vivan had little to do with.

Q. How much independent research and study was required by the assignments?

A. Vivan indicated that it was mainly group study/projects and they completed two projects (one per week).

Q. Do you think that the experience has helped him either confirm his possible university choices in terms of course, country and institution or has it made him re-think, which is often a very positive outcome!

A. Vivan remains keenly focused on doing medicine or life sciences before and after the summer school so there has been no change to his interest. The country (Australia, UK) focus remains unchanged. Yes there is much discussion to be had on possible universities in each country over the next 12 to 18 months together with NPY’s team.( Editor’s note: Head of the Careers Information, Education and Guidance Department and her team)

Q. Would you recommend the Summer School approach to other parents?

A. I would only recommend sending your son to a Summer School if he is interested to go and then it should be with a focus. There is no point pushing a child beyond a certain point.

The post Summer School Report 2015 appeared first on The Doon School.

The following boys have passed their IAYP bronze awards:

 From Hyderabad House

Ishita Bhardwaj

Tanay Gopal Agarwal

From Jaipur House

Aneesh Choudhary

Udesh Pratap Singh Kairon

From TATA House

Manraj Singh Sra

Pragun Agarwal

Raj Sankla

Ahaan Sanjay Gupta

 Kashmir House

Mihir Gupta

Advait Ganapathy

Oberoi House

Shreshth Mehra

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Each year an increasing number of boys qualify for the three week Duke University programme. This is aimed at gifted and talented boys and girls in Year 7 and 8 from all over India, who have had to sit a series of tests before they get chosen to join the programme. There are numerous courses to choose from which include Maths, Science, History and Geography as well as technology and Medicine/Life Sciences. The tutors from Duke, aim to stretch the pupil intellectually in a creative and rigourous fashion making them work in teams and also individually.

Gunveer Paintal from Oberoi House reports, ‘One thing I have learned is that I can write if I put in the effort because nobody is born a writer, you become a writer.’

‘I must confess despite being a little apprehensive about missing three weeks of my ICSE IX course, I was excited about going for this programme. Days at TIP passed like our time does at school.  I hope to start writing for the school publications when I return. Among other things, we wrote an essay and a short story which we shared with each other and critiqued on where they could be improved and what was well written. I am hoping to give the short story for The Weekly in the coming term. One thing I have learned is that I can write if I put in the effort because nobody is born a writer, you become a writer. But most of all I enjoyed the balance between studies and activities. Socially I have never met so many people with different thoughts yet so like-minded, so open and ready to accept others’ views. I have made friends who I never wish to lose touch with. The evening activities were unique, fresh, insightful and fun and provided a much needed break after the strenuous and demanding class regime. From good old basketball and football to debating and JAMs.’

Abhiraj Lamba from Oberoi House reports, ‘We as a class broke the enigma code and this record by two minutes and that to in our first attempt. This was quite an achievement as breaking the enigma is not an easy task and it requires knowledge of many advanced mathematical topics such as permutations.’

‘I cannot say much about the others but I had expectations from this programme and it would not be wrong to say that it did indeed exceed those expectations. Not only did it help me in the academic sphere of life, which was its main purpose, but also in the social sphere of life as it has connected me with a number of equally gifted students from all around the country. Every Saturday we watched a movie related to or involving cryptology and discussed it on Monday. Our instructor, Mr. Aaron Feickert, told us that the record for any cryptology class, from DUKE TIP USA and India combined, to break the ENIGMA as a class was 35 minutes and that too in their second attempt. We as a class broke this record by 2 minutes and that too in our first attempt. This was quite an achievement as breaking the enigma is not an easy task and it requires knowledge of many advanced mathematical topics such as permutations. Our instructor had many such fun activities for us, one of which was a cipher quiz within the class in small groups of 4 – 5 people. Every day after classes, we had an hour of free time, which was followed by activity time in the evening. The activities taken by different RCs, who themselves were college students, were just amazing. There were sports, arts, literary events etc.I mostly went for the literary events like debating and I must say that these activities were extremely enjoyable and challenging.’

Shreyas Minocha from Jaipur House reports, ‘On the whole I am extremely satisfied by my experience at the Duke Tip Summer Studies Programme India 2015. I would like to thank the school and ASSET for giving me such a good opportunity.’

‘The three weeks that I stayed at the SNU campus, I was always busy with various activities and interaction with other children of similar interests. The courses that were offered were of high quality and we covered a lot of material within the three weeks that we stayed there. I was in the Maths Problem Solving Course and we learnt a lot of new things that are not normally taught at this level. This ranged from the Prisoner’s Dilemma game to proof writing techniques. We learnt all this in a non-conventional, fun-filled activity based way. We made various presentations in random groups and had to create our own version of games that we studied. Our instructor and TA were both extremely helpful and were interested in the welfare of the class as a whole. They answered our questions and cleared our doubts as and when required. The evening activities after classes were also extremely innovative. We had different activities each day. Some activities that were offered include quilling, relay quizzes and American football. We also utilized our weekend time very constructively taking part in Ad act competitions, dance competitions, quiz competitions and sports contests. The rooms that we stayed in were clean and had basic facilities. On the whole I am extremely satisfied by my experience at the Duke Tip Summer Studies Programme India 2015. I would like to thank the school and ASSET for giving me such a good opportunity.’

Paras Gupta from Kashmir House reports,

‘My course was DNA and I think that I have enjoyed it to the most. The crazy activities we did cleared our concepts and we did stuff that no one thinks of. This was our own class and the syllabus depended on us’.

‘I have no words to express the amount of learning we did in 20 days. I can say that this was the best camp I have ever been to. The intellectual classes we had and the RC groups competitions made the camp reach the next level.

Firstly I would like to talk about our pastoral care. According to me the RC group (the people who were with us all the time as our mentors) treated us well and engaged with us in a friendly manner .We spent one of our best times hanging around with them during our evening RC group meetings and chatting in the late night meetings. They ensured that we are well and are out of all the troubles .They were also our friends with whom we shared our days schedule. They acted as our guides and showed the right path.

Now the most important aspect, academics. My course was DNA and i think that i have enjoyed it to the most. The crazy activities we did cleared our concepts and we did stuff that no one thinks of. This was our own class and the syllabus depended on us. If we were interested in any topic we could go in depth and skip one topic we were not interested in. The debates and discussions were really interesting because all my colleagues were really smart. Hence I can say this was the best academic exposure I ever had.

The activities were amazing and new. We had a lot of debates example can be a fou corner debate and funky debate. We explored music in form of Acapella, and had dance and drama competitions. The weekend DJ was a great way to have fun after a tiring academic week. Activities were important because they relaxed us and also made us think which activity we were really interested in.

But the best part was we were living with different cultures and we could interact with them. My own roommate was from Bengal he taught me many things about the God and Goddesses of his religion. I conclude by saying that this is the best exposure one can get and this camp should be attended once in your lifetime’.

Simran and Inderjit Singh Paintal report on their son’s experience:

‘Gunvir had an excellent experience at the programme. It has helped him in more ways than one. The Creative Writing course was very informative, fun and involved a lot of discussions. The children were introduced to the work of some very inspiring poets and authors and were taught a whole new array of techniques. I believe the atmosphere in the classroom was very amiable and a lot of collaborative activities were undertaken. It was a very non-threatening , non-competitive, relaxed environment where the participants were encouraged to express themselves freely without inhibition. There were various activities which encouraged them to think out of the box as well as various opportunities to enhance their critical thinking skills. The instructor was very accessible and encouraging and used very innovative methods to teach the students.

The after-class activities were no less innovataive. They were kept busy and engaged in a very positive way all day and various streams collaborated on and off stage to showcase their talents which made the large group one cohesive unit.  It was a very friendly, non-judgemental environment that encouraged full participation. The Residential Counselors were very helpful, mentored them well and left lasting impressions.

Gunvir came back very happy, excited, confident and full of new ideas. Most importantly he has made a whole new set of friends who understand him and he can identify with them. The amazing thing is that he discovered a latent talent for dancing which he is now exploring further.

We spoke with his instructor when we went to pick him up. She was very happy with his writing and told us that he had been a very active and welcome participant in all the activities.

It has been a very satisfying experience for him and for us. Hopefully he will be able to use the tools he has gathered at this programme, in the days that unfold.’

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From the 2015 group these are some reports back to school. They include feedback from parents, student exchange co-ordinators and host families:

Ananay Sethi from Oberoi House talking about his exchange to Landheim Schondorf, Germany in 2015:

‘I would like to once again express my gratitude for selecting me to go for this wonderful exchange programme to Germany.
Landheim Schondorf has treated me really well, and I still cannot believe that two weeks have passed by so fast. I fell in love with the school and the people almost instantly and they befriended me really fast. Language, fortunately, is no hindrance here as my German is enough for informal talk, and I have been able to sincerely study with the help of the teachers who are kind enough to explain to me certain things in English that I cannot understand, and so do my friends.

The school is very liberal, and offers a plethora of activities to do after classes, and everything here is easily available. The school also takes sports as seriously as our school does, and it holds a vital role in a “Landheimer’s” life. I currently am taking part in the Culture Worksop.

The Cycling Activity, The Basketball, Hockey and Badminton Activities, the Drum Workshops and also some spare some time from the busy schedule of the day to play the Tabla.

The campus is beautiful and awe inspiring, and the city is a quaint little village next to the beautiful Ammersee lake, where most of us with our friends go to hang out after a full day’s work.

The hostels are very comfortable, and they have their own common rooms and kitchens, which is very similar to Doon, and gives you a feeling that you are just back home.

In a nutshell- so far, so good!
Thank you sir, and cannot wait to be be back to share my experiences.’

Anirudh Batra from Tata House said:

‘I am sending this email to inform you that we are settled in Hutchins (Hutchins School Tasmania, Australia) and having a great time here. We are taking part in rugby and hockey here which is keeping us well occupied. Also we did visit the city several times and are familiar with this place now. We will soon be sending you some pictures along with reports of our stay here.’

Anirudh Popli at Kashmir House from Deerfield Academy, MA, USA

‘I thought I should send you a detailed mail about the trip so far now that I have some time, I have taken the following classes, Algebra II, Asia in World History, English, Acting and Directing, and Physics 1- Accelerated. My co-curricular choices until now have been Theatre Tech, but for the month of May, I have switched to Ultimate Frisbee.

My classes are a lot of fun, in Acting I am currently rehearsing for a performance on their Parent’s Weekend, and otherwise we are studying a lot in the other classes. The other activities and events are also amazing here that happen during the weekends, I also participated in a workshop of spoken word poetry, I witnessed a four hour music concert of any students willing to perform, and today I went to an Amusement park nearby called ‘Six Flags’, which was a fantastic experience.

I am truly loving it here, the people are so welcoming and friendly, that you don’t even feel the transition. Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity’.

Devika Cariapa is the mother of CC Cehngappa from Kashmir House. Her son is on exchange to St Alban’s School, South Africa and said:

‘Dear Mr Shukla,
Yes, we have managed to What’s app them both- they are fine and settled with their respective families. The school has given them a friendly reception and as far as Chengappa is concerned (as I have not directly talked to Rahul) he is playing a school hockey match on Wednesday for one of their league teams and has joined up with the music school where he is playing guitar. The day starts very early – 0630 and ends 1330 with games to follow.
I will send more news as we are planning a Skype call today.
Hope all is well with you.
Warm regards,
Devika Cariapa’

Tim Rayner is the Exchange Co-ordinator and Head of Upper School Scotch College, Melbourne, Australia and this is his report:

‘Dear Ambikesh,

I hope you are well. Thank you for your email.
I am pleased to report that both boys are well and seem to be enjoying their Scotch experience. Kartavya Nagpal (265 O) and Bhuvan Varma (311 T) are fully involved in the life of the school. I will ask them to contact you.

On another note, I can confirm we will be sending two boys to the Doon School this year. Both boys are very capable and should enjoy the experience. I will provide more details shortly.

Regards,
Tim
Tim Rayner (Exchange Co-ordinator)
Head of Upper School
Scotch College, Melbourne, Australia

Christina McAdam is one part of the host parents for Kanav Agarwal from Jaipur House said:

‘Good morning Ambikesh,
Just to let you know that Kanav arrived safely last week and seems to have settled in well. We had no problem finding him at the airport as I had been in touch with his Mother and got some pictures. A lovely well mannered boy and a credit to your school, really. We have managed to do quite a bit of sight-seeing already and I know Bishops are planning a trip to Robin Island this week with all the exchange books which should be very interesting. He has gone into the boarding house this week, just for the week – Andrew is away in the UK rowing as he just got his South African Junior Colours but will return home early next week. Just felt that Kanav might enjoy the different experience and prefer to be around boys his own age. My younger boy will keep an eye on him but am sure he will be fine.
Now, I suppose we need to sort out Andrew’s exchange. When are you expecting him, for how long and are there are excursions planned, Kanav mentioned that you do this during your half term? Could you let me have your thoughts etc? Once all decided we will need and official invitation from Doon to apply for his visa etc.’
Kind regards
Christina McAdam
Host parents for Kanav Agarwal 275 J

Vivan Sharma from Kashmir House was on exchange to Herlufsholm Skole, Denmark said:

‘Dear Sir
I have been on exchange for 3 weeks now and have enjoyed it a lot. I have experienced their traditions thoroughly and really have had a lot of fun. During the weekend I went to the city of Hamburg where I had a tour of the city and saw various tourist attractions. There are two weeks left of my exchange and I hope they will be great.
Regards,
Vivan Sharma’

Rahul Das went to Wynberg Allen School in Cape Town. He is in Kashmir House and said:

‘I am afraid that it is a bit late But it does not affect my thankfulness towards all the people who have a played a part in making my exchange in South Africa a true success for me as an individual. I landed safely in Delhi last morning. The difference in temperature in South Africa and India is massive so it will take time for me adapt to the high weather conditions here. I got the news that around 1200 people have lost their lives due to heat stroke in Delhi alone.

As for my exchange, it has been a huge success in my eyes. The speech which I delivered on the last day was appreciated a lot by the boys and staff of the school. The Headmaster of the school was so pleased with it that now he has kept it with himself. A dream which I never dreamt of came true for me in South Africa.

After all my achievements, attainments and success one thing that I can never forget is none of this would have ever been possible without the immense efforts put in by all you people. Anything is achievable if you are at the right place at the right time with the right people is something that I have learnt from this experience and I will go on to cherish this for the rest of my life.

I will not say thank you here because I believe it is too small a word for what you all have done for me.’

The post The Global Student Exchange Programme 2015: What the Boys Say? appeared first on The Doon School.

Congratulations to Samarjit Singh from Kashmir House who has returned with a team Silver in Sports Pistol at the Junior World Cup Suhl Germany. Earlier he won a team Gold in Sports Pistol at the Meeting of the Shooting Hopes, Plzen in the Czech Republic. Samarjit is now ranked No. 1 again nationally.

He will be playing the Asian Air Gun Championship at Delhi in September 2015.

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Sport and Co-Curricular News

Devansh Agarwal represented School in Harvard MUN and had an honorable mention.
Ravshaan Singh Mangat represented the State in Basketball and performed very well.
Rishit Thakur represented the School in Dr. Hedgewar Open Chess Tournament and won his category.
Rishank Kala represented the State in Tennis and won his category as well.

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• Senior Editor for Yuv Arpan: Nikunj Agrawal.

Oberoi House

• Editor-in-Chief for Srijan Prayas: Vallavi Shukla.
• Editor-in-Chief for Yuv Arpan: Parth Khanna.
• Boy-in-Charge for Computer Science STA: Sabharsh Singh Sidhu.

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He is now in the National Squad for 2015 in two events. One is the Sports Pistol event and is in the number 1 place and the Free Pistol number 3 place He is also in the squad for Air Pistol Youth,
in number four position. This is the latest ranking and Squad that appears on
the NRAI website “www.thenrai.in“.
Samarjit will be also competing in the KSS National Championship and
the two trials that are being held in Kerala in February 2015.

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Bronze Awards

• Prabhsharan Singh Mamik
• Samarth Prasad
• Sasyak Pattnaik
• Tejit V. Pabari
• Md. Zaid Bin Shameem
• Saksham Goel
• Amol Pajni
• Vatsal Bora
• Aditya Vardhan Agarwal
• Ahaan Agarwal

Silver Awards

• Arnav Jain
• Siddhanth Gupta
• Fateh Pratap Singh Phoolka
• Sharat Kumar Nambiar
• Devang Mehra
• Krishnamit Bhargava
• Yash Dhandhania
• Raghav Kumar
• Siddharth Goel

Gold Awards

• Parth Vohra
• Arush Sood
• Divyansh Goel
• Uday Rathore
• Preetham Mohan
• Vibhav Gupta

Blazer Awards

• Parth Vohra
• Arush Sood
• Divyansh Goel
• Uday Rathore
• Preetham Mohan
• Vibhav Gupta

JAIPUR HOUSE

Bronze Awards

• Pratyaksh Singh Parmar
• Vineet Puri
• Rishi Raj Deva
• Ishan Jhawar
• Aditya Verma

Silver Awards

• Chaitanya Hemant Aggarwal
• Anandita Luther
• Nihal Singh Dhillon
• Suryansh Saurabh Nevatia
• Pratyaksh Singh Parmar
• Arth Gupta

Gold Awards

• Sachin Mehra
• Gaurav Kothari
• Rohan Agarwal
• Ayush Tripathi

Blazer Awards

• Sachin Mehra
• Gaurav Kothari
• Rohan Agarwal
• Ayush Tripathi

KASHMIR HOUSE

Bronze Awards

• Ashish Pandey
• Chinmaya Pankaj Sharma
• Madhav Aggarwal
• Vivan Sharma
• Ashwat Madhok
• Dhruv Ahuja
• Madhav Bhardwaj
• Arpit Chaddha
• Udai Behl
• Bharat Hari Choudhary
• Anant Mohan
• Savar Khanna
• Siddharth Jain
• Shreyash Agarwal

Silver Awards

• Sabir Singh
• Rudra Srivastava
• C.C. Chengappa

Gold Awards

• Digvijay Gupta
• Sarthak Gupta
• Mihir Kiran
• Sabhya Katia
• Ritvik Kar
• Shivam Sharma

Blazer Awards

• Digvijay Gupta
• Sarthak Gupta
• Mihir Kiran
• Sabhya Katia
• Ritvik Kar
• Shivam Sharma

TATA HOUSE

Bronze Awards

• Rahul Bhagchandani
• Anuvrat Choudhary
• Bhuvan Verma
• Angad Singh Shergill
• Chaitanya Kediyal
• Yashoraj Agarwal

Silver Awards

• Sayuj Dhandhania
• Pranav Kothiwal
• Aditya Vikram Dhingra
• Nirvan Dogra
• Rahul Bhagchandani
• Samarth Makhija

Gold Awards

• Sehaj Singh Jouhal
• Arjun Sharma
• Ashutosh Goyal
• Rishabh Sharma

Blazer Awards

• Sehaj Singh Jouhal
• Arjun Sharma
• Ashutosh Goyal
• Rishabh Sharma

The post IAYP Awards for 2014 appeared first on The Doon School.

The results of Inter House Chess Competition 2014 are as follows:

Juniors:
The winner is Tata House

Seniors:
The winner is Kashmir House

House Cup: Kashmir House

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Congratulations to Siddarth Sarin in Tata House, Varun Narain Sinha and Rak Kumar Vijay from Hyderabad House who have been selected to attend the coaching camp at Ranchi (Jharkhand) from 8th -15th December 2014. Siddarth will compete in the Shot Put, Varun Narain Sinha will compete in the 400 metres and Raj Kumar Vijay will compete in the 100 metres. All categories are at U19 level.

The post Dosco’s selected for U19 squad 60th SGFI National School Games December 2014 appeared first on The Doon School.

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The school participated in the Yoga IPSC which was held in Pilani, Rajasthan on 7th to 8th November 2014. Doon participated in the U14 category in two groups where five boys were in athletic yoga and one boy was in the rhythmic yoga. The list of boys was as follows:

U14 Category (Rhythmic Group)
• Udbhav Tomar from Tata House

Shouryan Kapoor was selected among the best five in the U14 athletic group but lost in final round.

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Senior Cup: Kashmir House

House Cup: Oberoi House

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Congratulations to the following boys who have been awarded this scholarship for securing the highest aggregate of marks in the school examinations in November 2013 and also for the boys who sat the ICSE examinations:
1. Jashan Kalra C form and from Tata House
2. Rudra Srivastava B form from Kashmir House
3. Ishaan Kapoor B form from Oberoi House
4. Anvay Grover A form from Oberoi House
5. Suyash Raj Shivam S form from Jaipur House
6. Vinayak Chaudhary S form from Oberoi House

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Congratulations to the following boys who were re-awarded their Drama colours for outstanding contribution to Hindi theatre in school:

• Ritesh Shinde from Jaipur House
• Malini Malaviya

Devesh Sharma, from Hyderabad House also gets Drama colours for the second time.

For the first time Arjun Sharma from Tata House also is awarded Drama colours.

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Particular congratulations go to Sarthak Gupta from Kashmir House who was placed 3rd in the U17 category with his FIDE rating also increased by 50 points. Shawya Agarwal, from Tata House improved his score to 1386 and Vatsal Bora from Hyderabad House improved his score to 1258.

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