‘Every child has the right to a happy childhood. We must ensure that education for them is a joyful and meaningful experience!’ – Billabong High International School
Innovation or change is the best answer to all the above-mentioned situations that can be viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements and existing needs.
The goals of the Billabong curriculum lie in developing the cognitive (critical thinking, problem-solving, collaborative), creative, aesthetic, language, collaborative and social-emotional skills.
Billabong High International School is based on the same philosophy and pedagogy (research-driven, brain compatible education) that enables the children to grow in the dimensions of greatness. It encourages every child to enjoy his/her unique identity, develop a sense of self-worth and to envision a future that entails using one’s special talents and gifts to benefit the world and achieve one’s potential.
The curriculum at BHIS is multidimensional in approach and seen as a ‘set of performance objectives for student learning’ where focus is laid on specific skills or knowledge to be attained by the learners.
It entirely follows an integrated curriculum wherein all the disciplines and subjects are interwoven keeping in mind the Bloom’s Taxonomy, the Multiple Intelligence theory & the VARK (Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, Kinaesthetic) Model of learning styles and one concept reflects upon all the areas of the curriculum. The learning tasks are designed in a way that the learners move from lower-order thinking skills to higher-order thinking skills. The English curriculum is transacted in such a way that the learners ascend from LOTS (Lower order thinking skills) to HOTS ( Higher order thinking skills). Prediction of situations, giving twists to the story, suitable title to the content, analysis of an unknown situation, a new ending to the story are some of the tasks undertaken to ensure thorough grasping of the concepts to strengthen decision making, problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
Art Education plays a vital role in expression of thoughts. Dance, music, poetry, jingles, role plays, radio shows, poster making, advertisements, etc provide a platform to the learners to express and apply their knowledge of concepts. The use of drama is such a powerful tool. The mentors use a range of techniques to promote the exploration of characters, situations and historical events through presentations using props, masks and puppets.
In Mathematics teaching, it is very important to ensure that the learners relate Mathematics to their surroundings and appreciate its role in their life. This makes learning more enjoyable and effective.
The learners are exposed to an extremely rich integrated mathematics curriculum that is a pure amalgamation of Maths, History, Sciences, and sports wherein the learners grasp the concepts of through a variety of critical thinking and higher order application skills. Sciences is visualized as an integrated subject area which draws upon insights from Physical, Chemical, Biological Sciences and social sciences like history, geography, economics and Political Science.
Situations are created which help children to explore and connect with their natural and human made surroundings. The learners develop their own insights into the functioning of several things or understanding human processes in their environment. Conceptual knowledge, skills, a passion for scientific enquiry and thinking are developed through hands on experience projects like City As Lab (CAL), Plastic pakhwada, Installation of aerobins, Solar power installations, waste segregation, disaster management and so on.
Billabong High International School curriculum is very well integrated with the School clubs, assemblies and Inter House events. The content revolves around ‘Sustainable development as a step for nurturing future citizens’. The students explore, ponder and create content and projects based on themes like Health and well Being, Climate Action and so on.
Genius Hour is an integral part of the Billabong curriculum which helps in building up of collaborative, creative and communicative skills. The learners here are able to recognize their passion and take it as a project which helps in building up of research interest in students and propose solutions to problems. The primary goal is to equip children with the necessary skills and knowledge that are a requisite for facing the challenges posed by the 21st century. The aim is to create a purpose for learning, to encourage children to be thinkers, innovators and problem solvers, to orchestrate experiences that will result in a natural and integrated development of knowledge, skills and thinking.
Rather than imposing a set of ideas and beliefs, the curriculum offers a unique platform to the students to voice their constructed views and opinions. In the process, as they express themselves and talk, they also learn to listen and respect. The curriculum also helps them in understanding how they can change negative, irrational thoughts into positive, rational thoughts leading to meaningful outcomes applicable in real life situations.
Billabong High is deeply committed to an all-round education at the school level. The core curriculum is enhanced by an extensive extra co-curricular activities program that extends the education of our students beyond the confines of the classrooms. The program provides opportunities for recreation, relaxation and a release from the academic schedule, in a safe and comfortable environment. Individual talents and potential abilities of children are discovered, nurtured and sustained.