Nisarga Batika Junior Elementary School (Grades 1 – 4)
EXPLORE, DISCOVER, UNDERSTAND
At Nisarga Batika School, the Junior Elementary School students are encouraged to continue their exploration to individualized growth and goals. With optimized teachers to class size, the junior elementary school provides an environment to identify individual needs and make individual assessment. It is a foundation stage for every student as they move through junior elementary, senior elementary, high school, and eventually, on to college. Here the foundation for the child is set, lifelong friendships are made, and the child explores academics, culture, languages, sports, music, arts, environment and much more.
We understand that each student is different, no two students learn in the same way or at the same pace. Our junior elementary is about more than academic success – we aim to provide an integrated development with individualized education in a holistic approach, that nurtures creativity, supports curiosity and fosters leadership and teamwork. Junior elementary at Nisarga Batika provides a collaborative environment, self-learning and self-assessment opportunities for children in secure and comfortable classrooms.
Core Subject Areas
Two grade teachers for each classroom lead the integration of Social Studies and culture with other academic subjects. Through project-based learning and paced integration of technology, students are trained as today’s learners. The classrooms provide a collaborative learning environment and are highly interactive across every core subject area including but not limited to:
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social Studies
- English
- Foreign language (Mandarin Chinese)
- Technology
Thematic Approach
The junior elementary students also benefit from a unified teaching model to explore many subject areas using the thematic approach. Activities such as music, art, performing arts, projects, and field trips are integrated with core academic subject areas. They explore, discover and understand. Students understand how subjects, skills and the world are connected and learn how things are related to family, community, and the world around them. In each grade, subjects revolve around a theme that focuses on analytical thinking, problem-solving and decision making. We believe this supports and helps young minds to sense, experience and understand the world.
Areas of Focus
In order to find space in the ever-changing world, we believe students must possess certain characteristics. Every activity is centred on developing students who possess these skills and abilities.
- Enquiry skills: Children learn to ask relevant questions, investigate and find solutions.
- Reasoning skills: Children are encouraged to give reasons for their opinions, use correct language to explain what they think and make judgements and decisions by reason and evidence.
- Creative thinking skills: Gradually, students will learn to generate and play with ideas, apply imagination to their thinking, and look for alternative explanations and ideas.
- Evaluation skills: An important part of the process of learning at this stage is for children to apply their judgement, evaluate ideas and practice being self-critical and self-connecting.
We believe that students have different learning styles and learn at a different pace. Students of junior elementary school do not have any formal tests/exams however, to cater to all kinds of learners, we implement continuous assessment system for which assessment is carried out in various forms and stages of learning.
Program Highlights
- Small class size: With a student-teacher ratio of 15:1 throughout junior elementary school, we aim to cater to individual learning and unique abilities.
- Thematic approach: The integration of various subjects through a common theme allows students to understand the relationship between different subjects. Students interpret their learning through group or individual projects.
- Beyond academics: To support and reinforce core curriculum, junior elementary students have the opportunity to participate in sports, music, dance, art and other activities which stimulate growth while they discover their talent and above all enjoy their educational experience.
- Technology integration: Using computers, the students develop technological literacy while discovering new tools for exploring and problem-solving.
Nisarga Batika Senior Elementary School (Grades 5 -8)
UNDERSTAND, BE AWARE, REASON, CREATE
Our senior elementary or middle school is all about working towards being a responsible citizen, preparing them for the challenges of high school and finding their place in society. At Nisarga Batika School, the senior elementary focuses on making each child aware of and understand the wider world – and their place in it. They start to take an active role in their community and work with others to make their community better, sustainable and fairer.
The students of Grades 5 and 6 continue their junior elementary structure wherein two grade teachers work with the students in each class. In Grades 7 and 8, they move slowly into subject teaching, following the national curriculum by enriching it with cocurricular and beyond the curriculum activities. As grade 8 students have to appear for the board examination, their curriculum becomes more challenging and rigorous.
The senior elementary students learn to balance increasingly challenging coursework with lots of choice of extracurricular activities in the arts and sports fields. It is a time of rapid growth. At Nisarga Batika School, we make the most of this critical period, helping each student to take ownership of his or her education, choices and preferences.
As students discover their unique talents, they are nurtured into lifelong passions. This is the time when the students start entering into school sports teams, and arts and music groups. They are given the required support in areas of arts, music and drama, sports, STEAM, and other areas of their interest. The academic team and the non-teaching faculty both work in coherence to understand students’ interests, and to serve as guides, coaches and mentors to the students as they set goals for the future –supporting them in deeper exploration, making them more aware and understanding.
Program Highlights
- Exploring neighbouring countries: while Grade 5 and 6 students are being prepared to be more aware in understanding their community and country, Grade 7 and 8 students are preparing to become global citizens by visiting neighbouring countries, to understand their culture, economy, and cultural linkages between the two countries and their cross-cultural similarities and linkages. This cycle ends with students presenting their learning through different media such as photography, vlog, performances etc.
- Technology Integration: students in grades 7-8 are given a choice to bring their computers/laptops or use the computer labs and library network to utilize in every area of study. Each of the classrooms is also equipped with audio-visual equipment and ICT access and connectivity. Proper measures are in place and monitored to ensure digital safety at the school.
- Nisarga Enrichment Program: Each senior elementary school student chooses an elective from the options offered to them. Opportunities include performing arts classes like singing, dance, drama and instrumental music, as well as fine arts. Other electives include classes such as languages, sports and STEAM. It is our goal to produce well-rounded students who have been exposed to many art forms and special subjects, and have unique opportunities to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom and beyond.
- Active Engagement for Understanding: Group activities and individual tasks provide students with the opportunity to learn from peers, share knowledge with others, take and give constructive criticisms and reflect. Grade Five and Grade Six have outbound learning opportunities outside Kathmandu Valley; and Grade Seven and Grade Eight outside the country. Such trips allow students to be involved in intensive learning in which Information is collected, analysed, compiled and presented.
- Themes: Each theme is connected to the national curriculum and they help in bringing in all the subjects together. This provides a platform for integrating subjects of study as far as possible and therefore, students get deeper insight of the topics learnt.
- Awareness and Empathy: Grade 7 and Grade 8 students work with people outside the school community. Students plan and design activities to share with the partner schools. Here students from Nisarga Batika School not only share their understanding, but they come back equipped with other skills neither books nor classrooms can provide.
- Sports Teams: Students from grade 7 onwards can be members of school sports teams. Juggling from their sport of interest to academics teaches them life skills such as time management, healthy eating and sleeping habits, and proper use of gadgets.