Blog

12 Dec One-Book Woodstock – Maus

Posted at 08:25h in All, Centre for Imagination, Education Matters, Enrichment, Principal's Views 3 Comments

One-Book Woodstock is back for the winter break. The idea is that everyone – students from Grades 6 up, teachers and staff – will read the book over the Christmas period. When we return in the Spring, the book’s themes will feed into our studies across the curriculum. Essentially, we’re...

05 Dec Tribute to Thomas Chandy

Posted at 15:19h in All, Alumni, In Memoriam 0 Comments

Our Principal, Dr Craig Cook pays a tribute to Thomas Chandy, who served as the Woodstock School board president on two occasions and sadly passed away in November 2019. As a community of learners, Woodstock School benefitted greatly from the life and leadership of Thomas Chandy. Thomas made significant contributions to Woodstock...

25 Nov Becoming a Reusable Water Bottle Campus

Posted at 09:41h in All, Enrichment, Principal's Views 7 Comments

From January, Woodstock is becoming a reusable water bottle campus, where students and staff alike will not be using plastic bottled water at school or in dorms. Principal Dr Craig Cook explains why. Spinning the bottle For the industry, It’s the modern-day equivalent of the philosopher’s stone, sought by alchemists to turn...

18 Nov Navigating college applications

Posted at 09:37h in All, college counselling, Education Matters, Outdoor Learning, Principal's Views 3 Comments

All around the school, students are putting tremendous efforts into getting away from Woodstock. That is, our seniors are busy preparing their applications which will very shortly see them moving off to study at colleges and universities around the world. Moving from school to college is a crossroads moment in...

08 Nov Fair Share

Posted at 14:22h in Community Development, Education Matters, Enrichment, Student Views 5 Comments

In many schools in India which are attended by children from low income families, access to hands-on science and maths education has still not been achieved. The education system in these schools needs to be reformed in order to provide better tools and create a hands-on model for learning. As a...

03 Nov Social Enterprise in the Kumaon

Posted at 09:52h in Community Development, Education Matters, Enrichment, Student Views 0 Comments

This year for Activity Week, the community engagement department offered students a chance to go to Kumaon, the other half of Uttrakhand, in order to visit two leading non-governmental organisations in the area; Kumaun Grameen Udyog (KGU) and Central Himalayan Rural Action Group (CHIRAG). I was one of the students who was able to...

02 Nov Across the Ganga

Posted at 12:15h in Education Matters, Enrichment, Outdoor Learning, Student Views 1 Comment

This Activity Week, Grade 8 ventured out for a week-long rafting expedition down the upper reaches of the Ganga. Student Asha shares her experience of their adventure in this poem. volleyball and hikes, swimming in a clear blue sky first few days pass as we stay in carefree paradise sleeping with half-roofs over our head, playing empires...

Woodstock students jump into a river during activity week

21 Oct Into the Breach

Posted at 15:54h in All, Enrichment, Outdoor Learning, Principal's Views 0 Comments

Woodstock Principal Dr Craig Cook explains how exposing students to new cultures, landscapes and experiences during Activity Week provides an opportunity for them to thrive. Harold Garfinkel was a master of the socially awkward. A professor of sociology, he is known as the founder of ethnomethodology – the study of how...

07 Oct Three Types of Fun

Posted at 10:03h in All, Enrichment, Outdoor Learning, Principal's Views 0 Comments

Do you know that there is a fun scale? That is, at least when it comes to the spending time in the great outdoors. Enthusiasts will tell you that there are three types of fun. Type one fun, put simply, is fun – before, during and afterwards. It could be a...

30 Sep Saunter, Don’t Hike

Posted at 10:31h in All, Enrichment, Outdoor Learning, Principal's Views 1 Comment

Woodstock Principal, Dr Craig Cook, reflects on the joys of sauntering. In two weeks’ time, our students will be heading off for activity week. Undoubtably one of the highlights of the school year, it gives all our students the chance to swap the classroom for the great-outdoors and step outside their...

26 Sep Vishva Vidhya – Global Education

Posted at 13:44h in Community Development, Education Matters, Student Views 1 Comment

Archita Aggarwal from the Class of 2021 puts the spotlight on Vishwa Vidya, a community engagement project with a mission to contribute towards improving the quality of education delivered at economically deprived local schools in and around Mussoorie. In the four years since its establishment, the Vishva Vidhya (Global Education) project has...

23 Sep Listening, Learning and then Leading

Posted at 22:00h in All, Principal's Views 7 Comments

In our parents' newsletter, Principal Dr Cook explains why he believes great leadership starts with listening. One of many wisdoms attributed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama is: “When you talk, you only repeat what you know; But when you listen, you learn something new”. It’s hard to argue that there’s...

20 Sep Don’t Bottle it Up

Posted at 20:45h in All, Community Development, Education Matters, Student Views 1 Comment

While every logical, environmental, and financial argument goes against bottled water, people still buy it. Daeun Lee from the Class of 2020 asks why. As I observed how my Instagram feed was being painted with dying turtles and choking marine animals, I wondered if those images motivate people enough to make a...

20 Sep Meeting the Board

Posted at 19:02h in Community Development, Education Matters, Student Views 1 Comment

On Friday 15 September, Students leaders involved in Community Engagement projects presented their work to the Woodstock School Board and General Body, explaining how their initiatives have impacted on their lives and those of people in the local community. Janvi Poddar from the Class of 2021 reports. Once every year, the Community...

13 Sep Alumni Spotlight – Mhabeni Bona ’07

Posted at 18:48h in Alumni 1 Comment

What were your interests and passions as a student at WS? Woodstock was the place where many of the interests and passions I still have today really took shape. Curriculum wise, the literature and social science classes captured my imagination, and fed into my university studies and work. Extracurricular experiences like...