The foundation batch is the first batch of students that get enrolled in a newly established educational institution. For any educational institution, the foundation batch is always a special batch of students. The Foundation Batch forms the initiation phase to the child’s academic journey, thus its academic session is structured meticulously.
The Academic Session Time Frame
The academic session for the Foundation Batch includes pre-primary and Class 1 students, which typically starts in April and ends in March the following year, aligning with the conventional academic cycle in most Indian schools. The session is divided into two terms – the first from April to September and the second from October to March.
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The Curricular Framework
The focus during the Foundation Batch years is to establish strong foundational knowledge in languages, Mathematics, Environmental Studies, and the Arts. The academic content is imparted through innovative methodologies, including play, experiential and hands-on learning. The aim is to cultivate a natural curiosity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills among students.
Assessment and Evaluation
Evaluation in the Foundation Batch at EuroSchool is designed around Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE), which is a school-based assessment to provide holistic profiling of the student’s development.
The CCE not only evaluates a student’s understanding of academic content but also places equal emphasis on other areas like social skills, emotional well-being, creativity, and physical development.
The evaluation process consists of formative assessments conducted during the term and a summative assessment at each term’s end.
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Teacher-Pupil Interaction
To ensure personalised attention to every student, the school maintains an optimum teacher-student ratio. Teachers are encouraged to understand each student’s unique learning style and provide multiple teaching-learning methods to cater to the learning variability in the classroom.
Co-curricular Activities
The school takes a proactive approach towards co-curricular activities, believing them to be integral to all student’s holistic development. The Foundation Batch students can participate in activities such as music, dance, art, sports, hobby clubs, and more.
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Parent-Teacher Interaction
Regular parent-teacher meetings provide parents with insights into their child’s academic progression, behaviour, and social interactions. Parents also get an opportunity to voice their concerns or suggestions.
Alumni interactions
In many ways, the foundation batch is as close as it could be to a founding member or a co-founder of a startup or a newly formed organisation. As a result, students who are part of the foundation batch also hold special emotions and attachment to their alma mater.
Legacy institutions that are decades or older frequently invite students from their foundation batch to commemorate various momentous occasions for the institution. While all school alumni have a special place in an educational institution’s lifetime, the foundation batch holds are even more so special.
Setting the pace for the foundation batch
Founders of educational institutions take great care in the design of the campus, equipping the campus and classrooms with the latest education technologies, hiring the best teaching and support staff, designing the best-in-class curriculum, pedagogical methods, etc.
After extremely careful design, the first implementation is always done for the foundation batch. This batch of students are the first users of the educational services and infrastructure put in place by the newly established educational institution. They are also the batch that makes significant contributions to the fine-tuning of the service design and standards through their valuable participation and feedback mechanism.
The first academic session for the foundation batch is like the first flight of the aeroplane built by the Wright brothers. No amount of testing can replicate the real execution of an academic session. The academic session for the foundation batch is like the actual match, the true test of your design. This is where the infrastructural capabilities, technological efficiencies, soundness of the curriculum planning, and pedagogical and evaluation methods, are put to a real test.
The first academic session for the foundation batch is in many ways the bringing to life the ideas and thought processes of the founding team of the educational institution. They are bound to face certain chinks in the armour as the design which was hitherto on paper finally sees the light of the day it is tested out via real-time implementation. Real-time and frequent feedback mechanisms built through a co-creative and partnership approach are key to ensuring immediate capture of service failures and prompt implementation of corrective measures and course corrections.
Any founding batch is bound to have certain doubts and apprehensions being the ‘firsts’ to go through a newly established system. It becomes important for the management of the newly founded institution to dispel these doubts and anxieties. A robust plan, knowledgeable staff, and a co-creative approach can help dispel any doubts and anxieties within the foundation batch.
The composition and performance of the foundation batch also set the pace for the subsequent batches for the educational institution. The foundation batch acts as the first authentic source of word of mouth for potential students of the newly established educational institutions. The testimonials and the degree of advocacy from the founding batch can be mission-critical for the future success and market positioning of the educational institution. While the foundation batch largely comprises students who took a calculated risk by joining a new institution, subsequent batches will always look for members of the foundation batch for referrals and feedback on the functioning and pedagogical quality of the institution.
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As time goes by and batch after batch graduates from the educational institution, a legacy begins to develop. The achievement of the school and its alumni adds to the building of the institute’s reputation and brand. This reputation and brand awareness create a brand pull for subsequent batches and potential students. In all of this growth and progress, the foundation batch always holds a special place in the evolution of an educational institution. Most legacy institutions actively celebrate their foundation day and invite and honour students from their foundation batch. Keeping the alumni from the foundation batch is always suggested as they are one of the best benefactors for the institution as they were party to the time when the institution took its first baby steps in the real world.
