The theme for middle and high school years is “Effort and Excellence with Autonomy and Responsibility”. It is the aim of the school to make ‘Complete Learners’ of the children – the ability to listen, understand, appreciate, recall and apply.

The Middle and High School Teacher 

The main aspect of the middle and high school teacher’s work, in addition to teaching subject matter, is contributing to the character development of the children in their fold. This is achieved through frequent open and honest conversations with the students. This in turn wins the trust and confidence of the child. The teacher challenges the children with new experiences through a variety of teaching methods. 

As the child moves into Middle and High, they are expected to do a significant amount of independent research and self-evaluation. In order to facilitate this, the Class Teacher functions as a Mentor, enabling them to reach their potential through guidance, motivation and care. Sciences and Humanities are brought to them by teacher who are proficient in their area of expertise.

Looking into the World

I  look into the world

Wherein there shines the sun

Where glimmer all the stars

Where lie the silent stones

The plants that live and grow, the beasts that feel and move

Where man in soul creates a dwelling  for the spirit

I look inwards into the soul that lives within my being

The spirit of god is weaving in sunlight and in soul life 

The heights of world without

The depths of soul within

The spirit of god to thee

I turn myself in seeking 

That strength and grace and skill

For learning and for work

May live and grow in me

- Rudolf Steiner

The Middle and High Years have been carefully planned in such a manner that it balances both the academic requirements along with activities that will help in building their individuality and provide many opportunities for new experiences and explorations. The curriculum is designed to challenge the student’s cognitive and creative skills, promoting interest in the outer world and nurturing their inner life simultaneously.

The Curriculum and Methodology

In the Middle and High School Program learning becomes more intense and subject based, yet the life and soul of what Yellow Train stands for is maintained. Artistic value and creativity, provoking thought and encouraging self-learning, independence and enduring practical skills are essentials of the Middle and High School Program. Our program is intensive and creative; aiming at excellence. 

The School is affiliated to Edexcel, UK and Cambridge (CIE) , offering IGCSE and International A Levels. Our international curriculum in the High School and Waldorf Methodology in the Middle School integrates the best of both worlds offering a holistic, academically strong, socially and economically rounded education for the child.

The Middle School Curriculum

The Middle School curriculum revolves around this underlying pedagogy: to provide students with a direct experience of the phenomena studied, discover for themselves the natural laws underlying their observations and write accurate descriptions of what they observe.

The academics become more detailed and elaborate - English, Math and Science; which is broken down into Physics, Chemistry and Biology. These are also the key subjects at the end of the Lower Secondary years. The children are out of their primary years of wonder and are ready for study of ‘cause and effect’ .

The students experience History and Geography as subjects and German as a foreign language alongside Tamil. In Grade 6, they are introduced to Geology and Mineralogy  and Astronomy in Grade 7, both subjects strongholds of the Waldorf curriculum.

The Students meet the Achievement Test as a checkpoint before entering their High School years.

The High School Curriculum

Out of the night that covers me,

      Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

      For my unconquerable soul.

It matters not how strait the gate,

      How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

      I am the captain of my soul.

The study of subjects is vast in the High School both in terms of breadth and depth. The students study English and Literature, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Business, Art and Design and Foreign Languages. The subjects themselves require a high degree of mastery and asks of the student an ability for higher order thinking skills such as analysis, evaluation, synthesis and critical thinking.

The IGCSE is a 2 year program (covering year 9-10). The robust High School Curriculum helps them connect with the outside world through the essential Academic IGCSE Program. It further focuses on building responsibility and self-governance in the students. 

Read what our founder, Santhya Vikram had to share about our 2019-2020 IGCSE Results:

Dearest Parents,

There is one question that has accompanied us all these years. It is asked by parents of Yellow train, by potential parents and by anyone who hears of our story of unhurried childhood.

This question comes in varied forms and derivatives.

What happens to these children when they go into High School?

Will they be able to write Board Examinations? Will they score well?

What happens to them when they leave school? Will they be prepared for this world?

Our response would always reflect our absolute, unquestionable and unshakable faith in our system. But we did not have any statistics to share.

All of you would know that our oldest children appeared for their High School Examination - The IGCSE From Pearson UK. While most of the world is struggling with the question of cancellation of examinations - we were truly fortunate and blessed that our children wrote their Examinations in early January. Just a few days before we had to close school their much awaited results arrived. And I take this moment to share with you the truly extra ordinary results we have received for the first batch of passing out High Schoolers.

In order to interpret the results, a few pointers-

IGCSE is a highly challenging international examination and 13 of our children sat for the Exams. For each paper there are varying degrees of complexity and our children appeared for the highest of options.

- The highest band consists of 7, 8 and 9: It is equivalent to an A or an A*, which is a remarkable standard on a global scale

- Grades 5 and 6 are considered equal to Grade B

- Grade 4 is considered as Pass and is equal to Grade C

- Grade 3 and below are considered as Fail

The highlights of the results of our first batch:

Math: The entire class has scored the highest band in Math (between 7 and 9), with  five among the 13, scoring 9 - An outstanding achievement.

English Language A: Out of 10, 8 children have scored between 8 and 9.

This is truly remarkable performance on a global scale. 8 of our children  are placed in the top 18.6% worldwide.

Sciences: We have 9 children in the highest band in Biology and 6 children in the Highest Band in Chemistry and Physics.

This one can say is a star studded result.

This comes to prove that our children can meet the Examination and can meet it in such a beautiful way both in terms of the process and the outcomes. True to our spirit of non competitive education we have decided not to publish names and celebrate outstanding achievements in a way that is not aligned with our thinking. We have shared with each student how we feel about their achievements. 

To meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same.

I think the world that we are sending our children into, needs equanimity. This is a small milestone in the context of life and they need to see it in that perspective. For us at the school, it is only a validation that when there is effort there is excellence. And this result is a testimony to that. And that is a lesson they are taking into life. To give their best effort in anything that matters to them.

We felt that it is important to share this happiness with all of you. And I admire each of one you to have taken the road less travelled and I am sure stories such as this warm your heart and reassure you that what you have gifted your child as education will serve the child and the world in a meaningful way. And therefore we felt we owed you this story.

I wish to thank the High School Team that made this possible for the children. And most of all, the parents of our first batch who were with us at every single step with absolute trust and conviction. To them, we owe much gratitude.

 Santhya Vikram

Founder

The program in the Middle and High years addresses all aspects of learning and growth, and in doing so provides the foundations for students to successfully mature into lifelong learners. As such, our approach includes carefully designed learning experiences that extend well beyond the purely academic sphere; to development in our students a profound sense of self, healthy interpersonal relationships, a deep sense of global citizenship, and the skills to survive and thrive in today’s world.

Performing Arts

Dance - Dance is the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, to the given music, in a given space. Dance is an integral part of the curriculum at school. We dance during the morning circle, we dance to celebrate and we dance to perform. Children are taught different dance forms from around the world, circle dances from different cultures and local traditional dances. 

Physical Education

In Middle school, with the onset of puberty, the children spend 3-4 hours a week in the physical education lessons. Having spent many years learning to collaborate, cooperate and develop their pre-game skills, the children are now ready to meet competitive sports. They are introduced to various structured sports like Hockey, Basketball, Volleyball, Football, Cricket and Throwball. They participate in track and field events. They represent the school in various inter school competitions and are now ready to face the world with grace, respect and in the true spirit of Sportsmanship. They also engage in Bothmer Gymnastics and games as a part of their physical education program.

Bothmer Gymnastics

‘Enjoy your work with the children’  were the indications and words of encouragement given to Fritz Graf Von Bothmer by Rudolf Steiner as Bothmer embarked on his new career teaching the physical education lessons to students in the first Waldorf School in Stuttgart, Germany. When we move we are in constant play with the forces and meaning of the space around us. From this study of space and movement comes a collection of simple core exercises called Bothmer Gymnastics, which, when practiced regularly, bring about a change of inner and outer posture and movement.

Bothmer Gymnastics is introduced to children Grade 4 and upwards. The children are initially introduced to a lot of collaborative games, which is an extension of their sports lessons. They are then slowly introduced to various movements based on the indications from Bothmer Curriculum and the requirements of each child. When children enter Middle and High School, a lot of importance is given to the form and the gestures in the movement.

After School Sports and Music
The school offers opportunities for students to build their skills after school and beyond the curriculum as well. Sports and Music are offered to the children who have extra interest and wish to hone their skills. Basketball, Volleyball, Football, Cricket and Athletics are offered as options. Guitar, keyboard and Western music are offered under the Music category. The students are also trained to appear for Trinity examinations in Music and sent to various interschool meets in Sports.

To know more about The Student Initiatives and Opportunities, click here