Latest news with #StMary'sSchool
Otago Daily Times
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Chill no deterrent to school buskers
Schools in Gore, including St Mary's School (pictured), gathered up their very best songbirds and hit the streets, singing and performing for the hundreds of people who came out to support them or just found themselves in the middle of a bit of musical wonder last Thursday. PHOTO: GERRIT DOPPENBERG Thursday's weather at the "Freeze Ya Bits Off" busking competition in Gore helped the annual event live up to its name, with chilly temperatures making it a real test for the buskers. But that did not prevent the event attracting a big turnout of people to watch the local schools perform. The buskers' festival is a four-day extravaganza, as musicians spill on to the streets of Gore for honour, glory, and, of course, coins. On Thursday, the event began with local high school and primary school choirs leading the way with their performances and choreography. Gore District Council events co-ordinator Florine Potts called it a fantastic start. "It went really, really well. We had such a great turnout today with both students and supporters." She said over 500 people came out to watch the various schoolchildren sing along to hit classics. "Quite a few people who were walking stopped and listened, too. It was really great." Last year, the schools portion of the buskers' event was canned due to a teachers only day, but this year everything was in harmony, including the weather, even if it was a bit cool. Waikaka School took the big win, $500, a trophy for its efforts and a spot to perform in the final busking auditions on Sunday. Mataura Primary won $250 for second place. Ms Potts said it was a tough competition, the schools having brought their very best to the streets of Gore. Other busking winners Winners in other categories were: Upcoming artist 21 and over: Joven Palomares. Runner-up: Cameron Dixon Upcoming artist 15-20: The Connor Boys. Runner-up: Sometimes Never Upcoming artist under 14: Liam Keating. Runner-up: Lexia Virtuoso unplugged: Rufous Whistler. Runner-up: Jon Collins Virtuoso plugged: Father & Son. Runner-up: James Stent
Otago Daily Times
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Chill no deterrent to busking songbirds from schools
Schools in Gore gathered up their very best songbirds and hit the streets, singing and performing for the hundreds of people who came out to support them or just found themselves in the middle of a bit of musical wonder yesterday. Pictured: Singers from St Mary's School. PHOTO: GERRIT DOPPENBERG Yesterday's weather at the "Freeze Ya Bits Off" busking competition in Gore helped the annual event live up to its name, with chilly temperatures making it a real test for the buskers. But that did not prevent the event attracting a big turnout of people to watch the local schools perform. The buskers' festival is a four-day extravaganza, with musicians piling on to the streets of Gore for honour, glory, and, of course, coins. Yesterday, the event began with local high school and primary school choirs leading the way with their performances and choreography. Gore District Council events co-ordinator Florine Potts called it a fantastic start. "It went really, really well. We had such a great turnout today with both students and supporters." She said over 500 people came out to watch the various schoolchildren sing along to hit classics. "Quite a few people who were walking stopped and listened, too. It was really great." Last year, the schools portion of the buskers' event was canned due to a teachers only day, but this year everything was in harmony, including the weather, even if it was a bit cool. Waikaka School took the big win, $500, a trophy for its efforts and a spot to perform in the final busking auditions on Sunday. Mataura Primary won $250 for second place. Ms Potts said it was a tough competition, the schools having brought their very best to the streets of Gore. "It all sounded really good. I loved how much effort the schools put into learning dances. "I saw a lot of country hats — they absolutely brought out their best," she said. Next for the busking competition are the audition rounds, for top local and national street musicians, who flock on to the streets to perform. The event wraps up on Sunday with the finale, where the top performers compete for cash prizes while being judged by professionals and the public. Performances are judged on musical talent, stage presence and audience engagement.
Indian Express
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
After KCET row, NEET candidates asked to remove ‘janivara' in Karnataka
Days after students appearing for the Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) were controversially asked to remove janivara (sacred thread), a similar row has erupted in connection with Sunday's National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). A few candidates taking NEET in the afternoon session were allegedly asked to remove their janivara before entering the exam hall at St Mary's School in Kalaburagi. Soon after the matter came to light, members from various communities, including Brahmin subsects Smarta and Vaishnava, as well as Lingayat and Dalit groups, protested demanding the suspension of the official responsible, stating that janivara, a symbol of spiritual commitment, posed no threat to exam integrity. Sudhir Patil told reporters that his son Sripad Patil returned from the exam centre visibly upset, saying officials had insisted he remove the sacred thread before being allowed into the hall. Acting on his father's advice, Sripad removed the janivara and proceeded to take the exam. Sripad, a resident of Bet Balkunda village in Bidar district's Basavakalyan taluk, had travelled to Kalaburagi for the exam. Speaking to reporters, Sripad expressed frustration, revealing that he had been so anxious after the incident that he mistakenly wrote the wrong registration number on his answer sheet. He also called for a re-examination. Officials clarified that two outsourced staff members, Ganesh and Sharanagouda from the Revanasidda agency, had been tasked with frisking candidates and instructed not to permit any metal objects or threads. They said the staff members did not explicitly ask Sripad to remove his janivara, suggesting the boy may have misunderstood. The Sanatana Yuva Shakti Trust, Akhila Bharat Madhwa Maha Parishat, and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad backed the protest. Kalaburagi South MLA Allamaprabhu Patil visited the protesters and urged the deputy commissioner and police commissioner over the phone to investigate and hold the officials accountable. The district administration has ordered an inquiry, including a review of CCTV footage. As approximately 1.4 lakh students took NEET UG 2025 at 381 centres in Karnataka, logistical challenges also led to controversies, with several candidates noting that approximately 8-10 of the three-hour exam were lost to administrative tasks like thumb impressions, signatures, and Aadhaar verification. A candidate who appeared for the exam at DRDO Complex in Bengaluru 's CV Raman Nagar said, 'The 180-minute duration for 180 questions was already tight with a lengthy paper, but we lost 15-20 minutes to administrative tasks. Signatures and thumb impressions took 2-3 minutes, followed by Aadhaar verification and videorecording of the centre ate up seven-eight minutes—equivalent to seven-eight questions. This led to distraction and interrupted my examination. All this, supposed to be done by 2 pm, started only during the examination.' Another candidate, who took the exam at Kendriya Vidyalaya at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said, 'All the miscellaneous formalities like signatures, writing father's and mother's name among others started after the examination, leading to a time crunch. I almost got an answer wrong because of this distraction.' The two candidates wished to be anonymous. The government to had to issue guidelines for officials to respect cultural practices after a similar controversy erupted in Bidar and Shivamogga during the KCET on April 16. Later the Railway Recruitment Board sought to ban sacred threads and mangalsutras from exam halls but withdrew the decision after it drew flak.
Indian Express
30-04-2025
- General
- Indian Express
ISC, ICSE Result 2025: Western Region records pass rate of 99.83% for ICSE 99.71% for ISC
The results for class 10 Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ISCE) and class 12 Indian School Certificate (ISC) were declared on Wednesday. Overall, the Western Region recorded a pass rate of 99.83% for ICSE and 99.71% for ISC with many schools in Pune recording 100% pass rate. Avisha John scored 99.4% in her ICSE exam and bagged first place at Pune 's St Mary's School. She told The Indian Express, 'I'm obviously very happy. I expected a good result but I didn't think I would be the topper. It was a really good surprise, I'm really thankful to my teachers and parents. I got a lot of calls in the morning, couldn't put my phone down.' Talking about her study routine, John said, 'Our teachers are very thorough, and I did self-study and practice everyday. I would study from 4:30 PM to 9 PM everyday, and sometimes more.' Principal Caroline Ross of the St Mary's School said, 'We are very happy with our students' performances. We give full credit, of course, to the teachers who helped students in their studies.' The school recorded a 100% pass rate in both ICSE and ISC. Disha Lunkar topped the ISC exam at St. Mary's School with a 98.75% score. Yafiah Shaikh, first ranker at Pearl Drop School with 96.2%, spoke to The Indian Express about her journey and said, 'It is a very exciting moment and I'm really happy right now. But I will say that the achievement is more about the learning rather than about topping the exam. I learnt a lot of lessons along the way. I was involved in a lot of co-curricular activities and balancing that with my studies.' For her preparations, Shaikh said she did not have any timetables or deadlines for herself. 'Whenever I was studying something, the only motivation was 'Why am I not understanding this or why am I getting it wrong?' The fact that I didn't know something and wanted to learn it was enough motivation for me', she said. Other results Viren Luniya topped Bishop's School Camp ICSE with 98%, Meera Selvadoray stood first at the school's Kalyani Nagar Branch with 98.80%, while Bhavisha Agarwal bagged first place at the Undri branch with 98.40%. For the ISC exam, Pavitra Kumar, Ojas Deshpande, Viditee Bhandari and Aditya Chaure bagged first position at Bishop's School, Camp with a score of 98.50% while Soumili Das stood second at 98%. Kline Memorial School recorded a 100% pass rate and saw three students bagging first place by getting 96.2%, namely Sharanya Chavan, Rucha Dere, Shantanu Walhekar. Shrusti Shinde and Gargi Petkar stood second with 95.8%. Kaveri International School, Lohegaon also recorded a 100% pass rate with Aryan Malusare topping at 95%. At Vidya Pratishthan's Magarpatta City Public School Manasvi Deshpande topped the school with an impressive 98.8 percent. Aditya Gupta, Sahil Gupta, Yash Jagdale, and Sharvi Shimpi jointly secured second position, each scoring 98.6 percent. Bhargav Kavitke stood third with 98.4 percent. At Wisdom World School, Wakad, Viraj Desai aced the exam scoring 99.2% while Bhavya Singh scored 99% and stood second. The Hadapsar branch of the same school secured a 100% pass rate with Aditi Amol Pawar and Samyojoy Das topping the results at 98.6%. They were followed closely by Trisha Patani with 98.1%.
Hindustan Times
30-04-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Pune students shine in CISCE results
Several students from Pune city have shone in the classes 10 and 12 results declared by Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) on Wednesday. As per data shared by the CISCE Board, 99.09% students have passed the class 10 ICSE exam whereas 99.02% students have passed the class 12 ISC exam. Both the ICSE and ISC 2025 results have been published on CISCE's official website; candidates need their login credentials to download their marksheets. At St Mary's School, Disha Lunkad has topped the class 12 ISC exam from the science stream with 98.75%; Ali Latif has topped the class 12 ISC exam from the commerce stream with 98%; and Aarefah Kakajiwala has topped the class 12 ISC exam from humanities with 95.25%. Avisha Shiju John from the same school has topped the class 10 ICSE exam (girls' section) with 99.4% whereas Vihaan Mittal has topped the class 10 ICSE exam (boys' section) with 98.2%. Caroline Diane Ross, principal, St Mary's School, Pune, said, 'Our students have demonstrated exceptional academic excellence. We are very proud of them. This outstanding performance is the fruit of the labour put in by our students and teachers, and the enduring values of St Mary's School.' Students of Vidya Pratishthan's Magarpatta City Public School have achieved excellent results in the class 10 ICSE exam. The school has maintained its tradition of a 100% pass rate. Principal Chandrika Banerjee congratulated the students and teachers for this achievement. Manasvi Deshpande has topped the school with an impressive 98.8%; followed by Aditya Gupta, Sahil Gupta, Yash Jagdale, and Sharvi Shimpi each securing second position with 98.6%; and Bhargav Kavitke standing third with 98.4%. The school reported that a remarkable 33 out of its 110 students scored above 95% whereas 40 students scored 89 to 94%. The class 10 ICSE exam was taken by 252,557 students whereas 99,551 students took the class 12 ISC exam. In the class 10 ICSE exam, the pass percentage for girls stands at 99.37% whereas that for boys stands at 98.84%. In the class 12 ISC exam, the pass percentage for girls stands at 99.45% whereas that for boys stands at 98.64%. This year, girls have outperformed boys in both the exams. As per the information shared by the CISCE Board, students were required to score a minimum of 33% in each subject to pass the ICSE exam. Similarly, students were required to score a minimum of 40% in each subject to pass the ISC exam. Students who were unable to meet these criteria in one or two subjects will be eligible to appear for the improvement exams in July.
