ISBF Newsletter

Ms. Jayu Ganesh
Head of School, CPS Global School, Chennai
 

Ms. Jayu  Ganesh brings to the table a legacy of global best practices as the Head for CPS Global Schools, Chennai, India. A life-long learner, she has over three decades of experience in the profession of teaching and worked as a collaborative administrator within a learning community in various capacities and roles. Prior to joining CPS Global, Ms. Ganesh was the Dean of Academics, IGCSE Coordinator and Examination Officer for CAIE in Symbiosis International School, Pune, India. Apart from being formally qualified to be a teacher (B.Ed.), Ms. Ganesh  is a post graduate in Nuclear Physics and as a Physics Facilitator, she has successfully prepared students from Grades 9 through 12 for their IGCSE and IBDP curriculum, guided many students for their Extended Essay, one of which has been presented at Nagarjuna University at Hyderabad in 2010. 
Ms. Ganesh  is an IB examiner and IGCSE Exam officer for many years. She is equally versed with CAIE and the IB program. As an accomplished IGCSE exam officer, the Vice Chancellor, University of Cambridge Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, and the Chief Executive Officer, Michael O 'Sullivan honoured her with a “Letter of Achievement” for churning out the World and Country toppers securing outstanding results in the IGCSE Examinations year after year. Ms. Ganesh has travelled widely across the globe attending Cambridge/IB Conferences and workshops at U.K., Singapore, Colombo, Athens and Savannah (USA). Recognized as one of the field’s most empathetic administrators and motivated teachers, Ms. Ganesh has the propensity to dream and determine with her facilitators and students towards building robust academic environments based on fundamental human values. She has been known to go beyond the call of duty as a professional to help students, their parents and the staff in their time of need and this remains her most enduring character as an educator. Having spent most of her life in the education sector, she is particularly interested in practices that unchain and set free the latent talent of every single child in her institution. Unlike many others, her mission is to groom and impart skills that can help to self-sustain oneself ethically and commit to societal welfare. In her own words “Every one cannot be a leader but everyone can be a good citizen in any part of the world.”

Ms. Upasana Kinra
Behavioural and Career Guidance Counsellor, DPS International, Delhi

Upasana Kinra is presently working as a Behavioural and Career Guidance Counsellor at DPS International, Delhi. She works with high school students on their applications to various destinations like U.S., Canada, Hongkong, U.K., Singapore, Australia, Europe and India. She guides the students and parents through their entire journey from writing applications to summer schools to building profiles, creating winning resumes, writing college essays, recommendation letters, scholarships and financial aid. Her students have secured admission in top universities like Cornell, Cambridge, UC Berkley, London School of Economics, University of British Columbia, University of Toronto, University of Warwick, University of Bath, Sciences Po, Columbia University, Hongkong University, University College London, Carl Benz School, Germany etc. 
She is also a teacher trainer for Core Skills, with The British Council. She has been validated as a Core Skills Trainer by The British Council, U.K. and conducts trainings for teachers pan India on Embedding Core Skills in curriculum, teacher as a researcher and Inclusive pedagogies. She has also successfully served as an officiating Principal for a year in her previous school and gained experience in leadership and administration.
Upasana has a rich Counselling experience in areas of career, life transitions, school issues, self-esteem, stress management, depression, grief/loss, cognitive/communication skills, relationship issues and parenting styles. She has also served in a teaching capacity, taking Psychology classes including career exploration, relationships, stress management and assertive communication. She specializes in the use of cognitive strategies and motivational interviewing to help people to assess readiness for personal, familial, and career change and to assist in the process of taking steps towards meeting goals in these areas.
She has worked extensively in the area of teacher training and curriculum development apart from many other good practices and innovative programs for issues like ‘Child safety’, ‘Bullying’, and ‘Gender discrimination’, ‘Teaching effectiveness’, ‘Classroom management’ and ‘Parenting styles’. She employs a collaborative and a supportive approach to assist clients pursuing their full personal and academic potential, including solution-focused, holistic, and cognitive-behavioural strategies.
She was awarded a grant by The British Council, U.K. to travel and stay there for one week and study their school systems, based on her collaborative project which she designed on sustainable developmental goals, for the elementary school students. She regularly writes articles for magazines on Careers and Mental health. She has worked extensively with underprivileged children at evening schools where she conducts various workshops for the children from the slums. 
She is a diligent self-starter, a learner at heart, a seeker who enjoys challenges. She firmly believes that in the midst of all our accomplishments we should try and give back to the society, in whatever way possible.