Students and a teacher at work in a science laboratory at Doon Global School

Goalkeepers

Home/Programmes/Goalkeepers
Growth, Not Marks

How We Get to Know a Child Before Admission

In short

Goalkeepers is the way Doon Global School gets to know a child before admission. A family receives two written notes: My First Step, built from what the child says on a first visit, and The Road Ahead, written after the entrance assessment. Both describe growth in three bands, Emerging, Growing and Strong, and neither prints a mark.

A mark says where a child stood on one morning. It does not say what the child is good at, what they are curious about, or what the school intends to do next. Goalkeepers exists to answer those three questions in writing, for the family, before a child joins.

It comes down to one idea, which the school puts this way: growth is measured in milestones, not marks. A parent should leave an admission process knowing more about their own child than when they arrived, whether or not that child ends up at Doon Global School.

Two Visits, Two Notes

What a Family Receives

My First Step

After the first visit. Your child fills in a short page about themselves, in their own words: what they enjoy, what they are proud of, who they look up to. From that page the school writes My First Step.

The note quotes your child's own sentences and names the interests that came through. It says nothing the answers did not say. The page your child fills in is not a test: there are no marks and no wrong answers.

The Road Ahead

After the entrance assessment. From Grade I upwards, a child sits a paper of about an hour in English, Mathematics and Science (Environmental Studies in the junior classes), with a short section on reasoning and cognitive skills.

The Road Ahead turns that paper into a plan. For each area it gives a growth band, the support the school will put in place, and the first milestones to look for in the months after joining.

Reading The Road Ahead

Three Bands, Four Areas

Each of Mathematics, Science, English and cognitive ability is described by one of three bands.

Emerging

The ground is still being laid. This is where the school gives the most support, and the note names what that support is.

Growing

The foundation is there and being built on. The note says what will be done to make it secure.

Strong

The child is secure in this area. The note sets a stretch, so that being ahead does not turn into standing still.

What the bands are, and what they are not

  • Never a mark. The Road Ahead prints no marks, percentages or ranks. A band describes where a child is; it does not put children in an order.
  • Never without a plan. Every Emerging or Growing band is paired with a named support at school. A band on its own tells a parent nothing they can act on.
  • Not a verdict. Where a band says Growing or Emerging, nothing is behind schedule. It shows where the school will walk closest with the child.
  • Not a diagnosis. These are an admissions team's observations from one paper and one visit. They are not a psychological or medical assessment and are not offered as one.
Before a Note Reaches You

Who Reads It, and Who It Is For

A counsellor reads every note

No note is shared as first drafted. An admissions counsellor reads it, corrects it where it does not match the child they met, and approves it.

Shared with your consent

The notes are written for a child's parents and are shared only once a parent has given consent on the enquiry form.

Read together

Both notes are addressed to the child's parents. The counsellor goes through them with you, so that every band comes with what it means and what happens next.

Ask to see a sample

The plainest way to judge Goalkeepers is to read one. On a campus visit, ask the admissions counsellor to show you a sample My First Step and a sample Road Ahead, and ask which classes they are prepared for this session. Call +91 74559 97333 or use the contact page to arrange a visit.

Common Questions

Goalkeepers FAQ

Goalkeepers is the way Doon Global School gets to know a child before admission. It produces two written notes for the family: My First Step, built from what the child says about themselves on a first visit, and The Road Ahead, written after the entrance assessment. Both describe growth in three bands, Emerging, Growing and Strong, and neither prints a mark.

No. The Road Ahead describes each of four areas, Mathematics, Science, English and cognitive ability, in one of three growth bands: Emerging, Growing or Strong. It prints no marks, percentages or ranks. The point is to show where a child is secure and where the school will give support, not to place children in an order.

From Grade I upwards, the entrance assessment is a paper of about an hour with questions in English, Mathematics and Science (Environmental Studies in the junior classes), and a short section on reasoning and cognitive skills. It is used to place a child in the right class and to plan support.

My First Step and The Road Ahead are written for the child's parents. A counsellor at Doon Global School reads and approves each note before it is shared, and it is shared only with a parent's consent, given on the enquiry form. The notes describe a child in growth bands; they do not rank one child against another.