Weekly Update #5, 20 September 2024

Announcements

HeadStart University Fair

The University Fair is taking place on Monday 23rd September at our Chaofah City campus! We invite parents of students from Year 9 to Year 13 to attend. From 5:30pm to 8:00pm, you will have a chance to meet representatives from top universities from around the world, offering you a unique chance to connect, explore diverse programmes, and find your perfect fit. With universities representing the USA and Canada, the UK, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, we have all your bases covered.

To register your attendance at this event, please complete the following GoogleForm: https://forms.gle/ByuQyiNxDP8uLqhq5

We look forward to seeing you there!

Foundation Stay & Play

Our Stay & Play sessions hold significant importance within the Foundation Department. These sessions promote parental involvement, allowing parents to actively engage with their child’s development, foster social skills, understand play based learning and build trust with the school community. Stay & Play also supports the gradual independence of children, helps develop important early learning skills, and boosts confidence, ensuring a positive start to their educational journey.

👉 We invite our Foundation parents to join us next week for our first Stay & Play sessions of the year. These sessions are for parents to spend time with their children in their classrooms all planned around the theme ‘All about me!’ Each session will start at 8.30am and be held in your child’s classroom and the Indoor Learning Centre. Miss Danielle Hughes – Deputy Head of Foundation

Change of Date – Saturday Thai Culture Club

Due to the continuing adverse weather conditions, the date of our first Saturday Thai Culture Club of the school year has been changed.

Let’s kick off our first term with some fun cultural activities. Inviting all students and parents from Early Years to Year 6 to join our unique program where we learn more about Thai Culture on Saturday 16th November from 9.00am to 12.00pm at our Chaofah City campus.

If you are interested in participating in this program, please feel free to contact your child’s Thai teacher at school.

Calling All Vendors!

If you are interested in sharing your unique products with our school community, why not book a stall at our next Friday Market? With a whole range of vendors selling healthy, locally-sourced or homemade food and handcrafted products, this promises to be another wonderful community event taking place on Friday 4th October 2024. Contact Khun Boss, our Events Coordinator, in the Marketing & Communications office or email [email protected]. We can’t wait to hear from you!

October Half-term Football Camp

Join our October Half-term Football Camp from Monday 14th to Wednesday 16th October (3 days) at HeadStart International School Chaofah City campus.

This is the perfect opportunity for players to play fun football and develop new skills in a positive environment.

Camp starts at 09:00am (drop off after 08:30am) and finishes at 2:00pm with lunch provided! Open to students in Year 2 to Year 8. Players will be split into the appropriate groups, depending on their age and abilities.

Expect high-quality coaching, lots of fun and medals to be won! To sign up please contact Head Coach Stef Frost [email protected]

Sign up today. Limited spaces available!

Upcoming Events

Thai University Fair

We are excited to invite you to the Thai University Fair on Friday 4th October 2024 at our Chaofah City campus. This annual event is a unique opportunity for both parents and students to meet with representatives from leading Thai universities.

At the fair, you’ll have the chance to ask questions about course options, admission requirements, and explore various academic pathways, gaining valuable insights into your child’s future university journey.

Please register here: https://forms.gle/RqxKfUNbrdcBXKTw9

Event Details:

📅 Date: 4th October 2024

⏰ Time: 08:30 – 11:30

📍 Venue: School Sports Hall

We look forward to seeing you there!

Mandarin Language Day

Dear Parents,

We are excited to invite you to a vibrant Mandarin Language Day event on Saturday, 5th October from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at HeadStart Chaofah City Campus!

Event Highlights:

• Everlasting Flower Fan Making
• Grain Painting for Chongyang Festival
• Chinese Character Challenge Game
• Food Sharing

Please click the link to fill out the registration form: https://forms.gle/NNbCcfEgGzXxvZfV7

Thank you for your cooperation and support!

尊敬的各位家长：

我们将于2024年10月5日(星期六)上午9:00 – 12:00在HeadStart Chaofah校区为您举办丰富多彩的中文语言日活动。

活动亮点：

• 永生花团扇制作

• 重阳节五谷杂粮作画

• 汉字大比拼游戏

• 美食分享

请点击链接填写报名表: https://forms.gle/NNbCcfEgGzXxvZfV7

诚挚问候 HeadStart 感谢您的配合与支持！

Meetings & Presentations

Introduction to Year 1 Parents meeting on 17.09.24

UPrep Drop-in Session

Thanks to the parents who dropped by Nikita’s Cafe for our latest UPrep drop-in session. As the name suggests, this is an opportunity for parents and their children to drop in for an informal chat with our UPrep team. Whether its discussing course entry requirements, university life or navigating the application progress, our UPrep team are experts at providing the answers.

Parent Meeting: EAL and FastForWord on 17.09.24

Parents of Primary and Secondary EAL students had a wonderful experience learning about the science behind our revolutionary language programme, FastForWord, which is part of our intensive EAL curriculum here at HeadStart. By offering parents a hands-on workshop where they could try the programme firsthand, Mr Naresh Indhewat, Director of BrainFit Studio in Bangkok, conducted a session to help parents understand exactly what the students experience in lessons. Mrs Davidson – EAL Teacher

Parent Meeting: Thai University Applications & Admission Requirements on Tuesday 24th September

We invite Thai-speaking parents of students considering a university education in Thailand to join us for our latest parent meeting when our Thai and UPrep teams will talk you through the application and admissions process for universities in Thailand. This meeting will be held in the Thai language with English-speaking staff on hand to translate. We look forward to seeing you there! Tuesday 24th September 2024 from 8:30-9:30am in the Secondary Hall (on the 4th floor).

Meet the Team

HeadStart International School’s University Preparation (UPrep) team is dedicated to guiding students and their families through the transition to higher education. Our bespoke UPrep programme focuses on evaluating students’ individual strengths, needs and career goals and provides university preparation, counselling and placement support, helping students to successfully secure the right university or higher education pathways. With a focus on academic excellence, our team hosts meetings presenting information regarding applying to university as well as offering workshops on application processes, essay writing, and interview skills. We also hold fortnightly meetings for parents and drop-in sessions to ensure both students and their parents are involved in this important process. Our holistic approach ensures that each student is well-prepared for the challenges of university life and beyond.

For more information, visit our website: UPrep Programme or contact the following members of staff:

• Ms Emily Graham, Assistant Head of Upper Secondary School at [email protected]

• Mr Neil Roscoe, University Counsellor at [email protected]

• Mr Simon Thomas, University Counsellor at [email protected]

• Kru Toom, Deputy School Director at [email protected]

PE & Sports News

HeadStart Panthers U14 Girls and Boys teams kicked off the year with wins against UWC Mantas: an epic comeback victory, 20-18, for the girls squad and a big 33-13 win for the boys! The fan favorites could not have represented the school any better. Coach Grant – Basketball Coach

ECA News

Last Saturday, HeadStart International School held our first Chess tournament of the 2024-25 season.

🏆 Champion: Georgiy, Year 5 Chaofah City campus

🥈 Runner-up: Alex, Year 8 Chaofah City campus

🥉 Third Place: (ex aequo) Bogdan, Year 5 Chaofah City campus and Luka, Year 6 Cherngtalay campus

Best female player: Amalia (Amy), Year 9 Chaofah City campus

Thanks to everyone for participating and support. The next tournament will be held on Saturday, 12th October. See you there!Coach Dawid

Languages Department

In our Year 9 Russian language class, we tried an unconventional approach!

We used the RAFT technique, which allows students to take a creative approach to language learning.

What is RAFT?

• Role: Who am I? A fairy-tale character or a hero?
• Audience: Who am I writing/speaking to? Another character.
• Format: In what format? A letter, a speech?
• Topic: About what? My feelings, an event.

How does it work?

Students choose a role, determine to whom they will address their message, select a form of expression, and, of course, a topic for discussion. For example, Vasilisa the Wise writes a letter to Ivan Tsarevich about her feelings, while Ilya Muromets gives a speech to his comrades about his latest battle.

Why is this useful?

This approach helps to:

• Develop creative thinking
• Improve writing and speaking skills
• Increase interest in the Russian language
• Dive deeper into the material being studied

The result?

The students were thrilled! They happily transformed into different characters, invented interesting plots, and expressed their thoughts in various formats. Ms Oparenko – Russian Teacher

Primary

Speaking and Listening Training in Primary

This week, our Primary teachers took part in an engaging staff training session run by our Deputy Head of Academics, Sushma Sharma, focused on supporting EAL learners through Speaking and Listening activities. They explored fun and interactive methods, including barrier games, word grids, and spot-the-difference exercises. These activities help students enjoyably build essential language skills. The teachers were highly engaged, sharing ideas and learning new strategies to use in their classrooms. The training provided valuable tools to better support our EAL learners, and we are excited to see these techniques in action, enhancing the learning experience for all students.

Secondary

AS Level Students Learning to Deal with the ‘Unseen’!

In studying the ‘Unseen’ component of AS Level Literature, students have to (metaphorically) juggle a lot of balls.

Not only must they remember to analyse and explore all the varied and complex literary features (which, of course, vary between generic conventions) but they must think originally to come up with their own interpretations and express themselves academically and persuasively.

All of this is hard going!

This is why, sometimes a hiatus from the usual explorations of texts can be a boon. Last week, students showed some of the highest order thinking skills by composing their own original odes. Having chosen their own topics and drawn inspiration from John Keats’ Ode on a Grecian Urn, the results are, I am sure you’ll agree, quite wonderful.

Which is your favourite?

Mr. Pollicutt – Head of English & EAL

Student Success Outside School

MasterChef Junior Thailand – The Final!

Buahom’s journey on MasterChef Junior Thailand came to an end as she went through to the final round. Although she didn’t win the grand prize, she did remarkably well to finish in the Top 4! Miss the show? Don’t panic! You can follow Buahom’s achievements in the final round on YouTube: MasterChef Junior Thailand The Final

🥇 Congratulations to our very own Head of Science, Mrs Marsh, who finished 6th overall and 1st in the female section at the recent Phuket Trail, a 40km cross-country race on our very wet island! With a time of 8 hours 55 minutes, and evidenced by the photographic evidence below, Mrs Marsh showed she has what it takes to take on and defeat the Phuket rainy-season terrain! Mrs Marsh was joined by our Sixth Form team’s Secretary, Khun Nan, who competed in the 25km event. Well done to you both!

🏆 Congratulations to Sofiia (Year 3), Jia and Anna (Year 4) for taking part in the 2024 Dream Cup Rhythmic Gymnastic competition in Kuala Lumpur at the start of September. Sofiia was awarded the Individual All Around Little Gym (under 8s) Category C, while Jia and Anna both achieved 🥉 third place finishes with the Ball apparatus in the Pre-Junior category.

📡 A select group of our Year 12 students have been recognised for taking part in this year’s Beamline for Schools competition, organised by CERN. The team, which included Nanki, Conor, Federico, Luxin, Baikao, Ryan and Daniel, designed their own atomic physics experiment that might one day be conducted at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), in Geneva, Switzerland!

🥇 Congratulations to Mimi (Year 4) for winning 1st place in both the 100m Freestyle and Backstroke (8 years old) at the Phupha-Tawan Swimming Championships.

🥇 Congratulations to Baimon (Year 12) for being the Winner of the Class A-Boy Division 2 at the TKG Tour Golf Competition in Phang Nga.

🥇 Congratulations to Paul (Year 4) who scored 100% and came 1st out of 510 students who competed in the Grade 1-2 Kangaroo Math competition in Thailand.

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