Weekly Update #22, 7 February 2025

Announcements

Parent Committee Term 2 Meeting

On Thursday 6th March, our Cherngtalay Parent Committee will assemble for their Term 2 meeting. If you have points to raise or would like your voice to be heard, please contact the Parent Committee directly via email at [email protected] by no later than 28th February. They look forward to hearing from you.

Can You Help? Seeking Business Owners and Industry Professionals

On Monday 3rd March 2025, HeadStart International School Chaofah City Campus will host a Careers Fair for our Year 11, 12 and 13 students. This is an opportunity for our oldest students to gain an insight into the working world and career options before making important decisions about their post-secondary school pathway.

If you are a business owner or industry professional who is willing and able to give up 3 hours of your time, from 07:30 – 10:30 on Monday 3rd March, please contact Mr Neil Roscoe, our University Counsellor, at [email protected].

We are particularly interested in hearing from experts in the following fields:

• Engineering / Architecture

• Computing / Digital Media

• Charities / Development

• Food and Beverages

• Entrepreneurship

• Medical / Psychology

• Art / Design

• Entrepreneurship / Marketing / Commerce

• Hospitality

• Government / Legal

Upcoming Events

A Special Free Parent Event – Let’s Co-Play!

There is still time to book your place at this very special event.

Inviting all parents from across Phuket to attend a unique parent event hosted by Greg Bottrill, renowned childhood advocate and best-selling author of ‘Can I Go & Play Now?’. This will be an engaging and insightful presentation for parents in which he will explore the power of play in building stronger connections with your child, offering tips and advice.

📆 Date: Tuesday 11th February 2025

⏰ Time: 12:45-13:45

📍 Venue: HeadStart International School, Phuket (Cherngtalay Campus)

The event is open to all parents, particularly those of Foundation and Year 1 & 2 parents. Registration is required. To register for you and up to 4 other adults, scan the QR code in the poster below or complete the GoogleForm: Let’s Co-Play Parent Event Registration

Half-Term Basketball Camp at Chaofah City campus

During the February half-term break, our Basketball Academy is offering 3 days of high-quality training designed to keep your child fit, healthy, and improving their b’ball skills at our Chaofah City caampus. Starts at 09:00 am (drop off after 08:30 am) and finishes at 2:00 pm with lunch provided! Open to students from Year 4 to Year 9. Players will be split into 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 Coach Mike [email protected]

Save the Date – Community Beach Clean at Bangtao Beach

On Sunday 9th March, we will hold our first Community Beach Clean event of this school year. This will be run by a group of Year 12 students from our Chaofah City campus in coordination with our school Eco Coordinator, Mr Rob Gratton. We welcome all families to join us from 9am as we meet at the Le Phang section of Bagntao Beach (at the car park in front of the Movenpick Resort). We will provide plastic bags and gloves for collecting rubbish, as well as drinking water so please bring reusable water bottles. This promises to be a fun community event as we contribute to keeping our island’s pristine beaches free from trash. Don’t forget to wear your House shirt to earn valuable points for your house!

• Time: 09:00 -10:30

• Location: Le Phang (Bangtao) Beach https://maps.app.goo.gl/qjPnrxwP97ZBdWzG6

Meetings & Presentations

Helping Your Child with Behaviour Parent Workshop on 06.02.25

A big thank you to all the Primary parents who joined our workshop on Helping Your Child with Behaviour. Your active participation and thoughtful contributions made for a truly valuable discussion. It was wonderful to share ideas and strategies to support positive behaviour at home and school. We appreciate your engagement and look forward to opportunities for discussions in the upcoming Thursday workshops. Next week’s presentation will have a focus on Online Safety. Mr Lawler – Head of Foundation & Primary

E-Safety for Children: A Parents Guide Meeting

Inviting all Primary parents to a meeting to look at keeping your child safe from harm when using the internet and other forms of online media at home. Join us on Thursday 13th February at 8:30am in the Secondary ILC.

HeadStart Alumni

Giacomo Solaroli – Class of 2023

Hello, my name is Giacomo and I am currently in my second year of bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. I graduated from Headstart in 2023 and it is safe to say that a lot has changed since going to university. Life at university ended up being better than what I could’ve expected; there is always something happening on campus and the international students mix well with the Dutch locals. Being an international student in the Netherlands has many benefits, for example Dutch people are some of the best English speakers in the world, making communication easy. Because of this, international student associations thrive. The association I interact with the most here in Twente is ConcepT, which is the association for all civil engineers. The association handles academic help by providing discounts on textbooks and organising tutoring sessions, but mostly focuses on extracurricular activities with its dozens of internal sub-associations.

I am currently a member of Beton Brouwers, which is an association that designs, builds, tests and races canoes made out of concrete (very fitting, I know). The association feels like being inside of a formula one team, but instead of cars we race concrete canoes. This year’s race will be held in Eindhoven, and there is also an additional race that we can join which is held in Krakow in Poland. Before Beton Brouwers, I was a member of the SportCie, which is the sports sub association in ConcepT. In that association, I, along with a group of 5 other members, would organise fun sports-related activities throughout the year for other Civil Engineering students, ranging from first years to masters students. I have left that association in favour of Beton Brouwers to try something new, and so that other first year students, like Charles and Kirill who are also Headstart Alumni, could have a spot. Being in university while doing the same course as 2 of my highschool friends makes the experience much more enjoyable as our separate friend groups regularly clash in other ConcepT activities.

Outside of ConcepT, I regularly meet with uni friends to play padel or go kart and I also often visit other Headstart Alumni scattered across the Netherlands that used to be in my class. Participating in all of these extracurricular activities doesn’t mean that there isn’t much to study though! The exam weeks here are tough and universities in the Netherlands are known to have low graduation rates, but limiting activities during exam periods can significantly help pass the study load, allowing for time to focus on your social life in later stages.

Overall, studying here gives me the opportunity to have a great study life balance as well as the opportunity to travel to visit family and friends. There are plenty of opportunities for me in the future, but I hope to stay in the Netherlands to do my masters studies in a more specialized area of Civil Engineering.

CAPA Department

LAMDA Evening Showcase

With the LAMDA programme really taking off this year at the Cherngtalay campus, parents and staff were treated to a fantastic performance by 30 talented LAMDA students on Thursday 30th January in the Secondary ILC. For many of our students, it was their first time on stage and performing to an audience so it was a big occasion, which they rose to brilliantly. From our Public Speaking hosts, Aurora and Justin, to the monologues of Gary and Hojune to the poetry groups of Acting and Performance students, the performers were exceptional in entertaining their audience, who clearly loved the event!

It was fantastic to see our LAMDA family come together with students as young as Reception performing – there was so much to watch and engage with.The LAMDA programmes support students to develop crucial communication and presentation skills, not just for the stage but to support their future working and personal lives. Now the preparation for their summer exams starts fully for many of these talented students and we know there will be more incredible achievements to celebrate and showcase.

A huge congratulations to everyone who performed and also, my enormous thanks to our wonderful LAMDA teacher, Ms Salli Collins, who prepared and supported the students so brilliantly. We are very proud of you all! Ms Howells – Director of CAPA

House Update

This week, the Primary House activity was a real challenge! Students had to stand inside the hula hoop of their house colour and bounce a ball on a table tennis bat at least 10 times to win points. This activity was not only great fun, but it was such a good way for our students to build essential skills such as hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and reflexes. All students tried their best, but ultimately, the Green Dragons came out on top! Congratulations!

PE & Sports News

Primary Sports Days on Tuesday 11th February

The PE team and all the students are starting to get excited for our upcoming Sports Day! Please find below all the information you and your child need to know:

Year 1 to Year 3

Time: 08:30-10:30

Year 4 to Year 6

Time: 13:00-15:00

Location: Astro-pitch

On the day, please ensure that your child brings their water bottle and wears their House Shirt, PE shorts, sports shoes, a hat and/or sunblock.

Parents are welcome to come and watch their children participate, but we kindly ask you to ensure you sit in the designated parents seating areas and do not interfere with the running of the event. We look forward to seeing you there! Mr Walker – PE Coordinator

Foundation Sports Day on Friday 14th February

Time: 08:45-10:15

Location: Astro-pitch

On the day, please ensure that your child brings their water bottle and wears their House Shirt, PE shorts, sports shoes, a hat and/or sunblock.

Parents are welcome to come and watch their children participate, but we kindly ask you to ensure you sit in the designated parents seating areas and do not interfere with the running of the event. We look forward to seeing you there! Mr Walker – PE Coordinator

Languages Department

Mandarin Language Day

On 1st February, 2025, our Term 2 Mandarin Language Day was held at the Cherngtalay campus in a festive and joyful atmosphere. This event was dedicated to celebrating the Spring Festival, bringing together parents and students to enjoy a variety of traditional cultural experiences.

The event was filled with excitement as participants engaged in activities such as lantern-making, fan printing, paper cutting, and writing Spring Festival couplets, immersing themselves in the rich traditions of Chinese culture. Additionally, students wrote their New Year wishes and hung them on the wishing tree, expressing their hopes for a prosperous year ahead.

As we welcome the new year, we sincerely wish all families and students a prosperous, healthy, and joyful Year of the Snake! The Mandarin Team

We would like to take this opportunity to remind our Russian-speaking community that their Term 2 Russian Language Day will be taking place on Saturday 29th of March at our Cherngtalay Campus; we look forward to welcoming families from both campuses for this event!

2025年2月1日，我校第二学期中文语言日在Cherngtalay校区隆重举行，活动现场洋溢着喜庆祥和的节日氛围。本次活动以春节为主题，家长和学生们齐聚一堂，共同体验丰富多彩的传统文化。

活动中，大家兴致勃勃地参与了灯笼制作、拓印团扇、剪纸、书写春联等春节习俗，沉浸在中华文化的独特魅力中。此外，学生们还写下新年愿望，并将其挂在许愿树上，寄托对新一年的美好期许。

在这辞旧迎新的时刻，我们衷心祝愿所有家庭蛇年大吉、健康平安！HeadStart中文团队

📸 Please find a full album of photos here: Mandarin Language Day Term 2

Foundation

Learning About Life Cycles with Real-life Chicks!

The chicks’ visit to the Foundation classes was a highlight for the children, who thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Holding and observing the chicks allowed them to connect with their learning about life cycles in a hands-on way. It brought the concept of growth and transformation to life, reinforcing what they had studied about life cycles and how animals develop from eggs to fully formed creatures. The excitement and curiosity sparked by the chicks made this a memorable part of their learning journey.

ECA News

6th Student Chess Tournament of 2024/25!

Fight for cash prizes totaling 4000 THB, medals and a bunch of other attractive awards for all participants! All HeadStart students are welcome and all players are going to be rewarded!

🗓️ Date: Saturday, 15th February 2025

🕘 Time: Attendance check 11:15am

📍 Location: Canteen, Chaofah City Campus

To register and reserve your place, act fast! Double entry fee if you register on the day of tournament! Contact Coach Dawid.

Student Success Outside School

🥇 Congratulations to Pailin (6 Yellow) for receiving a Gold Medal Certificate for both the Preliminary Round of the Andaman Spelling Bee (ASB) 2024 and the Andaman Advanced English Contest.

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