Weekly Update #1, 24 August 2018

Our summer 2018 results were the best the school has ever achieved with stories of success across the board. 29 students scored 6.0 in the Cambridge Checkpoints, with 4 gaining 6.0 in every subject means that last year we had the greatest performance by our Year 6 and 9 students in HeadStart’s history! Well done students and teachers.

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Dates for Your Diary

Upcoming events can be found on the calendar on the website School Life → Calendar but we have outlined upcoming events here for easy reference.

For daily updates and news follow the HeadStart Facebook Page

Welcome Back to School!

By Mr Adam Drew, Acting Head of Secondary / Headmaster

Firstly, I would like to welcome back all our existing students and parents and bid all of our new families who will be joining HeadStart for the first time a very warm welcome to one of the most supportive and collaborative communities I have ever worked with in my teaching career.

This represents the beginning of my fifth year at HeadStart and as each August comes around there is a significant sense of excitement as the school develops and grows. When I think back to my arrival in July of 2014 the school has changed, expanded and developed in so many ways. We are on a different site, our staffing numbers have almost doubled, our student numbers have increased by more than 300 since my first day and even year on year, this wonderful campus that we enjoy, changes and improves. As the Education Development Trust stated, this is a good school with outstanding features.

One thing that has remained the same however, is the positive attitude of our students, the dedication of our teachers and the support of our parents. Maintaining these three things is essential in ensuring that our students continue to achive the wonderful and positive outcomes we have come to expect from our students at all levels, whether that be Checkpoints, IGCSEs or A Levels. Our summer 2018 results were the best the school has ever achieved with stories of success across the board. 29 students scored 6.0 in the Cambridge Checkpoints, with 4 gaining 6.0 in every subject means that last year we had the greatest performance by our Year 6 and 9 students in HeadStart’s history. This was also the case for our Year 11 students, where 93% of subjects were graded at A-C and an amazing 41% of subjects were graded at A-A. Many students gained 5 or more A/A grades. At AS Level the success continued with many students achieving good scores in their subjects and 2 students gaining A grades in all their AS Levels. Finally, we had our first A grade at A Level in Business Studies, which is an incredible achievement. These results would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of both the students and our teaching staff, but also the support that our parents offer.

So we welcome all members of our community into a happy, safe and inspiring school, where we support them to develop socially and emotionally as well as academically, whilst aiming for excellence in all areas. I wish all students another happy and successful year on their HeadStart Journey.

Message from Head of Foundation and Primary

By Mr Sam Khan

A very warm welcome back, from me and my team at HeadStart Primary and Foundation. I hope you all had a thoroughly enjoyable summer break with your families, and are as excited, as we are at the beginning of a new academic year, at HeadStart International.

I hope your children have come home filled with enthusiasm at the prospect of the learning that lies ahead.

I have had opportunities to visit classrooms over the course of a busy week, and it has been the highlight of my week to see pupils helping each other to learn,and having fun whilst doing so.

All our new teachers have been very impressed by the wonderful manners that our HeadStart pupils display, and how kind and respectful they are towards their peers and adults in the school.

Our pupils really are special young people, with an appetite for learning and an infectious curiosity regarding the world around them. It is our duty as educators to continue to inspire our pupils, so that they never lose this wonderful spark. As the the new Head at HeadStart Primary and Foundation, I am incredibly excited at the prospect of being part of every child’s learning journey at our wonderful community school.

Can I take this opportunity to wish you all a safe, happy and fun weekend.

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Foundation Department Announcements

By Ms Fiona Scott, Deputy Head of Foundation

A warm welcome back to all our returning families. It has been wonderful to see so many happy, smiling faces return to school this week with exciting holiday stories to tell. I would also like to offer a warm welcome to our new families who have joined the HeadStart community. In Foundation we have planned a bumper packed year, so please keep an eye on your emails, the school Facebook page and website for all updates and weekly news.

Foundation Pick Up Don’t forget that school ends at 2.20pm. All children can be collected at this time.

Enrichment Programme If your child is in Early Years or Reception they are welcome to join in with or Enrichment Programme. Music, Movement, Art and Free Play are some of the activities planned for the Enrichment Programme. If your child is joining us for the Enrichment Programme, they can be collected at 3.20pm.

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Year 1-9 Parent Meeting Invitation

We would like to invite all Year 1 to Year 9 parents to a meeting regarding HeadStart’s ‘New Language Options’. The meeting will take place on Tuesday 28th August 2018, at 8:15 am, in the Sports Hall, and should conclude by 9:15am. At this meeting, the school’s Management Team will give a presentation regarding our new language options. We will explain your child’s language options in detail, and answer any questions you may have regarding what language choices your child has available to them. This meeting will be presented in English and Thai.

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Duke of Edinburgh Programme Meeting Information for Year 10 Parents

You are invited to attend a brief introductory meeting to the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award, which your child will be undertaking this year. The meeting will take place on Tuesday 28th August in the primary hall, and will start at 8:15 am, with a view to end at 9:10 am. The purpose of the meeting will be to provide you with a more detailed insight into the structure of the award. In particular, more information will be provided around the adventurous journey portion of the award, as well as any key dates to be aware of, and also guidance on how best to support your child in successfully achieving the Bronze award.

To contact Ms Letitia Bekker (DofE award coordinator) please write to [email protected]

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ASP Information

This year there will be two separate booking periods for after school activities. The ASP policy, calendars and lists for all fee paying activities and Free ASPs are now posted on the ASP bulletin board opposite the school shop and on the HeadStart website. Click Here

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Academy Practice Next Week

Next week both Football and Swimming Academies will run from 3:30-5:00 pm. This is due to ASPs not starting until week four of school. Please take note if you are part of either team, all practices will begin promptly at 3:30 pm.

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Uniforms

If you have accidentally taken the sample try on uniforms that are on display in front of the school shop, please be so kind as to return them to Khun Tuk. Thank you for your attention to detail.

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Carpool

If you are interested in participating in a carpool with other parents, please leave a notice on the community board in the atrium so that those interested can connect.

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Active Learning

After a successful and rewarding launch of the Active Learning programme last year, we are ready to launch it again this year with more options and larger cohort of students. Students from Year 7-9 will have the opportunity to experience and enjoy two Active Learning sessions per week engaging in one of the 8 activities available every morning. What a great way to start the day! For a detailed account of the Active Learning programme click on this link Active Learning For more information you can write to the programme coordinator, Ms Fabienne Mester at [email protected]

Options for the 2018-2019 academic school year include: Drama, screen print, sewing, dance, design & technology, instruments, vocal music and football fitness.

Car Park and Safety

Typically the car park is full and slightly chaotic in the first 2 weeks of school. Once the after school programmes begin, we will begin to see an improvement on the traffic going in and out of school. In the meantime, we would like to remind parents to:

• Follow signage for Foundation/Primary drop off area and Secondary drop off lane.

• park in the areas designated for parking.

• do not leave your hand brake on so that security can move your car if necessary.

• Parking on the side of the main road is dangerous. As a school we have invested in additional parking space next to the upper football pitch. There are covered walkways that link all the way to the entrance of the school. Please use this space and avoid the main road for parking.

Parent Portal

During last week’s parent meeting, Mr Drew gave a detailed explanation on how to use the Parent Portal.

• What is the function of the Parent Portal

• How to create an account

• Changing your details on the portal

• Commonly asked questions

If you missed the meeting, click on the link for information on this topic. Parent Portal Log In and Information

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Now that school has started up, why not get into a routine of exercising every morning at the HeadStart gym!

‘Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.’– John F. Kennedy

Thai Etiquette Competition 2018

On August 15th, HeadStart entered eight Thai students into the annual Thai Etiquette Competition at Sapan Hin. The event was organised by the Phuket Municipality Office. Over 200 students from over 21 Thai schools entered in this competition. HeadStart has been the only international school to participate. We have won this competition for the 3rd year running. The winning prizes were awarded by Khun Somjai Suwansupana, the Phuket town mayor.

Congratulations to the following students who won 1st place: Pailin in Year 10, Opal in Year 4, Tete in Year 3

Congratulations to the following students who won 2nd place: Namon in Year 1, Tangton in Year 10

A big thank you to Kru Bo and Kru Way for training these polite young students. They have put in an excellent effort and have made this project a great success. We are really proud of each student and thankful for the support we have received from this group of parents during the training and competition.

Sports Department News

By Nick Carter, Athletics Director

Our Girls Basketball team travel to Sapanhin in Phuket town for their first Basketball competition this year.

Days and times are below -

• Friday 24th August - 13.30 tipoff

• Friday 31st August - 14.00 tipoff

I will let you know how they get on. Good luck girls!

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In P.E. lessons this week, year groups 3-9 are taking part in team building games encouraging teamwork and communication whilst allowing them to get to know their new classmates! By Mr Bushell

Student News

Congratulations to Emelie and Napat who have earned our first Star of the Week awards in Reception this week. They both earn House points for their team. A great start for the green and Blue Houses.

We’ve had a great first few days back at school and starting in Reception. We’ve been talking all about ourselves and our families and are having so much fun playing with all our friends. Here are some of our self portraits and how we drew ourselves. By Ms Candice Smithie

In Year 1 Yellow children were working hard on their counting this week. I was so impressed with how they used equipment from around the classroom to work independently!

1. Nate and Assena are working together to use marbles to count accurately.

2. Din has been printing numicon to work on his number formation and recognition.

3. Daniel and Fedya have worked on their counting this week. They make a great team!

4. Anna really stood out during Maths by adding 1 more to numbers!

Year 2 Blue had a wonderful afternoon making ‘Standees’, working on our drawing and cutting skills. Apparently Mr Marx is always drinking coffee! If you get a chance, please come and look at our wonderful ‘Standees’ inside the classroom. By Mr Michael Marx

In Year 4 White, we started our first week back in school with a challenge of building the tallest tower to hold a marshmallow out of only a limited amount of spaghetti, string and tape. We put our teamwork skills to great use! By Ms Jen Rapkins

In Year 4, we have begun our Science topic on Animals including Humans by working together to construct a human skeleton. Later on in the week, we labeled the various bones using their scientific names. By Ms Jen Rapkins

House News

By Ms Nadine Brelstaff, House Activity Coordinator

Class house competitions have got off to a fantastic start with students competing against each other in team-building activities. The problem solving games put students under pressure to work effectively as a team and meant the students were able to get to know their fellow house teammates. In addition to the student competitions, our staff have also been getting involved and working hard to earn points for their houses. The Yellow Cheetahs demonstrated the best problem solving skills and came away as champions in the first staff house competition of the year.