Weekly Update #12, 20 November 2020

Upcoming events can be found on the website under School Life → Calendar and are outlined here for easy reference.

For daily updates and news follow the HeadStart Facebook Page and You Tube channel.

Term 1 Fundraiser - Casual Clothes Day & Bake Sale on 27 November

Just a reminder that students are allowed to come to school wearing casual clothes on 27 November in exchange for a 50 Baht donation for charity. Student Leadership will be organising a Bake Sale and some games in the atrium after school in support of our annual term 1 charity event. Please support the students with their efforts and send your child to school with some money.

Thank you to each and everyone who has donated towards the Phuket Sunshine Village Foundation children who are in need of annual sponsorship. We now have 19 sponsored! Let’s keep up the good work!

▶️ Special thank you to the Tschupp-Lambert family, Young family, Mrs Buchita Kreuatongsri, Mr Tinsley & Mrs Helen, Ms Anisa Van Der Laan, Mr Xue Qiao, the Bruce family, Ms Naseen Banue, the Delsol family, Mrs Chengcheng Li, the Bohm family, the Guillerey family, Mr Eduard & Mrs. Anchalee Miron. ◀️

Book Fair on 23-25 November

On the 23-25th of November, we will be welcoming our annual book fair hosts Books@53. Their stalls will be set up in the atrium. You are invited to come and take a look at what is on offer. “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.” – Charles W. Eliot

Ticket Reservations for the Moulin Rouge are NOW OPEN!

HeadStart is proud to present ‘Welcome to the Moulin Rouge’ performed by our CAPA Academy students!’Welcome to the Moulin Rouge’ is the story of how the Moulin Rouge came to be and is set in early 1900 Paris. You will meet characters like Colette, Toulouse Lautrec, Zidler and Edif Piaf in performing art spectacular. If you can’t go to Paris this Christmas, we will bring Paris to you!

There will be two showings: one on the 9th and one on the 10th of December, both starting at 6.30 pm. We welcome you to book tickets online by following the guide below. If you find it more convenient, you are also welcome to book your tickets with our helpful Admin staff in the front office.

Online Ticket Booking Guide

→ Click on the link depending on what day you choose to watch the show:

9 December 2020

10 December 2020

→ Fill in the information requested. You will then be taken to the Paypal page.

→ Make payment with your credit card. Note: You do not need to have a Paypal account to pay. Proceed as you would with any online payment.

There is an option to change the language of the Paypal page in the bottom corner of the page.

→ You will receive a confirmation email with your ticket number shortly after which we will require you to show to staff at the entrance of the Sports Hall before the show.

If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact the front office staff by either calling <076612875> or writing to [email protected]

Welcoming all of our Year 1 to 6 students to our next Saturday Thai Culture Club which will take place on 5 December. Make sure to sign up with the Thai teaching team if your child will attend. This will help our Thai team to plan accordingly.

PISAC Cross Country Event at BIS

12 Secondary students have been invited to compete in the PISAC Cross Country event at BIS on the afternoon of 24 November. This is a great chance for the students to get active and mingle with students from other schools. Parents should be advised that unfortunately, BIS will not allow spectators to attend the event but coaches will take photos and be sure to share them via HeadStart Facebook Page. The course is 1 mile long and the students will be running as follows:

• Under 13s will do one lap

• Under 15s will run 2 laps

• Over 15s will run 3 laps

The Primary Event will take place on Wednesday, 25th November. 26 Primary students will be competing in this event and again, unfortunately, no spectators will be allowed onto the school premises.

• Course is 1 mile long

• U9 and U11 will do one lap

In preparation for the Cross Country event, Mr Paice has organised some practice sessions on the following dates: 3, 10, 17 of November between 3.30-4.20pm. Come along and join the fun! wear your PE kit, running shoes, and bring your water bottle. Wearing a hat and sunblock is advised.

Football News

What a great experience for our U11 FC players as they played away at UWCT against their U13’s team. I am extremely proud of their efforts and teamwork as they played some fantastic football. Having gone 1-0 down the boys battled on to score 2 great goals! Well done Boys!!! -Coach Frost

This year, more than ever we’ve witnessed the positive power that society can have when we come together to tackle a common challenge. We have seen this first hand in Phuket, as we have faced the tough closure of the island, online learning, being separated from family members and needing to support each other through each change. This positive power of uniting together has been the theme for anti-bullying week 2020.

Bullying has a long-lasting effect on those who experience and witness it. But by channelling our collective power, through shared efforts and shared ambitions, we can reduce bullying together. From parents and carers to teachers and politicians, to children and young people, we all have a part to play in coming together to make a difference. So what have we done at HeadStart this week?

We have had a packed week to unite against bullying at HeadStart. I would like to thank each student who got involved this week to build trust, relationships and defend against bullying. Our Lunch Bunch activities were enjoyed throughout the week from making funky socks to celebrate uniqueness and kindness rocks to support someone when they feel weighed down, to the making of friendship bands and participating in mindful activities. We have had after school Circle Time, PSHE lessons devoted to exploring the roles and behaviours in bullying and special guests for storytime.

To build relationships across our phase levels, our Year 5 and 6 students visited the Early Years and Foundation students to read stories to each class. The children were thrilled to have older visitors and we are very proud of the students who read to our younger learners.

Our week ended for secondary students with plenty of activities from a Girl Friday workshop to explore friendship, leadership and women voices and our Active Learning Students make posters to display around the school. Finally, our Friday ended with a workshop and performance of ‘Girls Like That’ by Evan Placey, performed by some IGCSE Drama students. The play explores cyberbullying and how girls can come together to support and unite against body shaming and bullying.

Just because the week is over, our job doesn’t stop here. We will continue to build our programs in and out of the classroom and unite together as we’re all a piece in the puzzle.

For Anti-Bullying week, Mr. Paice set out to find out what our students had to say about friendship. In this video, he asks a number of students three simple questions. Turns out that we aren’t so different after all! Enjoy the video!

1. What does ‘friendship’ mean to you?
2. If someone wants to be your friend, what should they do?
3. Can you describe your friends in three words?

At HeadStart International School, personal development and well-being of children is one of the most important parts to inspire a love of learning. Last week we organised a lot of activities to raise awareness about the importance of being united together against bullying for Anti-bullying Week 2020. To kick start the week, our senior prefects have read Bully Beans by Julia Cook for our younger learners. -Ms Milner

It has been an exciting time in Preschool lately with our topics being guided by the children’s interests. As you can see, there is lots of fun to be had when provision activities are based around Superheros and Princesses! We were also excited to welcome some Year 6 readers into our class who made us happy by reading lots of wonderful stories. Not only that but the Year 6 students also played with the children and helped them throughout the morning. We welcome them back any time! -Ms Charlotte Myers, Preschool Teacher

English Department News

As part of their War Poetry unit, students have been engaging in a creative process of considering writers’ use of imagery by putting the language in three different poems (A Wife in London., Who’s for the Game and Invasion) to their own audio-visual choices in these videos they’ve made. It is important that students understand the craft and thought that goes into writing poetry and this collaborative process has gone a long way towards that goal, as well as producing these excellent pieces, which were each accompanied by a written rationale of their decisions. -Mr. Pollicutt, Head of English

It is important for students, especially those studying A-Level, to have confidence not just in their teachers’ understanding of the subject and their knowledge but also in their abilities to actually do the things which we demand of them. Therefore, this week I wrote a VIMA (VI Form Milestone Assessment) at the same time as my Year 13 class as a model to show them an example of an A* response. A bit of a long read, and perhaps not your cup of tea if you’re not a fan of English 14th Century medieval poetry, but nonetheless a reassurance that your children are in good hands. Even if, when we discussed it today, the students were delighted the most in pointing out my typos….(!) -Mr. Pollicutt, Head of English

Year 7 Dickens have been learning to write their own news articles. Here, Nika and Namo weigh in with their opinion of Social Media and how it affects young people. Recently, films like The Social Dilemma have caused us all to rethink our relationship with the double-edged sword of these addictive apps. -Ms Tuppen

On Monday the 16th November, we welcomed a group of students and teachers from Anuban Uttaradit, a school in the North of Thailand, for an educational visit. The children had the opportunity to observe HeadStart students studying in their classrooms followed by a tour of the facilities. We were very glad to be able to participate in this programme and look forward to welcoming them back! -Kru Nee

Are you looking for something active to do? 5 December at 8.30 am is when it’s all happening! Come dressed as a superhero and join a fun fitness challenge for the whole family at Unit-27: Total Conditioning & Transformation Specialists, Phuket, Thailand. Sign up with Ms Niemand by writing to [email protected]

Miss Irisha, our aerial teacher for the Headstart Dance Academy is now teaching adult classes on Thursdays 18.00-19.00 and Sundays 11.00-12.00. If you are interested please contact her directly via the contact info on the poster.