Weekly Update #17, 10 January 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. To join the Parent Community Facebook group organised by parents click here!

School calendars for the next two academic years are now available online. Visit THIS LINK to find out more.

Dear Parents,

I hope you have had a nice break over the Christmas period and have had the chance to spend some important time with your families. As we approach the end of the first week of term 2, please allow me to welcome you back to what I’m sure will be another exciting term.

The first term saw the launch of a number of new programmes and initiatives at HeadStart including the well-attended and informative ‘Positive Parenting’ sessions for parents of younger children, UPrep (University Preparation) talks and drop in sessions and of course the launch of BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) and LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) programmes for students. I am pleased to report that a total of 17 students have chosen BTEC subjects as part of their Year 12 curriculum. Last term BTEC students organised events, fundraising activities and have been on trips to universities in Bangkok and local businesses in order to support their studies. LAMDA has had a highly successful launch with 118 students throughout the whole school taking part in a variety of different programmes.

With term two already well underway, there is a lot to look forward to. In terms of our Creative Arts department, no sooner have we all caught our breath from the exciting production of ‘Fame, the Musical’ by CAPA (Creative and Performing Arts) Academy, we switch our attention to the Primary school production of ‘The Little Mermaid Junior’ on the 6th of February. The following week will see the Haringey Youth Orchestra bring their Asia tour to visit HeadStart.

For the more sporting and active among us, the annual sports days will take place in the week beginning 10th February. The PE team have been working hard for some time now to ensure that these are both competitive and inclusive to allow as many of our students the chance to participate. I am sure these days will be as fun and enjoyable as ever and add further excitement to the House competitions.

Later in the term we will also see International Day returning on the 27th of March which has always been a popular event for the whole of the HeadStart community.

From an academic perspective, the English & Humanities and Mathematics & Commerce will be hosting Faculty Weeks which will add an element of increased subject awareness and activities that correlate to these subjects. Lastly, with all the above activities going on let’s not forget that a number of our year groups have mock exams this term and significant preparation in class for their real external exams in term 3. These include Years 6, 9, 11, 12 & 13. We wish all the students well with their preparation, revision and mock exams.

I wish you all a happy, prosperous and successful New Year and look forward to seeing you around school during the term. Kind Regards

Mr. Adam Drew

Headmaster

Ms Wei Wang has been an integral part of HeadStart’s language programme for the last six years. Ms. Wang has been living in Phuket for nine years and can now speak fluent Thai. Thanks to Ms. Wang, many of our students can now speak Mandarin and many more stand to benefit from her dedication and passion for excellence!

UPrep Programme

Welcome to the next UPrep Talk by Ms Gemma Caines, Head of Sixth Form, on ‘Applying to the USA / Canada’ on the 23rd of January at 8.15am located in the Primary Hall. There will be important details and information about how applications to the USA and Canada work. The talk is aimed at families interested in the USA or Canada for their child’s university study. If you are interested in the content of last week’s UPrep talk please CLICK ON THIS LINK

VAPs and Booster Programmes for Primary and Secondary

We would like to invite all the new and existing parents for a meeting on Tuesday 14th January 2020 in the Secondary Hall at 08.15-09.00. The topic of this meeting is ‘VAPs and Booster Programmes for Primary and Secondary’. At the meeting we will give the information about our VAPs programme which is a programme that supports our gifted and talented students in specific subjects. We will also give information about how children are selected for academic Boosters as well as the expectations. The information will be presented in English by Mr Khan and Mr Lukats and in Thai by Kru Nee.

Soccer Circus and The Goalkeepers Academy

Just a reminder that Soccer Circus and The Goalkeepers Academy re-start tomorrow and will run every Saturday at 10.30 - 12.00 until half term.

Football Coaching Team

Nathan Remzi and George are the latest additions to the HeadStart Football Academy coaching team. Nathan started playing football in his hometown of Nottingham, England at age 7. He has always been a passionate player off and on the pitch, progressing from local teams such as Arnold Town to a semi professionally club like South Nottingham boys academy at age 17. Nathan studied sports and an FA coaching course at college and then progressed onto teacher training. Nathan is now a qualified English teacher with vast amounts of experience teaching in England which has given him the skills to build a positive rapport with students, offering a tailored and effective approach to coaching. Coach Nathan says “I am very excited that HeadStart have given me such a great opportunity to bring my coaching skills and experience to their boys and girls academy. It is an absolute pleasure to reignite my footballing knowledge and skills with the young players of HeadStart International School.”

George Trinnaman-Bundy joins us from Tottenham Hotspur Football Club and has also coached and the lesser known London club, West Ham United. George is a technical skills specialist and will be offering 1-1 coaching when he’s not coaching in the academy. George is also hoping to offer weekly Ladies Day sessions where girls and women of all ages come to get fit and play football on Saturday mornings.

Basketball News

On Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th January HeadStart hosted their annual Invitational Basketball Cup against Thai Hua, Kathu Wittaya and Phuket Wittaya schools. The boys played on Wednesday and in spite of solid defense and exceptional passing, it was their lack of driving to the basket and inconsistent shooting which meant they finished in 4th place.

However, the girls simply overpowered their opposition, showing excellent defense and offense, most notably they were able to break down their opponents zone defense and were also consistently taking rebounds and gaining possession. This was the second year in a row the girls have won the cup. Great job everyone! A big thanks to Coach Ball for hosting and organizing. Mr Nick Carter, Athletics Director

The BTEC students did an incredible job at running their food and drink stalls at the Christmas Fair on Monday 16th December 2019. They remained professional and displayed excellent customer service skills whilst providing an array of delicious treats to students,parents and teachers. They continue to work together as an amazing team building on their experience of Business Enterprise. Look out for their next project coming soon! Ms Yardenna Jones

House Activities have resumed this week, with the Primary School beginning their ½ term tournament of Dodgeball, which has proven to be a very popular event. The Yellow Cheetahs beat the Red Phoenixes and the Green Dragons beat the Blue Tigers. This is only the first round of matches and so it is hard to predict who may come out as this term’s champion. I am hoping to see more pupils participate and their teachers!

As usual, the weekly house quiz was distributed and the points were the closest they’ve been this academic year. Weigh your waste will continue each Friday, Maths Faculty week is fast approaching and the biggest of them all, Sports Day is week 6! Plenty of points to be scored. Watch this space. Here are the winning totals for this term… Ms Kirstie Melville