Chaofah Weekly6 years ago

Weekly Update 22, 16 Feb. 2018

Dates for Your Diary

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

Date	Time	Event	Location
18-25 February		Mid term break
26 February	All week	English & Humanities Faculty Week	In school
27 February	8:15-9:15 am	Thai parent Meeting	Secondary Hall
01 March	8:15 am	Parent Committee Meeting	Conference room
01 March	All day	Dress as a Favourite Character Day
05 March	All week	Yearbook photo shoot	Library
06 March	8:15 am	Thai Parent Meeting	Secondary Hall
09 March	6:15 pm	Super Stan: Primary Performance	Sports Hall
12 March	All week	Mock Checkpoint Exams for Year 6 & 9	Secondary Hall
13 March	8:15 am	Thai Parent Meeting	Secondary Hall
14 March	3:35 pm	Year 9 PTC & Checkpoint Presentation	Secondary Hall
18 March	8:15 am	Year 11 6th Form Application Process	Secondary Hall
19 March	All week	Eco watch Week
19 March	All week	Swim Gala	Swimming Pool
23 March	2:30-5:30 pm	Friday Market	Atrium
24 March	9:00-11:00 am	Saturday Thai Culture Club
26 March	Afternoon	Student Council Meeting	Secondary Hall
27 March	8:15 am	Thai Parent Meeting	Secondary Hall
30 March	3:30-5:30 pm	International Day 2018	Main school areas

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Announcements

Parent Committee Meeting

The Parent Committee meeting is scheduled to be held on the 1st March at 8:15 am. We would like to invite parents to send in your comments, suggestions and questions to the Parent Committee by writing to [email protected] no later than Monday, 26th February. You can find information regarding the Parent Committee, it’s Roles and Responsibilities Here

Super Stan

HeadStart’s Creative and Arts Department is pleased to announce the Amazing Adventures of Superstan, an upper primary production on March 9th, 2018 at 6:30 pm. Meet the world’s newest, greatest and most unlikely Superhero in this comical musical that’s packed with muscle and marvel! Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s Superstan - a caped crusader fighting for truth, freedom and justice with his super powers, super tights and the strength to open a really tricky jar of pickles! Can Superstan crush The Candy King and save the planet? Find out in this funtastic adventure as he flies by the seat of his pants, faster than a speeding paper aeroplane, and learns that with great power comes great hilarity!

Due to limited space, the show will be available for parents and close family only. Tickets can be booked at the front office starting 26 February, 2018.

Upcoming English and Humanities Week News

To launch our return to school after the break we will be celebrating English and Humanities subjects through our Faculty Week. Throughout the week there will be a number of events for students to take part in:

There’s the return of an old favourite, Giant Scrabble in the Atrium;
Don’t miss Geographical Golf organized by Ms Barker;
Come and see if you can Beat the Teacher at naming the flags of the world- our current school champion is Mr Onions;
Word Games will be run by Mr Osborn again this year- look out at morning break and come and join the fun;
Join the ‘Open Mic’ session on Thursday, come and have a go at reading a poem to an audience!
Have a go at the English and Humanities quiz and earn House Points
Come and watch the Roman Army formations and join in the fun!
We will end the week with ‘Dress up Friday’ when students and staff can come dressed as their favourite character from literature, a famous person from history or a famous geographical landmark!

We look forward to celebrating the word of English and Humanities with you when we return to school! By Ms Indu Bedi

Foundation News and Announcements

By Ms Fiona Scott, Deputy Head of Foundation

Congratulations to all the boys and girls in Reception and Early Years who received a Star of the Week award this week. We had a fantastic end to the week and so many certificates being awarded for progress, joining in and sports awards. Well done to all.

Wishing all of our families a very happy Chinese New Year and a wonderful half term break. I look forward to welcoming you all back in school on Monday 26 February.

Primary News and Updates

By Mr Andrew Whittaker, Head of Foundation and Primary

These past six weeks have gone by very quickly indeed, it seems like only last week I was wishing you all a Happy New Year - and now I am again - Happy Chinese New Year: Kung Hei Fat Choi.

Things to look forward to for next half term:

It will be our English and Humanities Faculty Week when we return back from the holiday; you will see that as part of this week we will be celebrating ‘Extreme Reading’ throughout the week. Thursday 1st March will be our ‘Come as a Character’ day, where all the pupils will be able to dress up as their favourite character from a book.
Super Stan Primary production - Friday 9th March.
Year 6 Checkpoint mock examinations - Wednesday 14th to Friday 16th March.
International Day - Friday 30th March.
Parent Teacher Conferences for Foundation and Primary - Tuesday 3rd to Thursday 5th April.

I wish you all a wonderful half term holiday - may it be fun filled and family orientated.

Secondary Announcements and Updates

By Ms Elizabeth Mason, Head of Secondary

I would like to take this opportunity to wish a Happy New Year to our Chinese families. May it be prosperous and auspicious.

Year 9 IGCSE Options

This week Year 9 have begun to think about their IGCSE option choices and have been surveyed regarding their preferences by the Director of Studies. The actual final choices will take place after options evening on the 14th of March 2018. The students will consult with teachers and parents to make the best option choices for their final IGCSE choices. IGCSE’s take two years to complete and we use the Cambridge exams (CIE). These are recognized and respected world -wide.

Songkran Revision Support

Next term on Friday 20th of April and Saturday 21st of April we will offer to year 11,12 and 13 additional revision sessions in some subject areas depending on teacher availability. Student will sign up with the teachers concerned. Have a wonderful week ahead with friends and family.

Exam Support Offer from School

To help our students prepare for their upcoming external checkpoint, iGCSE, AS and A level examinations, the secondary team have arranged for Mr. Alan Yip to provide study support workshops to our students. These sessions will run during Friday P.6 assembly time in the following order from 14.20pm - 15.20pm. We hope that these sessions will provide students with additional tools to support them in their quest to achieve their maximum grade. You can read Alan’s approach to supporting students with their studies here: Mind Edge

Year 9: 02, 09 March 2018

Years 11, 12 & 13: 16,30 of March/6 April 2018

Year 11 Motivational Camp

To further prepare the Year 11 student’s mindset for upcoming exams we will again this year be providing a Motivational Camp to focus the student’s well-being, support and academic strategies prior to the final examination. The Motivational Camp will take place between 1:00-5:15 pm on 2 March at school and will include activities such as cooking challenges, university survival skills, team building challenges and will finish with a fun quiz and snacks. Alongside the various workshop and activities we will be supporting peer support and team building to further secure useful peer networks. We advise students to wear casual clothes (appropriate for school), bring a P.E. Kit, swim wear with a towel. Parents should ensure that students have transport home at 5:00 pm. If you have any questions please contact Mr Peter Mason, Acting Head of Sixth Form [email protected]

Sports Department Update

Senior Girls Basketball

On Thursday 16th February, our Senior Girls Basketball Team played KIS at HeadStart in a thrilling game. The game was evenly poised all through the first three quarters, with KIS and HeadStart trading a slender one or two point lead. In the deciding fourth quarter HeadStart started off well taking an early lead but KIS finished strongly and just pipped HeadStart with a 17 - 14 victory. Hopefully we will be playing KIS in a rematch in early March and we will hopefully get our revenge! A special mention goes out to all the spectators who turned up and our wonderful Cheer Leaders who entertained the crowd during the intervals.

Swimming

45 Aqua Panthers will be representing HeadStart at this years Rocket Science International Swimming Meet at Thanyapura. We are seeking to better our 2nd place finish from last year. The weekend kicks off with the distance events on Friday afternoon and goes onto a full swim meet programme on Saturday and Sunday. If you want to cheer the team on, be at the pool between 8.00 and 12.00pm for the best action on both days. By Mr Zak Brown

Football News

This past weekend the Under 11 and Under 13 Panthers faced off against UWC and KIS at Thanyapura. Both teams played very well; our boys won all 3 matches and really worked together to achieve these victories. I am very proud of our Panthers and am looking forward to our continued success. By Coach JR

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A great big THANK YOU to our P.E. team for organising such fun and active Sports Days for the Foundation & Primary students!

Sports Days

This week the Foundation and Key Stage 1 students took part in their annual Sports Day. In preparation for the day, the children worked very hard in their P.E. lessons to develop their skills and practice the events. This year the students took part in six races, ranging from a long distance run to a space hopper relay. All children worked very hard to perform to their best and made the teachers very proud. It was a very close competition but it was the blue tigers who scored the most points and became the 2018 KS1 Sport Day champions. Well done to everyone who took part and thank you to all the parents who came to support. By Ms Nadine Brelstaff

The Year 3-6 Primary students competed in their Athletics Sports Day. All students competed in 5 Athletics events: sprint, long jump, javelin, shot put, and a distance run). Then, they competed in 4 fun/wacky events; Egg & Spoon, Space Hopper Relay, Baton Relay, and the ever-popular Tug of War. It was a fantastic day of competitive fun for all students AND teachers, and it was a resounding success; especially for the Green Dragons who were the overall winners! By Mr Nick carter

Netball fixture at UWC

On Tuesday Miss Brelstaff took six students from year 4 to UWC to take part in Headstart’s first ever netball match. It was agreed between the two schools prior, that rather being a competitive match, the focus would be on everyone having the chance to play and to experience playing against another school in a fun and friendly environment. The children really enjoyed the visit to UWC, which for many of them was their first experience representing the school. Miss Brelstaff is really looking forward to continuing to work with the students, with the vision of many more fixtures to come. If any students are interesting in taking part in netball their is an ASP on Mondays after school, open to boys and girls in years 4-9. By Ms Nadine Brelstaff

Student News

The Early Years and Reception students we learnt about Chinese New Year! The children looked fantastic in their costumes and enjoyed learning all about the animal race and Chinese traditions. Our favourite part of the day was using the amazing dragon costume and drum!

Chinese New Year 2018 is on 16th Feb. Students in Mandarin class are having a lot of fun making dumplings, getting red envelopes and writing lucky words. We did a Chinese New Year assembly on Thursday. Year 4 performed dragon dance and Year 6 did a presentation. We hope everyone has a nice Chinese New Year, Xin Nian Kuai Le! Gong Xi Fa Cai! By Ms Wei Wang

Secondary students in Mandarin class are making and tasting dumplings together to celebrate Chinese New Year 2018. By Ms Aileen Wang

Early years loved making pancakes on pancake day. It was very easy and only had 3 ingredients: milk, 3 eggs, and a packet of pancake mix (that we called flour). We watched the teachers put the ingredients in the bowl, then we all took turns to help mixing it together. When the pancake mix was made we stayed a safe distance away from the hob and the frying pan, and watched as the teachers cooked the pancakes. We listened to them sizzling! Then we all ate them with chocolate sauce, and they were very yummy! By Ms Amy & Ms Holly

Year 1 Blue have been learning about mass, the mass of objects and comparisons of mass. By Ms Nicola Fallows

Young French learners made crêpes to celebrate the French tradition “la Chandeleur”. It was a lot of fun to flip the crêpes and even better to eat them. By Ms Jessica Ackermann

Year 3 have been learning to sew. They have created beautiful heart shaped pillows to celebrate Valentines Day. By Ms Leow

The Early Years to Year 1 students had a lot of fun participating in the Saturday Thai Culture Club activities. They enjoyed learning about the benefits of Thai herbs: the children tasted & smelled them as well as did an activity of using them for a painting project in order to learn about their shapes. By Kru Dia

As part of their cultural education the Year 2 - 6 students went on a visit to Wat Lattiwanaram Temple. They had the opportunity to make merit, offer food to the monks. They also fed the fish as part of Buddhist tradition. By Kru Dia

The Year 6 Thai students wrote paragraphs all about Valentine’s Day. By Kru Bo

Year 7 have been busy making blockbots in their Design and Technology class with Mr Duncan Peake.

Last week, HeadStart’s Year 10 IGCSE Drama class participated in the PIAS Performing Art’s Workshop Day at KIS with other international schools around the island. The day was made up of two workshops. The first was a focus on the character creation using the methodology of Konstantin Stanislavski and the second focused on structuring a performance using the methodology of Bertolt Brecht. It was a great day by all, allowing our students to explore the methodology of these key practitioners who influence our acting and devising of theatre today. By Ms Hayley Milner

The English and Humanities department have been focusing on supporting students to develop their academic register when speaking and writing. This has involved lots of collaborative writing opportunities, talking about language choices and supporting each other through peer assessment to improve our academic register in writing. All the teachers have been trialling lots of new strategies and working together to share good practice.