Weekly Update #24, 13 March 2020
| Dates for Your Diary |
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 click here!
| Date | Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 March | 3.35-5.00pm | Year 9 IGCSE Options Fair | Sports Hall |
| 20 March | 6.00pm | Aqua Panthers 12 Hour relay | Sports Hall |
| 24-26 March | All week | Languages Faculty Week | In school |
| 27 March | 6.00pm | Last day of ASPs for Term 2 | |
| 30 March-3 April | During school | Swimming Galas for PreSchool - Year 8 | Swimming Pool |
| 31 March-2 April | TBA | Foundation/Primary Parent Teacher Conferences | In classrooms |
| 2-3 April | TBA | LAMDA Exams | Music Department |
| 3 April | Last day of Academies | ||
| 6-17 April | School holidays | ||
| 20 April | 8.00am | First day of term 3 | |
| 3.20pm | Free & Fee-Paying ASPs and Academies Begin |
| Term 2 & 3 Fundraiser for Ocean Sustainability |
Introducing HeadStart’s cooperation with Oceans For All Phuket to raise funds for ocean sustainability. We are appealing to the local community to donate 2,000 Baht per family or company towards the expense of building an eco catamaran made totally of recycled plastic that will be used to clean debris from the sea before it reaches the shorelines of Phuket.
Simply contact the front office to make a donation and sign your name on the display in the atrium. Together we can make a difference!
More details about the project from the Oceans For All Foundation:
License to Clean
2020 will see the official launch of the LTC project which aims at cruising an eco-friendly catamaran in Phang Nga bay that is dedicated to cleaning seawater from debris. Around 10,000 people and as many as 200 boats cruise Phang Bay during their holiday creating vast amounts of pollution amongst which plastic and other non-organic waste are major culprits. In addition, shorelines are covered in trash coming from surrounding rivers.
The Project
‘Licence to clean 001’ is made of recycled milk bottles and will be the first catamaran to be cruising the Kamala beachfront between December and April to collect floating trash. Several international schools are organising exhibitions to promote ocean sustainability and raising funds for the boat.”
A big THANK YOU to the families who have already donated: (in chronological order)
Edouard family, Jensen family, Lapanurak family, Guillerey family, Mester family, Deedee Druce and family, Guillon and Wolff family, Ilstam family, Enron Wang and family, Van Der Laan family, Cramp family, Westlie family, Perthuis family, McKellar family, Jimenez Hochstetter family, Fletcher family, Burton family, Yongsakul family, Yip family, Zhang family and the Chadwich family.
Casual Clothes Day-Colours of the Ocean
Friday was ‘Casual Clothes Day’ at school and our theme was ‘colours of the ocean.’ This event was part of our ocean sustainability theme for term 2 and 3. Students were encouraged to bring in 50 Baht donations for our current fundraiser which is the construction of an Eco Catamaran made entirely of recycled plastic that will be used to clean debris from the sea before it reaches the shorelines of Phuket.
On 20 March, the Aqua Panthers will camp out in the Sports Hall from 6.00pm to 6.00am while swimmers take turns swimming laps for 30 minutes at a time to crank out as many meters they can in order to raise money for this term’s appeal: the Oceans For All Eco Catamaran! Support our Aqua Panthers as they appeal for sponsorship throughout the next few weeks. -Coach Brown
Nicholas Carter
My name is Nick Carter and I am from Kent, in the UK. I came to Thailand in 2015, after 6 years of living and teaching P.E. in Stockholm, Sweden (where it snows for six months of the year!). So, it is fair to say that I was ready for a completely different climate change, as well as cultural change. My sporting background is very diverse. I grew up with a passion for playing football but, later, in my teens, I discovered baseball. I made my debut for the Great Britain national baseball squad at the age of 18 and played with the squad for the next 14 years. I also trained as a professional contemporary dancer and toured nationally and internationally for 7 years in numerous dance companies. Although I have many other sporting interests, I want to make it clear that P.E. teachers are not just whistle blowing, basketball bouncing individuals, as I released my first fictional novel (in June, 2015). However, participating in sport, physical activity, and leading a healthy lifestyle are very important to me, and I’ve enjoyed imparting my knowledge in teaching and coaching environments for over 20 years. I am delighted to be HeadStart’s Director of Sport and my fundamental aims are for our students to continue to experience a really diverse range of physical activities, all the while having loads of fun through being active. For example, HeadStart pupils will participate in the following sports activities in either curriculum time or in our fantastic After School Sports programme: Basketball, Netball, Football, Rugby, Athletics, Swimming, Badminton, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Softball, Rounders, Yoga, Dance, and Gymnastic activities (amongst others). If you have any questions, you can email me at – [email protected]
After School Programme Announcement
We hope that everyone is enjoying the fact that After School Programmes have resumed again. For your information, any missed fee-paying classes, due to cancellation over the past two weeks will be credited to your Term 3 ASP invoice. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact the programme manager or the ASP manager by writing to [email protected]
Parent Fitness Update
Due to the popularity of the parent fitness classes and the over subscription of attendees, there will need to be a change in the sign-up procedure. Chai, resident fitness coach, now oversee the sign-up process. He will have the sign-up sheets and parents must sign up with him before attending class. In order to make it fair you are not permitted to sign up other people. You will also be handed a laminated number card (numbered 1-25) which is your ticket entry into the class. If class sign up is full (25 people) and you enter class without a ticket then you will be very politely asked to leave the studio.
It is very important, for health and safety reasons, we do not oversubscribe our classes, so please respect the instructors and sign up in good time to ensure your place in the class. This procedure will begin from Monday, 16th March.
Below is a reminder of the rules:
- Maximum of 25 participants
- Sign up to guarantee your place
- No entry after classes begin
- Adults only in the fitness suite/studio
- Clean mats/tidy space after class
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by visiting me in the PE department office or writing to [email protected]
Songkran Festivities
Due to the ongoing Coronavirus situation, we have cancelled our annual Songkran water celebrations. Given the nature of the event where large quantities of water are thrown by children and adults at each other and the fact that physical contact is inevitable, I am sure you will agree that this is a wise precaution to take at this time. On a more positive note, our swimming lessons have continued as normal and our Swimming Galas have not been cancelled. Like our swimming lessons; our Swimming Galas are planned and structured events that take place in our swimming pool which contains treated water that is safe for our pupils. Parents are invited to spectate their child’s swimming gala. All parents spectating a Swimming Gala will be temperature checked and asked to hand wash upon arrival to the Swimming Gala.
Swimming Gala Information
The Swimming Gala will be a House competition and the students will experience traditional competitive races and/or fun/wacky races and everyone will be guaranteed to have lots of fun in the water. Students should come to school on the day with their swimming costumes, towels, water bottles, and they should wear water-resistant sunblock.
IMPORTANT: Normal swimming classes will continue during the week, so students should still bring in their swimming costumes for their regular swimming class if it is not on the same day as their Gala. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate in contacting me. -Coach Brown
| Early Years Yellow & Blue | Thursday, 2nd April - 09.55-10.40 |
| Reception Yellow & Blue | Tuesday, 31st March – 10.45-11.30 |
| Year 1 | Tuesday, 31st March - 08.30-09.30 |
| Year 2 | Tuesday, 31st March - 12.55-13.55 |
| Year 3 | Monday, 30th March - 10.55-11.55 |
| Year 4 | Friday, 3rd April - 08.30-09.30 |
| Year 5 | Monday, 30th March- 8.30-9.30 |
| Year 6 | Tuesday, 31st March – 14.15-15.15 |
Our rooftop garden is looking fresh. Stay tuned for news on how basic gardening skills will be incorporated into the curriculum!
After 6 weeks of Active Learning Basketball in term 2, Coach Ball will come for the last 4 weeks to train the 22 students in the class and potentially recruit few of them for HeadStart team!
Year 1 Blue had a great time in our Science lesson. We went outside to the playground to look for things that we have to push or pull when we play on them. We found so many examples and now we know that it is a ‘force’ that makes them move. -Ms Lucie Bevins
Year 1 White went out into the playground for their Science lesson this week. They brought their cuddly toys into school and had to think of different ways that they could make them move. They learnt that to make something move you need to apply a force to it. -Mr Paul Williams
Year 1 Blue have loved our China Day today. We made cute panda pets, worked as a team to make a huge Chinese flag and we even tried some delicious desserts. We now also know lots of facts about China. -Ms Lucie Bevins
Year 7 students have been learning about the three classes of Thai consonants(อักษร 3 หมู่) and the “uea” vowel (สระเอือ). At the end of the lesson, they enjoyed sharing and rewriting the conclusion of those topics in their own language. -Kru Yui
Year 7s made some lemonade by using ratio and proportions to calculate the amount of ingredients required to make the right serving size for the class. They had applied Mathematics to their daily life by employing hands on learning. Alisa won the prize for the best lemonade maker. -Ms Natasha Sethi
Our amazing girls from Headstart Acro dance group performed at the ATOD International Dance Competition 2020. Although the girls are only 9 to 12 years old, they already are such great performers and powerful dancers. -Ms Fabienne Mester, Dance School Manager
Students from the HeadStart Dance Academy attended the ATOD International Dance Competition earlier this year. We are very happy to be able to share the photos that depict their beautiful performances!
- Harley Quinn and the Joker (Eva and Dylan) danced to the emotions of humour, anger, sadness and happiness. What an amazing duo!
- Fleur and Juliette followed a story about two girls with dreams who found friendships who then went on their way hand in hand.
- Ellie and Luna, performed a duo about a constant battle and connection between strength and weakness which is what makes everyone of us who we are. Beautiful!
- Ending with a few of the OA (Original Angels from Headstart Dance Performing Group senior) dancing their heart out to a choreography created as a wish for a better world which is so appropriate now!
-By Ms Fabienne Mester, Dance School Manager
Active learners researched the best ways to make fake blood for make up and special effects this week. It turns out corn syrup, chocolate sauce and food coloring makes for some really realistic outcomes. Students really enjoyed making their prosthetic wounds look even more gory and realistic! -Ms Samantha Gill
Students in Active Learning have used the online printing program Tinkercad to design and print 3D objects.
The Year 12-13 LAMDA Public Speaking teacher and international presenter, Able Wanamakok, invited in Breathwork Master Susanna Eduini to give a breathing session. This helped the students to balance their emotions, sharpen their minds, build focus and clarity and learn how to handle stress with their own breath. It was an enlightening session thanks to Susanna and gave the students a Headstart in handling the upcoming LAMDA exams as well as their other exams with confidence.
| House News |
Last Friday, Y11 & 10 took part in an Ultimate Frisbee tournament and this was won by the Green Dragons. This rocketed their points and they are now getting close enough to knock the Red Phoenixes from 2nd position. Meanwhile, the Y7-9 students and their Homeroom Teachers took part in a very fun and exciting ‘Minute to win it’ competition. The Challenges included an office chair race, bottle flipping, balloon juggling, biscuit eating, stacking biscuits on teacher’s heads and rescuing jelly worms from whipped cream. The students enjoyed taking part in these activities, but particularly enjoyed seeing their teachers take part too! The Yellow Cheetahs were the most victorious in this competition, possibly due to Mr Benham’s highly competitive nature! We are now through the first round of this half-term’s Primary Dodgeball competition and the Yellow Cheetahs are currently in the lead. As ever, a popular lunchtime activity! Here are the current house points… -Ms Kirstie Melville
