Weekly Update #24, 26 March 2021

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.

After School Programmes (ASPs)

Term 2 - Final dates for ASPs

• Friday, 2 April is the final date for ASPs (Free and HeadStart Fee Paid)
• Friday, 9 April is the final date for: Tennis, Jiu Jitsu, Dance, LAMDA and Instruments

Term 3 - ASP info

Dance, LAMDA, Tennis, Jiu-Jitsu, EAL, Boosters, VAPs and other fee paid ASPSs will continue on from Term 2. If you would like to cancel any fee paid ASPs, please contact the programme coordinator before 2 April.

• 8-14 April - Online booking for Term 3 free ASPs only.

We are happy to let you know that students in VAP programmes will be allowed 2 free ASPS in addition to their VAP.

Instrumental Lessons

Have you always wanted to sign your child up for instrumental lessons? We have more openings for lessons in Term 3! You can choose to learn drums, voice, piano or guitar during the day or after school from our dedicated peripatetic team. All levels are welcome. If you are interested to get signed up contact ecramp@headstartphuket to reserve your spot for Term 3. -Ms Erika Cramp, Director of Creative and Performing Arts

HeadStart Science fair

After the Songkran break the young scientists in Years 7 and 8 will be displaying their investigative prowess in HeadStart’s first Science Fair. The Year 8 students will be the first to amaze guests when they present their investigations and findings on Friday the 23rd of April. During the afternoon they will be presenting to other students and then after school, starting at 15.00 and ending at 15.40, we would like to invite members of the wider school community to come up to the Secondary Hall to discover what incredible projects they have carried out.

The year 7s will then have their turn in the spotlight; presenting their projects in the secondary hall on Tuesday the 27th of April, and again the wider school community is invited to come to this between 15:20 and 16:00. We hope to see you all there and if you find yourself in conversation with a year 7 or 8 children in the coming weeks ask them what investigation they are doing in preparation for the Science Fair. -Mr Timothy Davidson, Head of Science Faculty

Russian Language Club

Come and join us in the school atrium on Friday, 02 April as we celebrate Russian language and culture at our very first Russian Culture Club event titled ‘Passport to Russia’! Welcoming all Russian speaking students to come in national costume.

▶ Foundation & Primary - Arts and Crafts in class in the morning.

▶ Secondary - Quiz and Scavenger Hunt in the afternoon.

▶ All school - Russian culture on display/Delicious food/Singing and dancing after school.

Save the date and come join us for what is sure to be a great learning experience for the school community. -Mr Michael Opaliski and the MFL team

Developing Independence in Early Years

“It’s not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings” - Ann Landers

On Tuesday 16th March all Foundation Parents were invited to a presentation focused on ‘Developing Independence in the Early Years’. When children are given the opportunity to become independent young people they are immediately given vital skills needed to achieve in their personal, social and emotional development as well as academic skill. Independent children develop a sense of self-motivation, resilience, critical thinking skills and so much more. The presentation focused on how parents can support independence at home and how important it is to provide consistency and to work collaboratively with teachers. If you missed the presentation, don’t worry, it is here for you to view now!

If you have any questions about independence or are concerned about your child’s independence please do speak with your child’s homeroom teacher or Ms Hannah who will be more than happy to offer support.

E-safety: Keeping our children safe in an online world

A big thank you to all the parents who were able to come to the E-safety meeting on Tuesday morning. Myself and Mr. Hornby were happy to share with you all we do at Headstart to keep the children safe, and aware, as well as to hear what parents are doing at home, and what technologies they have found particularly useful. Below are downloadable versions of the presentations if you were not able to make it. -Mr Michael Marx

Don’t miss the chance to join the upcoming Dance Workshop and showcase from all of the Dance Schools on the island. The deadline is Monday so make sure to sign up over the weekend! Below are the profiles of the teachers who will be running the workshops.

“Miss Hayley Filsinger is a professional dancer based in Los Angeles. Equally versed in tap, jazz, hip-hop, ballet, and Latin dance styles. Miss Hayley has performed and toured with many internationally known artists including Lady Gaga, Juan Gabriel, Ne-Yo, Nelly, P. Diddy, Dirty Money, J. Balvin, DJ Khalid, The Roots, Akon, Run DMC, Ashanti, Brian McKnight, Naughty by Nature, Lil Mama, Bret Michaels, Trace Adkins, Azealia Banks, Blake Shelton, and many others. Appearing on NBC, MTV, BET, VH1, Fuse, Comedy Central, and ESPN, Hayley has danced in music videos and on television shows such as Saturday Night Live, Live! with Kelly, 106 N Park, My Super Sweet Prom, Behind the Scenes, The Sauce, and Dr. Oz Show. Also, Hayley was a featured dancer in the films “English Vinglish”, “Dark Horse” starring Selma Hayek, and “What Woman Want’’ starring Cameron Diaz. She has performed and toured as a dancer, singer, and actress in many burlesque and theatrical shows throughout the United States. Further, she has been a featured model in print, commercial, and web advertisements such as Sports Illustrated, Beach Body, The Bachelor, AT&T, Tanning Bed, National City Bank, Showboat Casino, The House of Blues, Pelle Pelle, Wells Fargo Bank, New Era, Caesars Palace Casino, the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, and the NFL Buffalo Bills Cheerleaders”.

“Kru Mina Van den Sanden studied jazz dance at Bangkok Dance and Contemporary and started competing in many dance battles since she was 15 years old. Mina performed as a professional dancer in music videos, commercials and events, works as a dance manager for and as a choreographer for events and competitions. Mina has been teaching dance since the age of 15, started with k-pop and j-pop then got into hip hop, dancehall, krump, waacking, and travelled the world taking classes everywhere she went go ie. NYC, LA, Japan… from 2018, Mina taught at South Timez, and recently joined Headstart Dance Academy team”.

“Miss Lina is a contemporary dance teacher and choreographer at the studio ‘Prodance’ in Phuket. She studied with different choreographers (Brian Friedman, Brendon Hansford, Nika Kljun) and was a professional dancer in various theatres in Shanghai. For the workshop, Miss Lina will teach contemporary partners choreo; dance duo, new movements and lines that will help the students to improve their dance skills”.

ATOD Dance Competition 2021 Results

Congratulations to all the Headstart students who participated in the 2021 ATOD Dance competition. These students were competing against great young dancers all over Thailand and managed to leave their mark with pride and talent:

🥇 1st Place was awarded to Eva Ducasse for the Novelty solo & Jazz duo with South Timez. 🥈 2nd Place was awarded to Jasmine Guy for the Lyrical solo with South Timez. 🥉 3rd place was awarded to Jasmine Guy for the Contemporary solo category with South Timez.

Gold medals were awarded to the Black Ballet students from Headstart Dance Academy! Well done Cassie, Taisiya, Jan, Chaewon, Luke Nai, Rita, Elsa!

Honourable mentions were made for Rita Wang for the Ballet solo and to Jaya Jungjai for the Jazz solo with South Timez and finally Mali Bell for the Jazz solo with PIDA.

Congrats also to the following students who didn’t get a place but who got a great score for their performance: Luna Ducasse in Jazz solo with South Timez (87/100) / Fleur Sauter Masson in Contemporary solo HeadStart Dance Academy (86/100), Eva Ducasse & Mali Bell with HeadStart Dance Academy in Contemporary duo (87/100). Please keep dancing! it’s very promising.

Football

It was all smiles last Saturdays as both of our Girls Panthers Academy teams played against Pluk Panya School in a friendly game here at HeadStart International School. There was some fantastic football being played from both teams with some spectacular goals. Great teamwork Girls and well done! Thank you to Pluk Panya for being such a friendly opposition! -Coach Frost

Swim Galas

All parents are welcome to watch their child in the pool during their swim gala! Please keep socially distanced and wear a mask while on campus. You will be able to take photos and say bye to your child after we have finished, but please do not try to distract them during the event. All galas are taking place during the day and it is important that they get back to class as soon as the gala is over. Thank you for your cooperation and we look forward to seeing you poolside! -Coach Zak Brown

Preschool Parents ‘Stay and Play’

Thank you so much to all of our wonderful parents who attended the Preschool Stay & Play this morning. As you can see from these photos, it was truly fantastic and everybody had lots of fun exploring the sensory activities and getting messy! We are so pleased that you got to experience this kind of learning with your child (and find out why they come home so wet and colourful so often!). Messy play is extremely important for a child’s development. It provides children with an exciting tactile and sensory experience that inspires their curiosity, allows them to explore the world around them and enhances their learning, language and creativity - maybe you too got to experience this as well today. We are already looking forward to the next time parents can join us for some learning…perhaps next time it won’t be as messy! -Ms Charlotte Myers

‘It’s a Wonderful World!’- By Primary

The HeadStart Primary children singing “What a Wonderful World” is guaranteed to brighten up your day! Thanks to the Primary management team for the organisation and conceptualisation, to Sophie Cunningham for directing, to Sean Clarke (Year 6 teacher) for ground footage and to Mr Michael Marx (Year 2 teacher) for the drone footage and hard work of editing. Teamwork makes the dream work! Click on the link and enjoy!

Year 2 white had such fun making 3D shapes and securing their understanding of the shape’s properties. By using playdough for the vertices & straws for the edges they constructed pyramids and cubes and were able to count the vertices and edges to understand their features. -Mrs Amy Drew

The Year 3 Yellow students are making a Stone Age/Bronze Age settlement as part of their learning in our Humanities topic. -Ms Nicola Fallows

At HeadStart, we set high standards for our Thai first language programme students and we teach them to read and write at a Thai national standard level, which is not common practice for international schools. We also focus on students’ handwriting and encourage our students to work neatly and write beautifully. The timetabling of weekly handwriting sessions and spelling tests provide our teachers with the opportunity to guide and support our pupils to refine skills. Take a look at these beautiful examples of handwriting from our Primary students. They are impressive and I am very proud of them. - Kru Nee, School Director

Year 2 white had such fun making 3D shapes and securing their understanding of the shape’s properties. By using playdough for the vertices & straws for the edges they constructed pyramids and cubes and were able to count the vertices and edges to understand their features. -Mrs Amy Drew