Weekly Update #17, 09 January 2026

Welcome Back: An Action-Packed Term 2 at Chaofah

Welcome back to all our students and families for the start of Term 2. It has been wonderful to see the campus full of energy as we prepare for a busy term ahead. From the upcoming residential trips to Chiang Mai and Khao Sok for our Secondary students to the Duke of Edinburgh Award adventures, there are numerous opportunities for our learners to explore and grow beyond the classroom.

We are also pleased to highlight the successful launch of our new school menu this week. The students have shown great excitement for the new options, and it is encouraging to see them enjoying healthy, nutritious meals as they settle back into their routines. We look forward to seeing our community come together for our upcoming Sports Days and cultural celebrations, including the Lunar New Year Market and International Day.

Happy Children’s Day!

Tomorrow is a special reminder that our children are the true hope of the future. From the youngest learners in Foundation to our graduating students, every child brings a unique perspective and energy to our campuses.

We are dedicated to providing an environment where they can thrive, ensuring they have the tools they need to lead us forward. Together, we are raising a generation with the heart to love Thailand and the vision to care for the world.

Community Beach Clean @ Rawai Beach

We look forward to seeing you at our next beach clean event held at Rawai beach, this Sunday 11th January (meet 9:30am @ We Cafe). Bring with you water, suncream, a hat and reusable gloves if you want to wear them. We will provide collection bags and of course House Points for every participant.

Come join us for a fun and rewarding community event where we give back to our local community.

Toddler Playgroup Returns!

Our free Toddler Playgroup at HeadStart Cherngtalay campusis back! Parents with children aged 1-4 years are invited to join us onWednesday, 14th January from 9:00 to 10:00am. Designed for toddlers, this session is guided by our qualified team and offers a range of play-based activities, including sensory stations, hands-on crafts, story time, and songs to develop motor skills and curiosity. This is a wonderful opportunity for families to connect and experience our school community. Please scan the QR code in the poster to register your interest.

5th HeadStart Chess Tournament

Fight for cash prizes totaling 4000 THB, medals and a bunch of other attractive awards for all participants! All HeadStart students are welcome and all players are going to be awarded!

🗓️ Date: Saturday, 17th January

🕘 Time: Attendance check 11:15AM

📍 Location: Canteen, Chaofah City Campus

To register and reserve your place, act fast! Double entry fee if you register on the day of tournament! Contact coach Dawid.

Join Us for the Year 1 and 2 Play & Picnic

We invite our Year 1 and 2 families to the Chaofah City Campus for a morning dedicated to community and play. This event offers a chance for parents and children to engage in organised games and enjoy a magic show together on our covered football pitch. It is an ideal opportunity to meet other families and enjoy a relaxed start to the weekend.

Families should bring their own picnic snacks and blankets to enjoy on the grass. As this is a family-focused event, we require parents to accompany and supervise their children throughout the morning. We look forward to seeing our younger learners and their families participating in this collaborative session.

📅 Date & Time: Saturday, 24 January, 9:00 – 11:00 AM

📍 Location: Covered Football Pitch, Chaofah City Campus

📝 Action: Scan the QR code or register via the Play & Picnic Registration Form

☀️ Essentials: Please bring a sunhat, sunscreen, drinking water (or a re-usable bottle) and food to share

🎟️ Cost: Free of charge

Applying to Australia & New Zealand Universities

Wednesday’s UPrep Parent Talk provided a comprehensive guide to applying to universities in Australia and New Zealand. The session highlighted the key benefits of studying in the Southern Hemisphere—from world-class education and lifestyle opportunities to clear post-study work routes—while breaking down essential logistics like application timelines, entry requirements, costs, and how A-Level qualifications are recognized.

The interactive format allowed parents to engage directly with the University Counselling team, asking insightful questions about the practicalities of the application process and English language requirements. This event underscored the importance of early planning and open discussion in the university search. Families are warmly encouraged to join upcoming UPrep sessions as we continue to explore global higher education pathways throughout the academic year.

UPrep Talk 9 – Applying to Australia and New Zealand

Parent Meetings in January

We have a series of meetings designed to strengthen the partnership between home and school. From essential details regarding upcoming Key Stage 3 residential trips to practical workshops on Thai homework and emotional regulation strategies, these sessions provide valuable insights for parents. We look forward to welcoming you to the Primary Hall to discuss how we can best support your child’s development together.

UPrep Meetings

Our UPrep team is hosting vital sessions to help families navigate the higher education landscape. We encourage parents to attend the focused talk on applying to Asian universities to explore these diverse opportunities, or to visit our drop-in session for personalised advice. These meetings are a great opportunity to ensure you are fully equipped to support your child’s future pathway.

Elevating Standards in Maths Education

HeadStart is proud to be named a White Rose Champion School, a title that acknowledges our dedication to high-quality maths teaching. This commitment was recently highlighted when we hosted a regional Adaptive Teaching Conference and a whole-staff INSET. These events allowed our teachers to collaborate with colleagues from across the region, sharing strategies to ensure maths is accessible and challenging for every student, regardless of their starting point.

Becoming a Champion School is more than an award; it provides our staff with ongoing professional learning and access to a global network of expertise. By staying at the forefront of mathematical pedagogy, we ensure that our classrooms remain dynamic environments where students are encouraged to think critically. We are incredibly proud of our staff and pupils for their hard work in achieving this international recognition.

ECA Fair

The ECA Fair took place this week, showcasing the range of external programmes on offer. Vendors representing diverse interests – from dance and robotics to martial arts – were present to answer questions and assist with sign-ups. This event ensures families have access to a broad selection of activities outside of the standard curriculum.

Celebrating Our Future IT Leaders: Jacob Takes Gold

We are thrilled to announce that for the second consecutive year, HeadStart student Jacob (7 Yellow) has been awarded 1st place in the Senior Competition at the annual CYBERone Phuket Hackathon. Jacob’s project was a standout example of ‘smart screen time’. Working independently in Roblox Studio, he designed a game from scratch in just two hours, demonstrating not just technical skill but mature thinking and precise execution. His success highlights the shift we encourage in all our students: moving from passively consuming technology to actively using it as a tool for development and logic.

This term, our ECA partner CYBERone offers students the opportunity to develop these same future-focused skills. The new sessions, including ‘Roblox Creators’ and ‘Minecraft Digital Education’, go beyond gaming to teach game design, Lua programming, and algorithmic thinking. These courses are designed to help students turn their ideas into tangible results, fostering the same kind of creativity and problem-solving that led to Jacob’s impressive win.

Saturday Chess Academy

We are pleased to announce the launch of Saturday Chess Academy sessions this term, offering students an opportunity to deepen their skills beyond regular ECA lessons. Sessions will take place at our Chaofah City Campus. The Saturday Chess Academy is designed to build on and expand the material covered during weekday ECA lessons. For students who are keen to make steady progress, the ideal combination is participation in both ECA chess and the Saturday Academy.

There will be a total of 13 sessions on selected Saturdays from 24 January to 13th June. FUN-damentals (2 hours, 13 sessions, 10,900 THB) is for Beginners and Intermediate players who already know the rules and moves. Advanced Chess Lab (3 hours, 13 sessions, 12,850 THB) is for Advance players and is by invitation/approval only.

Registration

Parents can register for FUN-damentals (Saturday session) via the Engage portal.

Advanced Chess Lab: Registration is available only via this link. Places are limited and recommended for students who have placed in the top 10 of school chess tournaments. Exceptions may be considered, but students must already be comfortable with core chess concepts and terminology, as sessions will focus on advanced ideas.

Duolingo Language Competition Winners

We are pleased to celebrate the success of our Duolingo Language Competition, which took place from 21 October to 7 December 2025 for students in Years 7 to 9.

Congratulations to our winning classes:

• Year 7 HeadStart Cherngtalay – EAL, with 12,668 XP

• Year 8 HeadStart Cherngtalay – French, with 14,586 XP

• Year 9 HeadStart Chaofah City – Mandarin Foreign, with 26,447 XP

Throughout the competition, students showed excellent commitment to regular language practice and teamwork. Winning students were awarded Duolingo Winners’ Certificates, along with a Duolingo mascot owl plush, as seen in the accompanying photos.

We would also like to recognise our top individual performers, all from the Chaofah campus and members of Ms Qiao’s Mandarin Foreign Language class:

• Sebastian (8 Yellow) – 11,571 XP

• Ivan (7 White) – 9,507 XP

• Louie (9 White) – 7,489 XP

These students received individual placement certificates and were awarded 50, 30 and 15 House Points respectively for their outstanding effort. A special mention also goes to Ms Qiao for her continued support and motivation of students throughout the competition. Well done to all students who took part. We look forward to building on this success in our next language competition.

Where We Live: Our Place in Phuket

Year 3 White really enjoyed sharing their home learning projects. Showing remarkable creativity, they made some wonderful models that exhibit many of the highlights of Phuket. Their creations included miniature scenes inside a shoebox, 3D maps and an inventive board game all displaying what they love about the amazing island they call “home”. The students were also courageous when standing up in front of the class to share their projects and answering questions about their creations from the rest of the inquisitive class!

Maths Takes Flight: Year 3’s Paper Aeroplane Measurement Challenge!

Year 3 began the term learning about measure and at the end of the week, the students were given the challenge to find out who could throw a paper aeroplane the furthest. After discussion about what they would need to do to find this out, what unit or units of measurement they would use and how they would record their data, the students got to task! Working in pairs to measure each other’s distances, they showed excellent collaboration and attention to detail. They were especially resilient when ensuring that they were measuring their distances accurately: ‘Even though my plane went further than 2 metres, it didn’t go as far as 3 metres so I had to measure how many more centimetres it travelled and that was tricky!’ Not only did the students have a lot of fun completing the challenge, but they also used their measuring skills in a practical, real life context. Ms Bell – Year 3 Teacher and Primary Maths Lead

BTEC Engineers Visit the Junkyard Workshop

Our BTEC Engineering students recently gained valuable industrial insight during a visit to the Junkyard Theatre metal engineering workshop. This family-run business provided a behind-the-scenes tour of a professional environment where large-scale decorative metal structures are designed and fabricated for global export. The experience allowed students to see how the precision skills they are developing at school – specifically using our new mill and lathe – are applied within a professional industrial context, helping them understand how classroom concepts translate directly into engineering careers.

The visit also featured a demonstration of an industrial CNC machine, which provided a tangible link to the CAD work students are currently completing. Watching digital designs become physical components reinforced the necessity of accuracy and technical planning in a professional setting. This was an informative experience that brought the engineering curriculum to life, showing our learners the scale, creativity, and global impact of the industry they are preparing to enter.

KS3 Bookmark Design Competition

The English faculty are delighted to announce that the winner of our KS3 Bookmark Design Competition is Erik (9 Green). This project was launched to celebrate students reading for pleasure and creativity across the school. We were extremely impressed by not only Erik’s design but of all the designs that were submitted which showed thoughtfulness and were visually inspiring. Students articulated their ideas thoughtfully through writing a reflection to explain their designs and we hope this will inspire more students to read for pleasure. The winning design has been professionally printed and has now been given to all KS3 students. We would like to thank all the participants and look forward to running the competition again next year to celebrate our reading culture across the school!

HeadStart Students Shine

We are delighted to congratulate our students on their significant achievements in recent music and sports competitions, representing HeadStart on both local and international stages.

• Valentina (Year 4 White) secured 2nd place in both Freestyle and Breaststroke at the Swimming School Shark competition, earning a medal and certificate for her performance.