Weekly Update #11, 13 November 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.

Students Returning From Overseas

As you may know, we have some students coming back to school after returning to Thailand from overseas. This is a short note to reassure all parents within our community that all persons entering Thailand are required to go through 15 nights of Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ) on arrival into the Kingdom as well as multiple Covid tests prior to being ‘released’. The total number of tests a person will have had prior to coming into school will be at least four, and over a 15-20 day period. This gives us a very high degree of certainty that students re-joining us do not have the Covid-19 virus. I am sure you will join me in welcoming these students back into our community after they have been away from their friends for so long.

Please do not forget that all persons entering the school site should be wearing a mask, will have their temperature taken on entry and should also use the automatic hand sanitisers just after going through the turnstiles. I thank you for your support in continuing to keep our school and our children safe. Mr Adam Drew, Headmaster

Sponsor a Child at Phuket Sunshine Village

Our term 1 annual community fundraiser has been launched and we would like to invite you to join in supporting this worthy cause. Children at the Phuket Sunshine Village Foundation are in need of regular support for their daily living expenses. They need funding for their food, water, electricity and cleaning equipment, as well as personal items like uniforms, stationery, bedding and toiletries. At the moment there are 49 children benefiting from the PSV services and it costs approximately 5,500 Baht per child per month. While we may not be able to cover all of the running costs, together we can do something! If you haven’t yet had the chance, please visit the atrium and read through the stories of the children who need your support and sponsor a child for 1,000 Baht as an individual or as a group and put a smile on a young child’s face! Contact the front office for more information or to donate.

Today is Odd Socks Day! Our senior prefects have been working with the Student Support Team and have been busy setting up for our weekly lunchtime activities. Today students across the whole school designed their own odd socks and made unique funky sock puppets. At HeadStart we value all our students’ differences and celebrate their individuality and everything that makes us unique. We can’t wait to see all the lunch activities this week which have been designed to encourage our students to express themselves and unite against bullying. -Ms Hayley Milner

Football News

It was a great experience for both of our Girls HeadStart Panther Football teams on Saturday as they took on the Thai team M-Den Academy. It was the first game for the U13 Girls and they really impressed us with their teamwork and energy especially at the start as we managed to score 2 early goals. The U/O 15 Girls also had a challenging game against a strong M-Den team but showed great professionalism and work rate in the game to NGU (Never Give Up). Well Done Girls! -Coach Frost

Art Department News

This week the Reception children created out of this world space paintings by using sponging paint around templates of the moon, rocket, stars and planets. We then experimented with flicking paint from the brushes to add a starry sky effect. The year 5s learnt how to hand sew a blanket stitch using a needle and yarn. They are using this particular stitch to enclose their felt pencil cases before adding extra detail next week. -Ms Heidi Secker

Science Department News

Year 11 are currently studying about Crude Oil in Organic Chemistry. When it is drilled out of the ground it is useless. This is because it is a mixture of many Hydrocarbons of varying size. By the process of fractional distillation, the mixture can be separated into useful fractions such as petrol. To act as fuels is one of the main uses of the fractions. As seen in the picture, the larger molecules burn with a smoky flame compared to the smaller molecules. The smaller molecules are better as fuels. By a process of cracking, the larger molecules can be broken down into smaller molecules. In the picture, the fume cupboard is preventing black particles from going into the classroom in order to ensure the student’s safety.

By using the molecular model’s students can more easily understand the structure of these molecules. Plastics such as polyethene can also be represented by the ‘Molymods’ as seen in the other picture with many carbon atoms, joined together. In the lessons, we have been looking at how we make these molecules but there are also well document problems associated with these materials. For example, dumping at sea and the harm to wildlife. By understanding how we make these molecules can society find a solution to these problems.

Check out this hot promotion for the Cassia Hotel with fantastic add-ons HERE to find out more