13 Dec 2022

Weekly6 months ago

Weekly Update #16, 16 December 2022

End of Year Message from Mr Drew, Headmaster

Dear Parents,

With the term now complete, I write to you all to wish you a very happy holiday and festive season. For those travelling overseas and visiting loved ones in your home countries I hope that you have a pleasant journey and an enjoyable time with your friends and families abroad.

It has been a packed term filled with more events than we have ever managed to squeeze into a single term! An amazing CAPA production of Chicago, Duke of Edinburgh Trips, Football and Swim competitions in Bangkok, class trips back up and running fully and hosting a very large two day Swim invitational meet are just a handful of the highlights.

In October we were informed of the 15 awards that our students achieved in the Cambridge Outstanding Learner awards where our students scored either the top marks in Thailand or the top marks in the world. Only two schools received more awards than HeadStart this year, a truly incredible achievement by our students!

It is great to see the school back to being the vibrant place it should always be, with the happy, smiling faces of maskless children moving around the school and taking part in a wide range of activities and enrichment. It is the happiness and success of these children which makes every teacher’s job worthwhile.

This has not just been a busy term, but it is also the longest one. All of the things described above happen because of the efforts that your children, our teachers and you yourselves put in every single day. Like most of our teachers, I am sure your children (and perhaps you) are tired and exhausted. Tomorrow begins a well earned break for everyone and I wish you and your families a relaxing and enjoyable vacation and a pleasant new year.

I look forward to seeing everyone back on the 9th of January, refreshed and ready to take on another exciting term!

Merry Christmas!

-Mr Adam Drew, Headmaster

Announcements

Christmas Fair

A big thank you to everyone for participating in our last big event of the year! We want to thank all of the performers, the students and parents who participated in organising stalls selling items of interest or organising games for the children to participate in, not to mention a special thank you to Santa Clause who endured the heat in order to bring our community a bit of Christmas cheer! Enjoy the fantastic photo album of the Christmas Fair here! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

Additional School Bus Heading to Cherng Talay

We are pleased to announce that, due to the increasing demand for students going home via school bus to the North of the island, we will be adding a bus to the Chern Talay route with the addition of 1 bus leaving at 3.30pm. If you would like to register for this service, please contact the admin team by writing to [email protected]

Languages Faculty Week

On 23-25th of January we are hosting Languages Faculty week. On this occasion, we would like to invite families and their children to volunteer for some mini-performances (5 minutes) in the morning just before homeroom time. We are celebrating the diversity of languages in the school, so the language of the performance will not be restricted to English. We would be delighted for singers, traditional dancers, poem readers and any other form of cultural expression that is typical to your native country. If you would like to volunteer, please write to [email protected] and he will provide you with the available time slots.

International Day 10 March 2023

After a long hiatus, International Day is coming back bigger and better! Save the date: 10 March 2023. International Day is a community event that is aimed at celebrating our rich cultural heritages. Traditionally, all participants (children and parents) wear national costume, perform traditional dances and songs and offer a selection of food to share with the community. More details regarding the specifics of the event will follow in term 2 but for now, start planning! If you have any questions please write to [email protected].

Meetings

UPrep Presentation

If you weren’t able to make it to our last UPrep Talk of the year, the information is provided as a download on our UPrep tab on website. As always, if you need further information or would like to speak to one of our University Counsellors, please email Ms Bedi at [email protected] or Ms Gratton at [email protected].

After school Programmes

HeadStart is committed to nurturing the interests and needs of our students. We are proud to offer an outstanding selection of over 180 clubs, sports, boosters, arts, dance, drama and language lessons each week. Have a look at a selection of beautiful photos of the children enjoying ASPs this term! For more information regarding the ASP programme visit our weblink here!

PE & Sports

On December 10th, we hosted our final meet of the year, the Mini Aqua Panthers Invitational. We invited all 10 & Under swimmers from around the island and we had an amazing turnout from 6 different teams! Team Rankings:

1st	BISP 1,330
2nd	HeadStart 630
3rd	Thanyapura 416.5

Overall, we had spectacular swimmers who raced fast, amazing volunteers who helped this event run smoothly and Wonderful coaches who brought their teams to compete and make this event happen. Thank you to everyone and have an amazing holiday! Stay safe and see you poolside next year! -Coach Brown

Thai Department

Congratulations to these students for their excellent effort and for showing great attitude towards learning in the Thai First Language programme this term. Primary - Legend, Evelyn, Miki, Lexie, Rada, Olivia, Mason and May May, Narit, Milin and Khunpon. Secondary- Mint, Baikao, Phukan, Luke and Paper.

Thai Academic Competition

During the last 2 weeks of term, a number of students took part in the Thai Academic Competition 2022. Congratulations to the following students for winning prizes!

Thai handwriting - Soft in Year 4 won the Gold Prize in the lower Primary level and Porsche in Year 7 won the Silver Prize in the upper Primary level.
Music Category - Tanya in Year 11 won 1st place in the upper Secondary level. She will be representing Phuket to compete in the regional round in January.

A big thank you to Kru Cherry and Kru Pim for training and preparing the students and for the excellent effort they put into making this project a great success. We are really proud of them all and very thankful for the support we had from this group of parents during the training and during the competition. -Kru Dia

Student News

Foundation Christmas ‘Stay & Play’

The Foundation children had a wonderful Christmas ‘Stay & Play’ this week! They sang songs, played with their parents and had a special visit from Santa Clause! Merry Christmas everyone in Foundation! Full albums can be found in the Foundation Facebook Group

Primary Student of the Month

Congratulations to all of the Primary children who have won Student of the Month: Whanwhan, Tiger, Tine, Lewis, Focus, Amy, Pruk, Rita, Christian, Amy, Cindy, Justin, Avani, Amari, Erika, Eugene, Arthur and Sasha. Well done and keep up the good work!

Year 2 ‘A Christmas Quarrel’

Year 2 have finally solved their Christmas Quarrel! Realising the best part of Christmas is spending time with all of their family and friends! We really hope you enjoyed the mischief the elves in Year 2 caused. They all worked sooo hard to learn their lines and all of the words to the songs! Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. - Year 2 Team

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Jen Rapkins

Year 4 White

Primary

[email protected]

My name is Jen Rapkins. I joined HeadStart in August 2018 as the Year 4 White Homeroom Teacher after teaching for five years in an international school in Bangkok. My move from the city to the island means I can still indulge my love of travel and scuba diving by continuing to explore the wonders of Thailand, Asia and beyond. Before moving to Thailand in 2013, I was teaching for many years in a middle school in Poole, Dorset in the UK. Despite originally specialising in teaching Key Stage 1, the majority of my teaching experience since then has been in Key Stage 2 and even Year 7 French! My passion for teaching has grown with each year and it is my privilege to work with each and every child and guide them along their journey as lifelong learners. I believe that by capturing their interest and imagination through engaging and innovative lessons in a safe and stimulating environment, children will strive to remain resilient, show consideration and be the best they can. In turn, they will effectively develop their abilities to communicate, to collaborate and to think both creatively and critically. As the new academic year starts, I am looking forward to getting to know all the children in my class, along with their families, throughout this year.

Year 4 Visit to Soi Dog Animal Welfare Foundation

Year 4 White were lucky enough to return to Soi Dogs this week, after unfortunately being rained out when we tried to go last month. We were shown round the site and saw the impressive range of runs, medical units and even a doggy swimming pool! We saw the volunteers in action, walking the dogs of all ages or in the catteries playing with the cats there. On our last trip, we learnt about the rights of animals and about Soi Dogs’ CNVR mission (catch, neuter, vaccinate, release) to reduce the population of street animals as well as to ensure better health.

This trip, we saw how many dogs and cats are looking for their fur-ever homes and, even if someone cannot adopt an animal, they could support the cause in a variety of ways from volunteering, to sponsoring, to donating. The children asked lots of thoughtful questions as they saw first-hand how people can help their communities. Highlight of our two trips was meeting a puppy each time. For both dogs, it was their first time on leads and they were really shy and nervous. However with the patience and kindness the children showed, the puppies got more confident. That is why volunteers are so important! If you would like any further information, check out their website https://www.soidog.org/

Eco Club News

A message from Linda in Year 13:

“Over the past few weeks, many students, teachers and parents have donated plastic to the school. A big thanks to the students in Year 2 Yellow, Year 4 White, and Year 7 Blue and other teachers, particularly to Mr. Costello and Ms. Gratton. The Christmas decorations made by Eco Club and other student participants during lunchtime are thriving and will be sold at the Christmas Fair tomorrow! 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟯𝟬𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗱. 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝟳𝟵% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻.

In the Eco Club, we are using recycling machines in school, giving this ‘waste’ a new life. They are meaningful decorations, unlike other normal ones in the supermarket. This project has been made possible with help from the school’s Design & Technology teachers: Mr. Wells, Kru Krid and Mr. Lategan. Their innovative ideas and professional guidelines have inspired us to be part of the global plastic waste solution.”