Weekly Update #14, 6 December 2019

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!

School calendars for the next two academic years are now available online. Visit THIS LINK to find out more.

The HeadStart coffee shop is a work in progress. The staff have undergone training to be able to provide good service and great taste. Drop us a line if you have suggestions for improvement. We are all ears!

Christmas Activity Day and Festivities

Welcoming everyone to dress in festive colours and outfits on the 16th of December, which is the last day of school. Students in Secondary should come prepared with clothing that they can get wet in and a change of clothes. More details are provided in the links below.

Something to look forward to are a few adorable performances by our littlest dancers in front of the Christmas tree at 7.45am on Monday, Thursday and Friday. Our Mini Hip Hop (Y1-2) and Hip Hop (Y3-4), Purple Ballet (Y1-2), Blue Ballet (Y1-3) and Black Ballet (Y2-4) as well as our Hip Hop (Y5-7) and Hip Hop groups (Y4-7) will be giving us a little taste of what they have been learning this term. Come and cheer them on.

Also new this year will be the BTEC students who have been planning a food and beverage menu that will be served on the 16th of December between 2.00-3.30pm in the dining room and public areas. The students will be trying their hand at this small business venture so come along and buy to your heart’s content showing them support.

→ Foundation Christmas activity programme can be found by clicking HERE

→ Year 1-13 Christmas activity programme can be found by clicking HERE.

Year 11 Mock Exams

Year 11 mock exams take place during 2 weeks in January each year. These exams provide practice for the real IGCSE exams, which are usually scheduled in May/June. The results from the mocks assist with decisions about final entries, any interventions required, predicted grades and conversations about sixth form choices.

For more information, please see the presentation that was delivered to parents on 3rd December 2019 about Year 11 mocks and future plans. The timetable for the January mocks has already been shared with students, and it is also available here.

If you still have queries, please do not hesitate to contact Ms Jennifer Blackweir - Director of Academics by writing to [email protected]

We did it! Our Senior CAPA Academy has pulled off our most challenging show yet. The students have been working relentlessly since the end of August with many an evening and weekend rehearsal to produce a fantastic showcase of near professional quality acting, singing and dancing. We couldn’t be more proud of this bunch of talented individuals. They truly are a special group!

There were many people involved to make this happen ranging from our Art and DT staff, Maintenance, Housekeeping and Admin. But I would especially like to thank Fabienne Mester, Hayley Milner, Joel Adams, Alex Holmes, Jennifer Blackweir and Fred for the endless hours they have put in to make this another HeadStart success. Full albums will be available on the HeadStart Facebook page. Ms Erika Cramp, Director of Creative and Performing Arts

Children are really enjoying lots of Jungle provision this week! Ms Charlotte Myers

The children are constantly working on their physical development through a range of activities. Last week, they got to try out the big primary playground and challenged themselves on monkey bars, the climbing frame and other apparatus! Miss Angela was so impressed with their effort and you can see the children really enjoyed themselves. Well done Early Years Blue! Ms Saki

Last week, Early Years challenged themselves by making gingerbread men during the Traditional Tales topic! They talked about washing hands before and after making the dough, showing a great understanding of good practice with regards to hygiene. They also talked about how the wet and dry ingredients felt when they were mixing. They then took the gingerbread men home as a treat; none of the gingerbread men ran away like they did in the story, thank goodness! Well done Early Years. Ms Amy and Ms Saki

The 5th of December was Father’s Day in Thailand and the Reception students enjoyed making cards. They were so happy and so proud to give the cards to their fathers. Kru Cherry

Year 3 Yellow children went on a Geography field trip. The children were observing human and physical features around Phuket. This included a traffic survey, sketching a mangrove forest, visiting the headland and of course a little bit of fun to end the trip. Ms Nicola Fallows

Students in The World Scholar’s Cup VAP have been ruminating on what might be involved with 2020’s syllabus theme of ‘A World Renewed’. Before the details of the content are released early next year, scholars put on their critical thinking hats to create various investigative projects centered around this concept of renewal. As you can see, these projects came in many creative guises, from poetry, to audio-visual interviews. I am sure this has got you all thinking. So how about it; what does ‘A World Renewed’ mean to you? Mr Pollicutt and Ms Milner

November 28 marked ‘Le Jour du Professeur de Francais’ (Day of French Teachers) celebrated around the world. A competition was organized by the French Embassy on the theme of innovation and creativity in the classroom and in the category “Francophone Teacher” it was the French Y6 students of HeadStart who were the winners along with their teacher, Ms Heloise Sangan. The aim of the competition was to promote the profession of French teacher through activities and events that will create links and solidarity all around the world.

The students and their teacher planned and developed a board game adapted to learners of the French language, and the game will eventually be shared and downloadable for free for teachers or learners around the world via a website. Playing to learn is a very good way to teach because learners retain information without realizing it, and learners also participate more actively and have more chances to practice speaking the language. Here’s a clip of the video made to explain it more: https://youtu.be/kvmtd9W4LVU Mr Michael Opaliski

Congratulations to the Red Phoenixes who were announced as the overall winners of Term 1. Members of the Red Phoenixes will be treated to a movie morning on Tuesday 10th December. The Primary School are already scoring points for next term by participating in lunchtime board games in the atrium. Here are the winning totals for this term…Ms Kirstie Melville