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Weekly Update #3, 13 September 2019
Dates for Your Diary
Upcoming events can be found on the calendar on the website School Life → Calendar but we have outlined upcoming events here for easy reference. For daily updates and news follow the HeadStart Facebook Page
| Date | Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 September | After school | Free & Paid ASPs begin | After school |
| 17 September | 8:30am | Homework/Bug Club/Diagnostic Question Meeting | Secondary Hall |
| 19 September | 8:30am | Positive Parenting Meeting | Primary Hall |
| 19 September | 8:15am | UPrep Drop ins | Coffee shop |
| 19 September | 8:10am | Literary and Cultural trip to England Meeting | Dance & Drama Studio |
| 20 September | 12:00-4:00pm | Blood Donations | Library |
| 21 September | 8:30am | BISP Open - Swim Academy | BISP |
| 23 September | 12:00pm | Sixth Form University Fair | BISP |
| 26 September | 8:15am | UPrep Talk: Standardised Testing | Primary Hall |
| 27 September | 10:30am | Student Council Meeting | |
| 28 September | 9:00am | Saturday Thai Culture Club | TBA via email |
| 28 September | 7:00am | U9 to Over 15 PISAC Football | UWCT |
| 30 September | 8:15am | World Music Workshop for IGCSE students | BISP |
Introducing the Team
Meet Mr. Richard Cramp, our Secondary History teacher. Richard has a true passion for the environment and for the students he teaches. His positive disposition makes him a wonderful teacher and co worker. Richard is always caring for his students’ well being and we are lucky to have him on the HeadStart team!
Meet Kru Kan. She teaches the ‘Thai First Language’ Year 8 - 9 students as well as the Year 10-11 IGCSE students. She has been working here at HeadStart for 5 years and is an invaluable part of our team. You can see her beautiful smile every time you pass her in the corridors. Read what she has to say below.
Parent Handbooks
The Foundation, Primary and Secondary handbooks have been updated and provided as downloads below. The handbooks provide detailed information outlining student life, policies and procedures. They are an integral part of parent involvement and understanding.
Handbooks are also found on the website in these links: Foundation Primary Secondary
Instrumental Lessons
This year we will have the following individual instrumental lessons on offer for children from age 5: piano, voice, saxophone, clarinet, flute, drums and guitar (from age 7). For more information contact [email protected]
Coffee With the Counsellors
On Thursday morning as part of R U Ok? day at HeadStart parents had the opportunity to have ‘Coffee With the Counsellors’. They met our new school counsellors, Hayley Milner and Stephanie Costa who shared with them information about the counselling service and the benefits for students and families. Parents discussed the key areas of a child’s development and had the chance to share their experience of being a parent in an ever-changing world. Thank you to all those parents who attended. By Mr Michael Atkins, Student Support
Supervised Study
As of Monday, 16th of September, the Library will be open as a supervised study zone for Year 7-11 students between 3.30-5.30pm Monday to Thursday, and between 3.10-5.00pm on Friday. The purpose for opening the Library for the Secondary students is to give them a quiet place to study or read while waiting to join the swimming or football academy or other late after school activities. Regular Library rules apply and students who do not comply (no video gaming or loud noise) will be asked to leave.
Literary and Cultural Trip to England 2020
Parents with children in Year 9 and up who are interested in sending their child on the Literary and Cultural trip to England next summer are invited to attend a meeting with Mr Pollicutt, Head of English and Humanities. The meeting will be held in the Dance & Drama Studio on Thursday, 19th of September between 8:10- 9:00am.
Blood Donations
HeadStart, in collaboration with Vachira Hospital, we are inviting anyone over 17 years old to donate blood on the 20th of September, 2019 in the Secondary Library between 12:00-4:00pm.
- Donors must be between the age of 17-70 years old.
- Donors must be in good health: no sickness or infection.
- Donors should not have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, a thyroid condition or cancer.
- Foreigners who want to donate will need to have resided in Thailand for at least 1 year prior to donating and for 6 months for those whose home country is in Asia.
- Donors who weigh between 45-50 kg. can donate up to 350 cc of blood. Donors who weigh over 50 kg can donate up to 450 cc of blood.
R U OK? Day
This week on Thursday, HeadStart took part in R U OK? Day: a day of action to start important conversations and empower us to connect with each other. Through a range of activities, students learned to build confidence in recognising when someone might be struggling. Our students performed in an R U OK? morning concert, participated in role plays and had important conversations in homerooms and had fun in range of lunch time activities. Remember, every day should be a day to ask R U OK? By Ms Hayley Milner
David Pollicutt
My name is David and I joined HeadStart International School in 2018. I am from the UK and grew up in the large port city of Bristol. I studied English Literature at the University of East Anglia, and trained to teach at The Institute of Education in The University of London. I taught in East London for four years, before moving to teach for eight years as Head of English in Viet Nam and China. I am a firm believer in developing students to be natural enquirers, following the Sir Ken Robinson model of best preparing students to use transferable skills for the shifting landscapes of their futures. I seek to encourage an epistemological approach in my lessons, urging students to evaluate the efficacy of the information they consume and the validity of interpretations. I am passionate about literature and will often be chortling at David Lodge’s tragicomedy or swooning at Ian Mcewan’s literary sleight of hand. Outside of the classroom I am a keen student of Philosophy, Politics and Film. I am a particular fan of the intellect and charisma exuded by Jordan Peterson, Sam Harris and the late and much missed Christopher Hitchens. I have a terminal case of devotion to Tottenham Hostpsur Football Club; it teaches me patience and humility.
World Scholar’s Cup- Global Round Manila Report
From 5th-11th September, HeadStart International School students rocked Manila in the Global Round of The World Scholar’s Cup. This rigorous competition requires both juniors (Year 9 and below) and seniors (Year 10 and up) to apply their knowledge on a thematic syllabus covering literature, the arts and the sciences (this year’s theme was ‘Worlds on the Margins’) across a range of activities.
Students took part against students from other schools in a competition comprising of a range of challenging debates, quizzes and challenges. Students reaped the rewards though, taking home over a dozen gold and silver medals between them and qualifying for the prestigious Tournament of Champions at Yale University in November.
Waking everyday at the crack of dawn and retiring late at night made for a demanding but rewarding trip. We were, however, able to see many of the historic sights in beautiful Manila on our one free day, and as you can see from the video, students certainly enjoyed themselves.
If you are interested in signing up for this ASP, know that it is one which will help develop you both in and out of the classroom as well as being an excellent element to add to future university applications Please speak to Ms. Milner or me, or go directly to Ms. Van der Laan in the Admissions Office for more information or visit their website to find out more! World Scholars Cup Website
Well done to Sabrina An, Mayvey Zakharov, Yan Pintusov, Valeriya Sirotnina and Hannah Snyders; you were all a credit to yourselves and the school. Thank you too for teaching me how to speak like an ‘e-boy’ with your Instagram-based linguistic advice.
Our Primary Library Monitors are back on duty. See if you can catch them in action! By Ms Mai, Librarian
Early Years have really enjoyed getting to know each other and exploring the different areas of their classroom. As part of their ‘Marvellous Me’ topic, they have been exploring their five senses. For the ‘taste’ aspect, the children tried eating limes! Most of them said they were super sour, but kept eating them. We hope you enjoy their funny expressions! Miss Amy and Miss Saki
The Year 2 ‘Thai Second Language’ students enjoyed learning about words with the ‘i’ (สระอิ) vowel. They read words from a reading chart bookmark that they made by themselves. By Kru Pim
Year 6 have been investigating circuits over the past two weeks. They thoroughly enjoyed trying make the brightest bulb and making their own switches using split pins. By Ms Sophie Webb
The active learning students from years 7-9 have been learning some basic graffiti techniques, learning how to make a stencil and safely use spray paint to create colourful art. By Ms Jody Leow
Yesterday, Year 7 celebrated all things Roald Dahl and had fun creating an innovative confectionery brand. Taking inspiration from some of the wonderful sweets and chocolates found in Dahl’s novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, they worked in groups to create a strong brand and identity before designing their packaging for their new sweet. They then looked at the ingredients of a successful ‘pitch’ before engaging in a ‘Dragons’ Den’ style activity, where students had to pitch their new brands to their teachers. There were more fun and games throughout today, including some fantastic performances in the afternoon to celebrate Roald Dahl Day! By Mr Ashley Paice
In the Year 8 Thai class we have been reviewing action verbs. We played some games to help students remember what we have learned. By Kru Gen
Our BTEC Business students working hard on a top secret Business Enterprise….more details to be released soon! By Ms Yardenna Jones, BTEC Coordinator
House News
It’s been a very busy week for House Activities. The weekly house quiz has started and this week the students were answering questions about their teachers. Dragons have shown that they know their teachers the best as they came top of the table this week. Thank you to our Phoenix house captains Keira and Ellie for a super quiz!
Year 10 and Year 9 kicked off the Secondary House competitions with a game of Tug of War. The Year 10 Dragons were a force to be reckoned with! After beating the Tigers within seconds of starting, they dug deep and replenished the strength they needed to beat the Cheetahs in the finals. The Tigers made up for the loss they suffered in the Year 10 competition by being crowned the overall winners of the Year 9 competition. T
he primary school have been enjoying a team game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot’. This is a game of chance and it is not surprising that the scores were so close. The Phoenix house weren’t to be beaten this week as they came joint first in the Y4-6 competitions and first in the Y1-3 competition. (Photos can be found on the HeadStart Facebook Page
Introducing the Yellow Cheetahs and the Green Dragons House Captains for the 2019-2020 academic year!
The Phoenix House are out in the lead this week, but another house pull it back next week? Here are the House Points totals for this week…
