Student Support & Pastoral Care

We are proud to announce the latest development in HeadStart’s commitment to being a sustainable, environmentally conscientious centre for learning. With the installation of solar panels on the roof of our covered astro-pitch, our Cherngtalay campus is now in part powered by solar. Following in the footsteps of our Chaofah City campus, where 80% of our total electrical consumption comes from green, renewable and sustainable energy, we are fulfilling our goal of Sustainable Learning for a Sustainable World. We have also taken steps to reduce our energy consumption by installing motion sensors in classrooms to control aircon units, ensuring our learning spaces remain comfortable for students while at the same time reducing electricity usage.

In collaboration with The Phuket Farmers, we have invested in a growing garden in order to promote teaching students how to grow their own food as a part of the Key Stage 2 Curriculum. We have started with planting white radish, basil, chili, Malabar spinach, Sawtooth, coriander, dill, corn, eggplants, green and red Amaranth, Morning Glory, Katuk (‘Pak Waan’ in Thai), ginger, turmeric, winged beans, yard long beans, watercress, butterfly peas, passion fruits, banana trees, watermelons, sunflowers and flowers (Cosmos, Marigold, Zinnia) to attract beneficial insects such as bees and ladybugs and sunbirds/flower-peckers to create a natural barrier. In addition, the garden is used to support academic interventions, to enhance student wellbeing and as a teaching space for Key Stage 3-5 learners.

The school organises and facilitates monthly community beach clean events, drawing upon our diverse student and parent population to give back to one of the island’s greatest resources: our beaches. A systematic approach to our beach cleans, led by our Upper School Eco Committee, uses two methods: Beachcombing and Beach Panning. With Beachcombing, we collect and sort beach rubbish into three types to enable reuse (interesting found objects), recycling (plastic straws and bottle tops) and appropriate disposal (all other rubbish). With Beach Panning, we select a small section of the beach and focus on removing as much microplastic as we can find as we sift through the sands.

Across the school, we have in place a system for waste paper collection within classrooms and staff spaces enabling us to collect, store and then have recycled off-site, paper that may otherwise have gone into landfill. As part of this Lower Secondary Eco Committee initiative, we also work to reduce the use of paper and promote the use of only recycled paper products (all paper used for printing is from previously recycled sources) thus reducing the overall impact of the schools paper needs.

Design and Technology lessons at HeadStart seek to take an approach which recognises the need for a more sustainable use of materials, a more sustainable approach to design and to the production of more sustainable products. Examples of this approach can be seen in our Key Stage 2 junk modelling, Year 7 Canvas bag design and production, Year 9 potholder production using reclaimed materials, and through Lunchtime Eco Club with students working on projects linked to our on-site Plastic Recycling Centre.

The school’s commitment to sustainable design and manufacturing extends beyond the classroom. By engaging students in hands-on projects and providing them with access to state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, the school is preparing them for a future in which sustainability is increasingly important. By educating the next generation of designers and manufacturers on the importance of sustainability, we can work towards a more sustainable future. The projects undertaken from Year 7 to Year 9 are an excellent example of how we can all do our part to reduce waste, minimize our impact on the environment, and create products that are both functional and beautiful.

We have invested in plastic grinders, a washer, a plastic sheet press, an extrusion machine and a vacuum mold. These machines have enabled us to teach students the full scope of taking discarded plastics and turning them into useful products. Plastics collected by the school community through plastic drives, plastic collection bins and Community Beach Cleans provide plastic straws and bottle tops which can then be transferred through the Centre for community use.

We are building a culture of eco-bricking across the HeadStart Community facilitating activities, campaigns and competitions to encourage learners to create eco-bricks, both in and out of school, from plastic waste that cannot be recycled or repurposed. Completed eco-bricks are collected by the school to be used on projects such as the Foundation Growing Garden.

An initiative led by our Key Stage 2 Eco Committee has been to improve the quality of air within our classrooms. Through parent targeted campaigns to the systematic management of air purifying plants in each classroom, our Eco Ambassadors are enculturing an approach which recognises the symbiotic relationship between nature and humans within our daily classroom lives here at HeadStart.

After meeting representatives from the Scholars of Sustenance, our Food Service Committee felt compelled to support the good work the foundation is doing. For the last few years, we have committed to donating surplus food to vulnerable communities in both private and government care facilities such as foster homes. Did you know? HeadStart lunch food scraps are collected by farmers and used as animal feed so that no food goes to waste.