Weekly Update #20, 3 February 2023
Upcoming events can be found on the website under School Life → Calendar and are outlined here for easy reference. If you have questions or require further assistance please email [email protected]
| Date | Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07 February | 8.30-9.30am | Year 8 Residential Trip Parent Meeting | Secondary Hall |
| 08 February | 3.30-5.00pm | Year 11 Parents & Teachers Conferences (PTC) | Secondary Hall |
| 09 February | 8.15-9.15am | HeadStart Cherngtalay Campus Presentation | To be announced |
| 8.15-9.15am | UPrep Drop in & Future Ready Workshops | Nakita’s Coffee Shop | |
| 10 February | 2.00-3.00pm | Primary Student Council Meeting | Conference Room |
| TBA | PISAC Basketball at UWCT for U11/U13/U15 | UWCT | |
| 13-17 February | Mid-term Break | ||
| 20-22 February | Year 8 Residential Trip to Khao Sok | ||
| DofE Bronze: Group 1 Training and Practice | Ao Yon Beach | ||
| 20-24 February | Year 12 & 13 Mock Exams | ||
| 22 February | 8.00am-12.00pm | Year 3-6 Sports Day | Sports Facilities |
| 23 February | 8.00-10.30am | Foundation Sports Day | Sports Facilities |
| 8.15-9.00am | UPrep Talk 10 - Show Me the Money | Secondary Hall | |
| 12.30-3.30pm | Year 1 & 2 Sports Day | Sports Facilities | |
| 24 February | 8.00am - 3.20pm | Secondary Sports Day | Sports Facilities |
| 25 February | 9.00am-12.00pm | Chinese Language Day | TBA |
| 27 Feb - 1 March | DofE Bronze: Group 2 Training and Practice | Ao Yon Beach |
| HeadStart Cherngtalay Opening August 2023! |
Dear HeadStart Parents,
We are delighted to announce that we have started construction of our new school in Cherngtalay. The new school campus is located on a 20 Rai ( 32,000 square meters) property off of the main Sri Sunthon Road opposite Blue Tree and directly next to Kajonkiet Cherngtalay School. Google Maps location link: HeadStart Cherngtalay Campus
The new school campus will be built in 4 phases with the first phase opening in August 2023. We have announced ambitious completion targets for previous school development projects and understandably, these were questioned. With diligent planning and an excellent team, we have met our previous targets and we are confident that we will be able to do so again with this new project. The first phase of the school will have the capacity for 200 students from Preschool to Year 6 and will include the facilities listed below. Please see the school plans (also shown below) for more detailed information.
| 3 Foundation Classrooms | 6 Primary Classrooms |
| 1 Computer Classroom | 4 Language Classrooms |
| 1 Music & Art Classroom | Indoor Playroom |
| Playground | Lunch Room & Kitchen |
| Indoor Basketball & Sports Hall | Changing Rooms & Restrooms |
| Dance & Sports Studios | Children’s Swimming Pool |
| Covered Sports Field | Sports Offices |
| Security & Admin Offices | Management Offices |
| Coffee Shop | Drop-off Area & Parking |
| Underground Parking | Utilities Storage |
HeadStart Cherngtalay will operate as part of our current HeadStart School and will provide students and their families the same high standard of teaching and quality learning experiences that your children enjoy as part of the HeadStart experience. The Teaching Staff at HeadStart Cherngtalay will include many dynamic and experienced teachers who are already on our team that will be relocating to the new campus as well as a mix of new high-quality staff recruited from the UK (a number of which have already been appointed) and some tremendous former HeadStart teachers who have decided to return to work with us for the coming school year. We are confident that this will enable us to ensure that the ethos and DNA of the HeadStart experience will successfully be transplanted and instilled into our new school.
We would like to invite all parents with children in classes from Preschool to Year 5 to a presentation about our new school at 8.15 am on Thursday, February 9th. The presentation will be held at our current campus. If you are interested in coming to the presentation to find out more about our new school, please register at the following link: Presentation Registration.
If you have friends whose children do not currently attend HeadStart but who are interested in potentially having their children enrolled at the new campus, please feel free to invite them to this presentation. They should also fill out the registration form so we can ensure to prepare for the right number of people. I look forward to seeing you next week and to giving you more information about this exciting new development. -Mr Jazon Edouard, CEO & Founder
| Announcements |
Lost & Found
This is a reminder to check the Lost & Found cabinet just outside the nurse’s room. There are multiple water bottles, jackets, socks and shoes, etc., that need to be collected. All items not claimed will be donated to charity every two weeks to avoid a pile up and cluttering of the hallway cabinet.
| Meetings |
UPrep Talk 9 - Applying to Universities in Asia & Australia
If you weren’t able to make it to our UPrep Talk on Thursday this week, the information can be found here → UPrep tab on the HeadStart website. If you would like further information or need to speak to one of our University Counsellors, please email Ms Bedi at [email protected] or Ms Gratton at [email protected].
| PE & Sports |
No catting around…I am proud to announce that HeadStart have introduced a new Panthers logo, which will be used on all our sports branding; signage / uniforms etc. We hope you think it’s Grrrrrrrreat! -Mr Carter, Director of Sport
Sports Days
The PE team and all the students are starting to get excited for our upcoming Sports Days! Below is everything that you and your child need to know. On the day, please ensure that your child brings their water bottle and wears their House Shirt, PE shorts and sports shoes, a hat and/or sunblock. Parents are also welcome to come and watch their children participate, but we kindly ask you to ensure you sit in the designated parents seating areas and do not interferes with the running of the events. We look forward to seeing you there!
| Foundation Sports Day | Thursday, 23rd February | 08:00-10:30 | on the bottom football pitch |
| Year 1 & 2 Sports Day | Thursday, 23rd February | 12.50-15.10 | on the bottom football pitch |
| Year 3-6 Sports Day | Wednesday, 22nd February | 08:00-12:00 | on both football pitches |
| Year 7-11 Sports Day | Friday, 24th February | 08:00-12:30 | On both football pitches |
| Year 7-13 Sports Day | Friday, 24th February | 13:25-15:00 | On both football pitches |
| Languages Week |
Benjamin Salmon
My name is Ben Salmon and I have been working at HeadStart International School since 2016. I was born in Paris, France and grew up on the outskirts of the French capital not far from Versailles Castle. I hold an International Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of Nottingham as well as a Master Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from BridgeTEFL. I started my teaching career in 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand and have also lived a year on the Canadian East coast before coming to Phuket. On top of my teaching qualifications, I also hold a Master’s Degree in International affairs. I have a true passion for teaching as well as learning new languages. I intend to continue using this passion to inspire my students. My classroom is always a positive environment where students are free to express themselves, through fun language activities and dynamic expression. I have had the chance to teach both Primary and Secondary schools, and really enjoy what each age group has to bring to the lessons. I am looking forward to make this new academic year an exciting and successful one. Outside of school, I am a very active person and enjoy working out several times per week. I also like to swim, play football and love going to the beach. My likes in music include jazz, pop, rock, electro, hip-hop, salsa and more…
Last week was the first Languages Faculty week in almost three years and it is safe to say that it was a real success. Students in Primary and Secondary enjoyed a really packed week of activities all prepared by the enthusiastic languages teachers. It first started with our ‘open mic sessions’ where students got a chance to demonstrate their talents in multiple languages. We also had a very special flag raising ceremony on the first day, where student leaders made their announcements in Mandarin, Italian and Spanish, and Mr Carter even surprised all of us with some pretty decent Swedish language skills. Students, not only used their voices during that week, but also put their writing skills to the task, one particular activity that stood out was our two boards how to say ‘I love you’ and ‘Thank you’ in other languages in the atrium, and showed us that love and respect knows no language barriers.
As it was Lunar New Year at the same time, our Mandarin team, had prepared really creative games and crafts both during lunchtime and while in lessons. If you were looking at social media during that week, you might have already seen some lovely posts from our Mandarin coordinator on this.
Finally, to wrap this very busy week, Secondary students sat in their houses during Assembly on Friday afternoon, where we had prepared for them a very special House quiz on Kahoot. Indeed, their teachers had recorded messages in a large variety of languages, and students had to guess what they were. Students really enjoyed this final activity, and the Red House took away the 100 winning points at the end! Well done Phoenixes!
Chinese Language Day is soon approaching and we have planned many fun activities for all of our Mandarin speaking students on the 25th of February from 9:00am to 12:00pm. This activity is open to Mandarin speaking families only. To sign up, use the Google Form - Click here and be sure to register before 10 February!
| Student News |
Early Years enjoyed learning their colours in Thai class by walking around school and visiting all of the beautiful flowers around the campus. -Kru Cherry and Kru Poy
Primary Student of the Month
Congratulations to all of our Primary ‘Students of the Month’ for English: Vale, Tiara, Im, Eva, Molly, Bella, Chloe, Phoenix, Sofia, Lidia, Alex, Simon, Arya, Nawa, Jan, William, Nina and Jenny! Well done and keep up the good work!
Year 3 History Fun
We had the most wonderful history day this week in Year 3 as we traveled back to the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. In the morning we gave ourselves different names and even tried to speak like neanderthals! During the day we dissected poo to try and work out what people from the Stone, Bronze and Iron Age would have eaten (ewwww!), we made prehistoric jewelry and learned about the first written language, Ogham. What a super day we had! -Ms Donna Wintersgill
Year 7 Passion Projects
Over the last two weeks, Year 7 have been learning about ‘Living In The Wider World’, and specifically the importance of teamwork. Did you know when a team is working effectively, it can lead to better productivity, better-problem solving and improved decision making. Effective teamwork also leads to a more positive classroom environment and can have a huge impact on self-confidence and academic success. Year 7s have also started their ‘Passion Projects’ which is all about finding a common passion to research and present in their teams to their peers. This exciting activity will hopefully showcase how super talented are Year 7 students really are! -Mr Jamie Sadler, Year 7 Pastoral Coordinator
Year 10 English
Year 10’s two Language and Literature classes coalesced in order to watch different groups present contextual research relevant to A Streetcar Named Desire and its playwright Tennessee Williams. An appreciation of socio-historical, literary and autobiographical contexts is key in order to develop a critical understanding of the text and access the highest bands in their Literature IGCSE. The presentations were both well-informed and entertaining, featuring skits, handouts, audio-visual stimuli and a pleasing level of understanding emerged from some collaborative research. Well done Year 10! -Mr. Pollicutt, Head of English & EAL
| Creative & Performing Arts |
Primary Art
Primary students in Advanced Art ASP have been practicing their tonal skills using the delightfully messy mediums of Charcoal and Chalk. They developed their ability to use lights and darks to create three dimensional forms based on black and white photographs of different animals. The dishevelled Ostrich was a particularly popular choice, maybe it reminded the students of a certain art teacher…! -Mr Dagnall, Art Coordinator
Well done to Adriana in year 1, our youngest ever HeadStar! Adriana was nominated by Ms Victoria, her music teacher, for consistently showing enthusiasm and a positive attitude towards learning. We are very proud of Adriana and look forward to seeing her grow in CAPA.
LAMDA Night
This week we held our first LAMDA Night. This event was established to give parents an opportunity to see the work that their children are developing in the LAMDA ASPs in advance of their examinations in June. In term 1 students developed their performance skills through play-based learning and exploration, working in pairs and groups as their confidence grows. Our LAMDA Night was designed as a low-stakes event, giving students an opportunity to perform in front of an audience as a precursor for their exams in term 3. Our performers ranged from year 1 to year 13 and included musical theatre, acting and poetry. We are all proud of their hard work and dedication and look forward to seeing how their CAPA journey continues. With particular thanks to Mr Graham, Mr Joel and Mr O’Brien, our LAMDA teachers. -Ms Sillett, Director of CAPA
| Student Success Out of school |
Well done to the HeadStart students who participated in the ‘𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝘁!’ 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯 this weekend at Blue Tree Phuket. Congratulations to…
🏆 Marat Zvarich (Year 4) who won 1st place in the 5-9 years old Boys’ category
🏆 Leonardo Haus (Year 5) who won 2nd place in the 5-9 years old Boys’ category
🏆 Phoenix Holmes (Year 3) who won 3rd place in the 5-9 years old Girls’ category
🏆 Mark Zvarich (Year 7) who won 3rd place in the 11-12 years old Boys’ category
🏆 Mason Holmes (Year 8) who won 2nd place in the 12-13 Boys’ category
| Promotions from Around the Island |
Angsana & Laguna Phuket would like to offer HeadStart families and staff the following valentines promotions in addition to their current ongoing offers.
Azura Savour the Romance promotion: 1-28 February 2023. Price: THB 5,999 net per couple (Normal THB 5,999++) includes 4-course set menu, a complimentary oyster platter, a welcome cocktail and set-up dining table on the beach
Be My Valentine promotion: 14 February 2023. Price: THB 599 net per set (normal price THB 599++) includes Valentine’s drinks for two, an appetiser set or chocolate set and a rose per table.
