Weekly Update #22, 17 February, 2020
| Dates for Your Diary |
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!
| Date | Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24-28 February | School hours | Year 12-13 Mock Exams | Exam room |
| 27 February | 8.15-8.45am | UPrep Talk: Applying to universities in Asia | Primary Hall |
| 2-4 March | All week | English & Humanities Faculty Week | |
| 5 March | 8.15am | UPrep Drop-In Session | Coffee Shop |
| 6 March | 2.30pm | Friday Market | Atrium |
| 7 March | 9.00-11.00am | Saturday Thai Culture Club | To be announced |
| 10-12 March | All day | Year 6 & 9 Checkpoint Mock Exams | Exam room |
| 11 March | 3.35-5.30pm | Y12 & Y13 Parent-Teacher Conferences (PTC) | Sport Hall |
| 12 March | 8.15am | UPrep Talk: Show Me the Money | Primary Hall |
| 13 March | All day | Casual Clothes Day for Charity | |
| 13-14 March | TBA | 3 v 3 Basketball | BISP |
Wishing all of the HeadStart community a restful, safe and healthy mid-term break!
| Announcements |
Thai Parents Meeting Timetable for Term 2
A timetable has been provided that outlines the upcoming Tuesday parent meetings. It’s a good idea to print out a copy of the timetable (provided below) and hang it on your home bulletin so that you can be aware of what has been planned for term 2.
| P.E. Department News |
Soccer Circus
Soccer Circus is not on over the half-term break. Soccer Circus will resume on Saturday 29th February.
Sports Days
Foundation- Lots of fun was had at the Foundation Sports Day and all the children enjoyed themselves! The morning started with a 25m Sprint Race and they showed all their supporters how quick they were. This was followed by a carousel of activities that included, jumping, throwing, parachute play, bean bag target, a treasure hunt and an obstacle race. The morning wasn’t all about winning and the children showed good spirit and sportsmanship with their friends!
Year 1 and 2- What an exciting afternoon Year 1 & 2 Sports day was! There was such good spirit from the children, staff & parents and everyone was out to enjoy themselves and score as many points for their house as possible! The students participated in traditional Track events (50m & 200m), threw a bean bag as far as they could, balanced, bounced, and hurdled in the obstacle course and completed the afternoon with a House Shuttle Relay.
Year 3-6- The Year 3-6 Sports Day was a resounding success with fun had by all the students and teachers. A special mention should go out to the students of Year 9 Blue who helped organize and run the stations, and also Miss Fabienne who organized the fantastic cheerleading displays. The students participated in traditional Track & Field events and then more fun / wacky races, culminating in the ever-popular Year 6 Tug-of-War final, which was won by the Green Dragons.
Secondary- The Secondary Sports Day took place on 14 February. It was really busy and lots of fun. Students participated in jumping hurdles, 200 and 400 meter races, relay races, the long jump, team building and problem-solving, ‘football tennis’, dodge ball and the grand finale tug of war! Well done to the Yellow House who won the most House points and are the term 2 Sports Day champions in every category across the school!
Touch Rugby
Students played a fantastic touch rugby tournament this weekend, with HeadStart winning all of their matches when playing in the Junior category which was fantastic as there was some great talent there. The students then joined some of the adults and even played alongside their teachers! Great performance, brilliant sportsmanship and fantastic rugby! Come along to the Touch Rugby ASP on Fridays to join in the fun yourself. Advanced touch rugby practises also taking place at HeadStart on Wednesdays 6.00 - 7.00 pm. -Ms Alicia Niemand
| Student News |
The children have been very engaged in their Pirates theme, and to round off a great week of learning we had a messy play day! There was lots of splashing and ‘ahoy’ing to be heard, as the children engaged in pirate role-play and splashed their enemy pirates. Through messy play, children are able to further their personal, social, emotional development, communication and language and so much more! We also had a musical moment where we marched in a line and played a variety of instruments, showing off our learning in expressive arts and design. Enjoy the pictures. -Ms Saki and Ms Amy
Reception students in the Thai First Language Programme have been learning the vowel ‘Sara a’ (สระอะ) by reading flashcards and writing the word in beautiful Flowers. Kru Cherry
The Year 3 ‘Thai Second Language’ students have been learning about the final consonant “-m” ( แม่กม ). They have been making “mae-gom” hot air balloons so that they don’t forget. Meanwhile, Year 4 students have been learning new vocabulary with a memory game and Year 5 have been trying to find the easy ways to remember Thai consonants (อักษร 3 หมู่). -Kru Pla
Alexander McQueen and Vivian Westwood would have been proud of our Art ASP students this week after they started making some amazing Trashion designs. Students created skirts, tops and even shoes out of discarded materials like newspaper, cardboard boxes and bottle tops! We can’t wait to see them on the catwalk! Meanwhile, Year 9 completed some fantastic self-portraits this week using acrylic painting techniques. Can you guess who these paintings are of? -Ms Samantha Gill
| English and Humanities Faculty Week |
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.
David Jacklin is a BAFTA award-winning producer and writer, having worked regularly throughout his media career with the BBC, Channel 4, Paramount Pictures, Sony and Marvel Studios. As part of the English and Humanities Faculty Week which begins on Monday March 2, David will be presenting several talks and workshops on the theme of ‘The Power of Language’. The material will be aimed at empowering students to develop their storytelling potential, whilst exploring new techniques to give further depth to creative writing. David may also tell a few humorous anecdotes from the weird world of movie production. The sessions include:
Friday Introduction: Tall tales and new ways to tell stories. An introduction to David’s background and productions, as well as examining different devices for telling great stories.
Monday Workshops: Level up your storytelling skills. Strong readers and writers make the “movie” of each scene in their minds. This workshop guides students through the principles of setting the scene to create a great story. It also explores group work producing mini-narratives and TV ads to develop the scriptwriting process and enjoying the creative process.
Tuesday TED Talk: Filmmaking Secrets – How to break the mold and create narratives with impact. A series of TED talks will be given after school during Faculty Week for students in Year 10 and above. In this one, David will explore the visual rules in filmmaking techniques to develop depth and variation in writing skills.
We are lucky to have this unique opportunity to welcome such a distinguished guest to the school community- one of the many ways we Inspire a Love of Learning in HeadStart International School. I am sure you all share my excitement and I look forward to seeing many eager students engaging in these sessions.
Literature IGCSE
As we move towards the end of the current units of work, students are sitting their summative assessment tasks in English in Years 7 to 13. These pieces show the culmination of the skills on which they have been working and are often a real pleasure to read and assess. Year 10 First Language English students have been studying Stenbeck’s timeless ‘Of Mice and Men’. Although these particular students are not studying Literature IGCSE, in the English Faculty we believe in the value to be gained through the study of literature in terms of children learning more about the human condition. It also has a tangible, practical application, as students have been practising First Language English examination skills throughout this programme.
In these attached pieces, students are practising skills required for Question 3 of the examination. Here, they have to develop explicit and implicit information from a source text (in this case the novella) and assume and maintain an authentic voice (in this case the character of George’s). As well as these skills, students have developed their understanding of a variety of socio-historical contexts from The Wall Street Crash to the The Dust Bowl. I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I did. Mr David Pollicutt
| Maths and Commerce week competitions |
ICT Year 7-8 had to create a stop motion animation about any topic. It was a very close competition as the entries were really impressive. The winners, however, are Jake and Lucky in Year 8. ICT year 9 had to create an App using AppShed about any topic. Linda in year 9 took the win with her brilliant effort. Scan the QR code to explore her App. A big thanks to every single person that took part. Ms Alicia Niemand
| BTEC News |
On Tuesday afternoon, the BTEC Sport students made their first Skype call with guest speaker - Mr Niall Leung from the National Basketball Association. Niall has been working in the global sports industry for nearly 10 years. He has worked with companies such as the Premier League, NFL and recently the NBA. Niall was extremely impressed with the students and enjoyed discussing his current role with the NBA and how aspects of this role link to the BTEC programme. This opportunity has given the BTEC Sports students, yet another opportunity to build upon their soft skills and their confidence in formal situations. -Mr Jamie Sadler
| Year 11 Sixth Form Subject Fair |
Last Wednesday we hosted our Sixth Form Subject Fair and invited Year 11 students and their parents to come and find out more about what HeadStart has to offer students here in Sixth Form. Our BTEC students gave a fantastic presentation to interested parents about their BTEC programme; then there was the opportunity for everyone to visit the 16 different stalls staffed by passionate teachers and enthusiastic Year 12 and 13 students. Information was provided, lots of questions were asked and answered, and current Sixth Formers shared their experiences of studying each different subject on offer. It was a busy and buzzy event and hopefully, Year 11 left with a clearer picture of what they might be doing next year; although individual consultations will be going on over the next few weeks to help ensure each one of them has the right programme for them as they move onto this exciting phase of their school career. Details about the Sixth Form Options can be found HERE
| House News |
What a fantastic week it has been with all of our students participating in Sports Day. The Sports Days were always going to upset the balance and the Yellow Cheetahs winning streak in Foundation, Y1&2 & Y3&6 has rocketed their points. The Secondary Sports Day results are still to be counted - is it possible that the Yellow Cheetahs can move into first place and become the ultimate Sports Day champions? Check our Facebook page for all of the photos from Sports Days 2020. Here are the current house points… Ms Kirstie Melville
