Chaofah Weekly5 years ago

Weekly Update 28, 6 April 2018

Dates for Your Diary

Upcoming events can be found on the HeadStart calendar on the website School Life → Calendar but we have outlined upcoming events for the month here for easy reference.

Date	Time	Event	Location
09-20 April	Two weeks	Mid-term break	–
20 April	10:00-11:30 am	Year 11 Mandarin Exam Revision	Languages classroom
20 April	11:45-11:30 am	Year 12 Business Exam Revision	Business classroom
20 April	13:30-02:00 pm	Year 11 Business Exam Revision	Business classroom
21 April	10:45-12:15 pm	Year 11 P.E. Exam Revision	Sports Hall
23 April	All day	First day of Term 3
25 April	3:30 pm	Y10,12,13 Parent Teacher Conferences (PTC)	Sports Hall
23-27 April	All day	Year 6&9 Checkpoint Exams	Exam room
27 April	2:30-5:30 pm	Friday Market	Atrium
28 April	All day	Thanyapura Open Swim League 3	Thanyapura
02 May	Afternoon	Student Council Meeting	ICT/Computing room

Receive daily updates and news by following the HeadStart Facebook Page

Happy Songkran Holidays to All of the HeadStart Community!

We wish all of the HeadStart community a restful break and hope to see all of the students back in school on Monday, 23 of April ready to complete the academic year.

Songkran Holiday Safety Reminder

We feel compelled to issue a safety warning for the Songkran holiday. As you may have read in the news, Thailand has some of the most dangerous roads in the world. The leading causes of accidents every year is drunk driving and speeding. Most accidents involve motorcycles. On Songkran there is also the added factor of people throwing water on each other, sometimes with cubes of ice in it. Please take care to follow road safety regulations and stay safe. Don’t take risks. We hope to see everyone safe and healthy back in school on 23 April.

Summer Holiday Planning Reminder

This is a reminder from management to please make sure you do not book your summer holiday when school is still in session unless absolutely unavoidable. The last day of school is 28 June, 2018.

12 Hour Swim Relay Swimathon for Charity

By Zak Brown, Head Swim Coach

Friday, March 23rd started as any other day for the HeadStart Aqua Panthers. Wake up and start the daily routine of having breakfast, getting ready and heading out to school. Though this day was typical, the evening would be drastically different than any had experienced before. On this particular evening, the Aqua Panthers would embark on an overnight swim-a-thon called the “12 Hour Relay”. The task was simple, have at least one person in the water throughout the night cranking out laps to see how far the team could swim while raising money for the Life Home Project Foundation. Our goal was to raise enough funds to repair their roof and assist with other financial obligations.

Before the event began, the swimmers set up their sleeping areas in the sports hall which consisted of sleeping bags, tents, bean bags, and other night time essentials. Next, the team was divided into smaller groups (younger to older) to fill the 12 hours of swimming we were about to embark on. Each swimmer sought sponsorship from their friends, family, and teachers by lap or flat rate.

The team did an amazing amount of work during this event. As a group, they swam 54.7 kilometers! From HeadStart, that would be a little further than Phi Phi Island! The Aqua Panthers have raised over 110,000 Baht for the LHPF.

There is something magical about staying overnight at school with your friends paired with raising money for a worthy cause. Each HeadStart Aqua Panthers put forth amazing effort and created memories that will last for years to come. We are all look forward to next year!

Pictured here are our top Swimathon earners

Term 3 ASP Notes

The ASPs that your child enrolled in for term 2 will continue into term 3 with exceptions made for students who fall into the following categories:

If an ASP has been cancelled due to low numbers or otherwise.
If the student no longer is required to attend a Booster.
If the student is new to HeadStart.

Parents will be emailed individually if their child falls into any one of these categories. If you have further questions or need assistance please write to her at [email protected]

Holiday Health Alert–Making Slime!

Is your child a young scientist? Do they enjoy mixing lotions and potions to make slime? Sline can be great fun to make but please be warned that some ingredients can be harmful to children. A number of recipes suggest using Boric Acid or Borax. Although this ingredient can be used just as washing powder, it can also be used as cockroach repellent with some very harmful side effects. To avoid any rashes or burns, please thoroughly read the labels and check the ingredients.

‘Baker Books’ Book Club for students between 3-16 years old

By Ms Mai, Librarian

Each student will receive a book catalogue from Baker Books, an international school book club. The purpose of the book club is to provide leisure reading for children which is organised via the school. The school circulates the colourful catalogues, pupils and their parents select the books they want, the school places the order and when the books are delivered distributes them to the children.

The book club provides top quality books from a broad range of UK publishers for children aged 3 to 16 to enjoy at home. The book selections are carefully balanced between children’s interests and ages and they ensure that there is always a wide selection of high quality fiction from the best authors. They firmly believe that establishing the reading habit is the key to a successful education and our mission is to provide the kind of books that will enthuse children about books and reading.

For every four books that the parents or the school buys from the summer issue catalogues, They’ll donate one book to Book Aid. They hope that this could raise a donation of over 5,000 books which will make a massive difference in the communities in which Book Aid operates.

So on behalf of the library and to support Book Aid, I would like your cooperation to support this project. We will be providing colourful catalogues with a Thai price list enclosed to all students from Reception to Year 11.

Complete the order forms, on the price list, with all the necessary detail and return the form Friday 4, May 2018. Parents can bring the form with the correct change to the library between 7:30-16:30.

Delivery times are approximately 2-3 weeks but may take longer if there are customs delays. So the faster we get the price list back the earlier we will get the books.

If you have questions or require further information please contact our Librarian [email protected]

HeadStart’s Got Talent Auditions

CAPA is proud to announce this year’s HeadStart’s Got Talent will take place on May 11th. If you have a talent and would like to show it, come sign up for an audition slot in the music room. Auditions for primary are during class time from Monday through Thursday after Songkran break. Secondary will audition at break times and after school. Each participant will receive one house point for auditioning, 5 points for making the finals and 50 points for the winners! Get ready to support your house and cheer for HeadStart’s most talented students. It could be you! By Ms Jackie Feliciano

Thank You For International Day

A big thank you to all of the HeadStart community for getting involved and helping to make the event so successful. A special thank you to the following countries who worked tirelessly to prepare delicious food, national costume and exciting performances for the event: Thailand, Philippines, England, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, France, Australia, Sweden, Japan, Taiwan, Ireland, South America and Spain, South Africa, Korea, India, Nepal, China and Russia.

A full photo album can be found on the HeadStart Facebook page

Sports Department News

Upcoming Secondary Swimming Gala

The galas will be in the students Swim/Drama Lesson in the first week back after the holidays. All students are expected to swim and all swimmers will achieve points for their House. Students need to bring their swimming costumes, hat, goggles, towel, sun cream and a water bottle. Parents are welcome to come along and watch.

Secondary Swim Gala Schedule
Year 7	Thursday, 26th April	10.30 - 11.30am
Year 8	Friday, 27th April	9.30 - 10.30am
Year 9	Wednesday, 25th April	1.10 - 2.10pm

Upcoming Football Events

On Saturday, 28th April at Headstart, there will be extra training for the Under 9 starting at 8.30 am and going to 10.00 am. Under 11 and Under 13 teams start at 10.15 am and end at 12.15 pm.

We are pleased to announce that the U9, U11 and U13 Boys Panther Football Teams will be involved in a number of games in May. We are still waiting on a couple of schools to confirm, but we want all parents to keep these dates and times free at the moment so the boys can play. We will be announcing games for the O15 Team when we come back after the holidays, which will most likely be during the school week. The games will all be finished by approximately 10.00am on each of the Saturdays that there are matches.

The League matches will then be on the following Saturdays:

Saturday 12th May, 8.00 - 10.00am
Saturday 19th May, 8.00 - 10.00am
Saturday 26th May, 8.00 - 10.00am
Saturday 2nd June, 8.00 - 10.00am

More details will follow including venues, which will most likely be at HeadStart or UWCT and the number of school teams that will be involved.

Basketball News

On Thursday the senior girl’s basketball team played Kajonkiet and finished with a big win. The game started off badly for HeadStart with Kajonkiet scoring the first hoop of the match and therefore taking an early lead. But the girls pushed through and finished the game strongl, dominating the last quarter and ending up winning 17 - 10. It was a great win after their long time rivalry with Kajonkiet and endless numbers of close games. Good job to everyone who played! By Natasha in Year 12, Team Captain

Foundation and Primary Swim Gala

The Foundation Swim Galas were a great success with every child having a chance to participate in the events. A big thank you to the parents who came to cheer and to the P.E. team who worked hard to train the students in their classes and for the excellent organisation of the event. A full album of photos taken by Mr Ekapol of the event can be found on the HeadStart Facebook Page

Primary Swim Gala

Every child had the chance to participate and compete for House points in the Primary Swim Gala that took place in lessons this week. A big thank you to the P.E. team for working hard to make this event possible.

Winning Houses
Year 1	Blue House	51 points
Year 2	Yellow House	65 points
Year 3	Red House	66 points
Year 4	Blue House	87 points
Year 5	Red House	98 points
Year 6	Yellow House	88 points

Secondary Department News

By Ms Elizabeth Mason, Head of Secondary

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our families a Happy Songkran and also, for those who celebrate it, a Happy Easter.

This term has been extremely busy and productive with exams, faculty weeks and also the Secondary Outbound Field trips. These trips are an essential part of whole child development and support students in maturing and honing their social and emotional development.

During term 3 students will begin IGCSE, A level and Check Points examinations in Year 9, 11, 12 and 13. Year 7 and 8 will continue to embed prior knowledge as well as accelerate their learning and begin to learn some of the next academic year’s ideas and concepts to better prepare them for their next step in curriculum.

Parents please be reminded that the last day of school for our secondary students in June the 28th 2018, and that holidays should please be booked for after this time to avoid disrupting your child’s learning and effecting their attendance record. I wish you all a relaxing break and look forward to seeing you all on our return to school on the 23rd of April 2018.

Year 7 Outbound Field Trip News

By Ms Rebecca Reeves

Year 7 Blue visited Bangkok this week and travelled along the Chao Phraya river on a barge. We visited Ko Kret and interviewed the villagers on how the river and the community had changed over the years. We were also lucky enough to visit some temples and even interview a monk. A very interesting week!

Year 8 & 9 Outbound Field Trip News

By Mr Richard Cramp

The Year 8s had a wonderful few days in Khao Sok National Park with Big Outdoors Thailand. On the way to the park, we stopped off and did some community service at a local Thai school by painting the English and Thai alphabets on the playground’s floor. Then it was a 45 minute boat ride to the main location. The scenery and landscape provided a spectacular outdoor classroom for our students as they learnt about the surrounding wildlife, limestone karsts, caves and streams. One experience that was particularly valuable was the fieldwork task that students completed in small groups at a near by stream. They worked together to measure the stream velocity at two different locations and also had the chance to investigate water quality by identifying the different species that lived in the water. They were able to conclude that the quality of the water was good due to the wide variety of species living there. Our raft house accommodation was set upon the beautiful man made Cheow Lan Lake, which is an integral part of the national park.

The park itself is inhabited by a range of mammals such as tigers, elephants, tapirs and many monkey species. Birds such as hornbills, banded pittas, and great argus also reside there. Unfortunately we didn’t see any elephants or big cats, but we did see all their tracks left in the mud! One animal we were lucky to see was the wild Gaur, which is a bison-like bovine, grazing in the wild.

In between trips out, the students were able to swim in the lake and kayak. Every evening was spent discussing the busy day they just had while playing a range of board games in their rooms (no internet!).

On the last day we had a fantastic swimming gala where four teams had to battle against each other in the water. The highlight of the gala was the cardboard boat race, where each team of ten students had to build a small boat to carry as many of their team as possible in as many laps as they needed. We also had swimming relays, kayak relays, a long distance race and finally a diving competition. Just before we left the raft houses, some of the girls performed a song for the Big Outdoors Thailand organisers to thank them for providing such an enriching trip (backed by some dancing from the boys!). Most of the students were sad to leave as they had such a great time - I’m certain we’ll be back next year as Khao Sok is truly a very special place.

Primary Department News

By Mr Andrew Whittaker, Head of Foundation and Primary

What a wonderful way to end Term 2 with our Songkran water celebrations. There have been lots of opportunities to celebrate this very important Thai new year celebration, with Thai dance performances and the Water Pouring Ceremony, as well as my annual water play with the Foundation children - where they just love to cover me in water - over and over and over again! It was great to see so many parents at these occasions enjoying the fun the children were having. A big thank you goes to the whole Thai department for, yet again, ensuring everything ran so smoothly.

It has, as ever, been a very busy term - having now completed 28 of our 38 week academic year!

There have been lots of field trips that the pupils have really enjoyed - these are a very enriching part of our curriculum and our pupils learn a lot through participating in them.

We have had three Student of the Month for Humanities, Maths and English and it has been lovely to have parents attend these assemblies to share in our celebration of awarding these pupils. It has also been a great experience for all of our pupils who have been awarded Star of the Week and have received their certificate from me in these assemblies.

As I write and wish you all a happy Songkran holiday, I look back to the many highlights of another action packed term at HeadStart. Events such as: International Day; AquaPanthers Swimathon; Foundation and Primary Swim Galas and Sports Days; PISAC Athletics; U9 and U11 Football matches; Flying Fish events; Maths and English Faculty Weeks; Dress as a Character Day; Furry Friday; House Competitions; Friday Markets; Chinese New Year; Saturday Thai Culture Club; and of course, the extravaganza of Super Stan!

We should all, quite rightly, be proud of our achievements as a school community.

Suksan wan Songkran!

Foundation Department News

By Ms Fiona Scott, Deputy Head of Foundation

As we come to the end of another busy term in Foundation I would just like to wish all of our families a happy, safe and relaxing Songkran holiday. We look forward to welcoming you all back on Monday 23rd April.

‘Catch Me Reading’ Foundation Photo Competition

Over the Songkran holiday we will be running a reading photo competition called ‘Catch - Me - Reading’ for our Foundation children. Families are encouraged to do some extreme reading: celebrating books and the pleasure of reading them.

To enter the photo competition you need to get a photo of your child being caught reading somewhere unusual, funny or surprising! You might be posing with a book up a mountain, relaxing with a summer read in a hammock or visiting somewhere amazing. Let your imagination fly!

Just take a photo of your child reading a book in an unusual place and enter the ‘Catch me Reading’ competition. The idea is to celebrate books, readers and inspire a love of reading in our young children. The photos will be used for display to promote reading at HeadStart International School.

Research indicates that early language experience actually stimulates a child’s brain to grow and that reading to children gives them a huge advantage when they start school. We hope to encourage all families within the Foundation department to swap screens for stories this holiday and take part in the competition. So, you have to be in it, to win it!

Please send all photo entries to your child’s Homeroom teacher and to myself, [email protected] - Please title all emails as ‘Catch Me Reading’ so we don’t miss any entries. Where can you get caught reading? We are looking forward to seeing all your interesting photos!

Reading Caterpillar

In term 3 we will be making a reading Caterpillar Display to show how many books we read and share with our children. Please take part, and for every book that you share with your child over the coming weeks, complete and colour a caterpillar body part so we can add to our growing Reading Caterpillar. Help us to inspire a true love of reading this holiday and start sharing your favourite stories, tales, songs and poems.

Awards for Students in Foundation

Last week we celebrated a number of awards in Reception and Early Years. Our subject teachers have been so impressed with the effort put in by all of our students that we have decided to celebrate the end of each month with a special All - Subject Assembly.

A big well done to Tiana, Jiwoo, Liam, Ying Ying, Nawit, Boat, Sona, Chaewon, Freya, Pleum for all of their hard work.

Congratulations to Lambor, Lucy, Jude, Woojin, Roch, Anthony, Jacob and Naomi for working in all of their lessons.

The Preschool children would just like to say a big Thank You to the mummies who came to read stories for us during our ‘Around the world’ topic. They listened to stories in Thai, Chinese and English.

Preschool did brilliantly in the model lesson for the parents. They showed the different skills they have been learning so far this year such as blowing bubbles, kicking whilst using different floats and jumping in the big pool.These are all things they can practice at home with parents. By Ms Danielle Jones

Year 1 Blue are now doing a unit on ‘striking and fielding’ in their P.E. lessons. Here are just a few of the different skills the children do to help improve their co-ordination. By Ms Fiona Whittaker

Year 1 Blue went to the Upside Down House with the rest of Year 1 children. They explored the house and outside maze. They enjoyed looking at themselves hanging from the ceiling…. Upside down!! By Ms Nicola Fallows

We learnt about ‘Places’ in the Year 5 Thai lesson. We played games where the students had to find the and name the place the teacher described. By Kru Gen