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

2019-2020 Calendar-Change to Term 3 Holidays

Provided below is the 2019-2020 calendar that is now published on the Calendar tab of the website FOUND HERE. Parents should note a small change to Term 3 due to the fact that 3 June has been announced as a national holiday for Her majesty the Queen’s birthday.

Students, that education and knowledge, those experiences that you have gained and learned from is not because of the yellow and blue building behind me. Your lives as students have been carefully moulded and inspired not by a building or some facilities but by caring individuals. People like Ms Jody who taught you about perspectives and colours, teachers like Mr Patrick Brown who helped you understand the properties of solids, liquids and gasses and what they look like on a molecular level, passionate teachers and coaches like Ms Fabienne who have helped you discover the joys of music and dance and even people behind the scenes like Khun Saow the Head of Housekeeping who makes sure that the horrendous mess all 800 students and 200 staff make each day is totally cleaned up before tomorrow morning for another day of exciting classes in a clean and attractive learning environment. It is individuals like these that make up HeadStart.

Students, look around you. These are the people who make a difference. These are the people who during the last 10 years, on the good days when they were happy and healthy and even on bad days, when they were not feeling well or when they were feeling ill, stressed or going through personal difficulties, they were here for you, caring for you, teaching and guiding you, moulding your character and your future, one day and one class at a time. So students, please stand up and give them a big hug and a round of applause and thank them for being here for you.

So you see, the 10 years of history and growth we celebrate today is not about numbers, it is about education and growth of character, it is about the personal journey each of us has travelled over the last 10 years. It is about each choice and decision that has brought us all here today to be part of the vibrant, inspiring and exciting learning community which we together call HeadStart.

I stand before you today, proud of what we have become and achieved together but also humbled and grateful to all of you my fellow educators, parents and staff for your individual contributions which make us the school we are today.

In closing, I want to renew the personal commitment I made 10 years ago, and that is that I will continue to give my very best during the next 10 years working together with you to build and support a team of dedicated teachers and individuals and together to continue Inspiring a Love of Learning in our children and students.

Thank you!

Blood Donations

We recently witnessed the community coming together in a special way. An appeal was made for A-Negative blood for a parent who had a serious motorcycle accident. Within one hour five people were on their way to the Red Cross to donate blood. By all accounts, it sounds like this act of kindness has saved Christian’s life. Here is a little note from Christian:

Thank you so much for your help and support. I’m in tears, speechless and deeply humbled by the amount of attention and effort so many people have put into helping me the last couple of days. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to every single one of you! A special thanks to all the people who were able and willing to donate the needed blood for my surgery; had it not been for you, the outcome would have been very different! I had successful surgery where five doctors did an amazing job and managed to patch my bladder back together again and fix my pelvic bone which were in three pieces and dislocated from my spine. Amazingly, no nerve damage occurred by the fractures and pinning it back together again hence I have full movement and feeling in all my limb. Now some very tough month of rehab lies ahead before I will run and climb wind turbines again, but I’m positive and sure I will fully recover all thanks to your help… THANKS and lots of love! From Christian and family

We are organising another opportunity for the community to donate blood in association with the blood bank at Vachira Hospital. We would like to invite all staff and parents to donate blood on Friday, 21st June 2019 at 12:00 - 4:00pm in the school library. Donating blood can make a big difference to someone in need! For more information regarding requirements and guidelines, please visit https://english.redcross.or.th/node/49

University Success

University applications happen at different times throughout the year and here at HeadStart we are constantly supporting students through the process and then celebrating their successes as decisions come in. We are delighted to share our most recent successes: well done to Laurent Edouard on his unconditional acceptance to HAS University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, on their acclaimed International Food and Agribusiness degree. Also successful was Tobias Assman who has been offered a place on the International Business programme at Amsterdam UAS. Elliott Lovotti received offers from all of his 5 UCAS choices, including an unconditional offer from Northampton University UK. Lastly, many congratulations to our outgoing Head Boy, Marco Bakobza De La Roza, for his offer to study Medicine and Surgery at Lancaster University in the UK. This is a major achievement and recognition of many years of hard work. We wish them all the best as they wait for their results! By Mrs Gemma Caines

Post 16 Programme for Year 11 Between 17th-21st June

We are writing to let you know about the upcoming week-long Post 16 Programme for Year 11s that starts the week after they have completed their IGCSE examinations.

This year the week will include team building and an overnight stay at Bor Saen Villas in Phang Nga, followed by a 3-day itinerary of activities in school. The programme is designed to help students prepare and make an effective transition to Sixth Form. It will focus on well-being, life skills and academic strategies useful in their future studies. Included in this programme is: a full-day workshop by motivation coach and confidence specialist, Darren Scherbain; a session on public speaking and communication with life coach Able Wanamakok; and work on CV and achievement recording with Colin Gallagher, Dean of International Students from Prince of Songkla University.

The Post 16 Programme is an important part of year 11’s transition into the more challenging world of Sixth Form next academic year. All Year 11 students should attend and, as with all term time activities, permission for absence needs to be requested from school in advance with good reason. If your child cannot attend the programme please email Khun Gem at [email protected] in the Sixth Form Office. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact either Ms Caines, Mr. Barker or Mr. Lukats.

Motivational Programme with Darren Scherbain

Wednesday 19th June 2019 8am-3pm

HeadStart are delighted to be hosting a day-long series of workshops with motivation coach and confidence specialist Darren Scherbain on Wednesday 19th June. The workshops will focus on well-being, life skills and motivational strategies useful for young people in the future. Themes that will be addressed include:

• Positive thinking and rebounding from challenges
• “Hack your confidence” - taking suitable risks to achieve your goals
• How to make effective changes in your life
• Dealing with social competition and anxiety
• Physical techniques for well-being and posture

Darren is a sports and life coach who has devoted his life to helping others develop a mindset where they can focus on their achievements and develop strategies to help them achieve their ambitions. He has delivered TED talks and worked with professionals, business start-ups and athletes around the world.

We are very excited to be hosting this event, which is open to year 12 and Year 13 students. The workshops are free of charge, but we do need to know numbers so we can arrange suitable venues and resources. The House afternoon for Green House will be arranged for Year 11-13 for the following week. Instead there will be a small party in Sixth Form after the programme to celebrate the end of examinations!

We strongly recommend that students participate in this event, which has been planned after their examinations so that they can attend. Please reply to this invitation by emailing K.Gem at [email protected] or students can verbally confirm their attendance in the Sixth Form Office.

Foundation News

Happy Anniversary HeadStart! What a fantastic time we have had in Foundation, full of fun learning and celebrations. Everyone in the Foundation department wishes HeadStart a further 10 years of success, growth and happiness.

As we zoom towards the end of the academic year I would just like to remind parents to inform us in advance if they are taking children out of school early for the holidays; as this gives the team enough time to prepare children’s work, ready to go home. Please don’t forget to fill in all the necessary paper work in the main front office.

Reception Graduation

Reception children have continued with their transition this week and enjoyed more activities and lessons in Year 1. At the end of the transition period, we will be celebrating with a Reception Graduation Ceremony. This will take place on Tuesday 25th June at 8.30am in the Sports Hall. All Reception parents are warmly invited to join us for this occasion.

House Winners Treat!

Congratulations to the Green House for slipping into the lead and winning this years treat. Year 1 and Reception will join together on Wednesday, 19th June and enjoy a pizza and movie party at school. Please do inform us as soon as possible if your child has had any changes to their dietary requirements and may not be able to eat any pizza.

Thanks for your continued support, wishing you all a restful weekend.

Thank you to Miss Chatsuda Chaypech (the mother of Gun in Reception Yellow) who came to read to the class for our ‘Around the World’ topic. The children loved listening to the story of ‘The Bad Octopus’ in Thai. Another big thank you to Liza’s mum, Mrs Tatiana Kolisnischenko and her brother Yarik who came to read us the story of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’. Liza’s brother read the story in English and her mother read it in Russian! The children were so excited to hear these two versions of the traditional tale. By Ms Hannah Kuusik

Congratulations to all of the Primary Stars of the Week and Students of the Month!

Year 1 traveled all the way to Kazakhstan yesterday and what fun they had! With most of the class never having traveled there yet, the children were super excited to be exploring such a new place. They did an awesome job and learnt lots. Look at their wonderful yurts! By Ms Charlotte Myers

On Tuesday the 11th of June, 12 of our top KS3 Mathematicians went to British International School Phuket to participate in the 5th annual Phuket Island Mathematics Challenge. The students from HeadStart, BIS, KIS and UWCT were divided into mixed groups of 4 students per team. Together they had to solve various Maths challenges during the course of the day. All of our students received a certificate of participation. In addition to this Abbie and Krit in Year 7, Charles in Year 8 and Asuka in Year 9 all received medals for being round winners. Congratulations to everyone who participated. The students are already looking forward to next Year’s Challenge. By Ms Letitia Bekker

House News

Congratulations to the Green Dragons who have been crowned our 2018-2019 House Cup Winners. It was a very close competition, particularly between the champions and their close rivals the Yellow Cheetahs. Well done to all the students this year who have earned a record breaking number of House Points. There is still time before the end of the year to receive the bronze, silver and gold awards so keep collecting!

Photography Competition Winners

Congratulations to everyone who entered the CAPA week photography competition. There were some fantastic entries which will be displayed in the Atrium next week but the winners are as follows:

• Design Technology - Aon (Porvadee Niranviroj)
• Abstract & Artistic - Gemma Brain
• Dramatic expression - Sara Meleshkevich

Please attend flag raising on Monday to collect your prize!

To celebrate International Shark Awareness Day on the 14th July 2019, Shark Guardian, Sea Bees Diving and together with the Marriott Resort & Spa based on Phuket Island in Thailand, will be hosting a premier of this award winning movie for the first time in the country. We would like to invite you to this event. See below for more details:

Also known as Sharkwater 2, it was filmed and produced by Rob Stewart who created and the award winning film SHARKWATER in 2007 (www.sharkwater.com)

Date: 14th July 2019

Location: Marriott Resort & Spa Merlin Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Event cost: FREE

RSVP: [email protected] OR go to the event listed on Facebook (link below)

Starting time: 7pm

Dress code: Smart-Casual

Included: Free ‘Shark Bite’ cocktail and movie

Snacks and additional drinks will be available for purchase.

See the Trailer for the movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhS7bRwq4K8

Go to the Facebook Book event here: https://business.facebook.com/events/346574796049169/