Weekly Update #5, 20 October 2021

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 YouTube channel.

After School Programmes (ASPs)

• Dance audition results will be announced to participants via email and students will be enrolled in their new dance levels within the following weeks.
• Please finalise your child’s ASPs by the end of this week. No changes will be allowed after 5 November.
• Invoices for fee paid activities were sent out on 19 October via email. Payments were due last week but the deadline has been extended to Saturday, 30 October.

Thai parents Meeting Invitation (2 November)

We would like to invite Thai parents for a meeting on Tuesday 2nd November in the Secondary Hall on the 4th floor at 8.30 - 9.30am. There will be a presentation about Thai/international university applications and admission requirements in Thailand. The information will be presented in Thai by Kru Nee.

UPrep Drop In session (12 November)

Parents are welcome to drop into the school coffee shop on 12 November from 8.15am onwards to meet our University Application & Processes team to ask questions and request assistance if needed. If you aren’t able to come into the presentations or drop in sessions, feel free to contact the team by email and they will do their best to respond to your queries. For Ms Indu Bedi, Head of Sixth Form, email [email protected] and for Ms Peepo, Sixth Form Assistant, email [email protected].

HeadStart Parents Community Facebook Page

A group of HeadStart parents have created a Facebook page that has been instrumental in connecting members of the community via chats, events and special offers. Their first event took place this Friday, 29 October. Parents were invited to join a coffee morning at Sriwara Bistro & Café in Chalong in order to have a chance to ‘meet & greet’. Click and join the Facebook page to find out more! HeadStart Parents Community Facebook Page Link.

Halloween

It was great to see how much effort everyone put into their Halloween outfits on Friday! Children and teachers were in high spirits and enjoyed the various activities that were on offer throughout the day. The online photo dress up entries are now being reviewed by our panel of judges and the winners will be announced on Friday, 5 November on the HeadStart Facebook page and weekly update. Good luck to everyone who applied!

A special thanks to our Halloween decoration crew for painting the Halloween pumpkins and bats that were displayed in the atrium: Sandwich (Art Department), Chajeen (Admin Manager), Yod (Graphic Artist) and Mai (Russian speaking Admin in the front office). - Miki Edouard, Events Manager

“As a teacher, I focus on creating a friendly, positive class atmosphere. This can encourage learners to take risks, and even make a few mistakes, which accelerates learning. I also find the yearly teaching cycle allows me to evolve my teaching; steadily incorporating fresh resources and technologies. Business ideas are core features of our HeadStart class experience. I like to bring our studies ‘to life’ by encouraging students to consider how they personally experience and interact with business ideas in their own lives. Thailand has taught me many things, particularly about the power of a smile, and confirmed that ‘It’s never too late to have a happy childhood’. -Mr Simon Downes, Secondary Business Teacher

“What I have always believed and proved to myself is that “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” - Benjamin Franklin. In 2012, I graduated with second-class honours from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, achieving my Bachelor Degree in Spanish. I am wholeheartedly committed to ongoing professional development, so I enrolled in Graduate Diploma Program in Teaching Profession, after which I have officially earned the teaching license from the Teachers’ Council of Thailand. I have truly enjoyed my time at HeadStart International School. I wish to continue to utilise my enthusiasm for teaching to grow together with the school. It’s always worth it to see the students learn, laugh, have fun, and successfully navigate learning and life, and so I couldn’t be happier”. -Kru Pla, Thai teacher in Primary

This week we returned with some gusto and introduced our students to the Know Choose Give model which will be the spine of our social and Emotional Learning Curriculum. Through this curriculum we will be teaching students 8 core competencies that are key to developing emotional intelligence; these competencies are noted in the wheel above.

We launched this term with teachers learning more about these competencies too. We know as teachers, to teach something we must develop expertise in the subject ourselves first. This is just what we did on Monday as we went back to the classroom ourselves as learners and worked together to explore these core competencies. We will now begin teaching these skills to our students through PSHE and Homeroom so they develop the ability to identify their own emotions and manage them in healthy ways; make wise choices when they are faced with difficult situations and show kindness and empathy to others in their community, in and out of school. All in all, we want to nurture strong, resilient and kind young people equipped to navigate their own lives and give back to the world in a positive way. -Pastoral Care Team

The ‘Project Recycle’ after school programme was off to a good start this week. Eight Secondary students showed up to learn about what plastics can be recycled and what the process is for recycling them. Ivan’s passion for environmental change and action is second to none. Aside from the classes he teaches to HeadStart students during the week, he is the founder of Whale Tail Phuket. Ivan is an eco-activist who is looking for alternative ways for human development and helping to preserve the nature of our planet. Ivan and his team organise eco-events, classes and educational events for children and grown ups alike. Whale Tail Phuket have a workshop in Chalong where they make amazing things out of recycled plastic that can be purchased via their Facebook page. -Ms Miki, Events & Community Links Coordinator

Early Years children have been engaging in a range of Halloween inspired activities including pumpkin slime, bat and spider-web crafts and scary cookies! We have also been using all of the usual core resources, including play dough. Did you know the malleable properties of play dough make it fun for investigation and exploration as well as building strength in children’s hands, making them ready for pencil and scissor control later on. -Ms Suzi and Ms Jasmine

Head Girl and Head Boy

This week in Primary the students elected their Student Council for this academic year. Each candidate wrote and delivered a speech, votes were held within homerooms and the winners became the Student Council Representative for their class. Leading our new Student Council are our Head Boy Kanthee (Non) Chumkaew and Head Girl, Thanyaporn (Ivy) Singh. Kanthee and Thanyaporn were selected by Mr Khan last year to join the school council as Deputy Head boy and girl. They have already demonstrated excellent leadership skills so I am in no doubt they will be extremely successful in their new roles.

Our next Deputy Head boy and girl for this year are yet to be announced. Students have written to Mr Khan expressing their interest and he shall be holding interviews soon. Congratulations to our new Student Council Reps and Kanthee and Thanyaporn, I wonder who will join you in the role of Deputy head boy and girl? -Ms Sophie Cunningham, Deputy Head of Primary

Year 3 students in the Thai 1st Language class have been learning words with “ว” and all of the student enjoyed practicing reading the words from their booklet. -Kru Cherry

In Year 4, we had an exciting start to this half term! In our homerooms throughout the day, we did three different activities linked to our topic for this half term, ‘The Blue Planet’. We explored the different levels of the ocean and recreated this in a bottle by using liquids of different density. It tested our measuring and pouring skills too! We got creative and designed a scene from a coral reef. Our work looks fantastic displayed on the windows as the light shines through…just like it does in the seas! Our third activity involved making a parfait dessert dish in the theme of the sea bed. Not only did they look good, they tasted great too! -Ms Jen Rapkins

Booster ASPs are well underway now in Secondary. In English, Year 11 Boosters are taught to explicitly help the needs of the students in relation to their First Language IGCSE examination. In a coordinated effort, Year 11 English teachers communicate to the Booster teacher that students struggle with a question type in the exam which requires them to write in a formal, detached voice. Thus this week’s Booster looked at using the passive voice in the present and perfect tenses. These sorts of things might not be the glamorous or ‘fun’ parts of school life but I think they successfully demonstrate teachers collaborating to pinpoint and address the needs of individual students. -Mr. Pollicutt, Head of English

On Friday, 15th October the Secondary students participated in an array of House activities; Gladiator Ball, Funky Football, Capture the Flag, 30 Minute Movement, and many other House games. It was a great way to end the half-term. Congratulations to the Blue Tigers who won the most House points!-Mr Nick Carter, Director of Sports

License To Clean Project from Oceans For All Foundation is growing fast with the first costal cleaner eco-friendly catamaran being built in G&T Boat Yard and Yacht Supply Chandlery by Wawa Creations near Ao Po Grand Marina. OFA’s catamaran is scheduled to be launched in December at Kamala beach where it will operate to collect all floating plastic on the shoreline. Thanks to our first 2 partners that have made this project possible: InterContinental Phuket Resort and HeadStart International School.

OFA is looking for more partners and brands to support our License to Clean project and the building of more boats in order to clean more Phuket’s beaches and shorelines from floating plastic. Great ROI in terms of image and marketing for brands and most importantly great for Phuket Marine Ecosystem. If you are interested in becoming a partner please contact [email protected]

Effortless Running with Coach Erik

Join us on Thursday’s at 5.00pm at Boat Lagoon for free outdoor guided running sessions for all who enjoy running. Learn running techniques, train intervals and enjoy running together. All ability levels are welcome! Our Thai and Expat coaches can adjust the workout to your needs. Get inspired by some of the other runners out there and inspire others in turn.

Can I bring family/kids? Absolutely! The more the better. We usually have a few youngsters join us in the session. So please bring your child along if you want to give them the gift of good running technique from an early age!

What should I bring? Comfortable running gear, a small bottle of water, a towel if you want to shower afterwards, and that is it.

For more information, come see us at the Effortless Running Lab or at the ERUN store in Boat Lagoon, 2nd floor of Boat Arcade (above Villa Market).

Invite to the Online Mental Math World Cup 2022