Weekly Update #5, 23 September 2022
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 September | 9.00am - 12.00pm | Chinese Language Day | To be announced |
| 26 September | 8.15-11.45am | BTEC students visit PHIST event | Angsana Laguna |
| 12.00-1.30pm | 6th Form Students Attend University Fair | BISP | |
| 27 September | 8.15-9.15am | Parent meeting: Introduction to the IGCSE Curriculum | Secondary Hall |
| 28-29 September | TBA | Foundation ‘Stay & Play’ | Foundation building |
| 29 September | 8.15-9.15am | UPrep Talk 2 - Your Child’s 5 Year Plan | Primary Hall |
| 3-7 October | PE & Sports Faculty week | ||
| 04 October | Under 9 & 11 Cross country | at BISP | |
| 8.15am | Parents meeting: for Year 1 Parents | Secondary Hall | |
| 05 October | Under 13, 15 and Over 15 Cross Country | at BISP | |
| 06 October | 8.15am | UPrep Drop in & Future Ready Workshops | Primary Hall |
𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁!
𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨 to each one on your outstanding work. You play a crucial role in our team and continued success. From the admin and secretaries working in the offices, to the food service team cooking delicious food for over 1,000 people every day, to the drivers and security teams who look after our safety and manage a hectic (developing) parking area, to the behind the scenes teams who manage accounting, IT and purchasing, 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂!
| Announcements |
Pick Up Policy
Foundation & Primary children’s After School Programmes (ASPs) end at 4:20pm. Children should be collected from the location of the ASP promptly at 4:20pm. Any children not collected will be escorted to the dining hall to await collection. If your child has not been collected by 4:40pm a late pick up fee of 300 THB will be charged at the door.
Foundation ‘Stay & Play’ on 28-29. 09.22
We would like to welcome all our Foundation parents to our first Stay and Play of the year on Wednesday 28th for preschool from 8.30 - 9.30 and Thursday 29th for Early Years and Reception from 10.00 - 11.00. Our theme will be ‘all about me’. This is an opportunity to spend time exploring lots of fun activities and take a better look at our wonderful new classrooms. -Ms Natalie Walker
Phuket Vegetarian Festival on 30.09.22
Inviting the HeadStart community to dress in white and join in the local tradition of eating vegetarian food on Friday, 30 September 2022. 👉🏻 Note: this is an optional activity and regular menu items will also be available for lunch.
New! Parent Swimming Sessions
Let’s do it! Improve your stroke technique with the HeadStart Parent Swim Club. Starting this Tuesday at the PSU pool, from 2PM - 3PM. Finish just in time to pick up your kids from school (or enjoy a post-workout coffee at the HS cafeteria if they have an ASP). This is a stroke development class. You can join if you are able to swim but want to improve your technique, speed, and stamina. Please note that if you are not able to swim yet, these group sessions are not suitable for you. If you are a non-swimmer, contact me separately, please. The session fee will be THB 300. First session Tue 27 Sept, 2PM. Hope to see you there! P.S. Bring swimwear, goggles, a cap (if long hair), and ID card for entry. If you have fins and/or a pull buoy please bring as well. -Erik Böhm, HeadStart parent and fitness enthusiast
| Meetings |
Introduction to the IGCSE Curriculum on 27.09.22
We will be holding a Secondary Parent Meeting on Tuesday, 27th September, entitled: Introduction to the IGCSE Curriculum. The meeting will be in the Secondary Hall from 8.15 - 9.15 am and will be led by Mr Tim Davidson, Deputy Head of Secondary - Academic. The purpose of the meeting is to introduce parents to the IGCSE Curriculum and provide information about the HeadStart IGCSE Programme. We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday. -Secondary Leadership Team
UPrep Talk # 2 - Your Child’s 5 Year Plan on 29.09.22
Welcoming all parents who are interested to a University Preparation (UPrep) talk on the 29th September on the topic of ‘Your Child’s 5 Year Plan’. The presentation will be held at 8.15am in the Primary Hall on the 2nd floor. If you are in need of information regarding university applications and processes, please feel free to contact our team by writing to [email protected]
| PE & Sports |
Introducing the new match shirts for the 2022-2023 season. Available for HeadStart Football Academy players from the school shop.
Basketball
Congratulations to the awesome U18 Basketball players on finishing 2nd place in the Phuket Basketball 21 tournament this past weekend at Saphan Hin. The team performed fantastic and myself and Coach Mike were really proud of their performance. -Coach Curtis
Futsal
Well done to all of the players who joined in with the lunchtime futsal leagues this week. There were some excellent performances, as well as a lot of new students getting involved. If you are interested in joining please contact your PE teacher or Coach. TO watch snippets of the Futsal league, click here: Video #1, Video #2 and Video #3- Coach Paul
Swimming
Fantastic swimming over last weekend! I am so proud of our Aqua Panthers and Aqua Cubs. Everyone who came did a really amazing job and you should be proud of yourselves as well. We have only had 2 weeks of training at this point and this was the first meet of many. For those who dropped time, great job! Big congratulations to Pavel who swept all his races and earned 1st place in the 9/10 boys. All the coaches are looking forward to our next meet in October at BIS. -Coach Brown
Football
𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝘂𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽. For Years 3 - 8, from Monday to Wednesday, 10-12 October 2022
It’s a fantastic opportunity for children to play fun football and learn new skills in a positive environment at HeadStart International School. Camp starts at 09:00 am (Drop off from 08:30 am) and Finishes at 14:00pm with lunch provided! 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝘂𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗻! To sign up please contact [email protected]
| Student News |
Year 1 have spent the week counting and writing numbers to 10. This has included writing the numerals and the number word. After completing some of the activities in the classroom, the children enjoyed searching for numbers around the school. They had to count how many pictures there were and then write the numeral and number word to match. -Mr Sam Young
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟭𝟭 𝗪𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗯𝘆 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝟮 𝗕𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱. Year 2 Blue have loved reading with their Year 11 reading buddies over the last few weeks. We look forward to seeing our buddies every week to show them how much our reading is improving. Thank you Year 11 White! - Ms Laura Seabourne (Click to expand photos)
Basic Life Support Workshop
This week Mr. Jamie Sadler (Year 7 Coordinator) led a workshop designed to educate our students about basic life support. They were able to learn how to do a primary survey, the recovery position in order to feel confident in basic life support. Firstly our students were taught how to carry out a primary survey. A ‘primary survey’ is a quick way to find out how to treat any life threatening conditions a casualty may have in order of priority; D.R.S.A.B.C - Danger, Response, Shout (for help!), Airway, Breathing, Circulation.
Finally the students were able to place a person who is unresponsive and breathing into the recovery position displaying care of their casualty. The main takeaway of the PSHE workshop was to understand that shouting for help is really important and understanding that as soon as an adult arrives, they can take control of the situation!
CAPA Star of the Week
Well done to Clara in year 9 who is our Creative & Performing Star of the Week! Clara was nominated for her commitment to learning complex violin scores in preparation for the Chicago pit orchestra. Well done Clara!
Secondary Thai Students
Students in Secondary Thai classes have been learning various skills that promote being 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀. Our first project has been learning how to grow morning glory. Now that our growing garden on the 2nd floor is more developed, we have an excellent space to incorporate activities based on nature. The students enjoyed our first planting session and look forward to harvesting the morning glory next month! -Kru Karn
| Saturday Thai Culture Club |
Early Years to Year 1
Last Saturday, our Early Years, Reception and Year 1 students enjoyed HeadStart’s Thai Culture Club activities. They learned to sing Thai songs and enjoyed playing a popular chase game called ‘Mon Son Pa’. Students and parents also joined in making a toy called ‘Pong Pang’ made from paper and tiny bells. Thank you to everyone for joining the activities and for showing your support. Well done to those who made an extra effort to dress in Thai traditional costume as well. A full album can be found on the HeadStart Facebook Page. - Kru Poy and Kru Cherry
Years 2-6
As part of the Saturday Thai Culture Club the Year 2 - 6 students had the opportunity to visit Wat Chaitararam (Chalong temple) a historical landmark and Buddhist temple in Phuket. The students had a chance to practice Buddhist traditions and learn about ceremonies which include chanting and giving alms to monks. The children listened to a sermon, helped clean some areas of the temple and then walked around to learn important parts of the facility, especially the Grand Pagoda dominating Wat Chalong reputed to contain a splinter of Lord Buddha’s bone and the exhibition hall of Luang Poh Cham. A full album can be found on the HeadStart Facebook Page. - Kru Pim and Kru Kan
| Secondary |
Kelly Tuppen
Hello everyone! My name is Kelly Tuppen and I am a Secondary English Teacher, as well as the Pastoral Coordinator for Sixth Form. This is my fourth year at HeadStart and I love my island life here in Phuket, as well as the fabulous students and staff that make up the school. I have a First Class Honours BA in English Literature, and a PGCE for Secondary English from the Institute of Education UCL. Prior to moving to Phuket, I taught KS3 and IGCSE English Language, Literature and some Drama for 4 years at international schools in Yangon, Myanmar. I also more recently taught for the rural Canadian school system in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada: ask me about my grizzly bear stories! I focus on fostering a holistic model of education and providing comprehensive support throughout students' learning journeys. With a strong belief in the importance of a well-rounded educational experience, I am dedicated to guiding students in their personal and academic growth. My Pastoral role centres around creating a supportive environment for young adults that nurtures their development and self-actualisation, both inside and outside the classroom. As an internationally-minded English teacher, I cultivate diverse perspectives, fostering analytical skills, cultural understanding, and tolerance. I encourage creativity through debates, roleplays, and visualising literature. Building independence and communication confidence is central to my practice, and I promote learning from mistakes and persistence - a growth mindset is key. I have a particular fondness for poetry and puns, which you may spot around my classroom. I'm excited for the academic year, eager to guide my new classes through language, stories and a variety of media. Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. Best of luck to all this year!
Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations where students play the role of delegates from different countries and attempt to solve real world issues with the policies and perspectives of their assigned country. For example, a student may be assigned the United Kingdom and will have to solve global topics such as nuclear non-proliferation or climate change from the policies and perspectives of the United Kingdom.
Students can attend Model United Nations conferences around the world, and we intend to send a delegation from HeadStart to Bangkok early next year. MUN equips student with a wealth of transferable skills, such as collaboration, decision making, problem solving and debating. Here’s what students have to say:
“Today was the first day of the MUN ASP and I’m really excited to be part of it. I’ve always had an interest in world news and I’m looking forward to getting to use my knowledge in a competitive and cooperative setting. Today we talked about how the Model United Nations is structured and cleared any confusion or worries we had about it. Then we got to research crazy facts about a country of our choice, like a law in Denmark allowing Danes to legally hit Swedes with a stick if they try to cross the naval border when it is iced over. I’m thrilled to think about the possibility of going to a competition and use our debating skills to succeed!” -Charles Callens, Year 12
“Model UN immediately stood out to me because of its element of collaboration as opposed to competition. Doing our own research identifies our values and highlights our individuality; debating with the goal of forming ‘alliances’ builds our innovation and flexibility. Personally, I’m genuinely excited to strengthen my knowledge on global issues and discover all the ways in which we can explore solutions.” -Nanki Doowa, Year 10
English Faculty
To ensure the continuation of English Faculty’s superb examination results in recent years, Year 11 Boosters are now fully attended with students committed to achieving their best possible results in IGCSE First Language English. As Thomas Jefferson said, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.” -Mr. Pollicutt, Head of English
It may not make for the most visually arresting of images, but the academic rigour and robustness of A Level English Literature VIMAs resumed in 2022-23 with Year 13 students penning their discursive, analytical essays. You can read more about VIMAs and their role in the faculty’s A Level success in the recent article I wrote for The Phuket News. (see below) -Mr. Pollicutt, Head of English
| Community Links - Donating Food to SOS |
As a school, we are passionate about sustainability and teaching the up and coming generation to conserve and only use what they need. The HeadStart kitchen turns out approximately 1,000 meals a day and of course, sometimes there is surplus. In order to make good use of the leftovers, once everyone has had their fill, our ‘Community Links’ manager Mrs Edouard has organised for the Scholars of Sustenance Foundation to come to school and pick up neatly packed boxes of nutritious dishes and redistribute them to underprivileged people in both private and government care facilities. We are now in our second year of a successful partnership and look forward to continuing this initiative and even finding ways to build on it.
World Food Day takes place on the 14th of October and Scholars of Sustenance Foundation is inviting anyone interested to join their campaign to cook 20,000 meals for those in need. If you want to volunteer your time, donate or learn more about the foundation, contact manager Jack by writing to [email protected]. This is an excellent opportunity for students in the Duke of Edinburgh programme to contribute and earn ‘service’ hours. To learn more about what the foundation does, visit their website: Scholars of Sustenance- A food rescue foundation
Pictured below are Yingge Lin, Dina, Fred and Zepang volunteering to distribute food alongside SOS manager Jack. Well done for taking initiative and using your time in such a productive way.
| Success Out of School |
𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲!
On Sunday the 18th of September, three HeadStart teachers and Aon, our wonderful Primary secretary, participated in the Accor ‘Heartbreak Hills Mini Marathon’ and were pleased to take home some prizes for their effort. Congratulations to:
🏆 Sam Young - 2nd place in the Male Open category.
🏆 Donna Wintersgill - Winner of the Female Open category.
🏆 Emma Marsh - Winner of Overall Female and Female age 40-49 categories.
