Weekly Update # 7, 12 Friday 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.

Reminder of School Protocol for Entering the Property

Your children’s safety and security are important to us. In order for us to ensure that we know who is entering the school property, we request that all parents please follow school protocol for entering the property.

Only students should use the entrance on the far left in the morning. At all times, all parents and adults should enter through the turnstiles by scanning in using their fingerprints or card. Parents and adults who cannot scan in will be considered a ‘visitor’ and will be asked to give an ID to the security staff and will need to wear a “Visitor Pass”.

If you have not yet registered your fingerprint with our office, please feel free to do so. This is useful in case you forget your Parent Card. Scanning in is an important protocol to help us keep our students safe. Please follow this procedure and please be polite and courteous to our security staff when they enforce the policy. They are doing their job. -From School Management

2,000 Baht Government Payment - Signature Needed

Please check your email box as you may have received an email from admin asking you to come and sign an additional piece of paper for the receipt of the 2,000 Baht Covid educational fund. There are currently loads of forms still waiting to be signed in the front office. We apologise for the inconvenience this will cause.

Our term 1 fundraiser for the Phuket Sunshine Village has gotten off to a good start and 18 families have stepped up to sponsor one, or two (!) of the 50 children that we have committed to helping. A big thank you to the following people for your support and kind generosity; Tschupp-Lambert family, Annie and Zak (HeadStart teachers), Rose (Y5B) and family, Balint family (sponsored 2 children!), Candy (Y4B) and family, Simba (Y5W) and family, Lucky (Y10W) and family, Jao-Jom and family, Burton family, Christian (Y4Y) and family, Fabig family, Delsol family, Dodo (Y5Y) and family, James (Y12Y) and family, Winder family, Sachdeva family, Jensen family and the Bohm family.

We still have 31 children that are in need of sponsorship for shoes, uniforms and lunch money for the year. You can donate as an individual, a family or a company. Visit us in the front office to donate.

We will be having Casual Clothes Day on the 19th of November. For those who are new to the concept, students are allowed to wear the clothes of their choice and do not need to wear their uniforms on this day in exchange for a donation of 50 Baht which will be collected by Secondary Prefects and Homerooms teachers. The concept is that each student brings in a donation of 50 Baht = 1 Baht per child that we are aiming to support! -Ms Miki Edouard, Events and Community Links Coordinator

Online Homework in Primary - (Recap of Parent Meeting 9th November 2021)

A big thank you to everyone that attended our Primary Parents meeting last Tuesday. The high number of parents at the meeting is a fantastic indication of your commitment to working with us to ensure that your child makes the best possible progress, and continues to enjoy and achieve at HeadStart. Over the course of this year, my team and I hope to host a number of parent meetings so that we can help you all to better understand your child’s schooling at HeadStart International. Below is a downloadable version of the presentation from this meeting. The presentation contains a link to a very helpful video created by Ms. Wintersgill which will help with setting up Spelling Shed at home. -Mr Sam Khan, Head of Foundation & Primary

Meeting Invitation to Foundation Parents (16th November)

Ms Hannah Brown and Kru Dia would like to invite Foundation parents into school on Tuesday 16th November at 08:30 in the Secondary Hall on floor 4 for a parent meeting. The topic will be ‘An introduction to the EYFS Curriculum and Thai Class’. This meeting will give you an understanding of how your child is cared for and educated both in English and in Thai and will give you the opportunity to understand how HeadStart ensures both curriculums are followed to a high standard. The meeting will begin at 08:30. Please arrive a little earlier so that we may start promptly. The Foundation door opens at 07:45 and the teachers will be ready to welcome your child as normal.

Meeting Invitation for Russian speaking Parents (24th November)

We would like to invite all our Russian-speaking parents for a meeting on Wednesday 24th November in the Secondary Hall on the 4th floor from 8.15 - 9.15 am. There will be a presentation about the curriculum and questions about the Russian language program will be addressed. The meeting will be presented in Russian and members of Senior Management will be in attendance. If you have points or questions which you would like to have addressed at this meeting, please email your points to our Russian Language Admin Coordinator at [email protected]

Meeting Invitation for Mandarin Speaking Parents (1st December)

We would like to invite all of our Mandarin speaking parents for a meeting on Wednesday 1st December in the Secondary Hall on the 4th floor at 8.15 - 9.15am. There will be a presentation about the curriculum and questions about the Mandarin language program will be addressed. The meeting will be presented in Mandarin and members of Senior Management will be in attendance. If you have points or questions which you would like to have addressed at this meeting, please email your points to our Mandarin Language Coordinator at [email protected]

Primary Counselling

In order to develop a counselling programme that best meets the needs of our Primary, I need some feedback from you! Thank you so much for taking the time to fill out the Primary Survey -Ms Stephanie Costa, School Counsellor

We would like to thank all of those who came out to show their support for the Royal British Legion who were selling poppies in the school atrium this week. Remembrance day is when we give thanks and often pray for those who gave their lives or their health so that we, our children and our children’s children can enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy today. We remember not only soldiers and sailors, but also remembering the civilians who lost their lives in conflict. At HeadStart, we used this opportunity of remembrance to consider how we can avoid conflict with each other through dialogue.

Well done to all of the families who won first prize in the online Halloween costume competition. Winners were treated to tickets to Aquaria in Central Festival and some sweet treats while teachers (not available for pictures) won breakfast vouchers for Fresca in Rawai.

Over the course of this week and next week, students will be introduced to the importance of identifying and naming feelings. Dr. Dan Siegel, a renowned author and psychiatrist, coined the phrase ‘Name it to Tame it’. Watch this video to gain an understanding of why naming emotions is so important. We are working on developing our emotional literacy so students can use emotions as data to help them navigate their way through big and difficult emotions.

Naming emotions can lessen big emotions which can overtake us and determine our behaviour, for example emotions like anger or anxiety. When we are overwhelmed by a big emotion, the oldest bit of our brain, the limbic area, takes over and we can go onto ‘Fight, Flight or Freeze’. Another strategy to use to manage our emotions in such instances is to count 6 of anything. This helps the ‘thinking brain’ come back into the driving seat and take control again so we are rational and measured in our approach to the feelings we face. Students will be exploring what their six things to count might be. Some choose favourite football teams, My Little Ponies, States in the US, Mountains. What will your 6 be? Whatever you choose, choose something which requires some thinking- don’t make it too easy (!) otherwise the strategy won’t work! -Pastoral Team

Swimming

This is the second year Reece has been an Aqua Panther. He has always been a fantastic teammate and leader within his group. The coaches are extremely impressed with Reece’s commitment to the team and we are excited to see how much further he will progress with the Aqua Panthers! -Coach Brown

Week 2 of the STEAM Robotics club using our new VEX robots. Through following step by step instructions to build the robots students from Key Stages 2, 3 and 4 are learning many skills for the scientific and technical world awaiting them, as well as now having no excuses when asked to help with putting flat-pack furniture together. In the coming weeks, they will be learning more about the coding that controls the robots. -Mr Dean Wells

Art

This week sixth form students practised experimental mark-making through extended arm drawing. By using this technique, students were forced to loosen up and embrace a lack of control whilst also refining fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination to produce detailed observational drawings. -Ms Jody Leow

English

To help them understand the writer’s craft, I asked my Year 10 class to use figurative language to create their own pieces in which they described another person in the class. This is designed to encourage them to consider the deliberateness and care with which writers’ use language. The results are quite funny too- see the samples below. -Mr David Pollicutt, Head of English

Dylan Reynolds

Her bag was perched on her shoulder, giving a look of effortless chic. Leisurely, she strolled through the corridor with her eyes peeping over the horizon of her mask revealing her nonchalant attitude. As she sluggishly dragged her jet black shoes across the floor, an unexpected gust of wind blew through the fourth floor causing her excessively lengthened, unlit hair to waft in divergent patterns. Her eyes expanded and emerged from the mask as if she had seen something terrifying. Alas! Her hair was disturbed! Quickly, using her edged nails, she forced the hair behind her ears making sure it was up to their standards. After the wind had passed she slowly turned around and ask…“Eva do I look ok?”

Tina Bai

She walked into her class undisputedly, as she got ready to assimilate the knowledge that the teacher is about to give out. She peered at her test result, only to find out she received the highest score in the whole class. Delighted, she seemed to be drowning in a pool of excitement, making whimsical, spasmodic moves that brighten up the whole class.A walking encyclopedia herself, but she is never impetuous nor boastful.. Always she wears a smile on her face and spreads positivity whenever she speaks.

Krittat Phaisamran

The man looks out into the distance, wind ruffling his jet black hair. Standing stock-still on the rugged and run-down pier; looking for something, scavenging for answers in the endless sea of monotonous and empty waves. His eyes, though, told a different story. It told a story of a jubilant young man, full of fire, full of idealistic dreams for a better world. Clever, cunning and curious, he dazzled and tantalized, held the world in the palm of his hands- anything was possible. Yet the years were not kind to him; time eroded his hopes and dreams, and the once mighty and seemingly eternal flame eventually faded. Still standing there- on the pier- frozen in time, days of glory and eminence long gone. Desperately searching, clutching and clamoring for a spark to reignite the burnt out flame.

Liz Lebedeva

The door slowly creaked open as he waddled into class huffing and groaning with a messy stack of papers shoved in his torn apart and neglected binder. Throwing the papers on the desk and then plopping down on the chair beside he scrunched up with his arms covering his face, ready to soundly sleep through the torture about to ensue. The water droplets cascaded down from the tangled amazon rainforest on his head. Collecting together on the table creating a puddle. The whirring storm of complaints already clouded his mind. He apathetically propped himself up on the table running his hand through the gold string hair and rummaging through his pencil case for a usable pen or pencil, probably stolen from his friends.

Congratulations to Namon in Year 4B for coming first in the TGA-SINGHA Junior Golf Ranking 2021-2022 event 3 at Laguna Golf Phuket on 30-31th October.

Last weekend Natalie went to Krabi University in association with the Southern Thailand Swimming Club (STSC) to compete in a prestigious swimming competition. Natalie took part in many events and managed to place third (once), second (four times) and WIN two of her events. Natalie even broke a longstanding competition record in the Women’s 200m Medley event!! Congratulations Natalie!