Weekly Update 7
Announcement on the Auspicious Occasion of the Visit of H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to HeadStart International School’s Grand Opening
It was HeadStart International School’s intention to commemorate our Grand Opening in November 2015 at which point we submitted a formal invitation to the Bureau of the Royal Household for H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to graciously preside over the ceremony. However, as the Bureau of the Royal Household was unable to accept our invitation at the time, the school decided to postpone the Grand Opening Ceremony and to hold an informal Opening Celebration in February 2016.
Recently, the Bureau of the Royal Household has informed the school that H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has graciously accepted our invitation to preside over our school’s Grand Opening on the auspicious date of January 20th, 2017. The school will confirm the time of the Royal visit once the information has been confirmed by the Bureau of the Royal Household. Her Royal Highness will also be presiding over another event held by a governmental unit, in Phuket, on the same day so we are awaiting more information as to her schedule that day.
To mark this auspicious occasion, the school intends to present money to Her Royal Highness to be used in her various charitable works dedicated to improving the living conditions of the underprivileged, as well as the conditions of those living in remote and underdeveloped areas in the country.
The school would like to invite 50 parents to contribute to the Royal charitable works. Parents donating 25,000 baht will receive a brooch engraved with the royal initials “S.DH.” and have a photo taken with Her Royal Highness as a souvenir.
Those interested in donating money to the Royal Charities are requested to contact Kru Nee at 081-956-6065 or via e-mail at [email protected] to inform the school of their intention to make this charitable contribution. Please be advised that the deadline for contacting the school is the 30th October 2016.
เรื่อง ประชาสัมพันธ์การเสด็จพระราชดำเนินของสมเด็จพระเทพรัตนราชสุดาฯเพื่อเปิดโรงเรียนใหม่ (Grand Opening)
เนื่องจากทางโรงเรียนได้มีความประสงค์ที่จะทำพิธีเปิดโรงเรียนนานาชาติเฮดสตาร์ทแห่งใหม่อย่างเป็นทางการในช่วงพฤศจิกายน ปี2558 ที่ผ่านมา ทางโรงเรียนจึงได้ขอพระราชทานกราบบังคมทูลเชิญเสด็จพระราชดำเนินทรงเปิดโรงเรียนใหม่ (Grand Opening) แต่เนื่องจากสำนักพระราชวังไม่สามารถตอบรับคำเชิญในวันเวลาดังกล่าวได้ จึงทำให้ทางโรงเรียนต้องเลื่อนการรับเสด็จครั้งนี้ออกไป แล้วได้จัดงานเปิดโรงเรียนที่ชื่อว่า Opening Celebration ไปเมื่อเดือนกุมภาพันธ์ ปี 2559 ที่ผ่านมาซึ่งถือเป็นงานเปิดโรงเรียนที่จัดแบบภายใน
ขณะนี้ทางสำนักพระราชวังได้แจ้งให้ทางโรงเรียนทราบว่า สมเด็จพระเทพฯได้ทรงรับคำเชิญเสด็จของโรงเรียนนานาชาติเฮดสตาร์ทแล้ว โดยมีกำหนดเสด็จพระราชดำเนินใน วันที่ 20 มกราคม 2560 ส่วนจะเป็นเวลาใด ทางโรงเรียนต้องรอคำยืนยันจากสำนักพระราชวังอีกครั้งหนึ่ง เนื่องจากพระองค์ท่านติดภาระกิจ ณ หน่วยงานอื่นๆของจังหวัดภูเก็ตในวันดังกล่าวพร้อมกัน
และเพื่อให้การเสด็จพระราชดำเนินของสมเด็จพระเทพฯครั้งนี้เป็นเกียรติประวัติสูงสุดแก่โรงเรียน ทางโรงเรียนจึงประสงค์ที่จะถวายเงินเป็นพระราชกุศลเพื่อร่วมทำบุญในโครงการต่างๆของสมเด็จพระเทพฯ เพื่อช่วยเหลือพสกนิกรชาวไทยที่ยากไร้ในถิ่นทุรกันดารในโครงการต่างๆของพระองค์ท่าน ในการนี้ทางโรงเรียนจึงขอเชิญชวนผู้ปกครองและบุคคลทั่วไปที่มีจิตศรัทธา จำนวน 50 ท่าน ร่วมสมทบทุนบริจาคเงินเพื่อถวายเป็นพระราชกุศลครั้งนี้ร่วมกัน เงินที่บริจาคตั้งแต่ 25,000 บาทขึ้นไป จะได้เข้ารับพระราชทานเข็ม ที่ระลึก สลักพระนามย่อ “สธ” ย่อมาจาก “สิรินธร” พระนามย่อของพระองค์ พร้อมรับรูปถ่ายขณะรับพระราชทานเข็ม 1 รูป
ผู้ปกครองที่สนใจสามารถสอบถามข้อมูลหรือแจ้งความประสงค์ที่ครูนี ที่หมายเลขโทรศัพท์ 081-956-6065 หรือ ตอบกลับที่ อีเมล์ [email protected] ตั้งแต่วันนี้ ถึงวันที่ 30 ตุลาคม 2559
Reflections–By Ms Elizabeth Mason
Over the next two weeks there will have been the Vegetarian Festival in Phuket and the Wai Kru celebrations at HeadStart. As an expatriate and an international teacher I love to immerse myself in different cultures and try to learn at least some of the language and in turn begin to learn how people tick.
I have been thinking about what can we learn from these events. Firstly the Vegetarian Festival: it’s amazing how cohesive the whole event is. The island is buzzing with the festivities and people begin to think more deeply about what they consume. Many expatriates fully join in with the absence of certain foods and activities. I did begin with good intentions and managed to do 4 days of pure vegetarianism. I had been a vegetarian for over ten years as a young adult but now have a full range diet. I have learned that I have less will power than I did as a 20 year old, and that being a vegetarian is not an easy option when there is so much temptation. Twenty years later I have become more relaxed about animal rights and health issues which has made me think that perhaps I need to review that.
As for Wai kru (Teacher Appreciation Day) this is a great day because it gives me a chance to reflect and remember the teachers in my life and one in particular: Mr Nick Samsworth who was my forward thinking art teacher. I will speak more about him and the influence he has had on me in my Wai kru speech. It also makes me reflect on parenthood and my parents. As a parent we have great influence on what our children learn as we are in essence their teachers.
There is an old saying that goes ‘As a parent everything your child does that is good is down to you and everything they do that is bad is also down to you.’ When my children are less than prefect, I have that in mind and try (not always easy) to adjust my behaviours and teaching methods to benefit us all. As for my parents as teachers, I am grateful to my father for his great sense of fun. I was also very proud to have a father who was a Flight Engineer which is what got me interested in air crafts, travelling, photography and classic cars. And to my mother who was a fantastic baker: no scales needed in her kitchen! She made all my clothes when I was of Primary school age. The best thing about both these events is that you can use them both as reflection platforms to see what happens next!
Announcements
Meeting Invitation–By Mr Adam Drew
This year we have made significant improvements to the way we are assessing students and reporting this information to parents throughout the school year to consistently monitor their progress as they move through the school from Year 1 to Year 9.
I would like to invite any parents who are interested in the changes we have made to attend a meeting at school on Tuesday 11th October in the Secondary Hall at 8:00 am. This replaces the regular Thai Parents Meeting that happens at this time and is open to all parents who have children in Years 1 to 9.
The meeting will cover, progression markers (replacement to ‘Levels’), reporting to parents, changes to ‘effort grades’ and an overall summary of assessment at HeadStart this year. I look forward to seeing you there.
เนื่องจากปีการศึกษานี้ ทางโรงเรียนได้มีการปรับปรุงและพัฒนาระบบการประเมินทั้งในระดับชั้นประถมและมัธยมศึกษา ซึ่งในการเปลี่ยนแปลงครั้งนี้ทางโรงเรียนมีความประสงค์ที่จะรายงานผลและขอรับฟังความคิดเห็นจากผู้ปกครอง ทั้งนี้จึงขอเรียนเชิญท่านผู้ปกครองเข้ารับฟังรายละเอียดดังกล่าวจากฝ่ายผู้บริหารโรงเรียน ที่ห้องประชุม Secondary Hall ในวันอังคาร ที่ 11 ตุลาคมนี้ เวลา 8.00 น.- 9.00น.
Thank you Mr Alan Yip
On the 4th of October Mr Alan Yip gave a motivational and inspirational seminar on the subject of ‘How to Raise Happy and Achieving Children.’ The meeting was well attended with well over 80 parents signed up. We also thank Mr Yip for the books that he has donated to the school. We are sure each book will be a good addition to the Secondary Library!
Creative Arts News
CAPA Week is Coming! By Ms Erika Cramp
Next week we are celebrating our Creative and Performing Arts at HeadStart. The week promises to be full of fun and celebration.
Monday kicks off with performances by our students in the atrium at 7:45. This is followed by an acrobatic show in the sports hall as part of our whole school assembly. See the performers in action http://reprizzo-circus.ucoz.com During lunch we are welcoming back Veronica Barboza, one of our parents, who will be entertaining us with some Latin beats.
On Tuesday morning we will have more performance in the atrium at 7:45. That is followed by Gabriella who will be offering a Zumba class to our Primary students during their morning assembly. During lunchtime there will be a demonstration by our ICT and Music students using our new Makey Makey technology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfQqh7iCcOU . At 4pm Mr Joel’s drama students will be performing in the Secondary Hall on the 3rd floor. Parents are welcome to attend.
Wednesday morning will kick off with more performances in the atrium. We also welcome Bob Haya who will be doing drumming with our Wednesday and Thursday Music classes. Come and join us in the atrium during lunch for a drop in drumming session. Our senior Art students will also have the opportunity to visit a lino artist in Phuket town.
Phuket Aloud will welcome us to school on Thursday morning. During lunchtime we have our first House event of the week - the Trashion Show. Students in Year 7 and 8 will show off their creations in the atrium at 11:50.
On Friday morning we will be entertained by our HeadStart staff in the atrium followed by a juggler in flag raising. Khun Yoo will be entertaining us with his saxophone sounds during lunch. We finish off the week with HeadStart’s got Talent at 1:30 in the Sports Hall. The event is sponsored by Phuket FM Radio, Hard Rock Cafe, Phuket Wake Park, Splash Jungle and SF Cinema.
Throughout the week there will also be an Art exhibition by Map Abday. www.mapabday.com We look forward to welcoming you to CAPA week.
Theatrix for Life Workshops
Joel Adams, the HeadStart drama teacher and founder of Theatrix, is offering a free series of 12 Theatrix for Life workshops every Saturday morning, starting Nov. 5. Theatrix for Life is the local name for Theatre for Living, a forum type theatre that fosters solution finding, social change, dialogue creation, conflict resolution, community healing and empowerment. Teachers and social workers apply it successfully, as well as practitioners, medical professionals and coaches in NGOs, schools, corporations, communities and hospitals. It is accessible to people with or without theatrical experience. Our workshops are offered at HeadStart school as a public service to Phuket. Participation is free, and if you find value in it, you are welcome to make a donation.
Foundation News
By Ms Fiona Scott
The weeks are zooming by and it’s hard to believe that we are only one week away from our mid-term break. In Foundation we are very excited and very much looking forward to next week’s Creative and Performing Arts faculty week. Throughout all of next week, The Creative Arts department will be running a number of events, treats and performances around the school and to kick start the week will be a very special assembly in the Sports Hall on Monday morning. This will affect Students in Reception - Children in Reception have been invited to Monday’s assembly in the Sports hall. The show starts at 8:05 am. All Reception children will need to be in their homerooms by 8.00am so the class teachers can take the register and escort the children to the Sports Hall. In order to minimize any disturbances during the performance, we are asking for parents who are arriving after 8.00am to take their child directly to the Indoor Play Centre and not to the Sports Hall. Thank you for your support on this matter.
Foundation Parents Settling In Meeting
A big thank you to all the parents who came for our drop in meeting on Thursday afternoon. It was an ideal opportunity for parents to speak with the Homeroom teachers and find out the progress being made in the first half term of this year. It was wonderful to hear how settled and confident our youngest learners are becoming and how much they enjoy coming to school.
Flag raising – Friday 14th October
Next Friday Early Years will be joining the rest of the school for the Flag Raising Ceremony. The Homeroom teachers will be escorting children down to the Astro Pitch at 7:55 am. If you arrive after this time, please can you go directly to the Foundation department.
Swimming in Foundation
Many of our students are now equipped with the HeadStart P.E. bag and have all the necessary items for swimming. School P.E. bags can be purchased from the school shop for 100 THB. The bags are plenty big enough for all the swimming equipment and can easily be placed over the children’s shoulders and taken to the pool. Just a reminder that when packing swimming bags, please add in a swimming towel so classroom towels can remain in the homeroom; and don’t forget to pack a plastic bag for the wet swimmers at the end of the lesson.
P.E. Shoes
Please can I remind all parents that on P.E. days children are required to wear appropriate P.E. shoes. We have had some children falling over in P.E. when they are not wearing the correct shoes.
Thai ASP in Foundation
If your child is in the Thai After School Programme, please be reminded that the club ends at 4:00 pm. If you arrive early, please feel free to wait in the school Café or in the atrium as it can be very upsetting for students whose parents arrive early and look through the windows.
Photographs Policy
According to school policy we not allow photographs to be taken of the children during learning time. This involves ASPs as well. Please respect the privacy of other students in the school and refrain from taking photographs in school.
Parent Suggestion Boxes
A big thank you to all parents who have been adding the suggestions to the boxes. We can learn a lot about our students from this system and bring some of your ideas into the classroom. From dance shows, football and dinosaurs, we can use these to generate a number of supporting talking and listening activities into the classroom. We can also add in the baking and snack suggestions that have been made. Please keep us informed and updated of any interests and likes that your child may have outside of school.
Lost property in Foundation
From next week we will put a box in the Foundation corridor. Any items left in classrooms that are not named will be placed in the box and parents are welcome to look for any missing items. This will not include swimming equipment. Any lost swimming equipment will go directly to the lost property in the Nurse’s room and will be held for 48 hours. The best solution is to name all items that come into school.
This week the Preschoolers had fun finding the animals in the sand box.
Primary News
Year 4 Learning the Benefits of Exercise–By Mr Paul Williams
Year 2 Blue took part in some outdoor learning this week. As part of their Science topic looking at Humans and Animals, this week they have been learning about exercise, it’s benefits and it’s effects. The children designed their own investigation to find out how their bodies were affected by different types of exercise.
Digestive System–By Ms Kate Thongsen
Year 4 Blue have begun learning about the digestive system. They had to try and correctly label one of their team members with the digestive organs. They did pretty well!
Gender Equality Studies in Year 6–By Ms Jessica Armstrong
Year 6 Yellow have been learning about gender equality. On Tuesday they performed an assembly for Primary school and the parents. The assembly tackled issues such as gender stereotypes, interests among boys and girls as well as job aspirations. Although we made lots of people laugh with our entertainment skills, the strong message was communicated and hopefully everyone will start thinking about how we can challenge the stereotypes at HeadStart!
Secondary News
Duke of Edinburgh–Mr Craig O’Nions
Last weekend saw the second beach clean for our Duke of Edinburgh students in conjunction with Trash Hero Phuket on Kamala beach. Approximately 35 students and staff joined hotels in Kamala to collect over 20 bags of trash from the beach.
This weekend sees the first DofE trip for the Bronze students in year 10 who will be staying on Ao Yon beach overnight whilst learning campcraft, kayaking skills and map reading. We wish them luck!
Sixth Form University Fair Visit–Mr James Barker
On Thursday 6th October, 21 6th Form Students attending BIS university fair accompanied by Mr. Barker and Mr. Mason. Students were able to talk to a range of universities representing a range of countries such as USA, UK, Australia and Thailand. Students collected a range of prospectus and went to meetings of their choice about university life and the applications process. A successful trip and a great opportunity for students to discuss their options for their futures.
Tournament Of Minds Raffle Prize Draw–By Ms Marie Beanland
Congratulations to all our lucky winners who took part in the Tournament of Minds Raffle Prize Draw. The TOM students and I are very grateful for the support that school community has shown by purchasing tickets. We are also exceptionally grateful to so many local businesses for so generously donating such fantastic prizes to help our students fund raise for the trip.
We are all looking forward to the trip and the challenge of Tournament Day.
Secondary Student of the Month
Congratulations to all of the students who have won September’s Student of the Month!
English Nyke Van Der Laan, 10 Yellow
History Alisara Whitley, 8 Blue
Maths Julianna Mester, 10 Blue
Business Aria Ekasilapa, 11 Yellow
I.C.T. Azra Anderson, 10 Yellow
D.T. Jirapat Sienghen (Phu), 7 Blue
Biology Pimpaporn Phongworasak (Beam), 11 Yellow
Thai Anastasia Buneeva, 8 Blue
Chemistry Marco Bokobza De La Rosa, 11 Blue
French Esther Herbold, 8 Yellow
Physics Nattanicha Chaloemtoem (Natasha), 11 Yellow
Mandarin Ebba Engla Ifvarsson Asard, 11 Yellow
Geography Bomnuri Kim (Lisa), 11 Blue
Music Calum Dunlop, 7 Yellow
Art Phakteema Rughchoocheep (Pin), 10 Blue
P.E. Calvin Van Der Laan, 8 Yellow
Independent Learner Taya Chuck, Y8 Blue
EAL Artyom Puzhanov, 11 Yellow
Thai Department News
Year 8 students learned how to write their own stories in Thai about travelling by train. Well done!
Year 2 Learning the Alphabet
This week our students learned about the alphabet through an engaging game of picking out the alphabet letters that they have in their name. They also learned more about the ‘aa’ vowel by matching the words with the correct pictures.
Year 5 Talks About Their Personal Interests–By Kru Nid
Year 5 students got to give their classmates a peek into their personal interests by presenting books they like in front of the class in the ‘Thai as a First Language’ class.
Saturday Thai Culture Club
Last Saturday, the Thai Department held our first Saturday Thai Culture Club for this term and it was a big success. We had so many attendees and they all went home with smiles on their faces.
Early Years - Year 1
Theme: Thai Local Market
Students and parents had fun learning in our mock Thai local market where they also got a chance to make “Look Chuub”, a kind of Thai dessert made in the shapes of tiny fruits.
Year 2 - 4
Theme: Esan Traditions
Students learnt about many aspects of the Northeastern part of Thailand also known as Esan. They even had a chance to make and taste their own Som-tum or papaya salad which is very traditionally Esan food.
Year 5 - 7
Theme: Thai Herbs
Students learnt about Thai herbs, their healing properties and their other uses. They also got to make their own herbal balls traditionally used to ease muscle pain.
Sports Department News
Football Successes at Phuket Soccer Schools Tournament
Last weekend our Under 10 and Under 12 football teams played in the Phuket Soccer Schools Tournament held at Thanyapura. This was the first time we had entered the event and the standard was very high with top academy teams from all over Thailand taking part. Our boys did very well against some very strong opponents over the 2 days of hard competition. Our U12 team, after a frustrating start to the tournament, finished 6th place overall and our U10 team managed to finish at the top of their league undefeated and progressed to the final where they played a very strong Bangkok FC academy team. The boys unfortunately lost the final in extra time by 1-0, but nevertheless a fantastic achievement! Well done to all the boys who played over the weekend and to our football coaches JR, Eric and Chai.
U9 and U11 Academy Football League- starts this week!
We are starting to run a friendly inter school academy Football league every Friday training for U9 and U11 teams. This is a chance for the boys to practice in the game situation in a fun friendly environment. Coach Jr has selected the teams and they will be a mix of U9 and U 11 players in each.
Fixtures coming up this week
Senior boys football match v BISP
Date: Saturday, 8th October
Venue: at HeadStart
Kick off: 9:00 am
Senior Girls Basketball v BISP
Date: Tue 11th October
Venue: HeadStart
Tip off: 4:00 pm
Top Swimmers Success at Thai National Swim Championships
Huge congratulations to Vova Vladimirov, Peter Guglielmi and Qistina Barry as they were invited to attend the Thailand National Short Course Swim Championships in Bangkok this weekend. Vova finished 4th place overall beating many of his personal best times. Another fantastic acievement from Peter as he beat all his ‘personal bests’ in all his strokes and finished 6th overall in his age category. Qistina set all new ‘personal bests’ and gained qualifying times for the Malaysian Open International Swim Championships too. A big congratulations from HeadStart to all three.
HeadStart Sends Thailand’s Representative in upcoming Wakeboarding Competition
A huge congratulations to Dewit in year 11 who has been invited to represent Thailand in an WWA International Wakeboarding competition in the Phillipines on October 28th this year. This is on the back of recent success in Phuket, so a big well done and good luck from us all Dewit.
PISAC Sporting fixtures overview
Please see below the list of all the main sporting events for the year we have. This is not a definitive list and there will be more friendlies to be added. The ones in blue are the main PISAC swim meets and the ones in green are the main PISAC and invitational Football events. There are other events there that are run externally by Thanyapura, we will not be organising these as a school but you may wish your son or daughter to get involved in these. Please see more details on the Thanyapura website.
