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Houses
Nadine Brelstaff
My name is Nadine Brelstaff and I am originally from Somerset in the UK. I studied Sports Coaching at The University of Brighton and then went onto to complete my PGCE in Physical Education. During my time at University I had the incredible opportunity to volunteer for a cross-community reconciliation project in Israel and Jordan working with children from varying backgrounds and ethnicities. I also went on a two week placement to St Andrews International School in Bangkok. It was there that I discovered a love for teaching in Thailand and hoped that one day I would come back. After University, I worked in a large state school where I gained my NQT status and then a small special school for children with dyslexia and associated learning difficulties. In October 2017 my wish came true and I moved to Thailand to work at HeadStart International School. I regard PE as a powerful and influential subject from which pupils can learn far more than physical techniques. Consequently, my approach to teaching and learning is centred on the desire to help young people enjoy taking part in sport now and into their adult lives. I take pride in the fact that I am supporting students to make positive choices, leading to a healthy active lifestyle. Outside of teaching I enjoy running, diving and cycling. I am extremely excited by the opportunities that Phuket and the rest of South-East Asia holds for me to pursue theses passions. I am also looking forward to seeing the how the school develops over the next academic year and being part of that process.
At HeadStart every student and member of staff are allocated to a House. The emphasis on the House system is to instill in every student a sense of T.U.F.F. (Teamwork. Unity. Friendship. Fun.) and the students work together in order to win as many points as possible for their Houses. We have four Houses as follows:
- Red Phoenixes
- Yellow Cheetahs
- Green Dragons
- Blue Tigers
Students and teaching staff should wear House shirts every Friday unless otherwise announced.
The main competitions the students participate in are:
House Quiz
During every Monday mornings homeroom session the students compete in a quick quiz on varying categories (movies, animals, Halloween etc). Then, all the houses points from each home room are tallied to find out which House has the most points.
Weigh Your Waste
As part of being an eco-friendly school the students are encouraged to only eat as much food as they need. Every Friday lunchtime all the wasted food is placed into their respective House bins and then weighed. Whichever House wastes the least amount of food is the winning House.
House Merits
At HeadStart we reward students and/or groups of students for anything that promotes themselves or others as remarkable and responsible human beings (academics, hard work, effort, teamwork, fairness, respect etc). All the House Merits are also tallied towards their Houses total score.
Sports Competitions
Every two weeks the Houses compete in a sporting competition (Basketball, Football, Tennis etc). In each competition we instill a sense of gender equality and we ensure that an equal number of boys and girls are represented by each House.
Other Competitions
Teachers also create their own competitions, and these can be as wide and as varied as Sports Days, HeadStart’s Got Talent, Language Day. Again, all of these competitions involve points towards the students Houses. During Friday morning flag raising the competitions from the previous week are announced and the students are informed which position their House are currently placed (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th).
Finally, at the end of the academic year, the House that gained the most points are rewarded with a House prize such as a pizza party, excursion to Splash Jungle or a trip to the cinema.
House Logos
Painting new House banners! Thank you students for a great job!
House Champions 2017 are…
THE YELLOW CHEETAHS!
The Cheetahs simply deserve to be recognized as our House Champions this year. They performed constantly well for the entire academic year, and their drive, and their determination to succeed NEVER faltered! They won nearly all of the Weigh Your Waste challenges, many of the secondary House quizzes, and also a large majority of sports competitions and sports days. Yet, every time I set the other Houses the challenge to try and beat them, they would respond with an even greater determination to succeed. I hope you will all agree that they were very formidable opponents, and therefore very deserving winners, with a massive 3,679 points!
As a reward, the Year 1-2 students watched a movie and then had a pizza party at school. The Year 3 – 13 went to SFX cinema to watch ‘Despicable Me 3’ and then had a meal at Sizzler or Pizza Company. Good job students!
