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Weekly Update #31, 24 June 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 | Who for? | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 June | 2.15-3.15pm | Secondary Awards Ceremony | Secondary students & parents | Sports hall |
| 28 June | 1.00-2.00pm | Primary Awards Ceremony | Primary students & parents | |
| 2.30-3.15pm | Year 6 Graduation Ceremony | Year 5-6 students/Year 6 parents | ||
| 29 June | 4.30-6.00pm | Sports Awards Ceremony | Academy students & parents | |
| 30 June | House Winners Prize/Activity Day | Red House students & teachers | ||
| 01 July | 8.00am - 3.00pm | Parent Teacher Conferences (PTCs) | Whole school |
| Announcements |
School Bus Route
This is an announcement to invite anyone wishing to sign up for the Kata-Karon school bus route to do so before the end of term. At the moment we only have one student registered and unless more students sign up, unfortunately this route will need to be cancelled to give way for other more popular routes. Please make your request known by visiting the front office or writing to [email protected].
Appreciation for Longstanding Staff
HeadStart International School wouldn’t be the vibrant community and successful educational establishment it is today without dedicated, hard working members of staff. We want to publicly recognise seven members of the teaching team and 10 members of the support staff for their tireless efforts and everything they have done in the last five years to keep the school running tip top condition. Furthermore, we thank Ms Nicola Fallows (teacher), Mr Rex Rabacal (IT), Coach Artit (Swimming coach), Ms Mai (Accounting) and Ms Cynthia Manipol-Lo (Deputy Teacher) for giving HeadStart 10 years of fantastic service. Please join us in congratulating and thanking them for everything they have done for our community.
| Dance Recital on Saturday |
Our Black Ballet students are training very hard as we approach the Dance Recital this coming Saturday! They will be performing as Princess Belle from Beauty & the Beast. Grab your ticket today so you can see Princess Belle performing front and center! Book tickets here!
| Aida |
On Wednesday the 16th and Thursday the 17th of June the CAPA Academy presented Aida by Tim Rice and Elton John. Over 60 students between Year 5 and Year 13 took part in this sellout production. Alicia Martin played the title role and mesmerised the audience with her beautiful voice. Nick Gold and Stella Thipsak played the roles of Radames and Amneris respectively. Kairui Zhang (Mereb), Luna Ducasse (Nehebka), Nikita Kasatkin (Pharaoh), Charles Callens (Amonasro) and Innes Alexander (Zoser) entertained the crowd in their main character roles. This year we also had 4 students in the biggest band we have ever had at a HeadStart production. Thank you to Patrick Graham (drums and band director), Erika Cramp (keyboard 1), Alex Holmes (clarinet and flute), Alex Glinsky (bassoon), Maripet Porte (violin), Stanislav Krasilnikov (violin), Irina Zodiak (violin), Artem Kiselev (guitar), Jana Beydoun (bass), Jennifer Blackweir (trumpet), Saksorn Promjeen (bass), Krittat Phaisamran (keyboard 2), Ben Caspi (keyboard 2) and Chayapol Ngernanek (keyboard 2).
A very big thank you to all the teachers and parents involved. The Art team have created striking props and scenery - a very big thank you to Thomas Dagnall, Jody Leow, Airl Mindaro and Wipawee Lhuangon. Thank you to our DT team Korawit Leekleaw, Ivan Redchenko, Dean Wells and all the active learning students. Thank you also to Afra Govoni, Dave Riley and Maggie Riley for their help and support with the props and costumes. But my biggest thanks will go out to Alia Sillett (acting director), Amina van den Sanden (choreography) and Patrick Graham (music director).
It has been such a privilege working with such incredible staff and students and I will miss you all dearly. Erika Cramp (director and producer)
| Year 12s & 13s Visit the Junkyard Theatre |
Year 12 - 13 students and teachers were held in suspense all until they arrived at the 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞, 𝐏𝐡𝐮𝐤𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞! What a fantastic night of drama, music and dance, not to mention a few surprises put on by the very energetic team at the Underwood Art Factory on the Bypass road. The Junkyard team confirmed that the HeadStart audience was the liveliest they have every had. Hip hip horay! 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝??? Give the Junkyard Theatre a chance. Every Saturday night they put on a dinner show that is sure to blow you away! 👉🏻 Visit their website for more information and to book: https://junkyardtheatre.com/
Swimming News
Friday (17th of June) the Aqua Panthers invited both BCIS and Oak Meadow for a friendly showdown at our “Aquatorium”. The swimmers raced in up to 3 events and we all had some amazing swims. It was a fantastic way to finish out our racing season and everyone involved had a great time. Thank you to all the parents who came to support and offer your services to help make the meet run smoothly. -Coach Brown
Football
Saturday the 18th of June was a successful day of football concluding the fixtures for this term at HeadStart International school. It kicked off with our U11 Boys taking on Republic Academy in a friendly fixture. The boys continued their incredible form that they’ve shown all term, and put on a fantastic display of high quality football. Well done U11 Boys! -Coach Paul
Following the U11 Boys, it was the turn of our U15 boys team to host three Academy teams, M-Den Academy, Shino Academy and Republic Academy for a round robin style friendly tournament. It was delightful to see the support of the spectators and to witness the high intensity, physical football that all of the teams played. All of the Panthers U15 boys enjoyed and took a lot from the occasion, we look forward to hosting and attending similar tournaments and events next term. Brilliant effort boys! -Coach Paul
Jamie Sadler
My name is Jamie Sadler and I am originally from Bournemouth in the UK. This year I will be teaching Primary and Secondary Physical Education, I will also be teaching BTEC Sport too. I graduated from Southampton Solent University with a BA in Sports Studies and then went on to complete my PGCE in Secondary PE at the University of East London. Prior to moving to Phuket, I taught in London and spent 5 years teaching in a leading Independent school in Wimbledon. As a young boy I developed a passion for many sports, especially in school, this gave me many opportunities to develop my personal qualities such as self confidence, discipline and respect. My main speciality is Football; in the UK I played for a club for a number of seasons in the 5th step of the National league system. In recent years, I have taken a keen interest in martial arts such as Western boxing and Thai kickboxing. There are so many positive effects that can come from Physical Education, such as resilience, leadership skills and teamwork amongst others. As a specialist PE teacher, I aim to provide opportunities for my students to collaborate and to share their thoughts and opinions, in order to have a positive impact on their experiences in PE. My teaching ethos is for students to feel confident in their abilities when playing sport so that they feel inspired to participate in lifelong physical activity. If there is anything that you would like to ask me, feel free to contact me on [email protected]
Year 6 Transition Days
The transition from Primary to Secondary school is an important life transition that can affect children’s attainment and wellbeing in the longer term. At HeadStart we recognise this and strive to make that transition a positive experience. Over the three transition days, Year 6 were able to access our secondary school curriculum, gaining some valuable experience in a varied and exciting timetable. At the end of the day the students got to meet some existing Year 7’s, Year 10’s, Sixth form students and the Year 7 Homeroom teachers to ‘interview’ them about ‘Life in Secondary School’ and reflect on their experiences from the transition programme. Below is a taste of what students were up to during their transition days. -Mr Jamie Sadler
Year 6 students embarked on an exciting game of Mr Robot where they took it in terms to instruct and control their friends as if they were a robot and they were a programmer! They then put their new knowledge of programming in practice to code an actual game, typing real programming code to solve puzzles and progress through many levels and challenges. -Mr Armstrong (Secondary ICT teacher)
In the year 6 transition day activity for Design and Technology, students were introduced to Computer Aided Design CAD and Computer Aided Manufacture CAM. They all managed to have a go on the Laser Cutter and made a small key ring fob out of Acrylic plastic. Whilst the students were waiting for their go on the Laser Cutter they glued together pre-cut components of a small wooden box and painted it. - Mr Wells (Secondary DT teacher)
Year 6 Blue, White and Yellow enjoyed their English Secondary Transition lessons today as they considered how to use language persuasively to market their own brand of chocolate. I was extremely impressed by the quality of the students’ ideas and their ability to work together effectively. Roll on, Year 7! - Mr Pollicutt, Head of English
Art Department
Year 10 students visited 3 art galleries in Phuket town this week. They took lots of photographs as research for their art coursework and made observational drawings of the area. This was a great experience for our students and hopefully will help to spark their inspiration for new works of art. -Ms Jody Leow
English Department
What is intellectual curiosity? What is a fire that has been lit? Perhaps this photograph offers an answer.
Roy Caspi, having studied Atonement earlier this year, was inspired by the intertextual allusion to seek out and read Nabokov’s Lolita. Reading Humbert’s musings in this book in turn led him to ask me if I had a copy of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. As you can see, I do have a copy and I was more than happy to lend it to him. Moreover, I am delighted to see independent reading lead students from one discovery to another. Meditations contains some brilliant advice about what we might call ‘wellness’ today, particularly the concept of “ataraxia” which is sadly quite lost to the modern world. The term can be translated as “a state of mind which is free from distress” or “not being disturbed.”
I leave you with words from the author: “Always make a sketch or plan of whatever presents itself to your mind, so as to see what sort of thing it is when stripped down to its essence, (…) For nothing is as effective in creating greatness of mind as being able to examine methodically and truthfully everything that presents itself in life.” (Meditations 3.11) -Mr. Pollicutt Head of English
Dickens was famous for the brilliant readings he gave in Britain and America. To prepare for a reading he would mark the pages with prompts to himself such as: cheerful, stern, pathos mystery, quick on, beckon down, point, shudder, look round in terror. Students in Year 10 Woolf have certainly invoked Dickens’ spirit in their study of Great Expectations! Enjoy these lively dramatic readings they gave of Pip’s terrifying meeting on the marsh with the escaped convict Magwitch. -Mr Pollicutt, Head of English
| House Prize Winners |
Well done to the Red Phoenixes for being Term 2 and 3 House Prize winners! A fiercely contested House event culminating in the Phoenixes pipping the Green Dragons into 2nd place, closely followed by The Yellow Cheetahs in 3rd, and last Terms champions unfortunately relegated to 4th. The Red Phoenixes will receive their House Prize in the morning of the last day of Term (Thursday, 30th June). More details will come soon. Well done Phoenixes. Here’s the final points:
