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Weekly Update 28
Wishing the HeadStart community a Happy Songkran!
Announcements
Dates for Your Diary
Upcoming events can be found on the HeadStart calendar on the website School Life → Calendar but we have outlined upcoming events here for easy reference.
| 24-28 April | Year 6 & 9 Checkpoints |
| 25 April | Student Council Meeting |
| 27 April | All Parents Meeting about Changes for Next Year |
| 29 April | Thanyapura Open Swim League |
| 5-7 May | Flying Fish Swim Meet |
| 10 May | Year 7-8 Parent Teacher Conferences (PTC) at 3:15 pm |
| 12 May | Friday Market |
| 13 May | Chicago: end of year Dance Academy recital |
| 16 May | Secondary PISAC (inter school) Athletics Day |
Friday Market
We will be introducing a ‘Friday market’ which will take place between 2:00-5:30 pm once a month in the atrium. Our first Friday market will be on the 12th of May. There will be baked goods, smoothies, salads, coconut ice cream and home made food from a variety of different home grown businesses. This is a non-profit activity that we hope will benefit local businesses therefore no rent will be charged for space. If you are interested in promoting your product please contact the office at [email protected] or pay us a visit.
Covered Walkways
Thanks to the Parent Committee’s request we are pleased to announce that as of Term 3 the car park walkways will be covered just in time for the rainy season. Here is a sneak peak of what it will look like.
New Outdoor Table Tennis Tables
During sports week we noticed that many of the students in Primary and Secondary were very keen to play table tennis. With this in mind the school will be sourcing two new outdoor ping pong tables for the students to use during break times. We hope this will be a useful addition to the school.
Songkran Festival 2017
On the 6th of April the school celebrated the much loved traditional Thai festival of Songkran. The day started with making merit and offering food and dry goods to monks. During the day everyone wore flowery shirts. Teachers and staff participated in a parade, the students prepared a lovely Thai dance after which the students poured water on the elders (management) hands. The day ended with a fun water throwing festival on the Football Pitches.
Eco Tip: Breath Easy - Carpool!!!
Ease the congestion in your lungs as well as on the road! With HeadStart’s student numbers growing every year, there are bound to be other students living in your area. Arrange to carpool or ride share. Car exhaust fumes cause pollution, which is not only bad for us to breath, but bad for the environment too. The great thing about carpooling to school other than a healthier environment? You’ll save money on petrol too! So reach out and find out who is in your area and start carpooling today! By Ms Kate Thongsen, Eco Committee
Library Announcement
Please be informed that the Library is open for parents between 7:30-8:00 am and 3:00-3:45 pm. Please do not visit the Library outside of these times as the Library is occupied with students. Thank you for your understanding.
Sports Department News
By Mr Richard Lukats, Athletics Director
Secondary P.E. Lessons
All students in Year 7 - 11 will require their P.E. Kit for all their P.E. Lessons after the holiday.
Phuket International Schools (PISAC) U9 & U11 Athletics Competition
On Wednesday 5th April from 12.00pm to 3.00pm, HeadStart International School played host to Phuket Island’s young talented athletes for the 2017 PISAC U9 & U11 Athletics Meet. This was the first time HeadStart had hosted this event, and we made up for lost time by putting on great show watched by parents and families from all the schools competing.
During the meet children from KIS, BIS, UWCT and HeadStart competed against each other to see who could run the fastest, jump the furthest and throw the furthest in the 60m, 100m, 200m, 400m, Long Jump, Javelin, Quoit and the Shuttle Relays. The children from all four schools exemplified the virtues expected of all athletes, showing courage, fortitude, skill, commitment and enthusiasm for all the events they participated in. But equally impressive was the way the boys and girls from all schools encouraged each others athletes to perform to their best in a spirit of camaraderie that some of the worlds top athletes could learn from.
There were some inspiring performances by the HeadStart Team of boys and girls led by Ms Greenwell and cheered on by a large crowd of parents/guardians, worked up into a frenzy by the running commentary by our very own Mr Carter. We will be publishing our first series of school records in the coming weeks, so please take time to look to see who is the HeadStart record holder, at least until next year!
The 2017 Secondary PISAC Athletics Meet will be at UWCT on Tuesday 16th May, students if you think you have what it takes to compete for HeadStart see Mr Carter who will be organising the Team.
Swimming News: Rocket Science Invitational 2nd Place!
The Aqua Panthers competed at the Rocket Science Invitational over the weekend and really turned some heads! On top of hitting 245 personal best times, the team came in 2nd place, whereas last year the team placed 3rd. Topping our point scorers were Vova Vladimirov (Year 11) and Natalie Hallerman (Year 2), who scored 116 and 105 points respectively. Vova placed 3rd in his age group for high point and Natalie placed 1st out of all the 8 and under girls! Huge congratulations to the both of them. Our next competition is the Thanyapura Open League on April 29th. By Coach Brown
Below are the other top individual point earners for the Aqua Panthers:
Juno Wanakitti 96
Eve Whittaker 96
Alya Cagli 94
Peter Guglielmi 93
Bomnuri Kim 92
Emmie Parson 91
Lewis Amonoo 87
Andrew Amonoo 84
Nattanicha Chaloemtoem 90
Sarah Ngarmseang 81
Nazariy Zakharov 77
Anya Belova 74
Dmitry Golyanitskyiy 72
Cameron Smith 72
Suyeon Lee 71
Kwansakul Lynch 70
Supicha Songpetchmongkol 70
Secondary News
By Ms Elizabeth Mason, Head of Secondary
I would like to take this opportunity to wish all students, teachers and parents a happy and prosperous Songkran. May all of your dreams come true for the Thai new year. Please stay safe and happy during this fun time. It has been an extremely busy and productive term and I am sure all teachers, students, and parents are looking forward to a break from the school routine.
On reflection this might have been one of the most challenging Terms: Year 11 did their mock examinations, Year 10 are in the second term of their IGCSE content and have to adjust after the term 1 exams. Year 12 and 13 prepare for some of the hardest academic exams they might ever face and Year 7,8 and 9 went on fun but challenging Outbound Field Trips. I know some parents have found it very hard not being able to contact their children by phone so it has been a learning curve for everybody.
The Year 9’s did their Checkpoint mock exams which will launch them into the real check points straight after the Songkran Break. Good luck to the Year 6 and 9 students for the Checkpoint Examinations!
Could I remind Year 7 & 8 parents that the parents evening for your child is on the 10th of May, 2017. Your children will be able to make appointments with teachers after the holidays. There will be 5-10 minute slots available. Please arrive at 3.15pm as we as we have some exciting news about projects in Year 8 and an information regarding the Year 9 Checkpoints to start the evening.
Art Department
Year 9 have been drawing, from primary observation, the skeletal form of the human body. Here they have used oil pastels with representational colours to show form and tonal qualities. By Ms Kamilah Bilbe
This Week Year 8 students enjoyed cooking ‘Bua Loy’ which is a Thai dessert of dumplings in coconut cream.
Primary News
By Mr Andrew Whittaker, Head of Foundation and Primary
It is hard to believe that we are now already at the end of Term 2, it seems only moments ago when I was saying welcome back to you all after the Christmas holidays.
This has, yet again, been a very busy term. We have had many class field trips; some wonderful Faculty Weeks; great Sports Days and Swimming Galas; a fantastic drama production, The Gruffalo, from PreSchool to Year 3; a Trashion Show as part of the Fairtrade Week; Earth Hour; football, swimming and athletics meets; super class assemblies and even a teddy bears’ picnic; as well as the Songkran water festivities of yesterday - and of course, we were honoured to have the royal visit from HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to officially open our school.
It brings back some lovely memories for me, and a big smile to my face, just writing this and thinking of all these wonderful opportunities that our Foundation and Primary pupils have been a part of this term.
That said, after the Songkran and Easter holidays, we will be heading straight into the shortest and probably most busiest term of all, Term 3; and before we know it we will be having our end of year awards ceremony…… . However, before that happens we want to wish all the best to our Year 6 pupils who will be revising over the holidays and completing practice papers in preparation for their Cambridge Checkpoint Examinations when they return in Term 3. Good luck to you all!!
I wish you all a very safe and happy Songkran/Easter holiday, and ‘bon voyage/ buen viaje’ to our families that are leaving HeadStart and I look forward to welcoming everybody else back at the beginning of next term.
Thank You from Ms Kate Thongsen
Thank you to all of the Year 4 students and parents for all of their support and generosity this year. I have really enjoyed teaching this class and will miss you all. I look forward to coming back and introducing our baby boy. All the best for the rest of the year.
This week, French classes learned about the “Pâques” tradition. They had fun decorating eggs, chicks and rabbits. Joyeuses Pâques everyone! By Ms Jessica Ackermann
Year 4 are doing research on evacuees during the Blitz. They will then write information texts based on their research. By Ms Katherine Dickie
Year 4 Blue got creative with Mrs Thongsen during their art lesson last week. They decorated and then ate their own cupcakes. It was good, messy fun!
Year 6 Blue took advantage of the fact that many Secondary students were away on their Outbound Field Trips by utilising the Science Laboratories. Mr Cook and Ms Lucass kindly gave up their time to help the class discover how to separate sand and salt. All the pupils achieved this by the end of the lesson, Well done 6 Blue! By Mr Timothy Eke
Foundation News
By Ms Fiona Scott, Deputy Head of Foundation
A lot of fun was had this week as we come to the end of another busy and bumper packed term in Foundation. This has been a fantastic term and it has been wonderful watching the children grow and develop each day.
With the holidays fast approaching, many of us are planning a number of fun trips either locally or internationally. It has been a long and eventful term for our little ones, so remember some basic health tips for the holidays. Holidays are all about the 3 Rs - relax, recover and re-energize!
*Make sure your child gets time to relax over the break. Sleep and rest can do a lot of good for the growing body and brain, so let children take some time out from their busy lives and enjoy spending quality family time together.
*If your child has been unwell recently, please remember to continue with all the good practices already in place at home and school. Regular washing and sanitizing hands, drinking lots of fluids and eating healthily. A fully recovered body grows in strength and helps children to develop their immune systems and fight off future viruses.
Allowing time for relaxation means that the children will come back to school all refreshed, full of energy and ready to go for our final term of the year.
Early Years classes are having lots of fun celebrating Easter and Songkran this week. On Tuesday we made chocolate nests with eggs! We enjoyed pouring, mixing, spreading and tasting! They were yummy! Ms Nikki and Ms Frankie.
House News
By Nick Carter, House Coordinator
Weigh Your Waste Last week’s ‘Weigh Your Waste’ winners were once again the Yellow Cheetahs, who continue to do well as a House team, wasting 3.5kg of food.
Weekly House Quiz The winners of the weekly House Quiz were the Blue Tigers, who have done superbly this term. In fact, the Tigers have done so well, that they currently have the most points in term two. Well done, Tigers!
Now that term two draws to a close I will soon be counting up the money raised for the House Mascot fund raiser. I will also be tallying up the students House Merits, which will then be added to the House total scores. The final results from term two will then be announced during the first flag raising ceremony in term three.
I have to say that all of the Houses done exceptionally well this term, and I am delighted to announce that all Houses have surpassed the amount of points that our overall winners, the Red Phoenixes, amassed last year! So, it’s fair to say that all students AND staff have been putting in much more effort to help me to raise the profile of the House system this year.
