Head’s Lines: Our Marlins in the water

Last Saturday there was a really great atmosphere at the High School Campus with the STA Swim Championships taking place. There were lots of the school community present at school watching the swimming and enjoying the day. There was also Flames Basketball Academy taking place in the gym to add to a very lively environment.

Learning Support Services Centre (LSSC)

In the High School Auditorium, our Clinical Psychologist Dr Damith Woods and Mr Shawn Taylor, our Applied Behaviour Therapist, held a morning seminar with over 50 visiting professionals from other schools in Thailand. The seminar focused on how to identify and manage children who suffer from ADHD. On the same day, but in the afternoon, Dr Damith and Mr Mike Duly (Head of High School Learning Support) held a workshop on dyslexia with a focus on diagnosis and treatment using the Orton-Gillingham Program.

As you know St Andrews International School Bangkok has an open admissions policy. This means our school welcomes children with a whole range of learning challenges and fully supports their families and our own staff through onsite specialist support services. As you are probably aware, we have Speech and Language, Art, Play and Occupational Therapists, as well as pastoral counsellors. These staff can give the right support to children and families to help to overcome many of the challenges they face.

For the start of this academic year our school has looked to further strengthen these support services. We have opened our Learning Support Services Centre (LSSC). Dr Damith has been newly appointed and is leading the development of our LSSC which will bring together a set of exceptionally well qualified therapists and specialist teachers to support children who have a wide range of learning needs. This service will be able to be accessed by our own school community and be offered to the wider community of Bangkok, Thailand and Asia where these education learning support services are extremely limited for families living in our region.

Recruitment

As we normally do this time of year, we  begin the process of recruiting staff for the start of next academic year. First we have surveyed our own teaching staff to let us know what their plans are for their futures at St Andrews. I am pleased to report that turnover from this year’s wonderful group of teachers is going to be very low. In the near future we shall be advertising a whole range of positions - many of which are sought to increase the number of courses offered in the High School IGCSE and IB curricula, and to support and enhance the specialist subjects taught in the Primary School.

Loy Krathong Festival

This week we will be celebrating the national Loy Krathong festival which will take place on Thursday 22 November. There will be two assemblies: first thing in the morning at our Primary campus starting at 8.30 a.m. for Years 1-3 which will be followed by our Year 4-6 assembly starting at 9.15 a.m. In High School there will be a Key Stage 3 assembly in the Sports Hall at 11.00 a.m.

We ask our whole school community to come dressed in Thai National costumes. There will be lots of activities taking place at both campuses and we hope you will have the time to enjoy the lovely Loy Krathong atmosphere with all children in the Primary School making their krathongs to take home and float that evening under the full moon with their families.

Christmas Time is Near

My sincere appreciation goes to members of our hard-working PTG and Estates Team who have already begun decorating the school with Christmas and Yuletide seasonal decorations. Both students and staff alike are already starting to feel a bit of the Christmas spirit, and I think I’ve even heard a few students singing holiday songs already.

School Calendar 2019-2020

The school calendar showing our term dates and holidays throughout the year has now been approved. This is available for the school website and can be seen by following this link.
 

For parents with enquiries about Primary School, please contact officeps@standrews.ac.th or Tel: +66 2 381-2387-8

For parents with enquiries about High School, please contact officehs@standrews.ac.th or Tel: +66 2 056-9555.