Welcome back to school for the final term of this academic year. I hope everyone had a very enjoyable holiday and feels re-energised to participate in all the different events and activities planned for Term 3.
Our Year 11 and Year 13 students are now on study leave as they prepare their final revision for their external examinations. During this time, they will be coming into school at different times for exam revision sessions and workshops with their teachers. Year 11 will be sitting the International General Certificate of Secondary Education or General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE/GCSE) examinations which serve as the final assessment of the two years of coursework they have completed in up to 9 different subjects. All these exams will take place under very strict examination conditions with all papers being sent to the UK for marking by the Examination Boards. The final grades awarded are released to individual students and the school in August so they can be used by our new Year 12 students to finalise their Senior Studies programmes.
The graduating Class of 2018, our present Year 13 students, will also be sitting for a range of examinations, the main ones being those set by the International Baccalaureate. These again mark the end of their two years of study across six academic areas and the successful completion of their CAS, Extended Essay and TOK work. The results from these final examinations will be used by our graduates to gain entry to universities around the world for their future career aspirations. Once our graduating class has finished the last of their exams, their accomplishments will be celebrated along with their teachers, parents and friends at the Graduation Celebration to be held on Saturday 26 May at the Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park Hotel. I know they will all be working hard in this final build-up for their exams, and I know you will join me in wishing them the best of luck throughout this intense examination period.
International Accreditation
On Monday 7 May there will be a team of four international education accreditation inspectors from the Education Development Trust in the UK. They will be led by Mike Hewlett who has visited our school on numerous occasions as we have grown and developed with their guidance and help. The school has gone through a rigorous self-review process working closely with Education Development Trust Consultant Sally Lane. This review has focused on all the major areas of the school’s operations, the results of which we presented to this visiting team four weeks ago. Their four-day visit evaluated our school’s actual practice, especially the standards of teaching and learning, to ensure that it truly reflects what we have stated in our report.
Alongside the Education Development Trust Inspection Team, there will be a team of Thai education consultants from the Ministry of Education’s ONESQA who have also received a self-review report that particularly focuses on the key areas of our Thai programme across the school. These two teams will work together as a joint accreditation team to ensure that our school meets all the Ministry of Education standards as well as those set by our international accreditation agency.
This will be a valuable experience for the school to have undergone and should pinpoint specific areas for next year’s development plan where we can further improve what we offer to our school community.
New Shuttle Bus Service
Our school has expanded our shuttle bus service in an ongoing effort to improve the efficiency, reduce overall travelling time, and provide alternative parking areas for Primary School parents in order to reduce congestion during peak pick-up and drop-off times.
Following a survey which was conducted in Term 2, we are introducing additional parking at the car park located behind MaxValu 71 along with regular shuttle bus services to and from this area and the Primary School. Please review the approximate departure times of this new bus service, and take into account that these times will be subject to Bangkok’s mercurial traffic patterns.