Head’s Lines: A frighteningly good week

Frightful Friday certainly made our Primary School a scary place with staff, children and even some parents arriving in their Halloween costumes. There were some fun and spooky activities on the field at lunch times for our children to get involved with, all of which made for a fun and educational celebration of this scarily popular day.

The High School came alive with a similarly scary group of creatures congregating together for the Halloween Disco, hosted by the Year 10 and 12 Tanzania-bound students and staff. The atmosphere on campus was spirited and fun, while also serving as a great way for our Senior students to support both their trip plans and their younger peers.

FOBISIA Conference 

This coming week, I will be attending the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA) Conference in Macau. Our school has been a member of this prestigious organisation for nearly 10 years, and it offers some fantastic opportunities for our students to participate in music, sports, arts and online competitions all throughout the region. The conference starts with an executive meeting where school heads and directors will discuss and exchange ideas to ensure the smooth running of several different FOBISIA events that our school can and will be participating in. The conference will also feature a discussion on Activating Learning with three keynote speakers:  

1. Baroness Susan Greenfield – MIND CHANGE: HOW 21st CENTURY TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK, FEEL & LEARN, 

2. Tom Sherrington – WHAT DOES EVIDENCE-INFORMED TEACHING LOOK LIKE

3. Julie Stern – WORLD-CHANGING SCHOOLING: DESIGNING LEARNING FOR INNOVATION & TRANSFER

These conference speakers should provide some very interesting ideas and suggestions that will help develop our school’s involvement in future FOBISIA events and competitions.

Loy Krathong

On Monday 11th November, we shall be celebrating the national festival of Loy Krathong . This festival is a beautiful Thai evening celebration for families and friends. Everyone in the community is encouraged to wear traditional Thai costumes on this day at school.

Here are some additional details on the celebration provided by our Thai Department:

The celebration at the Primary School will include two rounds of assembly in the Sports Hall with the first round taking place from 8:15 to 8:45 am for Years 1-3. The second round will be from 9:00 to 9.30 am for Years 4-6. 

As Loy Krathong is a Thai cultural celebration, students will have a wonderful opportunity to view a classical Thai Ramayana masked dance performed by students in the Thai Dance ECA club. The music will be directed by Ms. Alice and the Thai Traditional Instruments club.

One of the highlights of this celebration is the creation of the krathong float. Students in Years 3-6 will be making their own krathongs in their classes, while early years students will create their kratongs with support from Year 6 students. The theme for this year’s Loy Krathong celebrationin  the Primary School is “Saving the Planet”. In this spirit, parents should help their children remember to bring their own cloth or recycled plastic bags for bringing back their handmade krathongs. 

The High School Loi Krathong assembly will take place in the Atrium during the morning break from 10:00-10:30am where seats will be available on mats. The programme starts with the Royal Anthem and will be  followed by a Loi Krathong song performed by students from the Thai classical music club. Afterwards, there will be a broad variety of performances, including a Loi Krathong dance, a Thai classical music performance and a Northeastern Thai music performance by Pong Lang band. The last item to conclude the assembly will be a Thai folk dance where dancers will encourage teaching staff and management to join in. 

During lunch break (11.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. for Key Stage 3 and 12:30 – 13:30 for Key Stages 4 & 5), the featured event will be a krathong-making activity. These krathongs can then be “floated” at the Atrium entrance. In addition, Thai games and Thai snacks will be available for purchase. CAS students will sell handicraft goods made by Thai students learning at Anuban Mae Fah Luang School in Chiang Rai, the venue for selling the handicraft goods will be near the coffee shop. The money raised from selling the goods will be sent back to the Thai school.

School Calendar 2019/2020

The updated school calendars for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 are available here.

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.