Primary School Sport: Finding the right balance-primary-school-sport-finding-the-right-balance-Nord Anglia Education
WRITTEN BY
St Andrews Bangkok
02 December, 2019

Primary School Sport: Finding the right balance

Primary School Sport: Finding the right balance-primary-school-sport-finding-the-right-balance-7bdf9e4c24364e658f7452a16b1f72b0
Primary School Sport: Finding the right balance Our gymnasts competed against the best in Asia at FOBISIA Gymnastics, our Primary basketballers won double, there was more tennis for our young Flames and over the weekend we have the STA Swim Champs.

Our gymnasts competed against the best in Asia at FOBISIA Gymnastics, our Primary basketballers won double, there was more tennis for our young Flames and over the weekend we have the STA Swim Champs.

Please read below for the news about last week's sport and also the weekend's sport where our gymnasts were truly exceptional in FOBISIA Gymnastics, plus tennis and swimming. 

To learn more about the different sporting events from last week please read below. 

To stay on top of all the action, I strongly encourage you to regularly review the Primary School Sports Fixtures Google Calendar, which can also be found along with all school calendars at calendar.standrews.ac.th.

Last Squad Training Sessions

I hope your child/children have enjoyed their training during term 1. With the ECA and STA Sport training sessions coming to an end before the break I would like to let you know of the last training dates for our Squads. Please be advised that there will be another email to notify you about the last sessions for sporting ECA's. 

There are also extra sessions for dance and gymnastics which will be sent via Miss Bogi and Miss Cherry. *These extra sessions are optional and at no cost. They are for children to continue to train to be the best they can be before their tournament/competition. 

Basketball

Last sessions for boys/girls Basketball - Tuesday 3rd December/Wednesday 4th December

Dance 

  • Monday 9 December - Girls Flames and Blaze squads 
  • Wednesday 4 December - Boys Dance squad 
  • Friday 6 December - cheerleading Flames and Blaze

* There are extra training sessions that miss Cherry will send on a separate email. 

NAE Games

On Monday 25th November your child should have received their medical form to take home for you to sign and return back to the main school office. 

Below is a breakdown on the rest of the training for our NAE children.

Basketball

Last squad sessions for boys/girls Basketball - Tuesday 3rd December/Wednesday 4th December

Teeball

Lunchtimes 12-1.10 in the sports hall.

  • Monday - girls and boys batting 
  • Tuesday - girls fielding 
  • Wednesday - boys fielding 

Passports

Please bring your child's/children's passport to the PE department (Mr Bob) before Wednesday 4th December. Passports will stay with us for the whole trip. 

First Day 

Please come to the sports hall at 6.45 am. Children should have luggage to check-in and then a carry on bag. We will talk briefly to the children about the first day, split them into their groups with their teacher leader and then take the bus to the airport. Once at the airport, the children can get some food (if you would like them to buy food please give them 500 baht) eat a packed lunch, or have the food provided on the plane. 

Once we get to HCMC, we will go to the hotel and check-in. After this, we will go down to the pool and relax for the afternoon, before heading to the welcome dinner. 

*Pack a swimming costume if your child would like to use the pool during the duration of the trip. Plus pack snacks your child would like to eat for the first day and over the trip. 

Communication 

My emergency contact number will be provided. Please remember this is only for emergencies. 

I will look to update any parents that cannot come via Facebook and Instagram at the end of each day. 

Please email damon.se@standrews.ac.th if you have any concerns while we are away and I will do my best to get back to you. 

Mobile Phones & Electrical Devices

Children are allowed to bring mobile phones as we realise they might want to contact you as they are away. But these phones stay with their teacher leader and are only allowed out for a short period in the evening. *Any other electrical devices are not allowed on this trip. 

Final Day

After breakfast, we will go to the airport. If children have Vietnamese Dong then they can buy a snack at the airport or they can eat the food provided on the plane. 

 

*We will be arriving back into Suvarnabhumi at 1.15pm, please be there for 1.30pm to pick up your child/children. There will be no bus back to school. 

Gymnastics 

What a great learning experience for our young Gymnastics at the FOBISIA Gymnastics over the weekend. The level of competition was the best yet and the children should be really proud of the way they competed and also the level of skill, focus required to put all their hard work into practice was exceptional. Our children achieved some incredible results and with our Level 4 girls winning our first ever Team FOBISIA Gymnastics Trophy, coming 3rd place on points total. This year we had over 30 children representing STA at the FOBISIA Gymnastics, which shows the growth of our programme. A big thank you to Miss Bogi and her team who strive to continue to improve and develop our gymnastics programme to the next level.

St Andrews International School basketballers played their last games of season 1 in the TISAC end of season tournament. Both teams had some real strong opposition and both went undefeated becoming the TISAC basketball double champions. Next up is the NAE Games in Vietnam. Best of luck to both the teams.

Tennis

There were huge smiles from our mini tennis players at the U8 Red Ball Tennis Tournament 2019 at ISB. There were 70 players from 5 international schools competing in the biggest red ball tournament of the year. 

What a splendid way to end the season as 5 of our players came first ranked in their own groups and made it to the quarterfinal round. In the end, it was Tao Tao who represented STA in the final round and won his first silver medal. Congratulations to all players for their excellent effort during the tournament. 

A massive thank you to our STA parents for your continued support. Also, a big thank you to the coaches for all their hard work.

Swimming

Big thank you to everyone involved with making STA Swim Champs 2019 a very successful event this Saturday. Despite clashes with other fixtures, 188 Marlins swimmers signed up to participate in our first home meet of the year.

There were some amazing results and improvements from our swimmers but the most important of all, our Marlins were swimming finished with smiles on their faces. 

We also would like to thank all the swim parents for your support as always. Looking forward to an even more exciting Term 2 and the biggest St Andrews International School Bangkok home meet, Marlin Mayhem 2020, in February.

Dance

On Friday St Andrews International School Bangkok welcomed a full-house audience to watch an amazing Term 1 ECA dance concert. Children from Foundation Stage 3 to Year 6 enjoyed showcasing their talents as they performed a variety of dances for friends and family.

Read all about it here.

Football

Last weekend our Primary Football teams were competing at the BISP Soccer 7s. This is the biggest schools football tournament in Asia and the most challenging. This is the first time we have ever taken 4 teams to this tournament and all 40 players had an amazing experience. This is not just about football. We stay in a real child-friendly hotel on the beach and this year with the amazing support of our STA community was the best yet. 

Our Primary children were incredible reaching 4 finals. The level and quality of our teams' football was the best I’ve ever seen and was noticed by all the other schools. We train to play the right way and our children were playing with the right team spirit, attitude and incredible technique and skill. 

Out of the 4 finals, our teams won 2 and lost the other 2 on penalties. It was hard to take for the U9 boys and U11 boys after both being so close to winning their games, bar late goals that took their games to penalties. Our U9 girls have reached the tournament final for 2 years in a row narrowly losing last year 3-2. This year was different and the girls took the very first Championship BISP trophy home. 

A massive thank you to our STA parents for cheering on the teams and hopefully feeling part of this really positive experience for their children. Also, a big thank you to the coaches for all their hard work. 

If your child is not currently playing football and would like to please contact Mr Damon.

Next up is the HIS International Tournament in January where 7 of our Primary teams will compete.

Keep in touch

Please stay up-to-date by joining our STA Flames & Marlins Facebook group for parents and students who are part of our Sport Programme.

 

Parents may post to this group and it’s been great to see some of your photos of our kids in action!

Term 1 Sports Fixtures/Competition and Tournament

 

  • 3 Dec - U9 boys football tournament, 2 pm leave

  • 4 Dec - U11 Boys football friendly @ SHB, 2.15pm leave

  • 6 - 9 Dec - NAE Games, Vietnam 

Parents

It is great that more parents are supporting our teams across different sports. The Primary PE and Swim Department teachers and coaches really appreciate parent involvement. The Code of Conduct below is a reminder of the expectations we have of our STA parents at sporting events. If you are unhappy with any situation at a sporting event, please come to see me or email me to book a meeting. Please note that it is unacceptable to confront a teacher/coach during a tournament or a game. The PE and Swim department look forward to seeing you at the next tournament/fixture.

Sporting Conferences

We appreciate that you are often hearing different acronyms - TISAC, BISAC, FOBISIA - that we are involved in but may not know much about them. We hope that the following overview will, therefore, be useful.

We are currently members of four conferences or organisations:

TISAC: Thailand International Schools Activities Conference

We have been members for many years. This has 16 schools involved which vary in size from small to very large. Currently, we mostly enter Blaze teams in TISAC. There are leagues and tournaments in several sports from U9-U19 and next year, TISAC will also start its own multi-sport Games for Primary children.

BISAC: Bangkok International Schools Athletic Conference

This is our first year in BISAC. The 12-school membership includes the largest international schools in Bangkok in leagues and tournaments across many sports, from U9-U19, split into four seasons through the year. BISAC schools also run invitational tournaments.

FOBISIA: Federation of British International Schools in Asia

This has three major multi-sport Games per year (Primary, U13 and U15) that take place in Phuket against other schools across Asia. There are also single-sport events in Tennis, Golf, Swimming and more, which take place across Asia and provide some amazing travel opportunities.

NAE: Nord Anglia Education

We are part of the South East Asia division and meet for a U11 multi-sport Games once a year. Our schools take it in turn to host the NAE Games.

In addition, we are part of the wider circuit regionally which means we are invited to a whole range of other events across Thailand. 

Currently, we are able to offer STA students opportunities through these conferences in Football, Basketball, Swimming, Tennis, Badminton, Golf, Teeball, Track and Field, Triathlon, Cross Country.

If you have any questions about these conferences, please don’t hesitate to contact Mr Damon (damon.se@standrews.ac.th).