Head’s Lines: Welcome back to Term 3

Royal Coronation of H. M.  King Rama X

Long Live His Majesty

King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun

St Andrews International School Bangkok is paying tribute to the upcoming auspicious Royal Coronation ceremony of H.M. King Rama X. The School will be closed on Monday 6 May 2019 as the Thai government has announced it as a special national holiday.

From 4 - 6 May 2019 Thailand will celebrate the auspicious occasion of the Royal Coronation of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun who has ascended to the throne as King Rama X of the Royal House of the Chakri Dynasty, succeeding the late King Rama IX who passed away in 2016. The Royal Coronation Ceremony is an ancient tradition formally performed for the enthronement of Kings of the Thai nation.

His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun (Rama X) is the only son of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. He was born at Ambara Villa, Dusit Palace, in Bangkok on 28 July 1952, and was invested as Crown Prince and Heir to the Throne by King Rama IX on 28 December 1972.

As a tribute to the coronation ceremony, on Friday 3 May there will be an assembly to commemorate the Royal Coronation of HM the King at 8.00 - 8.30 a.m. for Years 2-6, at the Primary School and at  2:00 p.m. at the High School in the Sports Hall for all High School students. This will be an important event for our school community to pay tribute to H.M. King Maha Vajiralongkorn and the Thai Department would much appreciate and would like to encourage all students to dress properly in a respectful yellow shirt, a proper pair of trousers or a skirt and shoes.  Please be advised that yellow shirts with any strange messages or unsuitable designed patterns, denims or sandals would not be allowed to be worn for the celebration.

We appreciate your support in following the guidelines for this special occasion.

Term 3 begins

I hope everyone had a relaxing Songkran holiday and feel prepared to take on the challenges of our third and final term this academic year. There was a great atmosphere around school on Monday with the ECA programme starting already this week.

Like the first two terms, this one is set to be a very busy one and there is much to fit in and celebrate as we come to the end of this school year. This third term is a short one and so makes it doubly difficult to get everything completed before our long vacation and everyone moving up to their next academic year.

It was great to finish term 2 with our Songkran celebrations with some great activities taking part on the last Friday of the term. A special thank you to our Thai staff and Music and Dance teachers who put on two tremendous assemblies, one at each campus, which were enjoyed by all who took part. The traditional water fight on the school fields was a huge amount of fun and was enjoyed by all ages.  

At the High School campus there was a St Andrews traditional farewell to our Year 13 Graduating Class of 2019 who go on study leave. I would like to wish them every success in their external examinations which they will be facing in the first five weeks of the third term leading up to their Graduation from school on Saturday 1 June at the Bangkok Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park Hotel. It is certainly a stressful last few weeks for these individuals who I know have been working very hard to attain the grades they require to be able to go to their Colleges or Universities around the world and the next challenges they face as they move into the adult world and away from the close knit school community they have enjoyed during these past years. I look forward to welcoming them and their families to our School Graduation ceremony which will be their last school event celebrating their time at our school.

Our Year 11 students will also be facing their first set of major external examinations. In May and June they will sit the external exams for the International General Certificates of Secondary Education (IGCSE/GCSE) in the 8 to 10 subjects that they have been studying for the past two years. These are British courses that are externally examined at the end of the course,their grades being sent back to school in August. I wish all the Year 11 students the best of luck in their final revision and exams.

The highlights of the third term are the High School and Primary productions. This year the High School will be performing “Bugsy Malone” and the Primary School will perform “Annie”. There has been lots going on throughout the year to prepare for these great events with all the cast members working hard to give their best in the performance we will see this term.  Bugsy Malone will take place in the High School Campus on Tuesday 30 April and Wednesday 1 May. Annie will be performed in the Primary School campus from Tuesday 7 May to Thursday 9 May. Please book your tickets early.

Looking through the school calendar for this third term there is a huge amount going on across the school. I very much look forward to us all enjoying all of these events and working together to make this a great Term 3.

Fun Day Raffle Draw

The top 5 prizes for the Grand Raffle were drawn amid great excitement at the KS2 assembly on the last day of last term. The remaining 64 prizes were drawn later in the day and you can find the list of winners on Moodle or by dropping into the School Office. Along with the PTG Committee, we would like to thank everyone who generously donated prizes and to everyone who bought tickets.

School Calendar 2018-2019 and 2019-2020

The school calendar for 2018-2019 is available here and for the 2019-2020 school calendar showing our term dates and holidays throughout the year is available on the school website at 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.