Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1: Saving the world beginning at our doorstep

On Friday the children in KS1 took part in a special assembly to mark World Peace Day, and to put this into a truly international perspective we invited Mr Andy Gleadhill, a renowned composer, educator and expert in World Music to lead the assembly.

Mr Andy took us on a whistle stop trip around the musical world, stopping off in Africa, South America and the islands of the Caribbean before finishing the journey in South East Asia. The children and teachers really enjoyed joining in with all of the rhythms Andy played. Andy has also been doing workshops with some student groups and provided some staff training, too. We really enjoyed having him in school.

Eco-Awareness

With Climate Strikes in the news across the world this week, in school we have been further raising the children's awareness of what we can do to save energy, reduce waste and work together for a more sustainable future. In age-appropriate ways, children have been talking about their ideas with their teachers and looking at small, positive changes we can make in school and at home that together will have a big impact.

Some families from school went along to the climate strike held in Bangkok on Friday and they will be feeding back to their classmates about their experiences on the day.

New Traffic Flow System and Parking Arrangements

We have listened carefully to repeated concerns raised by parents about the issues around traffic flow and the parking situation in the main car park. We have been closely monitoring the situation to try to find solutions which benefit everyone. We have focused on three main areas to improve the situation- Drop off zones, traffic flow and parking. We hope that everyone can work together as a community to follow the new systems and help improve the situation in the car park. 

Drop off zones

To help ease the pressure on the car park, we will be introducing three new secure student drop off zones, as well as expanding and making better use of the current drop off zone (see map below). We have two drop off zones ready to use straight away (zones 1 & 2) with the other two zones estimated to be online before half term. 

The original drop off zone, which provides a safe, covered space to drop off children will soon be extended to create a longer drop off zone. This will start at the covered area in front of the canteen around to the walled area beyond the main entrance gate. A new drop off zone between gates 1 & 2 will provide a safe option for those with older primary aged children; this will help with the congestion as there is no need for cars using this drop-off to enter the main car-park. This zone, served by the freshly painted zebra crossings, will be manned by security guards/estates staff who will help students make their way safely to the school gate. We will soon be adding two more options for drop off, which should make your morning even smoother. For all drop off zones, we ask families to stick to the 15-second drop off time rule that will be applied in these areas, to help keep traffic flowing.

• Drop off zone one: the area inside the car park from the front of the canteen round to the main gate
• Drop off zone two: The space between Gates 1 & 2. This means cars don't need to come onto the car park.
• Drop off zone three (coming soon): steps leading up to the new footpath leading from Sukhumvit 71 (7-11) to Gate 1 provide a safe place for children to make their way to the school. Security guards will be positioned at either end of the walkway.

• Drop off zone four (coming soon): children can be dropped off in front of the 7-11 where an STA security guard will be positioned. This removes the need to go into Park Avenue completely.

*Drop off zones one and two are open for use now. We will update you when zones 3 & 4 are ready to use.

Traffic Flow

One of the main contributors to congestion in the car park is cars circling around. Having observed the situation closely, we have found that this is mainly cars driven by drivers waiting for their employers to collect their children and return to the vehicle. This creates a block which can result in the flow being completely stopped. To prevent this, from Monday 30th September, we will no longer be allowing cars to circle around the car park. Cars driven by drivers should exit the car park and should move to either Suk 71 (Pridi 24) or Max Valu where they can wait until signalled to return by their employer or until their employer goes to meet them by either walking to Suk 71 or by taking the shuttle bus to Max Valu.

Parking

We have also observed that some people are parking all day- either leaving their car in school while they go about their business or having their drivers wait all day with the vehicle. As of Monday 30th September, cars driven by a driver will no longer be allowed to park in the car park. They should use either Suk 71 or Max Valu.

New Parking Sticker

Everyone who uses the car park, whether for parking or pick up/drop off, needs to get a new parking sticker from the school office. To get one, you first need to add your car registration details on Moodle (up to 3 cars) by clicking on this link.

If you have a driver, you will also need to add their name and telephone number. When you come to collect your sticker, the office will confirm that you have entered your details correctly before handing over the sticker.

*The old parent parking stickers (blue) will no longer be valid after Friday 27th September. Everyone who uses the car park must have a valid sticker.

Please note that all day parking is not permitted in the school car park. Parking is limited and we ask you to be respectful of all users.

Upcoming events

• Community Action Day + Sustainable Market - Monday 7th October

• Sustainability and Science Week - wb 7th October

• International Karaoke Competition - Thursday 17th October

• International Day - Friday 18th October