Head’s Lines: Weekend retreats and get-togethers

Our first Saturday of the new school year was filled with lots of activities and competitions...Learn about our great Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programme...Recruitment commences in London for next year’s new teachers.

It was great last week to see how quickly the school community settled back into their classes and work routines.  Everyone appeared reinvigorated after a great holiday, and all were eager to get back to school to see their friends, and enjoy all the opportunities planned for Term 2.

On Saturday much was happening across both campuses with the Saturday activities programme  - tennis, gymnastics, swimming, football and basketball all taking place. The High School Sports Hall did not have the appearance of a typical sporting venue as our school hosted the Thailand Championship Finals of the VEX IQ 2019-20 “Squared Away” competition. Fourteen teams of students from international schools all across Thailand competed with individualized robots they had designed, programmed and built to complete a range of tasks. These bold creators were judged not only on their design and programming skills, but also on the speed and success with which they undertook these challenges. It was great to see such high tech equipment being adapted and utilised by these young minds to tackle the challenges before them. This was the first time St Andrews hosted a VEX Robotics competition, and we look forward to beginning work on the 2020-21 competition when it is released in April.

Congratulations to Mubi, Pat, Pun and Sense - the “Meme Team” from St Andrews for their team alliance taking the top spot in the finals and taking home the Teamwork Champion award - a great achievement in just their first year taking part in a VEX Robotics competition!

Community Golf Competition 

Last Saturday also saw the annual St Andrews Community Golf Tournament which was held at Unico Grande Golf Course. I sensed a great deal of excitement in the build-up to this event beginning late last year, and so, it was certainly no surprise that this friendly community competition was thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by all of our school’s golfing families and friends.

It was a great turnout on the day with 56 competitors in all, and plenty of familiar faces vying to improve from last year and get their names engraved on the coveted trophy. Despite some tough pin positions and water hazards a-plenty, the scores were outstanding, with some particularly good rounds from members of the STA Flames Golf Team. 

A huge thank you to everyone that attended as well as the Marketing and Estate teams for helping with the organisation. Generous donations of prizes were also much appreciated from Isa Pakdeesattayaphong, the Twiltermsup family and our sponsors; the PTG, Penthouse condominiums and Coreharbour financial services. There was also support for stocking the goody bags from winners Nakarin and Nhumme.

As with last year, the overall winners were another family combination: the Netcharussaeng father and son pairing of Nakarin and Pun Pun, and the Boonnayatool father and daughter pair of Nhumme and Fahsai with an outstanding gross score of 58! 

In second place was the team of Tanit, Jida, Leely and Boom, while third place was clinched by the team of Ardi, Anisa, Narongrit and Jump. In the net competition, the winner was none other than the dapper dandy team of Mr Damon, Mr Bob, Mr Dai and Mr Jon.

 I hope everyone had a great day of golf and enjoyed dinner at Bistro 33 in the evening and look forward to seeing even more of you at next year’s event.

The Reserve Officer Training Corps(ROTC)

The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programme at St Andrews International School is fully accredited by the British accreditation agency, The Education Trust (EDT). We are proud to have held, for the past 5 years, the prestigious British Overseas Award. With this accreditation, our school is recognised by the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA) under the Thai Ministry of Education. This accreditation and recognition by the Ministry of Education allows our school to be able to work with the Thai Military authorities, whose trained personnel are dedicated to providing Thai boys in Key Stage 4 and 5 (Year 10-13) with the opportunity to undertake the Reserve Officer Training Programme. 

The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programme is a three-year training programme which entitles college or high-school students, boys and girls, to serve as Army Reserves after they complete the training. Students can serve as Acting Sub Lieutenants if they continue for another two years after they finish the course. The programme is optional, and most sessions are held on Saturdays. ROTC students are called Territorial Defense Students or “Ror Dor” in Thai. 

Alongside providing students with the ability to fulfil their military service requirement, there is a great opportunity to gain maturity, character, and leadership through a rigorous physical training programme. Students learn basic and advanced topics during their three years, including radios, maps and navigating, weapons, military commands, camping and more. The final assessment of the three-year-ROTC programme is a week-long military camp deep into the jungle, which will definitely stretch the student’s limits and help them become stronger both in body and mind. As an Army Reserve, students are exempt from serving in the Thai Armed forces, unless called to active duty in the event of a natural disaster or military emergency.

This year’s ROTC camp will be held in Khao Chon Kai, Kanchanaburi, Thailand, and there are 60 of our male students attending. These students will be supervised by both Kroo Jeab and Kroo Boss. Overall, there are a total of 102 Thai boys in the ROTC programme at our school. Last year we had 30 boys successfully complete this three-year training programme. This is a great achievement worthy of recognition, and completes their Thai Military service before they move on to university or a career.

Recruitment

As with every year, Term 2 begins with a dedicated focus on the recruitment of new staff for the start of the next academic year. Our current teaching staff have already informed the school of their intentions for next academic year, and it is really pleasing to how little turnover is expected. There will be some new positions mainly in High School which allows us to develop and offer an even wider array of courses. We have already advertised in the UK Guardian website, as well as on our own website recruitment page. Applications have already flooded in and are currently being reviewed. Next week I shall be in London for the NAE Recruitment Fair where I intend to meet a large number of these applicants for the different roles we have on offer at St Andrews International School Bangkok.

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.