Last week at Primary School saw a special twist incorporated into the start of the school day each morning. A crowd of young children and parents gathered on blankets and cushions as a myriad of teachers read and even sang nursery rhymes. In addition, there were lots of activities happening at both Primary and High School in recognition of Anti-Bullying Week. These activities really demonstrated how determined students are to ensure that no one feels uncomfortable or picked on by others. And should anyone ever feel like this, it was important to be aware of whom to turn to for help and support.

Year 9 Student IGCSE/GCSE Options fair

On Friday at the High School campus, I joined all of our Year 9 students and attended a Key Stage 4 options fair. In Year 10 students start a two-year programme where they study 8 or 9 International General Certificates of Education (IGCSE) or GCSE courses. This event followed several information afternoons and parents meetings in High School to explain the options system. Beginning in Year 10 and continuing into Year 11, a student has to take English, Mathematics, PSHE and PE and also study 5 other IGCSE/GCSE courses which they choose.  This personalised programme of study links to students’ particular academic and extra-curricular interests and ensures that they possess a strong foundation upon which to build their higher education and career ambitions.

At the fair, Year 11 students explained to their younger peers why they selected each IGCSE course, what they felt they had really learnt from it so far, and how it was going to help them inch closer to their career goals. It was a really enlightening experience for all participants, and our Year 9 students gained a clearer picture of  the immense range of IGCSE/GCSE courses that are available for them to choose.

FOBISIA Heads Meeting

On Thursday of this week there will be a face to face FOBISIA Heads Meeting for international schools in Thailand online. This meeting is sure to involve some important discussions about the future of FOBISIA and especially about how and when international competitions will start. Furthermore, it is vital to think through how these events can be conducted once travelling becomes much more widely accessible. Plans for online competitions will be outlined, including the development of tournaments for individual sports like swimming where different countries can be linked up and everyone competes together against the clock. I will be sure to report back on these discussions and plans  over the next few weeks.

Health & Travel
Our school will continue to remain vigilant with measures like temperature checking everyone who enters either of our school’s campuses and requiring that everyone on campus wears face masks or shields. I’m proud to say that, on the whole, our community has been very good with following these precautions while at school.

As many of us in our community have been traveling around Thailand, it would be greatly appreciated if everyone upon returning to Bangkok could keep their Health & Travel Declaration Form (found on Moodle) up to date. This information could be an important contact tracing record for the Ministry of Public Health in the unfortunate event of an outbreak.

Thank you all for your continued support and cooperation in all these areas to keep our school community safe.

Flu Vaccinations
For a number of years, we have been hosting a Flu Vaccination Programme for our school community. Last year, we were pleased to report that over 500 people in our school community received the flu vaccination in school- 221 STA staff and 228 students and parents.

This year’s Flu Vaccination Programme will be held on Friday 27th November between 1 pm and 4 pm in the Drama Studio at the Primary School. The programme, in collaboration with Samitivej Hospital, will be open to all members of the family at a price of 590 baht per shot.

How to register
The programme is popular, and this year we anticipate a tremendous turnout. To make sure we have ordered enough vaccines, we ask that you complete the form below to register. Please note that one form must be completed for each person who is to receive the vaccine.

With parental consent, High School students may take the shuttle bus over to Primary at 2.30pm to receive their vaccination independently.

• Flu Vaccination Registration Google Form for STA Families
• Forms to be printed out, completed and brought on the day with the payment

School Calendar

Our school will follow the recently updated school calendar that has been shared with our school community and is available on our school website. We realise the Government has recently brought in some additional holidays in November and altered holiday dates in December. However, St Andrews will not be adding any additional holidays or making any further changes to the calendar.

For your convenience, you can find the updated school calendar for 2020-2021 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.