It has been a very busy yet bizarre first week back for the start of Term 2. Although teachers have been spread out across the school working online with their classes virtually, the physical campus feels eerily empty without a community of young people filling it with their enthusiasm and laughter. Towards this end, we remain in contact with the Ministry of Education and OPEC regarding our reopening on 1st February, and we will immediately share with you more details about this once we have received clear directions from these decision-makers, as well as a cogent explanation of the requirements our community will have to adhere to when we fully reopen.

Year 6 to Year 7 Transition

A very important activity that will occur in Terms 2 and 3 is the transition programme for our Year 6 students who will be joining our High School next year as Year 7 students. Staff meetings and plans have already been set in motion to coordinate transition activities between these two year group teams. A programme is being assembled that will both ease and excite Year 6 students about the prospect of moving to High School by presenting all the fantastic opportunities this change will bring them. More information will be sent home to Year 6 parents and students in the coming weeks so that together we can build their excitement and anticipation towards this next big step in their educational journey.

Recruitment

Generally, at this time of year, I would fly to London for the annual Nord Anglia Education (NAE) recruitment conference, Outstanding Teachers for Outstanding Schools (OTOS). This year there have been over 15,000 applications from fully qualified teachers currently working at international schools from across the UK. However, this year’s recruitment conference will be conducted as a virtual affair for candidates and interviewers. Everyone is working hard to screen and interview candidates before, during and after this event.  In addition, these sessions provide prospective candidates with a valuable opportunity to learn more about the schools to which they are applying to and envision what it would be like to work within the NAE family of schools.

Like in previous years, we have had an exceptionally strong field of candidates wanting to come to Bangkok and work at our school. Our school follows very closely the Ministry of Education’s strict regulations regarding the employment of foreign teachers, and we adhere to our own stringent policies in place for recruiting foreign teachers.  

Just like all of our current staff, every prospective candidate we consider must possess, at a minimum, a Bachelor's Degree in their specialist subject along with a recognised teaching qualification from their country. If a teacher is not a British national holding a Bachelors in Education Degree or a Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) teaching qualification, we require that potential teachers hold MOE-recognised teaching qualifications from their respective countries. In addition to ensuring that we are selecting the best teachers for St Andrews, requiring these qualifications makes it easier for them to acquire the necessary visas and work permits to legally be employed at our school. 

As I said earlier, it has been great to meet so many excellent teachers all wanting to come and work in Bangkok.  We shall certainly update our community with both the new teachers joining St Andrews next academic year, as well any current teachers who may be leaving us.

Nord Anglia Education (NAE) Parents Survey.

I really want to extend my appreciation to everyone who has taken the time to complete the NAE Parents Survey. This survey seeks, through a series of questions, to find out what parents feel about their family’s experiences with our school. It gives us very useful information which we can use to continue to further improve as a school, focusing on how we are performing, managing the curriculum, improving the facilities and further developing many of the administrative services the school offers to help support parents and students.

If you have not yet had the chance to complete this survey, I ask that you please make the time to do so by clicking here. Your contribution will help us form a full and accurate picture of what the school needs to undertake to further support you and your children. This completely anonymous survey will only take about 15 minutes to complete, with the answers going directly to the central organising team of NAE. This team analyses each school’s responses to the questions, and feeds their findings back to us so that we can put in place improvement plans directly addressing the areas of concerns you have expressed.

School Calendar

Our school will follow the recently updated school calendar that has been shared with our school community and which is available on our school website. 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