Primary School Sport: Spotlight on Football and Gymnastics

It was time for our STA footballers and gymnasts to take center stage at two very big events.

What a brilliant 4 days away the Primary footballers had in Phuket. All the children were a credit to the school and represented STA with a great attitude and sportsmanship. It was a pleasure to be part of this trip with just brilliant children.

Also, this weekend we had our first gymnastics competition of the year in which our highest number of STA gymnasts took part from a growing gymnastics programme.

An email will go out this week about the Primary FOBISIA Games and the trial for the Year 5&6 on Friday 7 December. Our FOBISIA team will be selected before the break and training will start the second Friday back (training is only on Fridays for FOBISIA). If selected onto the squad any ECA that your child may be doing on the training day can be cancelled and payments can be reimbursed.

Football

The BISP Football tournament took place in Phuket from 22 - 25 November. This is one of our favourite trips of the year. As well the football, the children get the chance to go to the beach and pool, plus enjoy the environment of a child-friendly hotel.

The competition was strong as always but our Primary teams did not disappoint with all team reaching some intense semi finals. Our U11 boys only conceded 2 goals in 6 games and finished 3rd. The U9 boys lost a close semi and finished 4th. The U9 girls were exceptional in their first International tournament reaching the final. Two goals up in the first half and playing some great football, they eventually ran out of steam and lost 3-2. So close to being our first team to bring home a champions trophy.

What an amazing experience for all the children. It was one of our best trips yet. Thank you to all the parents who came and supported the children and staff.

Gymnastics

Our young STA gymnasts competed at their first competition of the year on Saturday. They have put in countless hours of training and were all magnificent. We have increased our numbers from last year and continue to offer more opportunities for our young gymnasts.

• Chanya and Aya got 6th place on vault.
• Ross was 1st on floor, 3rd on rings, 4th on pommel horse and 5th on vault.
• Matthew 2nd on pommel horse, 4th on high bars.

We have more competition coming our way before the break and next year. This is a really exciting time in a developing sport at STA. Keep up the good work STA Gymnasts.

Squad Sessions

With a very busy period of tournaments and competition coming up,I am emailing to let you know about our last training sessions. Also, a reminder that all squads, including lunch times squads, will start again from the 14 January on the same days as Term 1. FOBISIA training is only on Fridays this year due to all the other extra commitments our child have.

Football last session

• Boys U11/U9 - 26 November

• Girls U11/U9 - 27 November

• Boys U7 - 28 November

• Boys U11/U9 Development Squad - 28 November

• Girls Development Squad - 27 November

Basketball last session

• Girls U11 Flames - 26 November

• Boys U11 Flames - 29t November

• Girls and Boys U11 Blaze - 23 November

• Girls and Boys U9 - 29 November

Gymnastics Squad

• Year 1/2 - 4 December

• Year 3-6 - 6 December

Dance

• Cheerleading - 26 November

• Dance Squad - 28 November

All lunchtime Dance squads finish on Friday 30 November unless Miss Cherry needs you to come to rehearse for a performance.

NAE Training

• Wednesday - 28 November

Dance

Our STA Dance team will perform their routine that won them 1st place at the TISAC Dance Competition during the Christmas Concert on 12 December.

Tennis

STA Mini Flames Tennis players are getting ready for their biggest tournament of the year. The U8 Red Ball Invitational Tournament will be held on Saturday, 1 December 2018 hosted by ISB Panther Tennis. There will be 80 participants from 8 international schools across Bangkok. We are looking forward to seeing our players perform their best and having fun on court.

Swimming

After a very successful STA Swim Champs, our ECA and Swim Squad swimmers are going at it again with their time trials. Despite such a busy schedule, our young swimmers have made tremendous improvement over the course of this term.

Term 2 Sports

There are some new developments for Term 2 ECA sport. We are always trying to offer even more sporting opportunities for our children and hopefully our new Sports Programme for Term 2 will not disappoint. These will all start from the 14 January.

Monday:

• Rock Climbing will continue at the Racquet Club, Thonglor

Tuesday:

• Open badminton will continue (2 slots: 2.45 - 3.45 p.m. and then 3.45 - 4.45 p.m.) - Sports Hall

• Due to the large number of U9 girls who want to play football, the STA Girls’ football @ Soccer Pro will be split into a Flames and Blaze teams with another BSS coach to work alongside Mr Stuart.

Wednesday:

• STA Badminton/open badminton (more badminton for our children and a chance for children who want to play more and also for children playing for STA in Term 2 competitions) - Pridi Soi 41 - 2.45 - 4.15 p.m.

• An email will be sent to invite children to be part of the STA badminton going over to Pridi Soi 41.

• Cricket and striking games on the field - 2.45 - 3.45 p.m.

• Athletics @ track TBC - 2.45-4.15pm

Thursday:

• Touch Rugby @ Arsenal Pridi Soi 21, 3.00 - 4.00 p.m. (We now have 2 teachers to coach Touch Rugby so we can offer this to Years 3-6, 40 plus places available).

NAE Games

We are edging ever closer to our trip to Cambodia - we leave on Friday. Please make sure that you have all the kit ready for Games. Basketball tops, tour tops and PE tops should all have been handed over for printing (where applicable).

On the day:

Your child should arrive at school in their tour top and whatever else they would like to wear. They should come to the Sports Hall at 8.00 a.m., put their bags in the breakout area and sit down. We will leave for the airport at 8.30 a.m. Our flight is PG 939H.

We will email to let you know we have arrived safely in Phnom Penh. Please look on Facebook and Instagram for the latest updates.

Food on Friday 30 November:

Once we check in at the airport there will be a chance to go to the Bangkok Airways Lounge for some snacks plus there's food on the flight. If you do not want your child to eat any of these options then please prepare a lunch/snacks for them to eat on the plane.

Medical Forms:

Your child will receive a paper copy of their medical form to take home (Monday 19 November). Please fill it in and return it to the main School Office by Monday 26 November.

Medicine:

Please put any medicine in a clear plastic bag with clear instructions and hand it to Mr Damon on 30 November.

Passports:

Please can all children hand in their Passports to the school office by Monday 26 November.

On Return:

Please remember there are no buses taking children back to school on 3 December from the airport. You must pick up your child from the airport.

Electronic Devices:

We will allow mobile phones to be taken on the trip BUT all phones will be handed over to the teacher in charge of your son/daughter in the Sports Hall before we leave. There are no IPADS, IPODS, MP3 players allowed on the trip.

If you have any questions or concerns please email me on damon.se@standrews.ac.th.

Due to the time-frame and the hectic schedules of our children, could the children please do their best to be at the following training sessions:

Wednesday 28 November: 2.45- 4.00 p.m. on the field

Also, every break time (10.00 - 10.20a.m.) until the Games we have batting practice in the Sports Hall. These small sessions could make all the difference when it comes to tournament day.

NEW STYLE TOUR Tops are now available and FREE. Yes no charge. Please can your child try one on and leave it in the shop for printing. We will give you notice when they return.

Parent Reminder

One of things that our coaches/teachers love from our STA parents is your constant support throughout the year of sport. There are many new children in our STA sports teams this year and we hope you have enjoyed seeing your children represent STA. With a busy period of sport coming up can I please remind parents that the only voice our children should be hearing is from the coach. Please encourage and enjoy the games but do not coach. Also, we are so happy at how respectful our parents are to the referees and officials. Please refrain from shouting at them no matter how frustrated you are at the decision made. We look forward to seeing you all over the busy period ahead.

Dates for your diary

We have some major sports competitions coming up this term. Please keep the following in your diary.

• 30 November - 3 December - NAE Games

• 1 December - Gymnastics Bambi Games

• 6 December - FOBISIA trial for Year 5&6, 2.45-4pm

• 8 December - Gymnastics Junior ISB

Term 2 (just some of the events next year)

• 11-13 - Swimming FOBISIA

• 19-20 - Gymnastics FOBISIA

• 18-19 - January, Harrow International 7s

• 2/3 February - TISAC Primary Games

• 2 February - BISAC Football Tournament

• 9 February - STA Invitational Tennis

• 2/3 March - Marlin Mayhem

• 16/17 March - BISAC Swim Champs

• 30 March - Gymnastics Moose Games

• 30 - March, U11 NAE SEA Football Tournament

• 27/28 April - BISAC Gymnastics

• 3-5 May - BISP Flying Fish Swimming

• 4-5 May - BISAC U11 Tennis

• 11 May - Harrow Football Festival

• 18 May - NIST Gymnastics

• 25 May - Mini Marlin Mayhem

• 10- 15 June - Primary FOBISIA Games

Here is a small selection of fun videos from last year for you to enjoy and remember what a fantastic year of sport we had:

• Primary School Week in Review video.

• KS2 Dance Performance video.

• NAE Games video.

• FOBISIA Primary Games video.

If you any questions about Primary Sport you can either email Mr Damon (damon.se@standrews.ac.th) our Head of Primary PE or book an appointment to speak to him about the opportunities your child’s/children’s will have at STA.