Garden International School Eastern Seaboard, Ban Chang
NEWSLETTER Your choice. Their future. Our family.
โรงเรี ยนนานาชาติการ์เด้นอีสเทิร์นซีบอร์ดบ้านฉาง
May 2013
Inside this month's newsletter...
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From Dr Tasker: Principal
From the Principal Dear Parents, Students and Friends of GIS, May has been a busy month for the students of GIS, there has been a major focus on testing and examinations. All students will receive their written reports during the last week of this term. I am pleased to say that we have decided to make a permanent change to our Foundation structure. Due to the popularity of our Foundation we will be expanding our provision and will start the next academic year with 2 classes in Nursery (3 year olds) and 2 classes in Reception (4 year olds). Ms Gordon, Ms Jane and I are in the process of recruiting additional staff in order for this to be ready for the start of Term 1 in August. With our Nursery numbers becoming so large now we have already split the class in to 2 and Ms Leanne (Ms Elderkamp) is already working alongside Ms Aren. We are very happy that our Secondary ELS classes are now settled in their new classrooms on the 2nd floor. The new rooms are light, airy and open plan. The students seem to like the reading and breakout areas where there are bean bags! The previous ELS rooms above the changing rooms are almost completely demolished now, allowing a lot more light in to the garden area outside ICT1. The steel beams are being recycled to form the base of a decking and garden area which will be replacing the existing garden area outside ICT1. I would like to acknowledge the work of Paul Lee in IB1 in his role of President of the Student Council. He and the members of the Student Council work very hard, often unnoticed, on ideas and projects around the school. The Thai food menu board at the Canteen is now in operation and an end of year disco is planned for June. Our team at the Primary FOBISSEA games in Bangkok was very successful, bringing back a huge number of medals - read about their successes later in this Newsletter! We have had a successful visit from OPEC (Office for Private Education Commission) inspectors, who were very impressed with what they saw and graded us at the highest level - 'Excellent'. We have also had an inspection from ONESQA (Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment), which was also very successful. ONESQA are the Thai Ministry of Education inspectors and are part of the joint CIS accreditation and focus primarily on the Thai programmes; the verbal feedback after the visit was very positive and we await the official report. Kind Regards,
Dr Stuart Tasker PhD (Ed), PGDipEd (Math Ed), PGCertEd (Ed Admin), PGDipTchg, BSc Principal Garden International School
Upcoming events Whole School June 13-14: Book Fair, REPS Library June 21: End of Year (school ends at 12pm) Wednesday August 21: Start of the new school year Primary June 5-6: Transition Days for Year 6 – meet your new teachers! June 11-14: Year 6 Trip to Chiang Mai June 14: Meeting for parents of children starting Reception (2pm-3pm) June 18: Garden‟s Got Talent Final June 20: Reports go home to parents Secondary June 6-7: IB Group 4 Project June 15: IGCSE Graduation Evening June 18: Reports go home to parents June 19: Parents‟ Evening June 21: End of year assembly, Period 4
Community Notice Board There is a yellow school community notice board inside the Library. If you wish to place a poster or notice, please leave it with the Library staff and they will display it for you.
An Inspector Calls… Inspectors from the Office of Private Education Commission (OPEC) visited Garden – and gave us the thumbs-up. Three inspectors visited and were given a tour of the school, spoke to several students and teachers and looked at some classrooms. The result was that they were very impressed with the school and all the work everyone is doing. They graded GIS as „Excellent‟. Another inspection took place on May 22. This was from ONESQA, a CIS joint accreditation organisation. The initial verbal feedback from this visit was also extremely positive.
Many thanks to Paul (IB1) and his parents for generously donating mattresses and pillows, which will be used in our Sick Bay.
Safe and Secure At GIS, we take great care to ensure our students are safe and secure while they are with us. One way we do this is to check everyone who enters school has a reason to be here. To help us with this, the only people allowed past the Front Office are those with access cards or registered visitors. Please assist Khun Home and Khun Bonnie by ensuring you get a visitors‟ badge if you visit school. Sandy and Hanna Garden International School has recognised the achievements and dedication of two students who have both studied at GIS for their entire 13 years of formal schooling! IB2 students Sandy and Hanna have both had trees planted in their honour in the newly-created garden area near Primary. Hanna joined Garden in 2001 while Sandy has been studying here since 1998 when he joined Early Years. Both have now completed their IB examinations and are looking forward to bright futures, thanks in part to the education they were given at GIS. Plaques are in place by the trees to tell everyone of their long service to the school and framed pictures of the tree planting were given to the pair at the IB Graduation Evening. Framed pictures of the pair will also be on display in the Front Office.
Eco Warriors are Watching Have you spotted these three econinjas in school? There have been reports that this mysterious, masked trio has been making regular sneaky visits around school. Their mission: to check our new recycling bins are being used and to make sure our air-con and lights are turned off when we don‟t need them. See below to find out how recycling is helping to improve things even more in school.
Have you seen our eco-ninjas yet? They could appear at any time – so make sure you always recycle!
Recycling Helps Everyone Recycling doesn‟t just help save the planet – it also helps improve our school. Since the IB students started running a recycling scheme, we‟ve collected hundreds of bottles. For some time, IB students have been gathering bottles up from our specially-designed House bins and selling them on. As a direct result of the recycling, we‟ve raised thousands of baht to improve the look of GIS. One of the most obvious areas to benefit is in Primary, where the former car park has been transformed into a planted area, complete with trees and seating (see below). And all of that was paid for by from our recycling efforts. As well as the House bins, we now have easy-to-use white bins around the school where students can leave their recyclable items. Remember: the more you recycle, the more we can improve things in school! When our old ELS rooms were dismantled recently, the Maintenance Department also sold off whatever materials could be recycled and used the money from that to also help fund the new garden area. More improvements are planned in time for the next academic year too.
Before
Now
Ben R, Sofia and Jaxine were some of our IB recycling stars. Below, and top right, you can see them testing out the new garden with Head of Humanities and recycling expert Mr Elderkamp and Site Manager Mr Martin.
Garden to Host Major Music Festival GIS is tuning up for a major international music festival - and is inviting local companies to get involved. GIS will host the FOBISSEA Music Festival from November 15-18. Around 250 students from all over Southeast Asia will be at GIS for this event, coming from Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Nepal, Ho Chi Minh City, and Kuala Lumpur. The festival will involve students in Years 6 to 13 practising various forms of music and collaboration, ending with a large Gala Dinner and Concert. As this event will gain significant publicity among the international school community in Thailand and across Southeast Asia, it is an ideal opportunity for local companies to support the event. Various sponsorship packages are available, so if you are interested, or would like to find out more, email GIS's Head of Arts Paul Shiells at
[email protected] or call us on 038 880 360-3. The Federation of British International Schools in Southeast Asia and East Asia (FOBISSEA) is a regional group of the leading British international schools in Asia. It regularly holds festivals around the region, which aim to bring students from various countries together for collaborative learning experiences. We have also set up a special website to offer information on the festival.. To see it, head to http://fobisseamusic.gardenrayong.com.
Book Fair The Next book fair will be in REPS‟ Library on Thursday June 13 and Friday June 14. We will host stalls from: Scholastic - affordably priced English books for Primary and some Secondary Jolly Books - English books from our favourite publishers for mostly Foundation and Primary ages. Come along and get some reading for the holidays!
Wristbands Are Here! Garden International School has decided that from next year all students will be given free wristbands. They will be distributed according to House colour: green for Geckos, yellow for Eagles, blue for Cobras and red for Tigers. There will also be special wristbands to reward students for good work. These will be based on effort, attainment, improvement, service and leadership. Also, there will Leadership wristbands for the new Prefects and all members of the Student Council. The idea of the wristbands was introduced in Term 1. The Student Council thought that it would be a good idea because it would help identify Student Council members and hence they put this idea forward to the teachers. At the same time the teachers were thinking of ways to reward students and these two ideas went hand in hand. So everyone agreed to the idea of wristbands as it was a perfect reward, made it easier to identify people, and lastly because it looked cool and trendy. Therefore our school ordered the wristbands and they will be ready to be given out in the next Academic Year. Abhigyan Khullar (9B)
From Mr Grisdale: Head of Primary and Foundation
The last month of any term is always busy but the end of year is usually hectic and this year is no different. I will start with the calendar of events from now until the end of the year. Please pay careful attention to this, especially if you have a child in Year 6 or in Reception as there are special transition dates for you to attend. Overview of dates next month May/June 2013
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
28
29
30
31
Year 3 and 4 Cluster day (by invite) at St Andrews
Year 5 Trip
Year 5 Trip
Ice Cream
3 FOBISSEA Assembly
4
5 Year 6 meet their new teachers
6 Transition Day for Year 6
7
10 3LD Assembly
11
12
Year 6 in Chiang Mai
Year 6 in Chiang Mai
13 Year 6 in Chiang Mai
14 Ice Cream Year 6 in Chiang Mai
Meeting for Year 6 parents about children going to Secondary Year 6 in Chang Mai 17 1JS Assembly
Year 4 in Brookside
18 GIS Primary Talent Show Final
19 House parties and Summer Concert
Year 4 in Brookside
20 Year 6 Leavers Assembly Reports go home
Meeting for Reception parents to come to Year 1 from 2pm to 3pm 21 Foundation End of Year Graduation Assembly Primary End of Year Assembly Term 3 Ends at 12pm – next year begins on August 21, 2013
Trips If your child is in Year 4, Year 5 or Year 6 can you ensure that they have checked the letters about which items to bring and which items not to bring on their trips. Trips are an amazing opportunity to learn so much in a different context and it can be spoilt if they bring electronic devices with them. I hope that in the last newsletter of the year we will have some articles about the residential trips that the Year 5 and 6 children are going on soon. Transition Moving from Foundation stage in Reception to Primary in Year 1 can be a bit overwhelming for children – it involves new teachers, a new location and lots and lots of new children. It is a big step and one that we try to ease, as much as we can, for the children. With that in mind please attend the meeting and guide around the Year 1 area which has been set up for June 14. On a similar note, moving to Secondary can be daunting for Year 6 children as they are suddenly the youngest children as opposed to being the oldest and they have to master moving around classrooms and having lots of new teachers rather than the one familiar setting and classroom teacher. The programme for the transition from Year 6 to 7 has already begun with the class split and numerous e-mails and meetings between the different sections of the school. The children will meet their new teachers on June 5 and then spend a day on June 6 in „Secondary‟ experiencing their new environments. On June 10 there is a meeting for parents of children in Year 6 – details to follow in a letter shortly. Special Assemblies GIS Primary has Talent Assemblies: On May 27 the last round of the GIS Primary has Talent Competition was held. The following children had the chance to go through to the final: Miriam and Liyana - Singing Rida, Chloe, Shireen - Singing and Dancing Nicky, William and Kartik - Dancing Grace - Singing
Sharika and Tanya - Presentation Arun - Singing Erik – Robotic Dancing Dhriti - Dancing Poppy B - Singing and Dancing
Of those, Erik, Poppy Ball and Dhriti made it through to the final, which will be held on June 18 at 2pm, also in the Primary Hall. Joining them in the final will be: Veronika and Kamilla - Dancing Galatee - Singing Aastha - Dancing Joshua, Rajan and Pat - Dancing Ojas - Magic Pop, Maggie, Janine, Phailin - Dancing Oindrila - Dancing Riddhi - Dancing These are very talented children who deserve to be watched – so please come along to the final and enjoy their talent.
FOBISSEA Assembly Below is a great article by Mr Edwards about the recent Primary FOBISSEA Games held in St Stephen‟s, Bangkok. It was a privilege to have attended the event with the children and they were a credit to you and to the school. To celebrate our successes and to look forward to the next games in Vietnam we are holding an assembly on June 3. All parents whose children were in FOBISSEA or whose children might go to FOBISSEA next time are invited. Please can you tell the children to bring all their medals with them and perhaps wear one of the three FOBISSEA kits we gave out. If any parent still wants some photos – I have over 500 on my computer; please hand in a memory stick of over 3GB. End of Year Assemblies: • On June 20 the Year 6 class will run an End of Year (End of Primary) Assembly – this is usually a fantastic event and well worth attending; please enter that date onto your calendar. At that assembly we give each Year 6 child a small memento of their time in Primary in the form of a certificate and a photo inside a specially designed holder. • On June 21 in the Primary Hall we hold an End of Year Assembly for the children in Foundation. The children perform small shows and there are photos of Foundation shown on the screen. This is followed by each Reception child receiving a small memento of their time in Foundation in the form of a certificate and a photo inside a specially-designed holder. Foundation then return to their area for a feast and end of year celebrations – please ensure that you are there, it makes it so special for your children. • On June 21 we hold an End of Year Assembly to say goodbye to teachers and children and to look forward to the holiday. School finishes at 12pm on June 21. Reports Every child from Early Years to Year 6 will get a full report at the end of term. The final end of year reports go home for every child on June 20. We are always happy to see you and to talk to you professionally about your child but we need to make sure that we have no other commitments at that time. If you want to see your child‟s class teacher before this please send them an e-mail or contact Khun Bonnie at the Front Office (
[email protected]). House Competitions The House Swimming Gala was an auspicious occasion. We saw so many records broken as well as many fine efforts by all the children. The winners were the children as every child has improved considerably over the year and should be proud of themselves. This is a great testament to Ms Aletta, our swimming coach. As far as the houses were concerned - the winner was Cobra House followed very closely by Tiger and then more distantly by Eagle and Gecko. Seedlings Every Tuesday and Thursday from 2.20pm until 3.10pm there is a play group for children under the age of two which meets in the Early Years room (the Yellow room). This club is called Seedlings and it is run by Ms Jill (Year 1) on Thursdays and Ms Tara (EY teacher) on Tuesdays. It costs 100 baht per session per child and parents and carers are expected to stay. More details from Khun Bonnie in the Front Office or Ms. Tara
[email protected]
Fitness training Every day, from about 4pm to 5pm, Mr Michael and Ms Jill are doing circuit training which involves the use of a Bulgarian Bag. It is an intense workout for an hour but will increase fitness and muscular strength. The training is free and if you want to join them please email Mr. Michael on
[email protected] There will be one more newsletter this year – in it I will be saying goodbye and thanking all my colleagues here at Garden International School. Kind regards Rob Grisdale Head of Primary
Cricket and Family Picnic On Sunday June 9 the Friends of Garden PTA will be hosting a Cricket and Family Picnic on the GIS Sports field from 3pm-6pm. Parents and students in Year 7 or older can come and play cricket, but you‟ll need to register and pay 100B entrance fee before Wednesday June 5. Email
[email protected] or call Rashmi on 081 861-2816 for details, or you can give your name, age, email and phone number to the GIS Front Office. A number of assorted Indian snacks will also be for sale and the GIS Canteen will have snacks available for sale. Some families may like to bring their own picnic food
Fruit Field Trip Year 3 celebrated healthy eating at Suppatra Fruit Garden! I was very excited to go to Suppatra Land. We left in the bus at 8am and arrived at 9am. We went in the open bus to see the fruit garden. I saw different kinds of fruits such as rambutan, durian, and mangosteen. We tasted fruits that we never tasted before. I liked star fruit because it was sweet and sour. I didn‟t like durian or dragon fruit. Ms Laurence gave us one booklet to finish. We also saw rubber trees and found out that the name for rubber tree milk is latex. After that, Hansika, Amritha and myself ate som-tam, then we went to the bee farm. We saw the queen bee and the worker bees. We got to know that honey is made from nectar from flowers and bee saliva! After that, we had lunch at Suppatra Land. It was really fun trying out new fruits! By Jahnavi Baldwa 3JG I was so excited to go to Suppatra Land. As soon as the bell rang I quickly lined up. Ms Laurence, our teacher, gave us a booklet to finish. When we reached Suppatra Land we went on a kind of minibus and the driver took us around Suppatra Land. We stopped at the first fruit stop and I quickly jumped out of the minibus. The first fruit we tried was star fruit. The minute I took a bite of it I just loved it. It tasted a bit like pineapple, but a little sweeter. The next fruit we tried was durian. It was sweet but, I didn‟t like it at all. When everybody finished eating their fruit, we went to see rubber tress. The driver told us how they cut the tree and get the rubber out. After that it was lunchtime. We went to a place and ate som-tam, a yummy Thai salad. Jahnavi, Amritha and myself ate a lot of som-tam! Next we went to a bee farm. The queen bee was the biggest one. We saw the bees make honey and then tasted some. It was so amazing! Ms Laurence told us that honey was made from nectar found in flowers and bee saliva. After hearing that, I didn‟t want to taste it. Then we all had our packed lunch. Finally we went to our bus then we went to school. This trip was the best trip I ever experienced. By Haniska Baldwa 3LD Haniska and Jahnavi recently left GIS but they took time to write these reports before they went – thanks very much and good luck in Indonesia!
From Mr Ball: Head of Secondary
Hello, We are currently deep into the external examination season, with both IGCSE and IB examinations currently being taken on a daily basis in the Main Hall by the Year 11 and IB2 students. Over this examination period we will have had over 100 examinations sat, with as many as 16 examinations on any one day. It is a busy period for both the students and the invigilators, but so far so good. We wish all our students the best for each and every exam they take and look forward to their results coming out later in the year! Students in Years 7, 8, 9, 10, and IB1 have also been sitting examinations. These were the school internal exams and I hope that the students‟ hard work over the year and their fastidious revision, on the period leading up to the exams, is shown in their results. Lessons will return to normal now that the internal examination period is over, as there is still much curriculum content to cover in Years 7, 8, and 9 and the students in Years 10 and IB 1 will continue with their IGCSE and IB studies. The Music Department has established a Chamber Choir. If I may quote Mr Shiells: „It's a new thing, enabling the more accomplished singers to attempt more challenging pieces of music. It is to help us get ready for Music FOBISSEA‟. I am looking forward to hearing their first recital in assembly. We are, it has to be said, proud to be hosting the FOBISSEA Music Festival in November. This already-oversubscribed event promises to be as spectacular as it will be educational. If you would like to sponsor the event, please get in touch. Going green is the theme for a whole school development. We are currently trialing banks of recycling bins in several key locations. These recycling bins are for paper, plastic, cans, and drinks cartons. They appear to be working very well and our Site Manager is looking to establish many more recycling bins and „right sizing‟ the non-recycling bins over the next few months. This is also ably supported by those mysterious figures who can be seen, or not as the case might be, in green, the Eco Ninjas. These stealthy eco warriors can appear at a moment‟s notice, any time, and at any place. The End of Term Parents‟ Evening will be held on Wednesday June 19. We look forward to seeing you at this event as it is a wonderful opportunity to discuss your child‟s work and to support the move into the next academic year. There will be drinks and a variety of pleasant snacks to enjoy during the evening. At the last parents‟ evening Ben Bartlett and Hyo Jung demonstrated the depths of their talents as they performed several piece of music on the piano. For this Parents‟ Evening the Music Department has suggested that we showcase some of the younger students‟ musical ability and perform something a little more contemporary, involving guitars. Looking forward to it. Regards Sage Ball Head of Secondary
Super Sandy leads F3 Championship!
GIS student Sandy Stuvik is leading the European Formula 3 Open Championship after a storming opening four races. Sandy brought back two trophies from two races in Portugal. He now leads the European Formula 3 Open Championship with a 28 point margin. He is the first Thai to ever win a Formula 3 race, so this is a huge achievement. If all goes well, he could even be pushing for a Formula 1 spot in the future. Sandy (pictured above, far right) took to the winner‟s podium after a brilliant race. Incredibly, as well as doing well in his races, Sandy has also been studying for his IB Diploma at GIS. In the opening round in France, Sandy came fourth and then first in the initial races. The championship then moved to Portugal, where Sandy came second and third in the two races. Sandy is now the highest-ranked Thai driver and with plans for a possible Formula 1 race in Bangkok being discussed, he is hopeful that he could soon be joining the motor sport‟s highest echelon. Sandy, who has been at Garden since 1998, also praised the school. He said: “I feel that especially in the last few years, when you start to make real friends, it‟s been really fun and enjoyable. Pretty much everything I know and learned has come from here.” Have you been to visit our Creative Writing website yet? We have several stories and articles now online, all written by our super-eloquent students. You can check out their work here: https://sites.google.com/a/gardenrayong.com/creativewritingclub/ Happy 13th birthday to Antra (8B)! Her classmates enjoyed a cake and snacks to help her celebrate her special day!
IB News Pizza Success IB1 and myself would like to thank everyone who supported the latest Pizza Day. As a result, 2,785 baht was raised, which will be used to help a local charity. The funds will be used to buy shower curtains and material to make bedding for the dormitories at a special school in Ban Chang. Ms Morris Dek Dee Goodbye Our IB students paid a final visit to Dek Dee recently, which is closing. The IB students have worked hard making friends with the children at this school and it was good to have one final meeting where they could play and renew friendships. IB students helped fundraise to help pay for the salaries of teaching staff.
Praw picked for cultural concert Singing sensation Praw is set to perform at a major Hong Kong Big Band concert. Praw, 14, beat around 300 other singers to win a spot in the show, which will take place at the end of May. GIS student Praw, who is in Year 9, went to Bangkok to audition and was one of nine finalists to be picked by the judges, one of whom was a winner of the Thai television show Academy Fantasia.
Now Praw is practising hard to be ready for the „Ruam Smai Big Band Concert‟, which aims to improve relations between Thailand and Hong Kong. Organised by the Thai Ministry of Culture and record company KPN, the concert will be a combination of jazz and Blues starring Hong Kong and Thai singers, accompanied by a full orchestra. Praw, who is representing Thailand, will be performing one solo, „All That Jazz‟ and four other songs in Thai and English.
Boarding Trip Our Boarding students continue to have weekly trips out to various local attractions. One recent visit saw them go to „Art in Paradise‟, a 3D art exhibition in Pattaya. The paintings are specially designed so they appear to „come out‟ from their frames, allowing visitors the chance to interact with them – and get some great photos.
Garden Scuba Diving Club Another well-attended dive trip saw seven divers take a trip to Samae San, 20kms away from Ban Chang. This time saw a combination of fun diving and education courses. Congratulations to Jonathan Fitzgerald for completing his Advanced Open Water Course, which included deep diving, wreck diving and, according to Jonathan, the most fun dive of them all, DPV. Chip, Head of Kindergarten at REPS, and David started their Advanced Open Water Courses and will complete them at the next dive trip on June 1. The day provided a number of different dive challenges, from diving on the Hardeep wreck which was sunk during World War Two, to coral dives with a bit of current which allowed lazy diving but also awareness of staying close to the island. As we approach the end of the school year we only have one more dive trip left but it has been nice to see new members of the group, be they students, new teachers, parents joining together as part of something special. Mr Liversidge
The Apprentices – IB Style
April was another busy month for the GIS Apprentices. This month the challenge involved the marketing of Garden International School. Two teams had to create and construct advertisements to promote our wonderful school. The medium of the advertisement was to be the use of billboards. The task was to design three separate billboards that were to be strategically placed on Sukhumvit Road between Ban Chang and Pattaya. Each of the billboards were to present imagery that was in someway connected to the GIS tag line „Your Choice. Their Future. Our Family‟. Once the teams had come up with their billboard designs, they then faced the arduous task of „pitching‟ their designs to the school‟s Academic Management Team (AMT). The resulting presentations were delivered in an extremely professional manner and their content and responses to testing questions were of a very high quality. After much discussion, it was decided that the girls‟ team, represented by Gauri and Sofia, had the most innovative and informative designs. All apprentices should be proud of their performances in each of the challenges to date. These experiences will give them an invaluable insight into problem solving and decision making in a business context as well as help them develop a healthy selfconfidence which will prove priceless over the coming years. You can see their winning effort to the right. Mr Turnbull
Class of 2013
IB Graduation Dinner Garden International School‟s held its biggest-ever IB Graduation Evening at the Holiday Inn, Pattaya, on May 23. A total of 19 students have just finished taking their examinations as part of GIS‟s International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Once their last examination was over, the students headed to the Holiday Inn to celebrate the end of their studies and their time together. The evening highlighted some of the amazing talent and friendships that we have at GIS. Several IB students took to the stage as parents and teachers enjoyed a buffet meal to demonstrate their outstanding musical skills. GIS Principal Dr Tasker then gave each student a special IB medal and video so they could remember their time at GIS. The IB programme continues to go from strength to strength - next year GIS is set to welcome our biggest ever IB intake!
Students’ Work
Foundation Rainforests in Reception The Reception children have been investigating what rainforests are. We have studied many facets of the rainforest and last week we looked at insects with a special focus on ants and bees and their way of life. After studying how they lived and what they looked like, the children did some drawings using insect models and pictures as examples. We have also been studying the lifecycles of cicadas and plants. The children planted seeds and kept logs of their plants growth. In our playground we found cicada skins on the trees and collected many of them. We found that cicadas live under the ground for many years on the roots of the trees and then dig their way out, climb the trees, shed their skin and fly off to find a mate. We were very lucky to find a BBC documentary clip that clearly showed the process. There is so much to learn and so much is amazing.
Primary Burning Issues At the beginning of Term 3, Year 6J conducted an investigation into reversible and irreversible changes. One of our experiments was to see what happens to various materials when they are put into a flame. This was the first time for most of the students to experiment with fire. They were nervous to start, but after a discussion on how to keep ourselves and others safe, everyone was keen to get burning. After getting their results and drawing their conclusions about the effect of fire on different materials, each student was asked to reflect on their experience. Here is what Sammy wrote: Reflections At first I felt really excited and felt good because this was my first time burning materials in class. When we started burning the materials we chose, it was really fun. I really was curious to know how each material would burn. Burning paper and leaves was pretty scary but it was fine because we had our candle stuck in a tray of sand. I learned that rock only turns black and does not really catch fire. I also learned that when you burn a twig, it turns red at first and starts blinking like it turns dark red and then light red. Then, after a few minutes, it turns black. I also learned that paper catches fire very easily and to really be careful.
When we burnt the materials, there were different smells, like when the cookies burned they smelled like cheese! When I was burning a big leaf, Ms Jenn came running to me and told me not to burn things that are big and to burn things that are small. Then, she ripped the leaf into quarters and gave me one to burn, so that was one thing I learned. Some things were hard to hold with the tongs because some were really thin. We were not allowed to hold anything with just our hands because it is too dangerous. We had a really fun time!
Secondary Clay Cakes Year 8s have made some deliciouslooking cakes from clay. They used the artist Wayne Thiebaud as inspiration for their work. Here‟s what they came up with.
Picnic in the Park GIS sent along several bands to represent the school at a Picnic In The Park in aid of the Father Ray Children's Home in Pattaya. The event, which featured three GIS bands, was a family day out for hundreds of visitors and included food stalls, bouncy castle, rides and entertainment,. Our performances went down well and we received many compliments. The students who starred in the show were: •
Hyojung
•
Seren
•
Jasmine
•
Jaxine
•
GeeGee
•
Pauline
•
Sofia
•
Sabrina O
•
Gear
•
Teng
•
Sabrina F
•
Hui Eun
Special thanks to Snr Antonio for all his help, and thanks to the teachers who came along to listen. It's really appreciated. Mr Shiells Head of Arts
Teacher of the Month
This month we talk to Mr Shiells, who is a Music Teacher and also Head of Arts. 1) What made you choose to live in Thailand? The weather, and the opportunities for travelling around the region. 2) What do you do when you're not teaching? Change nappies, read baby books, play with teddies. And if I have time after that I sometimes look after my 2 daughters too! 3) What's the first record you ever bought? Shanice - I Love Your Smile. Absolute classic, on cassette tape. 4) How many musical instruments can you play? Piano is the only one I have properly mastered, but I can get by on guitar, drums, bass, violin, and keyboard. 5) If you weren't a teacher, what would you be doing? When I was younger I wanted to be a journalist, but instead of reporting on war zones I wanted to be based on a tropical island. Perhaps the Ko Samet correspondent for BBC News, reporting on the price of coconuts. 6) If you're at home chilling, what music gets played most frequently? I would like to say rock - I love Ben Folds, lots of Indie from the '90s, Muse, etc. But these days it's more likely to be an Early Learning Centre collection of children's songs! 7) Have you ever met anyone famous? Zealand once.
I met British comedienne Dawn French in New
8) Bagpipes. Discuss. Can be a beautiful, stirring reminder of home which send shivers down my spine. But only when played a good few miles away in the distance.... 9) What's your favourite musical genre? I always say there are only 2 kinds of music - good and bad. I don't mind which genre something belongs to and I think most people spend too long worrying about the nonmusical associations, like whether something is cool or not. I don't care if it's cool or if the performer is good looking, just give me a good tune, a funky beat and a nice bass line! 10) Beatles or Rolling Stones? Why? Beatles. Their songs were more varied and original, and I am still taken by surprise at how fresh some of their stuff sounds.
Student of the Month
This month we talk to IB1’s Rohit. 1) Who is your favourite teacher? Why? I cannot really pick a favourite teacher in this wonderful school! I love all my teachers because all of them are extremely friendly! Even the teachers who do not teach me always talk to me nicely. 2) What is your favourite activity in school? I would say the Thursday staff vs students game. 3) What do you like doing in your free-time? In my free time, I play the guitar, watch football or sometimes, on rare occasions, study. 4) What job would you like when you finish school? After I finish school, I would like to become a mechanical engineer since I am more inclined towards science, although I wouldn‟t mind becoming a rock star! 5) What is your favourite subject? I think my favourite subject is Theory of Knowledge (TOK) in IB. The most interesting and weird things are discussed in that class. 6) Best thing about doing IB. The best thing about doing IB is the broadness of learning, the scope of future education and the privileges in school. 7) Toughest thing about doing IB. Deadlines - and I have picked three sciences! Very tough. 8) You were awarded 10 A/A* grades at IGCSE. What's your secret? Amazing support from teachers and parents, group revisions, calmness and luck. 9) Best country visited, apart from Thailand? Why? I would say „countries‟ because it‟s the UK as a whole! There‟s an amazing contrast in lifestyles, cool weather in the summer and Arsenal football club. 10) Favourite food I am huge foody! So I eat anything and everything! But to choose anything my mum cooks!
Sport
Caption Competition
Do you want to win a football? Then think of a funny caption that could go with this great sports pic? Whoever sends in the best answer will get a new football – thanks to Mr Edwards. Send in your best answers to
[email protected]
The Interhouse gala was our last competition of the year. Our last morning practice will be Friday May 31 as we have many trips coming up and swimmers will be away.
Senior Softball Storm Tops ISE in Back-and-Forth Affair GIS and ISE traded the lead six times, but Storm ended up on top with a 6-5 win in seven innings. The Storm took the lead in the seventh inning and held on for the victory. GIS went up for good on a two-run double by Chris off Jake, scoring Jonathan and John. The Storm staved off ISE as they were unable to match GIS down the stretch. ISE scored two runs in the seventh on two singles. Still, ISE couldn't catch the Storm. GIS jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Kain kicked things off for the Storm with a single. A single by Teng then moved Kain from first to second. James grounded out to first, to score Kain. After a quick strike from the Storm, ISE responded with two runs in the first. Jake scored on a fielder's choice and Kong scored on Teng's error at third. The Storm tied the game in the fifth on an RBI single by Teng that scored Kain. ISE would take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth as Kohei singled to score Alex. However, The Storm would fight back to take a narrow 6-5 victory at the end.
Big-Hitting Storm Beat Regents 14-12 A magnificent effort by Chris Williamson hoisted the Storm to a 14-12 win in five innings over Regents at GIS. Chris racked up seven RBIs on three hits for the Storm. He doubled in the second inning and homered in the first and third innings. The two teams combined for 26 runs and 34 hits, including 12 extra base hits. The game was back-andforth heading into the third, with nine lead changes. The Storm finally managed to grab the lead after a strong third inning. GIS scored on an RBI single by James off AJ, plating Robert. Kain got the win for the Storm despite allowing seven runs over 3 2/3 innings. Kain struck out three, walked one and gave up 11 hits. GIS hammered Regents pitching as six hitters had a field day, combining for 14 hits, 10 RBIs and 13 runs scored. The top of the first saw Regents take an early lead, 3-0. AJ started the rally for Regents with a single. DJ doubled, scoring Danielle and Garrett. The scoreboard lit up again for Regents when DJ scored on an RBI triple by Bobby. The Storm scored four runs of its own in the first. They scored on a two-run home run by Chris, an RBI triple by Robert, and an RBI single by James. GIS answered Regents' top inning with three runs of its own in the second as they scored on a two-run double by Chris and a fielder's choice. Regents scored three runs in the top of the fourth to cut its deficit to two. An RBI double by DJ, an RBI single by Bobby, and an RBI single by Karl set off Regents rally. Jonathan ended the inning by getting Ethan to ground out. The Storm tacked on another two runs in the fourth. A ground out scored Teng to get GIS on the board in the inning. That was followed up by Patrick's single, scoring Louis. After pushing across two runs in the top of the fifth, Regents faced just a 14-12 deficit as a two-run home run by Garrett gave Regents life. Regents' Sung flew out to end the ballgame.
Volleyball Victors On May 23, GIS boys beat REPS 2-0 while the GIS girls‟ team came out winners by the same margin. Well done!
Golden Garden Break Medals’ Record Garden International School‟s sporting all-stars have brought home a record medal haul from the annual Primary FOBISSEA Games. The team, consisting of 21 students and three teachers, won dozens of medals at the Primary FOBISSEA Games, which were held at St Stephen‟s International School in Bangkok from May 7 to 11. Having done brilliantly in swimming, athletics and other events, they came with home with the highest ever medal tally in the history of GIS. The team travelled to Bangkok on May 7 for three days of competition, which included Athletics, Swimming, T-Ball and Swimming. On the first morning the track and field events took place at the Thai Royal Air Force Stadium; our students produced excellent results, bringing home a total of 37 medals. For the afternoon session the students moved to the swimming pool and again performed exceptionally well, winning a total of 51 medals. Moving to the second day of competition, the students competed in the T-ball event. The Year 4 team finished in third place to claim the Bronze medal. The Year 5 team played very well and were unlucky in a number of games not to be in the final mix for the medal placings. On the final day, the team participated in the football event. Our Year 6 girls were very strong and stormed to victory to win the gold medal. In both the Year 4 and Year 5 boys‟ competition they faced strong opposition from other schools and were again unlucky not to finish in the top three. The Year 5 boys played St Andrews and beat them 1-0 to secure a fantastic victory in a local derby game. The two girls from Year 4 joined SIS and came in third to receive a bronze medal.
I would like to thank Ms Lucy for her help with preparing the athletic team, Mr Grisdale with the football squads and Ms Aletta with the swimming team. A big thank you to our sponsors of the sports uniform. They are: Thunder Cranes, Victory International Family Church, Khun Aimon of Thomai Resort and Coffe Shop, Mr Yindee of MYWAYS and Mr James from GIS who supplied the swimming kits. Many thanks for your support. FOBISSEA is the Federation of British Schools in South East Asia (and East Asia), which currently consists of 38 schools – with plans to grow quite markedly over the next few years. Being a member of the federation gives our students many opportunities to participate in Games, Festivals (such as Music, Choral and Drama), Conferences (such as Community Service and Model United Nations) and also competitions (such as Short Story and Mathematics). Mr Edwards, Head of PE/Sport
Interhouse Gala for KS2 What an exciting Interhouse gala we had this year! Up to the second-last event the winning house was undecided and in the end Cobra (297 points) just managed to beat Tiger (293 points) with Eagle in the third place (206 points) and Gecko fourth (184 points). We had so many new records! Congratulations to the following students who broke records: William, Jessica, Rachael, Pumin, Ann, Fiona, Henry, Sarah, Octavia, Kenjung, Austin, Lee, Alexandra, Ashcharya, Daniel and Nic. Swimmers who excelled for their Houses were: Jessica C and William both with three gold medals and one silver medal; Ann, Fiona, Sarah, Henry, Rachael and Pumin with two gold medals each and 1st positions (who all received gold medals for their efforts) to Chan, Octavia, Pei Pei, Kamilla, Lee, Kenjung, Austin, Alexandra, Ashcharya, Daniel and Nic.
The standard of the swimming was excellent and often there was less than a second separating the first three swimmers. Thank you very much to our announcer, Mr Grisdale, our starter, Mr Edwards, our scorers Ms Claire and Ms Claire, our place judges Khun Tae, Ms Jenn and Mr Lynch and also to our teachers Ms Karen, Ms Brenda, Mr Joe and Ms Ellie who made sure that every competitor was in the correct lane. Also thanks to school nurse Yvonne for her help. To ALL the swimmers who took part to ensure the success of the gala – congratulations, you swam so well and I felt so proud of you all. Ms Aletta
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