KEEPING UP WITH THE LOWER SCHOOL

Head of Lower School

As I sit in my office there is something which is becoming ever more profoundly noticeable. The silence. Except for the extractor fan, which I must get fixed, all there is… is quiet. This is so strange! I work in a school, I work in a place with 750 children between the ages of 2 and 10 years old, not to mention the old students of Upper School. I work in a place surrounded by incredible professionals and friends who are not here – and I miss them. I miss the noise; I miss the conversation and I am not ashamed to tell you that this is hard.

For those who know me, they will tell you that I am an incredibly positive person, and this is true. I work each day with a desire to improve and I go through each day with an outlook that my actions will support all around me in a positive way. From the start of this term I am in role as Head of Lower School and I look forward to driving us forwards. What excites me is the potential, the potential for every student to achieve, the potential for every staff member to make an impact. The reason for my excitement is this. Whilst it may be quiet in school, online Lower School is buzzing, online Lower School is filled with the sounds of learning, filled with the sound of excitement and filled with the sound of potential.

We are proud of the offer which each child throughout

Head of

EYC A very Happy New Year and welcome back to that start of Term 2 from us all at The Little Lions Early Years Centre. This term, we welcome a number of new families to Harrow Bangkok; I wish you all well as you start your learning journey with us. We have started this term with a move to online learning, using Google Classroom as our delivery platform. We start this process in a strong position, our school is receiving and whilst it can be challenging for all involved, we hope to find a balance. The balance should be struck so that learning takes place and well-being is maintained. Positivity currently is key, thinking about what is good and working is so effective in allowing us all to get through this one step at a time. What I do understand though is for some this might not be possible, and I implore you, if anyone needs support we are here. Our teachers are available, the leadership team is here, and we have a range of resources and advice which can help those in any situation.

Together is how we succeed. Our learning is engaging and enables progress because we do it together. We ensure positivity is maintained because we talk together, and we will get through this period of home learning because we will do it together. I am proud to lead the Lower School and privileged to work with such an incredible team surrounded by a community who want the same as me – a world class education for children who will be enabled for life and leadership. As this term progresses, I am excited by the prospects and looking forward to the challenges which lie ahead. I always tell my team that if they need me, they know where to find me… and I say this to all of you… if you need me, you know I am there.

Mike Godwin

Acting Head of Lower School having learned and reflected on the previous online learning, last year. The content we are providing has been carefully planned to be broad and balanced, covering all the areas of learning and development in the Early Years. We hope the activities and suggestions we provide enable the children to have a healthy balance between time spent on screen and completing activities off screen.

I have been so impressed with how well our students have adapted to the change to Online Learning. Thank you to all of the parents and families at home who are supporting the children so magnificently. We love seeing all the wonderful photographs and videos of the experiences the children are having at home.

We understand that there are challenges for families at this time and we are here to support you in any way we can, so please do get in touch if you need anything at all.

Once again, my many thanks for your continued support. We are all looking forward to welcoming you back to the campus as soon as it is safe for us to open again.

Best wishes,

Ste Foster Acting Head of EYC

KEEPING UP WITH THE LOWER SCHOOL

E Safety

A few weeks ago was E-Safety week in Pre Prep, a topic which is more important than ever during our period of online learning. E-Safety permeates every lesson involving ICT at Harrow but it is good to have a week to really focus in on this important area of the curriculum. Students across every year group have been watching videos linked to this theme and have been extremely creative when demonstrating their learning. Take a look at these ‘Super Protectors’ from Year 2. The students created these fun images using the camera app on their iPads/parents’ phones and using the ‘mark-up’ editing tool.

Emily Jones Head of LS Computing and Digital Citizenship

KEEPING UP WITH THE LOWER SCHOOL

Lion Cubs

Lion Cubs have started Term 2a learning about ‘The Farm’. With the amazing support of their parents, we are having lots of fun thinking about some of the animals that live on farms and making lots of great animal noises. We’ve been learning about food that grows on farms too. It is plain to see from the photos and comments that we have received that our children are really enjoying their online learning activities and it has shown us how much can be achieved when we work together with parents. Our youngest children are adaptable ‘learning machines’ who are making the most of every opportunity. As parents and teachers, we couldn’t be any prouder of them!

Julie-Anne Green Lion Cubs Teacher

Dodgeball

the harmless, time-honoured game of ‘last student wins’!

This again was a fantastic hit with our Pre Prep students. Every lunchtime in November was a showpiece of dodging, ducking, aiming and precision.

House Dodgeball was back! Our Harrow Bangkok students were again in action competing as best as they could to be crowned House Champions. Each Year group had the opportunity to play each other and points were added up to find the overall Pre Prep champion. Congratulations to the winners of each year group:

Year 1 - Sonakul Year 2 - Nehru Year 3 - Churchill Year 4 - Suriyothai Year 5 - Byron

The overall points were added up to award Keller House with the House Champions trophy 2020. Well done to consistent results throughout the Pre Prep.

Many thanks to all the PE staff who made this tournament possible.

Mr Rock Head of Lower School PE

KEEPING UP WITH THE LOWER SCHOOL

Year 2 Year 2 Pirate Pirate Day Day

On Tuesday 24th November Year 2 was taken over by pirates! It was Pirate Day! The children enjoyed a day of fun with pirate-related activities that included a treasure hunt and baking pirate biscuits. At the end of the day, parents came to see all of the wonderful learning that the children have done this term. The children were proud to showcase all of their work and even performed a song and a dance at the end of the day. It was a very enjoyable day!

Louise Cove Year 2 Year Group Leader

KEEPING UP WITH THE LOWER SCHOOL

Pre Prep House Science 2020

This year we launched our new House Science Challenge titled ‘Imagine tomorrow’ a Project Green challenge. This challenge comprised of 15 different activities that the children could choose from, all designed to make us think about our impact on the environment and lessening our carbon footprint.

As well as our home challenges the children were able to attend special Science workshops within school. I lead the planting of a wildflower garden with our younger children whilst Ms Lam worked on making recycled paper with our older children. We were both so impressed with the knowledge that the children had gained as to why it is important to care for nature and recycle.

As the week drew to a close, we found that over 170

Year 5 expo

On Thursday 3rd of December, the Year 5 students held a River Investigation Parent Expo. Students used the High Performance Learning thinking skill of ‘Intellectual Confidence’ to confidently and articulately discuss the topic ‘Why are Rivers Important?’ with parents and guests. The critical thinking students of Year 5 had been working in small groups for several weeks during our open-ended enquiry unit which required each group to produce a case study about a famous river that was environmentally at risk. The students had a range of tasks to complete focusing of the key HPL thinking skills of Originality, Metacognition, Seeing Alternate Perspectives, Flexible Thinking and Precision. As part of the Expo, students shared 3D topographical maps of famous river basins, informative discussion texts exploring the specific issues faced by rivers around the world, biographies, infographic and digital scrapbooks. In some classes we even saw poems, short films, board games and even online quizzes to share their learning. The passion and confidence the children were able to share the investigations with parents and staff was a tremendous showcase and a fitting end of a very productive term. We can’t wait to see what the children will come up with next as we move into our Term 2 Topic World War 2. Well done Year 5. You should be very proud of what you achieved.

Matthew Parker Acting Head of Pre Prep Harrovians took part in the challenge. They all sent in a wealth of evidence that just went to show how much our young Harrovians value the Earth that we live on. When we broke this down into which House had made the most impact on their carbon footprint (based on the evidence provided) we found that the overall winners were Sonakul House. Both Ms Lam and I were also incredibly impressed with the outstanding contributions made by the following children; Pinn Pinn in 5C, Pubpab in 3G, Alvilda in 3T, Lenny in 1D, Marine in 2M and Ryuu in 4P.

Well done to everyone who took part and remember to keep looking after your Earth!

Marc Mitchell Lower School teacher and Science Lead

KEEPING UP WITH THE LOWER SCHOOL

In the last week of Term 1, 470 intrepid adventurers (Pre Prep students) set out on their expedition week. Magic, sea-life conservation, beach games, a jungle safari and a historical celebration were all experienced. Year 1 had their first taste of expedition; a sleepover at school with pizza, friends and fun. Years 2 to 5 travelled to various destinations in Thailand for new experiences and outside learning. Below you will find details of these fantastic opportunities for our young Harrovians written by their expedition leader.

Mike Godwin Head of Lower School

YEAR 1

Sleepover

After weeks of excitement and trepidation, the last Thursday of Term 1 brought us to the highlight of Year 1: Sleepover. Everyone arrived at school with their suitcase in one hand and their favourite teddy (an integral part of Year 1 Expedition!) in the other.

After a quick briefing, we had arrived just in time to begin with our teddy bears’ picnic outside. Sitting under the blue shade, we tucked into sandwiches, fruit, vegetables, biscuits and juice. A picnic fit for even the most important teddy! Full up, we split into groups to begin our fun packed day. Children took turns painting their own canvas, dancing and singing, playing circus games and even making our very own mouthwatering pizzas! After an exhausting afternoon, came the best treat of all – Amazing K The Magician – who wowed us with an impressive array of tricks! Next came dinner time when we got to eat our delicious homemade pizzas but we weren’t finished there! After dinner, we went on a nighttime torch walk and were lucky enough to spot geckos, frogs and bats! We enjoyed a fantastic bedtime story read by Mrs Fry and had cookies and milk to round off our action-packed day. Everyone was soon fast asleep and we woke up to find an excellent breakfast waiting for us in the dining hall.

Looking forward to seeing our adults, we quickly packed our cases and were ready to go home! For Year 1 children, ‘Sleepover’ is their first Expedition and I couldn’t be more proud of the way they all developed their independence, resilience and confidence! It was a day that they will remember for many years to come!

Scarlett O’Dwyer Expedition Leader

KEEPING UP WITH THE LOWER SCHOOL

SATTAHIP

YEAR 2

Year 2 showed amazing leadership and conservation attributes throughout our expedition. Starting at the turtle sanctuary we had an informative presentation by the Navy who were impressed by the children’s knowledge and understanding of the sea turtles and their surrounding habitat. We were lucky enough to release nine baby turtles that were ready to go back into their natural habitat. We had an amazing afternoon on the beach with games, sandcastles, paper crafts on the grass and a cooling dip in the swimming pool! After a delicious buffet dinner followed by ice cream, we all enjoyed the evening activities: Lego, Jenga, turtle making, jellyfish creating and exploring books. We ended this fabulous evening with singalong, milk and cookies and story time with Mr McKillop. Everyone on the trip would agree that the behaviour of the children was impeccable and it was an experience that will stay with them forever! Our brilliant December 2020 Year Two expedition!

Emily Hammond Expedition leader

KEEPING UP WITH THE LOWER SCHOOL

PETCHABURI

YEAR 3

When I asked some Year 3 children to summarise our expedition using one word, some examples were: ‘Awesome’, ‘Exciting’ and ‘Ultimate’. It seems like the children had a wonderful time… and why wouldn’t they? Two days staying in the peaceful and comfortable Fisherman’s Resort, Phetchaburi, by the beach makes this expedition one to remember! While in Phetchaburi, the children were certainly very busy. The activities included: Bollywood dancing led by Ms Rani; PE games with Mr Jeffries; ICT and Music led by Mrs Jones and Ms Luna; map challenges and wonderful painting led by Ms Gift and Ms Chom. Not only that, but the children enjoyed beach time, swimming in the resort pool, a night disco and even a night walk in which many of our pupils spotted the famous Phetchaburi parrot! While these activities were rewarding and fun, the true value of this expedition was seeing the enthusiasm of our children. They were wonderful representatives for the school, demonstrating respect for each other and their teachers. Not only that, they developed their amazing independence skills while being away from home for two nights. I’m sure the children (and staff) will have many wonderful memories to take away from this amazing trip. I would like to say a special thank you to all the staff for their hard work and support in making this expedition a great success. Furthermore, thank you to the Year 3 children for their energy and sense of fun!

Mark Kaye Expedition Leader

KEEPING UP WITH THE LOWER SCHOOL

KHAO YAI

YEAR 4

All of the Year 4 children were absolutely AMAZING through the expedition to Khao Yai and had an INCREDIBLE time. On our first day, we completed a rotation of activities to help us bond with our new group mates. These included making wild water rockets, tackling mental and physical challenges and going swimming – in a pool in the shape of a PIANO! Later that night, we were lucky to take part in the Big Fat Quiz of Year 4, run by quiz host Mr Powell. There were some very IMPRESSIVE answers. Feeling a bit sleepy and cuddling our teddy bears, we all got together to listen to Mrs Larkins BEDTIME STORY – The Witches!

On our second day, half of Year 4 travelled to Scenical World where we played in the water park – WHIZZING down slides and SPLASHING around. The other half of the group stayed at the resort and played outdoor team games. After a GREAT Italian lunch, we then swapped over. After dinner, we danced the night away at the DISCO led by DJ Das and MC Britton. It was great to see all the children and teachers joining and dancing all evening.

Our third day was BRILLIANT! We left for Khao Yai National Park in a long convoy of minivans. We arrived at the park HQ, and after a brief introduction we then had a BEAUTIFUL Thai banquet under the canopy of the trees at the waterfall. split into different groups to do different activities in the park, including a visit to Huew Suwat Waterfall, a nature walk to the viewpoint or through the jungle and shopping at the HQ. We finished the day with the BEST night safari yet. We saw so many animals – deer, porcupines, monkeys and foxes! It was a WONDERFUL day.

A FANTASTIC trip!

Simon Ingram Expedition Leader

KEEPING UP WITH THE LOWER SCHOOL

KANCHANABURI

YEAR 5

A week full of teamwork, history, creativity and most of all…laughter. Year 5, enjoyed four glorious days at iCamp. On Tuesday morning, as we gathered on the Basketball court, anticipation filled the air. The atmosphere was electric, and this set the standard for the week.

Arriving at iCamp, the children immediately fitted into camp life. Walking around iCamp on that Tuesday afternoon, the children demonstrated the superb teamwork that we know Year 5 possess. They worked together to build spaghetti towers taller than Coach Darren, carried tennis balls using only rope and even completed an obstacle course that floated on water. To top of a wonderful first day, the only thing to do was have a ‘bunk v bunk’ chant competition, followed by marshmallows toasted around the campfire.

The electric atmosphere of Tuesday was replaced by a reflective mood on Wednesday. Walking through Hellfire Pass the children were immersed in the history of the war, you could hear a pin drop as they listened to Mr Godwin share his own personal experiences. As Mr Meadows and Mr Parker spoke of the hardship those who worked on Hellfire Pass faced, the children learnt about the gruelling conditions and malnutrition the workers experienced. As our last full day on iCamp arrived, we learnt a brand-new game called ‘gaga ball’ a firm favourite by all. We used recycled material to make art while also learning how to make our soap.

The four days witnessed new friendships, new skills and a new understanding of the history of Thailand. Memories we will treasure forever.

Rebecca Campbell Expedition Leader