ISS Newsletter February 2016

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Important Dates 

I S S U E

Wednesday 10th Feb–Year 1 curriculum trip.

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2

A C A D E M I C

Y E A R

2 0 1 5 / 2 0 1 6

F E B R U A R Y

2 0 1 6

Monday 8th Feb-Chinese New Year Celebrations

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Friday 12th Feb–Senior

ISS launches its new sports hall

Spinathon 

Saturday 13th Feb-Thanyapura Swim League

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Tuesday 23rd Feb–Reception Trip

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Wednesday 24th Feb– Camping meeting for Parents

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Friday 26th Feb-Year 2 Class Assembly

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Thursday 3rd Mar –World Book Day

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Friday 4th Mar— Y 5-Y6 camping

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10th March - 9am to 12pmParents’ Blood Donor Session

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Friday 11th Mar–

Y3-

Y4 Camping , Year 4 Class Assembly 

Friday 18th Mar - Whole School Swimathon

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Wednesday 23rd –Thursday 24th March –Senior School Production

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Friday 25th March–Sun 27thMar –Rocket Science Swimming Championships - Phuket

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Friday 25th Mar -Y3 Class Assembly

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Monday 28th-Wedsnesday 30th Mar-Parents Meeting

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Tuesday 29th March—Senior School Recital

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Wednesday 30th March -Easter Egg Hunt- KG & Primary

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Thursday 31st Mar-Songkran Day

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Friday 1st Apr-Primary School Dance Competition

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Friday 1st April—School closes at 12:30pm for end of Term 2

The highly anticipated ISS Sports’ Hall is now open. This new facility is an exciting development for the school and the island alike. It is an efficiently air-conditioned gymnasium for our student’s use as well as a resource for island sports programs and spectator sports.

The hall caters for numerous sports including badminton, netball, basketball, 5 a-side football and volleyball. Furthermore, gymnastics classes, martial arts and dance programs are offered on a daily basis by professional coaches. There is currently a Saturday Futsal (Brazilian skills-based football) Academy which is run by an experienced coach.

Notably the Sports Hall has also become an important resource for ISS pupils focusing on team sports and future sports competitions in a safe, clean and cool environment. The gymnasium offers a bright and airy environment.

The sports hall is built to European standard. The flooring is made from a polyurethane structural layer that is strong, durable and free of mercury, lead and heavy metals. The gym’s floor offers a professional level of shock absorption. The highly shock absorbent flooring has many advantages including reduction of risk of injury to athletes making it an excellent alternative to hardwood floors.

The new hall is open to sports teams outside school hours and at weekends.

Furthermore, the facility can be hired per hour for children or adult activities / sport clubs. Please enquire in the office if you are interested in setting up an activity.

An impressive new Performing Arts Centre will also be introduced alongside the new Sports Hall in February 2016 where drama, ballet and musical theatre classes will be held during and after school.

The performing arts hall will be fully air-conditioned with laminate flooring, a stage, professional lighting and sound system. There will be floor to ceiling mirrors allowing for activities such as dance lessons.

Also recently opened to the delight of our students are the new junior and senior student activity and relaxation areas. The library has been upgraded to give pupils a cozy environment to read and rest.

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Loy Kratong—Thailand through the ages Fashion Show On Wednesday 25th November, ISS students celebrated the festival of Loy Krathong. It was a magical celebration which had so many exciting elements to it. All the students learnt about the history of Loy Kratong and the meaning behind the festival and had the opportunity to make their own Krathongs. The highlight of the day was the spectacular finale celebration of a traditional Thai Costume Fashion Show. A selection of students from across our Primary and Senior Schools along with a selection of teachers and Mrs Taylor Hawkins, all wore beautiful Thai Costumes charting the history of Thailand and Thai cultural dress throughout the ages.

A wonderful celebration of His Majesty The King’s Birthday On Friday 4th December we celebrated His Majesty The King’s birthday and Father’s day. This auspicious occasion was a wonderful chance to celebrate and pay tribute to His Majesty the King. During the day our students all deepened their knowledge about His Majesty The King and how Father’s Day is celebrated in Thailand. The closing ceremony of the day brought all our students together to pay tribute to His Majesty The King and to all their fathers. Parents, students and teachers all joined together to sing songs in Thai, read poems and to share in watching some of our students perform some amazing Thai dance performances. Our school Headmistress, Mrs Taylor Hawkins led the ceremony by paying her respects to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Finally, our students throughout the Kindergarten, Primary and Senior Schools were given the opportunity to pay respect to their own fathers by handing over presents and beautiful flowers.

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Kindergarten Christmas Carol Concert On Friday 4th December, the Kindergarten pupils at the International School of Samui performed a lovely end of term show for their parents. They sang a selection of Christmas Carols which was held in new the Kindergarten pod. The performance was a great success, well done to all our fantastic little singers. Thank you to all parents who attended this special event and to the KG Teachers and TAs for organising it!

An exciting visitor came to see the children at ISS Father Christmas’ visit to the International School of Samui on Friday 11th December 2015 was a resounding success. The children of ISS were mesmerised by the event and enjoyed chatting to Santa Claus, asking him many questions about his reindeer, his sleigh and what he likes to eat the night before Christmas. Children from Kindergarten and KS1 enjoyed sharing their stories with Santa and singing him their favourite Christmas carol. During break-time some pupils from Year 4 joined in and sang Santa a lovely Christmas carol. Thank you to all the parent helpers for creating the Grotto.

Reception Super Heroes Day On Friday 22nd January Reception enjoyed celebrating their Superhero day as part of their topic work. The children had written their own Superhero descriptions and made up their own Superhero adventure stories. As part of the day the pupils came to school dressed as their favourite Superhero character. They solved Superhero challenges and decided who had the best Superhero powers to solve each challenge.

KG Story Cafe to promote Literacy and enjoyment of books.

At the beginning of this term, Kindergarten had a wonderful morning enjoying our Story Cafe to promote Literacy and enjoyment of books.

Thank you to so many parents who gave up their time and read stories to the children .

The children all thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you also to the parents who made the delicious cakes, they were very well received!

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Primary School Christmas Carol Concert This year's Primary Christmas show, Carols by Candlelight, was a lovely evening of traditional and modern Christmas music. Each class chose their own song to perform on the stage and the school choir added a touch of international Christmas spirit with their American, German and South African songs, which they sang from the balcony overlooking the audience.

The evening not only sounded wonderful, but really looked the part too. As the sun set and the performance began, children and adults lit their candles to add an extra Christmas sparkle to this year's festive season! Thank you to Mrs Andrewartha for leading this fantastic event.

Primary School World Religions Project As part of our global awareness iniative, our Primary School pupils embarked on a three day “World Religions Project.’. They learnt all about different world religions such as Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Christianity. The students found out about important festivals and celebrations within each religion such as Christmas, Eid al Fitr, Hanukkah, Diwali and Vesak. Following an introduction to these religions, each class chose one special celebration to focus on. They then produced work related to this and presented it to their parents and members of the school community. It was a wonderful end to Term One and we were so pleased by all the fabulous learning that took place and how much more globally aware our students have now become.

Students show great initiative by hosting a Ping Pong tournament Many of you would have witnessed the recent popularity of Table Tennis in our school. We have invested in many new table- tennis tables. This has spurred on our Primary pupils to develop and introduce an in-school tournament for Years 4, 5 & 6. The event was very much student-initiated with the student organisers having to seed players, create the draw and to promote it at the KS2 assembly. It was met with much enthusiasm by students and teachers alike. The final will be played on Friday 5th February at 3.15pm on the basketball court. All parents welcome!

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Year 10 Romeo and Juliet Year 10 students performed scenes from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in front of students and parents. Year 10 have been studying Romeo and Juliet as part of their IGCSE English Literature course.

The highlight of the performance was Milan, who played Romeo, climbing up the balcony to reach Juliet! It was a fantastic occasion and brought the play to life for the students.

Senior School ‘Challenge’ During last term, the students in the Senior school were given the opportunity to use their creative skills while preparing 3 course meals for mystery judges while taking part in the Senior Challenge. Groups of 14 students have taken part in the challenge in which they split into 2 groups of 7 and competed for the title of Junior Masterchef. The event took place over 6 weeks. Each week the students received a mystery basket of ingredients using their creative skills to produce a 3-course meal of restaurant quality. The quality of dishes was outstanding with the judges overwhelmed with the standard of effort and use of the ingredients on offer. Well done to the winning team : Sonny Tan Y7, Sandra Groven Y7, June Anestad Y7, Hut Khwangmuang Y8 and Bua Sutti Y8 and Mimp Songnui Y8, Isabella Pozzi Y8. A big thank you to Mr Hawkins for organising this wonderful project which was a great success!

Recently our Year 11 students sat their mock IGCSE examinations.

In January 2016 our year 11 students took their mock IGCSE exams. The testing conditions preparing them to be as close as possible to the actual exams. Mocks are an invaluable part of the 2 year (year 10 & 11) IGCSE course, and are beneficial in several ways. Sitting a mock exam allows a student to experience how it feels to be faced with an actual exam paper and relieve some pressure. This eliminates some of the stress later in the year, as the conditions will already be familiar. Students learn how to balance their time between questions, and even develop their writing endurance as some of the exams are close to three hours long.

Ultimately though, the most important element of mock exams is diagnostic; teachers are able to gauge students’ strengths and weaknesses enabling them to focus on those points over the next few months. This also supports pupils with their revision strategies and how to grasp those valuable extra marks.

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Chinese New Year—Monday 8th February 2016 We are very pleased to be celebrating Chinese New Year at The International School of Samui on Monday 8th February. The Kindergarten and Primary students will be taking part in a number of activities throughout the day to teach them about Chinese culture and to broaden their international mindedness. All Kindergarten and Primary students are invited to come to school wearing the colour red in honour of this special celebration.

We invite all parents to come and join in our Chinese New Year celebrations from 1:30pm onwards Monday 8th February. The students will be showcasing their learning through a variety of activities.

1:30pm – Parents arrive for Tea at the Cafe area where a variety of the students work will be displayed.

1:40pm – 2pm Whole school Qiqong (similar to Tai Chi) in the Sports Hall.

2pm -2:30pm - Mandarin studies students singing traditional songs on the stage.

2:30 – 3pm - Firecracker show and Traditional Dragon dance Chinese delicacies and tea will be served throughout the afternoon for parents.

Thank you for your ongoing support and we hope you can join us in our Chinese New Year celebrations on Monday 8th February from 1:30pm onwards.

World Book Day—Thursday 3rd March 2016 On Thursday 3rd March 2016, ISS Primary and KG will be celebrating World Book Day. World Book Day is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.

Our aim at ISS is to help children to develop a love of books and reading. Children’s literature and books play a fundamental role in developing children’s academic engagement, development and life chances, providing the framework and stimulus through which to deepen their understanding of themselves and the world around them. Activities will be taking place throughout the day celebrating various authors and their works.

Senior School Spring Term Production—Beauty & the Beast Students have been busy rehearsing for this year's Senior production: 'Beauty and the Beast'. It has been a team effort so far with most students being involved in one way or another, whether being a performer performing or as a backstage helper. So far, things are going very well and everybody is very excited about the show. This year we have gone for something a little bit different! The production is inspired by the legendary director Tim Burton so expect it to be a little more abstract and unusual!

Mr Gubbins (Music Teacher) has been doing a superb job in getting the music performances ready. Ms Lopez (Art Teacher) with lots of help from the students and mum Rachel Barbour have been getting the costumes and props ready. Miss Mooney (Science Teacher) has been preparing the dance routines. Mr Denman (English Teacher) is directing the drama rehearsals and making sure the students learn all their lines!

The show will take place on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th March in the new Drama auditorium. More info coming soon! We will keep you posted on how to get tickets nearer the time.

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Teachers Bike Ride Fundraising 12th February –21st February Mr Titterton and Mr Denman are cycling to Penang during half term to raise money for Save the Children. The aim is to raise 1000 pounds (50,000 THB). They hope the money donated will be used to help those poor, desperate families who are risking their lives fleeing the war in Syria. Charities are providing emergency assistance to them and we hope that by raising awareness of this issue, more can be done by governments to help their situation, both in Syria and on their journeys. They anticipate that their journey will take 6 or 7 days. They will be taking the well known 'visa run' route to Malaysia, which many families at ISS are familiar with. Some of you may recall that last year that the pair cycled to Phuket to raise money for the Shark Guardian charity. This year they want to raise awareness of this important issue which is distressing to watch. If you wish to sponsor our courageous teachers, please visit their fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/CrossingBorders or see Mr Denman or Miss Titterton personally.

Whole School Swimathon—Friday 18th March Following the success of last year's Finathon, the ISS Senior School students will be organising and running a Swimathon on Friday 18th March. The purpose of the event is to raise funds for a charity of the students' choice by swimming as many lengths of the pool as possible. Participants are sponsored for each length they complete. All our students are encouraged to take part this year to develop their “helping others skills”. On this day and aside from the swimming there will be a number of other fundraising activities taking place around the school for our students, teachers and parents.

We hope you will be able to support the students' efforts for their chosen cause both in person and as a sponsor. Further information will be sent to you after the mid-term break.

Sports Hall and Drama Theatre available out of school hours.

Our state of the art sports hall is now open for activities and sports after-school hours and at weekends. Currently Gymnastics, Brazilian Football and Adult Boot Camp classes are available in the gymnasium. Also there is a Dad's Football session run by Boo on a Wednesday evening. **PLEASE NOTE:** The Drama Hall will be completed in February 2016. There will be Ballet and Musical Theatre classes on offer. Please see attached leaflet. (Ballet classes will take place in the Fitness Suite until the Drama Hall is completed).

If you would like to see the full timetable for these facilities click on this link: https://sites.google.com/a/iss.ac.th/parent-portal/afterschool Furthermore if you are interested in running an activity or booking these facilities for a sport or class please contact Victoria in the Admissions Office. Any further information, including prices and details of facilities, can be found on the website link.

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Healthy Snack Shack News!!

This week has seen the introduction of a new mineral water called Avitez. The water is pure, natural and full of minerals from the hills of Northern Thailand but also certified by the FDA of Thailand. Furthermore the bottles are produced 100% with plants, totally biodegradable and not a menace to our oceans and lands.

The Rice Crackers have been very popular with all the pupils as well as being a healthy snack. Also, the café is now selling drinking yoghurt in 6 different flavours. The sugar content has been adjusted to keep the product tasty but healthy!

Unfortunately, our eco-friendly shake cups have not been as successful as we had hoped, therefore we shall now be using paper throwaway cups. We have adjusted our prices accordingly. Please redeem your loyalty card before the end of this term, in the circumstances we will accept cards with 7 or more stamps also! Thank you for your ongoing support!

After half-term we are looking at opening the café when activities are taking place out of school hours.

Koh Samui Blood Donors ISS will be hosting a Parents’ Blood Donor Session in the Performing Arts Hall on Thursday 10th March between 9am and 12pm. The sessions are run by the Koh Samui Hospital and the Thai Red Cross. This is an important event for our community especially with O Negative donors. The aim is to make the donor session a bi-annual fixture in our school calendar. Please support this event!

Refreshments will be available for all donors.

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

The Samui Festival Ride and Run 2016 The Samui Festival Ride & Run 2016 took place at Nathon pier on Sunday 24th January 2016.

Despite a very early start, the turnout from the local community was impressive to say the least. The event consisted of a 3,5 kms fun run, a 10kms race and a 32 kms bike ride. It was a government fundraising initiative to build a school for the less fortunate. The finale of the race was definitely the offering to the monks with local people lining the route to donate food. This was a very special piece of local culture for our students to witness.

We wish to congratulate our ISS runners and cyclists who took part in this event and their parents for giving up their time to give our pupils the opportunity to represent our school. Well done to the following ISS students for taking part: Harry - Year 11 ; Nami and Madi in Year 8 ; Paul-Eric (Bike Ride) & Stephen - Year 7 ; Zachary - Year 5 ; Sean in Year 4; Seraphina and Lucas - Year 3 ; Theodore Year 1 ; Tabitha Nursery and Little Freddie in Early Years. Special note goes to Anrai in Year 6 who not only completed the run but also the bike ride. Well done to our teachers: Mr Hawkins (PE Teacher), Pi Ran, Pi Oar and Pi Pop. Big thank you to all our parents for getting up so early on a Sunday morning

ISS New Pupils Open Day—January 2016 Our ISS new Pupils Open Day which took place on Monday 4th January 2016 was a great success.

All new pupils were warmly welcomed by our current students who volunteered their holiday time. We would like thank all our enthusiastic volunteers for making the day so special.

Furthermore, a big thank you to all our teachers and support staff for working so hard at having the school fully ready for Term 2. Please take the time to welcome our new families into our school community.

ISS Samui Sharks Swim Team: BIS Phuket

Congratulations to our ISS Sharks squad for their efforts at our recent FOBISIA Swimming competition at the British International School in Phuket. Our efforts are not to be underestimated with students recording personal bests in nearly every race.

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF SAMUI 141/21 Moo 6 Bophut Koh Samui Surat Thani 84320 Thailand School secretary Tel: +66(0) 77 48 45 48 secretary@iss.ac.th

Contact our admissions department: Eng/French: Victoria admissions@iss.ac.th

Thai: Khun Aom

admissionsoffice@iss.ac.th

Russian: Marina russianpr@iss.ac.th

Welcome to the following students at ISS: Casey - Year 9 Fei - Year 9 Lina - Year 9 Aleksandra - Year 8 Diego - Year 8 Denys - Year 8 David - Year 7 Niclas - Year 6 Misha - Year 5 Ping Ping - Year 5 Moritz - Year 3 Archie - Year 2 Kamilla - Reception Sofiya S. - Reception Sofiia M. - Reception Marusya - Reception Mind - Nursery Tommy K. - Nursery Kaleeya - Early Years Mungkorn - Early Years

www.iss.ac.th