ISS Newsletter March 2016

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Important Dates 

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

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I S S U E

3

A C A D E M I C

Y E A R

2 0 1 5 / 2 0 1 6

M A R C H

2 0 1 6

Monday 21st March— Year 3 School Trip

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

ISS celebrates Chinese New Year

Friday 25th March— Year 3 class assembly

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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 28thWedsnesday 30th March-Parents Consultation meetings

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Monday 28th March— Primary School Musical Recital

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Tuesday 29th March— Primary School Musical Recital

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

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Thursday 31st MarSongkran Day

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Thursday 31st March 11-3pm Senior School Songrkran @ Pink Elephant Water Park

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Friday 1st Apr-Primary School Dance Competition

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Friday 1st April School closes at 12:30pm

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Monday 18th April School reopens for T3

Last half term ended with our wonderful Chinese New Year celebrations on Monday 8th February. All the Kindergarten and Primary School students came to school dressed in red clothing to honour Chinese New Year. It was lovely to look out at a sea of red costumes, all taking part in an array of activities to celebrate and honour the year of the Monkey. Our students abandoned their normal school timetables in favour of activities including Chinese cooking, art, dance, sport and history. As you meandered through each area of the ISS campus, laughter and excitement was very apparent.

Each area of the school was dedicated to educating the students about different aspects of Chinese culture and tradition. At 2pm parents and visitors were invited to join in with the celebrations and to share in the learning with the students. A large group Qigong workshop for all parents and students was led by Khun Sanya. This was followed by a live stage performance by our Mandarin language students. A vast selection of traditional Chinese food was prepared by students in the primary school and local business came and offered complimentary Chinese tea and Chinese delicacies. The finale of the day was an extravagant traditional Chinese dragon dance. It was a fantastic cultural celebration and so wonderful to see so many of our parents and students join in with the celebrations. We would like to thank all the students, teachers and volunteers for all their help in making this celebration such a wonderful success and a highlight of our annual cultural calendar.

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Kindergarten and Primary School World Book Day Celebrations On Thursday 3rd March 2016, The International School of Samui celebrated World Book Day which is a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) of READING. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. It is marked in over 100 countries all over the world.

Children in Kindergarten and Primary school came to school dressed as a variety of characters from the world of fiction. Each class then participated in a wonderful array of exciting activities to celebrate their love of reading. In class, the children took part in activities, relating to well known stories from around the world, including: trying to find out 'Where's Wally?' and writing their own stories based on the books they have read. The students (and teachers) all had a great time!

In Kindergarten, our students had a fun day dressed up as their favourite book character and enjoyed activities based on some classic stories such as 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', 'The Gruffalo' and 'We're going on a Bear Hunt'

FOBISIA Writing Competition English students in the Primary and Senior School have produced short stories for the FOBISIA creative writing competition. The theme of the short stories was 'Flight'. ISS produced a fabulous array of entries and there were many creative interpretations of the theme. Congratulations to the Senior Schools winners in each year group: Benjamin Sindell, Isabella Pozzi, Finlay Donald and Jasmin Lopez. Congratulations to the Primary School finalists: Y4 - Laura, Max, Evie. Y5 - Rizky, Zachary. Y6 - Peangpop, Rocco, Maryan The Senior School judges chose Isabella's story and the Primary School judges chose Maryan’s story as the overall winners. They have been entered into the competition involving schools from across Asia. Good luck to them both—The winner will be announced on 2nd May!

Tim Peake Message from Space - ISS reaches the Stars For our upcoming COBIS Science Competition, ISS contacted Major Tim Peake, our British astronaut currently based at the International Space Station (ISS). We were thrilled to receive a video response from Major Peake saying:” Good luck with your upcoming balloon launch from one ISS to another ISS”. This video will be incorporated into our competition entry for our Science Project.

Thank you Major Tim Peake and good luck in Space!

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Early Mathematics - Reception class trip to the 20Baht shop Reception enjoyed their visit to the 20 Baht shop in February, as part of their numeracy topic learning about money. The children each had 100 baht to spend to see how far their money could go. Despite the rain, the children all had a fun time playing with all their new toys, and instead of going to the beach, we had a picnic in the classroom.

Nursery Around the World Cooking In our topic, “Around the World� our nursery class has been learning all about Italy. Mrs Taylor Hawkins took our nursery children to the school cookery classroom where they had the opportunity to have a go at making their own Italian pizzas. First they crafted their very own Chef's hats followed by a stroll to the cooking classroom.

Mrs Taylor-Hawkins gave the pupils a safety brief and how to be at their best behaviour in the D&T classroom. Then in pairs, pupils began creating their very own vegetarian pizzas. Once they finished making their pizzas, the children waited patiently until they could devour their creations. All our nursery children enjoyed improving their culinary skills as well as learning about different Italian foods.

Kindergarten Assemblies As part of the Reception topic this term of 'Superheroes', we invited in real life superheroes from our local community to talk to the children about how they help us. Our visitors included the fire and ambulance services, where children had a go on the stretcher and firing water at a pretend fire.

The paramedics, doctors, nurses and dentists all talked to us about keeping healthy and what number to call in an emergency. The police gave a talk on what they do with naughty people and even brought their handcuffs along.

The children thoroughly enjoyed these visits and learnt firsthand how people can help us in our community.

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Primary School Class Assemblies in New Drama Hall

Primary School Overnight Camping Adventure Students in Years 5&6 and Years 3&4 took part in school camping nights which have taken place over the last two Fridays. For many children this was their first experience of camping or even staying away from home, so it was a wonderful opportunity to experience this in a familiar place, surrounded by their friends and teachers. During the evening, the students learned how to pitch a tent, played some fun team games, toasted marshmallows on a fire and even watched the stars using a star finding app on the iPads. Last Friday over 35 children stayed the night at school and everyone had a great time!

Tutor and Alex C said their favourite bit was having hot chocolate and listening to Mr Oakley and Mr Hawkey tell funny stories. Cooper said, "It was a great time for us to have fun and sleep in tents.

A big thank you to all our Primary School teachers for organising these memorable events for our children.

Primary School Chess Tournament On Sunday 28th February 2016, ISS hosted a junior chess competition which saw 20 participants from other Samui schools battling for some sought-after trophies. Players were divided into age category with 1st, 2nd and 3rd places receiving prizes.

Our winners this time were Leo (year 3) over 7s category and Mark (Reception) in the under 7s category. Thank you to all students for attending this fantastic event and of course parents for supporting it.

A Selection of Primary School Curriculum Learning Trips

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

New House System in Senior School - Oxford and Cambridge From Monday 29th February the Senior School began operating a new House system that is separate to the Primary School House system. The senior school now have 2 houses and they are called Oxford and Cambridge. The senior school also began operating form groups differently. There are now 4 Form groups which are organised by house with a mix of students from all years in them.

The aim of this new structure is to create a more cohesive feel amongst the senior school, with students of all ages mixing together and getting to know other members of their house team. We hope to develop a sense of house spirit and a healthy rivalry amongst the students in the two houses over time. We aim to inspire and motivate the students to support their house and hopefully learn how being part of a team of different year groups is a rewarding experience.

Each house has a House Captain, we would like to congratulate Eun Seol and Nampetch who have been chosen to lead their respective houses. Over the course of the next term, Inter House competitions will become a big part of school life with competitions in singing, sports (netball, basketball, football, swimming and maybe more), general knowledge, academic achievement, commendations and other areas of school life. We hope you begin to see an increased sense of purposefulness and vigour amongst the student body over the coming weeks and months as we develop this new house system.

COBIS Science Competition - Near Space Balloon Project The ISS Science ECA clubs have this term been working on a Near Space Balloon project. The aim has been to send a balloon equipped with a camera 30kms into space to video the curvature of the earth and the blackness of space. For the past few weeks the students have been studying the effect of density, pressure, and air currents in order to predict the path of the balloon.

Countless hours have been spent on predictors, weather websites and gathering as much information as possible. As soon as the group felt confident they began contacting the necessary agencies asking for permission. A message was also sent to Major Tim Peake aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Thankfully Major Peake was kind enough to respond, sending a personal video message from his ISS to our ISS here in Thailand, wishing us luck. On the morning of the launch devices were checked and rechecked. “Is the GPS working?” “Are all batteries charged?” “What is the weather forecast?” etc etc...

D-Day arrived - Friday 4th March—a group of ISS students and staff left Koh Samui by ferry, to travel to the launch site. We arrived at local school and were met by a whole raft a friendly inquisitive faces, excited to know what we were up to. After some final checks we were ready for launch, we turned on the cameras and filled the helium balloon. A dramatic countdown then began, 5,4,3,2,1… lift off. Our ISS balloon filled with helium, lifting a payload, fitted with a camera and GPS device was off into the far edges of the atmosphere. A feat never tried before by a school in Thailand, we believe!!. All we had to do was wait for the balloon to ascend to 30 km, at which point the balloon would burst, the parachute would inflate and the payload would come floating down to earth and we could begin to gather the required data. The team packed away and logged into the GPS tracker website, and eagerly anticipated picking up the package. Unfortunately, that is where the story took a turn for the worse. All of the predictors had told us that the balloon would travel around 9km in a southerly direction and land. But what the GPS tracker was showing was that the balloon was travelling East. It travelled into the Khao Nan National Park. Deep into Virgin Rainforest. The exact place we wouldn’t have expected. Unfortunately plans change, and to move forward the Science project team is now planning an expedition to follow a river bed up a waterfall to track down the balloon and its cargo. We have enlisted the help of the National Park Rangers, and their helicopter, in order to track the camera down and of course press on with our entry for the 2016 COBIS Science competition.

Year 10 Business Studies and Computer Science trip to W Resort Students attended an open house event at the W Resort Koh Samui to gain a valuable insight into the world of hospitality and its links with their Business Studies and Computing Curriculum. A very big thanks to all W staff for their warmest welcome!

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

End of Term 2 Primary School Dance Show We are very excited to announce the 3rd Annual Dance Show at ISS. This term all of the Primary School have been learning dance in their PE lessons. We hope this year is just as successful as last year and we have an action packed line up of some very creative dances to present to our parents.

The dance show will take place on the basketball court on Friday 1st April 2015 at 9.00am. Last year’s dance show was an overwhelming success and we are excited to see what the classes have up their sleeve this year. It would be lovely to see all of you support the children. We are very proud of the time and effort put into the production and looking forward to seeing you there!

Whole School Songkran Celebration on Thursday 31st March On Thursday 31st March we are very excited to celebrate Songkran Day at The International School of Samui. The Thai department will be leading a whole day of learning activities to deepen the student’s knowledge of Thai Culture and Songkran.

At 9am we would like to host a traditional Nang Songkran show including Thai Dancing and the traditional water blessing ceremony.

The Senior School students will then be spending a whole day at Pink Elephant Water Park whilst the Kindergarten and Primary School Pupils will take part in a range of Songkran activities followed by the traditional water fight from 3pm onwards.

Whole School Swimathon- Friday 18th March The ISS Swimathon took place on Friday 18th March and was a resounding success. Our challenge was to swim as many lengths of the school pool as possible to help raise funds and awareness for Miss Wakelin’s new charity, Sunny Smiles Foundation : http://www.sunnysmilesfoundation.org/ Students were sponsored per length completed or alternatively one amount of money for completing the swim. The fundraising money will be tallied and results given out during the upcoming weeks.

The day ended with a BBQ which was held in the café area. Great fun was had by all and the atmosphere was great. Your support and attendance was warmly welcomed.

Samui Sharks Swim Team

Squad members of the Samui Sharks swim team will be attending the Rocket science Swim Meet at Thanyapura on the 25th-27th March. The meet is one of the highlights of the year for squad members and they will once again face very tough competition.

Schools squads and Swim teams from all over Asia will be attending the 3 day event and ISS will be hoping to take home an array of medals to surpass last years totals of golds, silvers and bronzes. There will be 28 squad members competing this year, they should feel well prepared having trained up to 5 times a week.

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Senior School Spring Term Production 2016 - Beauty & the Beast We are proud to announce that this year’s Senior School performance will be an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.

The show will take place on the evenings of Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th of March, commencing at 6.30pm.

It has been decided to run the show for two nights, in order to make the most of our new theatre. For this reason, all guests will need to have a ticket in advance for the night they wish to attend. Tickets for the event are free and can be reserved through the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beauty-and-the-beast-tickets-19722464422 All you need to do is select the date you wish to attend and then click the green ‘register’ icon.

You can then choose the number of tickets you want and then click the green ‘checkout’ icon.

You will be asked for your name and email details along with a password of your choice to complete the registration. Your tickets will be emailed to you or you can receive them on your phone through the Eventbrite app.

Please note we do ask that the Wednesday evening show has priority for Senior School parents to book, your consideration in this matter when booking seats is much appreciated. If you have any problems or concerns then please feel free to contact me directly.

The show will include a programme on arrival and an interval during which you can purchase refreshments from a bar provided for the evening.

The show is expected to end at approximately 8.30pm.

Please feel free to invite family and friends to what promises to be an enjoyable and entertaining evening. We look forward to seeing you.

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

The International School of Samui Film Nights Now that the new Drama Theatre has officially opened its doors, we have decided to introduce a new program of Thursday night film nights for our students to enjoy. So far we have hosted two successful Senior School film nights and on Thursday 17th March, we also hosted the first Primary School film night showing ‘How to Train Your Dragon’. Our school teachers supervise the events and we hope the new ‘movie night’ program proves over time to be an enjoyable and enhanced aspect of primary and senior school life for our students at ISS. The next film nights are Thursday 28th April (Years 9,10,11,12), Thursday 5th May (Years 7,8), Thursday 12th May (Primary School), Thursday 19th May (Family Film Night).

Primary School Private Music Recitals We are delighted to announce our very first Primary School Music Recital. We are excited to celebrate the hard work of our private music students by inviting parents to a showcase of their performances. The Primary School Music Recitals will take place on Monday 28th March and Tuesday 29th March from 12:30-13:10 in the new Drama Theatre. As this is the first time many of our students have ever performed, we have chosen to make this an invite only event, restricted to the performers, the performers parents and siblings and also any parents considering the enrolment of their children into our private music program. We very much hope that you’ll join us on both days to enjoy, support and celebrate the efforts of all of our budding and talented musicians. A light lunch will be served!

Term 2 Parent Consultation Meetings—Whole School The whole school parent consultation meetings will take place on Tuesday 29th March and Wednesday 30th March. You are invited to come and meet with your child’s class or subject teachers and discuss your child’s progress. If you have any questions or problems this is a good opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher(s).

The senior school meetings will be taking place in the Sports Hall as follows: Tuesday 29th March—Years 7 & 8 and Wednesday 30th March— Years 9, 10,11,12.

Senior Adventure Weekend—Angthong National Marine Park We are introducing a new activity to the Senior School called the Senior School ‘Adventure Club’. The aim of this club will be to offer activities and trips throughout the year to the senior school students in order to enhance their sense of adventure whilst allowing them to be able to enjoy the local area in which they are living and expand their boundaries in a safe and supervised environment. These activities and trips will be organised once a month during the school term on a Saturday and will be run on a voluntary basis. Our first Adventure Club activity will be on Saturday 26th March and will be a Speed boat tour of the Angthong National Marine Park. Book with Nancy if you are interested in this trip.

Around 2,500 Baht per student.

www.iss.ac.th

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The International School of Samui Newsletter

Personal Achievements of ISS Students Our new newsletter section called “Personal Achievements” celebrates ISS pupils’ sporting, musical and academic achievements outside of school. If you would like to share anything about your child please send all details to secretary@iss.ac.th. Include photos where possible and details of competition/ challenge/event.

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

Anrai Lawlor, Year 6 and Sean Lawlor, Year 4 took part in the Thanyapura Superkidz Tennis 1 on 7th March 2016 in Phuket..

Sean played in a group with older boys he was beaten in the first match and then played in the plate which he won after three matches and a very exciting final. The competition was very hard and it was a very exciting victory. It was a great weekend which all enjoyed. Sean proudly celebrates his achievement with this well-deserved medal and certificate.

Congratulations to both boys.

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

Thai: Khun Aom

admissionsoffice@iss.ac.th

Russian: Marina russianpr@iss.ac.th

Sophia Schnurr, Year 8 is blessed with a particular talent for Taekwondo and follows a rigorous training routine which sees her today with the 2.

Dan Black Belt in the sport. She began the sport in her early days at Bluewater School in 2009 and since this date has amassed an incredible array of gold, silver and bronze medals. Her latest award was a Gold medal at the recent youth championships in Trang province. She loves this sport and is working on her 3.Dan which can only be awarded once she reaches 15 years of age. Sophia trains at the “Bangrak gym” at least 3 hours per day leading up to competition.

Mimp Songnui, Year 8 is an accomplished Taekwondo black belt athlete having begun the sport at 8 years old. She recently celebrated two amazing wins including a Silver medal on 5th March 2016 for the League of Youth competition in age category 13-14yrs and on 12th December 2015, Mimp was awarded a Gold Medal in the League of Youth 11-12 Years old category. Fantastic effort Mimp!

Congratulations to Mark Athapaisal, year 5, who has joined us again for a short period and who achieved 1st place with 97.5% in his English Exam at the Montfort Brothers of St Gabriel group of 15 schools in Bangkok. Well done Mark.

Well done Elouan Sardou, Year 6 for achieving 1st place in every one of his age category races during the latest Thanyapura Swim Meet which took place in February 2016. This is an incredible achievement and a true testament to how hard Elouan has worked in the past 6 months to achieve this great result.

Isabella Pozzi, Year 8 wrote the winning piece for the Fobisia Writing competition. Her story called “Cariad” was chosen from a shortlist of five other amazing stories. Good luck, the results should be out on 2nd May 2016.

Maryan McDonald, Year 6 was amongst 8 other exceptional writers whose story “Wings of Speed” was chosen by the judges for the FOBISIA Writing Competition in the junior years.

Wishing Maryan luck with this Congratulations to Isabella Pozzi in year 8 for achieving Grade 5 in her Piano Theory exam with merit which took place in Surathani in November 2015. Isabella is now working towards the very challenging Grade 6 exam in both theory and practical. The highest achievable level in the ABRSM music curriculum is Grade 8.

www.iss.ac.th