Boarding newsletter end of term 2 2015 by The Regent's International School Bangkok

Regent’S bOARDINg NEWSLETTER

End of Term 2 April 2015

In this Issue...

Welcome

MR KIRK WADSWORTH HEAD OF BOARDING kirk.wadsworth@regents.ac.th

Dear Boarding Community,

Boarding Life

half term trip to Koh chang

This term was about work rate for our boarders, as a significant number gear up for their IGCSE or IB exams. I know they are looking forward to a well earned rest this holiday and will balance relaxation with family and friends with final exam preparations. In addition to focused study time this term, once again, our boarders have been at the heart of a range of events and initiatives and these can be seen in the pages that follow. Stage performances, interschool competitions, a variety of sporting events and of course service to others feature regularly. This term has seen a healthy mixture of commitments and our boarders have grown, not just in height but in depth too.

overview of a Great Term

Sport ...and much more!

Our community is a special place to live and work and this is due to the boarders and staff who work so very hard to make it what it is. I wish everyone a safe journey home, a peaceful Songkran holiday and I look forward to welcoming everyone back for the summer term. Best wishes,

Kirk Wadsworth Head of Boarding

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Boarding Life

REGENT’S newsletter

Boarding Life Koh Chang half term trip For many of the boarders home is too far to travel to for a week’s holiday so they used the opportunity to see more of Thailand instead. The destination was Koh Chang, an island that offered the perfect opportunity to relax and recuperate. Staff and students enjoyed reading their books (ipads!), playing in the sea, visiting a waterfall and tasting the local food. It was a very positive experience for all involved and their only complaint was that it was just a week too short! ...and here are Some more snapshots from our trip to the island of Koh Chang...

REGENT’S newsletter

Boarding Life

Boys’ Boarding rooftop BBQ The boy’s house decided a little bit of team bonding was required in their house for the national holiday this term. Therefore, the order of the day was meat – and lots of it! They enjoyed a delicious BBQ on the top floor of the boarding house, trying to prove to Anthony (our Australian exchange student) that it is not only the Aussies who can sizzle a sausage in style!

Boarding Life

REGENT’S newsletter

The Glorious Girls We have had an action packed half term and like most students and staff, we are eagerly awaiting the Songkran break. It has been hard to keep up with our transport plans these last few weeks that have seen boarders heading off here, there and everywhere to participate in charity runs, take part in a dance workshop, watch a musical at the theatre or go to the dentist! While the end is in sight, there is still lots to look forward to as in the final week we have been invited to the Boy’s House for a BBQ on the weekend (an opportunity we will use to bake and sell some cakes to raise money for our Plant the Tree Project), we have our House Night Out on Monday combining a bit of karaoke, bowling and dinner (what more does a girl need?), followed by our Songkran Splash Event on Wednesday afternoon. As always, the girls make me exceptionally proud with their impeccable behaviour and attitude. As their Houseparent I am honored to care for them and I have found myself quite emotional this term having watched them in a number of performances – wishing that their parents were there to see them too. Boarding life is almost over for Year 13 and many boarders are taking home suitcases full of books as opposed to clothes for this vacation in preparation for the exams when they return! It is also with great sadness that we bid farewell to our sisters Hong and Liw this term, as they will be moving to live closer to the school, as their younger sister will be joining the Primary School too. Hong has spent most of her school life as a boarder and whilst Liw only joined us last year it has been wonderful watching them flourish into polite, endearing young ladies. They will be sorely missed, but we wish them all the best and still look forward to seeing them everyday at school!

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Boarding Life

Boarder Portraits

Bright boarder portraits line our dining hall walls. Some are easier to identify than others. Can you tell which boarders are shown here?

Fundraising for Plant the Tree Foundation After supporting the Plant a Tree Today Foundation (PATT), some of the girls in the boarding house had the initiative to raise money to assist PATT even more. They made some delicious brownies which they sold at one of the Boarder’s barbecues. Through raising this money they are able to buy more trees to plant to help further the goal of the Plant a Tree Foundation, which is to recreate the forest that has been destroyed by urbanisation around Bangkok.

Boarding Life

A Farewell Anthony BBQ On Friday 27th March there was a roof top barbecue cooked for us by Mr Eddie in a farewell to our Australian exchange student, Anthony. With a variety of delicious meat, garlic bread, soft drink and music playing it was a fun evening where everyone had a chance to say goodbye and also enjoy themselves!

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Boarding Life

Estonian Evening The Estonian girls in the Boarding house did a fantastic job of representing their country in the 97th Celebration of the Independence Day of Estonia, hosted by Dr Virachai. The boarders were commendable in their role as chaperones to the guests that attended and many of the boarders were performers who provided the guests with a wonderful evening of entertainment. Annaliis and Claudia performed two amazing duets. The boarders were rewarded for their help in the evening with access to the delicious buffet at the end of the night – scrumptious!

Boarding Life

REGENT’S newsletter

Brave hearts After another challenging term we look back and appreciate how hard and how much dedication the boys have directed towards their work and community life in the boys boarding house. The range of sport events, cultural events and the activities we have seen ourselves participating in is very significant, from International Day, football matches, service initiatives and community celebrations. We had the pleasure to open our community to Anthony Antonetti, who has joined the exchange program offered by the Round Square network. He has been a very positive addition to our community and had a very constructive influence in some of the boys, especially Mitsu, who will be hosted by the Antonetti`s next term in Australia. To Anthony, our best wishes back to his family and school, we hope he had a great time and a wonderful experience in Thailand. Our IBs and IGCSEs Brave hearts also are worth mentioning as they are in the most stressful, pressured and precious time of the year, one step away from exams and graduation time. They have played a very important role in our community helping us to guide and mentor the younger boys. A great Easter/Songkrang Holiday to all boarders and families who are gathering during this time, its time to celebrate and to get ready for the last term of the year, for some, the end of an era.

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Boarding Life

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enrichment

The Boarders pull out the stops for International Day

newsletter

enrichment

A Classic Evening Last week proved a busy week for our boarding community as a group of boarders and Gap Staff of all ages tied their ties, donned their shirts and best dresses to go and enjoy two hours of classical live music on Thursday night. Ms Teague joined them for the occasion, having kindly secured free tickets for the magnificent concert given by pianist Professor Hai Zheng, and cellist Professor Kiyoshi Tamagawa, which was held in the Siam Rachada Auditorium and included a whole pallet of classical masterpieces. “The musicians were extremely talented and the piano and cello sounded super together” was one comment from Anthony, our exchange student from Australia.

Coming from all over the world our boarders enjoyed the Regent’s International Day to the full and participated with some truly amazing performances.

One Direction

One Direction, who are one of the most successful boy bands in history, had a concert in Bangkok this month at the Rachamankha National Stadium. Some careful prior planning by the boarders meant that tickets were booked months in advance and therefore several enthusiasts were accompanied by Miss Jenna Whitmore (their No 1 Fan!) to their first ever concert in Thailand. “We had a really good time, the music was amazing – even though we were a long way from the stage it was still a once in a lifetime opportunity!” commented Sonam.

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enrichment

REGENT’S newsletter

Beauty and the Beast

Tree Planting

The musical lovers in the boarding house seized the wonderful opportunity to see a Broadway production of Beauty and the Beast at a local theatre on the weekend. Last minute discount tickets purchased with the kind assistance of Khun Kwanshanok enabled Annaliis, Michelle and Jess (Gap Staff ) to attend on Friday evening and Mrs Wadsworth and Eva enjoyed the company of Mrs Ansell on Saturday night. It was a unanimous decision that the production was excellent and we were all quite simply ‘blown away’ by the talented performers. One of the perks of city living is having such magical opportunities just around the corner.

Last weekend some of the boarders volunteered to spend a Sunday morning working with the Plant a Tree Foundation. They went to Bangkok’s ‘Green Lung’ formally known as Bang Krachao, and spent the day learning how to pot the trees, and then plant them. It was very educational and the boarders not only learnt about the theory and the importance of nurturing and rebuilding the forest but also, were able to put their new skills into practice. The next mission is fundraising for the trees that they planted. Although everyone was dirty and sweaty and exhausted by the afternoon, it was certainly a lot of fun.

Cooking Session

One of the weekly weekend activities hosted by the boarding house was a competitive cook off between two boarder teams, assisted by Mr Anderson. They were given a variety of ingredients and instructed to make something tasty. Although it was a competition, the two teams had heaps of fun trying their best to make some delicious food and working together in the kitchen!

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sports

REGENT’S newsletter

Football Match

Sports

On the 14th March many of the male boarders relished a great opportunity to play an away match against Ascot International School in a very intense game of football. Despite the fact that we lost the game, it was an unforgettable day. The boys made a lot of new friends, and they have made outstanding progress, compared to previous games against Ascot. Everyone on the field did their best and they were super at supporting each other. After all, winning is important but acknowledging teamwork and giving it your all is essential!

Marathon Run

Dodging Balls On Saturday the 21st March, at exactly 6 o’clock, the Baygon Charity Run began and 12 of our Borders took part. They could choose from 2 different routes: 5 km or 13. “It was a very hot evening but who doesn’t like to contribute something for charity” said one of our participants. It is already the second time that our Boarding Community is taking part at a marathon. By the look of the exhausted but happy faces of the Boarders, you can be assured that this won’t be the last time.

New to our programme this term, our weekly dodgeball sessions have become a renowned game of friendly competition and fun that the students at the boarding constantly want to be a part of. Both students and staff get involved in this fast paced game that involves players throwing soft balls at each other and the last man standing wins! The games have been a great way to draw the normally shy students out of their shells and get them involved in a team building game where all students finish with smiles on their faces – we never knew Hong and Liw had such a competitive streak!

REGENT’S newsletter

sports

going vertical at Rock Domain

the Khun Tu Cup

Indoor rock climbing looks easy, but a small group of adventurers discovered that hauling your body weight up steep and overhanging walls is anything but easy. Despite the sweat and the odd scraped knee, the group maintained high spirits throughout and thoroughly enjoyed a day at the rock gym.

Our termly football game with our support staff has now become a great spectacle and the trophy is now fiercely competed for. After loosing 10-3 last term, the boarders’ team were determined to secure victory this time. After some great football and fantastic goalkeeping from Woo, the boarders clung on to their 4-3 lead and lifted the Khun Tu Cup for a well deserved win.

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girls’ boarding

OUr Boarding Family The Girls’ Boarding Team

girls’ boarding

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boy’s boarding

The Boys’ Boarding Crew

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Boy’s boarding

boy’s boarding

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Photo recap

overview of A Great Term

Photo recap

REGENT’S newsletter

Photo recap

REGENT’S newsletter

Photo recap

REGENT’S newsletter

Photo recap

REGENT’S newsletter

Photo recap

REGENT’S newsletter

From all at the Boarding House, have an enjoyable and safe Songkran break! See you all again for Term 3 - Monday 20th April

the regent’s international school bangkok 601/99 pracha-uthit road wangtonglang bangkok 10310 telephone: +66 (0) 2 957 5777 e-mail: enquiry@regents.ac.th