Canteen

Each term we distribute an international school, book club catalogue to help provide good quality books to families through a mail-order system. The magazines and order forms are distributed through the Classroom Teachers each term and collected by the library staff.

Cafeteria

Khun Penny pennyb@standrews-schools.com operates the cafeteria. She provides morning snack and lunches to all children and adults who wish to purchase meals from her. Children may also choose to bring their own morning snack or packed lunch from home. Morning snack is delivered to the classrooms in Nursery, Kindergarten, Reception, and Years 1 to 4. This snack consists of fruit, vegetables and biscuits. Children in Years 5 and 6 may purchase their morning tea from a mobile food counter that is driven to the hard court.

Nursery and Kindergarten children have lunch delivered to their classrooms. Children eat in the classroom and all dishes are returned to the cafeteria to be washed. Kindergarten transitions into eating at the canteen as they progress through the school year. The children from Reception to year 6 walk to the cafeteria to eat lunch. The children line up and select their food, then sit quietly and eat. Teachers in Reception, Years 1 and 2 tend to eat with their classes. There is always a teacher on duty in the cafeteria to supervise the children whilst they eat. Billing is between each family and Khun Penny. The school does not participate in this structure. Khun Penny is available in the school office each morning so that cafeteria bills can be paid. Parents are encouraged to pay these bills in person as sending money with children can sometimes be problematic.

The relevant costs are as follows:

 Early Years (Nursery, KG and Reception) – 45 Baht per day  Primary (Years 1-6) – 50 Baht per day Vegetarianism and allergies can be catered for. Please make sure that Khun Penny is aware of your preferences. Using the cafeteria is not compulsory. You may choose to send healthy, well-balanced food to school with your child if you wish. Your child will still eat with their classmates.

From time to time individual classes hold ‘Class Parties’ to celebrate a special event, say farewell to a student or celebrate the end of term. Teachers will often ask for food or drinks to be sent along to be shared at this time –please send along healthy food and snacks. Parents are often invited to join in the celebrations. Birthday celebrations should be limited to a cupcake and a drink, preferably at the end of the day (again, please communicate with your child’s teacher regarding this). We ask that Birthday celebrations are for students from Nursery to Year 3.

Class Placements

Teachers’ professional judgment is sought in placing children in classes for the new academic year. As many educational perspectives as possible are considered when placing children. Elements that are taken into account include:

 Academic ability  Behaviour

 EAL needs

 Ethnicity  Friendship groups  Gender

 SEN needs

Class lists are distributed to parents before children participate in a Transition Day near the end of Term Three.

Cleaning and Cleaning Staff

The Operations Manager is Khun Alastair and his office is above the admissions office. Any concerns and issues regarding cleanliness should be sent to him directly. Cleaners start work at 7.30 am and finish at 5.00 pm. Teachers are responsible for getting children to clean obvious debris from the floors and surfaces at the end of the school day. Children are expected to tidy up after themselves at all times. This includes washing paint brushes and cleaning up general spills. Cleaners are available all day. They have breakfast at 9.30 am for 30 minutes and have lunch after classes resume at lunchtime. There is always a cleaner available although most cleaning happens after school once children have gone home.

Seesaw (our online learning platform) is a great tool for parents to find out about what their children are learning about. We also provide regular communication about children’s progress with termly reports, a yearly parent conference and a yearly student-led conference. We also provide various opportunities throughout the year to find out what children have been learning by inviting parents into school for various end of unit ‘learning journeys’ or presentations of work. If you would like further opportunities to discuss your child’s progress you are always welcome to make an appointment to speak with teachers. E-mail is the primary form of written communication with parents. Please make sure we have your most recent email address.

Communication Tools

Seesaw

The Seesaw family app links parent directly to their child’s school portfolio as well as their every day class work. Weekly ‘What’s on’ Email This is a regular newsletter that keeps you up to date with all the events and activities taking place in the Primary school. It is written by the Head of Primary and is emailed to all primary parents every Friday. Facebook and social media

Our Facebook page is updated regularly to showcase the daily events of the school. Parent Workshops We offer workshops to enable Primary parents to have a better understanding of teaching and learning at St. Andrews.

Communication/Contact Books All communications will be sent via Seesaw and Contact books may be used depending on the child’s age. General Appointments We encourage discussions about learning to occur with the teacher, child and parent together as this encourages responsibility and continued learning. However parents are welcome to arrange an appointment with their child’s teacher at any time should they wish to talk about their child’s learning alone. We ask that parents do not ask for a meeting without prior arrangement in order to allow teachers to focus on teaching and learning during the school day and to allow meeting preparation time.

The aim of our Activity programme is to give children the chance to experience and learn new skills or expand and develop existing skills. We try to ensure that children gain enjoyment, healthy exercise, new skills and hopefully the motivation to take those activities they enjoy with them into adult life. Extra-Curricular activities give children the chance to experience different teachers and teaching styles and reap the benefits from this. The programme also gives teachers a chance to give of their knowledge and expertise not only in their teaching subject but also from whatever interests and experience they have. We offer over 50+ different activities and these include:

 FOBISIA (Federation of British International Schools in Asia) Sports training for events.  Team Sports such as basketball, football, T-Ball and volleyball  Drama

 School Newspaper/ Podcasting

 Taekwondo

 Athletics

 Languages: Thai/Mandarin/French  Arts and Crafts

 Instrumental and Singing lessons  Horsemanship, Swimming, and Golf may also be offered

Field Trips

Children participate in school field trips throughout the year. These trips are connected to the learning that is taking place in class and are designed to engage and stimulate children to promote discussion and inquiry. Class Teachers will inform you of upcoming trips on Firefly at the beginning of each half term. Before the trip takes place, class teachers will provide parents with a detailed letter and consent form. Children without parental consent remain at school and attend a different class.

Homework

We believe that Primary age children should participate in relevant and appropriate tasks outside of the school environment in order to reinforce, consolidate and extend learning. Homework should promote the learning partnership between home and school and encourage self-organizational skills and independent learning.