Spotlight on Secondary
Tournament of the Minds Triumph! St Andrews Green Valley continued their winning streak and became Tournament of Minds (TOM) champions again at on Sunday March 25 with our Secondary students winning a place to go on to the finals in Australia. This will be the third time that one of our school teams has won and been selected to go to Sydney! Our Primary teams also made us very proud and gained Honours, alongside St Andrews Sathorn who won one of the overall Primary challenges. A phenomenal result for the St Andrews Group of schools against so many teams from far larger schools in the region. We entered 5 enthusiastic teams, of 7 students each, for the Tournament of Minds event on Sunday hosted by Bangkok Prep. This is a prestigious competition designed to test creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking. There were 71 teams from 21 other top international schools, competing in 4 different challenges: Language and Literature, Social Science, Maths and Engineering and Science and Technology. The teams had all been working hard on researching and writing scripts, creating props and rehearsing presentations over the 6 weeks since the challenges were released, and they were all very excited (and a little relieved!) to be finally showing their skills. Our Secondary Science and Technology team won their challenge and the chance to compete at the next level, in Australia! Huge congratulations to Munin, Preecha, Alexy, Chogoon, Chin, Pong and Victor, and their facilitator Ms Kinsella! This year we also had two St Andrews students performing as judges; Jade and Jiwon in Year 12, having competed in the Tournament when they were younger students, they are now eminently qualified to judge in the Tournament. #GOteamGV #ProudtobeGV
Dangerous Dreams Dazzle @ Music Comp Congratulations to our Year 9 band, Dangerous Dreams, who won a special prize for their original song at the KPIS Music Challenge in Bangkok - out of 27 bands from across Thailand the judges picked them as they were the only band not to play a cover song! They will record 'The Voices' in a professional studio and it will be released on iTunes and Spotify. A well deserved prize, showing that hard work pays off. #ProudtobeGV Here is the youtube link, please have a listen to their winning song: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5nfOQne-es
Learner Profile Awards Each week we will be congratulating one outstanding student in the Secondary assembly, with the 'IB Learner Profile' Award. Students who have shown excellence in that week's Learner Profile attribute will be nominated by their subject teachers and one winner will be chosen to receive the certificate. Week 9’s winner was Jenny from Year 11 for being an outstanding Communicator. Week 10’s winner was Gryffin in Year 8, who was an outstanding Inquirer and Week 11’s winner was Sam from Year 10 for being very Caring. Congratulations to these 3 students. #GVLearns
Careers: Guest Speaker Charlotte Divin Guest speaker Charlotte Divin who works for the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict enthralled our IB students with her impressive and unconventional career path to date. Charlotte, who works primarily in the field of International Relations outlined the role that she has played in her prestigious jobs. Charlotte works alongside the United Nations and has recently worked in Mali and been involved with peace talks between North and South Korea. The students were intrigued and asked many insightful questions. Jiwon in Year 12 said ”It was fantastic to hear about Charlotte’s first hand experience in International Relations – she gave such a detailed picture of her involvement, and it was fascinating to hear her on the ground reports from the recent peace talks. We really appreciated her recommendations on university choices when looking at this type of career, and walked away with some great advice." You can read more about her former work at the Hague Institute for Global Justice here: http://www.thehagueinstituteforglobaljustice.org/…/charlot…/ Thank you to Mr Ramsay for inviting Charlotte, his cousin, along to speak to our students. #GVlearns
Top Universities Interested in GV Students So where do St Andrews GV IB graduates go? Each year our students get places at Universities around the world and many secure offers and places in some of the top 100 Universities. Our current year 13s already have an impressive number of offers from Universities including: Bristol University, Durham University, University of Washington, University of California (San Diego), Purdue University, Nottingham University, Exeter University, Bath University, Loughborough University, University of Leicester, University of Sussex and the University of Newcastle (Australia), to name just some of them. The courses they have applied for range from Aerospace Engineering, Economics, Business Management/Marketing, Mathematics, Bio-medicine, Oral Health, Logistics and Fine Arts. Our talented IB Arts were all recently offered 50% scholarships if they would like to attend Raffles Design School in Bangkok. The Year 13s are currently working hard and we wish them all the best of luck in their exams in May.
Important Dates for your Diary Thurs April 5 Last Day of Term 2
April 6—22 End of Term 2 Holiday
Mon April 23 First Day of Term 3
Tues April 24 IGCSE ICT Practical Exam A
Wed April 25 Dutch King’s Day Celebration
Thurs April 26 IGCSE ICT Practical Exam B
Thurs April 27 Year 13 Farewell Assembly from 2pm
Friday April 28 First Day of IB Exams
April 30—May 2 EDT and ONESQA Accreditation Visits
Thurs May 3 Term 3 Activity Programme Begins
Thurs May 10 Year 11 Assembly
Friday May 11 Last Day of Classes for Year 11 Students
Thursday May 17 Island Community Music Event During Activity Time
May 18—19 U13 Invitational Games at GV
Fri May 18 Last Day of IB Exams
Sat May 19 Year 13 Graduation Ceremony
Thurs May 24 Poetry Slam
Thurs May 24 IB Chemistry Wine Judging (from 4.15pm)
Fri May 25 Day 1 of Exam Week for Year 10 & 12 students
Mon May 28 Day 1 of Exam Week for Y7—9 students
Tues May 29 Visaka Bucha Day Public Holiday
To check all upcoming school dates please click on this link: http://vle.standrews-schools.com/dashboard/ cal/1079/1 To access the 2018—2019 Calendar click here: http://vle.standrews-schools.com/Resources/Home%20% 5BF1%5D/Dashboard%20%5BFt4%5D/St%20Andrews%20Green%20Valley%20Academic%20Calendar% 202018%20-%202019.pdf To access the 2017—2018 Calendar click here: http://vle.standrews-schools.com/Resources/Home%20% 5BF1%5D/Dashboard%20%5BFt4%5D/Academic%20Calendar%2017-18.pdf
Book Day Vocabulary Parade On Friday March 23 we held the first ever Green Valley Word Parade. Why have we chosen to change from a character to a word this year? Well, words are one of the main ways that we communicate with each other. We start off in Nursery with just a few words and go all the way through to IB where we are writing 4,000 word essays. The words we use matter. When we are writing, our words communicate our ideas and by choosing words that interest the reader we bring our writing to life. The range of fantastic costumes and vocabulary that was on show for the parade this morning was superb. We definitely have set ourselves a challenge to beat for next year! A big thanks to the parents, staff and students for taking part so completely in this new idea.
IB Art Exhibition 2018 On March 20th our Year 13 IB Visual Arts students, Jordan, Bella, Jesse and Sarah opened the 2018 IB Art Exhibition. Those who attended enjoyed a range of technically excellent artwork. We entered to see Jesse’s youth themed exhibition with 3D digital images, painting with a striking use of colour and a range of beautiful photo digital pieces. Jordan presented large oil paintings all connected to her theme of a Life’s Journey. Her photographic documentation of travel in Australia takes use through her development as an artist, learning the skills of photography. Bella celebrated the power of the female through her large oil on canvas nudes and beautifully embroidered 3D centerpiece. Sarah’s skills a watercolor portrait artist were on show in a range of portraits exploring the theme of flaws. Sarah designed her exhibition space as a piece of interior design representing the safety and comfort of a coffee shop. This year every student spoke with such confidence not only to adults or their peers, but also to the many younger students who enjoyed the exhibition. Excellent artwork by an excellent group of young artists. Representatives from the Raffles designed school in Bangkok were so impressed when they saw the exhibition that they offered each student a 50% scholarship should they want to study at Raffles next year!! Mrs. Castle (Art Teacher)
A Shining Year for Art @ GV On March 20th our Year 13 IB Visual Arts students, Jordan, Bella, Jesse and Sarah opened the 2018 IB Art Exhibition. Those who attended enjoyed a range of technically excellent artwork. A representative from Raffles International College of Design and Business, Bangkok. After seeing the IB Art Exhibition, he offered a 50% scholarship for talent to Bella, Jordan, Jesse and Sarah. Sarah Peake in Year 13 also entered an international interior design competition hosted by Regents University, London. This week she found out that she is on the shortlist of three candidates selected to compete for the top prize. Her design will be exhibited at the Interior Design End of Year Show on May 2nd at Regents in Central London. In addition, her entry goes through to the final of this prestigious international competition. Well done, Sarah!
Here we can see Sarah’s early sketches of ideas and you can see how she incorporated that design into her IB Exhibition.
The Art Department is also proud to be sending this year’s Art IGCSE coursework to the Cambridge IGCSE board for final marking. Year 11 art students have produced some excellent work. This year started with a new IB Art Studio and it has continued to be an outstanding year for Art and Design at St Andrews, Green Valley.
Year 8 Art and Recycling This term Year 8 students have been making art out of found and recycled materials. Students have studied the artwork of Friedensreich Hundertwasser for inspiration. They have also studied that artwork of contemporary artists who make art from trash. Leo Sewell and Angela Hezaltine Pozzi are American artists who make art from trash and found materials. Students have been making relief tiles showing designs inspired by the shapes and colours of Hundertwasser using materials that they have found themselves. Mrs. Sue Castle (Art Teacher)
Percussion Day with Andy Geldhill Andy Gledhill, a professional musician and percussionist, inspired our students recently as part of our 'Percussion Day'. Andy has been performing around the world for most of his life and has played on world renowned stages as part of orchestras and bands, as well as 'on the road' as part of his travels in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. He now focuses on teaching traditional world music techniques, with particular emphasis on cultural contexts and authentic playing styles. Throughout the day he ran percussion sessions for age groups from Year 1 to Year 13, teaching them drumming techniques from Japan, South America and Africa. It was fantastic to hear the drum beats echoing around our brand new Black Box Theatre! #GVlearns
Little Lunchtime Concert The "Little Lunchtime Concert" was organised to celebrate the opening of the two new music practice rooms and showcase some of the many activities which now take place in these rooms everyday. Our talented students from across the school showed fantastic teamwork in organising and rehearsing their performances. Their enthusiasm and confidence was appreciated by the audience of parents, students and teachers who stayed throughout lunchtime to enjoy both the music and the food provided by the PTG. At the end of the concert Mr Harrison concluded the event and Mr Ramsay cut the celebratory cake for everyone to enjoy! Well done to all of our talented musicians and thanks very much to Mr Ramsay!
Year 9 Khao Yai Experience From March 6—9, 2018, the Year 9 students went on the annual camping trip to Khao Yai National Park. The students slept in tents and were required to buy their own food, prepare it and then cook it. They also had 2 wonderful days walking through the rainforest. After they returned from the camp the students were asked to write down a few of their thoughts. Below are what four different students said: “In Khao Yai we had to camp in tents for 3 nights and we stayed there for 4 days. I enjoyed putting up the tent and making my own food. We had an 8K trek on the second day and on the 3rd day we had a 11K trek. The treks were really good and I liked every part of it, even though it was tiring I had a lot of fun. I also enjoyed the bonfires and the 'would you rathers' and the 'truth or dares'. I enjoyed all of the trip so much and I would want to go again but for a longer period of time.” “I personally found the Khao Yai camping trip one of the best school trips I've been on. It was an unforgettable experience which I would give more or less anything to repeat. It was a good opportunity to connect with people you don't normally keep in touch with and get closer together as a year group. My most memorable part of the trip was the two campfires we had on our first and second night. This is because we played lots of fun (and slightly embarrassing for some people) games eg. would you rather. The campfires were also the bits of the trip that made me laugh the most because of all the careless things we did that left us all with special hillarious memories.” “The Khao Yai caming trip is an experience like never before. You get the true immersive feeling of survival and a self depending experience. Team work is essential to have every member stay in shape and in good morale.” “I really enjoyed getting home. It really made me appreciate how lucky i am. i will never take what i have for granted again.”
Stunning Results in Lamda Exams The LAMDA results are in and they’re looking great! 100% pass rate for St Andrews. 46 students were entered, 18 from Primary and 24 from Secondary. In Primary, twelve students obtained Pass with Distinction, and 6 Pass with Merit – an outstanding achievement considering that this is the first year that LAMDA has been run for Year 5 and 6. A great effort from Helen Dunn and Nikki Ireland who worked their socks off to help and guide our students. In Secondary, there were 4 Passes, 10 Pass with Merits and 10 Pass with Distinctions. Outstanding results for Nadia and, yes it’s that Top in Thailand for Drama IGCSE student again, Andy, scoring a fabulous 96% in the hardest category, The Gold Medal. Congratulations to all the students, parents and teachers involved! #ProudtobeGV #GVlearns
Year 7 Research About Ocean Pollution Year 7 students have been studying about Plastic Pollution in our Oceans. You can find the exhibition of their findings outside the ICT Room in the Core Building. The students researched about the problem, created questionnaires to gather peoples thoughts and then analysed the data before completing their display. Please come and take a look at the students work because through informed awareness we can all make better choices and begin to make a difference. Please spread the word. Thank you for your help. Year 7 and Mrs. McHugh
FOBISIA Drama Festival St Andrews’ students excelled at the recent Drama FOBISIA event in Kuala Lumpur. The theme of this year’s Drama FOBISIA was ‘Heroes & Villains’, characters from plays that the 240 students attending (12 from St Andrews Green Valley) were given as a basis for the workshops and devising they did. This was a truly amazing event with so much packed into the day it was almost unreal. Activities included physical theatre workshops, stage-fighting, watching a hilarious performance from a 4 women theatre group called ‘The HandleBards” who tour (by bike – HandleBards!) their unique Shakespeare performances; dance workshops with local street dancers; a disco with photobooths; a visit to the cinema to see ‘The Greatest Showman’; and the grand finale, the final performances of the companies’ devised pieces! All of our students dived into the action and excelled themselves. Phew! And next year we’re off to Penang. #ProudtobeGV #GVlearns
St Andrews Golf Tournament SAVE THE DATE!
Huge Success @ U13 FOBISIA Games The Panthers made us proud by showing their strength at the U13 FOBISIA Games in Phuket bringing back 5 trophies, and a large haul of medals from the U13 FOBISIA Games. All the students had a very enjoyable time and played each match in the correct spirit. Our final results were: Swimming – 3rd place Athletics – 2nd place Girls Basketball – Winners Boys Basketball – 3rd place Girls Football – 5th place Boys Football – 3rd place There were also individual awards from our coaches: The Most Valuable Player (MVP) Ella & Ben were awarded MVP for the Basketball and Jenny and Keng came out top for the Football. The 'Mama Noodles' Trophy for MVP of the competition. For the girls it was Emi who was the number one choice and for the boys the honour was split between Ben & Keng. #GoTeamGV