Newsletter 2016-2017 vol 4

TRILINGUAL CHRISTIAN EDUCATION  Member of association of christian schools international

ST. MARK’S

 Member of australian council for educational research

 Affiliated with hanyu shuiping kaoshi chinese proficiency testing

 Member of

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

international schools association of thailand

2016-2017 Newsletter Vol. 4

Academically Aspiring - Caringly Christian - Experientially Enriching

Special Snack Stall Day St. Mark’s Christmas Event 2016 Back To Nature Scout Camp Editorial Advisory Board: John Ruangmethanon, Dr. Listati Liu & Tanyanun Subsompon Editor: Dean Leaman Writer: Keurkoon Phoomwittaya

Featured items in Students’ S P A C E : Aaron Sirisambhand Artwork & Cover Photography: Keurkoon Phoomwittaya Copyright © 2017 by St. Mark's International School Read Newsletters Online at http://stmarks.ac.th/

UPCOMING

We hope everyone is having a great start to Year 2017!

This newsletter features stories and events from the pre-

EVENTS

vious semester such as Loy Krathong, our annual Christmas programme, and our „Back To Nature‟ Scout Camp.

Thanks to all for making 2016 a memorable year for the

Sports Day

10 Feb 2017

St. Mark‟s community. We wish you many blessings in

Makha Bucha Day (holiday)

13 Feb 2017

ISA Testing

the coming year.

Field Trip

15-16 Feb 2017 17 Feb 2017

Blessings, Editorial Team

Parent-Teacher Conference

IGCSE Meeting

On 16 December 2016 our parents community partici-

On 2 December 2016 our Years 6-8 parents participated

pated in our Parent-Teacher Conference. The purpose

in an IGCSE meeting to discuss our High School pro-

was to receive feedback about students academic per-

gramme and curriculum.

formances of the first semester of the 2016/2017 Academic Year.

Staff First Aid Training The day before the start of this semester our staff participated in a First Aid Training session.

Ms. Vea

Gaygon, our school nurse who holds certification in Occupational Health and Safety, presented how to assist and take care of students suffering sudden illness or injury.

Afterwards, Mr. Brendon Sellors demonstrated artificial respiration for children and adults. We discussed incidents that have happened at our school and practiced first-aid through hands-on activities.

1

Greet and Chat at Our Parents’ Coffee Meeting On 18 November 2016, St. Marks‟ administration organised a Parents Coffee Meeting to keep parents updated on the school‟s upcoming events and plans. Mr. Ashley Hood led an icebreaking activity giving our parents‟ community a chance to greet and chat. The last session was an open forum where we brainstormed several new ideas such as how parent volunteers can support our school events.

Special Snack Stall Day By Year 3

On 11 November 2016, our Year 3 students held a Special Snack Stall Day in our school canteen.

They received

great response from all who attended. Primary students, Secondary students and teachers stopped at the stalls and bought crisps and sweets, as well as some drinks. Everyone was excited to visit our little shop on this extraordinary occasion. We learned how to calculate prices and practiced customer service skills on that day. This project was part of our Maths lessons and was supervised by our Maths teacher, Ms. Karen Lucas.

Loy Krathong 2016 The camaraderie and community effort of assembling these floating mementos for Loy Krathong Day is a beautiful example of Thai culture that we want our students to experience. As part of our Thai culture lessons, and in recognition of the Loy Krathong Festival here in Thailand, all Early Years and Primary St. Mark‟s students had the opportunity to learn to make Krathongs on 14 November 2016. Special thanks to all of our Thai

To watch our video please visit

teachers for their preparation and for helping the children

https://goo.gl/Lo1bXB

make their Krathongs.

2

St. Mark’s Christmas Event 2016 On the afternoon of December 9th, we welcomed

in remembrance of His Majesty‟s hard work that he

St. Mark’s families to Christmas Programme 2016

has done for the people of Thailand.

with soft Christmas melodies and a fun fair.

The first Christmas performance was „Silent Night‟ by

The first part of our event was a Christmas carnival on

our Year 4 class. As the sky was getting dark, our

the football field where students and parents enjoyed

Year 2 students brought everyone into the Christmas

fun games such as knocking down cups, bowling,

spirit with the song „Hello to All The Children of The

bouncing a Ping-Pong ball into cups filled with water

World‟ and „Holly Jolly Christmas‟. Our Early Years

and more. Tokens were exchangeable for prizes in-

students performed their dance and songs so cheer-

side the tickets zone.

fully.

We also arranged a “selfie”

booth for parents and children to take some snap-

Each class show brought smiles and laughers to the

shots of themselves.

audience. Before the Finale, “The Saints‟ and Angels‟

St. Marks‟ gingerbread house and Christmas theme

Song”, our Year 8 class surprised us by turning off the

baked goods were presented inside the canteen. And

lights and waving colourful torches while singing the

of course, everyone enjoyed home-made international

song,“Flashlight”, by Jesse J.

foods prepared by our parent community.

This was the first time that we held Christmas in the

For the evening programme we held a memorial ser-

evening, bringing a cosy atmosphere to the celebra-

vice for His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Our

tion. Thanks to all who helped make this wonderful

students sang “King Of The Land”

time happen!

(ในหลวงของแผ่ นดิน)

3

4

Back To Nature Scout Camp 2016 Every year St. Mark‟s organises our Scout Camp with the aim of giving our students experience in the out-of-doors and to develop their physical and social skills through informal educational activities.

From 13 to 14 December 2016, 75 students joined the camp on the theme of “Back To Nature”. On the first day we arrived at Cholapreuk Resort, Nakornnayok where everyone enjoyed swimming, team-building activities, learning to pitch a tent, as well as arts by the lotus pond. Before dinner we had a time of singing hymns and Christmas songs together.

In the evening, students and teachers played a dice game. We were in groups of 14 tables taking turns throwing the dice. The first person to finish the challenge in each round got some sweets as a prize.

On the next day we packed our clothes and waved a good-bye to the resort. We boarded the tour buses to leave for Farm De Lek. There we learned about the lifestyle of farmers, and environmental conservation through hands-on activities such as planting organic vegetables, feeding fish while sitting on a small boat, feeding pigs and chickens, recycling and more. We had healthy Thai foods during lunch time. In the afternoon, we played on the zip line and trampoline and climbed around at the adventure station.

The last activity that the students were excited about the most was the water station. We used the zip line to drop ourselves into a pond where we swam and canoed. Thank you teachers for making Scout Camp a fun and fulfilling experience for all of us!

To watch our video please visit https://goo.gl/RKkoJo

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Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy — Psalm 96:11-12 6

Class Activities Focus

Water is Splashing All Around !

Pre-Prep kicked the water beside the swimming pool and then jumped in. We used kickboards when we swam to the other side and went back to the starting point.

Swimming class always makes Friday our favourite day of the week.

Translating and Drawing Pictures Year 4 translated words from Mandarin sentences into English and drew illustrations about the given stories. After working individually Ms. Linjia showed our work with a visualizer so that everyone could read our translation and look at our drawing.

Some words in Chinese might sound or look similar but they can be interpreted in different ways. We saw new perspectives of interpretation through the artwork of our classmates.

Weighing Fruits & Books We brought some fruits to school wondering what we would be doing in Maths class. The night before, we put apples, bananas, guavas, and slices of fruits in our bags.

Ms. Karen asked us to arrange groups of fruits and put each group of fruits on a weighing scale. The apple group went in front of the class first. The challenge we had to complete was to estimate the weight of all the apples and whether they were equal to 1 kg, less than 1 kg, or about 1 kg. After we finished with estimating all fruits, we also had to guess the weight of all of our Math workbooks.

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Extra-Curricular Activities Let the Music Play On We have been practising melodious solos in the Piano ECA. Our teacher trained us individually as we played on the piano.

We also practiced on our own on the key-

boards.

Each member was given songs to practice according to our skill level.

When we got together inside the piano

room we not only socialized with our classmates but we also shared rhythm and sound.

Your Word Is a Lamp For My Feet Alive Club members learn about stories in the Bible through songs, videos and memorising scriptures. Psalms 119:105 reads, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

Words from the Bible can be great source for encouragement, inspiration and guidance in our daily life.

Memorising the scriptures can be useful because we will be reminded of God‟s love and protection whenever we face challenges in life. Alive Club members also get to practice finding chapters and verses on Monday after school.

The Maker Space — Robotics Creation Robotics club members adapted the structures of robots from the guide books, adding new features to make them strong. After finishing our robots, we were ready for Zumo and Football battles.

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STUDENTS’ S P A C E A Place for free writing and creativity that lets your imagination spark!

News Writing Project by Aaron Sirisambhand Year 8

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Healthy Tips “Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD)” Every year during cold weather, many children suffer from viral diseases such as hand, foot and mouth disease or stomach flu. We hope to raise awareness so that children

contact with feces



contact with contaminated objects and surfaces.

Prevention There is no vaccine to protect against the virus-

take more care and lessen the occurrence of these diseases.

Transmission



es that cause hand, foot, and mouth disease.

You can lower your risk of being infected by doing the follow-

The viruses that cause hand, foot, and

mouth disease can be found in an infected person‟s:

ing:





nose and throat secretions (such as saliva, sputum, or

after changing diapers and using the toilet.

nasal mucus)



blister fluid



and feces (stool)

Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially



Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and soiled items, including toys.



An infected person may spread the viruses that cause hand,

Avoid close contact such as kissing, hugging, or sharing eating utensils or cups with people with hand, foot, and

foot, and mouth disease to another person through:

mouth disease.



close personal contact



the air (through coughing or sneezing)

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/hand-foot-mouth

Reconnecting Children to Nature Research indicates that one of the best antidote to a stressful lifestyle is to spend time in natural settings outdoors. Children who spend time outdoors are likely to be:



happier



healthier



smarter



more cooperative



better problem solvers



more creative

because it is good for children.



Educate local architects, builders, community planners,

and civic leaders about the need for areas of native habitats in planned developments and existing neighborhoods, so

Actions We Can Each Take

children have places to play that foster their imagination.





Take a child outside—and create the opportunity for your

Build new partnerships and support existing efforts to

children to have unstructured time to play outdoors every day.

bring the resources of the private sector together with public



agencies in bold, balanced, and conserving ways to achieve a

Create a nature club for families and plan monthly out-

ings with other parents and families in your community.

sustainable future.





Ride your bike or walk to school with your children and

nature-based learning is good for everyone.

others in the neighborhood.



Get other parents and the community involved—because

Encourage nature-based, child-friendly spaces and plac-

es throughout communities.

Author: Cheryl Charles



Extracted from http://www.education.com/reference/

Engage the local medical community to encourage physi-

article/reconnecting-children-nature-priority/

cians and other medical practitioners to prescribe nature-play

10

900 Rama 9 Rd,Suanluang Bangkok 10250, Thailand Email: info@stmarks.ac.th Phone:

+ 66 -2-300-5463

www.stmarks.ac.th

Guided by Christian philosophy, St. Mark's International School aims to provide quality Early Years through Secondary education, enabling each student to achieve their fullest potential by becoming confident, motivated, optimistic and responsible young citizens.

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