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
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
Member of international schools association of thailand
2017-2018 Newsletter Vol. 5 May 2018
Academically Aspiring - Caringly Christian - Experientially Enriching
Sports Day
Field Trip
Student Showcase
Editorial Advisory Board:
Featured items in Students’ S P A C E :
John Ruangmethanon & Dr. Listati Liu
Junasai Saiwichai, Jane Kittiyanpanya,
Editor & Writer: Kittia Broadus
Thinnaphob Leelasathien, Xyren Lucas,
Artwork & Cover Photography:
Melanie Pepyat Copyright © 2018 by St. Mark's International School
Raiwintha Larpsiriwat 1
Read Newsletters Online at http://stmarks.ac.th/
As another school year comes to a close, we reflect on the activities of the past year. Included in this newsletter are activities we want to share with the St. Mark’s community. Sports day and our annual field trip were successful endeavors. Parents who attended the Maths Workshop learned more about how our students operate the Singaporean curriculum. Our new Student Showcases gave students the opportunity to demonstrate various activities and accomplishments from their classes with parents and teachers in attendance. Read on to learn more about the activities and goings on at St. Mark’s. Thank you for being a part of our community! We hope our students have a blessed summer and we look forward to what’s to come in the new school year. Blessings, St. Mark’s Editorial Team
Achievement focus Our HSK High Achievers in 2018 Every year during March and April, St. Mark’s International School holds an HSK (Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì) examination, China’s only standardised test of Standard Chinese language proficiency for non-native speakers. We would like to congratulate our students on their excellent performance yet again this year. Half of all our students who took the HSK examination attained higher than 90%. Almost all of our students achieved over 80% at all levels. Congratulations to the following students for attaining HSK scores of 85% and higher. We would also like to recognise Nazneen (Year 6) for achieving more than 75% in level 4, which is significant considering her age.
HSK Level 1
Unna (Year 3)
Chanaporn (Year 3)
Wisasinee (Year 3)
Dhira (Year 4)
Thitaree (Year 3)
Primchaya (Year 3)
99.50%
99.50%
99.50%
99.50%
94.50%
92.00%
HSK Level 2
HSK Level 4
Zandeli (Year 3)
Preemada (Year 3)
Janice (Year 3)
92.00%
89.50%
89.50 %
Patnaree (Year 3)
Nazneen (Year 6)
97.00%
75.67%
HSK Level 3
Thanaporn (Year 3)
Waraporn (Year 4)
Xyren (Year 4)
Cleojai (Year 4)
Jane (Year 5)
Pongsatorn (Year 8)
99.33%
99.33%
94.67%
92.00%
85.67%
85.00%
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Natchayathorn Warawet (Year 4) won a silver medal in the Year 4 category in The 6th TMC - Thailand Mathematics Contest. TMC is hosted by International Mathematics Contest Union (IMC Union) which includes 12 countries in Asia. This Maths contest is participated by primary and secondary students from across Thailand. Students who won this contest in each category will represent Thailand in 2018 IMC - International Mathematics Contest in Singapore .
IGCSE Seminar Being a part of Cambridge, offering Cambridge secondary curriculum, St. Mark’s International School was honoured to have Mr. Daryl Khong, Country Manager of Cambridge Assessment International Education, coming to our school on Wednesday, 31 January 2018, to educate parents on the Cambridge IGCSE and AS & A level assessments. During the seminar, Mr. Daryl gave important insights about the different options and pathways to successful university admissions and what it takes to gain admissions into local and international universities worldwide. The Cambridge Pathway takes students on a journey through Cambridge IGCSE and AS & A Levels. The curriculum in each stage has aims and objectives that support students to become confident, responsible, reflective, innovative and engaged. Cambridge Pathway prepares students for life - helping students develop thinking and learning skills.
Success with
Cambridge opens doors to the world’s best universities – in Thailand, the USA, the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore and beyond.
Talk by Medical Student from University College London As part of St. Mark’s Parent and Student Education program, our school recently invited Ms. Praoparn Asanitthong, a first year student at University College London (UCL) to deliver a talk about how to prepare for successful admission into medical school. The talk was held on Wednesday, 28 March 2018. During the talk, Ms. Praoparn, who is currently studying for a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in one of the top medical schools in the UK, gave her invaluable insights on the different expectations and requirements for a successful admission into different medical schools in the UK, which require more than just good grades. The talk also informed parents and our high school students of the different standardised assessments that one should be aware of, and how to prepare for them. Some of these
assessments
include
the
IELTS,
UKCAT,
and
BMAT. Ms. Asanitthong also shared with the audience the ALevel requirements regarding subjects and their minimum grades, which has been particularly useful for our current high school students who are now planning their A-Level. 2
SPORTS DAY 2018 The Annual St. Mark’s Sports Day was held on Friday, 9 February, at Ramkamhaeng University’s Central Sports Field. This year, Sports Day was preceded by a Warm-Up Basketball and Volleyball Tournament held at the school on Thursday, 8 February. Parents and teachers engaged in friendly competition of these games against the students. At the Sports Day itself, Early Year students played various ball games that included ball relays, pass the ball, and collecting balls as fast as they could. They also raced against one another in a balloon relay and stacking cups. Primary and Secondary students competed in various events including wheelbarrow, sack race, piggyback rides, three-legged race, shot put, sponge race, ribbon game, and 100- and 400-metre relay races. Many parents joined in the games and their participation was highly appreciated. Although everyone felt tired after the many exercises, it was a fun-filled day.
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Field Trip On 15 February, our students went on their school trip. Early years up to Year 4 students visited the Children’s Discovery Museum near Jatuchak Weekend Market. Students were exposed to lectures, interactive exhibits where they viewed dinosaurs, investigative procedures, urban development,
inventions,
and other scientific and technological
advance-
ments. Students in Years 5 to 9 visited the SB Furniture Factory and Showroom in Bang Bua Tong, Nonthaburi Province, where they learned about the supply chain in making furniture using natural and artificial products. They also had a chance to visit the furniture showroom containing modern furniture designs for office and home.
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Students Showcase No.1&2
Pre Prep Science
We are now putting on Student Showcases as a means for students to display what they have learned in class, and to let them practice public speaking skills. On 23 February, the first Student Showcase was held where students from Pre-prep to Year 9 were given the opportunity to demonstrate new knowledge acquired in the semester.
Shows covered the subjects of English,
Thai, Chinese, Science, Maths, Chemistry and Physics.
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/imJo3K
The second Student Showcase was held on March 16. Pre-prep to Year 4 students were the stars of this Showcase, and gave performances in English, Thai,
Year 2 Mandarin
Chinese, Science, and Maths.
Pre Prep Maths
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/Ls5Eek
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/82BQTv
Year 3 Maths
Prep Maths
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/hnKLkM
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/1kprcT 5
Year 3 Science
Year 4 English
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/Qj34RY
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/9DsnJs
Year 4 Thai
Year 5 English
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/JmpBKG
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/Pf4BNX
Year 5 Thai
Year 6 English
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/f9xSjY
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/NBRKqM
Year 8 Chemistry
Year 9 Physics
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/E4gD2T
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/ESf3Es 6
Student Life Using Thai Language in Advertisement Year 4 students were divided into three groups to create an advertising for a product. This presentation was about learning how to use the proper Thai language to advertise, convince, and communicate to an audience. They all enjoyed the experience and had fun working as a team.
Paper Cup Creatures While designing their assignment, the students were discussing which creature was the cutest using superlatives and other adjectives from a previous lesson. This activity was an easy way to decorate the school with some student personalization. The display was placed where it was noticeable and this motivated the students to deliver an extra beautiful writing piece. Students, parents and staff were encouraged to ‘Like’ the production by putting a thumps-up sign on the wall. Enthusiastic Year 1 students checked the ‘likes’ every day and counted 85 in total. Their aim was 100! After a few days, their patience disappeared and they secretly put more ‘Likes’ on the wall. The students were proud of their writing results too. They happily presented their creatures, showing them to the parents and reading their stories about them at the March Showcase. Their hard work and all the ‘Likes’ challenged them to put extra effort in practicing their reading skills and perform their showcase with the courage that their creature provided. Year 1 has done a great job!
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Year 1 and 2 Showing Their Talents Every week year 1 and 2 learn something new in health class. Our health classes cover a wide range of topics including healthy eating, recycling, no smoking, making good decisions, and what it means to be a good friend.
During one of our classes we also
learned about talents. The students from both classes were encouraged to think of something they do well
and present it in front of their class. The students came up with a variety of things that they could present including origami, drawing, painting, and reading story books. This talent show helped them to think about what they can do well and also let them see that everyone has different talents. We hope that this class helped them to understand their talents better so that they can use them in the future.
The Beetle Show Thai Beetle Club introduced several domestic and non-domestic beetles in the canteen on 27 April 2018. Brave and intrigued, St. Mark’s students took the opportunity to touch and interact with various types of beetles while learning about the different bugs’ lives in nature around the world.
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Maths Workshop Maths Workshop Solving maths problems can be complex. At our parents’ workshop on 30 March 2018, we explained the different approaches used appropriate to the different levels of ability and age groups. Adopting the Singapore Mathematics program, there are certain strategies that our students learn which may be different from what parents learnt. The content of the workshop was designed to help parents of children in Primary 16 to be better equipped with our curriculum. Parents of Early Years and Secondary students were welcome to attend as well. Our workshop covered various topics and strategies including Addition/Subtraction with Renaming, Act It Out, Diagram/Model Method, Make a List, Look for Patterns, Working Backwards, Simplify the Problem, and Guess and Check.
This practical workshop provided an ideal opportunity for parents to ask questions about our maths programme and work on activities as experienced by our students. Complimentary resource packs for parents to use at home were given out at the session. We believe that the role of a parent, being the child’s first teacher, plays a very significant part in a child’s learning and development. As a parent your continued role in helping your child with their mathematical knowledge and understanding is very important and we value the support you give.
To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/pkAfrg
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To watch our event summary video please visit: https://goo.gl/3ah8qU
St. Mark’s Soccer Academy The First Soccer Tournament for St. Mark’s Soccer Academy On 31 March, St. Mark’s Soccer Academy team joined the U-10 TK Akkrawat Soccer Tournament and finished in 4th place. This was the first time our soccer team participated in a soccer tournament outside the school and our players showed both great athleticism and teamwork that they had practiced for over two months. Players enjoyed the games and they gained a lot of experience from the tournament. We are looking forward to improving our soccer team and participating in more tournaments in the near future to encourage our players to gain more experience from competitions outside the school.
School improvement: As we enter the hot season, we still would like students to have the opportunity to play outdoors.
A
mesh tarp has been placed over the school basketball court to provide some shade over the court yet also allowing light to filter through. The tarp helps our students to have more fun with their outdoor activities without too much exposure to harmful UV rays. 10
STUDENTS’ S
P
A
C E
A Place for free writing and creativity that lets your imagination spark!
by Junasai Saiwichai, Preparatory Class
by Thinnaphob Leelasathien, Preparatory Class 11
by Jane Kittiyanpanya, Year 5
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by Xyren Lucas, Year 4
13
by Melanie Pepyat, Year 9
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900 Rama 9 Rd, Suanluang, Bangkok 10250 Thailand Email: info@stmarks.ac.th Phone:
+ 66 -2-300-5463
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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