St. Mark's International School Newsletter 2018 2019 Vol 2

In Affiliation with

ST. MARK’S INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

Trilingual School of Mathematics and Science

2018-2019 Newsletter Academically Aspiring | Caringly Christian | Experientially Enriching

It’s a Wonderful World

⬧

Summer School

Editor & Cover Photography:

⬧

Back-to-School

Featured items in Students’ S P A C E :

Jeziel Cecilio

Natthanicha , Xyren and Kanna

Writer & Artwork:

Copyright © 2019 by St. Mark's International School

Lyka Lea Bolanio

Read Newsletters Online at http://stmarks.ac.th/

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ST. MARK’S

NEWS St. Mark’s International school showed excellent progress from the preceding years and this newsletter

UPCOMING EVENTS

features stories and events from the previous

Start of ECA

semester such as the “It’s a Wonderful World” Annual

Fire Drill

Function,

International Day

18 Oct 2019

Sports Day

15 Nov 2019

our

Parents-Teachers

conference,

the

Summer School and many more activities that helped our students achieve their fullest potential by becoming more confident, motivated, optimistic and responsible young citizens.

As the new semester is about to begin we welcome everyone and look forward to

more fun-filled

learning and activities. Please read on to learn more

about our success stories. Thank you for being part of our community!

Blessings, St. Mark’s Editorial Team

1

19 Aug 2019 4 Sep 2019

PARENTS - TEACHERS

CONFERENCE On 7 June 2019, St. Mark’s International School organised a Parents-Teachers Conference where parents and teachers discussed their child’s academic, social, physical and behavioural development over this past year and found solutions to any issues. St. Mark’s International School strongly believe that whether your child is in the Early Years, Primary or Secondary, the Parent Teacher Conference is an important time to meet with your child's teacher(s) as student success in education depends upon an appropriate level of cooperation between the school and home. The school values the chance to exchange feedback on each students’ progress.

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IT’S A WONDERFUL

WORLD The Annual Function is a time for socialising and celebrating this academic year, as well as displaying and recognising our students’ achievements and talents. Last June 1, 2019, we held its annual function at The Windsor Suites and Hotel with the theme “What a Wonderful World”.

The world we live in is an incredible place filled with beauty, mystery and wonder. From the towering mountains to the endless oceans, from the magic of watching a child grow with their amazing human capacity to form relationships, this world is truly inspiring.

This year, we have witnessed what our children learned in a fun manner and how to protect our amazing world. St. Mark’s International School encourages students to shine in different areas like Music, Dance, Drama, Art and so on. The annual function focuses the students to realise their area of interest and how they could enhance it further with the help of their parents. Mr. John Ruangmethanon opened the event by giving his speech. After initiating the awarding ceremony of exceptional and brilliant students, everyone enjoyed Thai musical performances, classical piano rendition and phenomenal song and dance presentations followed by an appetizing buffet lunch.

Our Early years children showed their rhythm in singing and dancing to “It’s a small world” bringing us lots of smiles. The Kindergarten entertained us with their mini play just before they hit the stage with their “He’s got the Whole World in his hands” moves. After Pre-preparatory sang along with “It’s a Beautiful Day” and “Breaking News” from Secondary students, our Preparatory class touched us with their “A Heart to change the World” song and all Early years together with their teachers made us groove with their finale song “I’d like to teach the World to sing”.

Moreover, Primary students enlightened us with their “Escape from Plastic Planet” skit followed by an English poetry entitled “Sick”. They then brought us into an enchanting place with their “Paraiso” interpretative dance. Thereafter followed a solemn piano rendition augmented by “The moon represents my heart” and “Count on me” song performances. At the end, all Primary and Secondary students sang “What a Wonderful World” leaving everyone with a joyful smile and extremely good memories.

Education isn’t just feeding the brain. Art and music feed the heart and soul. We were delighted to share this memorable celebration with the whole St Mark’s community and look forward to an even brighter and wonderful future together.

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“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. “

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STUDENTS’ awards IGCSE Awardees Thananchai Andrea May Xin Ni

Most outstanding

Students Natchayathorn Tanusit Tampraphon Xyren Sirasilp Cleojai Waraporn Kanna Alysa Phawipunya Zandeli Thanaporn

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Academic achievers Sitthinon Sirasilp Tinnaphob Alysa Chanaporn Haru Waraporn Xyren Cleojai Kuntanach Daron Matthew Pongsatorn Tampraphon Andrea May

Most improved

Students Mikaela Louise Kittipadh Sawa Ryo Chanaporn Wisasinee Phurichya Wadfah Charoenchai

conduct AWARDEES Santiaga Haru Ajiraya Chinana Wadfah

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Hong kong

international Mathematical

olympiad

St. Mark's students have been achieving many mathematics awards over the years. Many of our students find Mathematics interesting and have an affinity towards it. St. Mark’s International School is pleased to share a good news that our school, apart from being recognised for its contribution and commitment to the HKIMO Heat Round last May, our very own students also brought so much pride to the school for winning 1 Champion , 2 Gold, 9 Silver, 10 Bronze and 2 Merit awards. These significant maths achievements represent one of the most glowing success stories in our recent history.

Our student-representatives were from various age groups, ranging from Kindergarten to Secondary. This achievement accentuates the strength of St. Mark’s competency in the Mathematics program. This year, only participants who have been winners on the heat round were qualified to participate in the final round of the international competition in Hong Kong this August. The content of the HKIMO competition focuses on

mathematics

skills

in

logical

thinking,

number

theory,

geometry,

combinatorics, arithmetic and algebra. Our dedicated teachers and staff endeavour to encourage all students to strive for their personal best in all which they do. These achievements have been exemplary and we would like to congratulate these students on their unceasing effort to succeed.

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8

Summer School “Brighter days of learning new ways”

Summer is every student’s favourite break, but it doesn’t have to be a break from learning. St. Mark’s International school offers a Summer program to sharpen your children’s academic skills and enjoy fun-filled, engaging activities. We offer language classes, Maths, and Science with various Cooking, Art, Music, Sports, and Other Interesting Activities. This year's Summer Program started on June 12 until July 5. Beyond the basic academic benefits, the school aims to boost students' confidence as they begin to hone their social abilities by communicating with their teachers and other students in a more personal environment. We want to help them retain what they learned the previous year and keep them on track once classes start up again in the next semester.

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Petch yot mongkut

Congratulations to our Year 5 student who won award at the recent Petch Yot mongkut National Mandarin Competition held on Sunday, August 18, 2019. This year, a total of 4,276 students from schools across the country participated in this event. This is the second year in a row that our students won awards from this national competition.

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aeroplane in the making

St. Mark’s Primary students with the help of their teacher Mr. David, designed an aeroplane model made out of papier-mâchÊ (newspaper covered with glue). The school wants to provide a platform for the students to create new things through Arts and Crafts. This project signified their craftsmanship and showed how far their imagination literally can fly. It made them think differently and innovatively. The ability to solve problems which the students encountered while taking up this project promotes creativity and made them become more resourceful and versatile.

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Biology LAB

FOOD TEST

Secondary students together with their Biology class teacher Mr. Brendan, undertook a laboratory experiment about food. They performed different tests using sugars with Benedict’s solution, Starch with iodine solution and protein with Biuret’s solution. After following the step-by-step instructions, they concluded the series of experiments by observing the colours of the solutions. Students successfully recognised the important reactions in food biology and familiarised themselves with methods to measure these reactions.

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TEAchER’S ORIENTATION

Before the new semester started, teachers from our Early years to Secondary gathered together to welcome the new teachers and discussed how everyone could make improvements and be committed to contributing to a caring and creative environment, within which our students are given the flexibility to learn and grow.

fumigation Our students’ safety is our priority. St Mark’s International school makes sure that the children have a clean and secure school environment. We hired professionals to fumigate the whole campus to avoid pests and insects which might harm the children. The school believes that prevention is always better than cure.

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Name banner

St. Mark’s Pre-preparatory students together with their homeroom teacher Ms. Donna, made a name banner. They were able to identify and arrange the letters to form their own names and also able to display their creativity at such a young age.

MOThER’S DAy Card making

Drum kit achievement

Congratulations to our very own student Kittipadh of Year 3 on his achievement from the University of West London on UWLQ Level 1 in Graded Exam in Music Performance (Drum Kit) last 6 Jul 2019. We are so proud of you!

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Planetarium

On 2 July, St Mark’s students together with their teachers went to Bangkok Planetarium to experience out of this world activities, exhibits, models, multimedia presentations and real objects. Everyone really enjoyed and learned a lot about science and astronomy. The school encourages young students to appreciate what museums can offer, because if the students explore their interests, they can be able to express their creativity and their willingness to share their innovative ideas that will create a brighter and even better future for everyone.

Primary students together with their Art and Science teacher Ms. Gigi learned how to make soap with simple, step-by-step soap making instructions and homemade soap recipes. It was indeed a bubbly day!

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Soap

making

Back to

school “We enter to learn, leave to achieve” Summer break may be over, but the chance to learn and achieve a brighter future is just around the school’s corner. St. Mark’s International school welcomed everyone on the first day of the new semester on 8 August 2019. Students showed excitement on their faces

as they entered the

school with eagerness to discover new insights

Trilingual School Mathematics Science

Gift

GOD

Mission

LOVE

Vision

Academically Aspiring

Caringly Christian

and learnings.

Nurture Experientially Enriching 16

STUDENT’S

Space

A place for free writing and creativity that let’s your imagination spark

By Natthanicha Prep

17

By Xyren Year 5

By Kanna Year 5

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STUDENTS’

NEWS

With our determination to pursue excellence in education, we are pleased to report that three of our students have been recognised and awarded for achievements from other international institutions. It is amazing to witness the growth of the seed which we planted in their hearts and minds.

Our former student, Lana returned to visit St. Mark's informing us of her success in enrolling into a prestigious culinary school, where she will spend 2 years in Australia.

Prior to her return to the Philippines, Lana was a student at St. Mark's studying here for 7 years from Pre-Prep to Year 5.

During this visit, Lana shared her testimony on how she feels about St. Mark's has impacted her life and her future.

Our former Japanese student, Hinano returned to give her testimony of the time she studied at St. Mark's. She had spent 2 and a half years studying here previously, and has completed Year 8 by the time she left our school.

Just recently, she was delighted to inform that she has been accepted into a prestigious international school in Japan.

On Summer 2019, St. Mark’s International school student Tampraphon, was chosen as one of Thailand’s representatives to join the Chinese Teachers (Thailand) Association’s Summer Camp 2019 that was held in Shenzhen, China.

His 12 days of experience was an opportunity for him to study the culture. It was also a privilege for him to visit some interesting places in China, especially the countryside and Genes Bank. He thought that learning one of china’s famous sports like “Kungfu "was fun and for him, the whole camp experience was memorable.

Share your child’s success story with us!

We would like to keep a collection of wonderful students’ achievements for our newsletters. Please send it to itsupport2@stmarks.ac.th along with a few photos. Let your child’s story be an inspiration to our school community!

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Homework and

Study Habits: Tips for Kids and Teenagers Turn off the TV. Make a house rule, depending on the location of the screen, that when it is study time, it is “no TV” time. A running tv will draw kids like bees to honey.

Set specific rules about using cell phones during study hours. For instance, use of a cell phone can only occur if it becomes necessary to call a schoolmate to confirm an assignment or discuss particularly challenging homework.

Consistency is a critical factor in academic success. Try to organize the household so that dinner is at a regular hour, and once it’s over, it’s time to crack the books. If your child doesn’t have other commitments and gets home reasonably early from school, some homework completion can occur before dinner.

Consider your child’s developmental level when setting the amount of time for homework. While high school students can focus for over an hour, first-graders are unlikely to last more than 15 minutes on a single task. Allow your child to take breaks, perhaps as a reward for finishing a section of the work.

Organize study and homework projects. Get a large dry erase calendar — one that allows space for jotting things down in the daily boxes. Have your child use different bold colored dry erase markers to write exam dates, reports that are coming due, etc. This will serve as a reminder so that assignments aren’t set aside until the last minute.

Help your child to feel confident about taking tests. Test taking can be a traumatic experience for some students. Explain to your child that burning the midnight oil (cramming) the night before a test isn’t productive. It’s better to get a good night’s sleep. They should be advised to skip over questions for which they don’t know the answers — they can always return to those if there’s time. Good advice for any student before taking a test: take a deep breath, relax, and dive in. Always bring an extra pencil just in case.

During a homework session, watch for signs of frustration. No learning can take place and little can be accomplished if your child is angry or upset over an assignment that is too long or too difficult. At such times, you may have to step in and halt the homework for that night, offering to write a note to the teacher explaining the situation and perhaps requesting a conference to discuss the quality and length of homework assignments.

Should parents help with homework? Yes — if it’s productive to do so, such as calling out spelling words or checking a math problem that won’t prove. No — if it’s something your child can handle himself and learn from the process.

Source: https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/learning/tips-for-helping-kids-and-teens-with-homework-andstudy-habits/#.XSbcFugzbIU

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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 principles, St. Mark's International School aims to provide

a

quality tri-lingual education with an accelerated

Mathematics and Science program, enabling each student to achieve their fullest potential by becoming confident, motivated, optimistic

and responsible young citizens.

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