Newsletter
2015 - 2016
Primary Edition 1 Term 1
This week in the Primary
Whole School EAL Inset For those who think that teachers meet a couple of days before the start of school and look over class lists ...
Diary Dates Monday September 14th
The Extended Learning Programme, Clubs Programme and Saturday Morning Academy start this week
Friday September 18th PRG ‘Back to School’ night
Learning in Primary from Y2-Y6 From the very start of Y2 onwards, our students are fully exposed to the English National Curriculum. There is far more ...
Week beginning Monday September 21st Green and Healthy Week
Week beginning Monday September 28th Initial Learning Meetings (details to follow shortly)
Thursday October 1st
Young Round Square delegates depart for Tasmania
Reception Learning Hub It has been an even more exciting start in Reception than normal this year with an fabulous new LearningHub to explore...
Regents Race Rules! On Thursday June 25th, a warm but overcast day, all the Regents Primary students and staff left classrooms, corridors and ...
Dream. Decide. Plan. Persevere.
Earlier this week I flipped over my ‘Quote of the Day’ calendar to find the following Chinese proverb, It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. As a staff we heard this very same message loud and clear from Mr Miles Hilton-Barber. Miles, a blind adventurer and explorer, was our guest speaker during our pre-school training and preparation week. It was an enormous privilege to hear Miles speak in person and I believe as teachers there is much which we can take from his words and experiences to benefit not only ourselves but the children we teach. Please do read the more in-depth article on Miles featured in this newsletter by Mr James Baker, Deputy Head of Primary.
and turning some of our dreams into reality. Perseverance has long been an important attribute which we have encouraged and developed in our Primary children – along with Positivity and Participation. As we continue our journey to embed an ethos of Growth Mind-set at Regents this year, under the guidance of Mr Jon Crew, our Primary Growth Mind-set Leader, the ability to persevere, to not become discouraged or defeated, will be a key component in our journey. In fact, Mr Crew introduced Primary staff to the ’30 Day Challenge’ this term. The 30 day challenge was made famous by Matt Cutts’ Ted talk. The idea is that if you do something every day for 30 days, it can become not just a new experience, but you can also achieve something great and maybe develop a new habit for life.
Miles advocates the following course of action in order to achieve personal and professional goals: 1. Dream 2. Decide 3. Plan 4. Persevere Primary staff were fortunate to also meet the leaders of two of our Community Partners before the start of the new school year: Khun Sununta from Baan Jing Jai and Nancy Gibson from Love Wildlife. Both inspirational ladies described how their dreams to make a difference in the lives of children and animals respectively became reality through planning, action and perseverance. Our staff and children look forward to working with both these organisations this year, as well as our other numerous Community Partners
My own 30 day Challenge – to complete at least 10 minutes of yoga every day – has so far been a miserable failure. However, after several false starts, I am now up to Day 5 as I write and hope not to have to start from the beginning – again. Will you take the 30 Day Challenge?
Have a wonderful weekend,
Nonie Adams, Head of Primary
Whole School EAL Inset By Sara Berenguer, Assistant Head of Primary (EAL)
For those who think that teachers meet a couple of days before the start of school to write names on books and look over class lists, it might come as a surprise to know that this is not the case. At Regents, all teachers come together a week before the children arrive - not only to prepare their classrooms and fine tune planning, but for 5 days of in-house intensive training (INSET) to ensure that everyone is up-to-date with the very latest in strategies to promote outstanding teaching and learning. At the start of this year, one such session was the whole school training focusing on strategies to use when working with children who have English as an Additional Language. On this theme, 130 teachers across Primary and Secondary came together for a morning of talks, activities and practical advice sessions on supporting children for whom English is not their first language. ‘It was great to be with
Secondary colleagues and get to know them a bit better,’ commented an Early Years specialist. The morning started with an overview of the personalised EAL provision at Regents provided from Early Primary through to IB, of which the whole teaching team are justly proud. Children arriving with no English go straight into intervention classes, where specially trained teachers focus on language teaching linked to the curriculum, preparing pupils for entry into the classroom with work that is cognitively, but not too linguistically, demanding. They then move into the mainstream where they are helped not only by support staff, but by the mindful strategies used by the class teachers. ‘We need to find ways of making new language accessible and scaffolding the teaching,’ stated one workshop leader. ‘Context is also extremely important,’ added another.
A carousel of activities designed to combine thoughtprovoking discussions with practical ideas to use in the classroom was then proposed with themes such as ‘Direct Instruction,’ ‘Active Learning’ and ‘Talk for Writing’. Primary colleagues then benefited from some in-depth language analysis with Caroline Draper whilst Secondary colleagues were led by David Puckey in looking at how display can aid EAL learners across the school. ‘There were some outstanding ideas shared and ones that we will definitely be implementing into our lessons,’ replied a group of teachers when asked for their feedback. When attending training sessions, it can often be the case that teachers just need some reassurance that the strategies they are using are the right ones.
‘I came away feeling much more confident in terms of what we, as a department, are doing to support our EAL students,’ remarked a Secondary practitioner. In addition, not only are these sessions beneficial occasions to share excellent practice, they also provide opportunities for teachers to talk about what learning should ‘look like’ with colleagues that they don’t normally work with. As the school grows, it becomes quite a feat to provide opportunities for the whole teaching staff to get together. However, in terms of building ‘Team Regents’, photos taken during the morning perhaps speak for themselves.
A true legend addresses Regents’ staff By James Baker, Deputy Head of Primary
Blind explorer Miles Hilton Barber inspires us all to ‘squeeze the absolute most out of life’. On Friday 28th August the whole school was treated to an exceptional, one and a half hour-long presentation by the world renowned and world class motivational speaker, Miles Hilton Barber. It is hard to express in words the amazement and astonishment all of us felt as Miles recounted the incredible challenges and accomplishments he has had to deal with in breaking numerous world records involving flying, hiking, driving, racing and mountaineering. Many of us would struggle to finish even one of these momentous achievements, let alone all of them, as well as being totally blind. Miles lost his eyesight in his twenties; an event which, for thirty years, totally paralysed him in terms of his selfconfidence and ability to function. It wasn’t until he was fifty years old that, through encouragement from his brother who was also blind, Miles started to challenge himself to these super-human adventures; the first being a micro-light flight from London to Sydney, which also raised many millions of pounds in charity donations for the Royal National Institute for the blind. The list of accomplishments
since then seems almost endless: man-hauling a sledge over 250 miles across Antacrtica; completing the toughest foot-race on Earth – 150 miles across the Sahara Desert; running the ultra-marathon from the Gobi desert to The Great wall of China; white-water rafting down the Zambezi river; the first blind person to fly acrobatics in a Hawker Hunter fighter jet; the first blind pilot to break the sound barrier. The list goes on and on. It wasn’t just the incredible things which Miles has done which impressed us, it was his self-deprecating sense of humour and his wonderfully inspirational take on life which left many of us literally speechless. A ‘Growth Mindset’, i.e an attitude which accepts failure as part of learning and as a stepping stone to success, is something we try to instil in all our staff and students alike. There can be no greater example of an individual with a Growth mindset than Mr Miles Hilton Barber, a true leader, motivator and genuinely compassionate, self-driven human being.
Learning in Primary from Y2-Y6 By James Baker, Deputy Head of Primary which is a worldwide network of innovative schools in 40 countries across five continents. Membership of the Round Square network offers schools a framework for excellence and continuous improvement, along with structured opportunities to collaborate and share experiences with like-minded peers around the world. All this has an impact on every pupil’s experience of school. Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher, who also found the time in his old age to learn how to dance and play many different musical instruments, said, “Education and learning is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” Kindling the flames of enthusiasm, curiosity and determination within the minds of all our pupils underpins everything we do here at Regents school and is an integral part of all our students’ learning. From the very start of Y2 onwards, our students are fully exposed to the English National Curriculum. There is far more to this than simply developing confidence and eventually mastery in the many academic objectives. Our pupils are strongly encouraged to be active participants in every lesson and to communicate effectively with each other and their teachers, primarily to develop their speaking and listening skills, and their ability to interact socially. Benjamin Franklin once said: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”. We really try our hardest at Regents to get our pupils involved. In order to do this they need to be given opportunities, and it is in providing these where we excel. Providing our students with activities and events such as: our ‘Extended Learning Programme’; links to Community Partners; lunch-time and after-school clubs; year-group productions and class assemblies; local and residential trips as well as curriculum trips and visits all add that extra dimension to our student’s education, above and beyond academic achievement. It is worth remembering that Regents school is part of the Round Square organisation
Getting our students to become fully involved in their Education.
Scholarship for Hand to Hand students By Hannah Naowasuk, Assistant Head of Primary (Year 2-6) Regents International School Pattaya has very close links with Hand to Hand through our Community Partner Programme but this grew even stronger through the Global Classroom ‘Big Challenge’ last year. When the Global Classroom Student Leaders spoke to the founder, Margie, about the ways in which our school community could help the children from Hand to Hand she talked to them about their school scholarship programme. This programme not only supports children at their centre but also other children linked with Hand to Hand through the work they do in the slums. They always have a number of students looking for sponsorship so that they can attend school. Although Thai schools offer free education, the families of these children are not able to pay for uniform, transport to school or food for the children while they are there when many of them do not earn enough money to feed their families each day. This is where the sponsorship comes in. The only way that these children are able to attend school and receive an education is through the kindness of sponsors who are willing to support them. Before the summer break, I received a number of portfolios for the children who were currently looking for sponsorship. They all came with photos of the students as well as some background information about the family situation and finally some information from the children themselves. It made for some heart-breaking reading. I contacted the school bursar to see if there was any way that Regents
could offer some support. Using funds from the Round Square Special Projects budget, I am pleased to announce that we were able to offer scholarships to six Primary aged-children and three university students. These children, and their families, are very thankful for the support and the opportunity which Regents has given them and in return, we will be updated on how the students are getting on in their education throughout the year. If anyone is interested in sponsoring a child, or would like to know more about it, then please do not hesitate to contact me. My email is: Hannah.Naowasuk@regents-pattaya.co.th.
Reception Learning Hub By Karyn Walton, Assistant Head of Primary, Early Primary It has been an even more exciting start in Reception than normal this year with an fabulous new Learning Hub to explore. The hub has been purpose built to support teaching and learning across all Reception curriculum areas. The children are already using the hub to underpin key areas of the curriculum:
* * *
Communication and Language: different areas and styles of furniture for children to talk in a wide range of situations.
Most importantly what do the children think of it?
‘I like to sit on the armchairs and feed the babies.’ JJ
‘It makes me feel better and happy, I have fun’ Max
Personal, Social and Emotional Development: many more opportunities to work with children from other classes in a safe environment, leading to a strong sense of community. Understanding the World: the new LED TV screens have been a big hit!
‘The computer (LED) is nice; I want to play on it all day.’ Leo
‘I play with my old friends in free-flow’ Seiva
So why Integrated Learning? Recent research has shown integrated learning in the Early Primary years benefits cognitive development as well as social and emotional development. We’ve certainly seen all of this in action in the first two weeks of school!
T - together E - everyone A - achieves M - more
Regents Race Rules! By Nonie Adams, Head of Primary
Grit, determination and perseverance were on display during the 2015 Regents Race.
On Thursday June 25th, a warm but overcast day, all the Regents Primary students and staff left classrooms, corridors and offices for the afternoon to take part in what has become a very popular and hard-fought annual event – the Regents Race. This not a race for the faint-hearted as it takes competitors through the countryside around the school for a 3 km experience. Runners tackle slippery sand, rough rocks, solid cement and weave between scratchy bushes. In true Regents style, however, always remembering that, ‘There is more in you than you think’,
(Kurt Hahn), our children are up for the challenge and take part with the will to do the very best that they can. Even our youngest students have the opportunity to face and overcome challenge as they tackle the obstacle course on the Oval, endeavouring to complete the course as many times as they can. Congratulations to all the students, staff and parents who take part in the Regents Race last year – see you out there again next June.
Regents Race 2015 - Primary Results Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
Girls
Boys
1st
Yuno
Baptiste
Paloma
Jordan
Zia
Etienne
Iris
Ross
2nd
Maelys
Sam
Pandia
Eamon
Ananya
Braden
Greta
Riccardo
3rd
Vanessa
Charlie
Aun
Six
Isabelle
Grahame
Manon
Guitar
Nothing is impossible!! By Ishaan and EJ, Students in 6S stays at the end of each stage and then he flies to pick it up during the next holiday and carries on. So, the bike was now it China. This year he flew to China and picked up his bike and continued. He flew to Seoul (Korea) and he rode to Busan through 600km of icy cold snow! After that he rode through Japan and had a lovely holiday with his wife, (Miss Ellie, our Primary librarian). He then carried on to North America and rode through Canada along the border with America. Every day, he cycled 100 kilometres and kept this up for 50 days so in total he rode 5,000 km through difficult and dangerous conditions! Early this week we interviewed Mr Scott, who looks after the boys in boarding at our school, to find out more about his ‘BIG Challenge.’ Mr Scott has loved bike riding throughout his life and two years ago he challenged himself to ride his bike across the world! This all happened because when he was 11 years old he told his friends at school that he would ride his bicycle across the world one day, but they laughed! When talking to the boarding children one day, two years ago, he decided to prove his school friends wrong and complete his round the world challenge. He did let us into a secret though - he didn’t actually believe he could do it either! Whenever Mr Scott has a holiday he is going to complete another stage of his challenge as it is difficult to do when he is working. The 1st stage of his adventure was in Asia; he went from Regents to Bangkok to Cambodia to Vietnam. In total he rode 4000 kilometres over 2 summer holidays. Last year, he rode across China from one side to the other. This in total was 3000km! Incredible! Added to this, he was on his own and he doesn’t speak Chinese. Mr Scott’s bike
We asked Mr Scott why he chose to go through Canada on his world biking adventure and he said that he was inspired by Bryant (who was then in Year 3) during the speech competition that we had last year. Bryant’s speech was about why everyone should visit Canada and he made it sound so exciting that Mr Scott had to go to see it for himself and booked a plane ticket that very afternoon! Mr Scott’s bike is currently resting in the shed of a man whom he met in Canada! Next July, he will be continuing his journey and he aims to be around the world in the next few years. Mr Scott left us with one very important message: “Set yourself big challenges. You might not be able to do it right now but one day you might.” This year, please think about how you might be ambitious like Mr Scott. If you want to find out more about this then please go to his website: scottcubebike.com
Primary Staff News By Nonie Adams, Head of Primary
A wedding and a baby! We would like to give congratulations to Amy (Year 6 class teacher) and Dave (Primary PE Coordinator), who were married in Belfast over the summer holiday. We wish them all the best for their future together and hope they enjoy their slightly delayed honeymoon in Australia this Christmas.
Also in need of congratulations are Jon (Year 6 class teacher) and Nadia (Admissions) who welcomed their son, Jake Jakrawan Way, at the start of the summer holidays. ‘Jakrawan’ means universe and this little man has added a whole new level of meaning to Jon and Nadia’s universe. Well done!
Healthy Primary
Snacks **All snacks priced between 10 and 20 Baht** Monday Muffins
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Half Ham Sandwich Half Cheese Sandwich Plain Yoghurt Strawberry Yoghurt Apple Friday
Banana
Green Grub Friday
Connect: www.Regents-Pattaya.com /RegentsInternationalSchoolPattaya /RegentsSchool /RegentsPattaya /TheRegentsSchool