Newsletter
2015 - 2016
Secondary Edition 2 Term 3
This week in the Secondary School
Meet Michael Seaton An Interview by the Head Students with Michael Seaton, the new Head of Secondary ...
Diary Dates Saturday 21st ay
Graduation Ceremony and Senior Formal
Thursday 26th May
Years 7 to 12 Assessment Week Begins
Friday 27th May Science Week Students across the school also took part in a whole school experiment to discover which year group has …
Piano Music Recital in the Round House
Saturday 28th May
Regents’ Friendly Football Cup 2016
Sunday 29th May
Round Square Camillian Beach Day
Monday 30th May
Teacher Appreciation Day!
Bucket Drumming Champions Congratulations to all students who participated in the Global Campus, “Think Outside The Bucket” challenge ...
Brilliant Bassoon “Ben Moermond wowed our Secondary Students and Staff performing and demonstrating the Bassoon” ....
Friday 3rd June
Assessment Week ends
Friday 3rd June
Brass and Violin Music Recital in the Round House
The end of the beginning for the current Year 13 Students “Hardworking, resilient, ambitious and respectful learners – well done and thank you!”
This is a very exciting, but also very sad week in school. We get to witness the release of pressure and focus as our Year 13 students slowly begin to finish their final IB Diploma examinations. It’s wonderful to see, but then realisation sets in that we, the school, will be sending another group of young adults off into the world to begin the next stage of their life and that school is just ‘the end of the beginning’. Where will they go? What will they do? We know the answers for many of them through helping to secure their next step at wonderful universities around the world. But let’s stop and think beyond the next 4 years. What will the graduating class of 2016 be doing in 10 years’ time? Current research is telling us that young adults entering the work place now are going to change career path at least 4 or 5 times in their life. New under-graduates, in some areas, are resisting the traditional employment models with more start-up companies finding niche markets than ever before. The greatest challenge for education as a profession, is the fact that many of the jobs that our students will specialise in, don’t even exist yet! How do we prepare them for that?! The answer is that we prepare them to be resilient, hardworking, ambitious but respectful learners that can, and will, adapt to future demands.
Saturday is the official ‘end of the beginning’ that will find us recognising our Year 13 students at their formal graduation ceremony, then celebrating with them at our senior formal. It will be a day full of mixed emotions, high aspirations, sharing of future dreams but sadly, in some cases, final goodbyes. To our graduating class – you are part of our shared Regents history and for that, we thank you and your parents. We are exceptionally proud of you and on behalf of all the teaching staff, we wish you good luck. You will be missed, but it is now time for you to go, with excitement and courage to begin the next chapter of your very bright future. Well done and thank you.
Paul McConnell Deputy Head of Secondary
An Interview by the Head Students with Michael Seaton, the new Head of Secondary By Catie & Hyundo, Head Students
Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.
What made you decide to come and
work at the Regents International School?
I have worked in South East Asia before and I have really missed working in South East Asia with its lush green landscapes. I have spent the last three years in the desert of the United Arab Emirates at Brighton College, so to return here is a wonderful thing for me and my family. To work in Thailand, one of the most beautiful countries in the world and to have that opportunity is a real privilege. First and foremost, Regents International School is a school with a great reputation. A school with a great future and its partnership with Nord Anglia Education is very exciting. Just walking around the campus and looking at some of the new facilities is encouraging to see that it is a school that is going places and I look forward to joining that journey.
We were lucky enough to get an exclusive interview with the new Head of Secondary, Mr. Michael Seaton whilst he was visiting the school this week to find out his first impressions and see what his vision is for the school. Our interview is below:
What are your initial thoughts of the school? What has impressed you the most?
The relationships. I can see that staff, pupils and parents are incredibly supportive which is fantastic. It is a gorgeous campus. Regents is a beautiful place of learning, it’s vibrant, it’s colorful and it is full of smiles and smiling people. I think that this combined is the perfect recipe for a very happy educational environment.
If you weren’t a teacher what would
you be doing?
When I was a child, I wanted to be a rock star. I wrote hundreds of songs, and sent them off to record companies. I got a call once from a publishing company, offering me a publishing contract, but they didn’t want me to record the songs. I honestly don’t think I would be anywhere else now. I think that being a Head Teacher is the best job in the world, working in education and working with young people. Every day is different, yet you are always working with different personalities, but you also have the opportunity to be creative and to learn with the students. I think that any teacher who isn’t always learning isn’t really a teacher at all. You need to always be looking to improve yourself and to learn new things.
In as few words as possible, tell us what you
feel the most important aspect of education and teaching is.
For me, the most important aspect of education is inspiring young minds. I believe that teaching is about creativity and rigor. If lessons are not creative then students can become disengaged and if they are disengaged then you don’t have learning going on in the classroom. Rigor is equally important as well. Intellectual rigor and stretch and challenge. You can have wonderfully creative teaching with no rigor. The students might be excited, but do not make any academic progress. So a fusion of rigor and creativity is my belief of what is important in the classroom.
Who do you most admire and why? I have two people, one personal and one globally. Personally it is my dad. He was a consultant doctor whose work ethic was unbelievable. He was an early riser but still found time to be a supportive and loving dad. He has always been an inspiration to me and his ability to combine a loving family with a huge work ethic is fantastic. Globally it is people who are able to change the world on their own time and their own terms. Mahatma Gandhi would be an example of somebody like this. He was true to himself and did so much to change and improve the world. He is a shining beacon of hope. Too often in life, people are forced to compromise on their beliefs and he was uncompromising and achieved his ends.
What is your vision for the school?
My vision for the school is excellence in everything that we do for it to become world class in all aspects of its provision. There is a fantastic
foundation in place and a wonderful campus, highly talented and committed staff and fabulous pupils. I want to be focused on being excellent in every category. Giving you, the students the best possible opportunity. To build a school that is focused on the individual and I believe very firmly on the importance of the individual and I want students at Regents to feel that they don’t have to be a second class version of anyone else, but a first rate version of themselves.
What is your motto/words to live by? I have a quote from Winston Churchill that I very much admire. ‘Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.’ We often think of life of being a series of movie endings, but life isn’t like that. You have setbacks, challenges and sometimes things can go very well, but that is never the movie ending. It is the continuing with life that leads to success and the perseverance.
Student Leaders’ Working Lunch with the Secondary Leadership Team By Garry Russell, Head of Secondary
Student Leaders uphold the Student Constitution with honour’
The Real Minecraft! By Timothy Spear, Head of Geography In the last edition of the Secondary Newsletter, the images that were shown were not the work that our students had done using Minecraft. My sincere apologies for this.
I do hope that you enjoy these examples of student work from Tung and Norman.
Science Week By Carolyn Neylon, Head of Science
Year 9 History Students reflect upon the Holocaust By Sarah Travis-Mulford, Assistant Head of Secondary
Remembering the past is a matter of dignity
Year 10 go on a Geography Fieldtrip! By Timothy Spear, Head of Geography
Regents Round House Recitals By Emily Andrews, Head of Secondary Music
Rocking the Round House!
Friday 6th May saw the start of the Secondary Music Department’s “Regents Round House Recitals”. These are a celebration of the excellent work done by the students who participate in the Instrumental Lessons Programme we have at Regents. The series of recitals started outstandingly with performances from the students receiving expert vocal tuition from Khun June. We had solo performances and duets from students in Year 7 through to Year 10. Congratulations to all performers who should be very proud of their achievements. This was followed a week later by our guitar students who are taught with great enthusiasm by Mr. Champ. These students demonstrated the versatility of playing guitar by improvising, accompanying singers or captivating the
audience by playing an acoustic guitar solo. Again, well done to all students involved. These recitals are open to anyone who would like to attend, so feel free to come along to any of the following scheduled performances each starting at 3:30pm and finishing by 4:30pm: Friday 20th May
Piano Recital
Wednesday 25th May
Drum Recital
Friday 27th May
Piano Recital
Friday 3rd June
Brass and Violin Recital
Picnic-in-the-Park Returns ‌ By Emily Andrews, Head of Secondary Music & Rhiannon Hobson, Round Square Assistant
A record number of stunning performances
Bucket Drumming Champions By Emily Andrews, Head of Secondary Music
Banging to the beat of the bucket
Year 7 Outdoor Education Week Experiences By Polina and Dylan (7.4 bulous and 7.1 derful)
We learnt some useful lessons, despite not being inside a classroom
Brilliant Bassoon By Emily Andrews, Head of Secondary Music
Ben Moermond wowed our Secondary Students and Staff performing and demonstrating the Bassoon
Any plans for this summer?
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Regents’ Friendly Football Cup 2016
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Camillian Beach day 28th May 2016 -
Limited places available
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Ideal for CAS and a
great Service opportunity.
Connect: www.Regents-Pattaya.com /RegentsInternationalSchoolPattaya /RegentsSchool /RegentsPattaya /TheRegentsSchool