Newsletter 2015 - 2016
Round Square Week Special Edition
Secondary Edition 5 Term 3
Round Square Week in the Secondary School
A Spanish Adventure! Since I have always wanted to visit Barcelona and explore the wonderful works of Gaudi, I decided to take part. ...
Diary Dates Monday 22nd August
Year 7 and 12 students’ induction day
Tuesday 23rd August
Academic year 2016-17 begins for all
Surfing in Bali I was still quite tired when I woke up today but a yummy breakfast sorted that out. After that we went for a surf in the huge waves ‌
The Tioman Island Turtle Adventure Finding a hawksbill turtle nest on our dawn boat patrol was incredible! Our team excavated all 200 eggs and returned ...
An International Award Challenge During Round Square Week of 2016, from the 20th to the 24th of June, fifteen students in Year 10 went on a Bronze International ....
Pushing Your Limits with Round Square Week
The days leading up to our annual secondary Round
through Round Square Week. This week saw them visiting
Square Week always have us buzzing with anticipation.
the historical cities of Spain, engrossing themselves in the
When it finally arrives, the months of careful planning are
Hill tribe culture in Baan Mae Lid or learning about Turtle
finally put into action as students gather in their groups to
conservation works in the jungle of Tioman Island. The
head off in all directions to explore new horizons.
Year 10 students even took this opportunity to achieve
The Carousels were introduced this year making the on and off campus activities easier to manage. The students
their Bronze International Award during their adventurous journey on Koh Phang Nga.
thus had more options and were able to try everything
As this is my final Round Square Week at Regents Pattaya, I
due to the round robin format. Whilst the “Care Carousel”
wanted to say a last thank you to everybody for committing
focused
on
subject-centered
themselves to making this
activities (i.e. Drama, Music
week (and year) as successful
or Art), the “Push your limits”
as they were. Have a read-
carousel forced them to step
through this special edition
out of that too-small comfort
and revisit your childhood
zone and try activities they had
through
never done before like rock
reflections on the fun and
climbing or even cooking. The
challenges they faced. I wish
standalone activities on campus
you all an amazing summer
allowed them to sharpen their
and the best of luck in the
skills whether it be on the Stop
future.
our
Motion Computer Animation or Robotics or mountain biking in
Aina Rakotonirina
the fields behind the school. The students that took their adventures further-a-field really challenged
themselves
with
new languages, new cultures and new ways of thinking, which they would only ever do
Aina Rakotonirina Round Square Coordinator
students’
Round Square Week Robotics Course By Steve Daly, Head of D&T Department
The students on the Robotics course completely exceeded all expectations
This year many students exceeded all expectations by completing a challenging 5 day course on Robotics. Students from Years 7, 8, 10 and 12 all completed the following 5 day programme: 1. One day of electronics training – directed, project-based challenges 2. One day of C++ Programming – directed, project-based challenges 3. One day of project-based circuit design, assembly and programming – self directed 4. Two days building and programming a robotic arm I am regularly impressed by the hard work and commitment of our student body at Regents but the students on this course completely exceeded all expectations. Often with
a challenging subject like programming and electronics you would expect the older students to direct the younger less experienced ones. Not on this course though, as many of the younger, less experienced students showed how they got to grips with the complexity of the subject matter, freely writing programs to solve relatively complex challenges, logging data and creating control systems to create electronic products. One student designed a programmable safe with a pin code; another a self-watering planter by responding to data from a moisture sensor; also created was a distance meter using an ultra-sonic sensor and LCD displays showing sensor information. It really was an enjoyable week and at the same time, gave students resources, knowledge and skills to continue their love of electronics beyond Round Square Week.
An International Award Round Square Week Challenge By Poppy, Year 10
Year 10 International Award Students complete their Bronze Award Adventurous Journey
During Round Square Week of 2016, from the 20th to the 24th of June, fifteen students in Year 10 went on a Bronze International Award Adventurous Journey – a paddling trip to Koh Phang Nga Bay in the south of Thailand. When we arrived at Koh Phang Nga Bay, we did some paddling for just a few hours to get to grips with everyone’s abilities and to allow us to decide how far every member on the trip would be capable of paddling. We paddled across from the pier on Phang Nga Bay to another bay just a few hundred metres across the sea. On the other beach we all had fun making sand castles, drawing bicycles and looking at hermit crabs. Then on our way back we were being chased by a storm which we just about managed to escape! On the second day, we hopped onto a long tail boat for a 45-minute ride to a bundle of islands and then paddled around the mangroves which were quite mosquito infested. On the third day we when went cycling around the southeast part of Koh Phang Nga island. We got completely drenched in the morning because we got caught by a storm but then whilst it was clearing up we spent a couple of hours doing some Batik painting which even the guys
enjoyed! We then continued to cycle on through the paddy fields where everyone’s trainers got totally muddy… Then, after our lunch stop and 7/11 visit, we did some Muay Thai which was very enjoyable and interesting to learn about Thai culture. On the fourth day we completed our Duke of Edinburgh adventurous journey where we ended up paddling much further than we had planned. We started the day with conditions very hot and tough. But then after our lunch break, we had come around the top of the north island and were heading into the wind making it trickier but also making it cooler weather to paddle in. We found paddling against the current challenging, but we overcame it by sticking together as a group and encouraging each other. On the last day, we did a small paddling journey around two small islands just as a last goodbye to the trip before we headed back home to Regents. We all enjoyed the trip and wish it could have lasted a little longer just for that extra bit of fun and experience as friends and fellow Bronze International Award adventurers in Year 10.
Bush Walking adventure in Kao Sok By Anthony Johnstone, Head of Year 11
True (WIFI – Free) Jungle Survival in Khao Sok
As we approached Phuket from the air, we could see the mountains of Khao Sok as we approached Phuket and as we were memorized by the landscape, we all knew there were things down there waiting to feed on us. A short minibus ride followed by a heavenly longtail boat ride through the pristine peaks and pure waters of Khao sok found us in a beautiful bay with floating bamboo bungalows surrounded by jungle and the calls from the wild – wow. Then the call came out, it knocked the air out of our lungs and time stood still – there was NO WIFI. This truly was Jungle survival. But we had each other, instead of texting we talked and found much fun in the evenings with a group character games. Fred in Year 9 led these games and he was great with his tales of intrigue in our imaginary village. We had three days of expedition and challenges all based in the insect infested humid and damp forest. The mosquitoes had hypodermic proboscises and buzzed like
chainsaws in our ears. The leaping leeches left a trail of blood in our footsteps and every plant we walked past had weapons designed to slice and pierce our exposed flesh. Yet Dave our tour guide led us through every step with a Zen-like tranquility, for this was his world; it was our world back home that scared him. We climbed a huge jagged limestone peak that tore your skin away but the view made it all worthwhile. Later we slid down muddy jungle hillsides in the pouring rain with every plant slicing and stabbing at us with cruel intent. On Thursday, Dave and his assistant Mr Bao got us into teams to tame the mighty jungle as we learnt many of the secrets to survive as well as the many wonders of Bamboo. Our afternoons were times of bliss as we swam and frolicked in the warm tranquil waters upon which our huts floated. Never has so much joy come from a bottle of Shampoo. It was all over too soon, but we’ll be back…
Push Your Limits at Go-Karting and Bowling By Gerard Egan and Clare Wheeler
100 students over 5 days perfected the art of speeding round corners, overtaking and drifting (in the wet) by GoKarting at Easy Kart in Pattaya. All students pushed their own limits and watching on it was clear to see that every single participant improved every time they went out to compete in qualification or the actual race.
The same 100 students also took part in Bowling in Central. Students perfected the art of Bowling in a straight line, achieving strikes and pushing limits of what they can achieve. The highest scores of the week were well into the high 100’s! The elation and celebration were loud and exciting when individuals bowled a strike!
Driver of the week goes to Eoin in Year 9 whose fantastic lap time of 0.24.880 seconds saw him on the top 30 drivers of the month - this was out of all the participants not just Regents! Congratulations!!!! However, it must be stated that Mr Egan was going all out for the fastest lap and gave a good challenge to the rest of the field.
Well done to all students who took part in the activities you certainly did push your limits!!!
Year 12 Visual Arts Exhibition By Clare Garnett-Spear, Head of Art
Art is basically using a lie to tell the truth
For their final assessment of the year, Year 12 IB Visual Art students staged an exhibition of their studio work for invited guests. This gave us a taste of the exciting things we can expect from their final exhibition next year and gave the students an opportunity to discuss their work with an audience. Hello! I’m Helen in Year 12 Since the beginning of the course, we have done many different art projects such as “Self-Portrait”, “Paper & Cardboard”, “Ceramics & Clay”, and “Homage to your favourite artist”. Throughout these different projects, I could learn how to apply acrylic techniques onto a canvas, how to cut cardboard using a craft knife and how to prevent my clay from getting dry. The best thing about visual art is that I could choose my
own theme to work on. My theme is “Purifism and Colours”, which is related to the reason why I do art. Throughout the course, I could also spot similar colour pallette flowing through my works. I’m Dayoung, one of the Year 12 IB visual arts students Throughout IB art, I have had the opportunity to experiment with different mediums and forms of art, to embody meanings into my work and to approach art from different perspectives that I have not tried in my life so far. My Identity is my project theme, I explore how a variety of elements make and shape myself to be who I am. Over the course my theme has shifted from looking into myself to looking outward at global issues which I am concerned about.
Hiya! My name is Ethan and I am currently undertaking the IB Higher Level Visual Arts course I am primarily a photographer, so I like the freedom you are given in visual arts to pursue the type of art which you enjoy. I spent an extensive amount of time performing shoots in Tokyo, as well as engaging in a paper cutting project. My overall theme is time and movement and the photograph I have presented is called ‘Sparkling Composition 1’. In this piece I have utilised an extremely long exposure time of 36.3 seconds and my movement to ‘draw’ with a sparkler. I chose to create all of my photography manually, with no digital manipulation, as it is more challenging and produces an enhanced hand-made feeling in my work. I chose time and movement as my theme as I believe that it is a prominent, underlying component of our lives, from
the effects of our history, the everyday movement intrinsic to life, to the development of technology over time. Additionally, in my opinion composition is fundamental to art, especially in photography.
My name is John Brandt The theme for my body of work is political criticism, where I find ways to combine ideas in order to portray how I see certain issues. I was highly influenced by contemporary artist Shepherd Fairy, and that is why I adopted his colour palette, which consists of red, black and white. I think these colour convey a propaganda feel. I feel that visual arts gives me freedom to express my opinions on current affairs. I am allowed to exaggerate and challenge things. I think that art is basically using a lie to tell the truth.
The Tioman Island Turtle Adventure
What was your favourite part of the Turtle trip to Tioman Island? Miss Aina
Namo, Year 10
“Just yesterday, I heard about tourists pulling a sea turtle out of water, taking selfies with it and prodding it with a stick just for their pure enjoyment. That kind of behaviour is why we need places like the Juara Turtle Project. They teach kids and adults alike on how conservation works and instil their ethos by making you live the day-to-day life of a volunteer. I have learned so much during the week and loved each minute of it. Our students were amazing: creative, hardworking and ever the social butterflies. I think the people at the project are going to miss them a lot!”
“Kayaking was hard but it was one of my favourite experiences in this trip alongside the jetty-jumping. The jetty wasn’t that high but it was still scary. I’m very proud of myself for jumping and I actually went back a couple of times! I loved the fact that we did most things as a team – it made things more fun and enjoyable!”
Mr Bolland “Finding a hawksbill turtle nest on our dawn boat patrol was incredible! Our team excavated all 200 eggs and returned them safely to the hatchery where we recreated the depth, shading and shape of the original nest. It was a real experience of how a conservation project works and hopefully inspired some of our students to be more environmentally aware and possibly volunteer for something similar when they graduate from Regents.”
Pam, Year 10 “The morning stretching and the games in the evening is what I will remember and cherish most during the trip on Tioman. Everyone just mingled and spoke to each other even if we didn’t usually talk at school. The games were also very fun! To be honest, EVERY bit of this trip is worth mentioning because it was amazing! We helped one other through it and that will make great memories!”
Jack, Year 10 “Trekking to the waterfall – loved the swimming and walking through the jungle. The mud made it slippery but it still was really fun.”
Woo Sang, Year 12
Corina, Year 10
“Waking up in the early morning and doing stretches was actually amazing. We also had the luck of finding 200 turtle eggs during one of the morning boat patrol – it will be an unforgettable experience. This trip has indeed left me with a range of memories good and bad (I say bad because I don’t think I would like to shower in that place again).”
“Definitely snorkelling because we saw Bob, the Hawksbill turtle, in the wild. The coral life was also very vivid with lots of fishes living in and around it.”
CJ, Year 10 “My most memorable experience was the trekking to the waterfall. It helped me test myself and challenge my fitness. After a 45 minutes trek, we arrived at the waterfall where we took a dip in ice cold water and that was so refreshing. The trek back didn’t even seem that tiring afterwards!”
Chloie, Year 10 “I loved being able to start new friendships and spending time with people I don’t usually hang out with on a daily basis. Our trip to ‘Tioman Island’ changed my way of thinking and made me realize that sometimes, it’s better to get off your phone and do something different.”
Learning to cook Thai food By Jessica, Year 10
During Round Square Week, my friends and I had a chance to create some Thai traditional foods such as Larb Moo, Red curry, Kao Krapow Gai and Fried Banana dessert. On Wednesday the 22nd of June 2016, we as Team Wild Cat attended a Cooking Class at Happy Chef Cookery School. Once we had arrived at the school, we were introduced to Mr. Warren who happens to be the owner. He was extremely nice and kind as he had welcomed us with a beaming smile. We started off with the Red Curry which in this case is an extremely popular curry within Thailand. Mr. Warren started off by introducing us to the unique ingredients which were included within the curry. The ingredients were exceptionally interesting since they all had various types of scent and appearance. Secondly, we had also learnt how to cook Larb Moo and Kao Krapow Gai which once again was also Thai’s best
and well known Foods. And lastly as for the desserts we were able to cook Fried Bananas which tasted amazingly wonderful. However, overall as for my opinion and the others within Team Wild Cat we had all enjoyed the food as they had all tasted magnificent. All 4 dishes were tasty, delicious, unique, and marvelous in different styles. We would like to Thank Mr. Warren and his team who had taught as how to cook these gourmet dishes and Mrs Loader and Mrs Russell for planning the trip. Without them we may not be able to accomplish each task and or end up with the outstanding results as we had today. Furthermore, this experience had also taught us all that we do not gain skills just by reading cooking books but that we could gain both knowledge and skill by attempting these practically and discovering each things by ourselves.
Larb Moo (Thai-style Spicy Pork Salad)
Directions:
This popular main dish is from the North Eastern of Thailand (Isan). It is popular throughout the country and traditionally eat with sticky rice and other Isan dish like Som Tum (Spicy Papaya Salad)
1. Firstly, Mince all the meat (Do not chop too finely so the meat retains some texture)
Ingredients: 300 grams - Boneless meat, with some fat 1/8 cup - Pure water 1 tablespoon - Julienned kaffir lime leaf 1 tablespoon - Toasted ground sticky rice 1 small bowl - Thin slices of Shallot 1 small bowl - Sliced Spring Onion (sliced crosswise) 1 tablespoon - Fish Sauce 2 tablespoon - Freshly-squeezed lime juice 2 tablespoon - Chili powder 1 small bowl - Chopped Coriander 1 little stalk - Mint for garnish
2. Add prepared clear water to a hot pan and add the minced pork. Continuously stirring for 3 minutes until dry. 3. Add the kaffir lime leaf and toasted sticky rice. Stir all ingredients together and turn the heat off. 4. Add sliced shallots and spring onions 5. Add all seasoning (Fish Sauce, Lime juice and Chili powder). Stir well so the meat absorb all flavors and the added veggies are mixed with the meat. 6. Then add chopped Coriander and stir once again 7. Serve and garnish a dish with mint that you prepared
Stop Motion Computer Animation By SungEun, Year 9
Definitely not just for NERDS
Many would assume only NERDS would choose Stop Motion Computer Animation for Round Square Week, as sitting in a computer room for 5 hours a day for 5 days in a row isn’t particularly sporty or active. It is probably true that most people in the activity (including Mr.Puckey), actually are nerdish to some degree, but that doesn’t mean that this DEMOCRACY based Round Square Week activity was boring at all. With Mr Puckey’s Monday morning eagerness, Mrs Rooney’s technical expertise and Mrs McKenna’s watchful eye, we all managed to learn and grasp the basics of Stop Motion Animation, using only our cameras and software called ‘Windows Movie Maker’. Although we were all shocked by the sheer quantity of photos needed to create a good stop
motion film, (like mine), which averaged around 20003000 photos for a 2 minute film, we started our first steps towards Hollywood. Unfortunately, by the end of the week it was clear to us that our hopes and dreams for Round Square Week were far-fetched. However, by the end of the week we’d all at least created several 1-2 minute stop motion videos with music, transitions and sound effects using our newly found skills, (for most of us) as animators. Team work was the order of the day, with students having to work out intricate details and have endless patience in a democratic manner. The Stop Motion Animation activity was great fun and I am sure many of us wish to do it again next year…
Surfing in Bali By Various Students
An ADVENTURE-based Round Square Week activity
‘Surfing was much harder than I thought it would be, but believe me, when you catch a wave it’s like a dream! Day One: Sunday Dear Diary, Today was exhausting! We left for Bali at 1.30am so that we could make our flight. We were picked up from the airport in Bali and then went to our hotel to meet our head surf coach, Lorraine. We quickly checked in and then went straight to our rooms to get changed into our surfing gear and prepare ourselves to face the upcoming waves. Surfing was much harder than I thought it would be, but believe me, when you catch a wave it’s like a dream! It feels so good; it’s like you’re riding a golden board! Every time you get up you imagine yourself to be like one of those prosurfers with their golden lock of hairs sparkling around their face. You can feel the spirit of the wave surge through your veins – it really was that good! By Charlie
Day Two: Monday Dear Diary, I was still quite tired when I woke up today but a yummy breakfast sorted that out. After that we went for a surf in the huge waves right off Seminyak beach. I personally felt a bit nervous, but in the end I rode most of my waves with confidence. Charlotte, on the other hand, did some impressive wipe outs which made us all laugh! It was so much fun. To finish off a great day, we got to play Mafia! Mr Butler was the narrator and let us play lots of games. It was really good because it got everyone talking. Everyone was so excited to play it; even though I got killed in every game I still enjoyed it. This was an amazing day all in all! By Tyler and Vlad.
Day Three: Tuesday Dear Diary, By the third day of the trip we woke up with aching arms and legs. I could feel a big bruise on my leg where I’d hit the surfboard the day before (earning myself the ‘Wipeout of the Day’ award). Today we went surfing on the east side of Bali to Pantai Serangan where the waves are much calmer and the surroundings much quieter. The only problem in Serangan is that we had to paddle out a really long way from the shore to catch a good wave. Once you got to the reef break it was too far to go back in for a rest so you had to sit on your board when you needed a break. The paddling was such hard work! I felt like I was crawling over a pit full of quicksand. But LingLing was really good at it and didn’t get exhausted as quickly as me. It took a
long time to get to the reef break but it was good when you got there because the waves were really long. We were the only surfers in the water too which was cool! We had lunch at a little beach ‘warung’ (restaurant in Indonesian) and then as soon as everyone had eaten Mr Williams said it was “waterpark time!” It was funny how quickly everyone jumped up with new energy! Waterbom is a famous water park in Bali and one of the best waterparks in Asia. Once we were settled in and had reapplied sunscreen we got to go on the rides and had loads of fun. We went on some rides with Mr and Mrs. Butler. While we were on these rides two funny things happened: Mrs. Butler was screaming most of the time, Mr. Butler was laughing. After a long time in the waterpark we had some chocolatey churros to regain our energy back. By Charlotte and Ling Ling
Day Five: Thursday Dear Diary, The final day of our trip came too quickly. We checked out of the hotel at 8.00am to give us enough time to get to Denpassar airport knowing that traffic in Bali is quite busy in the morning. When we got to the airport we all went to the same restaurant to get some drinks. We were given some free time to go shopping at Duty free. The plane journey went quickly because we all slept again. I think we were all still really tired from all of the surf sessions! Our journey back from the airport took a long time but still went quickly because we listened to music and shared pictures from the week. We were all sad, but happy that we had been on such a great trip. It was amazing! By Sax
A Spanish Adventure! By Chae Wan, Year 12
Regents’ Students enjoy a Spanish Adventure during Round Square
The trip to Spain was organized by Miss Jones and Mr. Kilgallon, based on the Round Square IDEALS of INTERNATIONALISM and ADVENTURE. Since I have always wanted to visit Barcelona and explore the wonderful works of Gaudi, I decided to take part. Before leaving I was really excited to visit two cities that I have always admired, and the trip turned out to be more enjoyable and amusing than expected. The first part of journey was to visit Madrid. Founded as the capital of Spain in 1561, it has been the centre of social and economic activities in Spain. Due to its history, Madrid contains a beautiful palace, parks, squares and cathedrals built centuries ago. We visited the Royal Palace of Madrid, Plaza Mayor, Gran Via, Prado Museum and Almudena Cathedral. Not only did we witness the historical wonders, but also we visited Real Madrid’s stadium; Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Exploring Madrid was a great experience encompassing both historical and modern works of Spanish culture and History. For the remaining time we explored Barcelona. We spent
two days at Port Aventura, which has both a theme park and a water park; this was a fun experience allowing me to release stress from IB studies!. For the remaining days we walked around Barcelona, the fourth-most visited city in Europe. I initially wondered why it was such a popular tourist attraction, but as I travelled around, the answer was apparent – Barcelona is a fascinating place, full of marvellous buildings (especially the ones built by Antoni Gaudi). What amazed me the most was the Sagrada Familia designed by Gaudi, which is still undergoing construction. It was more beautiful and elegant than I could ever anticipate. We also visited La Rambla, Park Guell (another of Gaudi’s creations) a traditional flamenco show and the Nou Camp, home of Barcelona FC. The trip to Spain was, overall, an amazing experience during which I visited splendid places that I would have never dreamed of seeing if I had not gone on this trip. Also, it allowed make the acquaintance of various students whom I had never spent time with before and I enjoyed a great time with them for the week.
Round Square Week Sailing Challenge By Sarah Travis-Mulford, Assistant Head of Secondary
A week on the open sea
The Round Square Week Sailing activity has tested Regents’ students strength, perseverance and team work this week, with some students taking regular dips in the sea! But all of the students who completed the sailing course have shown grit and a sense of fun.
‘Sailing is amazing!’ -- Jasmine ‘Teamwork is the most important part of the activity. Magestic friendship is the best leadership’ -- Michael ‘The Royal Varuna Yacht Club is a great place to learn to sail.’ -- Sandra ‘The sailing week has been fun! The biggest challenge of the week was to keep balanced, to avoid capsizing!’ -- Kathleen ‘An excellent week of sailing. The students have all developed more self-confidence and self-reliance.’ -Mr Garrie Jones, Activity Leader
The Round Square IDEALS trip to Baan Maelid By Cati, Head Student
A truly unforgettable experience
This year’s trip to Baan Maelid was a truly unforgettable experience for all of the 28 students involved. ‘I feel the 2016 Round Square Week trip to Baan Maelid encapsulates all of the Round Square IDEALS and this year was no exception.’ This was a journey of INTERNATIONALISM for many students and some staff, who had never ventured so far north in Thailand and taken part in such a close-knit, Thai community-based residential. During the first 2 days our students got their hands dirty and stuck into the building, painting and gardening, providing a SERVICE to the school. The Regents team acted as LEADERS by helping the students of Baan Maelid to learn some English by teaching them some basic words, numbers and phrases. On Day 3 we took a day trip to the surrounding towns of Mae Hong Son and ventured high up in to the hills of Huay Him to a coffee plantation. The students learnt how the coffee was grown, grounded and packaged. Some of them even had the chance to taste it. We then visited the
Royal Garden Project and were taught about the local ENVIRONMENT. We were shown how this project turned the area from opium fields to fields of fresh produce which is transported to shops all over Thailand. Day 4 involved the students taking on the ADVENTURE of a 7km trek around Baan Maelid. The first 2km took us up to one of the highest points, providing the opportunity for a few photographs of the stunning views. The next part took us down the through the rice fields as the students tip-toed their way around the edges trying to not follow Mr Merriott’s footsteps and slip into mud. We took refuge in a local shack as the rains came in. After a short break we were on our way and to the finish. The final evening saw both the students of Regents and Baan Maelid provide the entertainment with a talent contest. Acts of singing, magic, storytelling and traditional dances made for a special evening and a fitting end to the week. As we said our good byes on the Friday the students from Baan Maelid wore their traditional hill tribe clothing and gave us an unforgettable farewell.
Care Carousel: Giving back to the Community
This year, students got to choose from a range of activities which were based on campus. This option choice was called Care Carousel and focused upon the SERVICE aspect of the Round Square IDEALS, where students worked with and on behalf of a select group of Community Partners including Take Care Kids and Hand To Hand Foundation. Activities on campus ranged from Fruit and Vegetable Carving, Thai Cooking, creating Art from Waste, performing improvised Tribal Drama pieces and producing musical delights to share at the end of the week in the Care Carousel Extravaganza Show. Tribal Communication Workshop During Round Square week some of us went on an adventure right here in the Round House. As part of the Care Carousel we looked at how a community survives and communicates. Students had a full day challenge to
use drama skills and make a tribal community, inspired by the Hill Tribes of Thailand. Each tribe had their own way of communicating that was based on Makaton Key Signing, which they learnt during the morning. After a leadership vote, a community meeting was held and job roles were assigned. Then the Tribe had to solve a problem, delivered by an outside messenger; the river had been polluted. Each tribe found a way forward, negotiating, testing using science and practicing rituals they had researched. The day ended with a festival celebration dance, inspired by tribal dances from around the globe. Regents’ students proved they have a great work ethic, deep democratic morals and displayed an outstanding amount of care for each other.
Fruit and vegetable carving In the morning our team attempted the fruit carving, something most of us have never done before. We started with a simple leaf design using a flat piece of carrot. Although this was considered a basic task, most of us struggled and had to start again – some of us were naturals though! Overall, it was a challenge but with practice we saw some improvement and it was a valuable and enjoyable experience. Thai cooking: Pad See Ew The second half of the morning was spent cooking Pad See Ew in teams of 2, to be judged on quality and taste by our food critic Mr. Wilding. The cooking was a very
fun experience (especially since we got to eat the food we made), not to mention useful for some of us who will be going to university in just over a year. Learning how to make Pad See Ew could be useful for our survival and maybe even homesickness after we leave the nest. All of the dishes were successful - tasty (and edible) but in the end the pink plate won. A charity cycling challenge! On the 4th day of the Care carousel team Amigo took on the community fun day. This involved competing in small challenges to win prizes for either a boy or a girl from the Take Care Kid’s Foundation. Our team was split into 2 sub teams with 6 members each to try and win prizes for either child the team was paired with.
Round Square Week Regents Dive Club By Paul McConnell, Deputy Head of Secondary
Diving Success!
Last week found us back, with our good friends, on the Mermaids dive boat as we began a very successful and fun week’s diving. The sea conditions were generally been good and we saw some amazing sea life; blue spotted Rays, cuttlefish, turtles, boxfish, nudibranchs, marble rays and very healthy corals. Congratulations must go to Pop, Alex, William, Hannah, Ema, Ibuki and Julia for all passing their PADI Open Water course with flying colours. This is a four day course that qualifies you to dive all over the world to a maximum depth of 18 meters. The students had to sit a classroom-based test to demonstrate their newly acquired knowledge, as well perform new practical dive skills in the pool and ocean. Adding further qualifications to their name, Nate, Jules and Josefine are now all PADI Advanced Divers and can now dive to a maximum depth of 21m. During this course, our advanced divers had to navigate underwater, complete a search and rescue scenario, perform a deep dive and learn to ride a DPV underwater vehicle. It was exciting stuff and
all came out the other end more confident in their skills and ready to tackle more challenging dive sites. However, special mention must go to Bambi for becoming only the 2nd Regents student to complete her PADI Rescue Diver course. That’s a really tough course which is classed as the big step towards becoming a highly skilled and proficient diver. Bambi had to demonstrate many skills; recovering an unconscious diver from the bottom and surface, perform EFR whilst in the water, help to evacuate an injured diver as well as understand the causes, symptoms and treatments for possible decompression illness. This course is meant to challenge all who complete it. A huge thanks to Mr Mark, Mr Garry, Mr Darren and all the Mermaids staff for looking after the students so well. The Regents Dive Club continues to go from strength to strength and we dive at the start of every month during the school year. If you want to join the club, then please contact Mr McConnell for more details – paul.mcconnell@regents-pattaya.co.th
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