Parenting Tips
Announcements
Photography at HeadStart Events
Parents are only allowed to take photographs at birthday parties and at sporting events (except swimming galas where photography is not allowed). Photographs are not allowed to be taken at any other time. If in doubt, parents should request permission from the Head of the Department.
Shark Guardian Winners! by Kate Dietrich, Year 6A Teacher
Dima Durasov, Y3A
Primary Winner, Maia New, Y3A
Joey Parsons, Y4B
Sasha Syrkina, Y4B
Primary Winner, Dasha Volkova, Y4B
Lucy Mester, Y6A
Primary Winner, Aorn Phewngam, Y6A
Secondary Winner, Jenny Park, Y8B
IGCSE Mock Examinations Results by Ralph Millington, Director of Studies
All students were required to sit mock IGCSE examinations straight after the Christmas break. All examinations were conducted in accordance with Cambridge regulations and all the marks were awarded according to the strict marking schemes provided by the IGCSE body. The overall results were nothing short of excellent.
All parents must realise the students still have MONTHS before the examinations and they were presented with papers straight after a long Christmas break. Our students can now look forward to the best results the school has seen with a marked increase on the previous year’s scores.
We are aiming for a 100% minimum five (5) A* – C passes from the Y11 students taking these exams for the first time. We are on track! Many will get more. This will allow all our students entry into the International Programs for the top Thai Universities at the first attempt. Those going on to study AS / A levels will have the qualifications necessary to enter western universities abroad.
Congratulations Y11 and keep up the great work.
House Merits
Karate Classes Opening at FunStart
We are pleased to announce that Mr Naussy will be giving a free Karate lesson to students at FunStart on the 28th of February from 4:00-5:00 pm.
Please also see the schedule below for details of classes:
Foundation News
Foundation Academic Results by Ralph Millington, Director of Studies
Our Foundation Level at HeadStart has had its first official results which are directly comparable to results gathered from the UK. What a great success they are!
Foundation assessment is split into 7 categories and in every category we are either equal to the UK or way beyond the UK results. The following shows you the summary of our student’s success by the time they leave the Foundation Level (Early Years through to Reception).
Personal Social and Emotional Development
Students meeting or exceeding the required benchmarks (%) UK – 62% HeadStart – 98%
Communication and Language
Students meeting or exceeding the required benchmarks (%) UK – 80% HeadStart – 80%
Physical Development
Students meeting or exceeding the required benchmarks (%) UK – 75% HeadStart – 100%
Literacy
Students meeting or exceeding the required benchmarks (%) UK – 66% HeadStart – 91%
Mathematics
Students meeting or exceeding the required benchmarks (%) UK – 72% HeadStart – 95%
Understanding the World
Students meeting or exceeding the required benchmarks (%) UK – 84% HeadStart – 95%
Expressive Arts and Design
Students meeting or exceeding the required benchmarks (%) UK – 82% HeadStart – 100%
With an average of 20% more students hitting the target, and even more in Maths and Literacy, these results are proof that HeadStart gives our younger students the BestStart possible!
Also see the attached PDF document:
Receptions at HSIS against UK Statistics 2013
Full results are available on request.
Preschool! by Lisa Parsons, Preschool Teacher
Welcome Angelina to Preschool.
Some of the other children having fun at Chinese New Year.
Reception A Looking For 3D by Nicola Fallows, Reception A Teacher
Reception A children went hunting for 3D shapes on the playground. We found cubes, cylinders and spheres.
Primary News
Cambridge Checkpoints in Year 6 by Els Bellon, Head of Primary
Over the weekend you have received an invoice for your child’s Primary Checkpoint exams. Parents who are new to the school might have a few questions about what they are and why they need to pay extra for them. We hope that this letter can give you some more information.
At HeadStart International School, Years 1 to 6, follow the Cambridge Primary Curriculum for the core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science. The objectives of the Cambridge Primary Programme form the base for the subject content, planning, curriculum implementation and development. It is a programme that has been developed with consistent standards that are benchmarked across thousands of students.
The programme enables reliable structured reporting to parents about the performance of the children via the Primary Progression tests and the Cambridge Checkpoint. The Cambridge Progression tests are administered to students at the end of Year 3, 4 and 5. These tests are designed by Cambridge examiners and aim at providing feedback to parents and teachers about the progress of a child through the Cambridge Primary Programme. The progression tests are marked by the school; the results are then analysed and reported back to parents.
The Cambridge Primary Checkpoint on the other hand, is administered to students at the end of Year 6. This particular test is both designed and marked by Cambridge examiners. It is an internationally recognized examination:
It offers feedback to parents on learners’ strengths and weaknesses in the key curriculum areas of Maths, English and Science. The results of the Cambridge Checkpoint examinations are analysed by Cambridge and reported back to schools and parents;
The students are issued with a certificate from Cambridge examinations. The Cambridge Primary Checkpoint is not only an invaluable source of feedback for parents, students and schools, but an opportunity for students to experience Cambridge examinations.
Since these tests are designed and marked in England, they give you, as a parent invaluable and independent feedback on your child’s strengths and weaknesses. The tests are not pass/fail tests, they are thoroughly analysed tests that will show you how your child is doing in relation to his/her peers around the world. All Year 6 students at HeadStart will sit these exams from the 31st of March to the 2nd of April 2014.
We will be organising a parent meeting on Tuesday the 11th of February at 8:30 am in the primary library, to provide you with more information.
We hope to see you there so we can answer any further questions that you might have.
Phuket Zoo! – Year 1 by Laura Anne Baillie, Year 1B Teacher
Year 1 enjoyed their field trip to the Phuket Zoo.
Year 2B Top Merit Earners! by Julie Cousineau, Year 2B Teacher
Here are 3 new 100 merit earners in Year 2B! Congratulations to Elena Schved, Justin Wachholz and John Wagner for your hard work and keep going!
Elena Schved Justin Wachholz John Wagner
Year 2B Assembly by Julie Cousineau, Year 2B Teacher
Year 2B did an Assembly on the Water Cycle to practice their Science Skills. They did a play and were so good at memorizing their lines! They also sang a song. Here are some pictures.
Year 2B Study Food Groups by Julie Cousineau, Year 2B Teacher
Year 2B are studying the food groups and healthy eating in PSHE. We did a project where students cut out different food items from supermarket flyers and classified them. Thank you to Khun Jit who brought in a lot of flyers for us to use.
Breathing Investigation in Year 5A by Heidi St.-Hill, Year 5A Teacher
The students of 5A have been learning about the human body and the connection between breathing, heart rate and exercise. They investigated how their breathing rate changed after doing 3 different high intensity activities and debated why this occurred. We discovered that when your muscles are working harder they need more oxygen, which is carried in the blood, so our heart has to pump more to get oxygen to those muscles.
Separating Mixtures in Year 5B by Daniel Redly, Year 5B Teacher
In science we have been learning about mixtures. In this task we had to separate sand, salt and rocks from water and place them into their original state. We were given a set of rules that we had to follow and then we were free to investigate!!
Secondary News
Year 7 Experiments with Food Decay by Rachael Mayfield, Year 7B Teacher
The results are quite amazing! As the pictures show, the bacteria and fungi are loving the home fries, the restaurant fries and the K.F.C fries. For some reason, the micro-organisms do not want to eat the McFries. Can you think of reasons why?
It’s the same with the burger. The Big Mac is not decaying! What is in that food?!
Cambridge Check Point for Year 9 Students by Mark Goodman, Head of Secondary
We would like to invite you to school for an informative meeting about the Checkpoint exams for students in Year 9.
The meeting will be at 8:30 am on Tuesday, 11th February 2014. Please make an effort to come to this meeting so that you can be well informed.
International schools are required to externally test their students against world-wide benchmarks in each core subject. At HeadStart we use the Cambridge Checkpoint examinations. Cambridge Checkpoint tests are for use at the end of Cambridge Secondary 1 (UK Key Stage 3). This means we will be testing our students in Year 9 on April 3rd and April 4th, 2014.
They are marked externally by Cambridge and provide our school with an external international benchmark for student performance. Cambridge Checkpoint enables feedback to be provided on a learner’s strengths and weaknesses in key curriculum areas. Feedback of this kind is an invaluable source of information. HeadStart will be able to make strategic decisions, drawing upon a pool of information and specialist reporting tools built into Cambridge Checkpoint.
Learners receive a Statement of Achievement which gives an indication of their academic progress during this education stage.
Cambridge Checkpoint tests are available in English, Mathematics and Science. The tests cover all major areas of learning required in the first years of an international secondary education. The cost of the examinations and the follow up analysis works out at 1,200 baht per subject.
Cambridge Checkpoint Feedback
The diagnostic reports generated by Cambridge Checkpoint enable HeadStart to:
tailor individual learners’ learning programmes
monitor group and individual performance
provide information for reporting to parents
compare the performance of all learners taking tests in that session
manage learning programmes within schools as learners move between schools
predict performance in learners’ formal examinations
The test feedback measures a learner’s performance against a number of variables including how a learner performed in relation to:
the curriculum framework
their teaching group
a whole school cohort
previous years’ learners
The report on a candidate gives:
a Cambridge Checkpoint score for the whole subject
a Cambridge Checkpoint score for each main topic/skill
a list of the questions (and the sub-topics/skills) where the candidate’s performance was particularly strong or particularly weak
an attractively presented statement of achievement
The report on a teaching group gives:
an average Cambridge Checkpoint score for the whole subject
an average Cambridge Checkpoint score for each main topic/skill
a list of sub-topics/skills with comments on the performance of the group
the Cambridge Checkpoint scores of each candidate on the subject and on each main topic/skill
the marks scored by each candidate on each question
The report on a school gives:
an average Cambridge Checkpoint score for the whole subject
an average Cambridge Checkpoint score for each main topic/skill
a list of sub-topics/skills with comments on the performance of the learners
The end-of-session report gives the results of the whole cohort, from all schools, broken down by age and first language, so that schools may compare their own results with those of similar learners from elsewhere. The report will also give the examiner’s comments on the test. 212
Recognition
Cambridge Checkpoint is taken by candidates in Cambridge schools in more than 65 countries worldwide. Candidates receive a Statement of Achievement which gives an indication of their academic progress during this stage in their education. Cambridge Checkpoint results provide an indication of how students will perform at Cambridge IGCSE.
If you need any more help please do not hesitate to ask.
Duke of Edinburgh International Award Practice Journey by Katja Clark, Award Coordinator
The Year 10 DofE team completed the Practice Adventurous Journey last weekend.
It was a high energy, fun kayaking expedition with camping. The participants in pairs, kayaked on ‘sit on’ triyaks, from Ao Yon to Koh Lon island where they spent the night. They set up camp in tents and cooked on camping stoves. On the second day they kayaked straight across Chalong Bay to the mouth of a river and then up the coast back to Ao Yon. The DofE team members did a fantastic job, I am very proud of their efforts.
The ‘real deal’ Adventurous Journey is scheduled for 22-23 March, 2014.
Secondary Assembly Presentation – Year 11 by Michael Anthony Hurley, Year 11 Teacher
Yesterday, a group of Year 11 students gave a presentation to their Year 10 peers in the Library. It was entitled: Keys to Success – Preparing for your IGCSE’s. The purpose was to assist students to better understand the challenge and share experience / advice. The following Yr11′s were part of the group: Nandita, Suji, Ferry, Tin and Zoey.
Thai Department News
Parent Portal Meeting
Year 11 Thai Class
Our ex student, Mali Moltalti visited our Year 11 Thai IGCSE class yesterday. Mali is now studying the Hotel and Management International Programme at ‘Silpakorn University’, one of the top universities in Thailand. She shared her experiences of university life and gave some guidelines on how to be successful at exams.
Year 5 Learns Thai Games with Kru Kan
Students in Year 5 Thai class studied local Thai games such as ‘E Tak, Pao Kob, Mak Kep and Dern Kala (walking on coconut shell sandals).
Reception Thai Class with Kru Yao
This week students in Reception class learned about body Parts with Kru Yao.
Language Department News
French Classes make Crepes! by Francoise Laosuwan, French Teacher
This week the French department celebrated “la chandeleur” (Candlemas) by making crepes with our students. The week started with a shopping expedition to buy ingredients for our cooking week. Then …… cooking and playing time!!!
A special thank you to Debby and Sèverine who kindly came to help us!!!
Art Department News
The Human Body – Year 9 by Jody Leow, Visual Arts Teacher
Year 9 are learning about the human body and made wire sculptures inspired by the work of Alberto Giacometti.
Sports Department News
Girls Basketball Team!
Super Six Football League Fixtures for 8th February, 2014
Group A
Bangneaw v Dragon Junior 08:00 AM
Plook Punya v HeadStart Panthers Blue 08:30 AM
Darasamuth School v Dragon Junior 09:00 AM
Bangneaw v HeadStart Panthers Yellow 09:30 AM
Group B
Daoroong Wittaya School v HeadStart Panthers Blue 10:00 AM
HeadStart Panthers Yellow v Plook Punya 10:45 AM
Patouillards v Phuket City 11:30 AM
HeadStart Panthers Yellow v Daoroong Wittaya School 12:15 PM
Darasamuth A v Ban Bangneaw 12:50 PM
HeadStart Panthers Blue2 v Vichitsongkram School 01:25 PM
Group C
HeadStart Panthers v Youth Football Home 02:15 PM
Daoroong Wittaya Sch v SWPK FC 03:00 PM
Plook Punya v Vichitsongkram School 03:50 PM
Girls Basketball
Date: Wednesday 26th February
Depart: 13:45: Return 18h45 (Bus leaves BISP 18h15)
Event: PISAC Swimming Gala.
Location: British international school, Phuket
Coach: Stephen Kettley
• Kira Kavtaradze (3b)
• Jasmine Hull (3a)
• Joey Parsons (4b)
• Sam (3a) – Yodvarids Stowe
• Max (4b) – Yodsalan Stowe
• Egor Turalin (4A)
• Sasha (4b) – Alexandra Syrkina
• Kate (4b) – Supicha Songpetchmongkol
• Vitalina Oshchepkova (3a)
• Calvin Van der Laan (5b)
• Armin (5a) – Stephan Schmid
• Silvana Dufes (6a)
• Anna Hull (5b)
• Anya Belova (5b)
• Eva Erdenko (4a)
• Delia (5b)– Pichamon Baltes
• Emmie Parsons (6a)
• Lucy Mester (6a)
• Julianna Mester (7a)
• Kiki (6b) –Nichapa Ngernanek
• Sebastian Sawtell (5b)
• Juno (6b) – Natapol Wannakitti
• Shane Walters (5b)
• Jiraya Prieur (8b)
• Azra Anderson (7a)
• Vova Vldimirov (8a)
The training sessions for the teams are as follows:
Tuesdays and Thursdays (at FunStart)
3.30pm – 5:00 pm
Optional Extra training: (at FunStart)
Monday’s 10th, 17th, 24th February 4.00pm – 5.00pm
Saturdays 8th, 15 th, 22nd February 9.00am – 10.00am
Swimmers who are training in other programs do not need to attend training sessions.
NOTE: If you are picking your child up (or sending them with someone else) please inform us as otherwises/he will be brought back on the school bus.
Further swimming dates for the diary:
8 March – Triathlon (Thanyapura)
19 March – PISAC Swim meet (PIADS)
28/29 March – Thanyapura Invitational Swimming meet
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