Cultural Identity in Third Culture Kids
When you ask my seven year old daughter: “Where are you from?” she will proudly tell you that she is from Belgium. On our holidays in Belgium though, the same question is answered with: “I am from Thailand.” When I actually look at her, I sometimes wonder if she isn’t more English than anything else: English is her first and preferred language; she listens to English songs; she loves fish and chips; her favourite author is Julia Donaldson; she
never attended a Thai school or a Belgian school for that matter;
I’m raising a TCK or third culture kid like so many of you readers out here as well and sometimes it worries me. Reading up about it on the internet, some research tells me that TCK’s quite often have a problem developing a strong identity and self-esteem. They don’t feel like they belong anywhere and keep searching their whole lives where they actually belong: Is it the country where one of their parents comes from, with its exotic clothes and mysterious rituals? Or is it the country where they have spent most of their school life, with all the museums and parks and high rise buildings?
I want to show my daughter the best of both worlds or should I say the whole world. I want to show her the world and let her take something from each culture and create her own global identity. Having a global identity, I hope, will make her into a strong person and allow for her to live in our multicultural and diversified society. She will be able to communicate with others more easily and be more accepting and understanding of their differences.
This won’t be an easy task, but I believe that as parents we can expose our children to a lot of cultural elements such as different religions, languages or cuisines even here in Phuket. I’ve taken her to attend different ceremonies in temples, churches and mosques and we eat a variety of food. Being at HeadStart she is exposed to so many different languages from her classmates that she can now proudly count to 10 in about 5 or 6 different languages. I almost see her global cultural identity growing every single day, but she is still young and I can only hope that I can keep guiding her in the right direction.
Kids Talk
Kids Talk by Karen Beardsley, Occupational Therapist in Phuket
In this article I review some of the more established or common treatments that are backed by research. There are many intervention strategies currently being explored and what may be a right choice for one child may not be the best option for another, based upon that child’s needs. My intention is not to recommend or advocate for any particular one treatment, but just to provide more information about what may be available for families considering options.
Click here to Download – Kids Talk 2 PDF
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Foundation News
Early Years A is learning all about making simple patterns with shapes and colours. At the end of the week they all made beautiful crowns with patterns of coloured jewels. Aren’t they beautiful?
Primary News
Primary Student of the Month
Yummy Maths??? By Heidi St. Hill, Year 5A teacher
You don’t usually associate Math with delicious chocolate, but this week in Year 5 the students got to combine their love of chocolatey goodness and Math. The students were tasked to prove or disprove the theory that there are more red M&Ms than any other colour. They collected their data individually, organised it in a tally chart, displayed their results in bar graphs and even interpreted their findings. The students worked hard to combine their individual results with that of their classmates, discovering that red is NOT the most common colour of M&M’s. Want to know what is? You’ll have to ask a yr5 student to find out!
Year 5 Field Trip to Trick Eye Museum by Heidi St. Hill, Year 5 teacher
Students in year 5 A & B got to experience the interactive 3d museum in Phuket Town today. Using their cameras, they had a blast snapping pictures of themselves hamming it up. Take a look at all the fun! If you haven’t been, take your kids to Trick Eye Museum for a great experience.
Secondary News
Phuket Island Maths Challenge by Raman Kaushal, Head of Faculty
This “first of its kind” event in Phuket was hosted by BIS Phuket on Tuesday 3rd March. Students from BIS, HeadStart, PIA and Kajonkiet took part in mixed teams solving a variety of Maths problems where their knowledge and problem solving skills were put to the test. The day culminated in a Maths Trail around the school campus and when the students were asked their opinion of the day their responses were positive. “Fun and enjoyable” and “a good way of talking and working with people you don’t know”, were just a couple of the responses from year 9 students. Now everyone is waiting eagerly for next year’s event, which will be hosted by HeadStart on our new campus.
HeadStart problem-solvers:
Y7
Y8
Y9
Timothy Hochstetter
Marc Baeuerle
Jenny Park
Supatchaya Phewngam (Aorn)
Eve Whittaker
Ratima Bunyongponglert (Bell)
Anastasia Mityashina
Jean Phaisamran
Vova Vladimirov
Valentine Guillerey
Maria Bessonova
Thanadol Tantivit (Albert)
Groups were mixed across schools and year groups for collaboration. We had students in 12 of the 16 teams
We had a student in every Round winning team and in 2 of the top 3 overall prizes (3rd and 1st places).
Round winners:
Round 1 winning team (Supatchaya Phewngam (Aorn) - Y7) Round 2 winning team (Maria Bessonova - Y8)
Round 5 winning team (Jean Phaisamran - Y8)
(Round winners got PIMC medals.)
Overall winners:
3rd placed team overall (Marc Baeuerle - Y8) 1st placed team – PIMC champions – (Supatchaya Phewngam (Aorn) - Y7)
Overall winners each got a PIMC Trophy.
Congratulations to all the students from our highest achieving and G&T cohort in Mathematics who collaborated positively, learnt well and enjoyed themselves whilst doing so.
Year 11 Visits the Preschoolers by Elise Foubert, French teacher
Last Wednesday, Sarah, Abhi and Morgan from Y11 taught the students in preschool, animal names and the sounds they make in French. It was great experience for our older students to put into practice their French communication skills. The little ones had lots of fun imitating the sounds while learning a new language. Lot of smiles and fun all around!
Student Council Meeting by Mr Kennedy, Head of Pastoral Care
The Student Council met again on Friday 27.2.15. This was their sixth meeting of the academic year. (The Student Council meets once a month.) Issues discussed at the meeting included the new school jackets, the lunch time menu, school uniform and the quality of student exercise books. The meeting was well attended with all homeroom representatives at the meeting. The issues were debated well, with student making valuable contribution and making valid cogent points. It was good to see that many of the Student Council members contributed in the discussions and raised points on behalf of their homerooms. It is pleasing to see students taking an active role in the running of the school. The next student council meeting is scheduled for Friday 27 March.
DofE Bake Sale by Richard Allenby
Four students from class 10A, Athena Butler, Vy Nguyen, Michela Di Cecco D’Ortona and Radjani Bouchara decided to raise some money to go towards the ‘Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award’, service section on Friday by having a bake sale. They managed to sell out completely! Well done girls. The money will go towards either materials for the arts and crafts for the Saturday workshop for orphans or towards food and medical care for the rescued dogs of the Bodhi Shelter & Clinic at Pakhlok Temple where some of our students are completing their service section of the award.
Thai Department News
I am a teacher!
Year 1 Thai Intermediate students took turn becoming a Thai teacher. The lesson was about learning the Thai alphabet. This was a lot of fun!
Thai Parents Weekly Meeting Information
The Next Meeting will be Held on Tuesday the 14th of March from 8.30am to 9.30am in The Library. There will be a presentation about the International day meeting. We cordially invite you to attend this meeting.
Art Department News
Sports Department News
Coach Steve’s Healthy Living Column
Pineapple Juice an effective cough and cold remedy/preventative
As I have had some students off with colds, runny noses and coughs I thought I would share this juice recipe with you this week rather than my shake recipe. Pineapple juice is one of the most effective and proven cures for sore throats and persistent coughs and colds. In Brief much of the healing qualities of pineapple juice are due to the abundance of Vitamin C, Bromeline and Manganese working in combination with other essential vitamins minerals and enzymes.
Vitamin C strengthens the immune system
Bromeline is an enzyme that aids food digestion and fights inflammation
Manganese helps form connective tissue and improve nerve function
I got onto pineapples and pineapple juice to help me adjust to eating in Thailand as initially I often experienced problems with digestion and feelings of nausea. Pineapple juice does not have to be mixed with anything to be effective. It can be taken on its own, or added as an effective base to shakes and smoothies.
This is one of my favourites: ½ pineapple, 1 pear or fruit of choice (optional), Ginger (1, add this to everything)
(NB: with Ginger it is very strong and you will need to experiment with how much you add). Method: Juice the pineapple, pear or fruit of choice, and ginger. Add ice and put in a blender and blend.
Below is an effective cough remedy I have tried from the internet.
Ingredients Instructions
1 cup of fresh pineapple juice 1. Combine all ingredients
¼ cup of fresh lemon juice Take ¼ cup, 2-3 x/day and repeat recipe daily until cough is gone
1 piece of ginger (about 3 inches)
1 Tbsp raw honey
½ tsp cayenne pepper
Game Results
Thanyapura Open Swim League by Steve Ketley, Swim Coach
Twenty-three AquaPanthers (14 Girls and 9 boys) took part in the 2nd leg of the Tanyapura Super-League last Saturday 28th February 2015. With the competition starting at 8.00 am and finishing at 10.30 am, it was a short and intense competition format with swimmers not having much recovery time between events. All swimmers performed exceptionally well against quality opposition from BIS Flying Fish, Thanyapura Silverfinz, International School of Samui and Kajonkiet.
AquaPanther Swimmers:
Girls: Jiraya Prieur, Eve Whittaker, Qistina Barry, Anna Mali hull, Jasmine Hull, Anya Belova, Angela Van der Sluijs, Kiki Ngernanek, Lucy Mester, Julianna Mester, Emmie Parsons, Regina Lee, Delia Baltes, Daria Belous
Boys: Vova Vladimirov, Juno Wannakitti, Nazar Zakharov, Matvey Zakharov, Sam Stowe, Joey Parsons, Armin Schmid, Shane Walters, Ryan Van der Sluijs
The top performers were:
Jiraya with 4 firsts in the 13 and 14 girls, Vova with four firsts and a second in the 13-14 boys and
Juno with four firsts and a second in the 11 – 12 boys.
A special mention to all the girls who swam in the 11 and 12 years as this is by far the toughest competition with the greatest number of competitors – well done to Qistina, Anna, Anya, Angela, Kiki, Lucy, Julianna, Emmie, Regina, Delia, and Daria.
Click here to Download – Super League Swim Results PDF
Senior Boys Football—————————————Senior boys Football—————————————–Girls U13 Basketball
Wednesday 4th March Kajonkietsuka 4-3 HeadStart Panthers Monday 2nd February
BISP 2nd Team 2-3 Headstart Panthers BISP 1st team 19-0 HeadStart Panthers HeadStart Panthers 44-14 BISP
Senior boys Football—————————————Girls U13 Basketball
Kajonkietsuka 4-3 HeadStart Panthers Monday 2nd February
BISP 1st team 19-0 HeadStart Panthers HeadStart Panthers 44-14 BISP
Under 16 girls Basketball: Headstart Panthers 15-12 BISP
Upcoming Games
Under 9 & Under 11 boys Football
Date: Saturday & Sunday March 7th & 8th
Time: Saturday 8:00am – 4:00 pm / Sunday 8:00 – 1:00pm
Location: British International School
Format: 7 a side
Ages groups: 1 Under 9 boys team / 2 under 11 boys teams
Bus departs: Saturday 07:00am (arrive directly at BISP gate 1 at 07:20am). Sunday times; we will advise after games on Saturday
Bus returns: Saturday 4pm at Headstart
Kit: Blue Headstart Panthers Kit.
Lunch and snacks: Provided by BISP
Under 15 boys Football—————-i-Under 16 girls Basketball
Date: Monday 9th————————aDate: Wednesday 11th March
Opposition: QSI—————————aLocation: BISP Sport Hall
Kick off: 4:15pm—————————–Time: 4:15pm (Please arrange transport to/from BISP)
Location: HeadStart———————aMatches usually last about 1 hour.
Around the Island
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