ISS Newsletter November 2016

The International School of Samui joins the entire nation of Thailand in remembering

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej 1927 - 2016

ปวงข้าพระพุทธเจ้า ขอน้อมเกล้าน้อมกระหม่อมระลึกในพระมหากรุ ณาธิคุณหาที่สุดมิได้ ข้าพระพุทธเจ้า คณะครู บุคลากร ผูป้ กครองและนักเรี ยน โรงเรี ยนนานาชาติสมุย

“Education means guiding and promoting persons to progress in learning, thinking, and performing according to their own ability. The ultimate aim should be for each individual to be able to make the best use of his or her potential, to benefit oneself and others in harmony and without conflict or harassment.”

— King Bhumibol Adulyadej

The International School of Samui Newsletter I S S U E

Welcome to our new students Early Years Lady Birds     

Eva Isla Mika Oscar Phoenix

1

A C A D E M I C

Y E A R

2 0 1 6 / 2 0 1 7

N O V E M B E R

2 0 1 6

New school term; new facilities During the summer break, it’s been all hands on deck and again our new facilities are a welcome addition to our well-equipped school.

We are positive that these changes will give your children the best learning experience while promoting a safe environment for them. Take a look at the snapshots of our new facilities:

Busy Bees    

Bodhi Myah Philo Weronika

Primary               

Maria - Reception Seanna - Reception Sofiya - Reception Alisa - Year 1 Juliette - Year 1 Liam - Year 1 Saskia - Year 1 Alexander - Year 2 Bibi - Year 2 Dirk - Year 2 Jenna - Year 2 Maxim - Year 3 Julian - Year 4 Nelson - Year 4 Lucas - Year 6

New Primary Students Science Room

New Band Practice Room

New Primary Students Art Room

New Music room

Senior    

Aleksi - Year 7 Daria - Year 7 Ilias - Year 8 Dona - Year 10 New ICT Room

To get real-time updates on school activities and latest news, like our page International School of Samui or add us on your list of friends: ISS Samui

Lots of activities happening at our much improved dance studio. Ballet lessons are ongoing as well as a yoga/ dance ECA & after-school activities.

The old gym is now an interactive space where students can play games good for their hand-eye coordination and enjoyment.

The language suites are now equipped with computers, which enable students to expand their learning.

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General Events and News

ISS Open Day August 2016 Our ISS new Pupils Open Day which took place on Friday, 19th August 2016 was a great success. All new pupils were warmly welcomed by our current students who volunteered their holiday time.

We would like to thank all our enthusiastic volunteers for making the day so special. Furthermore, a big thank you to all our teachers and support staff for working so hard at having the school fully ready for Term 1.

Each volunteer was rewarded with a special certificate and 2 café vouchers for their hard work.

ISS Open Day is proving to be a great and effective exercise for new and existing students of ISS. First, it helps the incoming students adapt to their new environment. Second, it builds up the confidence, self-esteem and hospitality of existing students as they introduce their school and make new friends. All ISS students are welcome to be part of the next Open Day in January.

Another successful Coffee Morning.

Reading is our thing at ISS

Thank you to all the parents who joined us in the Coffee Morning meet-up on Friday, 2nd of September 2016.

We had our Book Fair at ISS in September, thanks to Books@53, a leading book distribution company throughout South-East Asia.

We got good response from the parents and students purchasing books at special prices. Looking forward to another book fair soon.

About 20 parents got together and enjoyed a nice coffee, croissants, and some refreshments. We had a great time getting to know you.

At the same time, we have just upgraded our Library and purchased more books. There were also some changes in the reading areas to make it more encouraging and comfortable for the students to read. Please feel free to encourage your children to hang out at our reading areas during break or free time.

We trust that this is just the start of a long-standing relationship between your family and the school.

Environmental documentary at ISS One of our parents, writer and owner of Now You Shine — in cooperation with Biofizz Samui, Yoga House and DD Samui Vegan Restaurant — presented a documentary that talks about the future of our planet.

It was a successful event held in the ISS Drama Theatre and the participants enjoyed a nice vegan dinner with dessert. We at ISS support good causes like this.

Help Sunny Smiles by Miss Wakelin Most of you may remember Miss Louise Wakelin, who was with the school for many years and has now dedicated her life to helping the refugees and less-fortunate kids on the Thai-Burmese border of Maesot.

She is still there teaching orphaned kids how to speak, read and write English and also giving support to the sick, some of them walked across the border to receive treatment at Mae Tao clinic.

If you would like to make some donations, click here. You can also follow Louise’s activities by going to her Facebook page, Sunny Smiles Foundation.

Parent Readers needed We invite all parents who love to read to join our Parent Readers team. You will be reading one-to-one with Primary children on any day of the week, which is an excellent way to improve the children’s passion for reading. For more information or to sign up, click here or speak to Mr. Hawkes, Year 5 Teacher.

Giving back to the community On 27th September 2016, ISS had the privilege of donating some of its sports equipment to Wat Sawangarom School. It’s rewarding to witness the excitement of the children who benefit from this equipment.

Wat Sawangarom students Parents, if you have some sports equipusing ISS sports equipment ment at home that you don’t need or other unwanted goods or clothes, please continue to drop them at the school for our next community support activity or charity/ fundraising event.

www.iss.ac.th

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Early Years News

Early Years’ New Structure The Early Years Department has gone through some changes this year.

As we follow the British National Curriculum called the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS), children between 2 and 4 years old will be under the Early Years Department.

This includes the Ladybirds class for 2 to 3 year olds; and the Busy Bees class for 3 to 4 year olds.

We will be promoting key areas of learning and development, which include personal, social and emotional development; communication and language; literacy; maths; as well as expressive arts and design.

ECA Activities in the Kindergarten

New hangouts for our toddlers: Sleep Room and Eating Area We have improved our spaces for the Ladybirds and the Busy Bees this term to make it more comfortable for the cute little ones to spend their school day.

The Sleep Room and Eating areas have been decorated to stimulate their minds & imagination.

Ladybirds and Busy Bees had a fun-filled Little Dig Day this term 16th September, 2016. It was a really nice, bright sunny day when the Ladybirds and the Busy Bees took part in our Little Dig Day. We planted seeds, herbs and flowers as well as a banana tree.

The young minds learnt how plants grow and what they need to survive.

The children will take it in turns to care for the plants and in a few years’ time, the little “green fingers”, their parents and everyone at the school will hopefully be able to taste any of the fruits that are produced.

Early Years’ PE in Sports Hall Our incredibly cute Ladybirds and Busy Bees are engaging in some energetic and exciting PE activities every week.

In one of their sessions, they had their own little bootcamp which included a pram-racing competition.

Here at ISS, We believe that if we can show children from an early age how enjoyable and interesting learning is, then they will go onto enjoying school and education for the rest of their lives.

www.iss.ac.th

Primary School News

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Primary welcomes new Mandarin classes with Mooncake Festival ISS welcomes a new language class led by Miss Teow Ching Fang (Esther) who is now teaching Mandarin twice a week for Primary and Seniors. We are enjoying her creative lessons, which included the recent Mooncake Festival celebration.

The Mooncake Festival (Zhongqiujie) is an annual celebration of the full moon — a symbol of happiness, prosperity and family reunion in China.

The festival falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, which is usually by end of September in the Western Calendar.

The moon seems fuller and brighter than the rest of the year, making mid-autumn the best time for moon gazing. The Chinese tradition is to eat mooncake and play paper lantern on the day.

The primary and senior students had the opportunity to bake their own mooncakes in the cooking room, which they happily shared with friends & family.

New Head Girl & Head Boy and Student Council officially announced Year 6 primary students held an assembly on 2nd Sept 2016 to present their head boy and head girl manifestos to the whole primary school.

All our prospective head Our new Primary Head Boy and Head Girl: boy and head girl candidates presented themselves Zachary Lees and Emily Stone with confidence and grace.

The teachers later on appointed the head boy and head girl based on their speeches. With the help of the Student Council, they will be in charge of projects and activities in the Primary Department.

It’s a special time for our head boy, head girl candidates as well as their parents.

We need to encourage our children to become effective leaders of the future.

The leaders of tomorrow: Primary Student Council 2016-17 Reception

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Students from Reception to Year 6 voted their representatives this year to form our ISS Primary Student Council. This body will lead the Primary Department and make valid contribution to events and activities — with the support of their teachers and parents.

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Primary Student Council during their first meeting.

Year 2 young scientists’ workshop This term, the Year 2 class has been learning about Materials and their properties. On Friday, 7th October, the students had a very special Science workshop.

The workshop started by looking at what makes certain Materials float or sink. They formulated theories, investigated them and discussed the idea of gravity as a force. The students also learnt the meaning of density and buoyancy.

After that they were challenged by their teachers to get the wizard Newton across the shark invested ocean in a boat full of heavy treasure.

During their Science workshop, Year 2 students were tasked to design and make a boat that could carry a heavy load while crossing the ocean. They solved a scientific riddle related to the topic in order to win a treasure chest full of chocolate coins.

They did an awesome job and Newton was able to safely cross the ocean.

www.iss.ac.th

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Senior School News

Seniors’ new, challenging reward system

Clubs & ECA updates

Every Monday, Seniors are greeted by this big blue bulletin board that shows the best performing student, form and year. It motivates them to excel each week. We have also divided the seniors into two houses, Cambridge and Oxford, who battle it out on the basketball court, football pitch and other in-house competitions as scheduled by their teachers.

We have moved some sports clubs to break time hours. Please check the board for updates.

(Click on the UWC logo to visit their website and check out their campus in Phuket and curriculum.)

A-level partnership with UWC Thailand 22nd September 2016. Mr Julian Whiteley, the Headmaster of UWC Thailand (formerly Phuket International Academy) paid a visit to our school to present our parents in years 9 to 11 our recently signed Sixth form Partnership, which will start in September 2017.

ISS has become an affiliate of Thailand’s first United World College.

Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better

Senior Student Council 2016-17

This is excellent news as UWC is a network of prestigious schools and colleges around the world. Once our students have completed their IGCSE exams, they will have a guaranteed place at UWC Thailand.

President

Vice President

Event Planner

Year 8 digging deeper into Shakespeare’s comedy: Twelfth Night Year 8 students are studying Shakespeare’s comedy Twelfth Night. In a recent workshop, they learnt about petrarchan love and how Duke Orsino is more in love with the thought of love, rather than the object of his affection Olivia.

The students presented a speech about something they love (no matter how trivial) that they have lost and overtly express their desire to regain and relive their experiences in a dramatic way.

Kudos to our year 8 class for their performances in front of their peers. We are looking forward to see a full presentation from you this year.

In PE, students participated in a Bootcamp Inter-house Dodgeball match Years 7 & 8 were treated to a gruelling "miliary-style" boot camp run by Suzetta Drodz and Coach Chris as part of their PE. Thank you Suzetta and Chris for planning this activity and pushing the students to their limits.

“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.”

— John F. Kennedy

We like to have fun after a hard day’s work at school. Senior students with their Science and ICT teachers play sports regularly.

We managed to grab some snapshots of their enjoyment.

www.iss.ac.th

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Sports and Subject-related Trips

ISS Sharks dominate the pool at Phuket swimming competition 20 September 2016. ISS Sharks participated in their first swimming competition this year at the Thanyapura Sports Complex in Phuket. Our amazing team of swimmers showed such strength of mind and team spirit. Big well done to all of them. Special mention to some students who particularly stood out: 

Elouan and Theo achieved top results of 80 points out of a possible 80



Tom and Tatiana finished 2nd place in their respective age groups

Overall, everyone posted credible results putting the Sharks in medal position running into the second session of Thanyapura League competition.

We have yet to confirm if the next round on November 5th is on. If it is, let’s give it our best. Thank you Mr Withers, Coach Bianca and Chris for your outstanding commitment to our swimmers.

For some video clips of the Swimming competition, click here: https://goo.gl/H1iBND

Getting ready for Football in Phuket ISS Students Ace Bridge games ISS is proud to be part of another big event in Phuket.

144 teams from 38 International schools in 12 countries will be competing in this annual football event this year.

Students from the primary and senior years who have joined the ECA will be representing our school in this competition which will be on 24th to 26th November 2016. Win or lose, this will be a memorable experience for our children and a great opportunity to meet other students from other countries.

Please help us motivate and build up the confidence of our representatives in this event.

Nice afternoon spent at Big Buddha 4th October 2016 — Year 2 visited Big Buddha. The students were welcomed by a very friendly Monk, who chanted and gave them blessing to keep them safe. They were also given some good luck colorful bracelets to remember the trip.

The kids went up some 20 to 30 steps and walked around the amazing building. Lots of questions from inquisitive young minds.

They talked about the materials used to build this wonderful landmark and the history of the Big Buddha structure.

The trip ended with the kids sketching their favourite part of the Big Buddha landmark and all left having learnt something new about Big Buddha and the materials with which it was built.

On 7th October selected ISS students played in the weekly pairs tournament at The Polo Club in Bangkok.

One of Thailand's most experienced players who came up against our youngest superstar, Kafield, said "I have played in Bridge tournaments all over the world — but never against an 8 year old". Well done Kafield.

Bridge is the most popular card game all over the world.

Studies showed that playing bridge can increase academic ISS students in blue and yellow shirts with all the performance, other school representatives at the Polo Club Bangkok lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and can even improve a person’s immune system.

At Mummified Monk for Egypt Day 14th October 2016. Year 4 successfully finished their study of ancient Egypt with an Egyptian-themed fun day. The day started with a trip to the south of Samui to see the Mummy of Koh Samui’s most famous Monk, Loung Pordaeng. He died in 1973 while meditating, and 43 years later to this day, his body is still well preserved in a glass casket.

Parents were also invited in to admire the fantastic Egyptian displays the pupils created as part of their topic.

www.iss.ac.th

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Board of Honour

Celebrating ISS Students’ Academic Excellence We are very proud of all our students who have been working really hard to excel not just in sports and other activities, but especially in academics. This half-term, we have had inter-house Spelling Bee and outside Maths competition and in each activity students showcased exceptional determination and brightness.

We have also received excellent results for our IGCSE students this year. It is with great pride that we send off these students to a bigger world knowing they will do well in their chosen field of study.

These excellent results would not be possible without the dedicated and passionate teachers who have ignited our students’ love of education. A very big thanks to our talented and dedicated team of teachers.

IGCSE Results and notable students 2016 has been an exceptional year for our IGCSE students with over 70% A*, A, and B grades. Those students who attended ISS throughout the senior school (from Year 7 through to Year 11) achieved an even more impressive 95% A*, A and B grades across all subjects.

Testament to their hard work is that all of our students gained the required grades for entry into their next chosen place of education.

Very proud of our students, Shania (left) and Laura (right) who both attended ISS for the entire Senior school years. Laura visited us recently to pick up her certificate.

Particular mention must go to Laura Kim, who has secured a scholarship at the prestigious Harrow International School in Bangkok to study A Levels, and to Shania Xavier, who will now attend The One Academy in Malaysia to study Art.

Congratulations to all of our former students, and of course the very best of luck to our current Year 11 class taking IGCSEs in 2017.

Fobisia Maths Competition: 6th place out of 27 schools in Asia Throughout the month of October a group of four Year 6 students represented our school in the Fobisia Maths Challenge 2016. They competed against 27 international schools across Asia. The children worked extremely hard to complete a video entry; an individual exam; and a group activity — all of which being extremely challenging and thought provoking.

The aim of the Fobisia Federation is to promote excellence, high achievement and good practise through British-style education in schools. Thanks to Miss Paterson’s dedication in training our students, we were extremely proud to enter our own team of hardworking mathematicians to represent ISS. Miss Paterson proudly added: “I would like to take this opportunity to share with you the grace, dedication and creativeness that these blossoming youngsters demonstrated when meeting, filming and testing for this competition.” Congratulations on securing the 6th place overall. They have without doubt demonstrated themselves as great ambassadors for Maths at ISS.

I look forward to competing again next year with another group of talented mathematicians.

Primary Spelling Bee finalists & winners The Spelling Bee competition began with an optional qualifying round for Years 2 to 6. A total of 15 children went through to the final round which took place on Friday 28th October in the Drama Hall. There were 15 finalists divided into 3 houses: Einstein, Newton and Darwin. Each house had a representative from each year group. It was very much a team event with the last house standing being the overall winner.

Congratulations to our Primary Spelling Bee winners. Louis (Y2), Leonardo (Y3), Leo (Y4), Sandy (Y5) and Jet (Y6) representing the house of Newton. It was a truly exciting event and a special mention should be made to all of our finalists. You were all fantastic and qualifying for the final was an exceptional achievement in itself. All of the Primary teachers and students are very proud of you.

www.iss.ac.th

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Upcoming Events at ISS

INSPIRE Workshops - Primary students and parents Important Dates 31 Oct to 04 Nov Inspire Workshops (Primary)

05 Nov Swimming competition Phuket 07 Nov to 09 Nov Parents Evening (primary) 11 Nov Remembrance Day 14 Nov Loy Krathong 24 Nov to 26 Nov BIS Phuket Football competition 05 Dec His Majesty’s birthday 08 Dec End of ECA’s 08 Dec End of private music lessons 06 Dec to 09 Dec World Religions Week

13 Dec Christmas Carols, Music & Dance 16 Dec End of term

For new parents, Inspire Workshops are part of our tradition here at ISS where teachers, parents, and students engage in academic activities that are challenging and entertaining.

The goal of Inspire is to encourage our parents to be even more involved in their children’s education and provide them with support tools to enhance their child’s individual learning plan. This has historically been successful and the feedback we get from parents have been overwhelmingly positive.

We are looking forward to welcoming the parents of our primary students in this year’s workshop.

Last year’s Inspire Workshop. As you can see, parents and students learn together, which is truly inspiring for our students as they display the knowledge they acquired through school.

Remembrance Day: something to remember at ISS Remembrance Day, also known as Armistice Day, marks the day World War One ended, at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, back in 1918. A twominute silence is held at 11am to remember the people who have died in wars — not just in WWI but all those who lost their lives in conflicts. This is a good way to remind our children how fortunate we are to live in a relatively peaceful place. There are still places in other parts of the world where countries are at war. Syria, for example, has been at war since 2011, with over 400,000 people who have lost their lives.

Poppies, the red flowers, are used as a symbol of Remembrance Day as they grew on the battlefields after World War I ended. Poppies are also used to raise money for servicemen and women who are still alive but whose lives have been changed by war.

Poppies are worn to show others that you are remembering those who died for their country.

The charity that runs the Poppy Appeal is called The Royal British Legion. Each year it is the role of the head boy and head girl to raise money for the Poppy Appeal.

Understanding different beliefs: World Religions Week Every year, ISS promotes the awareness of our students to different beliefs and religions through our World Religions Project. We believe that this is essential for children to grow up understanding their own beliefs and showing respect to other religions.

Over the years and generations, conflicts have been ignited by different perspective, but we can avoid this if we learn to acknowledge our differences. And it’s always best to start with the young.

Last year, the students learned about Christmas, Eid al World Religions Day 2015 Fitr, Hanukkah, Diwali and Vesak. As part of their study, each class teacher choose one special celebration to focus on. Looking forward to welcoming our parents on Friday 9th December 2016.

To be advised . . .

ISS is still awaiting to be advised from the organisers whether the following events will take place as scheduled. We shall keep you posted.

 

Swimming competition in Phuket (05 Nov) BIS Phuket Football Competition (24 Nov to 26 Nov)

www.iss.ac.th

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After-School & Weekend Clubs News

Samba Kicks: A big thanks to everyone who joined our Health Camp

Samba Kicks held a kids’ camp, Body in Motion, during half-term break (17th to 21st Oct) centred on health and the human body.

The children enjoyed learning about how the body works and how to take care of it to be better in sports and games. Each day featured a different sport, i.e., hockey, football, badminton, and lots of active games and workouts to develop their muscles, strength, and stamina. It was a wonderful week. Samba Kicks by Cliff currently provides Brasilian football/futsal and Zumba as ECA’s to students of ISS.

Announcement from Aces Bridge & Chess Club The achievements of the Academy members in Bangkok has encouraged more young ISS pupils to take the game seriously. Two of the promising newcomers are just seven years old. To provide the younger member with a comfortable environment and keen competition they need to develop their skills and realize their potential, a separate building next to the existing club in Walking Street, Maenam, will be used from 15 November as the ISS bridge and chess club.

Such a facility will enable the children to attend bridge and chess lessons - and participate in their own junior tournaments - at weekends and throughout the school holidays. Rest assured that this will not affect lunchtime and Saturday morning bridge club sessions which will continue at the school during term time.

If you require further information, contact Trevor at 086 312 9370 or visit their website: http://www.bridgewebs.com/aceschess/

Please contact the providers directly.

If you would like to offer a new club at ISS contact Victoria @ ISS : activities@iss.ac.th or call: 086204 2220

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Koh Samui classified and events

Run to Give 2016 - New Scheduled Date Run to Give is a non-profit organisation, which gives the proceeds of their events to various charities. This year, Run to Give will be giving revenues (after expenses) to Tesaban 1 Wat Lamai school to support the construction of a new building.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF SAMUI 141/21 Moo 6 Bophut Koh Samui Surat Thani 84320 Thailand School secretary Tel: +66(0) 77 48 45 48 secretary@iss.ac.th

Contact our admissions department: Eng/French: Victoria admissions@iss.ac.th

The team visited ISS on 10th and 11th October to take race registrations from the ISS community. The run, which was originally scheduled on 16th October had been cancelled due to the passing of the King. Run to Give just announced their new schedule, which is on 27th November 2016. If you would like to join this event, please contact the organisers directly at 077 915 555 or email kosita.boonyakiat@starwoodhotels.com. You can also like and follow their Facebook page: Run to Give 2016 - The Mad Hatter

ISS commemorates the life of King Bhumibol Adulyadej We are grateful to have been able to open the doors of the International School of Samui to locals and expatriates during the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

We have witnessed the kindness and generosity of the King over the years that we’ve been living in this country. We sincerely send our condolences to the entire Thai nation.

Thai: Khun Aom

If you happen to be at school and haven’t written your message or dedication to the King, please feel free to drop by the desk set-up especially for the King.

Russian: Marina

Our staff are ensuring that this place is well-kept and well-maintained to remind our staff, teachers, students and parents of the life of a Great King.

admissionsoffice@iss.ac.th russianpr@iss.ac.th

TAT planning a mass candlelight vigil for New Year Samui Times reports “No fireworks at New Year— expect candles nationwide, say TAT” According to their article, the Tourism Authority of Thailand is moving ahead with plans for a mass candlelight vigil for New Year following the death of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on October 13th.

Fireworks have been used after the countdown for the new year but next year, candles will be used to usher in 2017 as it will be more respectful.

TAT director Yuthasak Suphasorn said that he had instructed his deputy to contact business owners in the Rachaprasong area of Bangkok (the RSTA) to find a way to make the celebration work.

He said it was necessary to get this sorted as soon as possible as tour companies needed to make plans well in advance.

Other areas of the capital will follow suit such as at Asiatique and Sanam Luang as well as big upcountry celebrations in Phuket, Chiang Mai and Sukhothai.

The International School of Samui turns 10 in January ISS will be proud to be celebrating its 10 year anniversary in January 2017. To mark this milestone ISS will be organising a special event at school hopefully to coincide with Children’s Day which is still being thought-out and planned. We will keep you posted on the exciting updates.

www.iss.ac.th