Newsletter 29th Sep 2023

Dear Parents,

What a busy start to Term 1 we have had with coffee mornings, baseline assessments, celebrations for Wai Kru and Global Be Well Day! Thank you to those of you that joined us for the parent the coffee mornings, our leadership team have really enjoyed sharing information around our curriculum, how we embed our Dusit values through learning and, celebrating our assessment data!

In addition to the coffee mornings, Mr. Tiago and Khun Apple led an EAL information workshop for parents and talked about the research behind language acquisition, why we don’t have an English only policy at Dusit and how we can help our children to learn new languages and improve their English skills.

This week there have been many fun activities taking place linked to wellbeing and educating our children (and parents!) around wellbeing; the sense of feeling content: socially, emotionally and physically flourishing. Today, our teachers planned a carousel of activities in each phase of the school linked to the six areas that we are focusing on from our Be Well Charter copied below. Please read on to learn more about how we balance the use of technology at Dusit and ways that we are educating our Dusit students to understand what Digital Wellbeing means.

Have a great weekend and take time to enjoy your wonderful children! :)

Caroline Ratcliffe

At St Andrews Dusit, we know that in order for students to learn, they need to feel safe, healthy and happy. To help us ensure that we are doing this comprehensively, the school uses a programme called Jigsaw starting in KG and up to Year 6. We have found this programme to be a natural companion to our Dusit values and further embed our school vision.

What is Jigsaw and how does it work?

Jigsaw is a whole-school approach and embodies a positive philosophy and creative teaching and learning activities to nurture children’s development as compassionate and well-rounded human beings as well as building their capacity to learn.

Jigsaw brings together PSHE Education, Relationships and Health Education, emotional literacy, mindfulness, social skills and spiritual development. Designed to have all year groups work on the same theme at the same time at their own level, we are able to integrate assemblies, displays and songs to support the theme throughout Primary. There are six units and each year group is taught one lesson per week. All lessons are delivered in an age- and stage-appropriate way so that they meet children’s needs. The first unit, which is now underway, is ‘Being Me in my World.’

Sonal and I will be delivering an introductory Jigsaw parent workshop at the end of October if you would like to know more. Details to follow soon!

You can also access the Jigsaw website at this address: https://jigsawpshe.com/home

Thanks for taking the time to read this,

Louise Stout Deputy Head of School

At St Andrews Dusit, we know that in order for students to learn, they need to feel safe, healthy and happy. To help us ensure that we are doing this comprehensively, the school uses a programme called Jigsaw starting in KG and up to Year 6. We have found this programme to be a natural companion to our Dusit values and further embed our school vision.

What is Jigsaw and how does it work?

Jigsaw is a whole-school approach and embodies a positive philosophy and creative teaching and learning activities to nurture children’s development as compassionate and well-rounded human beings as well as building their capacity to learn.

Jigsaw brings together PSHE Education, Relationships and Health Education, emotional literacy, mindfulness, social skills and spiritual development. Designed to have all year groups work on the same theme at the same time at their own level, we are able to integrate assemblies, displays and songs to support the theme throughout Primary. There are six units and each year group is taught one lesson per week. All lessons are delivered in an age- and stage-appropriate way so that they meet children’s needs. The first unit, which is now underway, is ‘Being Me in my World.’

Sonal and I will be delivering an introductory Jigsaw parent workshop at the end of October if you would like to know more. Details to follow soon!

You can also access the Jigsaw website at this address: https://jigsawpshe.com/home

Thanks for taking the time to read this,

Louise Stout Deputy Head of School

DigitalWellBeing

DigitalWellBeing

Digital wellbeing has been a significant focus here at Dusit, in the run up to the Cognita Global Be Well Day (GBWD). This week, we have conducted teacher training and workshops, engaged with parents during our Community Digital Wellbeing Coffee morning, and empowered students to deepen their understanding of wellbeing through lessons, online activities and games. The highlight of our efforts was today’s Primary, interactive Digital Wellbeing Kahoot quiz during our GBWD assembly. This unique online/offline hybrid quiz required students to physically move around the hall to select the correct answers, making it an engaging and educational experience demonstrating their understanding of the key concepts of staying safe, happy and mindful online.

DigitalWellBeing

As educators, it is important that we recognise the potential adverse effects of technology on our lives, by teaching our students the importance of balancing digital proficiency with mindful tech consumption. At St. Andrews Dusit, we develop digital resilience and mindfulness by holistically integrating online safety and digital wellbeing into our PSHE/IT curriculum and everyday classroom teaching. We encourage and welcome the participation of our community, as together, we work to keep everyone physically and mentally well.

The global focus on digital wellbeing within the Cognita network has underscored the necessity of continuous reflection and revitalisation of this topic for all school stakeholders. Throughout the pandemic, digital wellbeing and screen time emerged as strong concerns for parents and teachers alike. Post-Covid, our teaching staff put a strong focus on understanding that maintaining a balance between digital tools and traditional teaching methods is paramount. We achieve this equilibrium by incorporating technology to support and enhance lessons, identifying meaningful applications of technology, integrating IT into general classroom activities, and purposefully employing technnology throughout the school, constantly seeking the input of teachers and support staff.

DigitalWellBeing

In recent conversations with our students, we've observed their awareness of the risks associated with online activities and excessive screen time. We recognise the importance of delving deeper into the impact of digital wellbeing and bridging the gap between the digital and ‘real world’. Our classroom teachers have emphasised that while students understand the fundamentals of maintaining physical and mental health, it's crucial to help them connect these principles within the digital realm. This message extends to all stakeholders within our school community and we are connecting online and offline by “Think of ‘digital wellbeing’ just like ‘real life’ wellbeing”

Be aware of what you digitally “eat” or consume on w long, and what you are interacting with online. Get enough sleep - use apps to control devices. Get enough exercise - apps are great for exercise/gym based content and monitoring physical progress.

Connect with others - here are so many ways to do this aside from Facebook, traditional social media etc.

Find ways to be creative - produce more than you consume “blogs, art, music, articles, build a website, make videos…”

Relax and reduce stress - use apps to help you do this “Calm, Happify, Pacifica, Mind yoga…”

Focus on the present moment - find time to turn off your devices, use focusdo not disturb modes etc Enjoy digitally free time with friends and family

Be aware of danger and hazards - “Be vigilant of online safety and develop resilience!”

Use digital in moderation - find an online and offline balance.

From us all at St. Andrews Dusit, we wish everyone a fun and thoughtful Global Be Well Day

Nursery

The children have been making great progress in settling in and building confidence in their interactions with peers and teachers.

Through our stories of the week and sensory activities, we have been helping the children explore different emotions. During morning circle time, we are delighted to see them expressing themselves by labelling their feelings or placing their photos on feeling monsters.

The children have been thoroughly enjoying sensory play with slime, rice, and water. Engaging with these textures has not only been fun but has also boosted their fine and gross motor skills.

Nursery

T e ge a y continue to develop skills such as climbing, running and jumping. A favourite area is the water play and mud kitchen; there has been some very delicious food made there this term!

We value open communication and appreciate your partnership in supporting the children’s learning and development.

Nursery Team

In KG we have been focussing on our emotions. It is ok to feel a range of different emotions, so we are learning how to control them in a variety of ways. During circle time we have read the book ‘The Colour Monster’ and have asked each other, ‘How are you feeling today?’ We have played games to guess each other's emotions through looking at facial expressions. How can we change from sad to happy? Worried to calm? We have drawn and painted pictures of our emotions and are beginning to grasp an understanding of how to control our feelings.

We loved Global Be Well Day where we were able to express our emotions through a variety of different mediums such as messy play, calm creative activities and free our emotions through music and dance.

Reception

We have been so excited to get back to school and to get to know the new Dolphin, Shark and Whale classes!

We are excited to introduce our Reception team for the 2023-2024 school year. This year in the Dolphin Class we welcome back Ms. Gillian (former Whale class teacher) and Khun Arm. In the Shark class we are delighted to have Mr. Sam (formerly from our nursery) and Khun Rak, while Ms. Courtney and Khun Por have the Whale class. We are also happy to be working with P’Tree on the Reception floor who helps support each class everyday.

We have been spending time getting to know one another and exploring our new classroom and shared learning space - the Ocean Room. In our first week back we have been busy learning about our class animal, reading stories, dancing, painting, playing and so much more!

Reception

In maths, we have been spending time on sorting objects in different ways. We also learned how to identify the ‘rule’ when we see pre-sorted sets of varying complexity. We have been comparing amounts using different strategies and learning to use the words ‘more’ ‘fewer’ and ‘equal’. Maths is also being incorporated into our daily calendar and through our countdown to 100 Days of School!

Our fine motor skills activities are ongoing and we are providing many opportunities for the children to strengthen their finger muscles in our provision areas. We are continually checking how they are holding their pencils, manipulating the scissors and even using utensils during snack times too. We are seeing the children extending and elaborating their play in the Ocean Room and are very proud of their developing sense of responsibility too. Well done Dolphins, Sharks and Whales!

Wow what a month! We have learnt, created and enjoyed so many things. In our maths lessons we have been securing our understanding of place value within ten, using part-whole models to understand how numbers can be partitioned and how this knowledge can help us to solve addition number sentences. We have been focussing on ordinal numbers and have played games and read stories and therefore improved our knowledge of this concept.

In science we have learnt all about our senses and how we use them. We have enjoyed conducting experiments to smell, see, hear. The remaining senses will be explored in our next lessons. Each child is showing great perseverance and willingness to learn. We are excited to see this continue throughout the year. Great job Year One Bears!

The past month has flown past with our Lonely Beast story continuing to drive our learning. We have worked incredibly hard to write a diary entry in our role as the beast and we even created beautiful poetry about the jellyfish the Beast encounters. We edited our writing together and then published our first pieces of work for the year. This was a tricky process and we had to work extremely hard as a team to achieve our outcomes. We feel proud of our wonderful writing!! During Art lessons we have been exploring patterns in animals and we made watercolour paintings of jellyfish which we used to publish our poem. Cross curricular learning has really helped us immerse ourselves into the topic. We loved using maps to discover mythical beasts around the school.

Year3

A Dragon’s Tale!

Over the past few weeks in Year 3, we have been delving into the world of mythical dragons.

We started with a creative poetry session and used lots of amazing adjectives to bring our dragons to life. This led beautifully into our creative art sessions, where we designed and created our own dragon eyes for our new beasts. I think we can all agree that they are magnificent masterpieces!

Year3

Using this new creation, we began our non-chronological text map about our dragon. Starting with our class model text map, we innovated on this, and worked hard to incorporate our new features and dragon characteristics!

What a roaring success!

Year4

The school year is off to an amazing start, and Year 4 has been buzzing with excitement and energy. Let's take a look at all the fantastic things our young learners have been up to this month!

Crafting Stories and Publishing Creativity

In English, our young authors embarked on a creative journey by crafting their own versions of an excerpt from "Arthur and the Golden Rope." They mastered the art of fronted adverbials and spun captivating tales filled with new creatures and adventures The highlight of the month was publishing their fantastic versions of "Arthur's Quest," complete with their unique twists and beautiful illustrations.

Mastering Maths Challenges

In the realm of mathematics, Year 4 set sail on a Maths adventure. They delved into rounding with problem-solving games and questions, applying their knowledge with enthusiasm. They even tackled addition and subtraction, confidently handling exchanges (carrying) and demonstrating impressive mathematical prowess.

Year4

Discovering the Human Digestive System

Science opened the door to exploration as our young scientists delved into the fascinating world of the human digestive system. Discussions ranged from the different types of human teeth to how teeth change as we grow, even venturing into the somewhat redundant wisdom teeth. The students identified various types of teeth and explained their functions. They also extended their thinking by comparing and contrasting teeth across different species and diets.

Creative Vikings and Teamwork

Our Year 4 students became budding designers as they meticulously planned and designed their very own Viking longships Every detail, from hull to mast and those iconic dragon heads, was carefully considered. The task also emphasised the importance of teamwork as students collaborated to solve design challenges, honing their teamwork and problem-solving skills.

What an incredible month it has been in Year 4! We can't wait to see what October brings.

Year4

Year5

September has been a busy month in Year 5 with an exciting trip to the Rama IX museum to learn all about biomes as part of our topic unit.

In topic, we have been busy learning about different biomes around the worldwe created our own biomes, we designed our own plants and animals which have been adapted to survive in our chosen fantastical biome and we are currently creating our own 3D models of our biomes. What fun!

In English, we have been busy writing letters to our classmates to tell them all about our amazing trip to one of our biomes. We wrote about the fascinating animals and plants we saw along the way as well as including lots of our newly learned language features. In maths, we have been using fun and games and activities to show our learning in a different setting.

Year5

In science, we have been learning how plants reproduce by dissecting a plant to identify each part and the role it plays in reproduction. We have been researching the life cycles of different insects and amphibians and learning the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis.

We also had our class assembly where the children put on an amazing show to showcase all of their learning.

Its been a super busy and fun month!

Year6

Our Animal Kingdom unit has seen some amazing learning and work produced by Year 6 Cockatoos and Reedlings! In English, we read the book Varmints by Helen Ward and wrote some persuasive essays using ideas from the book. This connected to our science unit on animal classification where we learned about Linnean classification systems. In topic, we have been learning about endangered species in Thailand in conjunction with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and what we can do to protect them. I’m sure our students will finish this unit with a greater awareness of the beauty and complexity of life on land and life below water around us! During our Maths lessons, we have consolidated our understanding of Place Value, Addition and Subtraction and have begun to look at multiplication and division including timetables, multiples, factors, primes, square and cube numbers. As you can see, we have been super busy!

HouseCaptains