March Newsletter

Mar

20 24

Message from Acting Head of School Dear Dusit Families, We have almost reached the end of a very busy Term 2 at St Andrews Dusit so I’m sure you are all excited for the Songkran holiday.

In this message, I’d like to focus on a Dusit value that I have seen in abundance this term: success!

Success can take all shapes and sizes. It can be achieving something that you have been trying to master for a long time. It can be getting faster or more accurate or getting a higher score. It can simply be having a go at something that you’ve never done before and not falling flat on your face. This term, we have seen examples of all of these.

In January, students in KS2 completed a standardised reading assessment. This helps to show the teachers how successful their teaching has been in supporting the students to build vocabulary and develop a good understanding of what they read.

The results were very impressive, with 84% of all students at expected or above levels in English reading. As an inclusive school, with the majority of our students not speaking English as a first language, this is a remarkable achievement!

Whilst academic success is important, providing other opportunities for students to have success is a huge part of creating ‘the happiest community.’ Term 2 has seen students successfully performing on stage at Dusit’s Got Talent and on the pitch at TISAC and the Green Valley Games. The Valentine’s Day charity bake sale saw students plan and lead a successful fundraiser and get to eat some tasty treats while the Eco warriors introduced initiatives to encourage us to waste less food and paper.

In Nursery, our new Term 2 class have successfully navigated their journey away from home and into the school, while Reception showed us how much they can learn in 100 days!

Thinking about our successes is important. It helps to keep us on the right track and stay motivated even when times get a bit more challenging. Thank you all for being part of our successes and cheering us on all the way!

Have a fantastic holiday, Ms Louise Stout

Songkran

🎉 Splashes of joy and laughter filled the air at St. Andrews Dusit today as our Year 1 students celebrated Songkran in vibrant spirit! 🌺💦 In a colorful assembly that captured the essence of Thai culture, our young ones embraced the tradition of Songkran with enthusiasm and grace.

From traditional Thai dances to heartfelt blessings, every moment was a testament to the rich heritage we hold dear.

🎶

Following the assembly, the campus came alive with the playful sounds of water splashing and giggles echoing in the air.

Our students joyously engaged in the timeless tradition of water play, spreading happiness and goodwill to one another.

🌊💧

Today, as we honor the Thai New Year, let us cherish the traditions that bind us together and celebrate the beauty of unity and joy.

Songkran

Songkran

EVENT CALENDAR 22nd April

Term 3 start

22nd - 26th April - Art week 1st May -

Public holiday

2nd May -

Y3 Trip to Suan Sampran

3rd May -

Art week assembly

SCAN HERE FOR SCHOOL CALENDAR

Nursery

What a fantastic half term we have had! The children have shown great confidence, independence and growth this term!

We started off the term by celebrating Book Week, the children engaged in storytelling, role play and crafts. The highlights being the parade and parents joining in and celebrating our learning. Look at us all dressed up looking fabulous!

Throughout the term we engaged in projects such as The Angelfish car garage, The Clownfish pizza parlour and the Rainbow fish colour and shape monsters. The children have developed their problem solving, language and fine motor skills through these projects. Well done Nursery!

Nursery

KG

KG have had a great half term learning all about different life cycles.

We started by learning about ourselves as babies and how we grow and then moved onto the lifecycle of a plant. Following that, our learning was enthused by the story of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ where we studied the life cycle of caterpillars.

We had our very own caterpillars in the classroom and watched them turn from caterpillars to chrysalis’, but unfortunately very few turned into butterflies. However, we excitedly visited the Bangkok Butterfly House where we got to observe all the stages, even setting the butterflies free.

It was so much fun!

KG

We have continued our learning by looking at how spring is celebrated in different countries, this has included Holi, Easter and Songkran. We have been inquisitive and asked and answered questions such as ‘did you know that frogspawn turns into tadpoles?’ Also, ‘what might hatch from the egg? Could it be a duckling or might it be a chick?’

Happy Easter and Happy Songkran from all of KG.

Reception

The Reception classes are now fully immersed in the world of fairy tales. Fairy tales are an old favourite of children and their scenarios and characters are timeless. These tales have been translated into many languages, making them accessible to all. They are a wonderful avenue for our classes to explore settings, characters, plot, problems and, even morals together. They also inspire students to fantasise and bring colour to their conversations, writing, and imaginative play.

This past month, we have been boosting our communication and language skills by retelling and re-writing fairy tales, using the Talk for Writing and Drawing Club methods, along with story maps and hand motions. These techniques help the children not only to remember texts, but also to understand story structure better. Writing skills are flourishing as we apply our new blending and phonics skills. It is exciting to watch our students start to write short sentences independently!

Reception

Our fairy tale stories also pair nicely with our goals in mathematics and understanding the world and expressive arts. We have delved into addition, non-standard measurement, bean life-cycles, simple engineering challenges and more.

Good job Reception classes, for your hard work this past month! We are all looking forward to a festive, “splashy” Songkran celebration as Term 2 wraps up.

Year 1

Happy Spring Term 2.2 everybody!

We are seeing unbelievable progress! We are now able to use the skills that we have been working on all year and are beginning to see some fantastically independent readers, writers and mathematicians!!

This term in our English lessons we have been working from the story of ‘The Very Last Castle’ by Travis Jonker and learnt the story before beginning to innovate the introduction to the story to create our own versions. We have used verbs, adjectives and nouns in our writing to describe our painted castles.

We’ve looked at onomatopoeia to convey noise in a story.

Year 1

In our maths lessons we have focussed on multiplication, division, finding halves and quarters of 2D shapes and amounts. This is already advanced for our year group but the children enjoyed it and will be ready for the next skills to learn.

Also this term, we have learnt a lot about the geographical history of Thailand by following the changes of Siam during the Rattanakosin period. We have learnt about the 4 capital cities of Siam; Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Thonburi and finally Bangkok. We have tracked the changes in the map of Thailand, whilst studying the reasons for each change, including the Burmese-Siamese wars and King Taksin the Great.

In our science lessons we have been answering many questions using scientific inquiry; conducting experiments, observing changes over time, identifying and classifying as well as recording and collecting data.

In PSHE, we have been looking at different types of relationships. We have learnt about making friends, helping others to be part of a group, showing respect through greetings and being our own best friends.

Thank you for all of your hard work and patience during this term. See you next term, for our final term in Year 1!

Year 2

Editors and Chiefs A significant learning curve for children in Year 2 is to understand that writing is a multistep process. In Year 2, we have been spending a great deal of time and effort on perfecting our ability to plan and edit. We work with the full class to learn a text map. We then work independently to create our own ideas for our writing. The children can then use the learned text map and make small edits and improvements to use their own ideas and plan their own piece of writing.

Finally, in teams of 2, with one person being Arthur the author and the other being Edith the editor, the children have been learning to use checklists to check their writing and highlight the key features they should have in their texts.

Edith helps Arthur by checking for missing punctuation, key topic spelling words and ensuring sentences make sense and are punctuated correctly. They then swap roles to focus on the other person's writing.

Year 2

This type of editing and feedback allows the students to take ownership of their writing and develop a sense of pride in the work they have put in to improve and correct their writing. We used these steps when creating information reports about Penguins during our topic of ICE and also in our cloud machine instruction in our Made For It topic. Who knows, maybe one day one of these children might be an editor at a publishing house?

Year 3

Prepare to be transported to the mystical world of Ancient Egypt as our Year 3 Egyptologists showcase their extraordinary talents!

With unwavering enthusiasm, they have meticulously crafted a stunning collection of artifacts, including a life-size sarcophagus, majestic pyramids, mesmerising death masks, and intricately designed canopic jars. Their dedication to authenticity and attention to detail shine through in every masterpiece, offering a glimpse into the rich history and culture of this ancient civilization.

Year 3

But the adventure doesn't end there!

In addition to their impressive creations, our budding historians have delved into the secrets of hieroglyphic codes, adding an extra layer of intrigue to their preparations. Join us as we embark on an unforgettable journey at the Year 3 Egyptian Museum, where the wonders of the past come alive in the hands of these passionate learners...

Year 4

The recent half term kicked off with an exhilarating Book Week, where we immersed ourselves in poetry that seamlessly complemented our English studies, particularly focusing on describing storms through figurative language.

Crafting a collective class poem filled with vivid imagery was a highlight, enhanced by actions and even musical accompaniment during our performance for parents. Meeting author Clive Pigott and engaging in Buddy Reading with KG added to the enchanting atmosphere. Equally remarkable was the Year 4 Squirrels' class assembly, which whisked us through history, spotlighting inventors and emphasizing teamwork. In English, we delved into instruction writing, aligning perfectly with our exploration of inventions in Topic.

Year 4

Fractions took center stage in Maths before transitioning to decimals, while Computing sessions honed our coding skills using the Logo app.

In Science, we uncovered the intricacies of sound, from vibrations to the inner workings of our ears. A highlight was the visit from Ruben Meerman, The Surfing Scientist, who captivated us with tales of the periodic table's alphabet and handson lessons about atoms and molecules.

As we eagerly anticipate the Songkran event and future topics, this half term has undoubtedly enriched our Year 4 journey with unforgettable experiences and invaluable learning opportunities.

Year 5

Term 2 has been full of new and exciting learning for the Year 5 students.

In English, we have been learning about myths, focusing on Perseus and Medusa. The children have been busy planning and creating their own myths, creating some wonderful story maps and mythical creatures as part of the process. As a class, we are reading ‘The Firework-Makers Daughter’ by Philip Pullman and the children have been exploring character development and how the author does builds on this throughout the story.

In maths, we learned how to calculate the area and perimeter of different shapes and took our learning outside to see how this skill is of practical use. We then moved on to learning about different angles and the children have been loving using protractors to measure and draw angles of different sizes.

Year 5

In science, we have been learning about Animals Including Humans. The children have been investigating the human life cycle, looking at the different stages we go through and how we develop and change throughout each stage.

They have shown their teamwork skills by working in groups to create a book to showcase their learning.

In topic, we are looking at the dynasties of ancient China - the children have produced timelines, brochures and presentations using Google Slides. Keep up the great work Year 5!

Year 6

Term 2 has been jam packed full of learning in Year 6!

In English, we have been reading ‘Pig Heart Boy’ - a book that brings up a lot of interesting talking points, such as animal testing and prejudice. The children have really impressed us by taking part in debates, conscience alleys and freeze frame Q and A’s, which have allowed them to explore the book in greater depth, in preparation for writing emails and an explanation text.

We had great fun during the recent Book Week, honing our poetry skills and across the course of the 2 week poetry unit, the children produced some lovely verses, some of which they even performed in front of the school.

Year 6

In maths, we have been learning about percentages, including converting fractions to percentages and decimals, and finding percentages of amounts.

There is more of a focus on word problems and reasoning now, and the children continue to impress by tackling these trickier questions with great success. In science, we are learning about the human body, including the components of the blood and how the heart works. We have looked at diffusion and osmosis and also investigated how our heart rate changes with exercise. In topic, we drew timelines of personal and world events and even created our own interactive family trees using Google Slides. In ICT we are getting ready to record our own podcasts! As we move ever closer to Term 3, we continue to be inspired by these bright, young minds. Keep it up, Year 6!