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10/29/2021
Upcoming Events November
Message from the Head of School
5th - School Day
Dear Dusit Community,
19th Loy Krathong
We are so excited that we have been given permission to welcome our students back onto campus from Monday the 1st November 2021.
*Please note that we will review the government guidance regarding social distancing, COVID-19 and watch to see if there are any spikes in local case transmissions.
It is really important that all parents sending their children back to school read the Reopening Booklet and download the ThaiSaveThai app and the Kids Up collection app—both links are in the booklet here: https://drive.google.com/file/ d/1FtxHZWeoyOcQWYOIw98gePs-Cm4Xs49j/view. Please also see the Dusit Bear video showing steps to coming back onto campus and share with your child: https://youtu.be/4CuKsEckxWw As per the Reopening Q&A session, no staff, students or parents (Nursery and KG only) will be allowed onto campus unless we have received a negative ATK test result. These must be uploaded to the correct year group link, shared in the Reopening Booklet above. Please ensure that these are uploaded by 6pm on Wednesday and Sunday. As always, please do not hesitate to contact myself or Mr Paul if you have a health and safety concerns or your class teacher regarding any learning questions. Your class teacher will share the timetable for next week tomorrow and, for any students remaining at home, the ‘This Week We Will’ document with Zoom/Google Meet lesson links. It is really important that we work together to keep our children safe which means supporting each other by following the guidelines - both safety and car park - so that we can make this transition as successful as possible for all concerned. Looking forward to seeing the children back in school on Monday!
Caroline Ratcliffe
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Creating a Safer Culture: #HowDusitdoesit
We know that being online is a great way for children to keep connected with friends and family, however being online more often can also increase exposure to risk. Recently, there have been a lot of media reports about the new Netflix's
show ‘Squid Game’. This is currently the most watched show in 90 countries and nearly all episodes contain violent and gruesome scenes. Scary media reports can create a sense of alarm which becomes worrying for parents. Although it seems contradictory, it is usually best not to name the frightening content to children, this often makes them want to go and explore it further.
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Creating a Safer Culture: #HowDusitdoesit What is ‘Squid Games?’ The plot centres on a group of adult thieves and gamblers competing against each other in a series of childhood games for a grand cash prize. However, there is a twist to these innocent games. The losing competitors are violently killed off in ways that become more violent as the games grow more intense. Harmful Content in the Show Currently, Squid Games has a rating of 15+ in the UK and 18+ in Asia, as the visual content includes high levels of death, violence, and physical assault. It also has graphic depictions of suicide, murder, and sexual assault.
How does my child know about this? Squid Games has become a popular subject of memes, games and online conversations. It is possible for a child to know all about Squid Game, without actually watching the show. Popular gaming platforms Roblox and Fortnite have also seen a sharp increase in user-designed games recreating those in Squid Game. These can be played by anyone. They are also being heavily live streamed by many gaming streamers on YouTube and Twitch. Parents should be aware that video content from this show is found extensively on TikTok, which could also increase interest in watching the show. Remember: even if you restrict your child from watching Squid Game, they may be able to access content on other platforms.
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Creating a Safer Culture: #HowDusitdoesit
Even if you've talked to your children about screen-time limits and responsible online behaviour, it still can be difficult to manage what they do when you're not there (and even when you are). Parental controls can support you in your efforts to keep your children’s internet experiences safe, fun, and productive. Figuring out what kind of parental control is best is entirely based on your own family's needs. Some families can get by with simple, free browser settings to filter inappropriate content. Some families need help clamping down on screen time. Some parents are happy to spot-check their children’s devices. Have a look at Dusit’s Top tips on Parental Control below.
Here are Dusit’s 3 top tips:
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Creating a Safer Culture: #HowDusitdoesit 1. Online safety measures Children may ask for their parents’ login details or use parents’ devices to download or access apps. Make sure parents and carers set up parental controls and password-protect their devices. Children may set up new social media profiles to keep in touch with friends, family or peers. Set privacy and security settings on social media to prevent personal information being shared with strangers. Also be aware of age restrictions for social media accounts. Facebook UK, Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram is restricted to 13 years and above Whatsapp is restricted to 16 years and above Fortnite is restricted to 12 years and above 2. Keep talking With children using new apps to communicate, it’s important that parents and carers continue to have regular conversations with children about what they are doing online and what social networks, apps and games they are using. You should listen to any worries or anxieties children may have and let them know they can always come to them about anything. 3. Parental controls: Parental controls have been designed to help you manage your child's online activities. There are various types, some of which are free but others which can be bought. However, nothing is totally foolproof so this shouldn't replace the support and guidance you give your child to help keep them safer. For more information and step by step instructions on setting up parental controls, visit our very own St Andrews Tutorials hub St Andrews Tutorial Hub The tutorial hub includes many how to videos and information on Parental set up guidelines here Parental Set Up Guidelines
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Creating a Safer Culture: #HowDusitdoesit
If you would like more information on Online Safety, Please do talk to your class teacher, Miss Sonal or Mr. Steve.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Safeguarding team
Miss Sonal – Safeguarding and Welfare Lead
Mr. Steve – Deputy Safeguarding and Welfare Lead
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Nursery This half term, Nursery have been on so many different adventures. We jumped into our story and visited a farm and helped a farmer pull up his enormous turnip. We used different materials to build three little houses for three little pigs. We used pots and pans to tap out beats and rhythms when helping the three Billy Goats Gruff cross the bridge. We role played as bakers, making our own play dough gingerbread men. We drew a map for Little Red Riding Hood to find her way to grandma’s house, and we have planted some magic beans that have started growing into beanstalks.
We have all had so much fun exploring lots of different fairytales. The children have all transformed their homes into magical worlds with the help of some paint, junk modelling resources and lots of imagination. We’ve made masks and used old clothes to create costumes to dress up as some of our favourite characters, and we’ve created our own small world play areas to retell some of our most loved stories.
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Nursery
We have also been exploring colours and how they can change, as well as different ways we can make marks. The children have become shape experts, being able to identify simple 2D shapes within their environment, and even use
these shapes to make arrangements of them into larger pictures. We have also been enjoying lots of wellbeing activities, such as breathing exercises, yoga, baking and dancing, because who doesn’t feel happy and energised after busting a move or eating some cake? I can’t wait for more exciting adventures with Nursery.
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Kindergarten This term KG have been working on our ‘We are gardeners’ project. By now most of our beanstalks or plants have grown too big for their pots, so we have replanted them into a bigger pots or in our gardens. We now know that plants do not only need water and sunlight, but their roots also need plenty of space to grow under the ground!
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Kindergarten We also had a look at vegetables that we can actually grow in our garden. Some of them grow up and some of them grow down. We had a lot of fun in the kitchen using carrots to bake carrot cupcakes and making a healthy salad! Lastly, we have learnt that most people do not actually grow their own vegetables, but buy them at the supermarket. Farmers with big gardens bring all
their fruits and vegetables to supermarkets for everyone to buy. We had great fun reading the ‘Supertato’ book and used a potato to create our own Supertato hero.
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Kindergarten
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Reception The start of online learning has been a splash! We’ve learnt so much about sea creatures and how to represent them in beautiful pieces of art that we will be sure to treasure forever! We’ve been working very, very hard on our phonics program, and have even
learnt to read and write a few simple words already! In Numeracy, we’ve been practising forming our numbers, making number lines and using them to count one more and one less.
We’ve been getting ready for our next unit on
celebrations, which will begin with Halloween! We’ve been singing some spooky songs and reading silly stories. We are so excited to talk about what we will dress up as and using our imaginations to describe zombies, mummies and witches.
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Reception
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Reception
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Year 1 This half term in Year 1 we have grown from strength to strength. In our English units we have been learning the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, using sequencing, innovation and retell skills to make the story our own. We had some incredibly imaginative responses to these lessons and are so proud of the children’s creativity.
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Year 1 In our maths lessons we have been securing our understanding of place value within ten and are now beginning to learn our number bonds to ten and fact families within ten. This strong basis will help us to move forward with addition and subtraction next half term.
In science we have learnt all about our senses and how we use them. We have enjoyed conducting experiments to taste, smell, see, hear and touch. Each child is showing great perseverance and will to learn. We are excited to see this continue throughout the year. Great job, Year 1 Bears!
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Year 2 Year 2 have had a fantastic first half-term. The Lonely Beast story has provided us with so many cross curricular learning experiences. These past few weeks all of Year 2 have been doing a brilliant job at learning a text map and then have taken it a step further by innovating and creating their very own Lonely Mythical Animal story. We have been blown away by the writing they have produced.
They have become excellent descriptive writers using 2A sentences (two adjectives + a noun) and similes with aplomb.
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Year 2
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Year 2 Our topic this half term has been maps and directions. We created maps tracking The Lonely Beast’s journey from his garden to the city. We also created maps of our homes and have been learning how to give and follow directions. In science, we have been looking at different food groups, creating graphs and learning about animal life cycles. All of the Year 2 Bear Cubs have had a stellar
Term 1.1 and we cannot wait to watch them grow and progress throughout the year. If this term is anything to go by, then the rest of the year will be immense.
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Year 3 What an amazing Term 1 we have had in Year 3, we are so proud to share our student achievements during online learning! In maths, we have consolidated our understanding of place value using Base Ten, counters and pictorial representations. We have begun learning about addition of 3 digit numbers with 1 and 2 digit numbers and subtraction of 1 and 2
digit numbers from 3 digit numbers. Our knowledge of addition and subtraction involving an exchange, crossing 10s and crossing 100s has been strengthened through active class discussions. The children have especially enjoyed their end of week maths games and quizzes.
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Year 3
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Year 3 In Topic, we have learned about global warming and the reasons for its cause. We have thought deeply about how global warming and greenhouse gases affect our Earth and have come up with ideas of how and what we can do to help combat it in our own way.
Our PSHE lessons have helped learn the meaning of empathy and how we can value our family and friends. Our sessions have focused on facing our worries and being grateful for our good fortune.
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Year 4 In Year 4, we have immersed ourselves in the fascinating world of the vicious Vikings! Over the last two weeks, we have finished our adventure story of Arthur and the Golden Rope, researched and created a non-chronological report about the Norse gods, and spent a day in the life of a Viking child! We have been so impressed with the hard work and energy that has gone into this topic.
So now, as we come to the end of the Viking era, we can look back at our Norse god reports, research on Arthur the Great and our life-sized shield designs……. with the pride of a Viking warrior!
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Year 4
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Year 5 Year 5 have continued their amazing learning journey throughout October. They showed immense resilience and lead by example in their assembly. They were able to take on a plethora of assessments while still preparing to do St Andrews, Dusit’s first ever online class assembly! They displayed excellent teamwork and worked with enthusiasm and confidence which made for a fun and hugely
successful assembly.
English lessons saw the children unfolding the world of information leaflets. They were each able to pick a country, business or topic that was important to them and discovered how a simple piece of paper can be turned into detailed insight. Their art skills shone through and Ms. Melisa and Mr. Tim were ecstatic to observe the children taking pride in their work. As part of our reading lessons, the children immersed themselves into a dreamworld in which the animals are still being made as they studied the book ‘Mouse, Bird, Snake, Wolf by David Almond. They were able to make predictions, discuss morals and even took an opportunity to create and describe some completely new animals of their own.
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Year 5 In maths, the students have been relentlessly practising methods and strategies to tackle the most difficult of questions surrounding addition and subtraction by applying what they have learnt in class. They were able to add and subtract numbers with more than 4-digits as well as unravel word problems and find solutions.
The Year 5 virtual classrooms came alive while diving deeper into the world of
natural science. The children explored the weird and wonderful life cycles of insects, amphibians, mammals, birds and some animals that don’t quite fit the bill like the platypus, echidna and the immortal jellyfish.
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Year 5
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Year 6 Year 6 Eagles have been working extremely hard this month! From their classwork, Screen-Free days, Global Be Well Day and our assessments, I hope everyone enjoyed a well deserved October break. In maths, we have continued to learn about division. We investigated different strategies and used our knowledge of factors and multiples to play guessing games against a computer.
In English, we peer-edited and published our persuasive essays. There were some very passionate and convincing arguments on a range of topics, from zoos to the decision of the Varmint character in our class book. We then applied the skills we learned about persuasive writing in some fun Kahoot quizzes, before choosing a topic that we felt strongly about to write a second persuasive piece. There were some fascinating pieces about gaming, screen time, comics and pets!
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Year 6
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Year 6
We have also started a new book called The Last Wild, by Piers Torday. It has some very interesting connections to our previous book, Varmints, as well as our science and topic issues. It has provoked some very topical conversations!
In Topic, we learned about zoos and some of the conditions in which animals live. Students researched animals they would like to help in Thailand, and also learned about some unusual animals that can be found in our class country of Japan.
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Year 6
In science, we practised creating our own classification keys using different types of sweets, carefully thinking about their characteristics and useful yes/no questions. We then looked at some very unusual animals and learned how to describe them in scientific terms.
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Year 6 In PSHE, we have learned about our wants and needs, and what conditions need to be met for us in order to be successful in our learning. We then worked on creating a class charter that would consider our rights and responsibilities as learners.
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PE Despite being online, it has been a wonderful Term 1.1 in the PE department. We started the year focusing on the Olympic Legacy following the great success in Tokyo over the summer. We looked at the events that took place and made our very own versions that could take place at home, including track and field events, curling, floor gymnastics and hockey. For Global Be Well Day, we slowed the pace down and participated in some yoga. This was truly amazing to see the children take part and be so focused and relaxed whilst also showing the knowledge of the different poses too. For the final week of term, we focused on fitness and different training styles. The children took part in a HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) session and gave their all throughout. I look forward to Term 1.2 and look forward to seeing you all next week!
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ECO INFO
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Superstars of the Month
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Superstars of the Month
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Superstars of the Month