High School: 14 November 2016

Sustainability Week

Last week was Sustainability Week: our Key Stage 3 Geographers explored Sustainability, with each year group having a different focus. Year 7 looked at the future for our planet, Year 8 at climate refugees and Year 9 considered the melting of polar ice. They each developed global, local and national sustainable solutions to their issues and created posters for display. Please look out for the posters around the school campus this week. The students also watched short extracts from the documentary Before the Flood, https://www.beforetheflood.com/.

Onigiri Action was led by Year 7 and Year 8 Japanese students during Sustainability Week. Our Japanese students invited their classmates to make Onigiri (rice balls) and distributed Onigiri cards with messages inside. The Action was primarily for a donation to children in need, but also raises awareness and encourages people to think about food loss and waste in the world. The students enjoyed making Onigiri.

This week I visited some English lessons and was transported, through the power of writing, to various wonderful destinations around the world, imagining the sights, sounds and smells through the students' great descriptive writing. The US Presidential Elections captivated many of our students inside and outside of the classroom. In a Year 8 English lesson the students competitively used the five persuasive devices in two teams. They were creating persuasive sentences using each technique to promote their candidate’s cause.

STA Model United Nations Conference 2016

On Sunday we held the St. Andrews International School Model United Nations (MUN) Conference 2016, hosting delegations from eight international schools from around Bangkok and Pattaya. Over 100 delegates attended - more than double the number at last year’s conference. At the Opening Ceremony in the drama studio, you could sense the excitement in anticipation of a day of political manoeuvring and fast-paced debate.

Eight Committees debated a wide range of topics, from the illegal distribution and import/export of firearms in Somalia to the El nino phenomenon impact on agricultural production in Chile to the issue of refugee orphans in Calais. Our MUN students, from Year 7 all the way to Year 13, have been preparing their Position Papers and learning the etiquette expected at MUN Conferences during their weekly MUN ECA sessions. At the Conference on Sunday there was a mix of experienced and new delegates, which made for a fun and challenging day.

A highlight was the ‘Emergency Issue’ presented to Committees mid-afternoon. In light of Tuesday’s US Presidential Election result, the organisers decided it would be fun for Committees to discuss some statements Donald Trump made during his campaign. The Security Council delegates certainly enjoyed responding to “Let me explain. Let me explain. Somebody hits us within ISIS - you wouldn’t fight back with a nuke?”, and there was some lively discussion of “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” in the two Human Rights Committees!

The day proved to be a lot of fun, and a fantastic learning experience for new and experienced delegates. Our students did a good job of grappling with some complex and incredibly important international issues, and improved their debating skills whilst gaining insight into the workings of the United Nations.

Our student MUN team put a lot of hard work into planning, preparing and running this event, and it was worth it. Congratulations to all involved on an exciting and rewarding conference!

Here is a reflection on the Conference from the STA MUN Secretary General, Mimie:

“As the Secretary General of the STAMUN, I can definitely say that all our hard work for the STAMUN2016 conference has paid off. From the shy and silent delegates we welcomed to our conference at the start, to the confident and bold students they had become by the end, this conference was a life changing experience for many people.

Sure, not everything went as smoothly as we would have liked, but solving the small issues that arose was enjoyable in its own way. Handing out certificates like we were Santa on a mission, witnessing extremely passionate chairs brandishing their gavels at the front of the room, presenting the 'Best Dressed Female Award' to the male delegate of China - today has given us so many precious memories and experiences that, I hope, all attendees will be able to take away as a reminder of their hard work. A reminder that it is upon us to make a change to the world, even if it's just one step at a time.”

- Mimie, Year 13

Operation Smile Mission to Mae Sot, Saturday 5th - Tuesday 11th November

St Andrews has been supporting the work of Operation Smile Thailand for many years now and last week saw a group of Year 13 students return from this year's mission to Mae Sot. It really is a remarkable experience for the students: many of the children being operated on have walked from Burma, and some families from as far away as China, in order to have these life-changing operations. We also had the chance to talk to a number of Karen refugees from the Mae La Camp about the challenges they face and to watch the work of the surgeons as close hand, as they carried out their tremendous work. The students also passed on a cheque for 125,000 Baht to help support future operations. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the fund-raising, through the non-uniform days, Dodgeball competition and other activities.

RIS Invitational Golf Tournament (Sunday 6th November)

Sunday 6th November saw six students - Anisa, Anya, Ashwin, Hui Yi, Martin and Nick - compete in the RIS invitational at Suvarnabhumi Golf Club.

The course was a little damp in places but exquisite tee boxes and greens led to a good day’s golf. All students made improvements on their scores from the previous tournament.

With no tournament until the end of January we will look to schedule some practice rounds for the golf team between now and then.

For photos, please follow this link to our blog:

https://www.nordangliaeducation.com/schools/bangkok/article/2016/11/8/ris-invitational-at-suvarnabhumi-golf-club?ts=636141794875759576

Well played everyone.

U15 FOBISIA Games at Harrow, Beijing

Since Thursday 10th November, a group of St. Andrews High School students have been in Beijing competing in the FOBISIA Under-15 Games. For more details of how our team is getting on, take a look at our Facebook page where Mr Ollie has posted some photos from the event.

https://www.facebook.com/standrewsbangkok/

A full report on the Games will follow in next week’s newsletter once our team has returned.

Art Trip to Chinatown

Last week Year 12 Art students visited Chinatown for a photography day. Here are some reflections from Year 12 student, Nin:

“Our Year 12 Art Class has taken an art trip in Chinatown last week with professional photographer Nic Dunlop.

We had an interesting meeting with the photographer first thing in the morning and he explained to us what his hobby/job was. Nic told us that he was taking pictures of wonderful places and then publishing them in magazines. His photos told a story, which had a starting point, or opening shot, multiple portraits, action shots and many details. His stories were always very interesting as they were from many parts around the world. It is incredible to have a job that allows you to travel so much as traveling is a luxury many can’t afford, however, it is mind opening and life changing when you have the opportunity to do so.

We had been given the task to get as many photos as possible, opening shots and portraits, but also actions photos and details. When we arrived at China Town there were many things to look at and very different and interesting colors, textures and people. We walked around and got a rough idea of the place  and directions of where we were. We were then sent off with our friends or alone to take photos. The areas and people we encountered were y varied and we all got different scenes. People were friendly. Some of us walked into construction sites or temples, it was quite challenging to get close to the people and get a good picture as they often posed for us which is not what we all were looking for. Getting action shots involved taking pictures as people were moving or cooking and often get portraits off the same person as well. This way we were engaging with the person and telling a story of their everyday life.

Being a photographer as a professional job must be very interesting but in this case we were introduced to photography is a very entertaining and original way, we learned a lot from the trip such as how to approach people and play with composition, color… We are all definitely looking forward to another trip.”

- Ninon Barou, 12T

Photography at STA

Photography increasingly plays a central role in our lives. We use it to record the world around us, as well as to communicate our ideas and feelings with friends and family. In the art department, we have noticed a growing interest in photography and in response to this we hope to open a GCSE course in photography, starting in August 2017 for year 10 students. The course would run as an endorsed option, within the framework of an Art and Design GCSE. More information about the course can be found on the Edexcel website:

http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/art-and-design-2016.html

On Tuesday 29th November at 2.45-3.45, photographer and author of “The Lost Executioner”, Nic Dunlop will be coming to STA to give a talk about his photographic work. We would like to invite all interested parents, but particularly parents of Year 9 students, who may be interested in studying photography at GCSE.  We think his talk will give you a useful insight into the professional life of a photographer. We have scheduled the talk to take place just before the Year 9 parents evening, for your convenience. Nic will also be running a workshop for year 9 students during the afternoon.

Hair Donation for Cancer Awareness

On Friday 25th November the school will be hosting a hair donation event organised by the Cancer Awareness Group. We are so proud of the amount of support we have gotten over the past few days and we hope to continue receiving this support from our school community.

The hair donation event is to raise awareness and funds for cancer and research, and we will send the donated hair to the National Cancer Institute to make wigs for children. There are five students who will be participating in this event, with two of them shaving their heads and three of them cutting their hair. These students are:

•    Aandie Jacob 13R, who is shaving her hair.
•    Kathryn Meyers 13S, who is cutting her hair.
•    Patricha Seriniyom 11I, who is cutting her hair.
•    Nichada Seriniyom 9A, who is cutting her hair.
•    Niklas Eltvik 9A, who is shaving his hair.

Each student has a fundraising goal of 2500THB, which can be received from various sponsors, and the amount of support from sponsors in the past week has been incredible. However, we still need to reach our overall fundraising goal, and we hope that with your support, we can reach and even exceed it.

The event itself will take place on Friday 25th November in the Sports Hall at 12:40, with an auction preceding the event on Thursday 23rd November. This auction will determine the people that will cut or shave the hair of the five donors. Aandie will have four people shaving her hair, Kathryn will have two people cutting her hair, Patricha and Nichada will each have one person cutting their hair, and Niklas will have one person shaving his hair as well.

We hope that you support us by sponsoring the event, with all proceeds going to the National Cancer Institute.
 

Calendar