High School: 29 May 2017

Congratulations to the Class of 2017, and a reminder that this week is KS3 Project Week! …. Future world leaders from STA participated in an MUN Conference at Wells International School...Useful reminders on upcoming PTG meetings and half-term break as well as Term 3 events calendar.

It was great to spend Saturday evening with the ex-Year 13, now Graduated Class of 2017, and their families and friends at this year’s Graduation. As I wrote last week, and said during the evening, I joined St Andrews in August 2010, at the same time as this Year Group joined High School, and I have taught students in the Graduating Class in six of the last seven years. I know that we will all miss these students next year, but I also know that they will continue to work hard to be both “the best they can be” and “responsible global citizens” in both their future studies and their lives beyond.

This links beautifully to this week’s first ever Key Stage 3 Project Week, during which all Key Stage 3 students will be making connections, both to the real world and to their work in different subjects and developing their abilities of communication and collaboration and their abilities as enquiring, risk-taking, independent learners, who can think creatively, critically and reflectively.

The students are working on one of thirteen different projects:

Artificial Reef: Researching materials for, designing and making a structure which can act as the basis of an artificial reef. The reef will have to be designed within the parameters of materials and dimensions allowed. Coral will be transplanted onto the structure to aid seeding, which will then be placed off the coast of Koh Chan East (Sattahip) by the Year 12s during their CAS service week

Bangkok is Sinking: Imagine that land has been designated for a brand new city. Students will design this, considering housing, transportation, entertainment and leisure, community etc., and produce a presentation of any sort (e.g. computer generated images; models; maps and designs) that shows their ideas for New Bangkok.

Daily Challenge: A different challenge twice each day for students who are ready to get creative and see what they can make. Challenges such as straw towers, spaghetti bridges and cardboard boats are some of the possible options.

Escape Room: Students will create a range of Escape Room activities based on International Mindedness and incorporating the final bullet point of the What makes a Great St Andrews Community? Document: “We are world citizens and members of the global community.”

International Sports: Students will learn about sports from around the world through the creation of documentaries, looking at sports from different regions/countries: their rules, how to play and history.

Merchandise Mayhem!: In this project students will be planning merchandise which could be sold in the School Shop next year. Students will be required to research, design and create a product for sale. You will need to have a head for business as you will need to contact suppliers and work out the costs involved.

Muay Thai: Students will investigate how Muay Thai has developed throughout Thai History, where it originated and why it was developed. This will require a collaborative approach with Thai readers looking at texts and translating them to English. Students will then show the stages of its progression through art, text or film.

Multi Media Art Performance: In this project students will test their skills as the composer, musician, film director, poet or performer for the big screen, working in groups to create a mixture of music, poetry, dance or drama, video and photography which must be performance ready by the end of the week.

Ready, Steady, International Cook!: For this project students will be creating producing, directing and filming a cooking show about international foods. They will need to discuss ingredients, the history of the dish, demonstrate how to prepare the food and have a taste test, as well as creating an artistic menu/specials board as display material for when they film their show.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: How can we reduce plastic waste in the ocean and recycle or reuse it? Which plastics can be reused? Students will look into the history of plastic use, map plastic waste in the ocean, and investigate the environmental issues of using plastics etc. They will then design fashion accessories from recycled materials and advertise them to raise awareness of the issue.

Siege Machines: Students will design and create weapons to overwhelm castle defences, including the building of trebuchets, catapults, bows and arrows amongst other devices, as well as creating their own castle, designed to prevent others from gaining entrance.

UN Goals/Translator: For this project, students will need to make a film/board game on UN goals: e.g. sustainable development goals, identity, international issues/attitudes, looking at our school and considering the changes that we could make.

Where in the World: Periodic Table Edition: Students will research the countries and the people that discovered each of the elements, creating tiles that describe the discovery of each element alongside symbol and details etc. that can be displayed in the new Science department.

At the end of the first day, there has already been a lot of thinking and planning and you can see some photos of some of the different groups’ work so far. We’re all really looking forward to seeing what each group of students can create by Friday’s Exhibitions.

Last weekend, a group of students attended an MUN Conference hosted at Wells International School. Here is Yu Jin’s (10A) account of the day, which also links to the theme of developing “responsible global citizens”;

“As a newcomer, this was a great experience for all International students around Bangkok and it was a great opportunity to be part of it. By attending this conference, I have learned to develop innumerable skills varying from how to speak in a formal, sophisticated manner to discussing worldwide issues, such as female reproductive rights. As many different International schools took part in the conference, new social bonds are created with ease and students have fun while making small steps towards change. I also developed the skill to look at things from different viewpoints and perspectives, which are all taken into polite consideration. Even though it may seem intimidating and tense at the beginning, starting with the position papers, I was able to dig down into the passionate and thoughtful side of myself with the aid of the other students and apply real life issues to statistics and then produce speeches, debates and questions from our country’s perspective. At the end of the day, I left Wells International School with a small tingly feeling inside me. It was the feeling of hope - that even I, and any other student, could make a difference to the world. Everyone can make a difference - and this happens at MUN.”

I am looking forward to seeing many parents at this week’s PTG Meeting (on Wednesday), when Mr Paul will talk more about the new High School campus and the developments to the current campus, and PTG Coffee Morning (on Thursday) - please see the PTG section of this Newsletter for more details.

Finally, a reminder that on Friday, the last day before half-term, we will have a Black and White Non-Uniform Day for Khlong Toei - please see the House section of this Newsletter for more details.

Roo Stenning

Head of High School

High School Calendar: Term 3