To help ease the pressure on the car park, we will be introducing three new secure student drop off zones, as well as expanding and making better use of the current drop off zone. The issue of air quality has, unfortunately, come around a bit earlier this school year … so we review the St Andrews International School Bangkok air quality policy in effect.
Our new plans to improve the traffic situation are ready to be implemented. We will notify all car park users this week and will have a full roll out next Monday. You can read more about each of the steps we are taking below,
As of next week, cars will no longer be allowed to circle around the car park.
As of next Monday cars driven by a driver will no longer be allowed to park in the car park. They should use either Suk 71 or Max Valu. We have also observed that some people are parking all day- either leaving their car in school while they go about their business or having their drivers wait all day with the vehicle.
To help ease the pressure on the car park, we will be introducing three new secure student drop off zones, as well as expanding and making better use of the current drop off zone (see map below). We have two drop off zones ready to use straight away (Zones 1 & 2) with the other two zones estimated to be online before half term.
The original drop off zone, which provides a safe, covered space to drop off children will soon be extended to create a longer drop off zone. This will start at the covered area in front of the canteen around to the walled area beyond the main entrance gate. A new drop off zone between gates 1 & 2 will provide a safe option for those with older primary aged children; this will help with the congestion as there is no need for cars using this drop-off to enter the main car-park. This zone, served by the freshly painted zebra crossings, will be manned by security guards/estates staff who will help students make their way safely to the school gate. We will soon be adding two more options for drop off, which should make your morning even smoother. For all drop off zones, we ask families to stick to the 15-second drop off time rule that will be applied in these areas, to help keep traffic flowing.
Drop off zone one: the area inside the car park from the front of the canteen round to the main gate
Drop off zone two: The space between Gates 1 & 2. This means cars don't need to come onto the car park.
Drop off zone three (coming soon): steps leading up to the new footpath leading from Sukhumvit 71 (7-11) to Gate 1 provide a safe place for children to make their way to the school. Security guards will be positioned at either end of the walkway.
Drop off zone four (coming soon): children can be dropped off in front of the 7-11 where an STA security guard will be positioned. This removes the need to go into Park Avenue completely.
*Drop off zones one and two are open for use now. We will update you when zones 3 & 4 are ready to use.
Complaints from local residents have prompted the BMA and the local police to take action. We have been told that if St Andrews parent or the drivers of St Andrews continue to park in Pridi 20 and its sub-Sois, we will lose access to the school through the gates on Pridi 20, which would be a real loss to the whole community. Therefore, we ask that you and your drivers do not park in Pridi 20 and its sub-Sois. We all need to work together to keep the Pridi 20 gates open. We will be actively patrolling the area to help remind people not to park there and have already contacted some families for their support with this.
The issue of air quality has, unfortunately, come around a bit earlier this school year. Today is particularly bad with the smog clearly visible across the city.
We have an air quality policy in place (click here for the full version) which we use to help make decisions based on the readings collected from the devices around the campus. For example, today we chose to limit the children’s time outside at playtimes. Likewise, all outdoor ECAs saw activities taking regular breaks and doing activities that were less intense. Parents can view the air quality from the publicly broadcast air monitoring device on the primary campus, which you can find by clicking here.
*Please note that this only broadcasts hourly, so is not displaying the live data.
In addition to closely monitoring the air quality, we have taken more proactive steps and have just purchased 100 new air purifiers for Primary classrooms so that even if the air outside isn’t great, the learning environment indoors should be much healthier.
According to the forecast from the Thai Meteorological Department, the air quality should improve during the week. As always, we will continue to regularly monitor the situation and will adjust plans as necessary to provide the healthiest environment for all students.
We would like our whole St Andrews International School community to register for the new family parking sticker. Everyone who uses the car park, whether for parking or pick up/drop off, needs to get a new parking sticker from the school office. To get one, you first need to add your car registration details on Moodle (up to 3 cars) by clicking on this link:
If you have a driver, you will also need to add their name and telephone number. When you come to collect your sticker, the office will confirm that you have entered your details correctly before handing over the sticker.
*The old parent parking stickers (blue) will no longer be valid after Friday 27th September. Everyone who uses the car park must have a valid sticker.
Please note that all day parking is not permitted in the school car park. Parking is limited and we ask you to be respectful of all users.
Kids Up is an app, designed by some of our parents, which makes picking up your child a quick and easy process. We will be re-launching this in the coming weeks and will be hosting an information session for parents. More details will follow soon, but in the meantime, you can find out more about the app here: https://www.kidsup.app/
Families who have been with us for some time will know that St Andrews International School Bangkok has a Well Child Policy that we share with parents so that we can work together to keep our community as healthy as we can.
For the benefit of new families, here is the essence of our policy...
In order to prevent illness spreading we ask that you keep your child at home until they are well again.
To avoid any confusion here is the definition of a well child:
A well child is not reliant on Calpol, Tempra or other cold/flu medicine to get them through the day
A well child is well enough to join in school activities
A well child has a normal appetite
A well child is happy and sociable
A well child does not require greater staff ratio
A well child has normal bowel function
Please inform the school or email the teacher directly if your child is sick. If we are aware of the illnesses the children have, we can work out strategies for preventing them spreading, so please inform us of what is wrong each time.
Teachers teach the children how to use and dispose of tissues, and how to cough without spreading germs. They also teach them how to wash their hands thoroughly and encourage this regularly across the day. These are all the things you can support with at home.
As a school, we always do an additional Deep Clean in classrooms where we have had multiple instances of illness, to help prevent the spread. The nurse also checks the temperature of all of the children in these classes. Parents of any children found to have a fever will be contacted immediately so that they can be cared for at home.
As usual at this time of year when children come together after the long break, there are a number of coughs and colds going around school, some with, some without a fever. Thank you to those parents who are identifying symptoms in their children early in the morning and keeping them home. This is the best way of making sure we stop the spread of viruses.
Community Action Day + Sustainable Market - Monday 7th October
Sustainability and Science Week - wb 7th October
International Karaoke Competition - Thursday 17th October
International Day - Friday 18th October
With the goal of providing meaningful help to the flood victims in the northern regions of Thailand, our entire community at St Andrews Bangkok came together to raise funds and donations for the affected families. In the span of a few short weeks, added to donations of food and clothing, we managed to raise an astounding total of 386,676.50 THB in donation funds. To all students, teachers, parents, and staff who participated in our efforts and contributed to this cause—thank you!
