Head’s Lines: VEX Robotics Nationals Success and Competitive Sports Fixtures!

Head’s Lines: VEX Robotics Nationals Success and Competitive Sports Fixtures! There was a great atmosphere at the High School on Saturday morning as 26 teams competed in the VEX Robotics Nationals. It was fantastic to get back to hosting an event that we would have once viewed as a regular activity! Also, last week, some of our football teams had their first competitive fixtures, and we have updates on ATK Testing and Parent Workshops.

There was a great atmosphere at the High School on Saturday morning as 26 teams competed in the VEX Robotics Nationals. It was fantastic to get back to hosting an event that we would have once viewed as a regular activity! Also, last week, some of our football teams had their first competitive fixtures, and we have updates on ATK Testing and Parent Workshops.

There was a great atmosphere at the High School on Saturday morning with several international school teams participating in the VEX Robotics Nationals. It was great to see so many young people enjoying working with their teachers and coaches and challenging themselves in this complex competitive environment. Everyone was required to have a negative ATK test to enter the school, then wore masks and remained socially distanced. Teams also worked within their own school booths in between robot matches to ensure this event was as safe as it could possibly be. It was fantastic to be able to get back to having what we would have once viewed as a normal activity for a Saturday in school.

On Saturday 5th February 2022, St Andrews hosted the VEX Robotics VIQC Thai Nationals organised by Mr Rob, Mr Sam, Ms Holly, Mr Marc, Nicky (Year 13), and Wen Wen (Year 13). This year's competition was like no other due to the restrictions and the many protocols to ensure everyone was safe. But with all the challenges we faced, this was by far our most successful event to date. 26 teams from around Thailand battled it out for various awards, including a place to compete at VEX Worlds in the USA. A huge well done to team 51404B (Vivaan, Hrish Year 9, Lewis Year 10) for getting through to the finals, and congratulations to all of the teams that achieved awards at this event. Next up will be our Senior Team at the VEX Robotics Competition at NIST on 19th March.

-  STA VEX Robotics Team

On Friday our High School and Primary School football teams really enjoyed their first competitive fixtures against Bangkok Patana teams. Similar to the VEX event, stringent COVID protocols were followed to ensure everyone was as safe as possible but able to enjoy playing sport competitively. Events like these are great steps forward for our school community which we will continue to build on as we move through Term 2 and into Term 3.

This week we look forward to the High School International Day on Friday where there will be lots of opportunities for our High School students to celebrate the different cultures in our school through dance, music, and a range of other activities. On Friday, in Primary there will be maths day with lots of fun maths activities for everyone to enjoy and to promote the importance and how useful maths is in our everyday lives.

New ATK testing and reporting times

Thank you to everyone for taking on the new ATK testing times last Sunday and this coming Tuesday. From our experience this term, these changes were necessary so we could have more time to react to any possible positive COVID cases in our school community.

When we get a notification that we have a positive case within the community, we always carefully assess the risk to the children in school. Based on this assessment, we may move classes to the VSE for a period of time, and in some cases, this may include siblings. 

To enable us to make timely decisions and to communicate these with the relevant groups within the school community, it is important that we have all of the ATK data on hand as early as possible. This will allow us to assess risk and should hopefully lead to fewer classes or groups of children needing to isolate and return to the VSE.

Therefore, as of Sunday, we will be changing our ATK testing requirements for the bi-weekly testing programme. We will be opening the ATK reporting window slightly earlier for each reporting day, and we now ask that all ATK tests are taken the previous evening, rather than on the morning they need to be shown at the gate.

Sunday’s test

• Take the test and record the result on Moodle between 4 pm and 7 pm on Sunday.
• Primary School - bring the named and dated test to school on Monday morning to show at the gates
• High School - take a photo of the named and dated test to show at the gates on Monday and Tuesday mornings

Tuesday’s test

• Take the test and record the result on Moodle between 4 pm and 7 pm on Tuesday.
• Primary School - bring the named and dated test to school on Wednesday morning to show at the gates
• High School - take a photo of the named and dated test to show at the gates on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings

Saturday’s test (for Weekend Activities)

• PS - bring the named and dated test to school on Saturday morning to show at the gates
• HS - take a photo of the named and dated test to show at the gates on Saturday morning

Thank you for your support with these changes so we can continue to work to keep our school community as free from any COVID infections as possible.

Half-term testing

To help keep an accurate picture of our community’s health in preparation for the second half of Term 2, we would like everyone to continue with the twice-weekly testing over the half-term break, taking ATK tests on Sunday and Tuesday evenings and updating the Health App.

Parent workshops 

I look forward to meeting parents who attend our first parent workshop taking place this week on Tuesday 8th February in the Primary School Drama Studio at 8.15-10.00. The Counselling team is excited to present Positive Psychology Coach and Positive Educator Bharati Lachmandasa . “Coach B” will be exploring with parents how to understand and build resilience in our children. This is aimed at Primary School parents who would like to understand more about what develops resilience and how we can incorporate these ideas into our parenting; this is particularly of interest now as we continue to navigate the pandemic with our families. Places are limited as we have to follow strict guidelines for social distancing. If you are interested in coming to this workshop please register your interest in attending with our Director of Counselling and Wellbeing Ms Amy : amy.bo@standrews.ac.th 
 
Another workshop is planned on this topic at a later date for High School parents which will also incorporate the ideas of academic tenacity. Please look out for the dates after half term. 

Vaccinations for 5 to 11 year old children

On Sunday 7th February the first group of our Primary children were able to get their vaccines at Medpark hospital. We are now waiting for the next opportunity at Medpark for more of our children between the ages of 5 and 11 years old to be able to have their vaccines. When we have more information we will pass this on to parents who have consented to be contacted about the vaccination opportunities for their children so they can decide at this point whether they will go along to the Medpark hospital for vaccination. 

Parking 

Over the last few weeks more cars have been parking in Soi 20 and several of the families living in this area have complained that their drives have been blocked by cars. The only families using the gate on Soi 20 should be those who come to school on the shuttle bus or live in the area of Soi 20. Please do not park on these streets as the local police have been informed and will be wheel locking cars found parked in this area.

Thank you for your cooperation and support in this matter

For parents with enquiries, please contact support@standrews.ac.th. You can also call the Primary School directly at +66 2 381-2387-8 or the High School at +66 2 056-9555.