Everyone is looking forward to the Primary International Day and the last day of this half term! Extra-Curricular Activities and sports programmes remains lively each afternoon. And coming up soon arethe String Festivals and choral workshop this weekend.
On Thursday 29th September, I will travel to Switzerland to attend the Nord Anglia Education Global Senior Leaders Conference. This will be the first time in 3 years that School Principals from across the globe will be able to meet with all the Regional and Central Leadership Teams and Board Members. This global conference will focus on the NAE Education Strategy and how all the different projects linked to our collaborations - MIT, Juilliard, UNESCO and Global Campus - will come alive again as the world continues to open.
Our school looks forward to having our Juilliard consultants in Dance, Drama and Music back on site again to work with our staff and students. There will be opportunities for Juilliard Alumni to work with our school community on site.
This year, our school is also involved in the Digital Nord Anglia (DNA) Science project. Through this, we have access to some amazing science resources produced by Central Education teams to support the teaching of Primary School Science. Our students in Years 4, 5 and 6 are already participating in this wonderful opportunity to develop key scientific analysis and problem solving skills through the use of technology.
All in all, this should be a very interesting Global NAE Conference. It will be good to hear about these and other NAE developments and also how we as a school can immediately benefit from these innovative offerings.
Everyone is looking forward to the last day of this half term when we will have the Primary International Day. A huge thank you to the PTG and those of you serving as Country Representatives for organising the International Food Hall for the event. In addition, there will be some great activities taking place both inside and outside of the classrooms on this day.
During break time another eagerly anticipated feature of International Day will take place, namely a talent show where children will perform national dances and songs organised by their families. This will happen on a special stage that will be set up in the Blue Area for this very event.
The Extra-Curricular Activities and sports programmes have ensured that our school remains lively even until nearly 5:00pm each afternoon. There are lots of fantastic opportunities for young people of all ages to learn something new and participate in exciting programmes.
As a result, our Sports teams and their coaches have been incredibly busy. There are lots of squads and training sessions as well as a huge amount of competitive games and tournaments being attended by all age groups. It is truly remarkable that so many students across a spectrum of ability can take part in these programmes. Volleyball, basketball and football teams are especially busy at this time of year.
This coming weekend, young musicians will attend String Festivals and our different choirs will take part in a choral workshop with other students from across the city.
The school shall be following the proposed changes that will come into effect on 1st October which will see the downgrading of COVID-19 from a “dangerous communicable disease” to "a communicable illness under surveillance". As a school, we need to ensure that we continue to follow the current guidance for schools from Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and the Ministry of Education (MOE).
All schools in Thailand have to operate in line with the MOE and OPEC protocols. These often lag behind the changes that are brought in for the general public, which may mean that the expectation for teachers and students to wear masks in the classrooms remains for longer than in other venues. We shall be seeking advice from OPEC and the MoPH to ensure that any changes we bring in fit with their current expectations to keep the school community safe.
We will continue to carefully consider all recommendations and guidelines as the restrictions ease further, and look for ways to give each individual the choice of whether they wish to wear a mask or not.
I kindly ask that parents take note of the restrictions regarding the Pridi Soi 20 entrance to the Primary School. If we do not stop parking and causing congestion in this Soi, there could be some very difficult consequences for our whole school. The school has been working closely over the last few years with the local BMA District office to ensure that the management of our school does not unduly affect the local residents who live around St Andrews. It would be a tremendous inconvenience to many in our community if the BMA ordered us to close this gate permanently.
Therefore we ask you to not park in Soi 20 or any of the sub-Sois off this road to minimise the disruption to community residents. The police are monitoring this issue and will regularly review the cars parked on these roads, locking wheels of unauthorised cars and issuing fines to the car owners.
The Soi 20 school entrance should only be used by students and parents using the school shuttle bus or by STA families who live within this neighbourhood.
Last academic year, schools were involved in helping coordinate vaccination opportunities for interested families. At the moment, the government hasn't allocated any more free vaccinations or boosters through private hospitals. Instead they have stocked these vaccinations with the Bangsue Grand Station Vaccination Center. Walk-in services are available until the end of September and we have received feedback from a number of families who were very happy with the quick and easy process.
We kindly ask our community to update any changes to your child’s Vaccination Status on Moodle. Parents should assess all vaccination opportunities for their children.
If you have any questions or concerns with regard to this vaccination opportunity, please contact us at support@standrews.ac.th
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.
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!
