Head's Lines: Aztec, Roman and Egyptian Day celebration, and Asist Suicide Prevention Skills Workshop

Last Wednesday at the Primary School it was great to see so many of our Year 6 students dressed in wonderfully imaginative costumes for their Aztec Day celebration.

Equally impressive was the Year 5’s Roman Day celebration on Thursday. Both were fantastic ways to invigorate classroom topics and challenge kids to put themselves literally in the shoes of these ancient peoples. There were some great activities taking place throughout both days, making a really special capstone to these topics.

This coming week we have Year 4 celebrating Egyptian Day. Judging from previous years and especially last week, I expect there will be some even more amazing costumes along with great activities planned. One such project Year 4 is especially excited about is investigating and writing about the fantastical discovery of a mummy when the S block was taken down. I can’t wait to read the interesting and imaginative news reports that Year 4 will write regarding this.

COVID Protections

From the 1st of October, there will be a substantial reduction in the mandatory restrictions that have been placed on schools due to the COVID pandemic. We will still have to conform to the Ministry of Public Health guidelines for schools, but the wearing of face masks both inside the classroom and outside will now be left purely to each individual and each family. Obviously, we all want to keep everyone safe from any illness and the more prevention methods people use, the better. As a school, we shall continue to encourage a healthy lifestyle encouraging frequent washing of hands and ensure that all learning spaces are being cleaned regularly. 

Counselling at St Andrews

At St Andrews, we have a great Counselling Team led by Ms Amy Bonehill. The team of counsellors she leads are always looking for opportunities to further train our staff so that everyone is better able to support all of our children across the school, especially in identifying when there may be issues for our young people.

Obviously, at times very serious situations can affect a young person, and it is essential we have staff trained to be able to deal with these events.

Last week a group of staff, including our Senior Leaders, Heads of Year, nurses, teachers and counsellors all completed the Asist Suicide Prevention Skills Workshop. This highly regarded Canadian programme is used by many organisations in the world, including the Singaporean Police and the US Navy, to help prevent suicide in the community. 

Should you like to have more information about this training course, please visit this link: https://www.livingworks.net/asist

The group successfully completed 2 days of training in the PAL toolkit, which helps people be ready and equipped to support someone who is having thoughts of suicide. This is a vital preventative skill and particularly important as we all come through the stress and strains of the pandemic.

The workshop was run by Amy Bonehill and Kate Albery from the Counselling Team and is now accredited to run further workshops in the future for our community. They were supported by Regional Trainer Lindy Macgregor from the Australian office. 

It is always better to be prepared for these serious situations. It is fantastic that Amy and Kate can run this training for our staff so we have individuals right across our school who are there to help and support the school community should it be required. Certainly a reassurance for all of us.

Another Plea regarding Parking in Soi 20

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.

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.