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Regent's International School, Bangkok

Day and Boarding school for ages 2 – 18.

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Secondary

It’s Cool to be in School; plans in place to deal with absence and lateness

12042839_968696369838621_8909726282888931366_nStudents who do not come to school are, not surprisingly, not very successful at school. That is why in countries throughout the world it is a serious problem if children do not go to school. In England, at the moment, an attendance of less than 85% will see your child referred to the authority in charge of education. If a parent is found to be supporting their child in not going to school, then it is against the law. And there are only two ways in which a child is allowed to miss school. They are if the child is too ill to attend or if the parents have got permission from the school beforehand.


Lateness is a similar problem. Though we are sympathetic at the school to those students who have to get up very early in the morning to get to school, we cannot support it. By being late, a student not only misses the essential part of a lesson (the beginning), they also disrupt the other students when they go into class.


I have heard some comments from parents that they are happy for their children to be late for school or even miss school if it makes their children happy. I’m afraid this is a rather short-term view of happiness. I might choose to stay in bed tomorrow, which might make me feel very happy… but I won’t be happy when I get into work and realise the amount of work that I have to catch up. Students can very quickly get into a situation where they have lost control of their learning.
The school cares about your child. We want to give them the best possible chance in life – to achieve their potential and to realise their dreams. That is why we are going to get tougher on absence and lateness. Those who are late are going to be in detention more often. Those who are absent for more than 10% of the school year will be subject to review. If their absence has affected their education seriously, they may be asked to repeat the year.

By Mr Charles Barrow, Deputy Head Secondary

U13 Boys Basketball off to a winning start!

A new team brings with it new challenges, and the Regent’s U13 boys Basketball team were no exception to this commonly found experience. With the addition of many fresh faced Year 7’s I was confident the strength’s of the big Year 8’s, namely, Tor, Jimmy, Auto and Dung would be able to influence them positively to guide us to a maiden victory. After much effort, persistence and hard work this target was achieved; each and every student played an effective role in ensuring success none more so than Captain Jimmy Park. His focus ensured the boys raised themselves during the last quarter to clinch a well won victory.

By Mr. Lee Burns, Head of PE & Sport

On Monday 14th September we had our first Basketball match against St. Stephen’s International School. A busy start to the term meant training was limited, so it was hard for us. Our basketball team consisted of Jimmy, Tor, Dung, Auto, Conc, Sam and Andy. Before we started the match I helped coach our new Yr 7 players how to do zone defence. In the first quarter we were losing by 4:0. In the second quarter we managed to draw the scores level at 4:4, and then we start losing again because of low levels of fitness. We found it hard to run and shoot properly. Before we started the final quarter of the game Mr. Burns encouraged us and said we were going to win if we continued to work hard. So in the last quarter we all tried our best and we finally won by 13:10! I was so happy because we won our first Basketball match. It was a hard fought battle with many new players but we all tried our best and we won the game. Scorers were Jimmy 9 points, Tor 2 points and Dung 2 points. I hope we will should good spirit and win the next game also.

Year 7 Basketball Captain Jimmy Park

Friendly Competition or Bitter Rivalry? Psychology of the House System

Written by By Mo Suwanwela, Year 13 Psychology Student

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Mo, Year 13, applies ‘social identity theory’ to her experience of the four different Houses

Social identity theory describes a human need to belong to a group. The groups we belong to help us figure out who we are and fulfills our basic need for self-esteem. This theory can be applied to The Regent’s House System. In our House group we are able to achieve positive self-esteem, such as receiving House points, which contributes to our self-esteem, while at the same time we support each other and work together in events such as sports day and swimming gala where we express favoritism towards in-groups by cheering on our House and trying our best to beat the other Houses.

Social identity theory describes how we categorize people in groups, identify with the group we belong to, and compare our group to others. These processes are called categorization, identification, and social comparison. This also happens in our House system. Firstly, categorization is used to divide people into 4 groups: the blue sharks, yellow tigers, green crocodiles and red dragons. In House events people are put into these groups to work together; the identification aspect is in choosing to become a part of the group. This is highly evident when a house wins an event such as Sports Day, Loy Krathong or when there are pizzas involved, people are more likely to identify themselves with their House, for example by wearing House colours. Much like Cialdini’s experiment to investigate the tendency to associate one’s self publicly with successful others, in which students tended to wear the jersey of their university’s sports team after they won a big match, students want to associate themselves with their House colour more when we have beaten the other Houses. Social comparison, on the other hand, is the idea of separating in-group members to out-group members, the division between ‘us’ and ‘them’, and trying to be better than the other Houses. Students would cheer for participants within their own House even if they didn’t know any of the competitors.

Being separated into different House teams arguably creates prejudice and hostility between the Houses, which I have experienced first hand. My close friends and I are usually very supportive of each other when we play team sports together or are assigned to do challenging tasks, but when we are scattered across different Houses, everyone becomes more competitive, which is understandable. However as House events progresses throughout the year, the competition can take the best out of people. Although there were no sabotages or serious intent to hurt one another, friendly insults become more uncomfortable and starts to hold more meaning, and this can provoke more conflict in our friendship outside of the House group context. After events would be finished, students would compare themselves through the performance of their House for weeks on end and occasionally mentioning their win in an argument to prove any point they make and that they are superior to everyone else because of their status in the House ranking; but luckily like all things in school the rivalry will blow over and eventually everyone would be back to normal.

Music Scholars perform at Siam Paragon

On Saturday 9th September the Music Scholar Group performed at the Lifestyle Hall in Siam Paragon for the International Education Fair. The students involved were Ken Y9, Sadhu Y7, Sally Y13, Sunny Y9, Poh Y12, Amon Y11, Toy Y11, Petch Y11, Remi Y9, joined by Miss Rachel Teague and ably conducted by Mr Gareth Ansell.

Mr. Hogan described the performance as “spectacular”.

We performed a variety of songs including Sun and Moon, Pie Jesu, I dreamed a dream, Sandpaper Ballet, Hornpipe, Handel’s March and Edelweiss.

By Ms Rachel Teague

Regent’s Buddy Reading Scheme

The Regent’s International School, Bangkok is famous for its friendly, inclusive atmosphere where all of the students are willing to help each other out. Especially when learning English! This month, our Year 12 students are spearheading the Buddy Reading Scheme to assist some of their younger counterparts with literacy skills. What better way to meet new friends than over a good book?

In a comfortable, relaxed setting, students can foster a love of reading together whilst helping to further their knowledge of both the teaching and learning process. Whether their assistance is through translation, explaining difficult words, or by asking comprehension questions; our Y12s are dedicated to helping their buddies become more confident with reading.

Our new IB cohort definitely have to be commended for giving up their time to such a worthwhile cause.

Developing a More Confident Mindset

The fruits of our students’ hard work were there for all to see at the latest Secondary School assembly. After just one week, there were an amazing 400 plus points recorded by the students across the school. Only 30 minus points were recorded across the same period.

From now on, we will be giving out rewards to those students who work the hardest. For example, 10, 20 or 30 plus points will result in students being given tickets to go to the front of the tuck shop queue. 40 points will result in a pizza lunch for the successful student. 50 points will result in a 500-baht book token.

Moreover, we are changing the way we grade students in their grades and reports. From now on, we will be rewarding students for their effort in class, their independent study and the degree to which they participate in lessons. We are hoping to encourage students to communicate more with their fellow-students and with their teachers.

Though quiet, hard-working students are great students, we also want our students to express themselves more openly, so that they become more confident in their ability to communicate.

Like any other skill, confidence is developed through practice, best summed up through the quotation, “Confidence is like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it gets.” A confident student is also a successful student. As one of my Year 8 students wrote in her essay this week, “Confidence isn’t about other people; it’s about you.” If we develop our confidence, we become risk-takers, we become leaders – and maybe, just maybe, we get the chance to change the world.

by Mr. Charles Barrow, Deputy Head Secondary

PE… On the bounce!

IMG_20150903_143529_HDR-1Taking inspiration from a number of schools worldwide the PE Department have invested in 12 new chairs… in the form of gym balls! With the intent to challenge, engage and inspire our students the PE classroom has replaced their standard chairs with the big silver balls.

The arrival of the space age chairs has been welcomed by students and teachers alike. Students have found sitting on the gym balls more comfortable though some have found it quite challenging as they require you to engage your core in order to stay balanced.

Our end goal is for students to become fitter whilst learning and to improve concentration levels in the classroom.

If you get a chance, pop in to Room 417 and have a go yourselves!

Year 9 Gifted Art Students

Here is a selection of still-life drawings from our incredibly talented Year 9 Art Students.

– Ms Felicity Harris, Head of Art

Year 10 Student Wins International Golf Tournament

Jenny Ham in Year 10 is a talented and rising young sports person within the field of Golf. Her strict training regime and diligent attitude has helped her achieve a near scratch handicap ranking; something that takes a competent golfer many years to accomplish.

Jenny Ham Winner

Jenny’s interest in Golf has been known to The Regent’s International School, Bangkok and they have worked in unison with Jenny to aid her development.

Jenny has been successful across many localised Thai Golf championships but has recently made a daring step towards fulfilling her dream of playing professional Golf by winning the “World Stars of Junior Golf Masters” which took place at Badlands Golf Club, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Jenny shot a combined 3 day score of 5 under par in testing conditions. Her focus and attention to detail during the competition is testament to the numerous hours of dedicated practice that she fits in around a full academic schedule at Regent’s.

We wish Jenny more success as she perseveres to become a truly well rounded leader of the future!

By Mr. Lee Burns, Head of Physical Education and Sport

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The “World Stars of Junior Golf” Tournament was an invitational event in which I had to pass a 4 day stroke play qualifying game at The Pines Golf and Lodge Club to play in. My success of achieving first place with a score of 2 under par secured my chance to play.

Playing at the “World Stars of Junior Golf Masters” which took place at Badlands, Las Vegas on the 22nd-24th July 2015 was not an easy task; as you can tell by the name of course it was really challenging. The desert wind, the steaming hot weather which rarely dipped below 40 degrees and the high standard of mutual competitors meant I needed to be at the top of my game across all 3 days of competition.  

It was my first time participating at this tournament and I really enjoyed the challenge it posed to me. During the first day, I shot a score of 2 under par (which help me secure a lead of two strokes). Day 2 proved more challenging mainly due to poor weather conditions. I ended the day with a score of 2 over par, which left me on an even total overall. I was mindful that I was still ahead of the field by one single shot. The third and final day of the tournament saw me stretch my lead farther and beyond the rest of my competitors as I shot a 5 under par. My reward was being crowned champion of Class B (Yr 13-14) division.
Travelling halfway across the globe and representing my Country and the Regent’s International School, Bangkok was a truly inspirational experience. I tried my very best to represent both with hard work and determination. I had a really enjoyable time; I thrived playing in conditions that I had not previously experienced and I learnt a lot from other players which will without doubt help me on improving my game for the future endeavors.

by Jenny Ham, Year 10

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