international school bangkok

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

Students 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

September 24, 2015

Reception Maths Workshop

Miss Helen hosted a very successful maths workshop. The presentation was about how the maths curriculum is covered with in class also how parents can support their children at home.
Miss Helen invited parents to her classroom, where she had set up maths activities.
Thus parents were able to see more practical activities – it was a very informative afternoon.

Look out for more workshops in the future – we hope you can continue to join us!

September 24, 2015

PE… On the bounce!

Taking 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!

September 10, 2015

KS1 Stars of the Week!

Since beginning of the year the children in KS1 (Years 1 and 2) have been working very hard! Each week the teacher in each class awards 1 child the star of the week certificate. This award can be given by the teacher for a variety of reasons.

The teachers are always looking to reward the children who exhibit excellent learning and learning behaviours, as the ability to work hard and try even harder, even when you make mistakes, will always further children s learning and enable them to reach their goals.

Here are the Stars of the week for the last two weeks…. Congratulations to them all!

September 10, 2015

Messages from the Head of Primary and Head of Secondary

From Mrs. Rachel Perkins, Head of Primary:

Dear Parent,

this week we hosted our first Parents Group meeting of the year and I was delighted to welcome over 40 parents to join our group.

It was a pleasure to see returning parents and also many new faces. In my presentation I shared the new initiative this term, the up and coming events and the parent workshops we are planning.

I also shared the developments since our last meeting and the parents were very pleased to hear of the additional sports coaching, the new library, extra Mandarin classes, new Tuck Shop management and the new Computing room. The parents and I then had a very productive question and answer session and the ideas that were shared will definitely support school improvement.

Our next Parent Group meeting with take place on the 4th of November, please feel free to come along and join the discussion and help us to make the school a wonderful environment for the whole school community.

With best wishes,
Rachel

From Mr. Brian Irving, Head of Secondary

It was my pleasure to speak to a group of Year 4, 5 and 6 parents about our Secondary School: what we do and how and why we do it. I mentioned how proud I was on a daily basis of our Secondary School: students and staff alike. My colleagues Mr Barrow and Ms Roberts also spoke about their specific roles, especially for new Year 7 students. The brief presentation was followed by a guided, and by all accounts, very professional tour of the school by some of our Year 8 students.

At the end of the tour, all of the parents commented on how well they had been guided by our younger students, how well they spoke and how polite and welcoming the students had been. Yet again, another reason to feel pride in what we do here at the Regent’s International Secondary School.

Have a learning-filled week.

Warmest regards,

Brian

September 10, 2015

A busy first few weeks in Boarding

We have almost been back a month now and what a busy start we have had! Our boarders have settled into new routines and have been making the most of the extensive activities programme that has been set up our GAP staff. At the moment football has been a very popular evening activity choice, and the boys are currently preparing for a match against Ascot School. We are also arranging an evening of Sports against the Regent’s School staff on the 9th October, followed by a BBQ! The whole house also attended the school’s 20th anniversary celebrations at the Thai Cultural Centre, which was a great night out enjoying the many musical talents of our school.

house captains-3921 — The captains and vice captains of Boys’ and Girls’ Boarding

Weekend trips continue to provide boarders with the chance to get out of the house to experience something new. Wakeboarding, the zoo, ice skating, the mall, karaoke, and bowling have all been offered so far. Staff have also been coming into the house on Wednesday evenings to offer activities such as jewellery making, cooking, and drawing.

We would like to offer our congratulations to Chad Lee and Lita Theng who have been selected as Captains of Boarders, and to Rajan Roka and Akari Tokuchi who will be Vice Captains of Boarders. They will be acting as a voice for their fellow boarders and liaising with staff to improve the boarding experience. We wish them the best of luck in their new roles, and are confident they will do the house proud!

by Mr. Gavin Terry, Head of Boarding

September 10, 2015

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

September 10, 2015

Catching up with Primary clubs: Gymnastics, Leadership and Art!

On Monday it was our first After School Gymnastics session at the Thai Canadian Community Sports Centre. The children were all very excited to get on the bus after school and head over to the centre. The facilities were amazing and there were lots of oohs and wows as we walked in. The coaches were fantastic and the children were able to try out all the different equipment in a very disciplined fashion, with an emphasis on presentation.

The children were scored on their dismounts and this week most of us only got zero, but great cheers went up when someone scored a one out of ten! I’m sure as the weeks go by we will all be scoring ten.

All the children said it was the most amazing gymnastics they have ever been to. We had a very quiet journey back to school, with some students having a little sleep on the way. We all can’t wait to go again next week.

by Ms Lucy Golland

Leadership Club

On Friday last week, the Leadership kicked off with an exciting hands on experiment. The task was to build a 7m bridge capable of holding pupils. Leaders were chosen but their team were secretly told to do only what they had been told. This made it an especially challenging task for the leaders because they had to give very detailed instruction, very clearly. After an hour of furiously bolting pieces together, the bridges were half finished. Next week we finish them off and see if they will hold the weight of a pupil.

by Mr. Karl Perkins, Year 4 Teacher

Art club

The Thursday Art group have already got off to a flying start, producing some beautiful drawings.
Our aim is to share our work at the end of term.
Watch this space!

by Ms. Vivian Deveney, Year 5 Teacher

September 9, 2015