On Thursday the 29th the Primary school enjoyed a special lunch time concert performed by the choir, orchestra and individual musicians. The quality of all the performances were very high and the parents and children in the audience were amazed by the musical skills demonstrated. Well done everyone!
Find more photos on our Facebook page.
After a long half term at school, our boarders had earned a well-deserved break. Our Year 11 students could not relax completely, however, and had to revise for their IGCSE Mathematics exams. They continued working hard in the first few days of the holiday and we wish them the best of luck in their exams.
Most of our boarders signed out with their families for the half term break but ten students remained and staff arranged a five day trip to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand to give them a change of scenery from city life.
Chiang Mai offers a wealth of opportunities and experiences that we hoped would give a good insight into Thai culture for our international students. After an afternoon flight and a relaxing evening spent in a local restaurant, we spent our first full day in Chiang Mai exploring Bhubing Palace and the famous Doi Suthep temple. The scenery up in the mountains was breathtaking, as was the climb up the temple steps! Everyone made it though, and despite the big crowds, there were still plenty of opportunities for scenic photos and the all important selfies. In the afternoon, we visited Sankhampeng, a local town famous for traditional umbrella making. We got a chance to see how these are skilfully made and beautifully decorated.
The next day was more relaxed, and students enjoyed the opportunity to explore the old town, inside the ancient city walls. They visited several temples and coffee shops, and were challenged to photograph as many temples as they could. Staff made the most of the opportunity to relax with a Thai massage from former female prisoners as part of a rehabilitation programme.
On the third day, we had an early start when we were picked up to be taken to Elephant Nature Park. This is a fantastic charity that rescues and cares for some of Thailand’s elephants. Elephant rides are prohibited, as the training process is extremely cruel, and mahouts are instead trained to build relationships with their elephants without using a metal hook. It was fantastic to see these rescued elephants in a more natural and peaceful environment after a heartbreaking start to their lives. We got the chance to feed the elephants, walk the park to meet and learn about their different stories, and to wash the elephants in the river – which was a real highlight of the trip. Despite a tiring day, our students were keen to visit the weekend night bazaar in the evening and put their bartering skills to the test as they shopped in the many market stalls.
We started our last day in Chiang Mai with a boat trip along the Ping River with a fruit and juice stop at a traditional Thai farmhouse. We stopped for lunch at a riverside restaurant, before heading back into town for foot massages – well deserved after all those days of walking! After collecting our bags we then made our way to the train station for the last leg of our journey – the sleeper train back to Bangkok. This was a new experience for all involved, sleeping overnight in little bunk beds as we travelled back to Bangkok. Everyone managed to get some sleep, although I think extra Sunday naps were required once we got back to the boarding house in preparation for school on Monday!
By Mr. Gavin Terry, Head of Boys’ Boarding
The children in the Early Years’ Story Club have been exploring the story of ‘The Rainbow Fish’. After listening to the story, the children thought about how kind the rainbow fish was and ways we can be kind to others. The children then worked together to make their own Rainbow Fish which is now displayed in the Early Years building. Please do come and have a look at the children’s wonderful creation! 
Students from all year groups have been participating in Art club this term, if you need extra help with a project or would like to use the facilities to complete Art homework then come and sign up!!! See Mrs Harris for more details.
Below is a well-written speech from our TEDX Conference from May-May in Year 8. A great example for everyone to see!
Confidence Conquers All
By May, Year 8
What is confidence? Confidence means to believe in the power of yourself. Self-confidence is extremely important in our lives. Many people struggle to find it or to be confident, even me. Having confidence is great, but sometimes having it too much can be a bad thing.
Firstly, a good reason for being confident is because confidence makes you successful in life. For example, getting a job. If you look really confident, you will always be expected to get a job, or be more lucky, you will get even better job than the first job that you choose. And if you get a really great job, you will be really successful. I can advise you how to win a presentation. Speak in normal tones, always look at the audience, don’t read out from a paper, stand up straight and always have a smile on your face, use body language. Always practice before the presentation day. Remember the script and stand up straight in front of a mirror. Read out the script and do what I told you to to be successful in a presentation.
Secondly, the more self-confident you become, the more you know how to handle or act in situations.This means that, any time you’re being confident, you will know how to handle the situation. For example, you are invited to a challenging race. There’s need to present something in front of the stranger, in that situation, you just need to be confident. Confidence will help you to win it. If you are confident, even the hardest situation, you can handle it easily without any worry. I can tell that if you are not confident, everyday of your life will be a struggle. If you don’t have confidence, you wouldn’t be able to do anything because you’re scared.
Furthermore, being too confident is not always good. Overconfidence can lead to a disaster instead of success. Overconfidence is when you go over your ability level. Overconfidence can happen anywhere, at school, at work, or in relationships.It is easy sometimes to become overconfident. Overconfidence can destroy your life; avoid it. For the strong and powerful, confidence is an ocean. The ocean is powerful and conquers all. But if you are being overconfident, the ocean might pull you down and make you drown. For example, you start taking a class that is easy for you. You already know what to do and how to do it. Then you need to start a project that is so easy you can laugh. So you didn’t care about it so much. A few week pass, the old work starts piling up, as you rush to do it. Suddenly, it’s not as easy any more. This is how overconfidence can be damaging.
Lastly, you now know what confidence is and how it can affect your life. I would advise you to be confident but not overconfident. ‘With confidence, you have won before you have started.’ as Marcus Garvey said. Thank you.
An increasing number of pupils chose to take Economics this year. I asked the pupils why they chose Economics.
The responses included:
The pupils are generally excited to learn new concepts about the global economy which we now live in.
Our Model United Nations (MUN) club has begun again with great enthusiasm.
The 22 members are learning how to debate and write formally, just as is done in the real United Nations.
We investigate contemporary issues which are of global importance. The current debate is about finding solutions to human trafficking.
Led by Samir (Year 12) the Chairperson for this debate, each delegate (person representing a country) must state the opinion of their country and work towards a workable resolution.
A group of 7 students will be attending the BKKMUN Conference, Saturday 10th October, along with 300 students from other international schools.
by Mr. David Butcher, Assistant Head IB Diploma
This week Early Years, Key stage One and Key stage Two, have been studying religions. The big six are Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism. Each year group focussed on a different faith.
We are doing this to help pupils understand the differences and similarities between the religions, so that we can understand the practices and beliefs of the people in our community and abroad.
Early Years studied the religion closest to home for most; Buddhism. They went out of school to find out about the local Wat.
Year 1 studied Christianity, learning all about how Chrisitans worship and stories from the bible.
Year 2 explored Buddhism but went further, down to Wat Saket. Where the monks explained about the importance of living a good life. Pupils also learned about Buddhas birth.
Year 3 had an exciting time exploring the Gurdwara in Little India; a unique experience for them all. They learned that the core of Sikh belief is equality and sharing.
Year 4 Studied Judaism, focusing on the Festivals of Sukkhot and Rosh Hasannah.
Year 5 Learned about Islam, finding out how Moslems live and how their faith influences their lives.
Year 6 Studied Hinduism and warmly received a Hindu visitor , Miss Chinky, who demonstrated how a Hindu person practices their religion.
Pupils learned a great deal about the faiths present in Thailand, and we hope that it will promote inter-community understanding as well as developing our Internationalism; Pillar or Learning.
The week was rounded off with religious story telling and an interhouse quiz on all that has been studied this week.
Both Wat Saket and the Sikh Gurdwara representatives commented on how well behaved, respectful and polite our pupils were! They were a credit to their parents, teachers and school.
By Mr. Karl Perkins, Humanities Coordinator
Reception’s trip to the Rama 9 Wat
As part of RE week Reception visited the local Wat at Rama 9. We met a monk and he told us all about the history of the Wat. It is famous in Thailand as it was built after the King spoke to local people who expressed a wish for a Wat to be built in their community. It is the only Wat to have a statue of the King inside and one of the King’s dogs was from this temple. We enjoyed walking around the beautiful pond and could see lots of turtles and fish. Thank you to Kru Chaweewan organising the trip for us as we were able to learn more about Buddhism.
By Mrs. Helen Normoyle, Reception Teacher
Year 2 Visit Wat Saket
As part of the RE focus week, on Monday 5th October, the children of Year 2 visited Wat Saket. When the children arrived they were greeted by a monk who explained the importance and significance of Wat Saket to the Thai Buddhist community. The Wat is over 200 years old and and is one of the very auspicious temples in Thailand which has a relic of Buddha on site. In order to celebrate this the Wat (which is also known as the Golden Mount), was build on a artificial mound. The children climbed the 344 steps to the top in order to see the Chedi (and the view over Bangkok), where Buddhist children paid their respects, which others watched on respectfully. It was a fun and informative trip which we must thank Mr Perkins and Miss Usa for organising!
By Mr. Paul Ferrandino, Key Stage 2 Coordinator
From Mrs. Rachel Perkins, Head of Primary
Dear Parent, this week the school has been enjoying participating in our first ever Religious Education week. Year 2 and Reception visited Buddhist temples and Year 3 were very excited to visit a Sikh Temple on Tuesday. The children returned to school ready to tell me about their experience and what they had learnt, with the over riding message of how kind the people were that they met and how much they shared with them.
We also welcomed over 20 parents to our iPad workshop led by IT Co-ordinator Jenna Tait and the feedback was very positive. Next week we will be holding our annual World Food Day and the children will eat either a ‘poor meal’ or a ‘rich meal’. This event gives the children the chance to experience how it feels to have to eat a set diet and also will make them appreciate their normal meals and life style. We are also collecting rice for the Mercy Centre so please kindly place all donations on the table in the Line Up area.
Please kindly note that next Friday (16th Oct) the school will be closed for staff training.
Have a wonderful weekend.
With best wishes,
Rachel
From Mr Brian Irving, Head of Secondary
Dear Parents,
This week Mr Barrow and I welcomed a group of parents to our inaugural Parent-Teacher Committee meeting. A number of issues were discussed, including some seminars that the Secondary School will be holding for parents on topics as diverse as ‘helping your child with revising’ to ‘the challenges of bringing up pre-teens’. The number of parents attending was small, but from little acorns mighty oak trees grow.
I have spent a couple of afternoons recently spectating at our basketball matches. The skill and agility of the players, especially during these currently very humid conditions, fill me with awe. I would encourage parents to come along and support the students as they go into sporting battle.
Next week sees our first Parent-Teacher Consultation of the year and I hope that the students already (or will very shortly) have passed on their appointment sheets.
English Week is outstanding with English competitions, English speaking year group winners performing at lunchtime and an English ‘selfie’ booth alongside other events to celebrate our school’s common language ‘English’. The students who achieve the better results are those who work tirelessly to improve their levels of written and spoken English.
Have a learning-filled week.
Brian
Regent's International School, Bangkok 
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