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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.

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

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

Key Stage 2 Stars of the Week

Well done to these students in Key Stage 2 who have worked hard to achieve the title of “Star of the Week” within the past fortnight!

September 9, 2015

Year 13 Start Thinking About Their University Choices

At the beginning of year 13, students need to start thinking about what universities they want to attend. Our aim is to help students make informed choices, to make sure they go to the most suitable university. We host many prestigious universities during this time of year. We were fortunate enough to host the University of British Columbia recently. The UBC has been very popular with our students in the past, and it looks like it will be a popular destination for the current year 13.

Students interested in the following universities or who are interested in studying abroad should attend the university presentations. Upcoming university presentations are on:
– September 15th at 12:35 Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)
– October 1st at 12:35 New College of the Humanities
– October 6th at 12:35 Carleton + other Canadian universities
– October 16th at 12:35 Jones University
– October 29th at 12:35 The USA Fair (9 universities)

For more information, please contact Mr. Mike Fletcher, mike.fletcher@regents.ac.th

Mr. Mike Fletcher, University & Careers Counsellor

September 9, 2015

The Secret of Success

Hard work is at the heart of success. As the great Thomas Edison once said: “Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
No footballer rises to the top of their game without hard work. No doctor rises to the top of their profession without hard work. No student rises to the top of the class without that very same hard work.
That is why at The Regent’s International School, Bangkok we credit students who work hard.
From this term, we will be looking closely at our students’ grades for Effort, Independent Study & Participation. Those students who work hard will be given special privileges. We will also be using Plus Points for outstanding work and behaviour. Those students who get a lot of Plus Points will be given prizes.
Thomas Edison also said: “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
Some students don’t try because they are scared of failure. But failure isn’t always a bad thing. If we’re going to take risks, then we are going to fail at some point. If we’re not making any mistakes, then we’re probably not trying hard enough.
In my opinion, whoever makes the most mistakes will, in the end, be the greatest success.

By Mr. Charles Barrow, Deputy Head Secondary

August 28, 2015

Fantastic IGCSE results for Year 11

During the holidays, the IGCSE results that Year 11 have been waiting for, finally arrived. Two years of hard work from our Year 11 students came down to these two results days, and the final marks were definitely worth waiting for! Here are the fantastic statistics:

82% of grades were a pass of either C or above
72% of students achieved 5 A* – C (the benchmark for these results)
37% of marks were at an A* or A level

All of these results mean that we have performed well above the UK national average and considering most of our students are second language learners, this is a fantastic achievement. This reflects the hard work put in by all the students and staff, and makes all the stress and sleepless nights worthwhile. My own personal congratulations go to the following students who achieved 11 A* – C passes:

Intouch Suthiprapa (Oam)
Zainul Asri Jeffrey Sham (Zainul)
Adarsh Puri (Adi)

Adi was also the top student who achieved an incredible 6 A* grades and 5 A grades. I would like to wish all of our Year 11 students the best for the future, whether they are returning to begin the IB diploma, or moving on to the next stage in their educational careers.

August 27, 2015

Messages from the Head of Primary and Head of Secondary

From Mrs Rachel Perkins, Head of Primary

Dear Parent,

it was with delight that I welcomed you and your child back to school this week after the long holiday. It was a pleasure to see all their smiling faces on Monday morning. I was surrounded by positive comments such as ‘I have been counting the days to come back to school’. ‘I have missed my friends and teachers’. I cannot wait to make new friends.’ The air was buzzing with excitement.

On Monday we welcomed over 60 new children to the Early Years and Primary School and I have enjoyed meeting their families during our New Parent Orientation last Friday. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome them into our Regent’s School family.

We have welcomed eight new members of staff to the team, Kirsty Perry (Reception teacher), Rosanna Walton (Year 1 teacher) Karen Burr (Year 1 teacher) Katie Tatum (Year 2 teacher) and Ryan Mann (Year 3 teacher). We have also welcomed Vincent Normoyle and Khun Prae as Teaching Assistants in the ELD department and Khun Shaya as an Early Years Teaching Assistant.
I am pleased to report that they have settled in very well and the children already enjoying their teaching.

The school has been very busy preparing for the new academic year. We have built a new library and IT facilities and the pool has been drained and improved. We have also added more shade to our outside area.

This academic year will be full of fun and but also challenging experiences, your child’s teacher will ensure that they make excellent progress and will enjoy working with you to support your child. Please feel free to come and talk to me at any time, my door is always open and together we will work to ensure the very best education for your child.

I hope you and your child have a wonderful time here at The Regent’s.

with best wishes
Rachel

From Mr Brian Irving, Head of Secondary

Dear Parent,

One of the many advantages of being a teacher is the number of fresh starts in each year: January 1st, Chinese New Year, Thai New Year to name but three. The start of the new school year is one that is always filled with exciting prospects and challenges building on from the successes of the previous year.
As a reflective school, we are always looking at what we do and trying to make things better. Our recent examination successes are indeed praiseworthy and we are rightly proud of our students’ achievements and of the blood, sweat and tears that were shed by students, teachers and parents in making this a reality.
Working harder and smarter is one of the ways by which we can become more successful and I would encourage all of our students to adopt this approach to their lives in and outside of school. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” said Colin Powell, who should know as a successful American Statesman and retired 4 star General.
I wish every student every success in the coming school year in the full knowledge that hard, smart work, good preparation and learning from our mistakes can make this particular dream come true.

Best regards,

Mr. Brian Irving

August 27, 2015 0

Being a ‘Buddy’

Do you remember your first day at a new school? Was it terrifying? Exciting? Lonely? Overwhelming? We hope to make joining our school a positive experience with our ‘buddy’ system.
When a new student joins The Regent’s International School, Bangkok they are paired up with a buddy to help them settle in as quickly and easily as possible. Buddies are asked to show the new student to their lessons, pick them up at the end of lessons, spend break time with them and help to explain some of the rules and activities we have in school.
This is an incredibly important role and students are usually selected to be buddies because of their particularly responsible, kind and helpful nature. I would like to thank all of our buddies this term for their hard work and remind that them that they are making a real difference every day to their partner’s experience of their first few days at our school.

Here are some pictures of our new students hard at work already!