REGENTS’ NEWSLETTER

EDITION 7 TERM 1 2014/2015

SECONDARY

This term, perhaps more than any other in my teaching career to date, I have been doing lots of what our students do every day: learning! As a member of staff seconded to the Secondary Senior Management Team, I have learnt more about how the Secondary School is run. By observing the rest of the team I have gained a valuable insight into school leadership and I have also been given the chance to develop my own leadership skills by working on one of the school’s areas of improvement. This secondment has been a fantastic challenge and I am looking forward to using the Christmas break to reflect on how I have grown through this experience.

However, the commitment at Regents to developing a ‘growth mindset’ has reminded me that we are all always learning. As teachers we seek to nurture a growth mindset in our students and we teach that success comes through hard work, dedication and effort. It is important to remember that there is no end to this effort; a growth mindset lasts a lifetime! In the last few weeks students will have started to notice new posters on their teachers’ doors of things that our staff are learning to do. For example, many teachers are learning to play new musical instruments, speak new languages, or improve an area of fitness. By sharing these learning stories with our students, we hope to remind everyone of the importance of lifelong learning. I am looking forward to seeing what new areas of learning are being pursued in 2015 after New Year’s resolutions are made!

Of course, not all learning happens inside a classroom. I am always impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm our students put into the many learning interactions which happen in out-of-school contexts. It is no surprise to me that one of my biggest learning journeys this term has come through watching students work with one of our community partners. Every Thursday, we visit the Mercy Centre, and each week I am truly inspired by the time, thought and effort that our students independently dedicate to preparing for our visits. The Mercy Centre Christmas Shoebox appeal is a wonderful example of the excellent student-led leadership at our school. Read this article here.

The students taking part in this after school activity have taught me that I don’t always need to be the one in control as a teacher; these students have consistently shown they are excellent teachers in their own right. I would encourage all students to embrace the service based learning challenges available at Regents, to see what they can learn in a new

context.

I wish everyone a wonderful Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year full of lots more learning!

Laura Butler

CALENDAR DATESFRIDAY 12TH DEC SCHOOL CLOSES AT 12.30 PM

MONDAY 15TH DEC YEAR 10 INTERNATIONAL AWARD EXPEDITIONS BEGIN

MONDAY 5TH JAN TERM 2 STARTS FOR STAFF AND STUDENTS

TUESDAY 6TH JAN HOUSE BASKETBALL COMPETITION BEGINS

MONDAY 12TH JAN YEAR 8 OUTDOOR EDUCATION WEEK BEGINS

MONDAY 19TH JAN YEAR 8 OUTDOOR EDUCATION WEEK BEGINS

WE ARE LEARNING TOO !

THIS WEEK IN THE SECONDARY NEWSLETTER

LAURA BUTLER, ENGLISH TEACHER

YEARS 10 TRIP TO CHINESE TEMPLE

HOUR OF CODE COMES TO REGENTS

STAFF TEAM TRIATHLON

REGENTS’ SPORTS DAY

On the 12th November, Year 10 IGCSE Art students accompanied by Mrs Perrins, Mrs Spear and Miss Mona Yapova, enjoyed a day of exploring and sketching at the Chinese Temple, Viharan Sien in Pattaya. This museum is a little known cultural treat here in Pattaya. As well as a place of worship the temple houses an impressive collection of art and artefacts donated by the Chinese Government. The collection includes giant granite sculptures of various deities, earthenware pottery, exquisite water colour paintings and a selection of the actual terracotta warriors excavated from the tomb of QIN Shi Huang. For anyone who is interested in History or Art or who just wants to take some fun selfies with Ninja warrior statues, Viharan Sien is well worth a visit.

BY CLARE GARNETT- SPEAR, ART TEACHER

YEAR 10 IGCSE ART TRIP TO VIHARANA SIEN, CHINESE TEMPLE

STUDENTS AND TEACHERS DRAW TOGETHER !

BOOK REVIEW: CHRONICLE OF A DEATH FORETOLD

BY YOLANDA HOMS MARTINEZ, HEAD OF MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

“I AM CURRENTLY READING THIS BOOK WITH MY LANGUAGE B STUDENTS. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE GABRIEL GARCÍA MARQUEZ BOOKS. IT IS ALSO PROBABLY THE MOST REALISTIC OF ALL OF THEM AS THE STORY OF THE BOOK HAPPENED IN REAL LIFE IN THE WRITER’S HOME COUNTRY: COLOMBIA.

JUST HOURS AFTER MARRYING ANGELA VICARIO, BAYARDO SAN ROMAN RETURNED HIS BRIDE IN DISGRACE TO HER PARENTS. HER DISTRAUGHT FAMILY FORCED HER TO NAME HER FIRST LOVER; AND HER TWIN BROTHERS ANNOUNCED THEIR INTENTION TO MURDER SANTIAGO NASAR FOR DISHONOURING THEIR SISTER.

ALTHOUGH EVERYONE KNEW THE MURDER WOULD TAKE PLACE, NO-ONE INTERVENED TO STOP IT. WHY NOT?

THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW BOOKS THAT YOU KNOW THE END FROM THE BEGINNING AND THE STORY STILL ENGAGES YOU THROUGH TO ITS CONCLUSION.

CHRONICLES OF A DEATH FORETOLD IS A SHORT NOVEL WITH GREAT TIMING AND STRUCTURE, WHICH EXPRESSES THE CHAUVINISM AND THE SUPERSTITION OF A SMALL VILLAGE. IT’S THE STORY OF THE DEATH OF AN INNOCENT MAN THAT COULD HAVE BEEN EASILY AVOIDED. ”

By using the Accelerated Reader system to get ideas about what to read at their current reading level and to see how well they have understood a book once they have finished it, students in Years 7, 8 and 9 have been able to keep a record of their reading this term.

The following students have read over One Million words since August. An impressive achievement! Accelerated Reader only counts the words if students pass the book quiz, so these students have shown good understanding of what they are reading too.

BY TAMARA MCKENNA, HEAD OF ENGLISH AND EAL

READING MILLIONAIRES

YEAR MILLIONAIRE WORD COUNT

YEAR 7 POJCHARA 1,183,825

YEAR 8 BRANDON 1,843,541

YEAR 8 HARI 1,765,339

YEAR 8 CAMILLE 1,575,739

YEAR 8 PRATEEK 1,575,156

YEAR 8 ETHANIEL 1,491,849

YEAR 8 NEHMAT 1,476,195

YEAR 8 ALEXANDRA 1,260,275

YEAR 8 SUNG EUN 1,053,739

YEAR 9 SUROTAMA 1,029, 247

MILLIONAIRE READERS ROLE OF HONOUR

HERE ARE SOME TOP READING RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THREE OF OUR MILLIONAIRES:

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

“DON’T JUST PLAY ON YOUR PHONE, PROGRAM IT”

CAMILLE, YEAR 8 STUDENT RECOMMENDS…

I RECOMMEND EARTH’S CHILDREN. EARTH’S CHILDREN IS A SERIES OF HISTORICAL FICTION NOVELS WRITTEN BY JEAN M. AUEL SET CIRCA 30,000 YEARS BEFORE PRESENT. THERE ARE NINE NOVELS IN THE SERIES. IT IS A ROMANTIC AND SAD STORY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS. THE MAIN CHARACTER IS A GIRL CALLED AYLA SHE HAS BEEN SEPARATED FROM HER FAMILY BY AN EARTHQUAKE. SHE IS ADOPTED BY A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT CONSIDERED AS HUMAN. SHE LEARNS TO BECOME A NURSE WITH HER ADOPTIVE MUM. IN HER NEW GROUP MEN ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN WOMEN. WOMEN ARE NOT ALLOWED TO KILL ANIMALS TO EAT AND THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE TOOLS THAT ARE GOING TO BE USED TO KILL ANIMALS.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

“DON’T JUST PLAY ON YOUR PHONE, PROGRAM IT”

ALEX, YEAR 8 STUDENT RECOMMENDS…

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THE SECRET SERIES BY PSEUDONYMOUS BOSCH. THERE ARE FIVE BOOKS IN THE SECRET SERIES AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WAS VERY ENJOYABLE. IT IS ABOUT A BOY AND A GIRL BECOMING FRIENDS AND JOINING TERCES SOCIETY, FIGHTING AGAINST THE EVILS OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN, WHO ARE A GROUP OF ALCHEMISTS THAT WANT TO FIND OUT THE SECRET SO THAT THEY CAN LIVE FOREVER. EACH BOOK REPRESENTS ONE OF THE FIVE SENSES, TOUCH, SMELL, SIGHT, SOUND AND TASTE, BUT I LEAVE THE REST FOR YOU ALL TO FIND OUT!

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

“DON’T JUST PLAY ON YOUR PHONE, PROGRAM IT”

BRANDON, YEAR 8 STUDENT RECOMMENDS…

I WOULD RECOMMEND ENDER’S GAME AS A BOOK FOR YOUNG ADULTS. THE BOOK IS ABOUT ANDREW WIGGINS, (ENDER) WHO LIVES IN THE FUTURE WHERE HUMANS ARE AT WAR WITH ALIENS CALLED BUGGERS. HE IS A THIRD CHILD, MEANING HE IS CONSIDERED A DISGRACE. ALTHOUGH HE IS A CHILD GENIUS, HE HAS TO FACE THE PROBLEMS AND HARDSHIPS TO EARN HIS RESPECT AND WHEN THE THIRD BUGGER WAR STARTS, HE IS HUMANITY’S ONLY HOPE.

RATING: 10/10

If you are looking for holiday book ideas, go the www.arbookfind.co.uk website.

You can search for books on the Accelerated Reader system by author, title and by using the difficulty level of the books.

All the students can access their current book level range through the Accelerated Reader system.

Happy Christmas Reading!

On Tuesday morning, I along with the Year 12 and 13 DT classes set off on a field trip to the Autoliv manufacturing factory. Autoliv is a company which develops and manufactures automotive safety systems for all major automotive manufacturers in the world. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to observe how the manufacturing system in reality works in comparison to what students have learnt in lessons.

When we arrived at our destination, we were greeted by the manager of factory who gave a brief introduction about the company. We were then guided by multiple personnel who were responsible for different sections of the production line and were lead through the different stages in the production of air

bags. It was the first time for many students to observe the manufacturing process in practice and we were astonished by the complex structure of the production flow.

We were all very keen to learn and it was great to see others willing to question the workers and learn from their first

hand experiences. Overall, it was a great experience and it enabled us to observe the production line in person and learn from the explanations of experts who have been working in this field for numerous years. Most importantly, we learnt a lot of new things that we didn’t and wouldn’t have been able to learn in classes.

A huge thank you to Mr Daly, Head of DT for organizing such an interesting trip.

BY KYOKA, YEAR 12 IB DT STUDENT

AIRBAG MANUFACTURING COMPANY VISITBY ANDREW PERRINS, HEAD OF MATHEMATICS

MATHS WORKOUT – CAN YOU MEET THE CHALLENGE?

ONLY THE PLACEMENT OF THE

SECOND TRIANGLE IS IMPORTANT [EITHER A CORNER TRIANGLE

OR AN INNER TRIANGLE]. THERE ARE ONLY 2 DIFFERENT PLACES IN THE PATTERN THAT THE FIRST

COULD FALL AND IN EACH CASE 5 OF THE REMAINING 7 TRIANGLES FOR THE SECOND WOULD MAKE

A PATTERN WITH A LINE OF SYMMETRY.

SO A LIKELY 5/7

LAST WEEK’S PUZZLE

Only one correct solution to last newsletter’s fiendishly difficult puzzle on symmetry. Congratulations once again to Mr. Mulford for your correct answer, and might I add how lucky your form must be to have you for a teacher! Below is Mr. Mulford’s solution:

Below is our final puzzle of the term, with a Christmassy theme to keep you mathematically entertained over the holidays. As ever, please email in your solutions to andrew.perrins@regents-pattaya.co.th, and don’t forget your name!

A SQUARE IS DIVIDED INTO EIGHT CONGRUENT TRIANGLES, AS SHOWN.

TWO OF THESE TRIANGLES ARE SELECTED AT RANDOM AND SHADED BLACK.WHAT IS THE PROBABILITY THAT THE RESULTING FIGURE

HAS AT LEAST ONE AXIS OF SYMMETRY?

(I) IN THE SONG “THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS”, HOW MANY GIFTS DID YOUR TRUE LOVE RECEIVE IN TOTAL?

(II) IF THE SONG HAD BEEN TITLED “THE 25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS”, HOW MANY GIFTS WOULD THEY RECEIVE?

(III) FINALLY, WHAT IF IT HAD BEEN TITLED “THE X DAYS OF CHRISTMAS”?

HO HO HO !

CHRISTMAS IN ENGLAND

HOW DO WE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE, ENGLAND AND SPAIN ?

BY PHILIP KILGALLON, HEAD OF YEAR 8 AND SPANISH TEACHER

The Christmas celebrations begin in the middle of November in England. The main town and city centres are awash with lights and decorations with Christmas music blaring out everywhere; from restaurants, to bars, pubs and shopping centres. I used to work in ASDA, which is a supermarket in England, and the Christmas music would begin straight after Bonfire Night (5th November). I still have a dislike of certain Christmas songs because of this!

You can visit Father Christmas almost everywhere. He truly is magical the way he can be everywhere at once.

There are Christmas markets in all of the major cities, which is a relatively new part of the festive tradition in England. Little wooden huts decorated in beautiful tinsel, and blinking lights make you feel as if you are in a Winter Wonderland. You can buy all sorts of Christmas paraphonalia and have some hot chocolate or a beer with an assortment of festive treats.

The only good thing about the cold, hard Winter in England is the knowledge that Christmas is just around the corner!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!

Christmas Eve is a time to gather with family around a copious meal. This meal called le reveillon is most often served following midnight mass on Christmas Eve. It is always a large meal that we begin with soup and other starters. It is obviously followed by a delectable dessert (most often the Bûche de Noël or ‘Christmas Log’) and a cheese platter. My favourite main courses are goose and game, as well as seafood. In typical French style, the meal will last a long time, be served on a beautifully-set table, and be accompanied by wine.

According to family tradition, Father Christmas comes to drop off gifts on Christmas Eve or during the night and the children find them on Christmas morning under the tree.

The 25th is a public holiday but unlike other European countries, the French work on the 26th December. Not fair!

CHRISTMAS IN FRANCE

BY STEPHANIE MORAND, SPANISH AND FRENCH TEACHER

Several days before Christmas, the towns and villages in France take on a festive spirit. While most French families do not decorate the exterior of their home, cities and towns do a beautiful job of making public space festive. Town hall facades are decorated, huge Christmas trees are standing on large squares, main streets and trees are covered with Christmas lights.

Every French family, including mine of course, decorates their Christmas tree. That’s probably my favourite moment of the year. If I could I would put it on as early as September.

The advent calendar is also very popular in France. There are all kinds, intended primarily for children.

CHRISTMAS IN SPAIN

BY YOLANDA HOMS, HEAD OF MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

I love Christmas! It’s one of my favourite times of the year!

Spain is mainly a Christian country therefore most of our celebrations are religious. We put a nativity in each house and in recent years, people tend to put a Christmas tree too. We celebrate Christmas Eve with a midnight mass and a seafood feast! I remember my mum cooking king prawns for all the family! On Christmas day, we have another massive food feast. We eat “turrones” (Spanish nougat) and “polvorones” (Spanish marzipan). “Papa Noel” or Santa (in English) arrives and delivers a few presents. On 28th December, we celebrate “El día de los santos inocentes” (Fool’s Day in English). On the 31st we have a massive party! From each little village or big city you can hear the 12 bells that announce the end of the year. You must eat one grape per bell if you want to have a prosperous year. People also drink “cava” (Spanish sparkling wine). The most important day though is the 6th January. The three wise men arrive and leave presents for everybody. I still remember the nervous anticipation that I used to feel the night of the 5th!

¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!

HOUR OF CODE COMES TO REGENTS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, PATTAYA

Computers are everywhere, but fewer schools teach Computer Science than 10 years ago. The good news is the Code Organisation are on their way to change this. If you heard about the Hour of Code last year, you might know it made history. In one week, 15 million students from all over the world tried Computer Science!

The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify Code and show that anybody can learn the basics. Computer Science was on homepages of Google, MSN, Yahoo! and Disney. President Obama, Shakira and Ashton Kutcher all kicked off the Hour of Code with videos. This year the Hour of Code movement is aiming for 100 million students.

That’s why every one of the students in Secondary at Regents International School, Pattaya are joining in on the largest learning event in history: The Hour of Code, during December 8th -14th. The ICT Department staff have integrated this into every ICT lesson during the week. Students worked on different software applications ranging from Scratch, Lightbot and Python, to name just a few. There was a positive challenging atmosphere in all of the classrooms and all students were rewarded with a

certificate of completion as well as a new level of interest being generated that the ICT team can embrace and encourage in the future...

BY THE ICT DEPARTMENT

AN INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR ALL

ASHTON KUTCHER

“COMPUTER SCIENCE BELONGS IN EVERY SCHOOL, RIGHT NEXT TO BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY AND ALGEBRA”

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

“DON’T JUST PLAY ON YOUR PHONE, PROGRAM IT”

HOUR OF CODE WORLD MAP

BY MARK LOADER, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CO-ORDINATOR

It’s a double whammy for the Russell household! Helen Russell has been awarded a Master of Arts in Education (Applied Linguistics) within days of her husband receiving his Masters. All the effort and hard work needed to achieve this award is quite a feat under any circumstances but especially when considered alongside all the other major events running at the same time including moving home to a new country with a young son, settling into a new job, a husband going through an equally busy time and still finding room to enjoy life in Thailand.

The focus of Helen’s studies is particularly relevant for our school as it has been on applying linguistic theory to improve teaching and learning. Mostly, the studies examined the importance of learners’ identities and how this is created by, and reflected in, language. The award required two projects to be undertaken. The first considered how school reports to parents can develop growth mindset through the use of written language. The second project considered how the reading, writing and speaking learners do outside of the classroom can be included in secondary English teaching. This is especially important in a multi-lingual community, such as our school. An example of this is the research allowed students time to explore their own literacy habits and link those with activities that are a common feature of English

classrooms. By making sense, making links and drawing comparisons, students are encouraged to engage with identities that are normally left at the classroom door.

It is fantastic to see all the hard work and effort recognised with the awarding of this outstanding qualification and we are very fortunate that we have Helen to call upon to benefit from the professional and expert knowledge she has gained.

HELEN RUSSELL TO BE AWARDED AN MA (ED) IN EDUCATION (APPLIED LINGUISTICS) FROM THE OPEN UNIVERSITY

On Monday 9th December, a cheque for 10,000 baht was presented to Miss Aina Rakotonirina, Round Square Co-ordinator at Regents. The funds were raised by students attending the LAMDA Saturday Club which has been running since the start of the academic year. It is planned that the money will provide for transport costs of relief goods which will be sent in the near future to the refugee camps on the Thai-Myanmar border.

Fifteen students attend the weekend class on a regular basis and are cur-rently hard at work preparing for the impending Speech and Drama examinations which are scheduled for next March. Tyler represented the students who attended the Saturday class, handing over the cheque. Well done to all those students for their dedication and hard work for such a worthwhile cause.

BY MIKE THOMAS, TEACHER OF DRAMA

LAMDA HELPS ROUND SQUARE

DRAMA CLASS 8R PERFORM SCENES FROM SHAKESPEARE’S JULIUS CAESAR

Form 8R Drama class recently performed two scenes from Shakespeare play Julius Caesar focusing on the assassination of Caesar and the following scene in which Mark Anthony turns the crowd against Brutus, Cassius and the other conspirators. The students played to the rest of the Year 8 year group classes which made the performance even more challenging given the confined space of Drama Room 2 compared to the wide expanse of the Globe which was being used for concert rehearsals.

Thomas gave a hugely impressive performance as Mark Anthony revealing the calculating, sinister schemer as well as heroic aspects of his character, especially in his famous speech: ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen. Lend me your ears’. There was great work too from Scott and Ryan as Brutus and Cassius respectively, both struggling to understand Mark Anthony’s intentions and desperate to hold-on to the support of the fickle Roman crowd. Each of the name parts were notable for their clear speaking of the Shakespearean verse which showed their genuine understanding of their individual characters. For 25 minutes the audience’s imagination was transported, like Dr Who’s Tardis, from the Drama studio into the spectacle of the Roman Forum! One of the challenges of this presentation was the acting

of the Citizen chorus and, without exception, all the students in the 8R company distinguished themselves through their concentration, razor-sharp level of focus and strong projection of their characters which held the attention of the audience rapt throughout.

Each of the scenes was introduced by the two narrators played by Nicole and Fluky with carefully-judged poise and clarity. They put the scenes into their dramatic context and, at the end, invited the audience to think of some of the wider issues raised by the play such as what is really meant by Democracy and the way political power can be used for evil as well as good intentions. In the discussion following the performance, parallels were drawn with current

world events such as those happening in Syria, Hong Kong and the USA. The students were invited to reflect on these issues and the effectiveness of the performance itself in their Global Citizenship Diaries. Congratulations to all, the 8R students for their stirring and thought-provoking performance.

BY MIKETHOMAS, TEACHER OF DRAMA

JULIUS CAESAR BY 8R

BY NICK LEWIS, HEAD OF DRAMA

Since early September, seventy-five students have been rehearsing after school and weekends to produce outstanding performances and gave huge effort in the whole school Drama production, ‘A Christmas Carol’. The family audiences were wowed for four performances by the level of professionalism by our students’ performances, in what has been the most technically advanced production in the Globe to-date.

The skilled acting, period costumes, set, lighting and even snow transformed the Globe Theatre into the Dickensian world of Ebenezer Scrooge. Making his stage debut as Scrooge, Travis played the role perfectly throughout. His miserly menace made his transformation at the end of the play all the more heart-warming. Excellent supporting roles by Globe veteran Bobby as Bob Cratchit, newcomer

Sofia as Mrs Cratchit, Tom as Charles Dickens, and Iulia as Simple Sally. The hilarious comedy duo of DJ and Roma as Dolittle and Dally brought light relief to some of the darker elements of the story. There were so many excellent performances from such a talented cast. The students working behind the scenes performed exceptionally well too, coping with all the technical demands this piece threw at them.

I am very proud of the whole company. They were simply outstanding throughout the whole process. So many staff supported this production from musicians to Front of House and we simply couldn’t have done a production like this without their support. Thanks to all, you know who you are.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL – WHOLE SCHOOL DRAMA PRODUCTION

IT WAS A STUNNING PERFORMANCE !

BY EMILY ANDREWS, HEAD OF SECONDARY MUSIC

On Wednesday 10th December, The Globe was full of festive spirit for the Secondary Christmas Concert. Congratulations must go to all participants, which consisted of students, staff and parents. Students from all year groups, including some Primary students, were represented. It has been a very busy time at Regents, yet over 100 students found the time to rehearse at lunchtimes and after school to bring together such a successful concert.

The evening showcased the range of skill that we have here at Regents. To set the scene, Thomas in Year 8 and the Staff Choir sang a traditional carol. The Chamber Orchestra performed magnificently with another classy performance led by Mr Bob. Secondary Orchestra got us swaying along with their swing version of “White Christmas” led by Mr Crichton and ensured the audience were taking part in “Who Let the Elves Out”. The Percussion Group certainly called for attention and surprised us all with the special guest star on piano, Mr

Blaikie. The Year 7 voices enthusiastically performed in both English and Spanish singing, “Feliz Navidad”, while the Guitar Group expertly performed a traditional carol. Choir was simply outstanding, performing the best they had ever done! As always, the Brass Group were stunning under the guidance of Mr Clarence, getting us in the Christmas spirit with a selection of Christmas carols.

The evening was superbly led by our comperes, SungWoo and Game who not only entertained the audiences in the change overs with a little Christmas quiz, but gave a spine

tingling performance of, “You and I”. No Christmas Concert is complete without some audience participation: the audience stood up and down, performing actions to The 12 Days of Christmas. But it was Rock Group who brought the house down, getting us all up dancing to “Merry Christmas Everybody” to end the concert.

The Secondary Music Department are so very proud of every contribution to the Christmas Concert and would like to thank all those who helped to make it such a success.

THE SECONDARY CHRISTMAS CONCERT PROVIDES FESTIVE FUN!

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL PERFORMERS!

FOBISIA COMES TO REGENTS

The trials for the U13 FOBISIA competition to be held in March began on Monday 24th November with over 65 students attending the trials. The PE Department were impressed not only with the levels of participation, but also the standards of performance on display. It is always difficult to select a FOBISIA team and with the commitment and desire on display, the selection process

was certainly tough. The U13 FOBISIA team will also be competing on home soil during the competition as Regents International School, Pattaya is hosting the games, and with home advantage behind them, I am sure the students will have a successful games.

Go Team Regents!

BY TOM HART , SECONDARY PE CO-ORDINATOR

GO TEAM REGENTS !

‘LOVE SPORT FOR LIFE’

ESTELLE REESE NEHMAT MIN HYUK CHANWOO MISHA

BILLY SOPHIA FOUR LOUIS KYUNG HWON EOIN

ANGIE MINJI HONGYOK ANDREW FLUKY MICHAEL

NAE NHAE MINT P KATHLEEN MAXIM RYAN DANIEL

SOLA ERICA CHANTELLE JACK GOLF HUGO

LILY SOPHIA CAMILLE DAE HWAN TYLER ICE P

A very busy first term of sport at the Regents has come to an end: it has included the Phuket football tournament, U15 FOBISIA games, senior rugby matches, cross country competitions and of course sports day. Alongside the competitive sports we have also managed to run a very successful basketball free throw stall at the Jesters Fair and host a charity dodgeball competition. The PE Department would like to thank all the students, parents and staff for their fantastic support this term and congratulate the students on their performances. It has been an action packed first term and we would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we look forward to a successful 2015.

BY TOM HART , SECONDARY PE CO-ORDINATOR

STAFF TEAM TRIATHLON

BY ROSLYN MCCONNELL, HEAD OF PE

The inaugural Regents staff team triathlon event took place this week in the pool, track and surrounding campus to end our first term on a high. The 24 teams were a mix from our EY, Primary and Secondary staff and each member of the team had to either swim (400m), cycle (7.5k) or run (3k). This was a fantastic challenge for our staff and we are very proud of everyone’s support, effort and teamwork throughout each discipline. The final positions were as follows;

REGENTS RUSSELL STAFF TEAM TRIATHLON WINNERS : 2ND PLACE - MR LYFORD, MR RAND, MR ALLDIS

2ND PLACE - MISS WARREN, MR CREW, MR PRESS

3RD PLACE - MRS MULFORD, BERNARD, MR ROONEY

Congratulations to all teams who took part and look forward to the next staff challenge in Term 2.

‘WHEN YOU WIN, NOTHING HURTS’

SPORTS DAY

BY TOM HART, SECONDARY PE CO-ORDINATOR

A great day of sport and a fantastic experience to be had by all. Congratulations to all the student participants and particularly to all those medal winners. Red house were the overall winners of the 2014 Sports Day, with yellow house in second, green house in third and blue house in fourth. This year signifies a new begin for Regents track and field with the gold medallist in the 2014 Sports Day becoming the new school record holders, as the records have been reset to co-inside with the construction of the new athletics track.

The PE Department would like to thank all the staff and students for their support, sports day could not happen without your commitment and hard work, thank you for making the day a memorable one.

2 3

‘TEAMWORK IS KEY’

CONGRATULATIONS TO .. RED HOUSE

BY BY ANNA, CARIA, KENNY AND SIRINAN, YEAR 12 STUDENTS

For our Thursday activity, we have been visiting the Mercy Centre, which is a Christian orphanage that looks after 34 children, aged between three to fifteen years old. During our visits, we have been doing all kinds of activities with the children there such as helping them learn English through word searches, origami, and cookie decorating.

The Christmas Shoe Box Appeal is an extension project, which was originally a project that was run last year by a current Year 13 student, Erin, alongside her team. The aim of the project is for the children to have presents to open on Christmas day. This year, the Shoebox Appeal was run by us, with the help and supervision of Mr. and Mrs. Butler.

Each form class was allocated a child from the Mercy Centre. Their main task was to prepare a shoe box, fill it with appropriate gifts for their assigned child and wrap it so it is ready to open on Christmas day.

This year’s Christmas Shoe Box Appeal project turned out to be absolutely wonderful and a real success; the presents were well collected, the boxes were well wrapped and decorated very beautifully and distinctively by each form class. We even received extra gifts from several form classes, as they went way too overboard with the gifts!

On Wednesday afterschool on December 10th (after several trips from Mrs. Butler’s classroom to get the all shoe boxes

loaded on to the bus), we set off to the Mercy Centre to deliver the presents. It was a really great experience for us because we could see the children’s happy faces when they received their boxes; it was very tempting for them to not open it until Christmas Day! It brings joy for us to see the children feeling delighted and buzzing with excitement as they recognised their names on the boxes and realized that they had their own box specifically designed for them. Each child then lined up to get a photo taken with them and their box. Many of them had even asked us who had prepared the box for them. The gifts were then locked away in the Mercy Centre office to keep safe and ready to be opened on Christmas morning.

We appreciate all the efforts made by everyone who had contributed to this project. Thank you to the Primary School for all the presents that you have also generously donated. We would like to also take this opportunity to say thank you so much to Mr. and Mrs. Butler for agreeing to supervise and help us out with this project. It meant a lot for us to be able to see a smile on each child’s face and having been able to visit the Mercy Centre, and deliver the boxes that you have carefully prepared with thought and care. It will mean so much more to those children that we have been getting to know. A massive thank you again and well done to everyone for getting the presents in on time!

ANYANIST GOSSETT, HEAD OF THAI DEPARTMENT

The King’s Birthday or Father’s Day is the birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej the monarch of Thailand and is celebrated on December 5th. The King’s Birthday is a national holiday and is celebrated all over the country with great enthusiasm. The day is dedicated to the worship, respect and love of the Thai people towards our king.

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej or Rama IX, is the longest serving monarch in the history of Thailand. In fact, he is currently the longest reigning monarch in the world. The King, who is the Constitutional head of the country, ascended to throne on 9th June, 1946. As the Ninth King of the Chakri Dynasty, he was born on December 5th, 1927, to Prince and Princess Mahidol of Songkhla.

Since early in his reign, His Majesty the King travelled to all corners of Thailand, reaching the remotest, most dangerous parts, talking to the poor and vulnerable, to

understand their ways and problems and find ways to help them. In this regard, he has initiated more than 4,000 Royal Development Projects, in such areas as irrigation, farming, drought and flood alleviation, crop substitution, public health, distance learning, employment promotion and traffic alleviation. These have touched the lives of many Thais – particularly farmers. He has also invented various tools and techniques which have been used for rural development – such as rain-making, soil erosion prevention and water purification. The sufficiency economy philosophy he has conceptualized – which emphasizes moderation, responsible consumption and resilience to external shocks – also provides guidance for individuals and business alike on sustainable living and undertakings as well as developing immunity against economic shocks.

THE KING’S BIRTHDAYMERCY CENTRE SHOEBOX

‘Movember (month formerly known as November) is a moustache growing charity event held during November each year that raises funds and awareness for men’s health issues’.

They have funded over 800 programmes in 21 countries that are saving and improving the lives of men affected by prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems. Due to the enormity of this charity and the amount they raise every year, the teachers decided to grow a moustache, but to give the proceeds to a local community partner – the Camillian Centre. We felt that the money would go a lot further, and would uphold the excellent links Regent’s International School already has in the local community.

MONDAY

On Monday 24th November, a significant amount of students came to school wearing a variety of fantastic moustaches. Many teachers who had not been involved in the month-long march to glorious facial hair, also took part. Some of the creations

by the students completely outshone many of the teacher’s feeble efforts at growing a moustache.

MOVEMBERMOVEMBER VOTING AND COMPETITIONS

During the month, students could vote for the Best Moustache, and the Worst Moustache. The teacher who received the most votes for ‘Best Moustache’ would have to keep theirs for an extra week, whilst the teacher(s) who received the most for ‘Worst Moustache’ would have to shave half of theirs off for 3 days. The voting was extremely close but a highly unlikely three-way tie was the end result for the worst facial hair. Mr Perrins, Mr Bolland and Mr Baker, all responsible for donning worrying facial hair, would have to shave half of it off for 3 days.

On the day, the wonderful job of shaving half of these 3 dodgy moustaches would go down to an auction. A massive 3500 baht was raised during the auction by students and teachers who must have hidden aspirations of careers in male grooming or hairdressing.

The month-long event was extremely successful thanks to the teachers and students who took part. In the end, a massive 12,365 baht was raised which will undoubtedly go a long way to supporting the Camillian Centre.

Secondary edition

December 2014 Issue 3

Thinking Futures Choosingwhattodoafteryoufinishschoolisalifechangingdecision.Itshould beexciting,buttherealityisthatitcanbequitedaunting–theworldisyouroysterandyouneedtochoosewisely.

ThinkingFuturesisournewprogrammetohelpyoutomakeinformeddecisionsaboutyourfuture.We’veteamedupwitharangeofexpertsincludingadmissionstutorsandacademicstobringyoupracticaladviceandinformation,whetheryouarejuststartingtothinkaboutyouroptionsorarereadytomakeanapplication.

WatchoneofourminifilmsmadeinconjunctionwithKing’sCollegeLondonandtheUniversitiesofCambridge,YorkandNottingham,whichprovideguidanceonapplyingUKuniversities,throughUCAS.Thefirsttwofilms,‘MakingChoices’and‘ApplyingtoUniversity’areavailablenow.

Take a look, take control and enjoy the process of planning your future!Did you know? Onethirdofourstudentshavegoneontostudy

atatop100university

Over350studentsin60teamshavesigneduptothisyear’sdebatingleague!Teamsofallagesaregoinghead-to-head,startingwithlowersecondaryconsideringthecontributionmobiledevicesmaketolearninganduppersecondarydebating‘machineintelligenceismorereliablethanhumanintelligence’inroundone.

Competitionistoughandonlytheverybestdebaterswillhavewhatittakestowinthetitle.Judges fromrenownedinternationallawfirmCliffordChance,alongsidemembersoftheEducationteam,willbejudgingthefinals.YoucansupporttheteamsonlineintheGlobalClassroombywatchingtheirprogressandcommentinginthecommunityforum.Roundonehasproducedsomefantasticargumentssuchasthesefromtheuppersecondarydebates:

Ready, steady, debate!

Arguing for the motion: ‘…machinetechnologyhasprovenfarmoreaccurateandreliablewhenquantitativeindicatorsofreliability,suchasconsistency,accuracy,errorrates,reproducibilityaretakenintoaccount.’BISH Bulldogs (Houston)

Arguing against the motion:‘Butthey(computers)areemotionless,theirdecisionsareonlybasedonthefacts,theycan’tchangetheirideasaccordingtotheirsurroundings.Theyfunctionbasedonwhatcodeushumanbeingstypein,theydowhatthecodetellsthemtodo.’ Bratislava 2