Term 2 - 21 March 2025

Matters of Principal

Whole School

SAFETY AND SECURITY ACROSS THE SCHOOL
Due to various events taking place around the School this Friday, and in order to effectively manage traffic and properly monitor individuals entering and exiting the premises, we will be reallocating security personnel to assist with vehicle screening in different locations. As a result, the back gate will close earlier than usual, at 5:00 PM this Friday. Over the weekend, please use only the front gate for entry and exit. We have centralised all security checks at the front guard post for efficiency and safety.

We would also like to remind parents of our road safety rules below, that are in place across the School campus. 

RSTPA UNIFORM SWAP
As requested by parents, our RSTPA will be running another Uniform Swap event. Please drop off any clean and unmarked unform on Tuesday, 1st April from 15:55-17:35 to the Green Room where you will receive a voucher for each item. The swap will take place on Thursday, 3rd April from 15:55-17:35 in the Green Room. Items will also be available for purchase and all money raised will go towards our School charities.

SPRING GALA
Our Spring Gala is on the horizon and promises to be a beautiful evening of music from some of our most talented students. General release tickets will be available at Senior School Reception next week. 

SONGKRAN CELEBRATIONS 2025
Join us on Friday, 4th April, as we celebrate Songkran with a special theme: สงกรานต์เคบายา: ชุม่ ฉ่ําชนใจ มรดกไทย มรดกโลก – Splashes of Joy, Threads of Heritage. Students, staff and parents are encouraged to dress in Thai Southern-style attire (Kebaya and Batik - เคบายา & ปาเตะ๊) or a Songkran floral shirt to embrace the spirit of the festival. The day will be filled with traditional performances, a fashion show, almsgiving and of course, the much-anticipated water play. Let’s come together to celebrate this joyous occasion, appreciate our rich traditions and make lasting memories. We can't wait to see you there.

Please see the below posters for each School for more information. 

ANNUAL RICE CHALLENGE
The time has come again for our Annual Rice Challenge! We will be collecting rice for the Hand to Hand Foundation and encourage you to take part by sponsoring a bag of rice for your child to bring to School - the rice will then be donated to Hand to Hand who will distribute it all over Thailand. The rice will be collected outside the front gate of each School and of course there will be some friendly competition to see which School can collect the most rice. 

More information on the rice challenge can be found in the below poster. 

24th MARCH:
08:15 - 10:30 - RSTPA Cooking Class

2nd APRIL:
Spring Gala

4th APRIL:
School-wide Songkran celebrations 

THE WHOLE JOURNEY
We caught up with Dave Ennis-Billing, Director of Boarding and Senior School Deputy Head Pastoral, to find out more about his career journey from top UK boarding schools to Thailand and how his previous experience has helped him to shape our boarding houses into what they are today. 

Families can also meet Dave and our admissions team this weekend at the Bangkok Education Fair 2025. 

Senior

WELCOMING OUR NEW HEAD OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND CAREERS
Judson Simmons brings a wealth of international higher education experience to our community. Raised in Houston, Texas, where he earned his BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Houston, His foundation in liberal arts underscores his commitment to developing well-rounded students capable of critical thinking and effective communication, highly-valued skills for top global universities. 

He attended Sarah Lawrence College’s MFA in Creative Writing programme in New York, before  taking on the Programme Coordinator position in a First-Year Experience Programme at the University of Houston.  This experience led him back to New York, and into the Baruch College’s MSEd in Higher Education Administration programme.  After completing his Masters degree, he worked for New York University as their Academic Advisor for undergraduates.  After nearly 7 years working at NYU, Judson moved to Shenzhen, China, to become a University Counsellor at Shenzhen College of International Education. At the College, he has successfully supported the application processes of many hundreds of students in pursuit of their best-fit universities all over the world. 

We are thrilled to welcome Judson, his wife and two cats into the RST community in August.

Our Head of Senior, Mr Groves adds that "We are delighted to welcome Judson Simmons to Rugby School Thailand following a global search for the right person to guide our students through their higher education journeys. Judson brings not only a forensic knowledge of the U.S. university system but also a wealth of experience supporting students as they secure places at best-fit universities around the world, including the UK and Australia. His expertise and personalised approach will be invaluable in helping our students navigate the increasingly complex and competitive university landscape with confidence." 

GLION AND LES ROCHES COMPETITION
Glion and Les Roches are hosting a competition open to students studying in Asia, aged 15 and below 18, to be in with the chance of winning a one-week participation in one of their Summer Experience Programmes in 2025. Details of the competition can be found in the poster below. 

FUTURE PATHWAYS - LECTURE SERIES
On Thursday, 3rd April, we will be joined by the University of Chicago to learn more about applying to highly selective colleges in the US. Please see the below poster for more information.

FUTURE PATHWAYS - UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
We invite students and parents to join us on Thursday, 24th April, when we will be joined by Dr Kamran Yunus, Admissions Tutor at Downing College, University of Cambridge for our next Future Pathways lecture. 

HIGHER EDUCATION EVENTS
Our Higher Education team has compiled a list of the most relevant university events for the coming months, including open days and webinars, which you can view here.

28th MARCH:
Parent Teacher Meeting: E Block

2nd APRIL:
Spring Gala

4th APRIL:
Last day of term 

AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY FAIR
Building on the success of our recent UK and Canadian university fairs, this week RST students and parents took the opportunity to explore exceptional study options at our Australian University Fair. The event was a perfect platform for those considering higher education down under, offering insightful information on the best universities Australia has to offer.

Students participated in an interactive quiz that introduced them to Australia’s Group of Eight (Go8) - a coalition of research-intensive universities known for their academic excellence and groundbreaking research. Students also learned that nine Australian universities are ranked within the QS World Top 100, with the University of Melbourne holding the 14th spot globally in the 2024 rankings.

We would like to extend our thanks to One Education for coordinating the visit, as well as to the participating universities: University of Melbourne, Swinburne University of Technology, University of Western Australia, University of Technology Sydney, Monash University, and Queensland University of Technology. Their support plays a key role in helping our students make informed decisions and find the universities that best match their aspirations.

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Prep

MARSHALL HOUSE MARKET DAY
Pre-Prep and Prep parents are invited to join the Marshall House 'Market Day' next Friday, 28th March from 3.15-4.30pm. Our Prep boarders have been making lots of wonderful things to sell at our charity event, which will raise money for Take Care Kids. We would love to see as many families there after pick-up. It will be a perfect place to get snacks and drinks after a busy day - everyone is welcome. The market will take place at Marshall House (between the Prep Dining Hall and Pre-Prep).

ART EXHIBITION 
There will be an art exhibition for years 3 and 4 taking place next week from Wednesday, 26th to Friday, 28th March. Parents are invited to come and view the exhibition at pick-up time and there will also be an interactive piece that viewers can take part in. Please see the below poster for more information. 

RST CHRONICLE
Welcome back to our local newspaper, The RST Chronicle. This week, our paper is packed full of interesting topics, ranging from favourite foods and upcoming albums to LeBron James, and even the anniversary of the Royal Thai Air Force. Look out for your picture in our World Book Day article and be sure to delve into the hot question that is at the forefront of every student's mind - should we really have to wear School uniform?

Read the latest edition of the RST Chronicle. 

SONGKRAN HOUSE COMPETITION
As part of our Songkran Festival celebrations, students are invited to take part in The Ultimate Tom Yum Challenge, honouring Tom Yum Kung’s recognition as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2024.

Year 3-8 Individual/Group Competition (13th-25th March)
Students can showcase their cooking skills by creating a 2-4 minute video demonstrating how they prepare Tom Yum in a creative and engaging way.

Year 7-8 House Representative Challenge (25th March)
Each House will send a team of 4-6 students to compete in a live cooking challenge. Teams will be judged on flavour, technique and presentation in both Thai and English.

Students can win a selection of prizes including certificates, House points and the coveted title of the best Tom Yum chef. Winners will be announced at the Prize Award Ceremony on 4th April.

We encourage all students to take part in this fun and exciting competition to find out which House will create the ultimate Tom Yum - let the cooking begin!

22nd MARCH:
U11 FOBISIA Basketball Tournament (home)
U11 Touch Rugby BISA Tournament (away)

24th MARCH:
08:15-10:30: RSTPA Cooking Class - France
12:30-17:30: AES Mini Adventure Trip for Y3-6

25th MARCH:
12:35-13:25: Year 5 RSTPA Lunch for Parents (Invite only)

26th -28th MARCH:
15:55-17:45: Year 3 and 4 Art Exhibition

27th MARCH:
14:00-15:00: Wizard of Oz Performance - Cast A

28th MARCH:
08:00-09:00: Year 3 Mother's Day Event
14:00-15:00: Wizard of Oz Performance - Cast B
U13 Harrow Football Tournament
15:15-16:00: Marshall House Market Day 
15:30-17:00: U11 FOBISIA Squad Training (Invite only)
16:00: World Scholar Regional Cup - Denla British School

29th MARCH:
World Scholars Regional Cup - Denla British School
U9 BISA Basketball Tournament (Home)
U11 Boys BISA Basketball Tournament at STA
U11 Girls BISA Basketball Tournament at Bangkok Prep
U13 Harrow Football Tournament

30th MARCH:
World Scholars Regional Cup - Denla British School

SCIENCE FAIR AND SHOWCASES
Congratulations to Adriel in Year 3, and Chapter and Arin in Year 5 for their winning projects at our first-ever Science Fair. The students will be representing our School in Bangkok and we wish them the best of luck. 

Alongside the Science Fair, parents were also invited into our Science lessons to observe first-hand what our students have been learning. We hope that these showcases are offering our parents a valuable insight into their child's education. 

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INAUGURAL LANGUAGES OLYMPIAD
Our School had the incredible opportunity of  attending the very first Languages Olympiad at Bangkok Patana. This special event, hosted by 11 schools, was the result of months of collaboration and planning — and it all came to life this month. Teachers from each school worked tirelessly to organise a full day of exciting challenges and activities, where students put their language skills to the test. The French, Spanish and Mandarin departments created a vibrant, welcoming atmosphere that truly brought languages and cultures to life.

We were proudly represented by a total of 23 students from both the Prep and Senior schools. This was just the beginning of what promises to be a wonderful tradition of language celebrations. Through learning languages, we learn to appreciate other cultures, broaden our horizons and grow into globally minded citizens. 

Congratulations to our medal winners on the day - Audrey, Daivik, Alex, Eita and Naiana.

YEAR 5 AND 6 THAI TRIPS
Year 5 students visited the Nang Yai Museum at Wat Ban Don in Rayong to learn about a rare form of Thai traditional art. They watched a Ramayana shadow puppet performance by a local youth group who help preserve this important cultural heritage. The students also had a chance to try puppeteering with real shadow puppets and create their own leather keychains, experiencing the skill and effort needed to carve each piece. They explored the museum, which houses puppets over 200 years old, learning about their history and different styles. This trip was not only fun but also helped the students appreciate the value of Thai heritage and the importance of keeping these traditions alive.

Year 6 students had a hands-on learning experience at Mini Murrah Farm, where they explored Thai farming life beyond the classroom. This trip brought their lessons to life as they saw how farmers use local resources in their daily lives. Students tried rice planting, made paper from rice straw and collected duck eggs to make salted eggs. They also toured the farm, fed the animals and had fun sliding in the mud. Despite getting messy, they discovered the joy of learning through experience, making it a day full of smiles, laughter and unforgettable memories.

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Pre-Prep

SEATBELTS IN CARS
It has become increasingly noticeable at the front gate each morning that children are arriving to School not wearing their seatbelts. Please do insist that your children wear a seatbelt at all times. It is also preferable for smaller children to be in an age-appropriate car seat. This can help keep you all safe while driving. 

PERFORMING ARTS SHOW
This year, we are excited to introduce the Performing Arts Show, a combined dance and musical event that replaces our annual Dance show. This new format allows us to showcase the talents of our Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children. Nursery children will not be taking part in this show as they have only recently begun ballet lessons and are already preparing for their Spring Show. We want to avoid overwhelming them with too many out-of-routine activities. By focusing on Reception and above, we ensure our younger children have ample time to develop their dance skills and feel confident when they participate in future Performing Arts Shows.

ANNUAL RICE CHALLENGE
The rice challenge is still running until the end of term and our two piles of rice are slowly growing. We encourage families to take part and bring a bag of rice to School to help with our donations and to find out if EYFS or KS1 will collect the most. 

26th MARCH:
Spring Show 1 : 9:00am Rabbits, Butterflies, Zebras, Foxes, Lions

28th MARCH:
Spring Show 2 : 9:00am Fish, Elephants, Monkeys, Geckos, Toucans

31st MARCH - 3rd APRIL:
Photos at Pre-Prep, individual and family slots available 

1st APRIL:
Term 2 Reports 

4th APRIL:
Songkran Celebrations - children to bring swimming clothes, goggles, small water gun and towel

4th APRIL:
End of Term - School finishes at 3:15pm

SCIENCE FAIR
We are thrilled to share the success of our very first Science Fair, where students showcased their incredible inventions focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event was a wonderful opportunity for students to explore global challenges and present innovative solutions through science. From clean energy experiments to projects promoting environmental protection, cleaning our seas and recycling inventions. The fair was filled with creativity and passion. Students demonstrated how we can all make a difference in achieving a more sustainable future.

It was an inspiring event, and we are incredibly proud of the effort, enthusiasm and teamwork displayed by all the participants. A big thank you to everyone who helped make this event such a success, and we look forward to hosting the Science Fair again next year.

Congratulations to Jayden in Year 2 on winning first place for his project. Jayden will now go on to represent the School in Bangkok on 31st March.

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THAI LEARNING FUN
The children have engaged in fun and interactive learning activities tailored to their levels. Reception explored the letter ซ โซ่ and words that start with it, followed by a game of "Simon Says" to reinforce their learning. Year 1 students reviewed สระอา by matching flashcards to words on the screen and then learned สระอี through a story before demonstrating excellent "Teamwork Tiger" skills, where they paired words containing สระอี with the correct pictures. Meanwhile, Year 2 focused on food-related vocabulary, learning words like gai (chicken) and khai (egg), along with the cooking term tom (boil). They then played "Find Your Food," where they matched with a partner based on the food the teacher called out when the music stopped. These engaging activities made learning both enjoyable and effective for our young learners.

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Sport and Enrichment

FOBISA Golf
Our FOBISIA Golf team competed in three days of hard-fought golf on some tough courses, Thai CC, Amata Spring CC and Ballyshear Links. Some fantastic golf was played and it was great to see the improvement in all of our golfers over the three days. Attention now returns back to the ISGT and our next tournament which we are proudly hosting at Laem Chabang on Monday, 31st March. Our boys team placed 3rd out of 16 and our overall team was 6th out 16.

U13 FOBISIA Basketball in Korea
24 students attended the U13 FOBISIA basketball competition in Korea from Wednesday through to Sunday. Facing the best competition in Asia, the students had to play well and work hard in every game. The boys team came top of their initial group and advanced to the semi-finals where they were beaten narrowly by Harrow. The girls coming out of a very strong group, played Seoul Foreign School in their play-off game and managed to finish in 5th place. Above all, the students had an amazing experience and we extend our thanks to Nate, Natalia and Mark for leading the trip.    

U13 FOBISA Games
24 students participated in the FOBISA games which featured athletics, swimming, football and basketball competitions. Our young team faced tough competition in athletics however we came away with some medals on the day. Well done to Summer, Rihanna, Liphao, Prang, Mangkorn, KK, Paul and Mick for their achievements. The second event was swimming where we had our best results to date, highlighting the progress our teams have made in recent years. We secured 5 golds, 7 silvers, 4 bronze medals and 2 FOBISIA records. Within basketball, there were lots of close games often defined by 1 or 2 points which eventually saw the boys finish 5th and the girls 7th. The last day of the competition was football and despite weather delays, the students gave it their all and had some excellent performances. The boys finished 4th playing back-to-back final games and the girls were narrowly beaten to gold in the final 1-0. Thank you to the PE staff who led the events through the Exeat weekend - an amazing experience was had by all. 

ESAC Cross Country
Over 60 students across all ages attended the local ESAC cross country competition last week. We had some excellent performances and there was lots of resilience shown in completing the runs. With the younger athletes completing 2km, our U11 team were crowned champions of the event. The seniors competition was completed over 3km where our U19s were crowned team champions. Thanks to all the non PE staff who led the event for the students.

BMAC Swimming Competition
Over 2 hot days our swimmers were in BMAC action at RIS. With lots of students making the finals, the swim meet was an excellent and enjoyable event for all involved.

U18 football v Pattaya Inter Academy
Our senior boys participated in a friendly game against a local academy to enable several students to be filmed for their GCSE assessment. Despite being out of season, the boys played well and managed to finish the game as 5-1 winners.

BISA Representative Squad - U18 football
Congratulations goes to Aarav M, Oliver G and Jack B who represented the BISA football team (the best players from 7 schools). The team performed extremely well, beating a highly regarded Bangkok academy 3-1. 

Community Events

SPRING CAMP
We are getting closer and closer to our Spring Camp which takes place from the 6th - 11th April 2025.  If you missed out on our early bird offer there is no need to worry as we still have an exclusive 10% discount for RST families! For more information and to register, please see the below poster. Our new camp website is also live so click here to learn more. 

WSA CAMPS
Join the Wisdom Sports Camp and train with professional international coaches - all abilities are welcome to join so no experience is needed. There is limited availability so if you would like your child to take part, sign up now. Contact details to register are below.
Call: 099 289 6454
LINE: @wisdomsports

Social Media and More

Keep up to date with all that's happening at RST via our social media channels and our website blog section.