Term 2 - 20 January
Matters of Principal
Senior News
Announcements & Reminders
LUNAR NEW YEAR
The Seniors will celebrate the Lunar New Year from 11:30 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. at the Web Ellis Centre on Wednesday, January 25th. The performances have been put together by senior students from Chinese classes to celebrate this event.
Parents are invited to celebrate together with the students and teachers.
Happy Lunar New Year! 新春快乐，万事如意！
CAREERS & UNIVERSITY GUIDANCE
We were delighted to host 4 UK Universities in a panel discussion. We have representatives from the University of Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol and Durham University. They discussed the similarities and differences between their respective universities.
Next week, we will have a visit from EducationUSA and the University of San Francisco visiting on Friday 27th January to talk about the American University system with a focus on the Ivies, Liberal Arts, and the holistic application approach favoured in the US.
Please sign up to attend. This will be held at 15:30 in the Science Lecture Theatre.
Dates for your Diary
25th JANUARY
(08:00 – 08:45) Parents Coffee Morning (Y9-13)
Lunar New Year celebration event
25th – 29th JANUARY
U19 Girls' Basketball competition at Chiang Mai International School
26th JANUARY
Chemistry Olympiad
Boarders' Barbeque
27th JANUARY
(15:30 – 16:40) University of San Francisco workshop,
27th – 29th JANUARY
FOBISIA Swimming Meet at Bangkok Patana School
30th JANUARY
Monday school closed (EXEAT weekend)
Learning
DRAMA
E Block students have been developing their 'naturalistic' acting skills in IGCSE Drama. Using Stanislavski's Units and Objectives techniques, they have been completing a range of textual analysis exercises and using these to improve their practical skills.
PSYCHOLOGY
Last week, LXX Psychology students were busy making 'brain hats' for our Biopsychology module. The students labelled their brains with the different areas and functions and had great fun wearing them and pointing out to each other where different functions are localised!
CHEMISTRY
In their second lesson on metals, the FR students did a practical that made a reactivity series using displacement.
ENGLISH
Last week, some of our F Block English students were introduced to the genre of Gothic Literature and its key concepts. They took part in an engaging descriptive writing task that allowed them to explore their personal fears in creative and expressive ways.
Our students also had the opportunity to read and annotate Edgar Allan Poe's poem, The Raven. Through their commentary, they were able to further explore the core gothic themes of death, grief, and loneliness.
MANDARIN
Students of E-block Chinese as a First Language are engaged in an interactive group discussion on the topic of "Effective Strategies for Resolving Conflicts with Friends." The groups are actively listening and responding to the perspectives of their peers, while striving to reach a consensus. Additionally, another group serves as a neutral third party, providing fair and reflective feedback on the discussion.
Discussion benefits in gaining a deeper understanding of a subject or topic, exploring ideas, exchanging information, expanding and clarifying knowledge, improving critical thinking skills, and enhancing language proficiency.
HISTORY
In term 2, our F Block students are learning about two of the most shocking events of the 20th century: the Holocaust and the Cambodian genocide.
The question of central importance is: ‘what was necessary for these events to happen?’ By studying the Nazi’s attempt to annihilate Europe’s Jews, and the Khmer Rouge’s mass murder of a quarter of the Cambodian people, our students are learning to identify the ominous warning signs of genocide. These events are also presented through the eyes of survivors, such as Loung Ung and her remarkable story, “First They Killed My Father”.
DRAMA
In drama, F Block students have been studying Macbeth in order to learn about Bertolt Brecht's 'Epic Theatre'. During their lessons, they have been watching extracts of a live theatre performance and then using the script to try out his techniques for themselves.
D Block IGCSE Drama students have recently started studying 'Dracula', which they will be writing about in their written exam this summer. Here, they are physically exploring some features of Gothic Literature.
Prep News
Announcements & Reminders
LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION
Lunar New Year is coming up on the 25 January. Students are welcome to come into School wearing traditional Chinese or Korean dress, or they can wear red or yellow clothes.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Venice who achieved a gold award in the 6th Overseas Performers' Festival at Yamaha Music Hall, Bangkok!
Dates for your Diary
21st JANUARY
(07:00 – 15:30) U9 & U11 Futsal Tournament @NIST
(09:15 – 13:00) U9,U11 & U13 RST Rugby Festival @RST
(08:30 – 11:45) Saturday Enrichment Programme – sign-up opens on Tuesdays through SOCS
(9:15) U13A Girls Basketball v LFS @RST
U13B Boys Basketball v LFS @RST
(11:45) U13A Boys Basketball v LFS @RST
U13B Girls Basketball v LFS @RST
23rd JANUARY (16:00)
U8A Boys Football v GIS @RST
U8B Boys Football v GIS @RST
24th JANUARY (16:00)
U13B Boys Football v GIS @RST
U13B Girls Football v GIS @RST
25th JANUARY (09:00 – 10:30)
Lunar New Year
Parents are welcome to join us for a Lion Dance and other performances in the Webb Ellis Centre.
26th JANUARY (16:00 – 18:00)
U13 Boys Football v STA (away)
U13 Girls Football v STA (away)
27th – 29th JANUARY
FOBISIA Swimming event
30th JANUARY
School closed for Exeat
Year 3 Art
Our Year 3 students have been learning how to create observational drawings using key skills such as using lines, shapes, tone and textures to create a form. They used pencils and learnt about pressure control, as well as the different types of pencil grip. We are so impressed with how well they have assimilated these skills!
Year 5 Science
This is an exciting month for Year 5 as they get to carry out many experiments on the properties of materials. They use the scientific method and plan fair tests on some of the properties such as conductivity, magnetism, absorbency or elasticity.
Year 4 Maths
In Year 4 this week, we have been effectively using concrete resources to help investigate 'Factors' and 'Factor Pairs'. The use of counters and arrays has enabled us to understand the connection between our Multiplication Tables and Factors.
Y3 & Y4 Maths
Year 3 and 4 have been excellent thinkers this week. They have been able to use numicon to show their thoughts.
Year 4 have also learnt a new word this week 'factors'. Ask your child to show you all the factors of a number; encourage them to use a factor bug to help them.
Pre-Prep News
Announcements and Reminders
CHILDREN'S DAY
Last Friday, we welcomed the Hand To Hand Foundation and 17 children to Pre-Prep. The children joined our classes for a morning of fun, play and learning, before enjoying a picnic lunch with Year 2.
They were well looked after by all children, but especially the Year 2 Student Council who helped them get lunch. A little rain meant we had to picnic under shelter but we then got to spend time with Reception in the Nursery playground.
It was great to see our children showing our visitors around our School and helping them play with our toys. There were many smiles that morning. At the end of the morning, we got to present all your wonderful donations of nappies, clothes, shoes and toys to the Foundation. This also helped our children learn about kindness and giving. Thank you all so much for these kind gifts which were gratefully received.
MATHS WORKSHOP
Thank you to all the parents who attended the early years maths workshop on Tuesday. It was very well attended, and parents learnt all about subitising and even got to play some maths games together.
Dates for Your Diary
25th JANUARY: Lunar New Year Celebrations
Please arrive by 8:30 in order to join our celebrations
27th JANUARY: Sports Day
EYFS 8:40am (for 9:00am start),
KS1 1:10pm (for 1:30pm start)
30th JANUARY: School Closed- EXEAT weekend
1st FEBRUARY: Reception Parents coffee morning
6th FEBRUARY: Reception Bikes and Scooters to School
8th FEBRUARY: Teamwork Tiger Day
Pre-Nursery Pandas
Welcome to School Pandas!
The Panda class is the new Pre-Nursery group. They have just started their School journey and they are doing very well. This term we are focusing on getting settled at School and building up confidence in a different environment.
The topic of the term is 'The jungle' and the children are learning all about jungle animals. We learn through play using different games and activities to enhance the children’s motor skills, language and communication, math, and science. What a lot fun jumping on the bed with the monkeys, making footprints with the elephants, and singing and dancing nursery rhymes!
Nursery Bears
This week in Nursery Bears, we have been exploring the concept of capacity. The children have been encouraged to experiment with different ways of filling their containers and have been introduced to the language of 'full, half full and empty'. We have also been continuing our 'People in our Community' topic by taking a visit to the cleaners and have been hard at work painting and then cleaning the windows of our classroom.
Year 1 Turtles
This week, the Turtles have enjoyed being ‘time connective detectives’ during Guided Reading! Hunting in books and writing sentences. We also practised our Monster Phonics sounds and developed our fine motor skills.
Year 1 Ducks
In Year 1 Ducks, we have started work on a 'Bring your Whole Self to School project'. In this project, we look at everyone's Cultural Identity and find ways to share this with everyone around us. We are using Language, Dance, Written and Creative works to express our Culture and ideas, anything goes!
This week, lots of painting, crafting, planning, and sharing could be seen as everyone got together. After a brainstorming session for ideas, we started work and there was a real buzz of excitement in class. We can't wait to share some of our projects with everyone in the run-up to International Day which will take place on the 17th February.
Year 2
The Year 2s are learning all about 'transportation' this term. This week, the Hedgehogs made a simple Wheel and axle machine as part of our 'land transportation' unit.
This week, Year 2s had a surprise visit from Mr Nick, a former member of the Canadian armed forces. Mr Nick showed us all of the vehicles he had operated during his time in the military and what his role was. It was an intriguing visit for our Year 2 children who had lots of interesting questions to ask afterwards.
The Year 2s are also learning all about Vincent van Gogh and the Hedgehogs made these beautiful starry night pieces. They learned how to paint step-by-step and had to think about what colours they had to use, how many layers they needed to create, what kind of patterns they could see in the original Starry Night and how they could adapt this to their own art piece. The results are amazing and the Hedgehogs should be very proud of their work.
Mandarin
Children have been learning about Lunar New Year – the Year of Rabbit this week, through songs, dance, crafts and all kinds of fun activities. The children are making a Rabbit red envelope and wishing everyone “Gong Xi Fa Cai” (Best wishes to you and hope you get rich).
Y1 Bikes to School
Year 1s have enjoyed riding their bikes and scooters this week. Being careful to use their looking eyes and making safe choices!
Useful Links
Enrichment & Sport
DJ WORKSHOP ACTIVITY IN PREP
New staff, Mr Carter and Mr Johnson, have offered a new and exciting activity this term, DJ Workshop. Students are learning the fundamentals and basic techniques of DJing and developing aspects of musical timing and rhythm while also being able to explore any musical genre interests they might have. Students are being introduced to DJing software and also have the opportunity to hone their new skills on real DJ hardware.
PREP ADVENTURE EXPLORE SURVIVE COURSE
Students in our Term 2 Adventure Explore Survive Course have already started to earn badges. Our first unit taught how to pitch tents, choose a suitable camp spot and adapt a tent to match variable weather conditions.
Teams listened to instructions and watched short demonstrations before having to work together in their own groups. Not only were they required to pitch their tent, but they also had to roll it and pack it back into the carry bag.
PREP COOKING ACTIVITY
It was a fun-filled day in the Cooking Studio as Monday's Cooking Activity took on the challenge of making a classic Canadian treat, the Beaver Tail. The children were excited to learn about the process of mixing dough and working with ingredients. They worked together to mix, roll, and shape the dough before frying it to perfection, and dipping it in cinnamon sugar. The children learned about measuring ingredients, following instructions, and working as a team to achieve a common goal. They also learned about food safety and kitchen hygiene.
The children were amazed at how delicious they smelled as they were frying. They were even more excited to try them once they were done after cleaning the studio thoroughly. The children were proud of the Beaver Tails they made and were excited to take them home to share with their families.
SPY SCHOOL ACTIVITY
We are three weeks into our mission to become top secret agents here at Rugby School Thailand. Our spies have already learnt new skills to improve reaction times, agility, listening skills and fine motor skills. After making their own secret agent cards the team then learnt how to take and compare fingerprints.
This week, we have played games to improve agility, become code breakers and learnt how to calm down a racing heartbeat using breathing techniques. This is a great life skill in resilience to have. Our mission next week... I can't tell you that - it's Top Secret!
PRE-PREP EXPLORING & ENGLISH ACTIVITY
In Mr Roger's Exploring & English Activity, we fought our way through the Seniors' jungle into the Black Box where we explored the upstairs spotlights, acted like animals, played hide and seek, met a dragon and had a much-needed rest on some giant bean-bags! A very good time was had by all.
SENIOR CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY CLUB
Lunar New Year is around the corner. Senior students in the Chinese Calligraphy Club are diligently practising with great enthusiasm, determined to make their handwriting as good as possible. They're decorating the notice board with their masterpieces, complete with meaningful explanations.
Boarding Life
D Block Rupert Brooke and School House boarders celebrated the end of their mock exams this week, with some well-deserved time to relax, by watching a movie with hot chocolate and popcorn!
Last weekend gave Marshall House boarders a good balance of time to relax in the house and time to get out and about. After a ‘Bake Off’ on Saturday (which Mr & Mrs Stoker happily sampled!) there was a cycle ride around School and Wisdom Valley, before settling in for an evening playing Catan. On Sunday everyone went into town to peruse some shops before watching a movie at the cinema.
The School House tuck shop is back! This charity initiative run by the boys is always very popular and helps to support local causes. And look who popped in to stock up on some delicious snacks - enjoy your noodles, Mr Mills.
Some of our wonderful boarders in School House and Rupert Brooke baked brownies and then sold them for charity in their Houses on Tuesday evening. We are so proud of these students who regularly give up their free time to raise money for good causes.
RSTeam Spotlight
Get to know the people who make RST great by learning more about them and their roles.
This week's spotlight is on Ney Duangporn Jomphueak, School House matron:
Community Offers & Events
HOLIDAY INN- RST COMMUNITY DISCOUNTS
We’d like to thank our friends from the Holiday Inn, who are offering our RST Community preferential hotel rates and discounts in their restaurants for 2023:
