Term 2 - 16 March

Matters of Principal

Whole School News

SCHOOL ACCESS
Once you have had your RST ID card activated for access, you will be permitted to access RST via the electronic flap gates at specific times during the day, for the collection of your child.

These times have been set at the administration building entrance for Prep School parents/guardians as:

• 16:35-16:50 or 17:35-18:00 Monday to Thursday
• 15:10-16:30 Friday.

The activation of your ID does not permit you free access to the School site outside of these times

SCRUMMY CAFÉ
The new operator for Scrummy for the start of the next academic year is yet to be finalised, if there is any interest in discussing this opportunity, please contact our COO, Gareth Tebbutt, at gtebbutt@rugbyschool.ac.th for a confidential conversation.

On the final day of term, Wednesday 5^th April, the whole School will be celebrating Songkran. Students are invited to come to School dressed in a Songkran theme of  Paakao Ma.

Please see more details below:

Examples of Phao Khao maa outfits:

Nearly 200 underprivileged children from five local charities and homes enjoyed a superb afternoon of football and athletics events at RST playing fields last Saturday.

The Pattaya Sport Club, British Rotary Club, and RST-MAD organised the event, expertly coordinated by Mr. Holland. 11 Senior and 9 Prep students volunteered as referees, officials, and chaperones, providing snacks, drinks, medals, and other support. For many children, this was their first competitive sports experience, which resulted in new friendships and joyful moments. The RST-MAD team was proud of the students involved, especially Mischa and Lily [both LXX], who organised and supervised the team's tasks on the day.

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 11

Next

The Spring Gala Concert will take place on Tuesday, 4^th April at 7pm in the Veraphan Theatre.

Tickets are available free of charge to parents of performers on two Priority Days: Thursday, 23^rd and Friday, 24^th March and will go on general release to all on Monday, 27^th March.

The Box Office will be at the Senior Reception and tickets are numbered, so guests will select their required tickets from a seating plan.

There are only 180 tickets available in the Veraphan, so people should get their tickets early to avoid disappointment!

We are running a card-design competition to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the game of rugby, when William Webb-Ellis picked up the ball and a new sport began. The winning design(s) will appear on official cards sold at Rugby UK, Thailand, and Japan and all proceeds will go to the Tamar Centre. Please see below for more details.

Senior News

20^th MARCH: U18 boys and U15 girls football v St Andrew's Green Valley (Away) 3:00 – 6:00pm 

21^st MARCH: F & E Block inter-House basketball finals in Games

21^st MARCH (16:00) – 23^rd MARCH (18:00): F Block Virtual Parent Meetings                         

22^nd  MARCH: D Block, LXX & XX inter-House basketball finals in Games (16:15 – 17:15)

24^th MARCH: F Block in-person parents meetings (15:00 – 18:00)        

BUSINESS STUDIES
This week, some of our D Block business students had the opportunity to visit the BMW plant in Rayong. During the tour of the facility, they had the chance to see the production process in action, as well as the sustainable development initiatives that BMW has in place. It was a great opportunity for our IGCSE students to relate the topics they are learning in the classroom to real life, and get to see some great cars and motorbikes being manufactured!

Happy Pi Day!

14^th March or 3/14 (3.14…) is known colloquially as Pi day by mathematicians across the world. To help celebrate Pi Day the library has created a page on our senior library website with:

• Online resources about this number: what it is and why it matters.
• Fun podcasts on Pi
• Videos and articles detailing how to compose music using Pi, 
• A link to inspiring art created using Pi, including Mr Grove’s own Pi Art generated using an Excel spreadsheet, 
• Library books about mathematics explaining the uses of the subject in the wider world. 

Enjoy and Happy Pi Day!

Prep News

AIR QUALITY MONITORING      
You can access our Air Pollution and Air Quality Management Policy through our Health and Safety Policy. Please go to page 12.                  

DROP-OFF TIME
A reminder that you can drop your children off in the morning from 07:45 – 08:00. Please stick to these timings to ensure your child can start their lessons calmly and on time, and receive important daily notices.

We encourage parents to help our students value time and develop long-term positive habits by arriving on time.             

17^th MARCH: School Closed for Exeat

20^th MARCH: Cooking Club Trip to Sicily Restaurant (15:30 – 17:00)

20^th – 24^th MARCH: Year 8 Residential - Letter sent to parents  

22^nd MARCH:
- Year 4 Outdoor Education Camp (08:15 – 12:15)
    Please bring suncream, water bottle and hat
- Digital Workshop: Children don't listen, they copy! (08:15 – 09:15)
- U11 Girls & Boys Basketball @Regent's, Pattaya    
- Year 7 Leadership Day 

24^th MARCH
Year 6 Sleepover - Marshall House       

25^th MARCH:    
- World Scholars Regional Round
- U9 Boys & Girls BISA Basketball @ STA BKK  
- Year 8 Rehersal (08:30 – 12:00)
- RST U11 Invitational 7v7 (08:30 – 13:30) 

The water balloon launcher house competition is live! Children have been in DT during break times working on their launches and there are some amazing launchers taking shape! 

It’s not too late to enter - here are some key points:

1. Children can make their launcher at home or in School. 
2. Children must hand in pictures and a video of their launcher working on the Google classroom. 
3. Workshop sessions take place during morning break times.

Last week, Year 5 to Year 8 celebrated ‘World Maths Day’ by taking part in our annual 'RST Maths Relays'. All students worked together in small teams to solve a variety of challenging maths problems. Students showed great resilience and worked collaboratively to complete this 45-minute house competition. The overall winners will be announced in our end-of-term assembly.

Happy Maths Day to everyone!

Year 7 are learning about acids and alkalis. They started by comparing the hazards of some acids and they learnt to reduce the hazards by diluting them with water. They then tested a wide range of substances using indicators (litmus and universal indicator) and the pH scale. They even got to make their own indicators using red cabbage. Next, they will investigate if the flowers we have around the School can be processed into useful indicators.

This half term, EAL students are inquiring into data. Their Big Idea is 'We can investigate data more easily using suitable graphs'.

Younger students have already looked at how to read and create pictographs and bar charts, while older students will be focusing more on line graphs and analysing data to find averages and correlations. Each student will decide on a data set they want to investigate, then plan a way to collect and represent it so that it is clear. They will then present some insights into the data they collected and the methodology they used. S

Some interesting questions we will answer in the coming week include: Is there a correlation between sleep time and screen time for students in year 8?; Is there a gender split between favourite animes in year 5?; Can older students do more push ups as they get older? Watch out for the QR codes outside EAL with the answers coming soon.

4F have been working hard to understand fractions. They have been versatile learners by showing their thinking in multiple different ways.

We are beginning to understand that we use fractions all the time in everyday life!

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 9

Next

In Spanish, our students have been learning to talk about their School lives, such as describing what they study on different days, what they do in lessons and at break time. Students also got to express their opinions about which subjects they like and why and also describe their teachers. Students have enjoyed many opportunities for collaborative work to effectively communicate ideas with each other and showed reflection by applying their previous knowledge to new contexts. 

SPAIN TRIP
We are very excited to announce a trip to Spain for Year 7-13 students in October 2023. The trip will start in the dynamic capital Madrid before progressing southwards where we will visit historic cities such as Granada and Sevilla. “Seville is such an artistic and beautiful city which I visited many times as a child, I’m really looking forward to going back,” says Sra. Alonso. Mr. Pye is excited to return to Madrid, “it’s a magical city with beautiful squares and buildings and amazing café culture, we will definitely get the students to try some tapas whilst we are there!” 

If your child is currently in Year 6-8 and you wish to register your interest for the trip next academic year, please complete the following form.

Congratulations to Venice who achieved 2nd place in the ATOD Ballet Competition.

Pre-Prep News

SAFEGUARDING
If you are unable to collect your child from School and wish for another adult to collect your child you must inform School. If this adult has an ID badge then there is no problem gaining access to School. If the other adult is not an ID badge holder then they will need to come to the office to register. You should send a photograph and evidence of this adult to the office and class teacher. ID badges are not to be swapped or loaned to other adults. When dismissing children teachers will not send children home with unknown adults/adults they do not recognise or an adult that is not down to collect the child. This is to ensure that all children are dismissed to the appropriate adults at the end of the day.                                     

LOST or OVERDUE LIBRARY BOOKS
We are trying to collect all the overdue Library books (and there are many)  so if you have one at home please do return it. We are in the process of adding new stock to the Library and transferring our current stock to a  new Library management system. Lost books will need to be paid for so they can be replaced. If your child has got an overdue book we will not be allowing them to take any more books out. Please do check at home and return the books to us. We want everyone to enjoy reading and using the Library but we do need books to be returned.                                  

NURSERY READING WORKSHOP - Tuesday 21st March 8:30am.
This is for all Nursery parents to learn more about the Reading programme that will begin in
Term 3. 

21^st MARCH: Nursery Reading Workshop for all Nursery Parents (8:30am)

23^rd MARCH: Concentrating Crocodile Day
Wear green or crocodile clothing to learn more about how to be a Concentrating Crocodile                           

28^th MARCH: 9am  Rabbits, Owls, Geckos, Toucans and Parrots  Spring Show

29^th MARCH: 9am Pandas, Fish, Bears, Foxes and Giraffes  Spring Show

3^rd – 4^th APRIL: School Photos taking place over these two days
More information will be shared regarding schedules

4^th APRIL: Term 2 Reports out (Short reports)

5^th APRIL: Songkran Celebrations and last day of Term 2           

In Friday’s assembly, Pre-Prep children learnt about ‘Pantosaurus’ and the ‘PANTS rule’.

What are the PANTS Rules?

• Private Parts are Private 
• Always Remember your body belongs to you 
• No means No 
• Talk about secrets that upset you 
• Speak Up - someone can help!

Please click on the link below to view the slide show, and for further information on the PANTS rules:

Children will be learning some Makaton signs to help them remember the PANTS rules: 

If you require any further information, please visit the UK NSPCC website NSPCC

Last week, Nursery children learned to turn strawberries into jam. We believe the benefits of teaching children how to cook are invaluable to their learning and development.

• Safety: the children were introduced to the risks of using a hot cooker.
• Patience: there is no greater joy than watching your mixture turn into jam as it boils in the pot.
• Time: patience translates into other areas of development.
• Mathematical concepts: weights, measurements and time are very complex ideas to learn. Real experiences help to develop real understanding.
• Self-esteem: our children were all very Proud Peacocks and couldn’t wait to show off their jam to their families.
• Vocabulary: our jam-making inspired so much new language. Ingredients, kitchen utensils and instructions were flying out of their mouths.
• Fine-motor skills: the children got to strengthen their hand and finger muscles by pouring, stirring, mashing, and mixing as they also put into practice their hand-eye coordination and concentration skills.

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 23

Next

In Year 1 Ducks class, we have been passionately exploring the topic of 'Fire Fire Fire'.

This exciting topic has sparked the inquisitive nature of our children and has been an ongoing inquiry, challenging them to ask as many questions as possible. Our students have been particularly curious about firefighters, the causes of fire, and how to stay safe in the face of this powerful force.

To satisfy their curiosity, we have been actively engaging in research through non-fiction books and experiments. We encourage our students to write down their questions and make predictions before conducting the experiments, which have been an excellent opportunities to develop their critical thinking, writing and reflection skills.

After performing the experiments, we reflected on our predictions and the outcomes to consolidate our understanding of fire. Our 'Wonder board' has been a fantastic tool for capturing and tracking our questions and discoveries. As we continue to find answers to our questions, we add more questions to the board, deepening our understanding and knowledge of fire.

Overall, our Year 1 Ducks class is on fire with their passion for learning and discovery. We are thrilled to see our students' enthusiasm for this topic and look forward to uncovering more about 'Fire Fire Fire' together.

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 19

Next

The Year 2 Chimpanzee class is very busy learning exciting things! We are learning about time in Maths, including how to read time and write it down. We are true Concentrating Crocodiles, but we enjoy a good challenge!

In Talk for Writing, we're having a lot of fun story mapping on the tables for our five-part story, and learning how to write our very own story using adjectives, speech marks, onomatopoeia and alliteration! Our Topic this term is Transport, and we are finding lots of facts about Amelia Earhart and the Wright brothers! 

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 9

Next

This week we have been learning the signs for:

'When', 'How' and 'Why'.

Thank you to the Elephant class for their help in making the video.

Happy signing!

Year 1 has been learning about fruits. They made a tree with their favourite fruits. They learned a fruit song and an interactive dance “What’s your name?” in Mandarin.

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 17

Next

Year 2s have been learning a children’s poem and writing Chinese numbers & Chinese Characters“山(mountain)"

Learner Profiles

Enrichment & Sport

U13 FOBISIA GAMES

Day 1
We had a great start to U13 FOBISIA Games! Despite a challenging morning in swimming, we bounced back and won medals in all track and field events. Unfortunately, play was interrupted due to lightning and a summary of medals so far:

Swimming
Girls: 2 silver and 2 bronze medals

Athletics
Boys: 4 gold, 0 silver, 9 bronze with 6 races left
Girls 7: gold, 8 silver, 2 bronze with 4 races left

Overall athletics 11 gold, 8 silver, 11 bronze with 10 races left

Day 2
At the start of the day, there were 6 track events, including the boys' 200m and the boys' and girls' 800m, that had been delayed due to rain. In these events, 6 Silver medals were awarded.

After a full day of tournament play, the girls' football team won a bronze medal despite losing 4-3 in the semi-finals; their final kick hit the side of the net.

Similarly, the boys' basketball team won a bronze medal. They were considered a top team, but struggled under pressure during their semi-final match, losing 19-20. In the pool stages, they had beaten the eventual champions by a single point. Despite the disappointment, the team gained valuable experience and remained positive.

Day 3
The boys' team emerged victorious in the final, winning 2-1 thanks to a dramatic late goal scored by Eli.

However, the girls' team A suffered a loss in the basketball final, despite their valiant efforts in overtime. Initially trailing 2-9 with only 6 minutes remaining, they managed to tie the game 9-9. Nevertheless, after 4 extra minutes, they ultimately lost 9-11.

In another unfortunate turn of events, girls' team B lost the bronze medal game after leading late in the match, with their opponents scoring in the final minute of the game.

Despite these setbacks, the team managed to accumulate a total of 38 athletics medals, with at least one medal won in every track and field event.

FOOTBALL
Our pre-prep boys football team took part in a football tournament this weekend here at RST. They showed great determination, sportsmanship and teamwork throughout the day and we are all very proud of their improvement and passion for the game. WELL DONE BOYS!

USEFUL LINKS
For even more photos of our sporting events, please look on the SOCS sports website. Or follow us on our RST Instagram page: sport_rugbyschoolthailand

PRE-PREP MANDARIN ACTIVITY
We have been exploring Spring and have learned songs and made Spring flowers

PRE-PREP ENGLISH & EXPLORING ACTIVITY
This week, whilst Mr Grindlay was very busy elsewhere, we ventured into the Principal's office for our English & Exploring Activity. The students all got to sit (and spin, but don't tell Mr Grindlay!) on his chair which was great fun and very exciting. The students were asked, as Temporary Principal, to state one good thing about RST and one thing they would like to change.

Good things: the football pitches and activities offered are very good, RST teachers are very kind and very good at explaining things, you get to do lots of art and craft activities and there are lots of different trophies to be won.

Things to change: football to be offered every day - ideally for 5 hours, more football for girls, art every day and the School to have at least 5 playgrounds.

Jimmy concluded that this was a great exploration and gave it a double thumbs-up! 

PREP CROSS COUNTRY
This week's challenge was to 'find a viewpoint'. Students were keen to accept the challenge; I think we succeeded :)

PREP COOKING ACTIVITY
During Monday's Cooking activity, students learnt how to make Pad Thai Shrimp from scratch. The class focused on Thai cuisine, teaching participants about the balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy flavours. They used natural ingredients such as tamarind and tofu that are characteristic of this type of food. Students were taught the art of stir-frying using a frying pan and were given a hands-on cooking experience while being safe with hot oil. Through the guidance of an experienced chef, they learned how to measure and prepare ingredients, and follow a recipe to create a tasty dish that is presented attractively.

At the end of the activity, students enjoyed the fruits of their labour, as they savoured the delicious and exotic flavours of Pad Thai Shrimp.

RSTeam Spotlight

Get to know our dedicated team of teachers and support staff who make our School great a little better, by learning more about them and their roles.

This week we focus on Milk Paweena Saitongsuk, EAL Teacher, Prep.

Community Offers & Events

BUTTERFLY CLINIC by Coach Nawaphan Wongchareon

Date: 1^st April 2023
Time: 15:00 – 18:00
Participation: 15 places
Cost : 2,000 THB
Location : At Webb Ellis Centre

Open to register now!

https://forms.gle/AaXP8131HGV9ES8R6

HOLIDAY CAMPS
Are you a parent looking for a camp for your child during the April school holidays? If so, here are some sports camp options:

• 8^th- 12^th April: Sharpen your skills at a football or basketball camp;
• 17^th – 21^st April: Enhance your skills at a basketball, softball, or fitness camp.

The day camp option costs 7,500THB and includes lunch, dinner, and snacks. If you choose the boarding camp option, which includes accommodation at Rugby School Thailand, the cost is 17,500THB. There's even a special discount available for groups!

If you're interested in learning more or have any questions, please contact us via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/wisdomacademythailand, call us at 099-289-6454, or email us at admin@wisdomacademythailand.com. We'll be happy to assist you further!              

HOLIDAY CODING CAMP
Our holiday coding camps, provided by BSD Online, are still available for sign-up for a range of topics from Artificial Intelligence to game development. These are a great way to up-skill our children as well as help ensure a healthy screen time balance with the importance of WHAT our children are doing on-screen, not necessarily HOW LONG.

Please follow this link for more information: https://virtualclasses.bsd.education/rugby-school-thailand/ 

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: