Term 3 - 5 May
Matters of Principal
Whole School News
Announcements
SCHOOL PHOTOS
You will be able to preview and order your child's School photo from 8th – 10th May, during the hours of 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. All orders will be delivered to the School on 29th June 2023.
RST COMMUNITY CHOIR
The Staff Choir, which has been running here at RST for many years, would now like to open its membership to any parent who enjoys singing and having fun. You don't need to be able to read music or sing particularly well, you just need to have enthusiasm and a sense of fun.
The Choir rehearses with the Principal every Thursday in term time from 18:15 – 19:15 in the Pre-Prep Assembly Hall. If you would like to join us, please can you email the Principal's PA: usa@rugbyschool.ac.th.
Hope to see (and hear) you soon!
Mr Grindlay
Principal
Parent Cooking Class
On Monday, we had our very first Parent Cooking Class that was very kindly organised by Alena (Year 7 RSTPA Rep) and some of our Russian parents. They put together a set of traditional Russian recipes as well as a presentation about their dishes. It was a great event for our parents to meet new people whilst learning some new skills.
On Monday 12 June, some of our Japanese parents will run the next Parent Cooking Class. If you would like to learn how to cook some Japanese recipes or meet new people, please contact Alena on irbis2002@bk.ru or via Line Helen Cool / 0907694661. There are 20 places available.
Senior News
News & Announcements
TECH TEAM
Salutations! The Senior Tech Team proudly presents 'LitPod', RST’s first-ever podcast series discussing the wonderful world of literature. In three episodes, we explore diverse topics with a range of guests, in order to spark curiosity, critical thinking, and a love of learning.
In Episode 1: Literature and the Path of History, your gracious hosts Pun and Katie will be joined by the radical Mr Maurice and transcendent Mrs Donaldson to discuss history, linguistics, nostalgia, and more!
Stay tuned for the release on Wednesday, 10th May on the RST YouTube channel!
D BLOCK EXAMINATIONS
D Block (year 11) students are full of smiles as the summer examination season gets well and truly underway. Teachers and tutors remain on hand to support our students over the coming weeks, as we help each and everyone to fulfil their potential. This is the culmination of two years of hard work, and we wish our students every success!
LAUNCH OF THE RUGBEIAN SOCIETY
On Friday, 16th June, the Rugbeian Society, the alumni network for all schools in the Rugby School Group, will be launched at RST. All students in the XX are invited to join and attend the event, which will be followed by a dinner in the Senior Dining Hall. Please sign up using THIS LINK
SAVE THE DATE – SATURDAY, 17th JUNE
Saturday, 17th June is Senior Speech Day. All Senior students are required to attend in full uniform at 10am. All Senior parents are invited to attend. Please join us for this great event! Please confirm your attendance using THIS LINK
RUGBY BALL – 29th JUNE
All Sixth Form students are invited to sign up for the Rugby Ball on 29th June by following this link.
Dates for your Diary
8th MAY: A-Level examinations begin
9th MAY: Senior lunchtime concert, 12:30 - 13:00, Black Box theatre
10th MAY: Y8 Experience Senior Boarding event, 18:00 - 20:00
11th MAY: Final day of lessons for XX students
House Drama
In celebration of the 200 year anniversary of the creation of the game of Rugby, the stimulus for House Drama this year was 'With a fine disregard for the rules'. These words are inscribed on a plaque at Rugby School in the UK, referring to the moment that William Webb-Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it.
Our directors in House Drama demonstrated real creativity by interpreting this stimulus in a variety of ways. However, the overarching theme celebrated the positive breaking of rules, aptly summarised by the winning House, who stated in their performance: "The existence of rules itself is to create a sense of discipline that would help us as humans to maintain civil behaviour in our community. However, disobeying the rules doesn't always mean that the outcome cannot be good. There are many individual figures in the past who have managed to create positive change by not following the rules in the first place and without their bravery and defiance, the world would not be what it is today".
Congratulations to all of the students who took part and a particular well done to the directors. The winners are:
- Prize for the most creative interpretation of the stimulus - Town House
- Audience's Vote - School House
- 3rd Place - School House
- 2nd Place - Southfield
- 1st Place - Rupert Brooke
Learning
DRAMA
F Block students have been studying a play called 'Face' by Benjamin Zephaniah. In preparation for creating their own design concept for the play, they have been learning how to create costume designs, considering the time period, location, colours, materials and garments, in order to convey meaning.
SPANISH
F Block students created their own mini floats to represent the catholic tradition of the Holy Week in Spain "La Semana Santa". This is part of our festivities and cultural awareness topic.
Prep News
Dates for your Diary
6th MAY:
08:00 – 09:15: U10 & U12 Boys Basketball Training in the WEC – please sign-up with Mr Chisholm
08:30 – 10:00: Saturday Enrichment Programme Session 1 - please sign-up on SOCS
09:15 – 10:30: U10 & U12 Girls Basketball Training in the WEC – please sign-up with Mr Chisholm
10:15 – 11:45: Saturday Enrichment Programme Session 2 – please sign-up on SOCS
8th MAY: (16:30 – 18:00): U11 & U13B Boys Football v Chak-Ngaew Junior
9th MAY: (16:30 – 18:00): U7 & U9 Boys Football v Chak-Ngaew Junior
10th MAY:
08:10 – 09:10: BYOD Parent Q&A in the Veraphan Theatre
18:00 – 20:00: Year 8 Experience Senior Boarding
10th – 11th MAY: Year 5 & 6 Residential Trips
Year 3 Art
As part of their new unit ‘Castles and Dragons’, students in Year 3 have been learning how to use composition to plan artwork that tells a story. We have been really excited to create our books, which combine different media to showcase the wide variety of skills we have developed this year, including watercolour painting, pen and ink drawing, wax resist techniques and gel plate printing. Here are some examples of the work in progress, with the finished pieces to be on display in the end-of-year exhibition on Wednesday, 28th June.
Pre-Prep News
Announcements and Reminders
LOST PROPERTY
To make it easier to identify your child's belongings, kindly label everything with their name. We have a considerable number of children, over 300, who own similar items. Every week, we collect a lot of unclaimed clothing and other things in our office. You can check the lost property boxes located in the Pre-Prep office for any misplaced belongings. If items are not claimed after a few weeks, we will donate them to charity. Currently, we have a surplus of water bottles and hats.
WONDERFUL LEARNING
As I walk around School I see such wonderful things taking place both inside and outside of the classrooms. At the School gate each morning I see confident children coming into School, some with just a smile, some waving or high-fiving and some with a super "Good morning". There are children who never used to say hello who now always do and children who were too sad to come by themselves who are now waving goodbye to their parents at the gate and happily making their way to their classrooms. They have come so far this year. It is the last term of this academic year and I can see already the changes taking place.
Our Pre-Nursery Pandas have found their confidence and settled in, our Reception children are making their own way to their classrooms and our Year 2 children are getting ready to fly the nest and move on to the Prep School. This term we will be talking about 'Moving Up' and we will be holding various transitional events for the children and parents. (More on this later.)
For now, I am enjoying watching the children as they enjoy the wonder of learning and how they embrace each day with such positivity and excitement.
MAD JUNIOR AND YEAR 2 BAKE SALE
On 17th May, the MAD Junior Club and the Year 2s are having a big bake sale as a fundraiser event for the Hand to Hand Foundation! As part of Year 2s Thailand topic, they are making food to sell. We would like to invite you to support their project; you can either buy their food on the day, or help by donating baked goods or other food that we can also sell to raise money. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated.
You can drop off any food you would like to contribute at the office or at your child's classroom on the day of 17th May, or before.
The bake sale will take place at the Pre-Prep gate at 15:15 and again at 16:45; please bring cash and come and enjoy lovely treats!
Scan the QR code below for a personal invitation from the Junior MAD team:
ART COMPETITION
Thank you to all our children for submitting wonderful works of art to the art competition.
Click on the video below to view all the entries:
Dates for Your Diary
8th MAY: Year 1 Bikes/Scooters to School (helmets must be worn)
9th MAY: 8:30 – 9:00Key Stage One Coffee Morning (Assembly Hall)
An opportunity to chat with Head of Year 1 and 2, Head of KS1, SMT and other parents
9th MAY: Year 2 football match 4:30 pm at RST
10th MAY: Go For It Gorilla Day - no dress up required
12th MAY: School closed- EXEAT
15th May: Reception Bikes/Scooters to School (helmets must be worn)
16th May: BIG TALK: Top 10 Tips for a stress-free bedtime - all invited
Pre-Nursery
We had such a great time at our Teddy Bears' Picnic last week that we decided to continue the fun by giving the teddies in our classroom a picnic this week. There were teapots and cups and saucers. We served them all sorts of biscuits and cakes, even making our own from playdough. One teddy even had a birthday!
Reception
Reception had an exciting trip to the Veraphan theatre to launch their new topic ‘to infinity and beyond’. No trip to the theatre is complete without popcorn and the reception children enjoyed eating their delicious snack whilst watching Julia Donaldson’s 'Smeds and Smoos'. What a great start to their topic, we’re sure their learning will be out of this world!
Year 1 Turtles
The Turtles have been having a 'tigertastic' time as we begin to learn about animals.
Engaging with small world, foam art and role play! They even had a 'tiger' come for tea and story time together. This sparked many curious questions about tigers that we will explore over this term.
Year 2 Bike to School
Our Year 2 students had a great time this week as they got to bring their bikes to School. They rode their bikes around the track, having fun, and followed our safety rules at all times.
Thai
NURSERY
Nursery children learnt the letter ล ลิง. They learnt the word and the picture that begins with ล ลิง; ลา ลม ล้อ โลก. They also enjoyed playing a game to find the picture that represented ล ลิง.
RECEPTION
Reception learnt about ว แหวน. They practised finding ว แหวน, followed by cutting out and matching the letter to the picture. Finally, they practised tracing ว แหวน.
YEAR 1
Year 1 learnt about the final consonant; แม่กง. They learnt to sound, read and match the word แม่กง to the pictures
YEAR 2
Year 2 non-Thai students learnt about food and the names of Thai soup 'gaeng' for example; gaeng kiew waan gai gaeng som goong, etc.
Teddy Bears' Picnic
When you go down to the Pre-Prep today, you're sure of a big surprise!!
Pre-Prep has held its annual Teddy Bears' Picnic again; with the children all coming to School with their teddy bears and wearing their pyjamas. Filled with lots of amazing teddy bear-related activities, the children spent the day developing their speaking and listening skills by sharing stories about their teddy bears with their teachers and friends. Many of them worked on their fine motor skills by creating their own teddy bear pictures or crafts, and some of the older students learnt about the history of the teddy bear. Everyone enjoyed yummy teddy bear-shaped cookies as a special snack, and the children in Reception and KS1 all got together in the hall at lunchtime for their teddy bears’ picnic.
Makaton Signing
This week we learned the signs for:
‘Lady’, ‘Man’ and ‘Baby’
Thank you to the Toucan class for their help in making the video.
Happy signing!
Useful Links
Boarding Life
School House boys take part in fortnightly challenges in small teams. Recently, they went head-to-head in a highly competitive quiz. Congratulations to Team Eiji who won first place!
At the end of last term, School House boys celebrated their success in a range of House events with pizza and games. It was a great way to end a busy term!
All of our boarders in Marshall House, Rupert Brooke and School House enjoyed relaxing together at a recent barbecue. We love opportunities to get our boarding community together!
Last Friday, the Marshall House boarders started their weekend off right with a leisurely walk along the banks of Lake Mapbrachan, followed by a delicious dinner at the kebab truck! It was a relaxing and fun way to welcome our newest boarder Rei, from Japan, to the Marshall House family!
Then on Sunday afternoon, our boarders enjoyed a very interesting documentary on elephants that was screened at the Pre-prep assembly hall. We were also very lucky to be able to speak to the documentary's producer via Zoom, who just happens to be the sister of our very own Mr Kahumbu!
Thanks to Mr Kahumbu for arranging this.
Enrichment
Enrichment
PREP CROSS COUNTRY
Year 5-8 cross country are enjoying the lush trails after recent rains. They also attempted a new hill challenge, with everyone conquering a big climb and setting goals to improve on by the end of term.
PREP ART
The Year 7 and 8s have been challenged to create a Balinese keliki-inspired piece of art which they felt depicted quintessential Thailand. This miniature piece of art requires patience and precision which our students are well-versed in!
PREP STOP MOTION
This week, in the Stop Motion CCA, students were challenged to create a short animation using….. rice!
Despite being a tricky medium to work with, we’ve seen some interesting results this week!
PREP HORRIBLE HISTORIES CLUB
This term, history students in Y6, 7 and 8 have enjoyed taking part in the ‘Horrible Histories' activity. They worked together to research and plan their very own history sketch, based on the BBC TV show and book series by Terry Deary. They developed their globally mindedness by learning about past people and communities, whilst collaborating with each other to create something fun and interesting! We can’t wait to watch their historical sketch shows.
Sport
Last weekend, RST faced off against St Andrews Bangkok in a basketball tournament, featuring two champion teams. STA's U11 team had previously won the BISA and BMAC championships, while RST had triumphed as FOBISIA champions. Despite some excellent basketball played by both teams, STA narrowly won all four games.
The RST U9 girls managed to lift the School's spirits by winning the St Andrews football tournament on the same day. Meanwhile, the U16 boys' football team played a tough match at home against FC Planet, enduring a long morning in the blazing sun.
Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse on Sunday, as thunder and lightning caused the cancellation of all games for the 47 rugby players from RST, who had travelled to Bangkok to compete. Nonetheless, it was a remarkable feat that more than 100 RST students had geared up to represent their School.
Student Achievements
Prinn (Prep) took part in the Nawamintra Queen's Cup, competing in the Walk Trot Dressage Competition (Pony & Open) and won second place in both competitions, with a score of 75%. Well done, Prinn!
THE AUSTRALIA TEACHER OF DANCING (ATOD) INTERNATIONAL DANCE COMPETITION 2023
Congratulations to April and Alie for their success in the 2023 ATOD Dance Competition:
- Duo Novelty: Junior part 1 >>> awarded: Honourable Mention (87 Marks)
- Ballet Bronze Star SOLO Part 3 >>>> awarded : Silver Medal (88 and 88.5 Marks)
RSTeam Spotlight
Get to know a little better our dedicated team of teachers and support staff who make our School great, by learning more about them and their roles.
This week we focus on Mr Stuart Douglas, Head of DT, Senior:
Community Offers & Events
WISDOM SWIMMING CLUB IS OPEN NOW!
WHEN: Monday – Friday (6:00 – 8:00pm) & Saturday (6:30 – 8:00am)
PRICE: 5,000 THB/month (Starts in May 2023)
PRACTICE TIME: 6 times/week
LOCATION: Webb Ellis Centre
REGISTER HERE: https://forms.gle/qgdxrznEc9BegK1c7
Please note that Rugby School students are welcome to train with the swimming club, however RST Swimmers are unable to transfer to the Wisdom Swimming Club.
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:
