Shrewsbury International School, Bangkok - British Education in Thailand

Shiver me timbers!

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:56:16 +0700

The Early Years garden welcomed hordes of little pirates on Saturday 28th January 2012 at the annual Pirate Party event.

Dozens of children (as well as their mums and dads) had great fun making hats and telescopes, dressing up, digging for treasure in the sand pit and playing around in Shrewsbury's splish-splash pool.

And just when the children thought they couldn't have any more fun, they were led outside to the school field for an exciting treasure hunt and a picnic.

The Pirate Party is an annual event held at Shrewsbury which is aimed at introducing parents of young children to the facilities and staff in the Early Years Centre.

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Student celebrate Oxbridge offers

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:10:35 +0700

During the holiday break, 14 students from Year 13 were travelling to the United Kingdom for interviews at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

To have been chosen for interview from more than 32,000 applications is a tremendous achievement. It recognises not only the students’ exceptional academic achievement at IGCSE and AS level, but also their potential to shine at universities recognized internationally to be two of the top five universities in the world.

As a result of these interviews, two students were offered places at Oxford and five were give offers to study at Cambridge—the highest number of Oxbridge offers that have been made since the school opened. This is a fantastic achievement and stands testament to the hard work of our amazing students and their teachers.

Our Deputy Head of School, Siriwimol (Joy) Phophichitra, was offered a place to read Natural Sciences at Churchill College, Cambridge, subject to her gaining the necessary grades at A-Level.

She will be joined at Cambridge by Kantamete (Ken) Vanichchokij, who will study Chemical Engineering at Christ’s College. For the first time we have three students who have received offers to study economics. They are Kwannpat (Pop) Songvisit (Gonville and Caius College), Calvin Khaing, who is from Burma, (Clare College) and Bunyada (Mos) Laoprapassorn (Trinity College).

The student chosen for places at Oxford will both be studying Engineering Science. They are I-horng Huang, who is from Taiwan and will study at Jesus College, and Nicha (Cherry) Wongphanlet, who will go to St Anne’s College.

Our Head of Careers, Gillian Mason, who leads students in their university choices and applications, is thrilled with each individual’s achievement.

“Our students’ capacity to perform and compete so successfully in the global academic arena is a testament to the learning environment and their personal drive, interest and enjoyment in the subjects that they have chosen.”

She added: “The remaining 46 Year 13 students are receiving a raft of offers from the very best British Universities including Bristol, Imperial College London, the London School of Economics, University College London and Warwick.”

Head of Sixth Form, Steven Green, is delighted with the students’ success. He is pleased that the hard work and dedication of these remarkable students has been recognised by the very best universities.

“The preparation the students have received from dedicated Sixth Form Tutors and subject specialists has, once again, been truly outstanding. It has been a joy to observe the discussion and debate between staff and students leading to superb applications.”

As offers from universities around the world continue to flood we look forward to sharing more good news with you,

School welcomes in the Year of the Dragon

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:56:49 +0700

After months of practice, the students at Shrewsbury International School are putting the finishing touches to the special Chinese New Year show which will take place on Friday 27th January.

The show has been put together by a group of dedicated and hard-working mums led by Mrs Joyce Kimble (mother of Bobbi, Y9) and assisted by members of the Modern Languages Department and the Drama Department.

This year is the Year of the Dragon, which is the 5th animal in the Chinese calendar, and the show includes songs, dances, martial arts displays and stories with a special dragon theme.

This year the Shrewsbury Charity Committee working with Shrewsbury Parents Association (SPA) to send out special New Year envelopes to all students the day before the presentation. The students will be asked to donate between 20THB to 100THB and drop their envelopes into the collection boxes that will be situated near the Memorial Hall. The money raised will be sent to Mianzhu Middle School in the Chengdu Province of China.

In May 2008 Mianzhu Middle School was destroyed by a terrible earthquake. Shrewsbury International School went into action and helped support the rebuilding of the school which is now a leading school in China.

Each year Shrewsbury sends a donation of 50,000THB to fund a scholarship programme to support older students with their applications to University.

To see a gallery of Chinese New year pictures, click here

Helping the flood victims

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:56:14 +0700

A donation of 100,000 baht has been sent to Wat Krai School in Ayutthya – the school that Shrewsbury International School is helping to support in the aftermath of the flooding that devastated large parts of Thailand in 2011.

The money will be used to fund the first part of the renovation work which will include rewiring the school to provide the students and staff with an electricity supply, and the rebuilding of the canteen, toilets and ground floor kindergarten classrooms.

Wat Krai primary school, which is attended by 128 pupils, was closed on 9th September, when the waters began to rise. The flood waters within the school reached 3 metres and remained there for more than two months, destroying almost all of the school’s resources, electrics and classrooms.

Following a visit in December by Mark Verde, Chair of the Charity Committee, and Kongkan Vorachitsushanant (Khun A), Personal Assistant to the Head of Junior School, it was decided that Shrewsbury would partner with the school to help them rebuild and restore their facilities. A major fund-raising initiative has now been drawn up by Mr Verde to support the school in the months and years ahead. Throughout Term 2 and Term 3, the school is planning a number of events to raise money for the school to be redecorated, and the purchase of books, educational resources and playground equipment. The third phase will involve the rebuilding of the library and the creation of new garden areas.

In January 2012, Khun A returned to Wat Krai to deliver much needed stationary supplies and Thai exercise books.

Mr Verde said: “We hope that, in the coming months, the charitable spirit of Shrewsbury will come out in full force, and we will all work together to restore and renew Wat Krai primary school.”

To see photos from Mr Verde and Khun A’s visits, click here

To read about how Shrewsbury staff helped in the immediate aftermath of the flooding, click here

Gun takes centre stage at Chopin concert

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:54:32 +0700

Year 9 student Gun Chaikittiwatana will perform Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 1 at two concerts being staged at the MACM Hall of Mahidol University.

Gun studied the Concerto as part of his Mahidol scholarship to the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Austria last August.

During his time in Austria he worked with two renowned teachers - , Prof. Dmitri Bashkirov and Prof. E. Steen Nokleberg. The concerts take place on 3rd February (7pm) and 4th February (4pm). The programme also includes Mahler’s Symphony No 9 in D major.

For tickets and information please call: 02 800 2525 ext. 153. A free shuttle service from Wong Wian Yai BTS station (Exit 4) is available ahead of the concert.

To get a taste of what a treat this concert will be, watch Gun perform with Prof Nokleberg on You Tube www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpEGQVSjQKQ.

:: Good luck to Gun and to fellow Shrewsbury Music Scholar Silarat (Palm) Chomchat (11AC) who are both competing in the finals of the Conrad Young Musician of Thailand competition next week.

The finals, which also includes two musicians from Mahidol University, take place at the Conrad Hotel on Tuesday 24th January at 6.30pm

Calling all Golf fans!

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:53:59 +0700

Shrewsbury International School will be holding its Family Golf Day 2012 at the exclusive Green Valley Country Club on Sunday 11th March.

Teams of two are invited to enter the golf challenge to enjoy the 18-hole course, Stableford competition, buffet dinner and a prize-giving ceremony.

The competition is open to parents, students, staff and members of the wider Shrewsbury community – but places are limited to 40 teams of 2 players. Application forms may be collected from School reception.

The Paradise Golf Course at Green Valley Country Club is located near Suvarnabhumi Airport, just 30 minutes from central Bangkok.

About Green Valley Country Club: The Paradise Golf Course at Green Valley Country Club is located near Suvarnabhumi Airport, just 30 minutes from central Bangkok. The 18-hole 6,726-yard course is set over 307 acres of rolling fairways and undulating greens with well placed lakes and bunkers to challenge golfers of every level. The course, which opened in 1988, was designed by US golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Jr.

Fairytale ending to Term 1

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:24:16 +0700

Once upon a time, a long long long ago, there were 3 nice bears and a little girl! So sang 1JG at the performance of a Fairy Tale Christmas – the Year 1 show which got everyone in the festive mood just before we finished for Christmas.

Santa took a magical trip around fairytale land to see who he could help. The Billy Goats gruff from 1RP needed some more grass seeds and some help to sort out an angry troll! Cinderella from 1CW needed assistance getting to the Christmas ball and Beauty and the Beast from 1MJ were given a rose to help them fall in love!

There were beautiful costumes, super singing and some magical dancing!

To see a gallery of pictures, click here

Dear Parents and Friends

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:26:47 +0700

Just a thought...Lessons from Shakespeare’s heroes and villains Just a few weeks ago, some of our most enthusiastic students of drama travelled to the inspiring Esplanade Theatre in Singapore to watch Kevin Spacey (Oscar-winning star of The Usual Suspects and American Beauty) in the title role of Shakespeare’s “Richard III”.
It was a stunning performance worthy of the hype and pre-show billing and from the opening lines the weave of disaster and glory in this life is made clear. Read more click here

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Rebuild and renew: support after the Thailand floods

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:28:27 +0700

The recent floods in Thailand led to the devastating loss of homes and lives throughout the country. To help with the rebuilding process Shrewsbury will be partnering a school in Ayutthaya that was inundated by flood water for two months.

Wat Krai primary school’s 128 pupils was closed on 9th September, when waters began to rise. The flood waters within the school reached 3 metres, destroying almost all of the school’s resources, electrics and classrooms.

Mark Verde, Chair of the Charity Committee, and Kongkan Vorachitsushanant, Personal Assistant to the Head of Junior School, visited Wat Krai on 13th December. After meeting the students and Principal, and seeing the dire need to repair the damage done, it was decided that Shrewsbury would partner with the school to help them renovate their facilities.

Beginning in Term 2, the Shrewsbury community will work to raise funds to help with the reconstruction of Wat Krai school. The initial priorities will include rewiring the whole school to provide them with an electricity supply and rebuilding the canteen, toilets and ground floor kindergarten classrooms. The whole school will need to be redecorated and stocks of books, stationary, educational resources and playground equipment will need to be bought before moving on to rebuilding the library and gardens.

We hope that, in the coming months, the charitable spirit of Shrewsbury will come out in full force, and we will all work together to restore and renew Wat Krai primary school.

To see photos from Mr Verde and Khun A’s visit, click here

To read about how Shrewsbury staff helped in the immediate aftermath of the flooding, click here