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Regents celebrates Chinese and
Korean New Year with Primary Parade
Charlotte Summersby
On Friday 31st January, Regents’ Primary and Early Years’ students
celebrated the Chinese and Korean New Year with a parade around the school’s
sports pitches in national dress, accompanied by the sound of drums and
cymbals.
Nonie Adams, Head of Primary, commented, “The whole Primary School came
together this morning as the Early Years children and staff paraded around
the grounds, resplendent in special outfits to celebrate Chinese and Korean
New Year. The dragon danced, the drummers beat their drums, the children
skipped and smiled. It was a wonderful morning of colour and enjoyment.”
Regents students show
the write stuff
IB Diploma students at Regents put
the finishing touches to their extended essays.
Tim Eaton
Senior students at Regents International School Pattaya are putting the
finishing touches on the 4,000-word extended essays which form an important part
of their International Baccalaureate Diploma course. The essays not only
influence the students’ final Diploma grade, they are also excellent preparation
for the research and essay-writing which will be expected of each of them at
university.
The range of topics which the students chose to address this year reflects their
ambition and maturity. They also illustrate how globalized Regents students
become, with so many choosing to write on subjects which would have been
completely unfamiliar to them before joining the school.
Julianne from the Philippines chose to explore how Charlotte Bronte used minor
characters in her novel Jane Eyre to convey a rigid sense of social hierarchy.
Geoffrey from Thailand also chose a literary theme, examining how Oscar Wilde
and Edgar Allen Poe used symbolism to represent loss in the novels The Picture
of Dorian Gray and The Fall of the House of Usher.
Gye-Yeong from South Korea focused on an art historical theme in her essay
entitled, ‘To what extent are three cursive script calligraphy works from the
16th Century Joseon Dynasty and the abstract paintings of Franz Kline
connected?’ Gor from Armenia, who was recently interviewed for a place at
Cambridge University, focused on the economy in his essay on the competitiveness
of customs brokerage agencies.
In total, over 30 Regents students will complete the IB Diploma this summer, and
the extended essays they have submitted cover the sciences, humanities, social
sciences and arts.
Paddy McKenna, who coordinates the Extended Essay Programme for the school
commented, “The Extended Essay is a personal research project that students
undertake in one of their own special areas of academic interest. The essay is
formally presented, much like a dissertation, and is excellent preparation for
the rigorous expectations of university. Congratulations to all the students for
their hard work.”
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GIS stars shine
at science fair
GIS students came up with 20
special projects for the science fair.
Jignil Shah (Year 9)
Secondary students from Garden International School (GIS) took home some
prizes following the third SAIS Eastern Seaboard Science Fair.
Secondary students from GIS submitted around 20 projects and came away with two
prizes. Dhriti’s work was named the best in Year 7, while Jignil got the
runners-up prize for Year 9. There were several other activities at the fair,
which was held at St Andrews.
There was a Science Olympiad where one of the challenges was to build the
highest tower possible that could hold an egg. Another aim was to create a
catapult where a person shoots a tennis ball from a catapult and other students
have to catch it.
In addition, there was a science quiz with 20 rapid-fire questions, a ‘Splendid
Science Show’ featuring scientific magic such as the Elephant’s Toothpaste, and
prizes that included a Samsung Galaxy Note 3.0.
Students put some science into
action!
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6 international school teams compete
in 3rd SAIS Eastern Seaboard Science Fair
“Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge,” Carl Sagan
Mild Trankarnsakdikul - Best in Show winner.
Mr. Thorpe,
Head of KS3 Science
On Thursday 23rd January 2014, the 3rd SAIS Eastern Seaboard Science
Fair came to its dramatic climax. The most gifted scientific minds from 6
international schools converged at St. Andrews International School, Green
Valley to battle it out for the fantastic prizes and the glory of winning the
region’s largest academic competition.
Around 120 students from SAIS Green Valley, SAIS 107, Concordian International
School, Satit Udomseuksa School, Garden International School and ISE brought
their exhibits and their scientific skills and investigations to be tested and
judged against one another. The variety of projects produced by the students was
staggering and the judges, from a range of scientific backgrounds, were hard
pressed to pick winners in each category.
St. Andrews Students presenting and explaining their
science fair projects.
The investigations ranged in depth, size, scope and covered all disciplines of
science. The traditional areas of Chemistry, Biology and Physics were
investigated with some students choosing to investigate: reactions between
metals and different solutions, the growth of mould and the generation of
electricity. This year also showcased a large number of projects that were
investigating other areas of science such as animal behavior and psychology. The
judges spent just over 3 hours talking to students about their projects and how
they had used the ‘scientific method’, in order to choose the top three in each
category.
Whilst the judging was happening, all students competed in a ‘Science Olympiad’
- a range of tasks specially designed by the SAIS Green Valley IB Science
students - to test the grey matter and teamwork skills of the competitors. It
didn’t matter if it was the general science knowledge quiz, the angry bird style
catapult or the marshmallow and spaghetti egg tower - the students had fun
whilst exploring a new range of scientific skills.
The competitors, as well as most of the primary school, turned out to be wowed
by the SAIS Science Department and their exciting science show; a couple of old
favourites as well as the spectacular ‘Bed of Nails’ kept the crowd entertained
whist the judges finished off the arduous task of finding one winner in each
category.
Lunchtime provided yet more opportunities for students to demonstrate their
scientific prowess. After a gastronomic feast, kindly provided by the SAIS Green
Valley PTG, some students entered the ‘Bottle Rocket’ competition to see who
could fly the furthest. There was a valiant challenge from Concordia; however,
the SAIS record of 128m still stands - good luck next year challengers!
It was a fantastic day that highlighted that academic and scientific excellence,
creativity and fun can all co-exist in one event. Congratulations go out to all
the winners (who are listed below) and indeed to all the competitors because
it’s the taking part that really counts.
The real winner was ‘Science’ - the ability to take any idea and investigate it
in a logical and scientific manner, to extrapolate thoughts and ideas from
collected data and to identify and ameliorate any limitations - allowing
students, the scientists of tomorrow, to showcase their talents, this is what
the SAIS Eastern Seaboard Science Fair is all about.
SAIS Green Valley would like to thank its Science Department for organising the
day, the ground staff for working tirelessly to setup the fair and of course our
sponsors who kindly donated the prizes and without whom it would be impossible
to run an event like this: Caterpillar, ANCA, ToTech Middle East, Kao Kong
Petroleum, Zen City Condominium, T.O. Thai, Marriot and Pattaya Mail TV.
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Jesters help out in
Ban Chang Community
Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive 2014
(L to R) Bernie, Mat (nurse), Helle, Thunhom (baby),
Thongpoon (grandfather) and Woody gather in front of the elderly couple’s room
in Ban Chang.
 Bernie Tuppin
Bang Chang Community Hospital conducts an outreach programme that
identifies individuals and families in need of care who are unable to attend the
hospital for treatment. Mat, a registered home care nurse and local volunteer
social worker, and Porn, formerly from Dek Dee Center, travel the area regularly
tending to these cases.
For quite some time now Pattaya International Ladies Club has funded food
parcels each month for the neediest of these families, which certainly helps;
however, there are cases where this is not enough. Helle Rantsen, president of
PILC, contacted Jesters Care for Kids last year and explained that quite often
these circumstances lead to the children being denied care. Jester’s response
was to have Woody and Bernie accompany the group each month and assist
financially in cases where children were at risk.
It was agreed that Mat be supplied with a small fund for use in these special
cases and keep detailed accounts of her expenditure whereas the fund would be
replenished on an as needed basis. Over the past year, quite a few families have
benefited from this plan. A recent example occurred on the last visit when the
group attended the home of Thongpoon and his wife, both of who are quite old and
unable to work, and they and had been caring for their 9-month old
granddaughter, Thunhom, as the mother was in custody and the father absent.
As we arrived the elderly couple was being issued with eviction orders as they
did not have the resources to care for the baby and keep up with the rent. The
situation was resolved when the Jesters agreed to purchase a supply of formula
for the baby and PILC agreed to guarantee future rent payments until the
situation is resolved. This means that this small child will have a safe
environment for some time to come.
The outcome was another example of the benefit gained by local charities
combining resources for the common good. Jesters Care for Kids welcome
opportunities to support the welfare of children at risk and enjoy working with
other like-minded groups.
Future Events: Children’s Fair is Sunday, September 7th at Regents (RISP) and
GPN is Saturday, September 20th at Amari Orchid Pattaya.
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