Jesters Fair Tomorrow!

Street Kids’ Home receives generous donation

Rotary Club and Australian bussinessman donate needed items

Jomtien-Pattaya Rotary Club Secretary George Tomlinson and Australian businessman Michael Biggs with his wife Tanida joined forces to donate food, clothing, medicine, athletic equipment, blankets, pillows and other necessity articles to the Pattaya Redemptorist Home for Street Children.

Jomtien-Pattaya Rotary Club Secretary George Tomlinson and Australian businessman Michael Biggs with his wife Tanida joined forces to donate food, clothing, medicine, athletic equipment, blankets, pillows and other necessity articles to the Pattaya Redemptorist Home for Street Children.

Reverend Wichien Likittam, the Director of the Pattaya Redemptorist Home for Street Children, received the gracious donations on the afternoon of September 2.

The Street Kids’ Home looks after children who, for various reasons, have taken to the streets of Pattaya. The Home offers them a secure environment and the opportunity to continue schooling in one of the city’s public schools. The children are each victims of society, and all are disadvantaged. Some have single parents who are unable to support them; others have abusive parents or are sexually abused by relatives or strangers.

The grateful kids give a hearty Thai thank you

In 1990, Fr. Raymond A. Brennan, founder of the Pattaya Orphanage established the Home for Street Children, which was then located on Central Pattaya Road near the entrance to Soi Arunotai opposite Foodland.

The Street Kids’ Home for boys earlier this year moved from Central Pattaya to an area on seven rai of land near the Suttawad Temple at the end of Soi Nern Plab Wan. Agricultural projects are underway and the larger area will allow the children more room to play with less restrictions.

The Home is supported entirely through donations from charitable individuals and organizations.

Daily lunches and evening meals are arranged by various organizations and individual donators who make monetary donations that go towards food for the children. Meals are normally prepared by assistants, helped by the older children at the Home.

Five assistants look after the children at the Home, which usually has a population ranging around 50 boys. Assistants and the boys live together as a large family. There is a separate location for girls.

ISR Students celebrate exam results

Students the world over await exam results with great trepidation, but for four ISR students in particular, ‘results day’ proved to be a very happy one!

Dawn Chan, ISR’s first Advanced Level candidate, recorded five ‘A’ Level passes to secure her place at Michigan University, Ann Arbor. Most ‘A’ Level candidates settle for three subjects only, which gives an indication of Dawn’s exceptional performance. Dawn is quite an all-rounder having been President of the ISR Student Guild and a winner of the ECIS Prize for International Understanding.

Congratulations to ISR students Jee Woon, Louise and Natthapoj on their excellent IGCSE results.

ISR also prepares students for the Cambridge University IGCSE examinations. Success in five subjects at Grades A-C allows students to matriculate with the Matthayom 6 qualification. ISR is pleased to report that nineteen students achieved five grades A-C or more. The outstanding student this year was Jee Woon Hwang who scored 5A*s and 3A’s. The “A*” is reserved for outstanding performance. Jee Woon’s results are all the more creditworthy given that she joined ISR as an ESL student. Indeed, one of her A*s was for English First Language.

A dilemma facing many parents who relocate due to work is what to do with their older children. Should they stay at home to finish their education or follow their parents and risk their chances of exam success? The Black family made the choice for daughter Louise to come with them to Thailand to study at ISR even though she was halfway through her IGCSEs. Their faith in ISR and Louise was amply rewarded when Louise achieved an A*, 6A’s and a B. Louise, like Jee Woon is now studying for ‘A’ Levels at ISR.

Dawn Chan was awarded excellent A level grades and has now gone on to study at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Congratulations Dawn!

Natthapoj Trakulphadetkrai’s success with 3A’s, a B and 3C’s illustrates the opportunities available for students moving from the Thai system into an international school. Despite transferring as late as Year 9 Natthapoj showed great determination in bringing his English proficiency up to the required level to ensure IGCSE success and acceptance into ISR’s Year 12.

Mr Simon Leslie, Head of ISR said, “I commend all the students who worked so hard for their exams and congratulate Dawn, Jee Woon, Louise and Natthapoj in particular for their outstanding results. It is also great to see our top scorers reflecting the truly international flavour of our school: Dawn from Canada, Jee Woon from Korea, Louise from England and Natthapoj from Thailand!”

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