Sometimes, when I travel to Bangkok or elsewhere on
newspaper business, I am unsure as to how the day will develop. Of course,
discovering and uncovering the unknown is part of the significant lot of the
journalist and great fun, besides.
Happy
in their Oasis – children at Bangkok International Prep School.
When I was invited to Bangkok earlier this month, I was
entirely unsure as to what to expect, having heard only minor snippets of
information about Bangkok International Prep School (BIPS). There are so
many international schools flying around, after all.
As I alighted from the Sky Train at Thong Lor, I was in
for a major surprise. Stuck on Sukhumvit Road, I had no right to find a
genuine oasis in the middle of a desert of urban development. But, within a
hundred yards I found myself in a compact, gentle, peaceful, luscious idyll.
I had walked past the ubiquitous construction site, which
is springing up to cope with an expanding school population and to
eventually house (BIPS hope) a thriving IB Diploma Programme. That’s some
way off, as the school currently provides British Education for children
from 3 – 10 years old (up to Year 5).
I was fascinated to meet and speak with managing
director, Khun Patrada Yomnak and head teacher, Mr. Bernie Gilman. How could
BIPS possibly hope to make an impact in an incredibly competitive
international schools market?
KPY: I have been in education for many
years (13 years at the Ministry of Education) and the school has just grown
from the interest that we have generated. I think we have our positioning
very clear and we understand that there are many schools which might offer
something similar or different. Of course it’s up to parents to decide
what fits them best.
AW: What is special about this school?
BG: I think the first thing is that it’s
small enough to be a really nice family community. I think the important
thing about schools is the school’s culture, which develops and evolves
over time and I think ours is becoming quite special as we evolve. What I
like most of all is how we have very close links with our parent body. Also,
the students know me and I know the students and the students play well
together. The elder ones play with the younger ones, in fact we look for
ways within the curriculum to make this happen. So for example, year five
children read to the reception class. Being small is an advantage. We’ll
be large enough to get the benefits of scale, small enough to get the
benefit of personal service.
AW: Size and scale are not synonymous?
BG: Pardon? No I don’t think so. Very
rarely, anyway.
AW: What else?
BG: Location. We are in the centre of town
so we’re local. As an adult, I hated commuting to work.
AW: How far would you expect a small child
to travel to school?
BG: At the moment, not very far at all.
Maybe fifteen, twenty minutes, no more than that. Most of our families are
very local. The Sky Train is a two minute walk. Too much time spent getting
to and from school is time that can be better spent in after-school
activities, extra study at home or school, or with families and friends.
AW: The greenery here is wonderful.
BG: Yes it is. We try very hard to maintain
a peaceful environment, because the environment in which children learn is
so often overlooked and I think if children feel safe, relaxed and calm,
they can focus on what’s important. In lots of schools you tend to find
that the buildings come first, then they fit people into them. In my view,
the curriculum should inform the architect.
AW: So what is it that you offer, that
another school doesn’t?
KPY: We will keep the size of the classes
small. The maximum is eighteen. Our directors are in academia rather than
business so we have a strong commitment to developing this prime area for
schooling. I bridge the areas of academics and business.
AW: For you, why international education
and not Thai curriculum?
KPY: I guess because I have experience in
the international school atmosphere and education in general. Actually, my
grandmother was the first woman principal of a school in Chiang Mai. I went
to the States to study and was an education major. I was very interested in
policy, management and administration. Actually, I’m still involved with
the Thai curriculum.
AW: How do you teach “critical
thinking” skills as you claim you do in your brochure, to children of five
to ten?
KPY: It’s not hard at all. You can teach
even little ones. By asking questions, in the playground, everywhere.
AW: It’s great to have an ideology – a
dream – but it’s another thing entirely to marry that dream with
reality. You need to have very high quality teachers in order to deliver
your dream for you. In today’s highly competitive market, it’s no
problem for a school like NIST down the road to recruit high quality
teachers but how do you manage?
KPY: We work with and recruit high quality
people from the UK. We have a lot of applicants, make a short-list, then
interview. There are a lot of people who want to come to Thailand.
BG: We have four basic criteria for
selecting staff (excepting Thai staff and EAL staff). Firstly, they must be
native English speakers. Secondly, they must have recent experience of
teaching the English National Curriculum. Third, they must be suitably
qualified. You used to be able to become a teacher without a degree. Not any
more. Fourthly, they must have qualified teacher status.
AW: You can’t legally employ them
otherwise, can you?
BG: Some schools do!
AW: Where do you want the school to be in
five years?
KPY: We will grow up. We will expand to
cover more form entries. I see the school as a top quality, leading school.
We hope to run the IB Diploma at the upper level eventually.
AW: You have a lovely school. Thank you,
both, very much indeed.
WASC
Visiting Committee member, Mark Boyer, observes a middle school math class.
