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Jigsaws and more at academic camp
We’ve finished! Mathayom 4
students complete a tricky jigsaw during their Academic Camp.
Smart students tried their hands at cooking, artwork and
jigsaw puzzles as part of an action-packed academic camp.
Students from Mathayom 4 at Assumption College Sriracha enjoyed their
one-day camp recently.
Held at the school’s nearby camp site, students took part in a range of
activities away from their normal classrooms.
Activities included English and other foreign languages, science, Thai,
maths and social studies.
Assumption College Sriracha educates many children from Pattaya. For more
details visit www.acs.ac.th
Mathayom 4 girls from
Assumption College Sriracha are hard at work on a science project during
their recent Academic Camp.
Open House
at Asian University and College
Business and marketing
games generated a lot of interest.
Tours of the campus were
popular.
Budding stars in the Music
Club.
Last weekend, the Asian University and College doors
were open and many potential students and their families came to have a
look around and meet students and teaching staff. In a relaxed
atmosphere, they were able to chat with existing students and meet the
teaching staff. Many of the younger visitors showed interest in the
summer camps and the college.
Dr. Viphandh Roengpithya (Dr. Vip), president of the university,
addressed the parents and youngsters about the advantages of studying at
an international university such as Asian U. A second presentation on
preparing for university was given by Dr. Penny Lorwatanapongsa, a
counselling advisor.
The faculties and departments of the university had information and
activity stands around the academic building; the college held
demonstration classes; visitor were able to see the university buildings
and facilities for themselves and visitors took tours of the campus,
including the sports centre and the dormitories.
Some of the existing students acted as guides, while others manned
stalls promoting the activities of their clubs. Apart from the main
Student Union stand, these included cookery, photography, publishing,
music, meditation, shooting, Taekwando, and many others.
Frankenstein set to put
the frighteners on Pattaya
Do not miss the professional TNT Theatre Company of UK,
which will be returning to the Globe Theatre at the Regent’s School next
Wednesday 29th November to perform an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s famous
novel Frankenstein.
Frankenstein is one of the most popular modern myths. The TNT’s exciting new
production will explore that myth through a Gothic comedy that mixes popular
entertainment with a serious exploration of the darker themes within the
myth. Should scientific research be held back by irrational prejudice or
religious beliefs? Is human cloning or stem cell research immoral? Should
humanity seek to create artificial life? Can science ever be restrained?
These urgent questions will be explored through a Gothic melodrama that
extends from high comedy to spine chilling tingling terror, from love story
to horror fable and from thriller to tragedy as the Monster is revealed in
all his lonely suffering.
The play is directed by Paul Stebbings who has explored this style of Gothic
comedy in productions such as The Murder of Sherlock Holmes, A Christmas
Carol and Oliver Twist, which have been hugely successful across the world,
winning prizes at the Edinburgh Festival and performing in over thirty
countries in Europe and Asia.
Frankenstein will have a full musical score by noted composer Paul Flush
that operates more in the manner of film than theatre and is likely to stir
memories of the famous 1930’s Hollywood version directed by James Whale
starring Boris Karloff. (This movie was featured in an article in the
Pattaya Mail last month). The theatrical style of this production will
be highly visual and the pace will be fast. Overall, the production aims to
be fresh and accessible to a wide range of audience.
This is the third visit by the TNT Company following their smash-hit
productions of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Willy Russell’s Educating
Rita. TNT always accompanies its productions with highly stimulating drama
workshops for the students in which the themes of the play are explored and
drama skills are honed.
The audience response to the two previous visits was unanimously positive
and the Regent’s School has been abele to develop an artistic association
with this prestigious theatrical ensemble over the last two years. More
information about TNT/ADG Europe can be obtained by visiting their website
by www.adg-europe.com
Tickets cost 300 baht for students and 500 baht for adults and can be
reserved on > [email protected]< or by telephoning 090143002, where
more information about the performance will be available. Demand for tickets
is anticipated to be particularly high so early booking is strongly
recommended.
The performance of Frankenstein precedes the performance by the Senior
students of Regent’s School of Grimm Tales, which will be presented on the
Globe Theatre on Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th December at 7.30pm in The
Globe Theatre.
Regent’s delegates discover the ‘Plus est en Vous’ in Scotland
Seven Regent’s students, five from Pattaya Campus and two
from Bangkok Campus, were selected to attend the 2006 International Round
Square Conference hosted by Gordonstoun School near Inverness in Scotland.
The conference was held for a week in early October, and the theme of the
conference was ‘Plus est en Vous’ (there is more in you). More than 60 Round
Square schools attended from all over the world allowing students the chance
to share ideas on a large number of global issues and how to embrace the
IDEALS of Round Square more effectively as an organization.
Adventure Day
Cattreya Sperbund, Year 12
The Adventure Day was a day created for the delegates to confront
themselves with a new and challenging activity such as Beach Clean, Golf, a
Land Rover Tour, Speyside Way walk, a coastal walk, Duff Town Railway
Conservation Project, Orienteering, Sailing on the Ocean Spirit, Mountain
Biking, Horse Riding and many more.
 Joyce
and Jane with King Constantine of Greece
During my activity, I realized that there was more in me than I thought.
I’ve always known how to ride a horse but I have never been in a situation
where I felt uncomfortable on horse back and thought I was going to be in
trouble. However, that was not the case, I managed to get used to the mare
and I enjoyed the experience of riding in the Scottish country side. From
that experience I learnt that you will never feel comfortable if you do not
take the risk and try something new, if it does not suit you, tough get used
to it because that is life. Not only did I have trouble from getting used to
the ‘Scottish’ way of riding, I also learnt a valuable lesson in making
friends.
Before the conference I had always been in the same group as my fellow
delegates from The Regents, but during the adventure day I was put in a
group with delegates I have never met before. That was one of the first
times in my life that I had made friends with others in such a short amount
of time. Making friends seemed to be so simple on that day; just one common
interest was all it took. I learnt when you step out of your comfort zone
you are challenging yourself to new valuable experiences; you are exposing
yourself to the real world.
The lessons I was taught that day was not something only I experienced, but
one that all the other delegates also experienced through the different
activities. We had found more in us! Step out of your comfort zone and find
more in YOU!
Explore Scotland Day
Joyce Lin, Year 12
On the second day of the conference, we had an opportunity to visit
different aspects of Scotland. Cat, Gabby, Michael, Mr. Crouch, Mr. Walton
and I chose to go on the “Myths and Legends” excursion - an exploration of
Loch Ness and Castle Urquhart! Fortunately the weather was chilly but sunny.
We had a one-hour-journey on the boat on Loch Ness and the landscape along
the way was absolutely stunning - green hills, open space, and sheep - there
was even a full rainbow greeting our visit! While admiring the natural
beauty of Scotland we couldn’t help shivering! The wind was very strong
especially on the top deck of the boat. As we entered Loch Ness, the captain
shared his experience about the mysterious monster, Nessie with us. Then
everyone started to stare at the water and tried to search for it!
The Regent’s delegation in the
court yard of the original Round Square building
Soon we arrived at Castle Urquhart, a destroyed castle’s
remains from 1662. I couldn’t think of words to describe how gorgeous it
was: clear blue sky, green grass, warm sunshine, and an ancient castle which
showed beauty in ruins. Of course we did not waste any chance to take photos
in such a lovely place. We also watched a movie introducing the history of
Castle Urquhart, and we realized that there was Plus est en Vous in the
castle as well - not only the beauty we saw but also the history behind it!
With bags full of souvenirs and wonderful memories, we made our way back to
Gordonstoun.
Spirituality
Sara Menges, Year 12
Since Gordonstoun can be considered as the spiritual home of Round
Square, on the conference, all the delegates were provided with “spiritual
nurture and pastoral care”. Before leaving for the conference we were told
to bring a stone, a prayer and a piece of cloth with our school colour. All
of these were brought together at the Michael Kirk (an original estate
chapel) on the Gordonstoun campus to symbol the reuniting of all the Round
Square schools and to welcome everyone “home”.
Before attending the conference I had never really thought much about Kurt
Hahn or the origins of the Round Square pillars but simply accepted them as
an activity and organization our school was involved with. However, being
able to learn about the history of Round Square allowed me to appreciate and
understand it much better.
At the conference there was also a mention of the seventh implied pillar -
Spirituality. Spirituality comes from within and encourages you to step back
and reflect on your life and actions. By including Spirituality into the
picture, the six pillars are given a deeper meaning, as we are made to think
about what we are doing, the importance of our actions and why we are
participating in the various activities. I believe that it would be a great
idea to try and include more awareness about Spirituality and the origins of
Round Square into the Regents School to allow students to create a better
understanding about the six pillars. Even though Spirituality is not an
official pillar, I feel that it still is of equal importance in the
development of Round Square and Regent’s students because being able to love
yourself and appreciate your own company is very important for building
character, and is a good base in order for you to start to appreciate
others. Besides, we must all agree that everybody needs a little quiet time
once in a while.
Cultural Evenings
Gaby Tzeneva, Year 13
During the evenings of the conference the significance of culture
was explored in a number of ways, leaving unforgettable memories for all the
delegates.
Two of the nights were ‘Scottish Evenings’ that enabled us to grasp a better
feeling of Scotland. One of the main attractions, of course was the famous
haggis that left most of the people guessing and wondering ‘what is haggis
after all?’ except for a few lucky ones, like me, who have Scottish friends
who had enlightened them on the subject beforehand. After supper, one of the
evenings was spent in Scottish Reels, which left everyone breathless and
excited by the end, with its intense dancing, moving music and spectacular
scenes of Scottish gentlemen in quilts. The Reels managed to convey the
spirit of Scottish traditions in a way that was both entertaining and
involving as the dances brought people together, and new friendships were
born under the pipes.
Another night we attended the play ‘Macbeth-that Old Black Magic!’ which was
absolutely amazing, performed by the Gordonstoun students. It was intriguing
and fascinating and once again depicted a part of Scottish culture no one
would have imagined was so interesting.
Since we were on an International Conference, we also had a Multi-Cultural
Evening that allowed us to explore each other’s cultures and backgrounds.
Although diverse and making a gap between us, the evening united everyone
for an unforgettable experience sharing our many different cultures,
including a traditional Thai dance performed by the Regent’s delegates.
We had the task to summarize the spirit of our country in ten minutes. Hard
as it sounds, with everyone putting their best effort and working together,
we all succeeded. The performances were amazing. They did not allow anyone
to sit back and passively fall asleep - the adrenalin, the enthusiasm and
supportive spirit of everyone was shaking the walls. By the end of the
evening, while appreciating the culture of others, we were creating our own
- a tolerant, positive and understanding that did not exclude anyone, as we
realized that the magic of that night lied in the diversity of our cultures
in the first place.
Keynote Speakers
Michael Tenisch, Year 12
During the conference we had the privilege of listening to three
speakers; Jamie Andrew, George Reid and Kriss Akabusi. Jamie Andrew is a
keen mountaineer who had lost both his hands and feet, but has not allowed
this to hinder him from enjoying the best things in life. His speech
encapsulated the will to go on and the power of support as he always had
someone there to help him in his recovery as well as himself encouraging
people to try something different and make the most of what you have,
‘everyone has a strength and collaboration makes anything obsolete’.
George Reid spoke of ‘a passion for rescue’, as he is the former director of
public affairs for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. He worked
in conflict and disaster zones all over the world. His speech was mainly
about the ‘stewardship of the world’ and how we should ‘care for every bit
of it’. Furthermore he also spoke regarding the subject of women’s rights
and would the world be in as a bad a state if all women had the same equal
rights as men?
Finally, Kriss Akabusi, Olympic medalist, Commonwealth athletics champion as
well as World and European athletics champion. He spoke of how people should
view their life and how to move forward with it, ‘our past is for reference
not residence’ as well as ‘nothing in life that is good comes easy’. I found
his speech most inspiring as it was a speech that was aimed at you and
trying to tell you to go out there always do your best, and try and do
something that can benefit the community as well as yourself. As well as
this another quote from him that I had found particularly inspiring was
that, ‘it is our similarities that make us champions and our differences
that make us unique’.
We impressed the Scots
tremendously with our traditional Thai costumes
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