BASIS International School Bangkok eNewsletter

Message from Head of School & Head of Operations:

Dear TUSKERS families,

Well done our Middle Schoolers, the Pre-comprehensive exam (PRE-COMP) is finally in the bag!

Congratulations to our Middle School students who have accomplished another milestones by completing the exam! We are very proud of you all. With this, we started the week with such a lovely vibe when our primary students handwritten cheering notes for their senior role models in Middle School. This beautiful gesture demonstrated the bonding relationship within our school community. A heartfelt thank you to all students, parents and teachers for their incredible support during this challenging exam period.

Right after the exam, we have exclusively arranged the movie and popcorn party for Middle School students to relax and enjoy the film with their friends and teachers. It was a well-deserved party to celebrate their achievement and recharge for their exciting journey ahead!

We ended this week with Chinese New Year Celebration, the rhythm of Dragon and Lion show and student performances! Such an amazing community event we embraced together. There are so many in-school activities from hand-on experienced “the making of dumplings” and “chopsticks competition” with special Chinese lunch menu to savor the richness of Chinese culture. Thank you all parents for joining the event and making today memorable. Wishing you all with prosperity and happiness in the Year of Dragon!

“Gong Xi Fa Cai”

Lastly, it's with sadness that we are writing to announce a resignation of our English Subject Expert Teacher, Ms. Edna Zhou with effective at March 1^st, 2024. Ms. Edna has been an integral part of BASIS Bangkok; we appreciate all the hard work and dedication that she has extended to our students over the past 3.5 years with her teaching enthusiasm and educational passion. She will be missed by us here. Ms. Edna will return home to the United States, we wish her all the best in finding good health and spirits to return home. Rest assured we have plan in place for Ms. Renee (who has been our English Subject Expert Teacher the past 2 years) to be taking over the English classes that Ms. Edna teaches. Please find her letter below and join us in sending Ms. Edna best wishes for her future endeavors.

It is with regret that I must inform you I am leaving BASIS and returning to the US due to a family emergency. March 1 will be my final day in the classroom.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of you for the opportunity to be a part of the BASIS community. It has been an honor and a privilege to be in your children's lives and work alongside such dedicated educators and staff. The past three and a half years have been filled with countless memories and rewarding experiences; I will carry them with me always.

While I am saddened to leave, I am confident that the hard-working team at BASIS will continue to provide an outstanding educational experience. Over the next few weeks, I will work diligently to ensure a smooth transition for both students and colleagues. Please accept my sincerest thanks for your understanding and support during this time.

With heartfelt appreciation,
Ms. Edna
Humanities 3 & English 4 Subject Expert Teacher

See you all on Monday. Sport practices, ECAs and clubs resume next Monday, February 12^th 2024 (except Friday, February 16^th)

Best regards,
Dr. W and Ms. Kwan
Head of School and Head of Operations

Save the date for School Events and Academic Calendar:

We have more exciting events next week that you should not miss!

“Space Science Expo for Kindergarten” will be held on Wednesday, February 14^th at Blackbox at 2:00 p.m. We welcome students and parents to learn about our solar system in a fun and interactive way.
“Festival in the Garden will be held on Friday, February 16^th at Town Center. We would like you to eye witnessed the amazing artworks of our Primary and Upper School students

Message from College Counselor:

Greetings BISB Community,

I hope you are enjoying the BASIS Independent McLean videos I am sharing each week. I have a few more senior journeys to share, and I will also meet with students in other grades who are excited to share their advice and experiences with our BASIS families in Thailand.

Best,

Ms. Kate Irving

College Counselor

Festival in the Garden

Dear BASIS Families,

We invite you to attend the first annual Festival in the Garden on February 16th!

Walk through our Art Walkway and experience the amazing artwork of our Primary and Upper School students. The walkway will feature a variety of fascinating installations and artwork from all our students. After experiencing the art, get some canapes at the canteen, try out the STEAM interactive art activities, and talk to the NJHS students about their David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation art project. Then it's time for the music! The music show will feature sea shanties and ukulele folk songs from our primary students, popular songs from all six of our awesome rock bands, and collaborative performances from our choirs and orchestra!

The Festival will take place in the Town Center. The event starts at 4:00, with time to walk through the art and find a good spot to watch before the music starts at 4:30.

We hope you enjoy!

Best regards,
Art and Music Department

Early Years Newsletter

Message from Director of Early Years:

Dear Parents of Early Years,

I hope you had a joyous time celebrating Chinese New Year, whether that was here at school with us or elsewhere. This week we get to send our Kindergarten parents on an exploration of Space. The kindergartners have been learning all about space through academic study, dance, song, and visual art. We will culminate this unit with the Space Expo on Wednesday, February 14.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...Blast off!

Ms. Annie Fletcher

Director of Early Years

Primary, Middle & High School Newsletter

Message from Dean of Upper School:

Dear Parents,

Our courageous Middle-schoolers have just completed their final pre-comprehensive exam of the year!

Congratulations to them for making it through! We are very proud of them all and want to thank parents for providing their children with encouragement and understanding from home. Regardless of the results, which will be released with the T2 Report cards in March, your children deserve recognition and praise for what they have accomplished. Please allow them a restful weekend, as there is still another week of school before the February break.

Best wishes,

Dean Drew

Dean of Upper School

Message from Dean of Student Activities:

Dear Parents,

We hope this message finds you well. We are excited to share the news that the House Representatives have been officially announced during the school assembly. The announcements took place on Thursday 8th and Friday, 9th February 2024 for Grades 1-5.

We congratulate the selected students and look forward to witnessing their leadership and positive contributions to their respective houses. This role is an excellent opportunity for students to develop valuable leadership skills and foster a sense of camaraderie within their house communities.

If you have questions or want more information, feel free to contact me. Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards,

Jason Rowe

Dean of Students Activities

Message from Interventions Specialist:

Dear parents,

We are delighted to launch the "For the Love of Reading Challenge," and what an incredible start it has been! In the first week of this literary adventure, our primary and middle school students have showcased unmatched enthusiasm and a deep appreciation for the books they love!

Here are the first week totals in our Love of Reading Challenge:

Primary School: 15,751 minutes (Week 1) 🏆 Top 3 Classes of the Week:

4-Silicon: 3893 minutes - Congratulations on leading the herd this week!
5-Nickel: 2218 minutes - Great work!
3-Neon: 2097 minutes - Job well done!

📖 Top 3 Readers of the Week:

Bua (4Si) - 1720 min. - Great job, Superstar! ⭐
Hope (3Ne) - 812 min. - Way to go!
Nicha (4Ge) - 463 min. - Keep up the good work!

Middle School: 160 minutes (Week 1)

🏆 Top 3 Classes of the Week:

7Ga: 135 minutes - Congratulations on leading the pack in upper school this week!
8Ti: 17 minutes - Good job!
6Fe: 8 minutes - Keep it up!

📖 Top 3 Readers of the Week:

Jazzy (7Ga) - 135 min. - Well done! ⭐
Sally (8Ti) - 17 min. - Nice!
Prince (6Fe) - 8 min. - Keep going! 🙂

A big thank you to all the students, teachers, and parents for making the first week of the "For the Love of Reading Challenge" a tremendous success! Our next update will take place next Friday, 16 February so please continue to motivate and encourage your students to participate and exercise their reading muscles!

Looking forward to another successful week of reading and continuing our school-wide literary journey with excitement and a shared love for reading!

Kindly,

Shaneika Edmond

Interventions Specialist

P.E. Corner:

Dear TUSKERS Families,

With the mindset that "Champions keep playing until they get it right, and they keep practicing until they can't get it wrong," let's continue to strive for excellence and ignite the spirit of determination within our students.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all parents for their unwavering support and trust in our coaches, providing our students with a solid foundation to march forward confidently.

A warm welcome to the new parents who have chosen to enroll their child in the academy based on recommendations from our PE coaches, recognizing their skills and their potential.

Please take note of the following update:

Sports Academy Trainings will resume from Monday, February 12th onwards.

Updates regarding Sports Competitions Calendar:

Thanks once again for your attention and look forward to continued success together.

Best regards,
Coach Namita
Director of Auxiliary Programs

Library Corner:

Hello from BISB Library!

For the Love of Reading is well under way and I’ve been loving the creativity and effort that students have been putting into the school-wide competitions.

In addition to Love of Reading, I wanted to take a moment to inform the community about an exciting new program we are offering at BISB Library – Student Library Assistants!

Our students are so amazing and kind that some have been asking me how they can get more involved and help me in the library. In response to this, I have started the Library Assistants program for Grades 4 and up, on a volunteer basis. I had over 40 students sign up to be an assistant!

What does a library assistant do?

A Library Assistant, or Library Ambassador, will help me in the library by putting away books, organizing the space, assisting in projects, creating displays, and supporting their classmates and teachers with their resource needs. Library Assistants will get to design their own library displays when they have ideas, and get to work with Ms. Erika on programming and activities.

When will students be library assistants?

This will only be during students assigned library AE time and will not interfere with class schedules or work. Students will volunteer during this time on an alternating time schedule. If a student is assigned to volunteer on a week where they need their AE/library time to study or work on a project, they can easily opt out for that week and pick up again the following week.

What do students get out of the program?

In addition to this being a great community service opportunity and work experience, students also get to better understand the library space and the role the library serves in the community. They get to work alongside me, other teachers, and their classmates to create a colorful and more engaging space for the community.

When does the program begin?

This week! Students that signed up in December/January will get an informational briefing this week, with actual duties starting next week.

Lastly, be sure to check back in the newsletter for special features on our BISB Library Assistants.

Check out the amazing students who signed up to be a Library Assistant below, and feel free to reach out to me anytime with questions or concerns.

Happy Reading,
Ms. Erika
Librarian

ECA Corner:

ECA Spotlight

Early Years - Painting with HITT Galleria

In the first class of ECA painting, our tiny TUSKERS were introduced to learn the color cycle, which involves introducing primary colors (red, blue and yellow) and demonstrating color mixing to create secondary colors for their best preparation before diving into the next lesson.

This activity involved engaging in hands-on exploration activities, creating a color wheel, incorporating color-themed stories, and reinforcing learning through repetition. We can't wait to see their beautiful work on canvas next week!

Primary and Upper School - Clay Works

While our tiny TUSKERS were learning a color cycle, our primary school students crafted with their best interests' step by step in order to create 3D molding clay into their favorite cartoon characters. Students learned various techniques, such as sculpting, carving, and adding texture with fine detail to create the cartoon-like appearance in their first class of ECA. The final work looks amazing!

ECA Reminder:

All ECA will resume on next Monday, February 12th.
No ECA classes on Friday, February 16th (Festival in the Garden Event)

Academic Spotlight

Sound Science Explorers: It's Too Loud in Here!! 🌟🔬🔊

🔍🔊 Explore the fascinating world of sound energy with our curious G4 students! 🎓🤔 They embarked on a journey of discovery, investigating how various materials can work their magic in reducing sound energy transfer. 🎶🔇 Witness their inquisitive minds at work through hands-on exploration! 🌟🔬

HSK & YCT Test Center

Dear families,

We are pleased to share a potentially significant development regarding our Mandarin program at BISB. We have been exploring the possibility of hosting YCT exam on our BISB campus on May 12th while the HSK exam will take place at Chulalongkorn University on May 19th.

To realize this opportunity, we require a minimum number of participants. This is an exciting endeavor that could open doors for our Mandarin program in the future. The success of this initiative could lead to further opportunities that benefit our students and the wider community.

The registration period is from today until March 31st, students can register both YCT and HSK exam at the same time.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us through the email: mandarin@basis.ac.th.

Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.

Community News

Viemus Violin Veneration Intetnational Recital is coming to BASIS Bangkok.

February 18th, 2024

3:30 pm

Participants from Korea, Thailand and beyond will perform works by Sarasate, Paganini, Tchaikovsky & more.

BASIS families and the general public are invited to join us for the charity concert. Proceeds will be donated to animal shelter in Suphanburi. Ticket is 500 THB per seat.

Information:

Call: 096-194-6591

Line: @viemus

Facebook: Viemus

Instagram: Viemus_Music_School

Get your ticket(s) here!

Exclusively for BASIS Families - 10 seats @ The Viemus Violin Veneration are available for FREE!

Each family may receive 2 FREE tickets. One for child and one for a parent.
Please send email to “communication@basis.ac.th” with subject “request free VVV tickets” and state your child’s name, class and parent phone number in the email. Email must be received by February 12th at noon time.
This is available on a first come first serve basis. Admin decision is final.

Enjoy the show!