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Pattaya student bands march to local glory, French concert invite
The Pattaya
school marching band gives an award winning performance.
Pratchaya Kerdthong
Two Pattaya school marching bands will perform in Paris
and Germany this summer after winning a national music competition last
month.
The two teams, which mix students from Pattaya’s 11 public schools, were
invited to perform on French National Day at the July 2-4 “Carnaval Tropical
de Paris” festival to welcome the Thai ambassador to France.
The performance will serve as a warm up to the superstar bands’ appearance
at the Rasteder Musiktage International Open July 7-10. The German show is
an official qualifying competition for entry into the 2012 and 2013 World
Association of Marching Show Bands World Championships to be held in
January.
The French invite came after the students collected honors at the May 13-14
True Visions-Yamaha All Thailand Marching Band Competition. Pattaya’s
elementary school band won first place and 200,000 baht from Siam Music
Yamaha Co. while the older students also took first and 250,000 baht.
At a May 23 press conference, Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome called the bands’
accomplishments historic for the city. Pattaya will donate new uniforms and
arrange transport, meals and accommodations for the two squads.
Marching band members cheer
for their success.
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Jesters Care for Kids 2011: One hundred days and counting…
View of the stage
looking south last year. This year we will move it 90 degrees to the right
(west) in an effort to open the fairground up a bit more.
Lewis Underwood
Summer is nearly here already, which means it’s that
time, once again, to ramp up the intensity for our yearly campaign to
benefit the kids in need of shelter and schooling. In fact, we, the
committee for the 14th Annual Jesters Care for Kids Charity Drive, have
already started our 100-day countdown to the advent of our September events.
And this year we aim to refresh them up a bit.
 For
instance, we are planning to relocate the stage from the south to the west
side of the grounds for our Fair with the aim to make it the focal point and
more visible regardless of where one might be situated on the fairgrounds at
any given time.
We are also reconfiguring the stall layout to accommodate the new location
of the stage and make it a bit more spacious by lessening the number of
stalls. In fact, we might reduce the stall numbers by as much as 30% this
year, so booking them early through our website is recommended.
Our first event, the Children’s Fair, will be on Sunday, September 11th and
again held at the Diana Garden Resort in North Pattaya. The Diana Group has
been our gracious host for 10 consecutive years now.
Though we are very grateful for Kim Fletcher hosting our Pub/Party Nights
through the years from the beginning back in 1998, starting with Delaney’s,
then Shenanigans and eventually Jameson’s, our second event will undergo the
biggest transformation.
Simply, we have outgrown the confines of the pub and are now relocating to a
bigger venue. In fact, this year’s Party Night will be at the Amari Orchid
in North Pattaya on Saturday, September 24th. Specifically, it will be in
their Ananda Ballroom, which is a free-standing building located just off
Beach Road. In fact, we have such grandiose plans this year that we have
renamed the event ‘Gala Party Night’.
The format will be a sit-down buffet dinner preceded by a reception. Advance
bookings will be required to reserve seats. Their will be 25 tables that
will each accommodate up to 10 people. In the price per head, yet to be
announced, all food, beer, softies and wine will be inclusive. The latter
will be supplied by the courtesy of World of Wines.
We also plan to augment our usual auctioning and grand raffle prize drawings
with a variety of entertainment to balance out the evening. So please stay
tuned for updates on both events.
In the meantime, we are also intensifying our donation-seeking efforts at
this stage, and would especially like to thank our present Diamond Sponsors
(400,000 baht donors) Glencore International and the Canadian Jackalope
Open, who have already come on board.
We would also like to thank the MBMG Group, who has become our first
Platinum Sponsor (100,000 baht donor) to stay the course for the past decade
for an accumulative total donation of 1 million baht. Great stuff, Graham!
If you too, would like to join us this year, please check our website
regarding how to make donations and for other ways you can help us help the
needy kids at www.care4kids.info.
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Future Olympic gold medalist compete in swimming at GIS
On your
mark, get set, GO!
Thomas Grogan
If you haven’t visited Garden International School in
Rayong recently then you may have missed your chance this year to witness
some of our very own potential Olympic gold medal winners just beginning
their careers as future international swimming champions.
On Friday May 20, the entire student body of the Primary section at GIS came
to school armed with their swimming gear, smelling of sun cream and plenty
of competitive spirit to take part in our annual House Championship Swimming
Gala.
The GIS Primary Swimming Gala is an all day race event at the school where
we like to try and highlight our students’ accomplishments in their
developing swimming ability through a very fun day of healthy competition
between all of our swimmers in their respective houses regardless of their
ability levels.
The house system is an important feature of the school to encourage teamwork
across the levels and at no other time of the year is the competition
between the houses highlighted more than when everyone comes out to cheer
the students on in our Inter-House sporting events like our annual Swimming
Gala.
The big event, organised by the highly professional and committed Physical
Education Department, included a variety of races for our children, with
ability appropriate events like the 25-metre kick board race and lifejacket
relay for our beginning swimmers and Reception children.
The events were tailored according to ability all the way up to our
strongest swimmers in Year 6, with competitions in freestyle, backstroke,
breaststroke, butterfly and 25-metre four man team relays for our older more
proficient boys and girls.
The race distances ranged from 25 to 100 metres depending on the ability and
levels of the students involved in the given races that stretched through
most of the school day.
There were many highlights on the day for our Swimming Gala; however,
particular mention goes to the Year 6 boys and girls who won a special relay
for fun against some of our very own GIS Primary teachers.
The day was a day filled with much enthusiasm and all the children here at
GIS Primary received a high level of support from their teams, teachers, and
families. There were surely a lot of hoarse voices the next day in our GIS
family from our supportive staff and families who spent the majority of the
day loudly cheering each and every student on under the bright Thai sun from
the poolside.
A close race for two of our
Year 3 boys to be the first to get the ball across the pool.
The competitive spirit of the
day wasn’t limited to just students!
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The Write Stuff
James Harris
The Pattaya Mail is teaming up with The Regent’s
School to find journalists of the future. Dozens of entries have already
flooded in from the school. The articles certainly are diverse - looking
at everything from women’s rights in Sierra Leone to Lance Armstrong’s
most recent doping allegations.
The Pattaya Mail will judge the overall winner, who will have his or her
article published in the paper. Dan Dorothy, editor at the Pattaya Mail
gave this advice to the students, “Most importantly make sure you
include the 5 Ws and H (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How) and keep it
interesting!”
The competition closes on June 3rd - so look out for the winning article
in the following week’s paper!
Pattaya School No. 2 celebrates 88th anniversary
Phasakorn Channgam
Begun as a single-room building with a thatched roof, Pattaya School No.
2 last month celebrated its 88th anniversary with help from top area
officials.
 Hidetoshi
Kan (left), managing director of Mitsubishi Elevator Thailand Co., Ltd.,
and Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome plant a tree to mark the 88th anniversary
of Pattaya School #8.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and Banglamung District Chief Chawalit
Sanguthai were among the guests at the May 17 anniversary party.
“Pattaya School No. 2 has been serving the city and Naklua residents for
88 years,” Itthiphol said. “The city has worked to improve the school’s
environment, including buildings and grounds for its 67 teachers, 1,100
students and eight janitors.”
The school was founded in 1923 by Banglamung District. Built in a
“Manila style” with thatched roof, the building was rebuilt and expanded
to two floors and 192 sq. meters in 1935 with funding from the Thepsirin
Temple.
Initially called “Local Government School,” the facility was renamed Ban
Naklua School. It was transferred from Education Ministry supervision to
Naklua in 1966 and then to Pattaya upon the city’s incorporation in
1978, when it was renamed School No. 2.
As an anniversary gift, Mitsubishi Elevator (Thailand) Co. donated 50
perennial plants each to School No. 2 and the city’s other 10 schools.
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Regent’s hard work pays off at Phi Phi International Community Centre
Regent’s Key Stage 3 students are getting to know the Laem Tong Sea
Gypsy community.
Katrin Puutsa
Since the Regent’s trip to Baan Laem Tong, the times
are getting exciting at the Community Centre. The centre has been
renamed to Phi Phi International Community Centre (PICC) and Jantima
Kulkit has been appointed the programme coordinator for all visiting
schools and groups in the future and with her vast experience working
with Thai NGOs (including Fahdiow and the American Red Cross) plus her
love of Phi Phi Island and the Laem Tong community will be an amazing
person to lead on this. Poo is also an original member of the founding
trust fund and committee.
Phase 2 of the project will begin in June when we are confident that the
visiting Regent’s Pattaya students will be the first group to actually
sleep and eat at the centre and participate in the official first
programme run from the centre. BIS School in Phuket is also looking to
join Regent’s at this time and use the centre as part of their
International Award (DofE) programme. Garden International School
(Malaysia) will participate in a community programme based at the centre
in July and have been good supporters of the project for a number of
years.
The centre and new programmes will be joined by 2 volunteers from
Estonia and Germany as a part of the GLEN programme
(http://glen-europe.org/) for three months from the end of June. They
will work with the Laem Tong community and Thai School, plus alumni from
Abbotsholme School in the UK, who is currently studying in Newcastle
University and is spending her summer holiday volunteering at the centre
(one of the main aims of the centre is to accommodate and utilize keen
alumni and volunteers interested in community work and education).
A Facebook page has been set up to broadcast any new developments and
news about the centre at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Phi-Phi-International-Community-Centre-PICC/213045262044851.
Any school, organization or individual that would like to support the
PICC and be involved in any of the programmes in the future either
through financial or physical participation please contact Mr. Paul
Crouch at: [email protected]
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St Andrews School organises fantastic Early Years Arts Exhibition
Patrick is
deeply involved in his painting work as he represents his ideas.
Jane Thompson, the Early Years
Phase Leader at St Andrews International School
In the second week of May, the Early Years Department
at St Andrews International School organised a wonderful display of
artwork created by the children in Nursery, Kindergarten and Reception
years.
 Indie
and mum celebrate her creativity in her Elmer collage picture.
Nursery children (2-3 year olds) based their work on
a theme of colours and shape. The children explored the flowers in their
garden area outside and studied the form and colour of a watermelon.
While they painted what they saw they learned the names of colours and
how to mix them. They also made beautiful elephant collages which showed
their developing cutting and sticking skills.
Kindergarten children (3-4 year olds) studied the work of many famous
artists such as Mondrian, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol. Through
studying the work of these famous artists the children were able to see
the similarities and differences in size, colour and shape. Influenced
by this experience they experimented with different art techniques and
produced some brilliant artwork that represented a fascinating
collection of fun and developing awareness. The children also used a
collection of different materials to design and make some wonderful
three-dimensional models of ‘bees’, ‘butterflies’ and ‘spiders’.
Reception children (4-5 year olds) used the story of ‘Handa’s Surprise’
by Eileen Browne as a stimulus to explore printing on cloth. Handa lived
in Africa and by looking at original African batiks they discussed how
colours can be used to create different effects. Encouraged to think
originally and to work independently, the Reception children used paint
and ink on cloth to each produce their own picture story batik. In
another project the children modelled in clay to represent the colour
and shapes of fruits. The children collected natural materials from the
outside environment around the classroom to decorate their art work and
create their own beauty.
To complement the creative artwork, the children demonstrated a range of
musical activities in the Music Room in front of a gathering of parents
and teachers. By using instruments and singing a medley of songs they
showed their understanding of rhythm, the importance of listening and
they demonstrated musical concepts such as loud and soft.
Many parents, students and teachers representing the whole school came
to admire the work on display on the verandas outside the classrooms.
Many congratulatory comments were received. Visitors commented how
wonderful it was that children had used natural materials discovered in
the grounds outside the classroom to decorate their work. To finish off
the event the children all received a special achievement certificate at
their Early Years Assembly.
Sieb tells his mum about
the colours and the shape of his rainbow.
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