Regents International School Pattaya’s P. E. Department has gone through a real shake-up in the last year. A facilities makeover, coupled with a new head of department in Roslyn McConnell, has started to turn heads, both within the school and across the wider community.
Clearly someone who thoroughly enjoys their job, Mrs. McConnell is effusive when explaining her teams’ ethos of ‘love sport for life’.
“It’s our way of encouraging our students to embrace an appreciation of physical activity that will allow them to find either elite sporting success or a love for sport as part of a full and healthy lifestyle,” she said.
The brand new Early Years (Kindergarten) and Primary (Elementary) ‘Fundamental Movement Programme’ is putting this statement into practice from the word go.
All new gymnastics equipment.
“I wanted to expand curriculum time for Early Years and Primary students to give them a taste of what P.E. offers, as I believe a healthy body equals a healthy mind. Our department can be equally important as anything else in the development of our children,” Roslyn said.
A Saturday programme is another way in which sport is permeating deeper into the culture of Regents International School Pattaya. With already 300 kids signed up to sports such as gymnastics, judo, tennis and badminton, to name a few, life in Regents’ P.E. department has never been busier.
Through generous investment by Nord Anglia Education, a new all-weather running track has been installed and new sports and play equipment is now being put to good use by students of all ages.
“We have certainly been well-looked after by Nord Anglia Education in the last few months or so: the running track is amazing and will add to the training our sportspeople are already doing. Of course, as a teacher I always want more and I have a wish-list that includes a brand new fitness centre,” she added.
These changes have already brought about success, with the both the girls’ senior football team claiming the silver medal at the annual Phuket tournament and the boys’ team reaching the semi-finals. Regents’ cross-country runners had a competitor on the podium for every one of the boys’ and girls’ age groups in its most recent fixture and the first rugby match in a long time was held at Regents, resulting in a narrow loss to the Thai Barbarians.
Mrs. McConnell has high hopes for her charges at the up-and-coming Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA) tournament, with football, swimming, rugby and basketball all in line to do great things.
“FOBISIA will be a good yardstick to see how we are going as a school against some of the bigger schools in South-East Asia, but we also want to continue to get competitive action for our sports teams and individuals all year round by promoting games with schools in Bangkok and elsewhere.”
The Idea of a Nord Anglia Education games is an idea that Mrs. McConnell likes the sound of, “Over 30 schools from the group competing in somewhere like Dubai, New York or Switzerland would be the ultimate, but first we have to concentrate on getting our systems right, offering as many opportunities as we can and striving to make Regents International School Pattaya the school with the best physical education programme in all of Thailand.”
By the sounds of it, this task is overwhelmingly underway.
