REGENTS’ NEWSLETTER

OcTObER 2014

bOARDING

Recently our school’s Information and Computer Technology Department has fully upgraded our network infrastructure for the boarding houses. As a result, there are many more wireless access points installed all around the buildings to provide full and improved Wi-Fi coverage. Network cables have been upgraded and re-organized and our new wireless access points provide 6 times the access speed previously available.

The internet can be a wonderful place for children where they can find quality resources to enhance their studies and knowledge, talk to friends, be creative and have fun. However, it is a double-edged sword where things can go wrong. Keeping children safe online is not easy and online vigilance is a “must do”. As house parents, boarders’ safety is our main concern. Recently we held an inset on “Internet Safety” to keep us up to date and to help us to protect our boarders from online risk.

Internet safety has become a huge concern for parents due to the access children have and the flow of information that can

occur. With children spending more time on the internet, we advise parents to also reconnect with the important rules of the superhighway. Be aware of what your children are doing on the internet and regularly monitor their activity. Help your children to understand that sharing personal information on social networking sites can endanger them or family members and friends.

There is nothing wrong with establishing a clearly defined set of rules regarding cyber-safety. Reinforce these with your children again and again. It’s easy to get caught up in our busy lives and miss the opportunity to ask children about what they do online or to discuss topics like inappropriate content, what sites or activities are dangerous, pornography, cyber-bullying and online predators. Please take the time to add cyberspace to the many areas in life where you help your children understand what is safe for them.

Darouny De Tore, Girls BoarDinG HouseparenT

HOW SAFE cAN YOU KEEP YOUR cHILDREN ONLINE ?

BeyonD liMiTs

Kyi’s speecH

arT in paraDise

sT. anDreW’s orpHanaGe visiT

WELcOmE TO THE bOARDING NEWSLETTER

by Nikita aNd Gyu MiN, SeNior boyS boarderS

BeyonD liMiTs

bEYOND LImITS

Our first challenge was that we were climbing up a 10 metre wooden pole, and then we jumped from the top and tried to catch the rope. It was very scary, and a challenging attraction for all of us. After managing to do this, we felt very satisfied. Next, we climbed up the huge wall, which was really fun. Climbing up was hard, because the wood was getting hot during the day and abseiling down was quite scary, so it was a real challenge for all of us. The third challenge was a long zip wire flight, that was much easier, but still very enjoyable. Only a few people did the last obstacle, because it was raining and the steps were getting slippery. When people tried to climb up, it looked like a real big challenge, also it was looking like people had fun. Next time I hope everyone can try this! Big thanks to all the staff of “Beyond Limits” that made the day so exciting.

WELL DONE GUYS

by oSMaN, year 10 boyS boarder

every TiMe you cHanGe iT you MaKe iT even BeTTer

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to take part in the Speech Competition. It was a great opportunity for me to take part in this performance and show myself what I can achieve in Public Speaking. My speech was about our planet and our environment and why we have to stop polluting it. But the first problem I faced was that I couldn’t tell everyone anything without first writing a proper speech. Because of this, I decided to practice hard. I was searching for different sources which could help me with my speech. Then, I tried to write my speech many times to make it more inspiring. But even though it was a nicely written, I still wasn’t satisfied with it- I couldn’t read my speech properly. So I decided to start practicing it, to make sure that every time I read it I could convince as many people as possible. I tried different tones, used different hand gestures and managed the speed of my speech. Many times I had to change everything and start again from the beginning. And I liked to do it, because every time you change it you make it even better. When you make it better – you have more chances to give a persuasive speech. Eventually, I came out with a good speech that was persuasive and well prepared. In September, I told my speech to the whole of Year 10. It was a big honour for me, when my Head of Year and English Teachers decided that my speech was the best one and that now I’m going to perform my speech in front of the whole school!

Now, my aim is try my best in front of the whole school and to prove to myself, that I can do more than I think. Thanks for everybody who supported my speech and to my English Teacher Mrs. Butler.

by kyi, year 11 boarder

reGenTs puBlic speaKinG coMpeTiTion

This is my second year in the Regents public speech competition. I didn’t get past the second round last year, so I was unable to reach the final competition. But this year, I had the incredible opportunity to speak in front of the entire KS4 during assembly. So, I tried my best to win the final competition. I was so excited when I did my speech. Because the three other year 10 + 11 girls were such difficult competition, I thought I wouldn’t win the competition! So, I was a bit sad. But, when I heard Mr. Blaikey announce my name as the winner, I was so shocked, happy and in disbelief!

My speech was about “Why you should say no to plastic bags”. This is a very important topic to me. But I am going to share only 2 paragraphs here because my speech is quite long.

“In my personal opinion, everyone should say no to the supermarket shop assistants who give you two bags because they think that one bag is not strong enough. Every time you accept the plastic bags at the checkout, you are doing something that harms the environment in so many ways. Have you been to where there has been a Thai market the day before? The ground is covered with so much plastic bags that have been thrown away on to the ground when they could have been put in rubbish bins. Bags are used for only a few minutes then they last between 5 hundred

and one thousand years to degrade. So most people don’t know what to do with them and they think that if they burn all of these plastic bags they will go away so they

burn them. I’ll tell you about burning plastics next, but if you don’t burn then the plastic bags can block drainage systems and cause the awfully dirty water to come out from the street that are breeding grounds for flies and mosquitoes. How unnecessary that you create more recycling!!!!!!!!!”

“ Most of you sitting in front of me would agree that when you come back from a supermarket, you have got so many bags that you just throw them away. Believe it or not, those plastic bags that you are throwing away are made up of crude oil. Plastic bags are made from polymers that come from oil. Oil is a non-renewable resource. There is no more oil being made other than

what is already there under the ground. So why do we waste it by throwing away what could be recycled? Plastics can be recycled, recycled and recycled again if we treat if properly. More importantly, when these plastic bags get burnt, they release the toxins in to the atmosphere and, you know this already because we study Science together burning plastic bags is dangerous for everyone’s health, and dangerous for animal life and it destroys our beautiful nature. How heart-breaking for us even heart-breaking for the future!!!

AN INcREDIbLE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK

mY SUccESS AS A PUbLIc SPEAKER

by Gleb aNd daNil, year 9 boarderS

BoarDers visiT splasHDoWn for soMe WipeouT fun !

On Saturday the 20th September the boarders visited the splashdown water park just 5 minutes down the road towards Rayong. The park is designed in the same theme as the show ‘Wipe out’ on Tv and so it was bound to be lots of fun and a fair amount of adventure as well. After a safety talk it was straight up on the world’s largest inflatable water slide and when you get to the top and see the drop you know there is only going to be one way down and that’s a 50ft drop. The Big Balls are just impossible to cross but we really tried and kept falling off into the water below. It was worse when some little 10yo Thai Boy came Running along and showed us all how it is down he made it look so simple. In total there are 8 different zones to play and we had a great time. We are planning our next trip back for more Wipeout fun.

DiscoverinG THe BeauTiful ‘elepHanT isle’

Victoria is an exchange student from South Africa with a Scottish background. She is staying with us in our boarding community until December

“At the beginning of the term myself and two other year 12 boarders were privileged enough to go on a year trip to Koh Chang where we had some delightful life experiences. Arriving after a rather long car ride and thrilling ferry journey we settled in and began to learn about CAS and the IB course, an early night was necessary for the week ahead. On our first day after having been split into two groups we prepared to either hike around the island, through jungles, swimming through rivers and crawl up vertical roads and paths. Or one could learn about the Mangrove environment and help plant mangroves ourselves to try and preserve and expand the depleting eco-system that is so important for the world and Thailand. We also created group projects on one of the IB learner outcomes that we strive to accomplish and become after the IB course. On our last day we had the delightful opportunity to experience snorkelling on a coral reef after having an amazing and thrilling boat ride around the local islands, it was beautiful and extraordinary, definitely a once in a life time occasion. I enjoyed myself greatly and won’t be forgetting the experience anytime soon, I would like to thank everyone who made the trip possible, on behalf of the year 12 boarders.”

by Victoria, year 12 exchaNGe StudeNt

year 12 Trip To Ko cHanG

SPLASHDOWN ?

by carolyN turNer, head of GirlS boardiNG

our excHanGe sTuDenTs froM THe BaMBoo scHool

It’s hard to believe there once was a time when Earn and Nent weren’t a part of our lives here in the Girls’ Boarding House. Only eight weeks ago the two Mechai Exchange students bounced through our doors, full of excitement and eager to take on all that Regents has to offer. I hope they have gained a meaningful insight into the privilege that education is here and that their minds are the broader for their experiences. They can take back fresh enthusiasm to their school up north and reflect on their time here with their families. Earn and Nent have understood the

value of their opportunity to study in a different location as they have learnt much, improved their spoken English and made numerous new friends who are sad to see them leave. We will miss Nent’s unique sense of humour and Earn’s facial delight whilst demolishing a large bowl of ice-cream in the café, where they excelled in working their turn on rota. We look forward to welcoming the next Mechai Exchange students knowing that Earn and Nent will be a very hard act to follow.

GeTTinG inTo Gear

EARN & NENT

For some of our boarders, life never slows down. Liza and Kyi managed an adventure even on a Tuesday afternoon …

“Hi, my name is Liza and I had the craziest and funniest adventure I have ever had in my life. On Tuesday 23 September with one more girl, Kyi, I went off-road biking. For a long time we couldn’t find the teacher who was taking us out but eventually we found him and it turned out that he had been searching for us too. After we checked the bikes our adventure began. We were cycling crazily for a long time. The teacher was having fun making us go around in circles. We rode through puddles and tall grass but the most difficult part was when we went over the sand and right through the branches of a tree. When we were back at school we thanked the teacher and went to the boarding house to have a well-deserved shower. Why don’t you join us to have fun on our next ride?”

“Hi – I’m Kyi and along with Liza I went off road biking last Tuesday with Mr. Crew. He is a really good teacher! Firstly, we met Mr.Crew in the gym at 4:30 and took out the bikes, ready to go. He explained to us about the gears which we couldn’t understand well but soon got used to. This was also the first time cycling for both of us this year. We started to ride on the main road and then turned to a different path which had too much deep sand for us to properly ride a bike there – what a challenge! In some places, we were unable to see the path because there was so much long grass and bushes. But nothing could stop us and Mr. Crew led us straight through anyway, so we just followed him. Also, some of the places were very muddy, but we kept going, regardless. We were really exhausted and in pain but we really enjoyed it because it was in the evening and we could feel the fresh air and terrible muddy splash on our clothes. It was so much fun! We cannot wait to keep doing this cycling club.”

by elizaVeta aNd kyi, boarderS

life is liKe a Ten speeD Bicycle. MosT of us Have Gears We never use

by kyi, boardiNG StudeNt

ripley’s Believe iT or noT

We went to Ripley’s Believe It Or Not trip on Saturday 27 September in Pattaya. This was the first time that I have been to Ripley’s. Basically, there were about 19 students all from boarding. Firstly, we went to the 12D movie theatre. We all watched the Bamboo express 3-D. It was really exciting and we felt exactly like we were on the Grand Canyon Express and flying in the sky. After that, we all separated out and went to different places. So, we went to the Ripley’s Scream in the Dark. We went there three people together and we had to shoot the green lights to get our scores. That place was a bit scary, but the most scary was the haunted adventure. This was the same as nightmares come to life. We were all dazzled with unimaginable special effects and the live actors were frightening us to screaming, freaking

out and shivers us down our spines from the moment we entered until we escaped. We tried to hold each other at the beginning but when it came to the serious scary parts, we all tried to run as fast as we can and we fell down and walked on top of the each other to escape from the killer! Also, we went to the Museum and saw many models of Thai actors and actresses and some international actors which we took pictures with them. There were some of the really interesting places that we didn’t manage to visit, because we ran out of time. This trip was so much fun. To be honest, this place was a great adventure for us and we cannot wait to go there again to try different adventures and to do the same adventure again.

SHIvERS DOWN OUR SPINES!

bELIEvE IT OR NOT !

by carolyN turNer, head of GirlS boardiNG

arT in paraDise, paTTaya

The world’s biggest illusion museum, Art in Paradise, Pattaya, received an invasion of eager and excited Regents boarding students and staff for a photographer’s fiesta on Saturday 11 October. A fun, fresh take on an Art Gallery that has closed the divide between art and spectators with over one hundred 3D interactive paintings. The optical

illusions, reproductions of classic masterpieces and art installations of past civilisations captured the imagination. The time flew by and we left the gallery with many wonderful photographs and endless fun memories.

THE LIvING ART mUSEUm

Here is a recenT picTure of Mr JaMes aT THe DoDGeBall coMpeTiTion, in a Typical pose for HiM!

All boarders are invited to submit a humorous caption for this picture to Mr Rand either in writing or by e mail at steven.rand@regents-pattaya.co.th

The winning caption will be selected by our Boarders Council, and the winner will receive a meal voucher for 400 baht to be used at the Palace Restaurant in Central World.

cAPTION cOmPETITION

by carolyN turNer, head of GirlS boardiNG

THe BoarDers café is open for Business

The revised menu at the café is being appreciated by the resident boarding community, especially now an ice cream supplier has been secured. Those with a sweet tooth will appreciate the wide range of ice cream flavours whilst others favour the savoury snacks and noodles. The boys of the junior boarding house have recently enjoyed freshly baked cookies and a variety of chilled drinks on their visits. The discerning young customers are not backward in coming forward when communicating their requirements, with knowledgeable articulation. It has been noted that mathematical calculations are generally very accurate where the weekly pocket money is concerned. Whereas credit is not offered, there have been attempts at bartering with members of staff over purchases

and profit margins have been noted. All is taken in good heart and the girls gain much experience from running the café whether they are involved in food preparation or selling and bookkeeping. The café is indebted to our dedicated band of Gap staff, whose routine guidance of the girls ensures an organized business. Our motto:” always calm under pressure”. Kudos to the inspired makers of the healthy smoothies and the inspired cooks for displaying improvisational skills when they ran out of pizza bases; it was here at the café where Thai fondue first found fame.

by fioNa SMith, JuNior boyS boardiNG houSepareNt

WeeKenD Trip To carToon neTWorK

On Saturday the 4th October we set off for Cartoon Network. There had been much excitement in the boarding house the week before as Mr Scott had done a pre-visit and come back and told everyone how great the place was. Suddenly we went from having 6 or 7 boarders from St Andrew’s staying for the weekend to having over 20!! All the Primary boarders were keen to go and most persuaded their parents to allow them to stay at school for the trip.

We weren’t disappointed! Being only a short distance away meant that we could spend the best part of the day at the park. It is so big that even though we had the whole day there, we didn’t manage to go down all the flumes. The great variety of water activities means that there are flumes

and activities which are fun for everyone – some scary drops and fast rides, some slow sedate rides. The wave pool was fantastic. The waves were so big that we needed to wear lifejackets to keep safe. We could ride the waves on boats or rubber rings or just be swept along by the water. There were flume rides that used inflatables; some were even more fun as you could pair up with a friend for the ride. We didn’t have to queue for too long so we just kept on having fun.

We did stop for some lunch. There was a choice of Thai, Western, or Japanese food and it was very good. At the end of a fine day we set off home totally exhausted but looking forward hopefully to a return trip.

WEEKEND FUN IN cARTOON NETWORK

by fioNa SMith, JuNior boyS houSe pareNt

visiT By sT anDreW’s BoarDers To THe paTTaya orpHanaGe

On Wednesday 8th October the boys from St Andrew’s visited their community partner – the Pattaya Orphanage. We like to visit the orphanage at least once a term to show our support and to take clothes that we have collected.

Firstly the boys were invited to visit the babies. There were some very young orphans – the youngest was only two weeks old. We spent some time in the baby room playing and giving the babies cuddles. The babies loved the attention from the boys and it was hard to tear ourselves away to go and spend time with the toddlers.

With the toddlers it was again gratifying to see how much pleasure the boys could give these children just by offering their time and attention. Some of the boys are clearly very good with young children and very quickly there were all sorts of games being played.

All too soon it was time to leave, and unfortunately this time we were unable to have a game of football with the older children. However, we very much look forward to our next visit when we plan to bring Christmas gifts for the children.

ST. ANDREW’S bOARDERS vISIT PATTAYA ORPHANAGE