NEWSLETTER

Garden International School
Eastern Seaboard, Ban Chang
NEWSLETTER Established 1994
Your choice.Their future.Our family.โรงเรียนนานาชาติการ์เด้นอีสเทิร์นซีบอร์ดบ้านฉาง August 2014
Inside this month's newsletter...
Find us at:
Website: www.gardenrayong.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/gisrayong
Facebook: www.facebook.com/gardeninternationalschool
Youtube:www.youtube.com/user/gardenrayongthailand
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From DrTasker: Principal
From the Principal
Dear Parents, Students and Friends of GIS,
A warm welcome to the new academic year. As usual we have had a lot of new faces join
our school community, many come from the local area and others from all around the
world. Our represented nationalities has now grown to include both Kuwait and Fiji.
One thing we do like to do is to celebrate the diverse ethnic and cultural mix we have here
at GIS. A new initiative has been put in to place, thanks to some work from previous
Humanities Prefect Trisha, and now being done weekly by new Humanities Prefect Renee.
Hopefully you will notice a different flag flying outside the Front Office each week, with
information on the notice board next to it on the country being celebrated. We will be
celebrating a different country each week, hopefully coinciding with a special or important
day.
For the first full week of term we flew the Malaysia flag to recognise Hari Merdeka on
August 31. For this week it is Vietnam, recognising Vietnam’s National Day on September
2.
We have had some wonderful results from the IB and IGCSE examinations, details of
which are featured in this newsletter. I do feel it is appropriate to highlight Hui Eun Park’s
achievement though – she obtained a remarkable 9 A* passes over the IGCSE
programme, this is hugely impressive.
Over the summer break our Marketing team has been seeking to make some formal
arrangements with sponsors and donors to help facilitate some of the special, or extra,
things we do for the students of the school. We have introduced varying levels of
Permanent Sponsorship available by annual donation:
Platinum – 30,000 baht per year
Gold – 20,000 baht per year
Silver – 10,000 baht per year
The sponsors may wish to donate to specific areas, such as costumes for shows, food for
festivals and celebrations, prizes for Christmas Fun Day and so on. Sponsors will receive
recognition and thanks through newsletter and newspaper articles and specifically on our
Facebook and YouTube sites, together with acknowledgements at the event and in the
DVD Yearbooks.
We also have many of our other represented companies and parents who have offered to
support specific events – such as prizes for the raffle on Christmas Fun Day. We will
recognise and thank them for their generosity at the appropriate time.
This extra funding is very much appreciated, it allows us to produce and provide just a little
bit extra for the students. Instead of making/borrowing costumes for a show – we can

purchase them, instead of asking parents for donations towards Loy Krathong we can
provide the materials, we can purchase quality books for Secondary Prizegiving and so on.
If any parent, or their company, is interested in offering support, please contact Mr
Abraham’s PA, Khun Janette (janetteb@mbftaylors.com). We really appreciate the
generosity and support.
Our new Prefects have made a great start to the year, FunSports met its objective... it was
fun! They did a great job with the outgoing Prefects in running their activities. We were due
to have an election for Head Boy and Head Girl, but this has been unnecessary as we had
single candidates for each position. I am delighted to announce that our new Head Boy is
Patrick Van Der Poel and our new Head Girl is Pauline Gallemit. This is the first time GIS
has had Head Prefects and they will work with the appointed Prefects to help make GIS
the best possible environment for our students.
There has also been considerable growth around school – both in terms of student
numbers and buildings. We have much larger classrooms now in Primary thanks to the
hard work of the Maintenance team and both major buildings were completely re-painted
over the holidays. We have also welcomed in lots of new students this term, which is very
pleasing.
Kind Regards,
Dr Stuart Tasker
PhD (Ed), PGDipEd (Math Ed), PGCertEd (Ed Admin), PGDipTchg, BSc
Principal
Garden International School
Many thanks to our generous GIS sponsors:
Platinum
Indorama
Encounter Church
Universal Plus
BQ Group
Gold
Aditya Burla
Thunder Cranes
Silver
Blue Sky Developer Company Limited

Upcoming events
Whole School
September 7: Jester’s Fair, Pattaya
September 8: Literacy Day
September 12: Whole school assembly, 10am
September 15: Greenpeace Day
September 16: Prefect Quiz Night
September 18-19, 22: School photographs
September 19: Talk Like a Pirate Day
September 19: Peace Day activities (afternoon)
September 21: Coastal Clean-up Day
September 21: World Peace One Day
September 22: Leadership Day
September 24: Punctuation Day
September 29-October 3: House Spirit Week
Primary
September 2: Primary parents’ welcome evening, 7pm in the Primary Hall
Send us your pics!
Garden International School celebrates its 20 th anniversary this
year! To mark the occasion, we are looking for old photos of the
school or our students. The older, the better! If you have any
photos you would like to share, please email them to
anniversary@gardenrayong.com.

New Teachers
You may see several new faces walking around GIS at the start of the new school year. As
well as lots of new students, we also have several new teachers, who are joining us from
all over the world.
Here’s a brief welcome from all our new teachers.
Foundation
Early Years
Elyssa Leventhal
Elyssa Leventhal is a primary school teacher from Toronto, Canada.
She has been a kindergarten teacher for seven years. Along with
working in Toronto, Canada she has worked in a kindergarten in
Adelaide, Australia and Kingston, Jamaica. She has a Bachelor’s
degree in Communication Students, a Master’s of Science in
Education and an Early Childhood Diploma. She enjoys traveling,
learning about new cultures and meeting new people. She is looking
forward to learning Thai and exploring this beautiful country.
Year 1
Alice Bone
Primary
Alice joins us from Lincolnshire, England. She graduated from the
University of Cambridge in 2011 with a degree in English and
Education Studies. Alice then went on to complete her PGCE and
has been teaching Reception children for two years. Alice is looking
forward to the new and exciting challenges that teaching Year 1 at
GIS will bring. Back in England, Alice has a Volkswagen campervan!
She loves to explore and is hoping to continue exploring whilst she
is in Thailand.
Year 3
Natalie Ord
Miss Natalie is going to be teaching Year 3 this year. She is originally from
County Durham in England and has been teaching in London for the past
year. She has never been to Thailand before, which she thinks is very
exciting and she is looking forward to the adventure and trying to learn a
new language. Miss Natalie loves sport, dance and karaoke - even though
her friends tell her she is rubbish at singing!

Year 4
Mr Paul Normark
Paul Normark has already lived in Thailand for five years in the mid
1990s and is now excited to be back. Paul has been working as a
primary teacher in Sweden for the last six years and has also taught
on Teacher Education programmes at University. He is looking
forward to work in the international environment of Garden and enjoy
the Thai cuisine, culture and climate. When not busy planning
lessons, Paul intends to play some tennis, work out by the beach and
travel around Asia.
Year 5
Julie Hanratty
Julie Hanratty joins us from England; she previously trained and
worked in law, prosecuting and conducting cases for Local
Government, before making ‘The best decision of her life’ and
retraining as a Primary School teacher. She is passionate about
instilling a love of reading and writing in her students, and won a
children’s story writing competition in 2009. This is Julie’s first visit to
Thailand, and she is looking forward to exploring all the wonderful
things the country has to offer, with her husband and two children.
Year 6
James Krishnan
James Krishnan has joined GIS this year as a Year 6 teacher. James
has recently moved to Thailand from the UK and is looking forward to
a new challenge. He has previously worked in London and the North
East of England. A keen sportsman, James will be coaching the
Primary boys’ football team this year and hopes to model the team on
his beloved Newcastle United. In his spare time James enjoys golf
and taking part in long-distance running events.

Secondary
English Language Support (ELS)
Don Whittle
Don Whittle has joined Garden International School this year having
lived and taught in Thailand for the past five years. Previously Mr
Whittle taught for 18 years in secondary schools and a young
offenders' institution in Northern Ireland. Mr Whittle is a keen
sportsman, having represented Ulster and Ireland in rugby at national
and international level. Mr Whittle is married to a Thai teacher from his
former school and they have a son, Jonathan Jeeraau (JJ), who is
two-and-a-half years old.
Head of English
Kate Ellicott
Kate Ellicott, originally from New Zealand, has over 10 years'
teaching experience. She joins GIS after four years at an
international school in Sri Lanka. Besides teaching, Ms Ellicott is also
passionate about fitness - whilst in Sri Lanka she worked as a group
fitness instructor in her spare time. She is looking forward to inflicting
her unique brand of fitness enthusiasm - the perfect combination of
energy and agony - on the larger school community in the near
future.
English
Carol Anne Bradley
Carol Anne Bradley has lived in Thailand for two years, prior to this
she was a teacher in Scotland for 6 years. She enjoys teaching a
range of literature and particularly relishes essay writing. Carol Anne
has two sons who will be attending GIS. She is looking forward to
being involved in school productions and IB CAS projects in the local
community.
Business Studies
Phillip Whittaker
Phillip Whittaker is a native of New Zealand and avid All Blacks fan. He
has been teaching for over 12 years in New Zealand and Sri Lanka. He
has also worked in England and Australia in the agricultural sector. In
his spare time he enjoys keeping fit, relaxing in front of the TV and
travelling to new and exciting countries. He is looking forward to
playing some sport again, sunning his bronzed, chiselled body, and
eating lots of tasty Thai food.

ICT
Tom Pennant
Tom Pennant is from North Wales in the UK and has been teaching for
the past nine years. Mr Pennant started his teaching career just up the
road in Sriracha, and has since taught in the UK as well as at an
international school in Bangkok. He examines IGCSE ICT examination
papers for CIE, and hopes that this experience will help GIS students
to get even better grades. Mr Pennant's two main interests are motor
racing and Playstation (ICT teachers are allowed to be geeks).
Physics
Chloe Woodburn
Chloe Woodburn was born and grew up in France before moving to
England to study physics with astrophysics at the University of Bristol.
Having obtained her Masters, she decided to sign up to 'Teach First':
a teacher training charity which places graduates in the most
challenging schools in England. She spent two years teaching science
in a school in Medway before deciding to move to Thailand and join
Garden International School. Chloe is passionate about music and
has been lead clarinetist in many orchestras as well as playing the
piano whenever she can get her hands on one.
Mathematics
Line Turagaiviu
Line Turagaiviu is a Mathematics teacher with 13 years teaching
experience. He has been involved with IB Mathematics since
joining International School Nadi, Fiji Islands in 2005. He is married
and has a 4-year-old son who is currently at Reception at GIS.
Mr Turagaiviu joins GIS from Mexico where he has been working
as an IB MYP Coordinator and Mathematics teacher as well. He is
passionate about teaching Mathematics and enjoys helping and
inspiring students to become Mathematics inquirers.

Thai
Pornkamon Penpad (Gaew)
K.Gaew has spent time teaching, which she loves, since she
graduated. Eventually she had enough of working in Bangkok and
decided to move. She loves teaching, learning and also relaxing,
therefore she decided to move from Bangkok and has settled here in
Ban Chang with her super family.
Thai
Charanya Lekchaloensri (K.Tak)
CharanyaLekchaloensri or KhunTak is a Thai teacher. Before
coming to GIS, she worked at an in international school in Bangkok
for 4 years. Her life is very simple: she is interested in many things
such as cooking, listening to music and singing. K.Tak mostly likes
R&B and some hiphop songs. Her favourite singers are Monica,
Mary J Blige and Jay-Z. She is pleased to be a part of Garden
International School.
Canteen Training
The GIS canteen staff attended a Food Hygiene Training Course organised by Map Ta
Phud Municipality on July 31.

Follow us on Facebook!
Head to our Facebook page for the latest news on what’s been
happening at GIS.
At the start of the new year, we had a Fun Sports Day for
everybody. This was organised brilliantly by our new Prefects.
On Sunday August 31, there was a special Friends of Garden PTA
barbecue, which included games, activities – and of course some
great barbecued food!
Head here to see all the photos:
www.facebook.com/gardeninternationalschool
New Prefects
As well as some new teachers at GIS this year, we also have new Prefects. After a
rigorous interview process, six new IB1 students were picked. Here’s who they are!
John Caules - Languages
Q: What are you looking forward to most now as an IB
student?
A: I’m looking forward to being able to create bonds and help
improve the whole school environment as an IB student.
Q: What is your most favorite past-time activity?
A: My favorite past-time activity, without a doubt, is playing
games. I have loved games ever since my first gaming console,
the Playstation 1. Since I am in IB now I will have to decrease the
amount of time I spend on games.
Q: Favorite MMO game?
A: My favorite game is League of Legends. Ever since its release in 2009 I have been
playing this game for quite a bit.
Q: Where would you like to study for university?
A: Definitely the United States of America...because of freedom.

Q: If you were stuck in a room and there is one other person with you, who would you
like that person to be and why?
A: Miley Cyrus. She will probably come in like a wrecking ball creating a hole for me to
get out.
Q: Why did you apply to become the Languages Prefect?
A: I have this passion for language that many cannot comprehend. The power of
language is just so amazing to me and I am proud to represent Languages through my
Prefect role.
Q: What do you see yourself as in the future?
A: My goal is to become a commercial airline pilot. It has always been my dream to fly
and my knowledge of quite a few languages might give me a good start towards my
career.
Q: What was the most exciting thing you did during the summer after your IGCSEs?
A: The most exciting thing I did this summer was my trip to the UK. I even met Pam at
the airport! It was an amazing adventure with my friend and I wouldn't mind doing
something similar next summer.
Teng Chilver - Action
Q: What would you like to change about the school, action-
Prefect-wise?
A: I would like to see people getting involved with sports more. I
would like to see people who don’t think they can play sports but
can still learn new skills. Playing sports is a good way to build
relationships with your friends and working as a TEAM!
Q: Favourite sport?
A: Basketball and football - just to keep Mr Carson happy.
Q: If you could have a basketball training lesson with any NBA
player, who would it be and why?
A: Jeremy Lin, not only because he’s a great player, but his story as a Christian player
really inspires me.
Q: What are your pet hobbies?
A: I like to produce electronic music, most people have heard me DJ-ing for the
dances. I also like to work-out and exercise from time to time. Oh, and I also love to draw
and sketch cool things that come into my head sometimes.
Q: Being in the Grease musical drama, what are you most looking forward to doing
onstage?
A: I would like to be an awesome funny actor on stage and do funny things backstage
to keep all the actors happy and enthusiastic, because sometimes rehearsals and
practicing can get really serious.
Q: If you had a choice at picking any part time job you want to do, what would it be?
A: Being a waiter because I like getting tips from foreigners because I can speak quite
fluent English even though I’m Thai.

Jason Tang - Creativity
Q: How do you feel with getting a good grade in your IGCSEs?
A: The same as how all other students would feel: ecstatic! I’m
just glad that all my hard work paid off. Now that I try to think back
to during my examination times, it all feels so surreal, now that I’m
in IB.
Q: What would you do if your workload got too much?
A: Being a Prefect, I can actually delegate jobs to other IB
students, which I know they will gobble up from my hands because
of CAS points.
Q: Give an example of a situation you have led?
A: Back in 2010 and 2011, I was part of the Student Council for my year group. It was
a good experience, I must say. That was one of the things that inspired me to be a Prefect
now.
Q: What would you consider to be your best talent as a Creativity Prefect?
A: Personally, I love drama a LOT. It gives me a chance to be someone that everyone
else doesn’t realise is actually me. I’m really looking forward to this year’s ‘Grease’ musical
too.
Q: Which one are you: a leader or a manager?
A: Before I was a Prefect, I thought I would be more suited to a manager’s role, where
I make sure people actually DO what the leader instructs the ‘employees’ what to do. But
now with my Prefect position, I would have to be both in order to fulfill my role. The first
event (Fun Sports) that I organised really shows how important it is and I’m trying to learn
from that. So at this moment, I would say I rank more as a manager, but I will work hard to
become a leader.
Q: If you were a musical instrument what would you be and why?
A: I would be a drum-kit, because percussion is important in music to keep the beat
and tempo in a song so that it does not fall apart. In other words, the leader.
Hui Eun Park - Science
Q: Being a straight A* student *AHEM*, are there any subjects
that you really dislike studying in school?
A: Well, I don’t really consider myself that great a student
*AHEM*, but I personally dislike History because a lot of it is about
memorising dates (far too many!) and I also don't think all the facts
in History books are always legitimate, since they are written by the
victors.
Q: Given the choice, which scientist would you most like to
have a meet-and-greet interview with?
A: Given a choice, I would most like to meet-and-greet Craig
Venter, firstly because he is alive today and secondly because I find the Human Genome
Project quite interesting.

Q:
How long have you been in Thailand and what are your likes and dislikes about it?
A: I've been in Thailand for 2,366 days and I basically like everything about Thailand
except that it doesn't snow here :(
Q: Why is the sky blue (science question)?
A: The sky is blue due to Rayleigh scattering; as light moves through the atmosphere,
most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through and the shorter ones such as red
and yellow are absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is radiated in all
directions which is why the sky is blue whichever direction you look. Thanks, Google.
Q: Western music or K-Pop?
A: I like both Western music and K-pop but I prefer K-pop.
Q: If at this moment, you were a famous movie star and could star in any movie you
want, which movie would it be and why?
A: Transformers because I love action films and would like to save the world someday
(also because I would like to meet some of those hot male actors LOL).
Renee Harris - Humanities
Q: Humanities. What is it about really?
A: Humanities consists of the social sciences such as
Geography, History, ICT and Psychology. Humanities also
celebrates historical and international events such as Malaysia’s
Independence Day.
Q: Favourite author and book?
A: Truthfully this is one of the hardest questions I have been
asked as there is a range of books that I absolutely adore so I will
name my favourite three: The Great Gatsby, The Twits and The
Fault in Our Stars. My all-time favourite author would have to be the
outstanding Roald Dahl.
Q: Living in Thailand for a long time, what would you consider to be its best perk and
greatest challenge?
A: Living in Thailand has been and is one of my greatest adventures yet as I have
come to get to know people from all across the world and that's just the biggest perk to
me, to get to know a different culture and many different religions. The greatest challenge
for me was communication with the local Thai people but I am grateful that I know sign
language – sort of.
Q: If you could choose a teacher to be the school’s representative, who would it be and
why?
A: Dr Tasker because he is a truly great Principal and very supportive to students and
teachers, also he is from New Zealand, which just makes him even more awesome.
Q: Let’s say you came across a magic lamp with a genie living inside it that will grant
you three wishes; what would they be?
A: I have only one wish: I would wish for me to pass IB with amazing scores.

Kevin Gulati - Service
Q: You were the Student Council president last year. Would
you like to run for it again in your IB1 year?
A: I've personally enjoyed being the Student Council President
last year. Of course if I wasn't selected as a Service Prefect I
would have done it again since I really enjoyed being a leader,
which at the end of the day I see as an education for myself.
Q: Favourite living-creature and why?
A: My favourite living creature would be a dog because this is
the only animal that loves and cares for others more than
themselves. Also dogs are really cute and protective.
Q: As a Service Prefect, what would you most like to change
about GIS that it fits your profile more?
A: As a Service Prefect I would love to get GIS to take even more participation in
service, such as donating to more charities since this type of work fits my profile and I
really enjoy doing charity work. This makes me feel more blessed and happy.
Q: If someone were to look into your refrigerator at this moment, what would he/she
find in there?
A: If someone was to look in my refrigerator at this moment he/she would find Swiss
chocolates and some fizzy drinks.
Q: What would you consider was the hardest examination in your IGCSEs in 2013?
A: I consider Thai and Mathematics as my hardest subjects for IGCSE since I'm not
very strong in reading and writing Thai and don't seem to be strong with numbers as well.
Q: What are you looking forward to doing as an IB student?
A: As an IB student I would really look forward to get more experience at working
independently and also since I'm a Service Prefect I look forward to learn more leadership
skills.

From Ms Gordon: Head of Primary
Hello and welcome back to the new academic year in Primary. A special welcome to all
our new families who have joined us this year. I hope you were all able to make the
Parents’ Information Evening on Tuesday September 2 to meet your child’s class teacher
and find out more about what we do in Primary.
So much has happened over the holidays and a huge thank you must go to Mr Martin our
site manager for transforming the primary building from this
to this
to this
over the summer break. Our new
classrooms for Years 1, 2 and 5 are
wonderful.
There are plans to continue this
development through the Primary
building as well as starting work on the extension of our new Music and ELS suites.

New furniture
All homeroom classes also had new furniture
specially made for them over the holiday by a
local company, Planet Furniture, which is based
outside Rayong. Made from Thai rubberwood, the
chairs and tables have been ergonomically
designed to be the correct size for the age of the
children and have been protected with a childsafe
varnish to keep it looking good. It has been
great to be able to support a local industry and
help improve our environment by using a
sustainable local wood source. Thank you to Ms
Laurence and Khun Bussaba for overseeing this.
New staff
We’re delighted to welcome the new teaching staff onto our team. Ms Elyssa in our Early
Years class, Ms Alice in Year 1, Ms Natalie in Year 3, Mr Paul in Year 4, Ms Julie in Year 5
and Mr James in Year 6. We also have Khun Pinkie and Khun Suvimol who are joining our
Learning Support team. They are already a huge asset to the school and we’re very glad
to have them all with us.
New Blogs
All our Primary classes now have a year groups blog so you can find out what’s happening
in your child’s year group. Tip: when looking for the blogs, you don’t need to put www at
the front.
earlyyears.gardenrayong.com
nursery.gardenrayong.com
reception.gardenrayong.com
year1.gardenrayong.com
year2.gardenrayong.com
year3. Gardenrayong.com
year4.gardenrayong.com
year5.gardenrayong.com
year6.gardenrayong.com

House Leaders
We’ve also held the Primary House Leaders elections this week. These children have
been chosen by their peers to support and lead their House teams. Well done to all of you
and I wish you a successful year ahead.
House Boy Leader Girl Leader
Cobra Nick Jan
Eagle William Jaacee
Gecko Ekansh Aastha
Tiger German Riddhi
Please get in touch if you have any concerns regarding your child’s education and I look
forward to a successful and happy year ahead.
Claire Gordon
Head of Primary
headpri@gardenrayong.com

From Mr Ball: Head of Secondary
Hello Parents,
I would like say welcome back to the school for members of community that were with us
in the last academic year and welcome to the school for the members of our community
that are new to the school.
It has been a great start to the academic year so far and it only promises to continue
getting stronger. The students have settled quickly into their relaxed but busy style and it is
great to see how happy they are around the school.
It is fantastic to see how quickly our Prefects have taken up their positions and they
promise to have a great learning curve over the year in regards leadership skills, and
event planning, and management, as well as wearing orange on the crossing duty each
morning or afternoon.
The IB2 students should now have handed in their draft Extended Essay for their
supervisor to read so that they can receive feedback on this key piece of Diploma
assessment. The IB2 students also have their TOK presentation to prepare and look
forward to presenting on September 25. This day is a regular favourite among the IB
students. The quality of presentations has traditionally been very high and I look forward to
the tradition continuing.
Regards
Sage Ball
Head of Secondary
headsec@gardenrayong.com

GIS Students Hit Top Marks for IGCSE!
Students from Garden International School (GIS) are celebrating after
some stunning IGCSE results.
Among the star students were Syuen Wei Tang, or Jason, who was
awarded 10 passes, including 4 A*s and 5 As. Arpan Ojha gained 9
passes, all ranging from A*-B, while Hui Eun Park was awarded 8
IGCSEs - 7 of which were A* - and Pauline Gallemit landed 9 A*-C
grades.
In total, 73 per cent of students gained between an A*-C grade, which is in
line with the global average.
John Caules gained 7 passes, Coco Atkinson was awarded 8
IGCSEs, while Pornchanok Pornthipsakul (Khing) gained 8 passes,
of which all but one were A* or As.
Elsewhere, Vishal Iyer had 9 grades between A*-B. Marisa
Bodemer gained 8 passes - despite only studying at GIS for one
year - and Bunluxsa Pisitpitthayaseree (May), Patrick Van Der
Poel, Polin Cercleron, Tak Tirakayos and Piyaporn Doowa (Neha)
also scored 8 passes.
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education
(IGCSE) is run by Cambridge International Examinations. It is the
world's leading examination for 16-year-olds and is similar to the
GCSE tests which UK-based students sit.
In addition to the Year 11 scores, there was good news this year for younger students. For
the first time, Year 9 students also took one IGCSE, in English as a Second Language.
The 15 students had a 100 per cent pass rate, with everyone gaining between an A*-C.
This included Shomit Ghosh, who got an A* and Shilpi Dhar, who is now the youngest
student at GIS to ever pass an IGCSE.

Many of the successful
Year 11 students will now
start the International
Baccalaureate Diploma
Programme at GIS.
This year, several Year 9 students took their first ever IGCSE (usually it’s Year 11s who
take them). They passed their IGCSE English as a Second Language (ESL) tests. One of
them, Shilpi Dhar, (above, left) became the youngest ever student in the 20-year history of
GIS to gain an IGCSE qualification.
IB News
Star GIS students gain IB Diploma
Talented students from GIS celebrated excellent examination
results – which included some remarkable personal triumphs.
A total of 14 GIS students who took the International
Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) have been
awarded the full Diploma, including one student who returned
to re-sit an examination. This overall pass rate of 78 per cent
is in line with the global average, a sign that GIS is continuing
to meet international standards. It also shows a slight increase
from last year’s results.
The grades do not always tell the complete story though, and
that is the case with one student. It was a tale of triumph over
adversity for Korean student Kyoung Jun Lee (Paul), who

achieved the Diploma despite having to overcome significant
medical conditions and challenges, including cerebral palsy.
Paul worked tirelessly to achieve his goals and was awarded
27 points out of 45. Students must score 24 to gain the
Diploma.
Another great result was achieved by Monisha Punjabi
(Mona). Mona, who has only just turned 17, was given the top
IB score in GIS with 41 points, which included three
maximum scores of 7. She also gained the three maximum
bonus points for her Theory of Knowledge and Extended
Essay work.
Another GIS star student, Rohit Ghosh, was given 39 points,
a great achievement as Rohit chose extremely challenging
subjects that included Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry,
all at Higher Level. The third-highest score was achieved by
Lucas Akesson, who was awarded 38 points.
A former GIS student, Sandy Stuvik, returned to take his
Mathematics examination and now has also gained the
Diploma. He missed an earlier examination due to his
European F3 motor racing commitments. Sandy currently
leads the championship.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is the
world's premier pre-university course and begins in Year 12.
Students have to study across a range of six subjects and
also complete community-based activities and other tasks.
The IB Diploma Programme is ideal for students who aim to
further their studies at leading universities worldwide,
including Thailand. Founded in 1968, there are around 1 million
IB students at 3,440 schools in 141 countries across the world.
Garden International School, which is based in Ban Chang near Pattaya, began offering
the IB Diploma in 1998 and is one of the most-established IB centres in the region.
Date for your Diary!
Coming to a school near you soon…
Grease – November 5-7!

Teacher of the Month
This month we talk to Primary ELS teacher,
Mr Garth.
1) What made you choose to live in
Thailand? The climate and culture kind of grew
on me. It’s been a little 11-year stopover after 2
years teaching in Korea.
2) What do you do when you're not teaching?
I like to exercise and just do stuff around the
house.
3) Favourite singer/band? No particular
favourite, but a lot of music from the 70s and 80s.
4) Favourite movie and why? Midnight Run, I’m a fan of Robert De Niro and comedies.
5) If you weren't a teacher, what would you be doing?
Probably working somewhere in health or hospitality.
6) Have you ever met anyone famous?
Not really, no!
7) What’s the best thing about your home country?
It has a good climate and everyone speaks clearly, without an accent.
8) What kind of student were you?
Hardworking, average ability
9) What are you afraid of?
Mr Michael’s running shoes.
10) If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Flight is the one I’m missing.

Student of the Month
This month we talk to Emily, who is in IB2.
1) What is your favourite activity in school? My favorite activity
would probably be special school visits or going to foundation
during CAS.
2) You’re an IB student – what’s that like?
The IB programme is very vigorous; it can be a challenge trying to
balance between studies and extracurricular activities. Ever since I
started IB, I am hardly ever idle – I always have something to do.
Overall, I’m loving it because of the sense of accomplishment I get
at the end of the day from stretching beyond my own horizons and
doing things I wouldn’t normally do. You have TOK, which teaches
you to question your knowledge and the way you think, and CAS. I think these things are
great in comparison to the conventional education system where you only burry your head
in books – it moulds you in to a more all-rounded person.
3) What do you like doing in your free time? In my free time, I like to read, do anything
to do with music, hang out with some close friends and travel.
4) What job would you like to do when you finish school? It would be nice to do
something other than the usual sit-on-a-desk all day. I want to do something that requires
me to travel and explore new cultures: travel journalism allows me to do just that!
5) What is your favourite subject? I’m in a dilemma between History and English Literature
but I would have to go with English Literature.
6) What’s the best country you’ve visited (apart from Thailand)?
Why? I love Thailand! But Italy has to be the best country I’ve ever visited– the food, the
ambience…it’s amazing.
7) Favourite Thai food? Som tam.
8) Favourite animal. Dogs, especially golden retrievers.
9) What’s the last book you read? The last book not part of the IB course that I read was
Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Marukami.
10) Favourite band? I like a lot of bands. Off the top of my head are Mumford & Sons,
Daughter and, very recently, Freelance Whales.

Sport
Taekwondo Triumph!
Year 10 student Daseul took third place in a worldwide
taekwondo competition in Korea.
Daseul and her partner signed up for the Junior 4
International Pairs Poomse competition. After some
tough contests, the pair came third, which is an
incredible achievement. The winning team was from
the Philippines while the runners-up were from
China.
Daseul eventually came home with three medals and
a trophy.
The competition, held at the end of August, is the largest taekwondo competition of its kind
in the world. The 2014 World Taekwondo Hanmadang attracted 3,400 players from 53
nations, which is the most ever.
Boarding
Trips Out
Here are boarding students
during a trip to Silverlake, near
Pattaya. After stopping off
here, they went on to Central
Festival Mall.

Get in touch!
If you have any articles for the newsletter, please send them to
markb@gardenrayong.com before the end of each month for inclusion in the
following month’s newsletter.
Find us at:
Website: www.gardenrayong.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/gisrayong
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