August 2017

Your choice. Their future. Our family. โรงเรียนนานาชาติการ์เด้นอีสเทิร์นซีบอร์ดบ้านฉาง August 2017
MEET
THE
NEW
PREFECTS!
Find us at:
Website: w w w .gardenrayong.com
Twitter: w w w .tw itter.com/ gisrayong
Facebook: w w w .facebook.com/ pages/ Garden-International-School-Rayong-Thailand/128699487157809
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/gardenrayongthailand
Accredited by
Affiliated to
1

From Mrs Hawtree: Principal
Dear GIS Community,
A very warm ‘welcome back’ to all our existing parents, students and teachers, and a very special ‘welcome’ to
our new students and their parents, and to our new teachers and their families. Pictures of all our new teachers
can be found in this issue of the newsletter, and profiles of all our teachers and academic staff, new and
‘old’, can be found on the new staff section of our website.
It was a real pleasure to meet so many of you at the event on 22 August, where I explained all of the exciting
changes and developments happening at GIS this year, and we also had the opportunity to chat over delicious
cheese and wine, kindly provided by Friends of Garden.
There has been a real buzz around the school during the first couple of weeks, as students have started to experience
the benefits of the developments, be these in terms of facilities (like the amazing new music suite) or
in terms of the Wednesday afternoon activities programme, giving students a variety of opportunities to broaden
their participation in the Arts, in Community Service, in cultural activities and in a whole host of competitions
where they can demonstrate a range of skills such as teamwork and leadership.
Our after-school activities programmes have also started, again comprising a wide range of events, with a
particularly varied sports programme. Very shortly we will be publishing details of our community activity
programme, and we hope that you will come along and join in some of these each week.
We have had several parents volunteer to take on the new ‘Parent Champion’ roles, but we could still accommodate
a couple more, so please do contact me via patoprincipal@gardenrayong.com if you are interested in
joining this group, which will work with myself and the leadership team to help further improve areas such as
communication with parents and community involvement.
I hope that your children have enjoyed the first couple of weeks of this year as much as we have, and I look
forward to seeing you again at one or more of the many events planned over the coming term. Looking at the
calendar, it’s going to be a busy year!
Best wishes,
Mrs Dinah Hawtree
Principal
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Upcoming Events
Whole School
Sept 5: International Day of Charity
Sept 20: House T-Shirt Day
Sept 21: International Day of Peace
Primary
Sept 2: Year 2 trip to Forest Walk
Sept 21: Parent conference, 2.30pm
Sept 28: Year 2 trip to the Birds and Bees Resort
Secondary
Sept 12: Succeeding at IB, 7pm, Main Hall
Sept 15: Art trip, Years 10-IB2
Sept 15: Mufti Day
Sept 21: Year 11 and IB2 parent conference, 6pm, Main Hall
Sept 18-22: IB2 students meet with Extended Essay supervisors
Sept 27: Careers’ Day at GIS (together with REPS and GIS Bangkok), Years 10-IB2
Sept 29-30: Student Leadership Conference, Bangkok
Many thanks to our generous GIS sponsors:
Platinum
Aditya Birla
Encounter Church
Indorama
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Head to our Facebook page for the latest news on
what’s been happening at GIS. This month, you
can read about:
www.facebook.com/gardeninternationalschool
You can also watch our latest videos about what’s
been happening at GIS by going here:
www.youtube.com/user/gardenrayongthailand
Follow us on Instagram! Find us at
garden_international_school or search for
#gistitans
Check out our Pinterest page and see the dozens
of photos showcasing life at GIS.
Follow our tweets on Twitter!
https://www.twitter.com/gisrayong
See our snaps and stories on Snapchat!
Our username is gisthailand
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CHEESE AND WINE AT PARENT INFORMATION EVENING
Parents and guardians came to GIS on August 22 to find out about the latest developments at
school.
After socialising and enjoying snacks prepared by the Friends of Garden, everyone made their
way to the Main Hall where Principal Mrs Hawtree explained the changes. These include completely-renovated
Music rooms in Secondary, a new-look timetable and improvements to sporting
facilities.
Mrs Hawtree also presented the new school Leadership Team and detailed the school’s impressive
IGCSE and IB results for this year.
5

GIS WELCOMES OUR NEW TEACHERS
Several new teachers have started working at GIS this year. Take a look at our GIS website
to read their profiles and find out more about them.
Visit http://gardenrayong.com/meet-our-staff
Ms Kate—Primary SEN
teacher
Mr Jon - Year 5 teacher
Mr Matthew—Year 3 teacher
Mr Andrew—Year 6 teacher
K.Gig — PE teacher
Mr John — PE teacher
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GIS WELCOMES OUR NEW TEACHERS
K.Wan — Thai teacher
Mr Whyte — Music/TOK teacher
Ms Morris — English teacher
Mr Croft—History/TOK teacher
Ms Francisco — English teacher
Mr McGregor — Mathematics’ teacher
7

GIS WELCOMES OUR NEW TEACHERS
Mr McKean -
Mathematics’
teacher
Mr Stacey — DT teacher
Ms Leong — Music teacher
Mr Hennigan—Science/TOK teacher
Ms Hucknall — English teacher
8

From Mr Walsh: Head of Primary
Dear parents and carers,
It has been a lovely start to the academic year in Primary and
Foundation.
We have had a lot of new students in most of the different year
groups across Foundation and Primary. Already the new students
are making friends, getting stuck into their learning and getting
involved in the wider life of the school. Our new teachers are also
now well-initiated in GIS life!
Settling-in Meetings
SCHOOL LUNCHES
Students (and teachers!)
seem to be enjoying the
school lunches. If you have
any feedback about the
canteen, please let us know.
I hope the Foundation and Primary Parent Information Meetings
were useful as a way of understanding the organisation of Primary
in general, as well as having a chance to understand and
discuss the curriculum and expectations of your child’s class
teacher.
On Thursday 21 September, there will be a chance to have an
individual meeting with your child’s class teacher to discuss how
well s/he has started the year in terms of behaviour, academic
ability and attitude towards learning.
Parents will be emailed a link to a booking form closer to the
event.
House Activity
This year, with our new 5-day timetable, we
will have Primary Activities followed by Primary
Assembly every Wednesday afternoon. The
activities have been developed by staff across
the school and are designed to encourage
team spirit and collaboration, as well as
embedding some of our whole-school initiatives
into the curriculum. Our improved
Community Service and Global Action
initiatives are two examples.
We started the year off with a fun teambuilding
activity where students
took part in physical and mental
challenges with their team-mates.
Mr Walsh
Head of Primary
headpri@gardenrayong.com

CHESS CHAMPS
A BROTHER and sister from GIS are continuing to take the chess world by storm.
During the summer holiday, Poleon (Year 4) went on a round-the-world-trip, competing in five
tournaments in three locations: he triumphed in the USA Orlando Open, winning all but one
game, then in Andorra, he beat a highly-rated FIDE-Master and achieved a performance rating
of 1923 (the average for Thai U10 tournaments is below 1200). The third tournament was in Prague,
where Poleon steadily increased his rating. He is now the highest-rated player in his age
group in Thailand, as well as being the youngest. He also played Blitz and Rapid tournaments in
Prague, achieving top ratings in both categories.
Apart from his efforts on the board, he also used his trip to make many new friends. He played
friendly games with the U18 disabled world champion, the (adult) world champion in blindfold
chess and spent time with the stars of the chess-themed Disney movie 'Queen of Katwe'.
During the same time, Bambi (Year 7) also played two tournaments: the Thailand Standard
Chess championship, which put her in the top 25 of all Thai women, and the Mid-Year tournament
in Bangkok, coming second.
The first weekend after the summer holiday saw the Thailand Rapid Chess Championship in
Bangkok where Poleon once more won the title as Thailand Champion with 6.5 of 7 possible
points. Bambi was close to winning in her category, too, but then lost in the last 2 rounds.
The pair have also been featured in chess books and one of the world’s top chess teachers
Grand-master Thomas Luther took over their training.
Both have represented Thailand at many events, including the world cadet championship in Batumi,
Georgia and the East Asia youth championship in Korea. The pair has also won several
age groups and/or rating group prizes in events in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Locally they have won the Thailand national school championships, Thailand national rapid
chess championship, Eastern Seaboard championship and the Thai school team championship.
10

MEET GIS’S NEW PREFECTS
The new Prefects for 2017-18 have officially
taken on their new role. The all-girl line-up read
out the Prefect pledge at a Secondary assembly
and then received their Prefect badge and wristband.
The Prefects and their responsibilities are:
Rachel - Activity
Mara - Service
Anjali - Languages
Erica - Creativity
Khushi - Science
Aniela - Humanities
NEW CANTEEN CHEF
The GIS Canteen is now even tastier than ever thanks to our new chef.
Sherwin Blake Enriquez, 33, is from the Philippines and has studied Culinary Arts and Kitchen Management.
He has previously worked in a hotel in the Philippines and western restaurants in Pattaya,
specialising in western cuisine and fine dining.
11

We have some great school blogs to tell you about life at GIS. Click
on the links below to see what’s been going on!
PRIMARY BLOGS
Early Years http://earlyyears.gardenrayong.com/
Nursery http://nursery.gardenrayong.com/
Reception http://reception.gardenrayong.com/
Year 1 http://year1.gardenrayong.com/
Year 2 http://year2.gardenrayong.com/
Year 3 http://year3.gardenrayong.com/
Year 4 http://year4.gardenrayong.com/
Year 5 http://year5.gardenrayong.com/
Year 6 http://year6.gardenrayong.com/
ESL Blog: http://primaryels.gardenrayong.com
SECONDARY BLOGS
Year 7-9
IGCSE
IB
ELS
http://year7to9.gardenrayong.com/
http://gisigcse.gardenrayong.com/
http://ib.gardenrayong.com/
http://secondaryels.gardenrayong.com
WHOLE SCHOOL BLOGS
Extra-curricular Sport
Extra-curricular Music
http://gissport.gardenrayong.com/
http://gismusicblog.gardenrayong.com/
Extra-curricular Drama http://gisdrama.gardenrayong.com/
Library
http://library.gardenrayong.com/
Community Programmes http://communityprogrammes.gardenrayong.com/
Community Service
Friends of Garden
Boarding
http://gisserviceprojects.gardenrayong.com/
http://friendsofgarden.gardenrayong.com/
http://gisboarding.gardenrayong.com/

From Mr Share: Head of Secondary
Dear parents and carers,
Welcome back to the new term. By now I hope that your children have blown away the cobwebs in the
minds from their summer of relaxation and adventure and are now fully back into the swing of school life. It
is important to start the year with a positive state of mind both as a student and as a family and face the
challenges ahead with a sense of confidence that no matter what happens hard work and a mindset that
trying and failing is more important than not trying ay all. It is very important as individual students and carers
and parents that we start the year in the right way and students see it as a new chance to continue to
impress teachers or to start the year with a fresh outlook.
Our how to be successful in events are very different evenings from each other depending on the age of
your child. The events are aimed at supporting parents and informing you and your children about the year
ahead. A family that supports each other significantly improves a child's chances of success, although of
course, it is not the only factor. Come along to our Year 7, 8 and 9 to see how life in Secondary has different
ways of teaching and learning as well as different expectations. Over 50 people turned up to our Year
10 night which crammed lots of tips and advice about what the students need to do and know to be successful
at IGCSE and beyond, and Mr Beales will be running a how to be successful event on the IIB
course.
Please do come and mix with our students and senior leadership team and help to ensure that your child
has the best chance of succeeding this year and beyond. I am looking forward to a wonderful year, please
do email me if you have any questions. I am sure it will be a great year.
Key Dates this Term
Parent and student Information Session ‘Succeeding at Key Stage 3’ (Years 7, 8, 9) - 7 September 7pm
Parent and student Information Session ‘Succeeding at IB’ - 12 September 7pm
Parents’ Evening Year 11 and IB2 – 21 September
End of ½ Term Progress Grade Cards Issued - 9 October
Parents’ Evening Year 7-10 & IB1 - 10 October
Regards
Mr Share
Head of Secondary
headsec@gardenrayong.com

International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma
GIS STUDENTS
ACHIEVE 100%
SUCCESS AGAIN!
Students from GIS are preparing
for some of the world's leading
universities after achieving some
spectacular IB Diploma results.
For the second-year running, GIS
achieved a remarkable 100 per
cent pass rate for the International Baccalaureate
(IB) Diploma Programme.
The IB Diploma is the world's top course
for 16-18 year olds, and GIS is the region's
most established IB school.
This year's IB Diploma students not only
all passed, but there were some outstanding
performances. With an average
points score of 33 points, GIS was well
above the global average of just under
30 points.
Among the star students was Jun Beom,
who achieved a near-perfect score of 44
out of 45 points. This places him in the
top 1 per cent of students worldwide. His achievement is
more incredible because when he first joined GIS 7 years
ago he could barely speak any English.
GIS students are now planning to head to some of the
world's leading universities in the US, the United Kingdom,
Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong.
IB Co-ordinator Mark Beales said: "These results again
show the academic excellence that GIS achieves on a
regular basis, with results far above the global average.
Being the most-experienced IB school in the region allows
us to also pass on our experience and support to
students as they prepare for higher education."
GIS Principal Dinah Hawtree added: "We are all
delighted to see such great results from students;
this is a reflection of the hard work that has been
put in by both students and their teachers. IB really
does give the best possible preparation for
university life and I wish all these students the
best in their future studies."

CAREERS’ DAY@GIS
GIS will be hosting a Careers’ Day on Wednesday September 27.
The day, for students in Year 10 to IB2, will involve guest speakers talking about their chosen
professions and giving advice on how to get into certain careers.
Students from GIS Bangkok and REPS will also be joining us.
If you are a parent who would like to come and talk about a particular career for around 10
minutes, please email m.beales@gardenrayong.com. If you know of a company that would be
interested in a free stall, to provide career or university information, you can use the same
email.
15

GIS STUDENTS CELEBRATE OUTSTANDING IGCSE RESULTS!
GIS students have been celebrating their spectacular IGCSE results.
Following the May 2017 examination session, students were delighted to come away with a
string of excellent grades.
In total, students had a 83.5 per cent pass rate. And even more impressively, 88 per cent of
students gained 5 or more passes at IGCSE. A pass is considered to be a grade ‘C’ or higher.
In the UK in 2016, 67 per cent of students achieved grades A*-C for their GCSEs.
Among the star students were Aakheel and Kanokrak (Pop), who both gained 10 passes, including
7 at A or A*. Also celebrating was Erica, who achieved 9 passes, including 7 at A*/A,
while Mara was awarded 8 passes, including 6 A*s and two As. Peeraya (Kam) gained 9
passes, 5 of which were A* and 3 As.
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is run by Cambridge
University and is the world's leading examination for 16-year-olds. GIS is the most
established IGCSE centre in the region. The school's results are regularly far above the global
average.
In addition, several Year 10 students took IGCSE Mathematics a year early, and all passed,
while some Year 9 students took IGCSE English as a Second Language (ESL) – and also
enjoyed a 100 per cent success rate. One IGCSE Mathematics student scored an incredible
99 per cent in his examination.
Mr Beales, Deputy Head of Secondary, officer, said: "These amazing results show the dedication
of both our talented students and our teachers. The IGCSE is a major examination and
we are very proud that GIS has again shown its results are well above average. To have so
many subjects achieve 100 per cent pass rates is remarkable. We are also delighted that so
many of these students have stayed and have now started the IB Diploma Programme.”
16

The battle to be House
champions got off to a fun
start.
Primary and Secondary students
took part in a range of
challenges in a bid to get
House points.
These included a lavaflowing
obstacle course,
word challenge, quiz and a
test of students' throwing
abilities.
Garden International School
Your choice. Their future. Our family.
Find us at:
Website: www.gardenrayong.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Garden-International-School-Rayong-Thailand/128699487157809
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/gardenrayongthailand
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/gisrayong
Accredited by
Affiliated to
17