GIS Newsletter March 2018

From Mrs Hawtree: Principal
From the Principal
Dear GIS Community
As we close for the Songkran break, I look back on a short, but incredibly busy yet fruitful half term. March
started with me returning from a very successful recruitment trip to the UK, and details regarding the new
teachers I've appointed will follow shortly.
Immediately the school started we were into International Week, which was full of international flavoured activities,
costumes, flags, and food. We had a wonderful, largely student-led assembly on the Wednesday afternoon,
where we also recognised the importance of International Women's Day which fell in the same
week. The week then culminated with the International Day celebration, including the flag parade, the singing
of national anthems, an array of excellent performances and a wonderful shared community picnic.
Thank you to the FoG committee for organising this, and to all of you who brought along food to share
and enjoy together. For me, this day really exemplifies what GIS is all about, and there are some lovely photos
of this event in this issue.
The next week saw all students participating in some excellent STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematics) activities, which fell (deliberately) on Pi Day (14 March or 3.14). That same week saw two
excellent swimming galas, showcasing the strength of our swimmers across the school, as well as some
more fun, water-related games for all to enjoy.
The following week saw an excellent MAD (Music, Arts, Drama) night - with 2 excellent IB artists exhibiting,
as well as a host of musical and dramatic performances. You can see various reports on MAD night later in
this newsletter.
In addition to quite a number of trips, parent events, a mufti day and the continuation of our community service
programme, March has also seen the start of the external examination season with Year 11 and IB2
students sitting oral examinations in Mandarin, Spanish and English, and practical examinations in Art, as
well as hitting deadlines for the final submission of coursework. No doubt their Songkran will largely be spent
on revision, in preparation for their examinations which begin on 27 April - and of course we wish them all the
very best of luck, and all the success they so richly deserve.
The highlights of this last week of term have been twofold - the wonderful Primary production of 'Superstan',
which surpassed all expectations, and huge congratulations to all those involved (reports on this to follow in
the next newsletter) and our last day 'Songkran Splash', when the whole school joins in the blessings and the
water games - what a wonderful way to end a term!
I wish you all a fantastic Songkran break, and look forward to welcoming back our students on Monday 23
April.
สุขสันต ์วันสงกรานต ์ and best wishes,
Kind Regards,
Ms Dinah Hawtree
Principal
2