GIS Newsletter October 2018

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FORMER GIS STUDENT STARTS HER When Yeen first started learning at GIS, she knew almost no English. After spending a few months with English Language Support teachers, she soon improved. By the time Yeen reached Year 11, she passed her IGCSEs and was even given a ‘top in the world’ award. Yeen has just been awarded a First Class Honours degree from Durham University in accounting and finance and is about to start her post-graduate degree at the worldfamous University of Cambridge. Durham is ranked 5th best in the UK, while the University of Cambridge was recently ranked the 2nd best university in the world. Yeen applied to the University of Cambridge last November and had a long wait before hearing she had been successful. She has now just begun studying for her Masters in Real Estate Finance. Yeen said her experience at GIS doing the IB Diploma was excellent preparation for life at the world’s top universities. ‘When I first came to GIS I was struggling a bit as I couldn’t understand that much and English was quite difficult. The English language support programme, IGCSE and especially IB was great for university. IB isn’t just teaching you language, it’s preparing you for further study. ‘I remember when you do the Extended Essay for IB it seems like it’s too much to take but here if you have to write 4,000 words, maybe that’s not enough; it’s hard to have such a low boundary. ‘CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) is more useful than anything else. You can put that in your CV when you apply to university because they are not just interested in your grades but also your extra-curricular experiences. If you do A levels, they don’t have that kind of subject. If you have the IB Diploma it’s really good for you.’ MASTERS AT CAMBRIDGE While at Durham, Yeen helped run a Thai society for the 100 Thai students who study at the university, which involved special sports events and a Thai night. Knowing that she wanted to keep studying in the UK, Yeen started applying to top universities such as University College London (UCL), the London School of Economics (LSE) and Cambridge at the end of last year. Yeen submitted a personal statement and references from two lecturers, but wasn’t required to attend an interview at Cambridge. When she discovered Cambridge had offered her a place, she was stunned. ‘I kept checking my computer for an email from them. First I got an offer from LSE so I thought maybe I missed out with Cambridge, but then I got an email from them too. I was shocked to be honest. I was not expecting that at all. My family was over the moon.’ Yeen’s progress has been remarkable. When Yeen joined GIS towards the end of Year 7, back in 2009, she was in our English Language Support programme with Mr Berry. At the start she studied for the Key English Test (KET), which is for students with elementary English skills. After passing her IGCSEs, Yeen then completed her IB Diploma at GIS in 2015, finishing with a score of 38 – at the time, the highest-ever score by a Thai student at GIS. Yeen said the education she gained from GIS was a huge help and the perfect preparation for university. Learning research and essay-writing skills for IB’s Extended Essay meant writing essays at universities was straightforward. And the opportunities available with Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) meant Yeen could demonstrate many kinds of noncurricular experiences too when applying to university. Yeen praised Mr Berry, one of GIS’s longest-serving teachers, for helping to improve her English. Yeen also had some useful tips for our current IB students. ‘I think the best thing to do is when you have some free time it’s better to spend it in the study room than the common room, so you can review what you have been taught. Time management is quite important, you have a lot of deadlines in IB.’ Yeen’s sister Khing may be about to follow a similar path. She is also currently in the UK, and is in her final year of her Economics’ degree at the University of Warwick. Congratulations to Yeen for gaining a place at one of the world’s top universities. It’s a great example of what GIS can help students achieve. 10
Student Leaders MEET OUR NEW STUDENT LEADERS GIS has its new team of student leaders for 2018-19. Ash, the school’s new Head Boy, and Liyana, our new Head Girl, officially took on their roles at a special assembly on October 3. Joining them are the school directors: Cultural Director is Cheshta, our Global Action Director is Orla, our Internationalism Director is Sammy and our Well-being Director is Emily. Our new House leaders are Aasis (Cobra), Kavisha (Eagle), Nadia (Gecko) and Tiger (Dhriti). The assembly also introduced our new Student Council team.
Page 1 and 2: Your choice. Their future. Our fami
Page 3 and 4: UPCOMING EVENTS Whole School Nov 8:
Page 5 and 6: Head to our Facebook page for the l
Page 7 and 8: DIWALI LIGHTS UP GIS! GIS celebrate
Page 9: POLEON IS WORLD’S YOUNGEST CHESS
Page 13 and 14: From Mr Walsh: Head of Primary Dear
Page 15 and 16: FOREST TRIP Year 2 students visited
Page 17 and 18: Hallowe’een at GIS Spiders, skele
Page 19 and 20: LIVE @ LUNCH Our new Live @ Lunch f
Page 21 and 22: IB Diploma GIS HOSTS FIRST SAT ASSE
Page 23 and 24: We continue to celebrate all the co
Page 25 and 26: 25
Page 27 and 28: GO GREEN RUN REPS is hosting a ‘G
Page 29: Sport FOBISIA SUCCESS IN PHUKET! A

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