ISB Communication Single Page View

BICF Choir Festival Concerts this weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BISAC Championship: Saturday – Volleyball and Tennis!

All our favorite vendors will be on campus, so bring the family for food, ice cream and the ISB Booster Hut! Go Panthers!

 

Parent Workshop with Dr. Tracey Tokuhama Espinosa: Oct 12th

By: Graeme Scott, Deputy Head of School for Learning
graemes@isb.ac.th

On Wednesday 12th October and Thursday 13th October we welcome Dr. Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa to ISB.  Tracey is an expert in the fields of mother tongue education, the future of learning and educational neuroscience.  She is currently an educational researcher affiliated with FLACSO in Quito, Ecuador and teaches a course at the Harvard University Extension School entitled ‘The Neuroscience of Learning and Achievement: An Introduction to Mind, Brain, and Education Science.’ She has taught Kindergarten through University and is the former Dean of Education at the Universidad de las Américas in Quito, Ecuador and ex-Director of the Institute for Teaching and Learning (IDEA) in the Universidad San Francisco de Quito.

During her time here, Tracey will offer two sessions for parents.  From 1:00 – 2:00pm on Wednesday 12th October, she will offer a session for parents on, ‘How to Support your child in 21st century education.’  This session will be in the MPB.  On Thursday 13th October, Tracey will present a 45 minute session on ‘Mother Tongue Education’ which will focus on what parents can do at home to support their child’s mother tongue.  This will run from 1:15 – 2:00pm and will also be in the MPB.

Please consider joining Tracey for one or both of these sessions – she is a fascinating and engaging speaker with a wealth of experience to share.

Korean Community Annual Meeting: Tuesday, Oct. 11th

By: Korean Community
isb.kpta@gmail.com

We are pleased to invite all Korean parents for the annual meeting. It will be held on Tuesday, October 11th from 8:30 to 11:30 AM in the MPB.

This is a great opportunity to gain useful information regarding the new school year.  We hope to see you all there.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. <isb.kpta@gmail.com>

 

Become a host family for ISB Thai Scholarship Students

By: Dr. Andrew Davies, Head of School
andrewd@isb.ac.th

ISB currently supports 3 female high-school students as part of our Thai Scholarship Program. This program is designed for highly capable Thai students whose families have a demonstrated financial need. It provides them with an opportunity to get an international education and be given opportunities not otherwise available to them. Our Thai Scholarship Program has been running for 6 years and is possible on account of the generosity of our parent community, who support us in hosting our scholarship students.

We are looking for another generous host family to house one of our students until June 2018. Ideally we are seeking a family that:

• Lives close to ISB
• Speaks English at home
• Has a spare bedroom
• Has a Middle School or High School aged child

Host families are expected to provide food, lodging and some incidental expenses. The ISB Scholarship Fund would take care of uniforms, cafeteria meals, school trips, some clothes, school supplies and equipment as needed, certain other incidentals and transportation costs home for holidays.

We are very appreciative to all our host families to date, who make it possible for these students to attend ISB and further their education. If you are interested in hosting, please complete the Host Family Expression of Interest Form by clicking on this link. If you should have any questions, please contact our Scholarship Program Coordinator, Ms. Shelley Bragg at shelleyb@isb.ac.th.

 

First Friday with Andy – Postponed

By: Dr. Andrew Davies, Head of School
andrewd@isb.ac.th

The next “First Friday with Andy” will take place on Friday 14 October at 8:00am in the Business Office Conference Room (aka Orange Room). Dr. Davies will be at an IB Conference for the scheduled date of Friday 7th October.

“First Friday with Andy” is an open forum for parents to meet informally with the Head of School and address any topics of interest or concern. No signing up is necessary – simply come and participate if you are free and interested.

Health Clinic: Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

By: ISB Health Clinic
nurse@isb.ac.th

At this time of year we tend to see an increase in the number of cases of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Bangkok. We currently have 2 confirmed cases at ISB. Most children get exposed to this disease whilst they are young but outbreaks do occur in schools. Please read the information below and keep your child at home if they have any symptoms. We want to prevent any outbreaks in the school and if we have too many cases in a class we may need to close that class (as per the Thailand Ministry of Public Health Regulations).

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a viral infection.

The virus can spread from an infected person via contact with the fluid in the blisters, by coughing and sneezing, by contact with feces and by contact with contaminated objects or surfaces. A person will take 3-5 days to get symptoms and will be contagious whilst there is fluid in the blisters (the feces can remain infectious for several weeks).

Symptoms

• fever
• tiredness
• loss of appetite
• blisters in the mouth and on the hands and feet
• a sore mouth for a few days before the ulcers or blisters appear
• in some cases there is a severe headache

Children may refuse to eat or drink due to the pain.

Diagnosis is usually made by clinical presentation.

Treatment

Usually none is required. Use of paracetamol/acetaminophen or ibuprofen for the fever and any discomfort may be indicated. Aspirin should not be given to children under 12 years of age.

If your child is very unwell with high fevers and headaches or if they are refusing to drink you should seek medical attention.

The blisters should not be deliberately pierced or broken because the fluid within the blisters is infectious. The blisters will dry naturally.

If your child is diagnosed with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease please notify the Health Clinic and they need to present a medical certificate to the Health Clinic stating they are fit to return to school and no longer contagious prior to going to class.

Prevention

• Exclude people with hand, foot and mouth disease from school until all blisters have dried
• Wash hands with soap and water after toileting
• Cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces and soiled items, including toys
• Avoiding close contact such as kissing, hugging, or sharing eating utensils or cups with people with hand, foot, and mouth disease

ISB is committed to your child’s overall development, both educationally and health related. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact your healthcare provider or the ISB Health Clinic (nurse@isb.ac.th).

 

MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) and ISA (International Schools’ Assessment)

By: Graeme Scott, Deputy Head of School for Learning
graemes@isb.ac.th

On Thursday, 13th October from 1:30 – 2:15pm there will be a short presentation on in MPB 2/3.  If you would like to learn more about these standardized assessments, please come along.  ISA is administered to students in grades 3, 5, 7 and 10 and MAP to students in grades 3-8.  Please note, this is a general information session.  Students’ Individual assessment results should be discussed with the child’s teacher or counselor.

BBSA – Baseball and softball registration is now open

By: Kevin Sypolt
ksypolt@gmail.com

Bangkok Baseball Softball Association (BBSA) has organized baseball/softball play for the past 56 years in Bangkok. There are leagues for boys and girls ages 4 yrs – 18 yrs.  Please note registration is open from now until November 11th.  We must register players now so we have time to hold player assessments, form teams and order player uniforms before play begins.  Current fees per player are THB 3,600.  Registration fees will increase to THB 4,100 on November 12th so be sure to register before that date.

You can make your payment at the Community Activity Office (CAO) or pay by Thai bank wire transfer.  Cash, credit cards and Thai baht checks are accepted for payment at the CAO office.  The CAO Office is open Monday – Friday, 7:00am to 11:00am and 12:00pm to 3:00pm.

Please note that BBSA is switching to fast pitch softball for the intermediate and senior girls softball leagues this year since ISB High School will begin playing fast pitch softball this year in the IASAS competition.

Player assessment will be held on Sunday November 13th at the ISB fields.  All players are strongly encouraged to attend their assessment sessions to allow the coaches to create fair and balanced teams.   Parents will be contacted about the specific times for their player’s assessment session.

Practices will begin the week of Nov 14th with Opening Day for baseball/softball on Saturday, Nov 19th.  All games are played on Friday evenings and Saturdays at ISB.  Games will continue every weekend until the league championships on the weekend of February 25th/26th.  There will be no games during the winter break at ISB but we will continue play on Saturday, January 7th 2017.  The game schedule will be published once we know how many players are registered.

All teams will practice once per week during the season as a weekly practice is important to skills development and to learn the fundamentals of teamwork, etc.  Most practices will take place at the ISB fields on weekday evenings (Monday – Thursday).  The team coach will determine when to have practice.  We have arranged a downtown Bangkok location for an optional weekly practice.  Parents will have to pay THB 500 for the season for this practice because of charges for field usage.  We are waiting to confirm which day that we can have the practice.  All players should register to play even if they cannot commit to attending all weekly practice sessions.

On the registration form you will also have an opportunity to volunteer to be a coach, assistant coach or team parent.  Please consider helping out with your child’s team in some way.  The kids really love having their parents helping out with their team and you will have a great time.  No previous baseball experience is necessary.

BBSA has purchased a limited number of fielding gloves for players who need them.  These will be sold on our assessment day.

Please go to https://www.isb.ac.th/community-baseball to register.  If you have any questions, please contact Kevin Sypolt at ksypolt@gmail.com.

 

Are you on LinkedIn? Follow ISB!

By: Shelley Bragg,  Director of Marketing and Communications
shelleyb@isb.ac.th

If you are a LinkedIn user, please find and follow our ISB page here. We’ll be sharing interesting news and articles from our community that you might enjoy reading and sharing.

 

eNews Guidelines

By: Shelley Bragg, Director of Marketing and Communications
shelleyb@isb.ac.th

ISB eNewsletters provide a valuable avenue for communication within the ISB parent community. For your convenience we have provided you with our eNewsletter guidelines below.

Submitting an announcement for publication
ISB accepts announcements from ISB families for potential publication in our eNewsletters. The announcements are generally intended to highlight events that occur at ISB and/or highlight information about ISB.

What to include in the announcement
• A title for your announcement
• An email contact for further information

Where to submit your announcement
4publish@isb.ac.th is for announcements of interest to the entire ISB community.
tinaratr@isb.ac.th is for Elementary School (ES) announcements of interest to ES families.
phremjiz@isb.ac.th is for Middle School (MS) announcements of interest to MS families.
vijitl@isb.ac.th is for High School (HS) announcements of interest to HS families.

Your announcement will be submitted to the appropriate Principal and/or to our Director of Marketing and Communications for review. ISB reserves the right to determine which announcements will and will not be published, and to edit announcements that are approved for publication.

Frequency of eNewsletter mailings

The ISB eNewsletter that is for the entire community is sent out on Thursdays. Announcements for potential publication in this newsletter must be received by noon on Thursdays.

The ES, MS, and HS eNewsletters are sent out on Fridays. Announcements for potential publication in these newsletters must be received by noon on Fridays.