The Head of Primary and ‘Communication’ – Friday 22 March 2019

Dear All,

I hope everyone has had a fantastic week and are looking forward to a great weekend.

Primary has certainly gained momentum with this term as we quickly approach Songkran and our end of term holiday. Well done to Year 4! What a wonderful performance to finish off the great week we have had again in Primary @53!

I am particularly looking forward to our Songkran assembly celebrations on Friday 5 April. The assembly begin at 09:00. Children, staff and Parents are invited to wear flowery Songkran shirts in celebration of the Traditional celebrations. Parents are invited to attend, and again, I challenge them to join in and wear appropriate shirts for the occasion. You will see staff and children getting into the spirit of Songkran! Please be aware, children can come to school in the flowered shirts and not worry about school uniform. However, the shirt needs to be comfortable if they intend to wear it all day (otherwise they must wear school uniform).

I hope everyone is looking forward to the Parent/Teacher consultations coming up next Tuesday and Wednesday (14:30-17:00) and have managed to book in for an update as to their child’s progress. Parents can book themselves in with any teacher they wish. The online booking system closes on Sunday afternoon at 17:00. If anyone experiences any difficulty in booking an appointment, please contact the relevant teacher directly. The booking system is designed to be convenient for parents and allows for the teachers to plan for their meetings, ensuring there are no unnecessary surprises or hold ups. I politely request parents stick to their booked time of 10 minutes and do not hold up other parents waiting for their booked appointment. Please do remember, the school has an ‘open door’ policy where parents can request meetings at mutually convenient times, with myself or any teacher involved in their child’s learning.

I am delighted to see that more and more parents are making time to attend our numerous workshops and Parent Forums. These workshops are not just restricted to each year group as other year group parents may attend, if they are looking forward or are just curious to see how things happen in the next area of their child’s development. For example, Key Stage 1 Parents can attend a Key Stage 2 reading workshop or Early Year’s parents can attend a Key Stage 1 workshop and so on. Please let the relevant Workshop Leader know if you are interested in attending so that they can ensure there is room for you.

Again, I would like to personally thank all the parents who have attended the recent Parent Forums with me. Together, we are certainly coming up with great ideas and a better understanding of Bangkok Prep and its growing, close knit community. I am regularly receiving positive comments and continued superb feedback, as well as some areas that can be improved or at least, looked into by myself. I do appreciate all the positive comments that we receive in person and via personalised post it notes for teachers and teaching assistants. These are really appreciated by all concerned. My next Parent Forums are for next Thursday 28 March with Year 3 at 08:00-09:30 (Room 215) and Year 4 at 13:00-14:30 (Auditorium). I hope to see as many of you there as possible. Please, if you have time, come along for a few updates and coffee and cake! These Forum’s continue to prove essential to the ongoing improvement of communication channels from parents to the school and vice-versa! Most importantly, on a personal note, I enjoy meeting you all and listening to what you have to say!

Have a great Weekend everyone!

Best wishes

Brad Owen

Head of Primary