Welcome from the Head of School – 2019/20

Dear Parents & Students,

I hope that you and your family have enjoyed the holiday period and your children are looking forward to settling well into the new academic year’s routines. I would like to encourage you to read the NEWS AND EVENTS section of the school’s website regularly so that you are up to date with essential information for all members of our school community. This section of the website covers dates, events and news for parents, all of which give you a full picture of what is happening across the school on a regular basis.

I am sure that you would like to join with me in congratulating all Bangkok Prep staff for their tremendous effort in preparing both campuses so they opened on time. We are all extremely proud of our new high quality learning spaces and they will have a profoundly positive impact on students’ learning.

During the next few weeks, we will hold our ‘Parent Information Sessions’. I hope that many of you will be able to attend these events and I am sure that you will enjoy the opportunity to find out more about the routines and curriculum for the coming academic year. This year, we will be increasing the amount of parent information sessions and Firefly workshops which should continue to increase the efficiency of our communications.

Mental health: a state of well-being  

During this academic year, the Whole School Improvement Plan will have an overarching focus on Mental Health and well-being.

“Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”

The positive dimension of mental health is stressed in WHO’s definition of health as contained in its constitution: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

We believe that the acknowledgement of the importance of Mental Health and Well-being should be at the very heart of an Outstanding Learning Community.

Construction of Block D

You are hopefully aware that the construction of our Secondary Academic Block D has begun. We are very excited about the opening of this building and we are looking forward, with anticipation, to the new curriculum facilities that will be made available to our students. The construction will be completed near the end of May 2020 and the new facilities will be ready for use by students and staff in August 2020.

I am sure that you will appreciate, that during the construction period, there will be some compromises in and around the area. For your information, the rear access road and the back exit gate on the Secondary Campus will not be available until further notice.  A small proportion of the main Sports Pitch will be ‘out of bounds’ for safety reasons.

Parking and Transport

As you are all aware traffic, parking and transport can be a huge challenge in Bangkok and parking spaces at our campuses are limited.

As an Eco School, we always fully recommend using public transport such as BTS, taxis and shuttle buses.  Car sharing is also strongly encouraged. The location of both campuses is one of the many benefits of our school and a significant majority of students, staff and parents are able to walk to school.

Please see some helpful guidelines below which are designed to minimise congestion within our school campuses. If you choose to come to school in a car please follow these simple guidelines:

• Please use the drop off areas and students should get ready to depart the vehicle, before arriving at the drop off area, in order to ensure this area flows smoothly.

• Please do not double park as this can cause a serious safety issue for our students and also it inconveniences other drivers.

• Families who have drivers are not permitted to use parking spaces. These spaces are allocated to parents who, drive their children to and from school and require a parking space.

• Please respectfully follow the instructions and advice of the Bangkok Prep Security Staff who are there to manage the car park area. This will benefit all of the members of our community.

• Please be reminded that you are not permitted to turn left into the Primary Campus main school gate on Sukhumvit Road from 1.00 – 3.00pm and cars must enter the school through the Thonglor Soi 53 car park entrance.

• The Express Pick-Up Service is highly recommended for children at our Primary Campus for afternoon pick up.

• Please visit the Firefly Transport page here for more details about transport, parking, express pick up, shuttle buses and other useful information.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Student Academic news

I would like to congratulate all our students on maintaining the academic momentum that we achieved last year at IGCSE and A Level (A2) and also to congratulate those students who achieved the highest grades. Last year students set some very high standards indeed and we are very hopeful that this summer will be another record breaking year for academic results at Bangkok Prep.

The final set of results from our exam boards will be announced near the end of August as a few results are still to be released from some examination boards.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all the 2018 – 2019 Bangkok Prep Year 13 students ‘bon voyage’ as they launch into university life in destinations all over the world. I would also like to thank the teaching staff in school who worked extremely hard with the students to ensure that they achieved the best results of which they were capable.

We have a very exciting year ahead of us and I am sure that the forthcoming high quality learning experiences will allow our students to flourish!

Warm regards,

Duncan J Stonehouse

Head of School