Term 2: dates for your diary…Date Event Location Time

Tuesday 3rd January 2012 First day of Term 2 Upper School

First School

7.50am

8.20am

Friday 13th January Chinese New Year Whole School 9.00am

Friday 10th February Around the World day

Humanities day

First School

Upper School

All day

Tuesday 14th February Swimming Gala – Year 3 to 10 Goethe Institute 9.00am to

12.00pm

Wednesday 15th February Swimming Gala – Nursery to Year 2 Goethe Institute 9.00am to

12.00pm

Monday 20th to Friday

24th February

Half term break School Closed

Monday 19th to Friday

23rd March

Book Week Whole School

Saturday 31st March School Fayre (to be confirmed)

Thursday 5th April Last day of Term 2 Whole School

Friday 6th April Chakri Day School Closed

Monday 9th to Friday 20th

April

End of Term 2 break School Closed

Monday 23rd April First day of Term 3 Upper School

First School

7.50am

8.20am

News from the Garden

Dear Parents and friends of GIS,

Welcome back. Term 2 is well under

way and it has been a busy month as

always: our oldest pupils in Year 11

have just completed their mock exams

as part of their preparation for the

IGCSEs in May, the Student

Representative Council has met to

provide feedback on various aspects of

the school from a pupil perspective, we

welcomed in the Chinese New Year in

style, humanities day is soon to take

place and several of the teachers have

spent their weekends undergoing

training so that they can continue to

develop professionally and provide

your child with the best possible

education.

Please read and enjoy the rest of this

month’s newsletter. As always, if there

is anything that you wish to discuss

further please do not hesitate to contact

me.

Warmest regards,

Jeremy Stokes MA Ed.

Principal

jeremys@gardenbangkok.com

Please remember to keep up to date with all the latest at Garden International

School Bangkok.

News from the Garden

At the end of Term 1, myself and Mr. Abraham, the General Manager of Garden

International Schools Thailand, delivered a presentation to parents to provide them

with the opportunity to learn more about the future of Garden International School

Bangkok. I include a summary of this presentation in the hope that all parents

become informed of the plans to develop the school.

At present, low pupil numbers mean

that we are struggling to meet the high

rental fees and therefore the cost of

maintaining the Bangkok school is

offset by GIS Rayong. This cannot be

considered to be a long term solution

so our short term goals in Bangkok are

to:

• Increase pupil numbers thereby

increasing capital income;

• Maintain quality of teaching staff and

provision without increasing fees;

• Ensure a sustainable future for the

school.

To achieve these goals it will be

necessary to market and introduce a

similar system to that at GIS Rayong

so that Bangkok can replicate its

success and growth.

The GIS English Programme will be

housed in the rearmost building of the

Upper School with classes for

Kindergarten 1 to Primary 3 opening in

May 2012. This school and its pupils

will have no impact on the

International school or pupils (your

children). It will be run according to

the Thai Ministry of Education

curriculum and will have different term

dates, timetable, fee structure,

curriculum and school uniform. The

money generated from this school will

initially be used to offset the current

high costs of Garden International

School.

We aim to be able to demonstrate a

successful business model within 2

years as the MBf Taylors company

directors have indicated their will to

invest so that a new site, of 5 rai or

more, can be purchased in the local

area and new schools can be purpose-

built for both the international school

and the English programme school

within 3 years.

Concerns were raised by parents who

attended the meeting and these were

discussed at some length. It was

reiterated that at no point will the

education offered at Garden

International School Bangkok be

compromised in any way.

If you have any questions regarding

this development please do not hesitate

to contact me to discuss it further.

Jeremy Stokes MA Ed.

Principal

jeremys@gardenbangkok.com

News from the Garden

In November, Garden’s Secondary

English department was lucky enough

to enjoy its second visit by

Shakespearean Actor-Director, Daniel

Foley on his follow up visit from

London. Years 7 to 11 were once again

able to benefit from Daniel’s

knowledge of the Bard and his works.

These workshops have proved

valuable sessions for pupils, not only

to build their knowledge of

Shakespeare, but to become exposed

to a broad range of drama techniques.

First hand exposure to such techniques

compliments their understanding of

drama, an essential part of pupils’

Secondary English studies.

There was no

shortage of

volunteers as

Garden pupils

eagerly

participated

in a variety of

scenes from

Shakespeare’s plays under Daniel’s

expert guidance! Daniel had full and

willing cooperation from all pupils, as

he conducted mask-making activities,

followed by activities involving acting

techniques with the masks. Once

again a great learning experience was

had by all.

As Mr. Foley counts Garden pupils

and our school among his favourites

when he comes to Bangkok, I am sure

we will see him again sometime in the

future.

Sharon Evangelista

Secondary English

Masking techniques were amongthe drama activities and fun DanielFoley bought to Garden inNovember.

News from the Garden

今天看到我们学生的表演，我非常高兴。我也非常感谢各位家长来参加

我们的中国年活动。中国有五千年的历史文化。我希望我们学生在中文课上能学

到更多的中国历史，中国传统

文化。最后，祝大家新年快乐.谢谢。

I was so happy to see our

students’ performance today. I am

also very happy many parents

come to enjoy us to celebrate

Chinese New Year.

China has 5000 years history and

culture. I hope our students can

learn more Chinese history and

Chinese traditional culture in

Mandarin class.

Finally, best wishes to all of you

Happy New Year.

Thank you very much.

February 2012

Exhibition: January 31st – February 26th

The Rotunda Gallery: "Garden of Eden”, by Tiasa Iris.

The work of Tjaša Iris is inspired by gardens. Last spring she spent two months in Chiang Mai where

Bhubing Palace Gardens were her greatest inspiration. She dedicated her exhibition to this theme. The

paintings describe beautiful flower gardens in bright, vivid, lush colors.

Tjaša fell in love with SE Asia. Her main motifs are gardens and nature with lush vegetation. Tjaša says: “I

capture the essence of the places I visit by creating vibrant expressionistic paintings: gardens with lush

vegetation and ornaments, busy landscapes with abstracted swirling clouds… Through the emotive use

of color and shape, I invite the viewer to celebrate the joy of life through my art. Bhubing Palace

Gardens were among the most beautiful places I've even seen on Earth. A true Garden of Eden."

Tjaša Iris web site: www.tjasairis.com

The Garden Café Gallery: “Colourful Figures in Unfamiliar Places”, by Nancy Zarider.

Nancy Zarider, an American artist living in Bangkok, will exhibit a selection of her monotypes and

paintings on paper. She studied art at Washington University in St. Louis. She has had multiple careers,

as a textile designer for fashion and home furnishings, art director and photographer for several

newspapers, and art teacher.

Exploring the ways people’s appearance embodies their culture, Nancy is intrigued by the process of

experimentation, by the mixture of colour, texture and stroke, and by the intersection of abstract

elements in meaningful figurative expression.

Nancy and Tjasa will have a joint Opening Reception on Thursday, February 2, at 7-9 p.m.

Sunday February 12th: Neilson Hays Arts Festival.

The Festival will showcase the work of a wide variety of local and international artists working in a variety

of media. These original works will be available for sale. It is rare in Thailand that the work of this

number of artists can be viewed in one accessible location. The Arts Festival’s activities will also

include artist demonstrations, live music, drama, dance and children’s art and crafts activities. There

will be refreshments and food for sale from the Gallery Cafe throughout the day.

GENERAL

By popular demand, Neilson Hays Library brings you the latest quality international magazines, to take

away and enjoy at your leisure. 50THB a week per magazine (up to 4 week hire).

During Saturday mornings storytelling for 3-7 years old is held at the library at 10.30am, followed by craft

activities.

www.neilsonhayslibrary.com

(Opening hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday – Sunday)

The library can be found at:

195 Surawong Road

(behind the British Club)