June 2018

Your choice. Their future. Our family. โรงเรียนนานาชาติการ์เด้นอีสเทิร์นซีบอร์ดบ้านฉาง June 2018
SCHOOL’S OUT!
Find us at:
Website: w w w .gardenrayong.com
Twitter: w w w .tw itter.com/ gisrayong
Facebook: https:/ / w w w .facebook.com/ gardeninternationalschool/
Youtube: w w w .youtube.com/ user/ gardenrayongthailand
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From Mrs Hawtree: Principal
Dear GIS Community,
The year has ended with a flurry of diverse activities, from the Band Slam, to the Sports Awards’ evening,
from the family fun day to the summer concert, and from the mini cross country to the final whole school assembly.
What a year it has been! I hope that both these monthly newsletters and our wonderful Yearbooks
serve as lovely reminders of all the amazing activities that go on at GIS.
Before the year ends, I am delighted to share one last piece of good news with you: GIS is now officially a
centre for the SATs! If you don't know already, these are tests required particularly by American universities,
but also many other universities around the world. They are offered six times a year, and students may sit
them more than once to try and get the highest scores possible. Previously GIS students have often had to
travel as far afield as Bangkok, Singapore or even India to sit these tests, so we are delighted that we have
been accepted as an official test centre, and that GIS students will have the benefit of being able to sit these
examinations in their own familiar environment, beginning in October 2018. We will share more information
about this exciting development with our senior students in August.
If your family is moving on over the summer, we wish you well in your new life, we hope that your memories
of your time at GIS are happy ones, and that you will think of your friends here occasionally. To all of those
returning in August, have a wonderful summer, and we look forward to the start of the new year on Wednesday
15 August.
Happy holidays!
Kind Regards,
Ms Dinah Hawtree
Principal
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Upcoming Events
Whole School
Wednesday August 15: Term 1 starts
Thursday August 16: Cheese and wine evening, meet the teachers, 6pm
Secondary
July 5: IB Diploma and IB Courses results’ day
August 14: IGCSE results’ day
HOUSE WINNERS
This year’s House Champions are Cobra! Cobra students and staff were given a special prize
— an afternoon of fun and games by the pool.
Many thanks to our generous GIS sponsors:
Platinum
Aditya Birla
Encounter Church
Indorama
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Head to our Facebook page for the latest news on
what’s been happening at GIS. This month, you
can read about:
www.facebook.com/gardeninternationalschool
You can also watch our latest videos about what’s
been happening at GIS by going here:
www.youtube.com/user/gardenrayongthailand
Follow us on Instagram! Find us at
garden_international_school or search for
#gistitans
Check out our Pinterest page and see the dozens
of photos showcasing life at GIS.
Follow our tweets on Twitter!
https://www.twitter.com/gisrayong
See our snaps and stories on Snapchat!
Our username is gisthailand
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CHESS CHAMPS
TWO GIS students are continuing to dominate
chess championships.
On May 19-20, the 1st Open Chess Tournament
organised by the Anglo Singapore International
School in Bangkok took place. Bambi
won the G12 (under –12 girls) and Poleon
came 2nd in the O13 (13 years up to IB age),
finishing as the highest-ranked Thai player.
On June 2-3, they competed in the Eastern
Thailand Rapid Chess Championship. Bambi
triumphed in the under-12 championship with
a huge margin, winning 8 of 9 games. She is
now the Eastern Thailand Chess Champion in
her age group for the 3rd year in a row and
has won every game against players her own
age over the past three years.
Poleon played in the Open section against
adults and, remarkably, came 4th, losing just
one game. The weekend before, the Thailand
-Sweden Online-Match started, where Poleon
has completed 3 out of 4 matches, giving him
an 8:4 advantage.
From June 16-17, both students competed
in the Thailand National Age Group Championships.
Bambi came 3rd place in her G12 group.
Bambi is currently third in Thailand for her
age and, as she also holds a German passport,
is also the highest-rated but according
to the FIDE world rankings is also the highest-rated
German girl under 12 in ‘rapid’ as
well as ‘blitz’ chess.
Poleon went to play in the U18 category. He
only lost 3 out of 9 games against the top 3
boys, who are almost double his age.
Next up for Poleon is the Asia School Championships
in Sri Lanka in July and the East
Asia Youth Championships in Shanghai in
August. In both events he is the official representative
of Thailand.
At the end of August Bambi and Poleon will
participate in the Thailand National Rapid
Chess Championship (for adults).
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GIS LEADS COMMUNITY SERVICE EVENT
Garden International School welcomed 15 participants for a Community Service JAWS
(job-alike-workshop) event on June 1 and 2.
The participants came from 10 schools and gathered to share their own experiences
of including Community Service in their curriculum to help their students develop into
responsible global citizens.
Friday started with an inspirational speech delivered by Ms Margaret Grainger from
Hand to Hand Foundation on the theme 'Act Local, Think Global’. She reminded everyone
about the huge impact international schools have on their environment and how
essential they are in supporting their local community.
The attendees then took turns to share their own experience with developing and integrating
Community Service into daily school life, describing their successes and their
struggles.
On Saturday morning, everyone visited the Royal Thai Navy Turtles Conservation Project,
which GIS supports. After learning about the turtles, the participants climbed
down into the turtle tanks to clean them. They also had the opportunity to help clean a
few specimens of turtles.
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From Mr Walsh: Head of Primary
WHAT A WONDERFUL YEAR
There has been a huge amount of energy and excitement
around the whole school this month. With the students looking
forward to next year after their transition sessions, along
with an impressive array of trips, events, concerts and sports
fixtures, it is a wonder that there has been time for learning!
However, having read through the Reports it is clear the vast
majority of students have worked very hard and made good
progress this year across the curriculum.
After such a busy year and a long final term, the students deserve
a good rest over the holiday. However, it is true that
teachers often observe a dip in students' attainment after the
summer holiday so keeping their brains challenged regularly
is a good way to avoid going backwards with their understanding.
Cooking, writing blogs, designing and making
things and regular reading are just a few good and fun ways
to keep the brain stimulated.
It has been an excellent and very productive year in Primary.
I'm very proud of what we have achieved as a school.
Open Day
Showcase
The array of musical talent on display
from the Primary students at this event
was really awesome. The audience was
taken on a journey with songs, dances
and musical ensembles from a variety of
cultures. It was a charming showcase of
what the teachers and students have
been able to achieve together with the
learning that has gone on in music lessons
and instrumental tuition this year.
Well done to all, and special thanks to K.
Renu, K.Nid, Senora Cecilia, Ms Amy,
Yim, Shaniya and Engila from IB, as well
as Mr Kerry our AV technician and our
music team: Mr Ken, Mr Whyte, Ms Dee,
Mr Allan and Ms Michelle.
I wish all students, parents and carers a fun and relaxing
break. I hope you get the chance to spend some quality time
with your children, they are a credit to you all.

FOUNDATION FUN SPORTS DAY
Foundation children and parents enjoyed a fabulous morning of sport and fun in our first
Foundation Fun Sports Day!
It was a super morning of water races, animal bouncing, bean bag throwing, bike racing
and assault course challenges! Thank you to everyone for their support in making this a
wonderful celebration of sport at GIS.
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From our Head Student
END OF TERM EVENTS
WERE AMAZING!
Another term has come to an end! Since the beginning of this month, we’ve had many vibrant
and celebratory events.
As I’m sure, you all know we had the Recital, where many students showed off their musical
talents. Our Year 1 students also took an adventurous trip to the turtle sanctuary and yet another
trip to the Teddy Bear Museum, where I’m sure they all had plenty of cuddles.
We’ve also had a rocking Bandslam, where many bands from GIS and other schools competed
for the opportunity to get a professional recording session at Karma Sound Studios.
There were also plenty of fun games and activities to do at Bandslam including a giant Jenga
and a photo booth. We also had a Summer Concert which was spectacular – all of our performers
are so talented! Sports Awards’ Evening was great too. So many gifted athletes.
The Year 11s also had a Formal evening to celebrate completing their IGCSE examinations.
They all looked fabulous!
Our Spanish department organised a trip to Mike’s Mexican. The food was delicious. The
Year 7s also went on a Mandarin trip to a Chinese temple, which I’m sure was very interesting
and educational for them. Finally, we have had a car boot sale, organised by the Friends
of Garden, twin themed mufti day and a STEM day where the year 9s, 10s and IB1s competed
or helped out in.
Head Student Rachel
I hope you all enjoy your summer break,
and I am looking forward to seeing everyone
again on August 15.
LUNCHTIME RECITALS
On June 6-7, students who had been taking private music
lessons in school performed in two afternoon recitals.
These recitals showcased the progress that the students
had made on their instruments this year, including violin,
cello, clarinet, guitar, piano and drums.
Held in the Secondary Drama Room, the audience comprised
parents and peers, who were very encouraging in
their show of support.
The students were very commendable in their composure
and many of them displayed impressive skills. For more
photos, check out our Facebook or Instagram pages.

FAMILY FUN DAY
Games, activities and bargains made up a bumper fun day at GIS. Organised by the Friends
of Garden action group, the event on Saturday June 9 featured lots of stalls selling various
items, a skipping contest and a cricket match.
SERVING THE COMMUNITY
A special whole-school assembly was held
to recognise the help students have given to
this year’s chosen charities and organisations.
Students played short videos to explain
what they had helped achieve. Well
done to everyone who helped improve our
community over the past year.
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We have some great school blogs to tell you about life at GIS. Click
on the links below to see what’s been going on!
PRIMARY BLOGS
Early Years http://earlyyears.gardenrayong.com/
Nursery http://nursery.gardenrayong.com/
Reception http://reception.gardenrayong.com/
Year 1 http://year1.gardenrayong.com/
Year 2 http://year2.gardenrayong.com/
Year 3 http://year3.gardenrayong.com/
Year 4 http://year4.gardenrayong.com/
Year 5 http://year5.gardenrayong.com/
Year 6 http://year6.gardenrayong.com/
ESL Blog: http://primaryels.gardenrayong.com
SECONDARY BLOGS
Year 7-9
IGCSE
IB
ELS
http://year7to9.gardenrayong.com/
http://gisigcse.gardenrayong.com/
https://gardenrayong.com/category/international-baccalaureate/
http://secondaryels.gardenrayong.com
WHOLE SCHOOL BLOGS
Extra-curricular Sport
Extra-curricular Music
http://gissport.gardenrayong.com/
http://gismusicblog.gardenrayong.com/
Extra-curricular Drama http://gisdrama.gardenrayong.com/
Library
http://library.gardenrayong.com/
Community Programmes http://communityprogrammes.gardenrayong.com/
Community Service
Friends of Garden
Boarding
Global Action
http://gisserviceprojects.gardenrayong.com/
http://friendsofgarden.gardenrayong.com/
http://gisboarding.gardenrayong.com/
https://globalaction.gardenrayong.com/

Annual Awards’ Ceremonies
Secondary students have been given dozens of awards to recognise their achievements over
the past year
The annual awards' ceremony took place in the Main Hall. Students were given certificates
for either attainment or endeavour. In addition, there were special new awards for students
who have best demonstrated the school's core values.
Awards were also given to Yim for the Nam Jai Ngam (kind heart) award and to Aniela for being
the CIS International Student of the Year.
Primary students were also given awards on the last day of school after a year of hard work.
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BIG ART AT GIS!
A whole-school Big Art project took place on Wednesday.
Foundation and Primary got the opportunity to
paint colourful patterns and designs onto stones, some
with inspirational sayings and others painted like bugs.
They will get to display their work outside in the Primary
courtyard as part of a 'pathway to success' that will
lead from the Primary building to the Secondary building.
This will be an ongoing activity where the students
can keep adding to the pathway each year!
For Secondary, they worked together to add leaves in
the shape of hands for our very own GIS Core Value
tree, which will be displayed next to the Principal's office
next term. Each tutor group had its own Core Value
and every student drew around their own hands
and added keywords for those Core Values on the fingers,
whilst adding cultural patterns onto the palms.
The event was a great success with some fantastic art
being produced by all.
FOUNDATION FEAST
Foundation students had a feast to end the
year where they brought in lots of delicious
snacks, and also put on some special performances
for watching parents.
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From Mr Share: Head of Secondary
Dear Parents and Carers,
The Academic Awards’ ceremony marked the end of another fabulous school year.
Particularly well done to our overall attainment winners Grace P and Verdant, our Creative Arts Student of
the Year Alyza, Our ‘Nam Jai Ngam’ student Yim and our CIS International Student of the year Aniela.
More than 170 certificates were handed out to over 100 students as we recognised the attainment and effort
of our students in each of the subjects taught.
The ceremony also displayed the strengths and vitality of our Arts Department with a pleasing performance
from our boys of a West Side Story song, as well as the beautiful singing of the school choir and
the recent winners of the Band Slam event.
The variety and quality of performance helped to break up the awards giving. There are so many areas to
praise our students beyond the academic and I am proud of their participation in Diwali and international
week, taking part in international sporting competitions such as FOBISIA, showing their caring and compassionate
side by helping with our school charities and local community projects and showing world
awareness through participation in events such as Model United Nations and GIN clubs.
I hope your children enjoyed the year and we look forward to seeing you and them in August. Have a great
summer.
Regards
Mr Share
Head of Secondary
headsec@gardenrayong.com
HELPING HAND TO HAND
IB students helped arrange a food collection for
Pattaya-based foundation Hand to Hand.
Within just two weeks, donations from all
across the school meant we had numerous
bags of rice, cooking oil and other goods to
send off.
Well done to the IB students for arranging this -
and many thanks to everyone who donated
something.

GIS STUDENTS WIN NATIONAL STORY CONTEST
Three GIS students have won a national short story competition.
Year 10 students Anja, Chloe and Tanya were named as the winners
in the illustrated short story competition, which was run by
Neilson Hays. They received a 10,000 baht prize.
As a result of their story, the Year 10 students went to Bangkok for
a workshop with a professional author and illustrator to help improve
their work. Below are some photos from their winning entry
and some images from the awards’ ceremony.
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IGCSE
Year 11 Formal Evening
Students from GIS have celebrated the end of their IGCSE examinations with a special event.
The Year 11 students have just completed their IGCSEs and marked the occasion with a Formal evening
at Movenpick, near Pattaya, on June 16.
The evening included several polished performances by students, while guests enjoyed an international/
Thai buffet.
The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is run by Cambridge Assessment
International Education; they are the world's leading qualification for 16-year-olds. Many of the Year 11
students will continue their education at GIS in August, when they begin studying for the IB Diploma.
For more photos and videos from the event, visit our Facebook and YouTube pages.

IB Diploma
GROUP 4 PROJECT
IB1 students have completed their Group 4 Science project. This collaborative project saw
the students work together in small teams. Their challenge was to produce something connected
with the theme of ‘disasters’.
After several hours of brainstorming and planning, they revealed their work during an afternoon
of presentations. These included a ‘quiz show’, ‘disaster dance’ and some Design
Technology-based models.
CAS HELPS LOCAL STUDENTS
IB students have finished their one-month
project to help teach English at a local Thai
school.
Four students planned and then taught lessons
about colours, body parts and greetings.
The Thai students loved learning through
games and activities. For the final lesson,
they were given new pencil cases by the IB
students.
IB Diploma Coordinator Mr Beales said: “This
is a great example of how IB places importance
on student leadership and development,
as well as academic excellence.”

CELEBRATING STUDENT SUCCESS
At a Secondary assembly on June 6 we celebrated the success of many of our students.
Some ELS students have passed their PET and KET-style examinations, our Mathematicians
excelled in the UK Mathematics’ competition and some students entered
the FOBISIA STEM competition—with one student gaining a credible fifth place.
Four students were also rewarded for having the highest number of positive points in
Term 2. Well done to everyone involved.
SPANISH TRIP (by IB1 student Anjali)
On Friday June 15, students taking Spanish as a foreign language in Year 8 up to IB1
were given the opportunity to go on a day trip to a Mexican restaurant in Pattaya. The
Mexican food students indulged in included Enchiladas, Gorditas, Quesadillas and
more. This allowed the students to see the difference between Mexican food and the
food they are used to. On top of that, it also introduced many of them to something
completely new. To top it all off, students were served Sopaipillas, a dessert with
Spanish heritage, as a sign of gratitude from the restaurant owners. ¡Qué estupendo!
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Dozens of students fired rockets, battled zombies
and built bridges as part of an action-packed day
of challenges.
GIS organised the first inter-schools STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)
Challenge on June 13.
Teams of 24 students from GIS Bankok, REPS
and GIS took part in 6 challenges that tested a
range of skills. Each school had 4 teams based on
year groups who embarked on solving various
puzzles.
In the Main Hall, zombies (played by IB1 students)
were busy scaring students as they tried to solve
puzzles to find the key that would let them out.
They then had to solve mathematical navigational
puzzles using compasses to find their way out of a
maze, build a self-supporting Da Vinci-style bridge
and design an apparatus to let them walk on water.
They then had to complete the ‘Big Ben’ challenge
and work out the correct length of a pendulum that
was hanging from the basketball nets. On the field,
students also tried to fire rockets and get them as
close to a target as possible.
After a day of activities, REPS won a division, GIS
Bangkok won two, and the overall winner was the
Years 7 to 9 Team B from GIS.
This is the first time the inter-school STEM challenge
has taken place and Head of Science Mr
Frost said it had been a huge success.
He added: “The teachers at GIS performed above
and beyond the call of duty in the heat.”
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GIS rocked out to the sounds of dozens of young musicians at the annual Band Slam.
Students from GIS, as well as several other schools, came to compete in the annual event. Held on
June 14, the Main Hall featured a photo booth, balloons and a party atmosphere. Before the event,
students made and shared promotional clips of their bands on social media, which helped ensure a
large crowd.
Bands from GIS Bangkok, REPS, Tara Pattana, Mooltripakdee International School in Pattaya and
GIS all played. The students, all from Secondary, played rock classics such as 'Eye of the Tiger' and
more recent hits, like Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep'. Hosted by Slash-lookalike Mr Whyte, the event
showcased how much amazing talent is in the local area. After some tough deliberating, the judges
decided on the winners. The Social Media Buzz award went to a band from MIS, the overall showmanship
award went to a band from GIS Bangkok and the best solo performance went to a singer
from MIS. The Junior Band Champion’s trophy went to GIS Bangkok and the Senior Band champion
was from GIS Rayong.
The overall winner was a team from GIS; their prize is to have a recording session at Karma Sound
Studios, which sponsored the event.
Bandslam was organised by the Arts' Department. See our Facebook page and Snapchat
(gisthailand) for footage from the bands.
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SUMMER CONCERT
Students performed music from all around the world for this year’s summer concert.
Playing to a sell-out audience in the Main Hall, the first half of the evening featured Asian music.
This included a Chinese fan dance, Sitsirisit Medley from the Philippines and an Indian classical
dance.
The school choir sang The Beatles’ ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’, which was followed by a
rousing performance of the ‘Can Can’ from the staff choir. After the break, South American music
took over, with Year 5 performing El Condor Pasa from Peru, Year 9s singing Bob Marley’s ‘Three
Little Birds’ and a samba band playing Pacha Siku from Brazil.
The global theme was apt, as the concert was also held on World Music Day.
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We continue to celebrate all the countries represented at GIS by flying a different nation’s
flag each week. Here are the countries that have recently been recognised at the
front of the school. These are compiled by our Humanities’ Prefect Aniela.

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MINI CROSS COUNTRY
On June 20, 82 pupils from Early Years to
Year 3 took part in the first Mini Titans Cross
Country competition held at GIS.
They had all practised for the event during
their PE lessons and were excited about the
competition. There was a huge buzz around
the field with many parents running with the
smaller children.
Thank you to all the pupils, parents and staff
that came to the event and Khun Gig and Mr
John for organising the final sports’ event of
the year.
Mrs Longstaffe and the PE team look forward
to seeing our Mini Titans compete again next
year.
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SPORTS’ AWARDS
On June 19 more than 80 students came
with their parents to Boardwalk Beach
Club for the annual Sports Awards' evening.
Both success and commitment were celebrated
with many students winning
awards. Thank you to all those who have
taken part in sport this year at GIS and
thank you once again to the PE team,
coaches and parents for continued support
throughout the year.
Garden International School
Your choice. Their future. Our family.
Find us at:
Website: www.gardenrayong.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Garden-International-School-Rayong-Thailand/128699487157809
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/gardenrayongthailand
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/gisrayong
Accredited by
Affiliated to
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