Week 10: Learning, Creating and Taking Responsibility

6 min read

Welcome to Week 10

With just a few weeks remaining in the term, there is plenty happening across Halio. Our storytelling showcase preparations are gathering pace, with puppets being sewn, theatres being painted and performances beginning to take shape.

Last week also brought some wonderful examples of student independence and initiative, from organising trading activities and running small businesses to helping younger children and taking on responsibilities around the school.

This Week

Tuesday 10th November – School Photos: We will be holding a second photo session for children who were absent during our original school photo day. We will also be taking a whole-school group photograph. Please ensure all students wear their Halio school uniforms on Tuesday. Staff should also wear their school uniforms.
Friday 13th November – Lower Primary Crab Release: We have swapped the dates of two Lower Primary trips, and the crab-release activity at Khao Takiab Beach will now take place this Friday. Parents will need to drop their children off directly at Khao Takiab Beach rather than at school that morning.
Friday 13th November – Upper Primary and Middle School: Students will have their swimming session, alongside some additional study and preparation time as we begin focusing more closely on the end-of-term showcase.

Looking Ahead

Tuesday 24th November – Loy Krathong: We will be celebrating Loy Krathong at school.
Wednesday 2nd December – End-of-Term Showcase: Our storytelling showcase will bring together performances and creative work from across the school. We look forward to sharing what the children have been working on.
Friday 4th December – End-of-Term Trips: Lower Primary will visit Sam Roi Yot, while Upper Primary and Middle School will travel to Kanchanaburi for their final trip of the term.

Highlights from Last Week

With heavy rain in the Khao Kalok area before Friday's trip, we needed to make some last-minute changes to our plans. Rather than simply deciding for the children, we offered the Hummingbirds and Agent Owls a selection of alternatives and let them vote. Both groups voted to watch Matilda, based on the book by Roald Dahl, followed by a chess tournament. Three Agent Owls, however, preferred to join the Polar Bears at Loch Camp, and we were happy to accommodate their choice. It was a lovely example of giving children a genuine voice in decisions that affect them, while making the most of an unexpected change of plans.
Our Polar Bears had a wonderful time visiting Loch Camp. Beyond the excitement of exploring the play areas, the children had opportunities to practise independence, make choices, manage their emotions and navigate friendships. Visiting the café also gave them a chance to practise ordering for themselves and interacting confidently with others.
Our older students enjoyed another swimming session, with opportunities to practise and develop their swimming skills. Swimming continues to offer valuable lessons in perseverance, confidence and physical coordination.
On Friday, we were delighted to welcome Matthias, Linus's father, who volunteered to lead a 3D printing masterclass. Students explored how a 3D printer works, learned about some of its capabilities and watched the process of turning a digital design into a physical object. Those who participated also received a small 3D-printed item. A big thank you to Matthias for sharing his time and expertise with the children.
The Sabertooth Group explored heart rate and beats per minute in Biology, learning how we can measure the heart's activity and what this can tell us about our bodies.
Our storytelling projects have continued to develop. The puppet theatre structure has now been built and painted and is nearly ready for use, while students have also been busy finishing their puppets. A special thank you to Ben, Nari, Nadia, Bella, Dylan and Smile, who gave up some of their free time to help sew puppets, even though it wasn't their own project. It was a lovely example of students supporting one another.
As part of our developing Butterfly Money banking system, we held a competition for students to design the school's new bank card. We received plenty of creative entries, and congratulations to Xi En whose winning design has been turned into our cards for students to use. The new system is also helping us expand our student job market, allowing children to take on responsibilities around school and receive Butterfly Money for completing their work.
On Wednesday, students organised another trading event at the school canteen. The activity encouraged children to consider the value of their belongings, negotiate exchanges and think about what makes a trade fair or unfair. It was a practical opportunity to explore ethical trading, decision-making and the importance of respecting agreements.
Alongside the trading event, students were busy running their own small businesses. Luca and Mac sold lemonade through the Recycling Group and managed to make a tidy profit, while the Silver Sharks sold organic products at the school café. These activities provide opportunities to practise pricing, handling money, customer service and basic business skills.
Our Kindergarten mud kitchen was brought into use by the Muck and Magic Club, giving students another space to create their imaginative potions and mixtures. Looking after and maintaining the mud kitchen has also become one of the responsibilities available through our new student job market.
Some of our Silver Sharks, including Xi En, Seren and Tar-Ping, spent time helping the Kindergarten teachers on Thursday while parent-teacher meetings were taking place. It was wonderful to see our older students taking responsibility and supporting the younger children.
Several of our Sabertooth Group took part in a Ministry of Education (MOE) examination on Wednesday and performed extremely well. We are very proud of the effort they put into preparing for and completing the assessment.

Circle Time Highlights

Pya shared the Halloween story she had written with the school. It takes confidence to stand in front of an audience and share your own creative work, and we were impressed by both her storytelling and the courage she showed in presenting it. Well done, Pya.
The Sabertooth Group shared some of their artwork with the school, giving everyone an opportunity to see what they have been creating in their lessons.
Students also presented their progress on the puppet theatre project, showing the handmade puppets and the painted theatre as preparations for the end-of-term showcase continue.
The Sabertooth Group shared some of the bags they have been creating, demonstrating their sewing skills and the work involved in producing something by hand.

Relationship Class Highlights

Polar Bears

The Polar Bears have been learning to recognise which interactions help everyone feel included and how to take responsibility for their own words and choices. Through discussions and activities, they practised effective communication, listening to others and finding constructive ways to handle disagreements in their friendships.

Hummingbirds

The Hummingbirds took part in a teamwork activity called The Yarn Web Challenge. Working together, they had to untangle a web of yarn, first while talking and then in complete silence.

Interestingly, the children found the silent round easier, realising that all the singing and talking in the first round had actually been distracting them! The activity led to a thoughtful discussion about communication, teamwork and the importance of listening to one another. It was also a fun reminder that sometimes communicating effectively means knowing when not to talk.

Sabertooth Group

The Sabertooth Group continued their exploration of puberty and the physical changes that come with growing up. With some students away for their MOE examinations, the smaller group had an opportunity to ask questions and explore some topics in more detail.

This week's discussion focused particularly on changes experienced by girls, including menstruation and body hair. The students were encouraged to ask questions openly and develop a better understanding of these natural changes.

Silver Sharks and Crispy Penguins

The Silver Sharks and Crispy Penguins joined together for a lesson focused on communication.

They began by exploring a selection of famous quotes from figures past and present, discussing their meanings and considering how the ideas might apply to their own lives.

From there, the conversation moved towards how we communicate with one another and what makes communication effective. Students considered how the same message might need to be delivered differently depending on who we are speaking to.

One of the key ideas to emerge was that good communication isn't simply about expressing ourselves clearly. It also involves understanding our audience, listening carefully and adapting the way we communicate to suit different people and situations.

Closing

As we move towards the final weeks of term, it's encouraging to see so many projects coming together and students taking increasing responsibility for their own learning and for the wider school community.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support.

Have a lovely week.

Mr Vincent and the Halio Team