Si Ri Panya News Highlights
- Lisa McNee
- Mar 14
- 8 min read
Updated: Mar 20
Friday 14th March, 2025
Songkran at Si Ri Panya International School
Thursday, 3rd April 2025, marks the end of Term 2, and we will be celebrating Songkran, the traditional Thai New Year. Throughout the day, children will learn about the cultural significance of Songkran and take part in a range of festive activities.
Morning: รดน้ำดำหัว (rót náam dam hua) Water Blessing Ceremony
In the morning, children will participate in the traditional Song Nam Phra (สรงน้ำพระ) and Rod Nam Dum Hua (รดน้ำดำหัว) ceremonies. These customs involve pouring rose and jasmine-scented water into the palms of parents, teachers, or elders as a sign of humility, respect, and to seek blessings for the new year.
Rod Nam Dum Hua originated in Northern Thailand, where it was used to ask for forgiveness and blessings. In the past, Rod Nam (รดน้ำ) referred to a full-body cleansing, while Dam Hua (ดำหัว), a term from the Lanna language, meant washing one’s hair with kaffir lime leaves. Over time, this tradition spread throughout Thailand, symbolising the washing away of misfortune and welcoming prosperity.
Afternoon: Controlled Water Fight
In the afternoon, students and teachers will take part in a controlled water fight – a fun and refreshing way to mark the festivities.
Water toys (optional) – An empty plastic water bottle works just as well as a water gun.
A change of clothes – As children will get wet, those attending ASAs or taking the school bus should bring a dry set of clothes.
Although water fights are a major highlight of modern-day Songkran, the festival is about much more than just playful splashing. It is a time for reflection, renewal, and spending time with family and community.
Dress Code - Spring Fun: For this special celebration, uniforms are not required. Instead, children are encouraged to wear:
Flower-patterned, colourful shirts – Bright, bold designs to reflect the festive spirit.
Thai costumes – Traditional chut thai for a cultural touch.
Let’s get ready for a colourful and refreshing spring celebration.
A Few Extra Songkran Facts
Traditional Thai New Year – Songkran marks the start of the Thai New Year.
Astrological significance – The word Songkran means “movement” or “changing,” as the sun shifts into a new zodiac sign.
Bathing the Buddha – Buddhists gently pour scented water over Buddha images (Song Nam Phra - สรงน้ำพระ) at home or in temples, believing it brings good fortune.
Spring Cleaning Tradition – Many Thai families use Songkran as an opportunity to deep-clean their homes, welcoming the New Year with a fresh start.
We look forward to celebrating this special tradition together at Si Ri Panya.
We can't wait to celebrate another Songkran with our families on this culturally auspicious day.
Secondary World Book Day
Secondary students may be less excited about dressing up as their favourite story character - our students are far too cool for that! - but we enjoyed celebrating World Book Day in our own way.
Student created top hats with some decorations inspired by characters and stories, and we had a whole school Book Quiz in the morning that got everyone in the mood. Later in the day each class took part in a session of Drop Everything and Read (DEAR) - this is something that classes do weekly now as part of our pastoral programme, but having a longer session was a welcome luxury!
Year 3 and Year 8 have also been reading together, with our Year 8 students modelling great listening skills and supporting the younger students. We know that this is something that both classes enjoy, and the personal bonds that are made stronger are just as important as the reading development that is happening.
Idling Cars Project - Part 1
We believe that education has to be meaningful, and we want to provide students with opportunities to apply their learning to real world situations so that they see why the learning in the classroom is important. Cross-curricular projects are one way to do this, where knowledge and skills from different subjects are used to develop understanding and for problem-solving.
Over the past three weeks, students have been learning about the issues around cars idling in the street, and the impact this can have on people and the environment.
One part of this has been to try and understand why people sit idling in their cars, and how students can engage with the public to give them information and create positive changes.
This week students have been trying out the slogans and information campaigns, and will then think about what works best and why - an important experience if they are to become engaged citizens creating positive change in the world!
Sign-up! Leaps & Beats Kids Camp is Back
Leaps & Beats Kids Camp is returning this April holiday for an action-packed, fun-filled week at Si Ri Panya! 🌟
📅 When: 7th - 11th April 2025
📍 Where: Si Ri Panya International School, Bantai
Stay updated on all the details via our Facebook page 👉 HERE
Perfect for Rainy Days: Our Garden Project
A beautiful poetic description of being outdoors. A perfect project for a rainy day in Secondary, where our students did a deep dive into the senses. Reminiscent of writings of the famous poet, Emily Dickenson!
Reading the description above leaves one with a real tangible feeling of sensory delight. The sights, sounds, materials, elements, emotions of the writer, the type of day it is, the scent of flowers -everthing, make for a powerful piece of writing that transports you.
This is a great example of collaborative interdisciplinary work in English and Science, with our future writer-botonists leaving us with a poignant impression of the world outside.
Map Reading and Geography Investigations, Yr 5
The Global and the Local: "Glocal" Approaches to Geography
In line with the British National Curriculum, our Year 5 students have embarked on a journey across the world, learning how to read maps and use an atlas.
These skills enable them to locate countries around the world, with focus on Europe (including the location of Russia) and North and South America, concentrating their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities.
At the end of their final year in primary, students should be able to name and locate counties and cities of the United Kingdom, geographical regions and their identifying human and physical characteristics, key topographical features (including hills, mountains, coasts and rivers), and land-use patterns; and understand how some of these aspects have changed over time.
They will identify the position and significance of latitude, longitude, Equator, Northern Hemisphere, Southern Hemisphere, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circle, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night).
Over the year, students get to know the similarities and differences of physical and human geography of a specific region in UK, a region in a European country and a region of North or South America.
What's more, Si Ri Panyans' benefit from an adapted curriculum that might see them map reading and describing key aspects of physical geography, climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes, and the water cycle, closer to home in and around the many countries of Asia, including Thailand and our own unique Island setting.
Local fieldwork gives students first hand experiences of the types of settlement that are developing and what issues come with that, such as water shortage and gentrification of local areas. It helps them understand local rules and perspectives of land use, economic activity, trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water.
Our Island serves as a microcosm of the kind of issues experienced around the world and helps students grasp a greater understanding of the world they live in making them responsible global citizens.
Skills: use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied prepares students for more rigorous study of geography in the final year of Primary and beyond.
At the end of Year 5, students should be able to use the 8 points of a compass, 4 and 6-figure grid references, symbols and keys (including the use of Ordnance Survey maps) to build their knowledge of the United Kingdom and the wider world.
In fieldwork projects, they learn to observe, measure, record and present the human and physical features our local area using a range of methods, including sketch maps, plans and graphs.
Movie Night Raises ฿4,920 for PACS Charity!
On Tuesday, it was Year 3 & 4's turn for their eagerly awaited charity fundraiser movie night. Student's excitedly watched Garfield while munching homemade popcorn and sharing other yummy treats, raising a total of ฿4,920, which is more than last week, for the Koh Phangan dog charity PACS.
We have so far raised a grand total of ฿9,710 in just two weeks! Keep up the good work everyone.
Our wonderful Si Ri Panyans' relished the chance to hang out with their friends in a safe and jovial atmosphere, supervised by Head of Primary, Lisa, Year 4 Teacher Matt and our Pastoral gem, Teacher Faye.
Well done to everyone who contributed to making this evening such a success. We are sincerely grateful to our school community for playing a part in transforming the lives of dogs on our special island. You're kindness and generosity make all the difference!
Next week: Year 5 & 6, your up! Get your ticket's in advance for 200 Baht.
SPACE: PLANETS-ASTRONAUTS-RESILIENCE
Today's assembly was one of my favourites yet, we talked about Space, resilience and what it's like to be an astronaut.
We shared facts together, listened to an interview with a really cool Canadian female astronaut who told us she learns Russian in her spare time so she can communicate easily with the many Russian colleagues back at the space station. We also did a Q & A together and found out some very peculiar facts about what life is like living onboard a rocket in space!
Ask your child how many times the sun rises and sets in one day from the perspective of a rocket in space or perhaps how an astronauts chopsticks can stay on the table in zero gravity! They know the answers and much more.
The assembly ended with Year 5 on the stage singing a song about planets. Students in the audience were clapping along, some where singing and it was truly an assembly to be remembered. We all left smiling. Well done to all year groups for making it so special.
Weekly Reminders
Library Reminder: Please check at home for any lost books and return them to the Primary or Secondary library so everyone can enjoy them!
Bottle Cap Collection: We're collecting bottle caps for our Precious Plastic Project! Please bring your bottle caps to the collection point located inside the Primary school gate on the left. Secondary students can bring theirs to the Design and Technology Lab. Find out more about this exciting long-term project here: Precious Plastic Phangan Facebook.
Drop Off and Pick Up: Drop-off is at 8:30 am (not earlier). Pick-up times are 2:50 pm for Primary (or 4:00 pm if attending an ASA) and 4:00 pm for Secondary. Please be punctual, as some Primary children have been waiting up to 30 minutes after 2:50 pm, which can be distressing for them.
No Idling Zone: Help make the area outside our school a NO IDLING ZONE which means switching car engines off while you wait for your child. We appreciate your action for the environment and health of all.
Absence and Illness: Notify your child's class teacher (Primary) or form teacher (Secondary) directly to inform them of absence and sickness.
Head Lice Check: Continue to check your child's hair for head lice regularly and treat accordingly. Boys and girls with long hair need to tie it up.
Class WhatsApp Groups: Join the parent WhatsApp group for your child's class via the QR code HERE
Healthy snacks: Healthy snacks only. No sweets, crisps/chips or cakes at break times. Birthdays are the exception and dealt with per class policy
