12th December 2025

Dear Samakee Community,

As we reach the end of Term 1, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what has been a wonderful and productive term, and to thank each and every one of you for your contributions to our school community. Thank you!

To our incredible staff – thank you for your dedication, hard work, and unwavering commitment to our students. Your passion for education and the care you show every day make St Andrews Samakee the special place it is.

To our students – you have worked hard, shown resilience, and continued to make us proud with your achievements and positive attitudes. Keep up the excellent work!

To our parents and families – thank you for your ongoing support and partnership. Your involvement in your children's learning and your engagement with our school community make such a difference to everything we do.

Exciting news – our new website is live!

I'm delighted to announce that our new school website launched this week! This has been a very long project, and I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed their time, expertise, and ideas to make it happen. The new site will make it easier for our community to stay connected and access important information. Please do take a look and explore what's on offer. https://www.standrews-samakee.com/

Looking ahead to Term 2

We are excited to share that we will be welcoming a team of British Schools Overseas (BSO) inspectors to our school in May. This inspection is an important opportunity for us to showcase the excellent work happening across our school and to receive valuable feedback that will help us continue to improve. We look forward to demonstrating our commitment to providing a high-quality British education and celebrating our achievements with the inspection team. We will share more information about the inspection process as we move through the term.

Holiday wishes

As we break for the holidays, I wish you all a very happy, restful, and safe break. Spend quality time with your loved ones, recharge, and enjoy the festive season.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Tuesday, 6th January 2026.

With warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday!

EYFS & KS1 Christmas Concert

This week, our youngest students from Nursery through to Year 2 welcomed families and friends to their delightful Christmas production of "A Snowman at Sunset". Our young performers charmed the audience with their enchanting rendition of this heartwarming story, demonstrating remarkable confidence as they took to the stage to sing, dance, and bring the tale to life while building their snowman. We congratulate both the children and their amazing teachers on such a wonderful performance!

Keeping Our Children Safe: Emergency Evacuation Drill

This week, we completed our termly emergency evacuation drill. All children and staff evacuated safely and calmly to our assembly point. - Playing Field 2, next to our School Swimming Pool. These regular drills are an important part of our safety procedures and help ensure everyone knows what to do in an emergency. We're pleased to report that the evacuation was completed efficiently, and the children responded very well to the procedures.

If you hear the fire alarm at school, please leave the building immediately via the nearest exit and proceed to the assembly point on Playing Field 2 by the pool. Please follow staff instructions and do not re-enter the building until told it's safe to do so. Thank you.

Upcoming Events: A Quick Guide

Movie Night 2026

WE NEED YOUR HELP AND PARENT VOLUNTEERS!

Movie Night, one of our most beloved family events, will take place on Friday, 13th February 2026, shortly after the Winter Break – and we need your help to make it happen!

What is Movie Night?

On this special evening, our school grounds are transformed into an outdoor cinema where children and parents can enjoy a choice of three age-appropriate movies under the stars. Before the films begin at nightfall, families can enjoy light snacks and fun games, all kindly organised by our PTG (Parent Teacher Group). Entrance is free, and children and adults can purchase coupons for games, food, and drinks.

Join our planning meeting

We're looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help plan and organise this year's Movie Night! Please join us on Friday, 9th January 2026, at 8:30 am in the Art Room to collaborate on creating a memorable evening for our entire community. Your ideas, time, and energy are invaluable in making this event a success for all our students, parents, and staff.

Whether you can help with planning, setting up on the day, or running activities during the event, we'd love to have you involved. Every contribution makes a difference!

Thank you for your continued support and willingness to contribute to our school community. We look forward to seeing you there!

A 2-Day Music Workshop with Doug Goodkin

Twinkle Twinkle Little Swing: From Nursery Rhyme to Jazz

Date: 26th - 27th January 2026 Time: 8:30 - 15:00

Venue: Music Room @St. Andrews Samakee

DOUG GOODKIN is an internationally recognised teacher of Orff Schulwerk, a dynamic humanistic approach to music education, training teachers in 45 countries worldwide. Alongside his teacher-training work, he worked with children from three years old to eighth grade at The San Francisco School for 45 years. His last year at the school is the subject of the documentary film, The Secret Song, now showing at some 10 different film festivals.

Doug is an author of nine books, a speaker at various Conferences and in a TEDx talk, a director of and teacher in the prestigious San Francisco International Orff Course, the SF School Intern Program, the Jazz/Orff Course and a frequent teacher at the Orff Institut in Salzburg, Austria. He is also the pianist and leader of the jazz quintet, "The Pentatonics", bringing jazz to people of all ages.

Teaching and Learning Highlights!

Year 3 - Festive Fun

The children have been enjoying some festive actives this week. They have written their own Christmas themed shape poems, made snow themed slime and paper snowmen, made cards for their friends and families and decorated Christmas biscuits with some very precise detailing and creativity!

Year 4 - Christmas Fun

The classroom is already beginning to feel wonderfully festive.

The children became creative by making giant snowflakes to decorate our room and bring some magical winter cheer.

We do have one little hiccup… it seems a very naughty elf has been up to mischief and smashed our classroom screen, so we are unable to use the board for now!

Year 5 - Freeze Frames

In English, the children practised using facial expressions, body language, and levels to freeze-frame different parts of A Christmas Carol. They worked in pairs first and then teamed up as a four to perform and follow a short script!

Safeguarding Focus: Safer Holidays

We hope all our families have a wonderful holiday. To help keep everyone safe while having fun, here are a few gentle reminders...

Online safety: Remind your children about staying safe online during the holidays when they may have more screen time. Encourage them to talk to a trusted adult if they see anything that makes them uncomfortable, not to share personal information, and to think carefully before sharing photos or messages.
Water safety: If visiting beaches, rivers, lakes or pools, supervise your children closely around water. Remind them never to swim alone and to follow any safety signs and lifeguard instructions.
Sun safety: Protect your children from sun damage by using sunscreen, ensuring they wear hats, and encouraging them to stay hydrated and take breaks in the shade.

Awards & Achievements

Bangkok Swimming Championships

Well done to one of our Year 7 students. He participated in the Bangkok Swimming Chamopinships last weekend and achieved a multitude of new Personal best times in the Long Course event - including 800m Freestyle! Congratulations!

Upper School Credits & Celebrations

Calendar of Events

January

6th - Term 2 Starts
9th - PTG Meeting 8:30 am
17th - Amnuay Silpa Titans Swim Meets
19th - ECAs Begin
20th - Little Learners Begins
24th - U13 Basketball @SISB NR
26th - 27th - Jazz Music Workshop

SAS LINE Communication Platform

LINE is a widely used communication platform in Thailand, and it's a platform that Samakee has been utilizing for quite some time. We encourage all our families to connect with our official SAS LINE account to ensure we can easily disseminate important school-wide updates to our entire school community. Click to add

Monica L Sudhirak

Head of School

Head of School, Monica L Sudhirak: msudhirak@standrews-samakee.com

First School Lead, Tabietha Sudhirak: tsudhirak@standrews-samakee.com

Key Stage 1 Lead, Alice Munenge: alice.m@standrews-samakee.com

Key Stage 2 Lead, Alyssa Pay: alyssa.p@standrews-samakee.com

Upper School Lead, Nicky Page: npage@standrews-samakee.com

“Samakee is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of all students and expects all staff and visitors to share this commitment.”