15th August 2025

Dear Samakee Community,

We are delighted to welcome you back to a new school year, and seeing and hearing the excitement as students reconnected with friends and teachers this week was delightful. The transition has been seamless for both our new students embarking on this journey, our returning students and our new teachers. This positive atmosphere is a hallmark of Samakee's strong community. It reminds us that our school is more than just a place of education; it is where we nurture relationships, create lasting memories, and foster personal growth.

Over the summer, we have been working on school improvements. Despite the challenges of heavy rains causing some delays, we have made significant progress. We appreciate your patience and understanding, and we are excited to share the details of these improvements with you.

Basketball Court: With the pillars for the new basketball court now in place, the next phase of construction will be the installation of the roof.
Classrooms: We have expanded our Humanities and Computer Science/Maker Space classrooms, transforming them into significantly improved environments for teaching and learning.

Humanities Room

Computer Science / Maker Space Room

Upcoming Events

We are fast approaching two important events in the school calendar. We do hope that you will be able to attend, as your participation is crucial for the success of these events:

Orientation / Welcome Evening for Parents

An Orientation / Welcome Evening for Parents is scheduled for next Thursday, August 28th. It will commence at 5:30 pm in the hall with refreshments and conclude at around 7:30 pm. Following refreshments and mingling, parents and teachers will adjourn to classrooms to chat and discuss the upcoming academic year. The Inclusion Centre will be open, and there is an opportunity to visit the unit and meet with Najwa Bowman and the team.

We eagerly anticipate a delightful social evening and hope you can join us.

After School Club Fair

The Samakee After School Club Fair for parents and children will be held in the hall on Monday, August 25th, starting immediately after the school day. We invite you and your child to drop by and personally explore the clubs/ECAs being offered this term. The club fair is an excellent opportunity to engage in conversations with the club leaders, gather more information, and plan your child's choices for this term!

Seasonal Flu Vaccination - Sign Up Now

Back to school

EYFS

This week in the Makerspace and play areas, children explored a range of creative and sensory activities. At the slime station, they experimented with different ingredients, colours, and textures, using slime both for fun and as a tool for emotional regulation. In the Makerspace, there was plenty of building and testing, from marble games to car tracks, with children thinking of ways to improve their designs. Role-play games, bracelet-making, and sandcastle building encouraged imagination and teamwork, while turn-taking and helping friends showed great social skills.

Middle School

Year 1 - had a great first week settling into their new classroom, teachers, routines and friendships. The children enjoyed a variety of activities with breadmaking station proving especially popular. Another highlight was visiting the farm and seeing Pumi the Tortoise after the long break!

Year 2 immersed themselves in the true spirit of being inquisitive, international, intrepid, innovative, imaginative, individual, and inspired! Through a series of engaging challenges, the children not only discovered the meaning behind these powerful words but also brought them to life through their actions. They embraced values that nurture curiosity, celebrate global citizenship, and build confidence as individuals.

Year 3 - It has been lovely to welcome the children to school for the start of our new academic year. We have had lots of fun this week getting to know each other. The children have created a classroom charter, taken part in team building challenges, shared lots of interesting facts about themselves and enjoyed listening to our very first class book - Slime!

Year 4 had a fun and productive first week together, with drama performances, lively quizzes, and activities introducing their new topic. The class worked together to create and sign their classroom contract, shared their thoughts on transitioning into Year 4, and discussed how to handle any worries. It’s been a wonderful start, and we’re looking forward to the term ahead!

Year 5 have had a fantastic start to the year! They began by sharing summer experiences and discussing what they are grateful for, creating colourful drawings and paintings to represent these. In English, they enjoyed reading The Magic Finger and retelling Pigeon Impossible, while in Maths they have been recapping key skills and impressing me with their knowledge. In Science, they explored the lab and began learning about Earth and the solar system. The children have also enjoyed starting Spanish, Thai, swimming, and PE – a busy and exciting first week!

Upper School

We've had a great week in Upper School. Lots of catching up and making new friends. We had an extended tutor time on Monday where children worked with their tutor on routines.

'Happy Chaos' got the students up and moving - seeking 100 photos of their teachers, around the school campus to add to a display grid and earn credits for their House.

Monday afternoon, there has been some activity rotations ranging from 'a minute to win it' to 'apple annihilator' and some mini Olympic team games. A great day of teamwork - well done Upper School!

The latter half of this week has seen our Upper School students back to their new regular timetabled lessons. Lots of new learning and exploration already! Well done, this week!

Awards and Achievements

Dance Success - Royal Academy of Dance (Ballet)

Two of our students have earned awards in the RAD Ballet examinations — one in Grade 1 and one in Grade 2 — both achieving Distinction!

Music Success - The 26th OSAKA International Music Competition

At the 26th OSAKA International Music Competition, a Y5 student won three prizes — two Golds (Piano) and one Silver (Violin) — earning a place in the final competition in Osaka this October. Congratulations on this outstanding achievement!

School Events

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.”