4th September 2026

Dear Samakee Community,

Prioritising Staff Wellbeing

This academic year, we're placing staff wellbeing at the heart of our school community. We've introduced a programme of monthly activities designed to bring our team together for positive, relaxing experiences that help everyone recharge and connect.

This week, we kicked off the year with a Staff Breakfast Social before school, featuring a delicious spread of Thai and European breakfast treats. It was wonderful to see colleagues chatting and laughing together, and staff started their day feeling relaxed, energised, and ready to welcome your children with smiles!

Looking ahead to September, we're planning a Staff Movie Night at school, complete with pizzas and popcorn. These moments of connection and relaxation help our team stay energised and positive, which ultimately benefits every child in our care.

Research shows that when teachers feel supported and valued, student outcomes improve. When our staff feel supported and valued, they bring their very best to the classroom every day.

First Week of ECAs

The campus has been buzzing with excitement this week as our Extra-Curricular Activities (ECAs) kicked off for the new term!

From developing skills on the sports field and creating artwork in the studio to mastering chess moves and building robots, our students have jumped straight into discovering new passions and making new friends.

It has been brilliant to see so much energy and enthusiasm right across the year groups. A huge thank you to all our dedicated staff and coaches who make these opportunities possible!

Meet Our School Nurse

We're delighted to introduce our school nurse to families new to St. Andrews Samakee International School. Our nurse, Ms Ying, provides kind, caring support to all our students throughout the school day and can be found in our Medical Centre.

Whether your child needs assistance with a minor injury, feels unwell during the day, or requires regular medication, our nurse is here to help. She works closely with families to ensure every child's health and wellbeing needs are met while at school.

Important Reminder: Medication at School

If your child requires medication during school hours, please note our important safety procedures:

All medications must be:

Handed directly to the school nurse or office staff (not sent with your child)
In the original container from the doctor, hospital, or pharmacy
Clearly labelled with your child's name, dosage, and administration instructions in English
We cannot accept unlabelled or loose tablets for safety reasons. This policy protects all our students by ensuring medications are properly identified and administered correctly.

When dropping off medication, please provide clear instructions to the nurse about:

When the medication should be given
The correct dosage
Any potential side effects to watch for
How long the medication course will last

Good Health Policy Update:

We've updated our Good Health Policy with clear guidance on when to keep your child home and when they can return to school. Key reminder: children must be fever-free for 24 hours without medication before returning to school. The link to the full policy is available here and on our Website.

PO-H&S-6 Good Health Policy

Safeguarding Spotlight

Stay Safe Update: Nut-Free School

This week's focus: Our school has a strict Nut-Free Policy.

✓ Please remember that this includes all peanuts and tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts, and hazelnuts).

✓ We have students across the school with severe nut allergies, so please double-check that no peanut or tree nut products are brought onto the school campus by a member of your family.

✓ Thank you so much for your understanding, kindness, and cooperation in keeping all of our children safe.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your class teacher, tutor or Phase Lead

Teaching and Learning Highlights!

EYFS

Yesterday's heavy rain left our school garden full of wonderful puddles, and our youngest children have been making the most of every splash! From riding bikes through the water to sitting right in the middle of the biggest puddles, their joy and curiosity have been absolutely delightful to watch. This is learning through play at its very best!

Year 1 - Seasons in Thailand

Our Year 1 students are currently exploring "Seasons in Thailand" in their Thai Social Studies class! This week, they kicked off the unit by diving into the hot season.

The children actively shared their ideas on how to dress appropriately, what activities to enjoy, and how to stay safe and healthy in the heat. To top off the lesson, they had fun crafting their own paper fans to keep cool!

Year 2 - Sea Creatures

Our Year 2 students are diving into "CREATURES UNDER THE SEA"! They have been discovering Spanish words for sea animals such as el cangrejo (crab), el pez (fish) and la estrella de mar (starfish). Through songs and listening activities, students are becoming familiar with the new vocabulary and the sounds of Spanish. Each new creature brings new words and actions to discover! At home, ask your child: Can you name three sea creatures en español?

Upper Phase - Maths Lessons

Last week in Maths lessons, students were out and about around school, taking photos and writing questions about the Maths that is all around school. Maths is everywhere, you just need to look for it. Some example questions from students - How high do you think the upper school building is? Can you come up with a sensible method to make your estimate? How many shoes can you fit in one of the shoe racks outside of the hall? What is the ratio of grey tables to yellow chairs in the dining room? How many different types of shape are there an the basketball court? How many triangles can you see in the mural outside of the maths classroom? Miss Tracy is in the process of putting all of the questions together to make a Maths trail around school for the whole school to enjoy.

Upper Phase - Science

It has been an exciting first few weeks back in science, as all students have refamiliarised themselves with some of the core values of science: intrigue, enquiry and observation!

Year 6 have started to look at light and how it interacts with the world around them. They look forward to also looking at how light interacts with different materials when it reflects and refracts this week!

Year 7 have been investigating all sorts of living organisms; from looking at tiny unicellular organisms through microscopes, all the way to dissecting hearts and lungs to gain a better understanding of how they function!

Year 9 have been looking at genetics and natural selection - something that is very small and difficult to see, and something that takes thousands of years to happen! However, they have still managed to see strands of DNA they extracted from strawberries and also came up with an innovative experiment to recreate the Darwin's Finches using different eating utensils as beaks!

Year 6 - Year 9 Credit Achievements

Year 3 to Year 9 Success

Congratulations!

One of our Year students continues to excel on the Badminton court. Over the past few weeks he has been very busy competing. His acheivements are: 2nd runner up: boy's singles U13 - Victor NCX max junior tournament and the winner: boy's singles U13 - Munchkin badminton cup.

Well done!

Congratualtions

One of our Year 6 students reached the semi-final round of the annual Star Maker singing contest. He now waits to see whether he has made the final round.

Well done!

Outstanding Dance Achievement!

We are delighted to celebrate a fantastic achievement by one of our Year 4 students! She and her 12 fellow dancers won 1st Prize in the Troupe Any Style category at the Thailand Challenge Cup Dance Competition.

Growth Mindset Master

Calendar of Events

Lunch Menu for Next Week

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

Lower Phase Lead, Tabietha Sudhirak: tsudhirak@standrews-samakee.com

Upper Phase 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.”