Tuesday 14th January 2025

Message from the Headteacher

HHIS is a learning community that supports and encourages continuous growth and development not just of our students, but also of our staff. Our team is committed to continuous professional development to enhance learning and teaching and the development of our curriculum. We do this in many ways, including during collaborative staff meetings and workshops. This month our teachers have been considering what it is to be a global citizen, why this is important, and what we can do to develop this in the classroom.
Looking at global issues at a local level is often part of the curriculum and in our workshop recently, we considered how important it is to make sure we challenge our preconceived ideas that are often influenced by social media. It is important we teach our students to be critical thinkers, to question, analyse and evaluate the information they are consuming. We watched an interesting Ted talk that highlights how sensational headlines can skew our view on global issues: “How not to be ignorant about the world”. The first five minutes of this video give an entertaining, but powerful illustration of this.
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Later on in this newsletter you can read about the Years 3 and 4 “hook day” where the students tuned into their topic about habitats. Their work this term will try to answer these questions: ‘When humans change ecosystems, why should we care?’ and ‘Humans on Habitats: How can we balance our impact?’ They will develop their research skills, their critical thinking skills, as well as gain different perspectives on this global issue. This is just one example of how we are developing socially responsible global citizens at HHIS.
Beccy Fox
Headteacher

Celebrating Student Success

Congratulations to Danny in Year 1.

During the holidays Danny has been successfully competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) competitions, including the Australasian BJJ Open. He competed in two competitions in December, had 9 fights, won them all (including 8 by submission) and won gold medals in 5 categories. Well done Danny, an amazing achievement!

Highlights from the week

Years 3 & 4 Hook Day

Last week, Years 3 and 4 kicked off the New Year with an exciting and imaginative Hook Day, packed with fun and discovery and a deep dive into habitats. Students explored and recorded what they knew about the homes of animals, starting with our own school grounds. A habitat hunt revealed the incredible variety of life around us. From there, Year 4 expanded the exploration —from Hua Hin to Thailand, and finally to habitats across the globe, connecting students to the wonders of the world as global citizens.

Adding to the excitement, we read the beautifully illustrated book The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry. This sparked meaningful discussions about how human actions affect animals and habitats, and inspired innovative ideas for protecting our planet’s unique ecosystems—especially the Amazon Rainforest.

Finally, both year groups decided on a thought-provoking question to guide our term’s learning. Year 3 agreed on ‘When humans change ecosystems, why should we care?’ and Year 4 chose ‘Humans on Habitats: How can we balance our impact?

We’re inspired by their enthusiasm and can’t wait to see the innovative solutions and positive campaigns they create to encourage others to take action in order to protect our planet’s precious habitats. What an incredible start to an exciting journey!

Years 5 and 6 Hook Day

As part of our new topic, Sustainable Constructions, Year 5 and 6 were set a challenge as part of the Hook Day. Each group was required to build a house that needed to be free-standing, fit within a 60cm square tile and be built out of available recycled materials. The extended challenge was also to have as little ‘waste’ as possible once completed. The students worked collaboratively and cooperatively to create very differently designed and structured houses.

And then there was a catch – the houses were all struck by a natural disaster – hail (ice), extreme rain (bucket of water) and extreme wind (a not so extreme fan). The ‘weathers’ were dropped from the balcony onto the houses – some surviving more successfully than others.

We now look forward to gaining and understanding of what ‘Sustainable Constructions’ means and using guiding questions to steer our learning.

Y7 Trip to Veggie Tales

Thinking, working and cooking differently! This was the theme of the Y7 trips this week with class 7K and 7M visiting Veggie Tales restaurant. Students were able to learn about the business inspiration, taste test local flavours and learn how to cook with healthy, non-meat based ingredients.
The focus of the forthcoming Y7 project work is for our students to consider innovative new approaches in the modern world that we live and work in. We are looking forward to the big ideas of our Year 7 students and this trip was a great way to capture their enthusiasm! We are very thankful to the team at Veggie Tales and to parents for their support. This learning experience was a lot of fun and the food was absolutely delicious. Well done to the Y7 chefs!!!

Book Swap Opportunity - The Bright Dawn Foundation

Elisa and Arisa in Year 13 have been visiting classes and assemblies to promote a book swap that will be hosted at the HHIS Library. This is a great opportunity for our students to bring their books to swap for new books they would like to read. Books will also be shared to The Bright Dawn Foundation to help students at their schools.

Please can students bring any books they wish to donate to the library from Monday 20th January onwards. There will be a collection table and we thank everyone for your support.

Reminder: Staff, Student and Parent Football

We already have a well established group of players who enjoy playing football together on a Friday afternoon. If there are any parents who would like to play, please fill in the form below. We will then be in contact with you to share more details. We intend to host our first match of 2025, on Friday 31st January.

Upcoming events

Wednesday 15th - Sunday 19th January : Battle of the Bands in Malaysia. Good luck to our HHIS Band, ‘Coalesce’

Thursday 16th January : Year 10 IGCSE Science Field Trip to Khao Nang Phanturat

Friday 17th January : Year 3 & 4 Field Trip to World Wildlife Friends Thailand

Tuesday 21st January : Year 5 Trip to Baan Phu Thara

Wednesday 22nd January : Year 6 Trip to Baan Phu Thara
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