Hua Hin
International School
After a successful career in the UK as a headteacher and education inspector, Graham Sullivan took over as
headteacher at Bangkok Patana School in January 1992. At that stage, Patana had just moved to its current
site, consisted of 500 primary aged children and had no facilities for secondary education. By the time he
left the school at the end of 1999 to run a similar school in Tanzania, Patana had grown to 1600 students
aged between 2 to18 and had established a thriving IB Diploma programme enabling its students to enter
university throughout the world.
Graham returned to Thailand in 2001 and took over the
running of the St. Andrews group of schools which
at that stage were still getting off the ground. Over the
following 8 years, they were expanded in both the number
of campuses and size of enrolment with the result that
St. Andrews developed a strong reputation for quality
amongst the growth of international schools operating in
Thailand.
Now he is leading the development of Hua Hins first
accredited International school which will open its doors
for the first time on August 24th this year quite a move
... Expat Life asked Graham why Hua Hin and why now?
Its no secret that the town is growing very rapidly, that the
provincial government has big plans for its future status
as a city, for its infrastructure and for retaining the genteel
appeal of Hua Hin. Plans also exist to revolutionise access
to the town via remodelled road and rail links to Bangkok
and it will ultimately be as easy to get to as Pattaya. With
all that qualitative improvement, Hua Hin obviously needs
a top quality international school to meet the needs of an
expanding local and expatriate population.
Hua Hin International School (HHIS) has been set up by
the same people who created the prestigious group of St.
Andrews International Schools. Together with Graham in
this long term International School venture is Roy Barrett
who comes from the UK, has Thai citizenship and over 40
years of experience in the Thai business community.
June / July 15
EXPAT LIFE
Roy also served on the Bangkok Patana School Board for
over 15 years. Monica Sudhirak who led the early years
section of Patana for 20 years and then went on to become
the inaugural headteacher at 3 of the St. Andrews schools
when they first opened is also part of the expert mix.
These three pioneers set up St. Andrews Samakee School
in Nonthaburi in 2000 and this is now an internationally
recognised centre of educational excellence receiving
the first ever Gold Status Accreditation Award from the
UK Accreditation Agency CfBT. So along with Monicas
family, Roy and Graham are now jointly setting up their 6th
school and their 4th greenfield site development. Between
them, they clearly have such a formidable accumulation
of wisdom and experience - who will doubt the success of
their new school?
HHIS will be set up to offer the same high level of child
centred education for which the St. Andrews schools
became so well known. This educational philosophy
is based on the UK curriculum and its delivery will be
governed by the 8 key values that will drive everything the
school does wrapped around an imaginative set of I
statements.
Graham says:
The purpose of the I statements is to explain our beliefs
about learning and teaching; our goals for the children;
and how those goals and beliefs will guide the everyday activities and
experiences that will make our school truly unique. Everyone involved with
the school is 100% committed to these values and they will underpin how
we plan and deliver everything that is made available for the children.
The schools Key I words are:
Inquisitive
Individual
Imaginative Inspired
Intrepid
Inclusive
International
Innovative
These 8 themes will govern all that the school does and
provide a seamless educational journey from kindergarten
to university entry at age 18. The values were obviously
pivotal to the search for an enlightened headteacher to
set up and run the school according to this shared vision
and Julie Wood fitted the bill perfectly. Having had a
rich and varied career as a teacher, principal university
lecturer and a headteacher in the UK and South East Asia
(including one of the St. Andrews schools) Julie was an
easy appointment for a school like HHIS to make.
Julie says:
Our goal will be to help our children become independent,
self confident learners in an environment that has been
specifically designed to meet their individual needs. All
children are naturally inquisitive and use their curiosity
everyday to develop
their understanding of
how their world works.
We will teach them how
to learn, not just for the
here and now but for
the future. We will make
sure that they learn at
their own pace and in
ways that are best for
them. Our teachers have
been appointed because
they are reflective
practitioners who can
work together constantly
to develop their
understanding and improve the quality of their professional
practice. All children will be actively encouraged to
extend their learning from their starting point and take it as
far as they are able. We will provide the opportunities for
children to go far beyond expected school norms.
The site chosen for the school sits on an 18.5 rai plot of
land adjacent to the Black Mountain Golf Course and
Water Park. This flat section of land provides easy access
from the centre of Hua Hin and can be approached even
more quickly from the nearby Hua Hin bypass.
The master plan, created by The Beaumont Partnership of
architects, will accommodate up to 850 students aged 2
to 18 and has been designed to contain shared and linked
teaching areas that closely reflect the schools educational
vision. Aesthetically, the class areas will provide children
with an environment that is in harmony with their needs;
which will both stimulate and support their development;
and which enables their teachers to share their expertise
across traditional subject boundaries.
Phase 1 of the school is ahead of schedule to open on
August 24th this year and will include the equivalent of
16 large classroom spaces and shared areas, a medium
sized swimming pool, a canteen and extensive outside
areas for recreation and sports. This first phase will
accommodate up to 200 students aged 2 to 12 (Year
7) and the planning of subsequent phases has already
begun.
The schools Early Yearsprogramme will provide an
ideal environment for children to grow and develop in
an atmosphere of warmth, security and care. In this safe
environment, children will flourish as individuals and learn
through play. The Primary Schoolwill be take children
from age 5 to 11 and it is during these primary years that
the children consolidate and build upon the skills that they
began acquiring in the early years.
TheMiddle Schoolwill be designed for students aged
11-14 and will aim to integrate elements of both the
primary and high school. Academic subjects will begin to
for expat women in Thailand
evolve into the separate subject model of the high school,
where each subject becomes its own discipline taught by a
specialist teacher. However, subjects wont be completely
separated in the middle school. Rather, the students work
will usually be centred around themes that tie subjects
together so while lessons may not always be quite as
integrated as they were in primary classes, nor will they be
taught so segregated as in the high school.
So the timing of the arrival of Hua Hin International School
seems perfectly matched to the imminent expansion of the
town itself into a gateway city. The people involved in setting
up and operating the school have a perfect background
of success in running high quality International Schools in
Thailand and feel passionate about the success of this latest
project.
TheHigh Schoolwill take students from aged 14 when
they start preparing for the IGCSE examinations at age
16, right through to the International Baccalaureate (IB)
examinations at age 18. The IB follows a two year course
of study that offers students the opportunity to acquire the
highly acclaimed IB Diploma Programme or individual IB
certificates which are recognised throughout the world as an
entrance qualification for universities and colleges. Above
all, the high school will provide an enthusiastic and energetic
environment that will offer a wide range of choices for
students of all abilities. The teachers will place a balanced
emphasis on both academic rigour and individual care so
that all students are assisted to do their best.
Strong interest in the school has been expressed both within
the extended Hua Hin community and much further afield
as a result of a very inviting website. Last September and
December, two well attended public meetings were held at
a local hotel and it became clear that the existing Hua Hin
parent body was very keen to see the introduction of a top
quality international school for secondary aged students.
The first phase which had originally been designed and
commissioned as a primary school was therefore modified
to take up to 40 Year 7 (aged 11-12) students. Specialist
teachers were subsequently recruited and subject facilities
modified. As Julie Wood begins formal registrations of HHIS
students, it seems likely that this lower secondary phase will
form the largest single group of initial enrolments.
Graham says:
This is rather similar to my first year at Patana, when there
were 14 Year 7 students with nowhere to go. The new
secondary school was then built around them and these 14
stayed with us for the following 7 years, before graduating
(alongside newer students who joined along the way) with
IB Diplomas. There are significant advantages in being the
celebrities who start the school off.
Interest in the school has also been very strong from parents
currently living overseas and considering relocating to
Thailand. After the initial burst of responses from within the
wider Hua Hin communities, two thirds of enquiries now
come from families who are not currently resident in Thailand.
All of these enquiries emphasise the importance of there
being a top quality, internationally accredited and recognised
school before any family move could be considered. The
HHIS Admissions staff have developed a database of 250
enquiries and it is clear that were the school to be open right
now and the whole age range available to these parents, Hua
Hin would be seeing a significant influx of expatriates and
returning Thai families.
June / July 15
EXPAT LIFE
Graham says:
HHIS is not primarily a business venture. All of us who set
up and ran the St. Andrews group of schools were always
driven by a love of the education process and even during
some lean times we were always committed to the core
beliefs of child centred education. There are easy ways of
shortchanging a rounded education for everyone by focusing
on recognisable elements of traditional schooling that allow
academic success for the few. HHIS leadership, staff and
directors have a unified commitment to something more
relevant to each childs current needs and ultimately to their
eventual needs as flourishing citizens in a world that none of
us can imagine. The world is changing so rapidly, that to just
teach these leaders of tomorrow, the skills of yesteryear, will
simply equip them to live in an outdated time.
Our intention is to be proud of what HHIS is doing, to receive
the congratulations of parents who have seen how much their
children have accomplished and to be acknowledged by
ex-students as the source of their development of a lifelong
set of skills and capabilities. Each of these intentions has
been realised in our previous schools and HHIS is about to
begin another journey towards producing generations of
independent lifelong learners.
