New campus given overwhelming trust by parents – 168 students enrolled with places in first year-group fully taken up for Academic Year 2018-19
Bangkok (31 August 2018) – British Ambassador H.E. Mr. Brian Davidson, together with Sir David Lees, Chairman of the Board of Governors of Shrewsbury International School Bangkok, and Mr. Tim Haynes, Chairman of the Governing Body of Shrewsbury School UK, today, inaugurated Thailand’s newest international primary school, Shrewsbury International School Bangkok – City Campus with 168 children enrolled for the first academic year. It is located on a 15-rai (2.4 hectare) site between Sukhumvit Road and Rama IX Road.
Purpose-built for primary school children aged 3 to 11 years with an extraordinarily large investment of Bht 2,600 million, the city-centre campus complements Shrewsbury International School’s highly successful Riverside Campus and aims to accommodate the large waiting list of children who seek a place at the Riverside Campus.
Ms. Amanda Dennison, Principal of Shrewsbury International School Bangkok – City Campus, said, “We open with a very strong enrolment of 168 students, exceeding our expectations and compelling us to add an extra class of between 10-15 students to each our first three year groups – Early Years One, Early Years Two, and Year One. I thank parents for the trust that they have shown in Shrewsbury’s City Campus and in our teaching staff.”
Ms. Dennison, who was previously the Head of Shrewsbury’s Junior School at its Riverside Campus, said that Shrewsbury’s 15-year track record of excellence and the uniformity of standards between the two campuses were key factors encouraging parents to place their children at the City Campus.
She said, “Parents favoured the school because it has been designed exclusively for the needs of primary school students. Additionally, parents have told us that they value the fact that all of our teachers are qualified teachers from Britain and that many are teachers who have come from Shrewsbury’s Riverside Campus.”
Ms. Dennison said that children completing their primary school education at City Campus are guaranteed a place at the secondary school in Shrewsbury Bangkok’s Riverside Campus.
H.E. Mr. Brian Davidson, British Ambassador, said, “The British education system is globally recognised for providing children a well-rounded education that prepares them for leadership. Just as importantly, our education system places a lot of emphasis on helping children develop, at an early age, the best human values so that they may become responsible members of society as well as lead fulfilling lives.”
He said, “Shrewsbury School in Britain is one of our country’s great schools. Its sister school, here in Bangkok, with its extraordinary accomplishments, is highly regarded as a superb ambassador for the British education system. It offers local and foreign children in Thailand easy access to a fine and genuine British education and one that promotes collaboration, discussion, and sharing of opinions in the learning process.”
English is the core language of instruction and nearly all of the teachers are British. Outstanding Thai and Chinese language instruction is also embedded into the school’s teaching and learning.
Dr. Parita Suaphan, a distinguished educationalist and a Governor of Shrewsbury School International Bangkok, said, “The quality of primary school education is fundamental to the success of children in secondary school, university, and in life beyond. Expanding the presence in Thailand of globally reputed educational institutions at the primary school level helps cultivate great minds and great members of society at an early age.”
“It also helps elevate Thailand’s long-term competitiveness through the best education. Providing, here in Thailand, greater access to global standards of education at the primary level is an important contribution to the portfolio of education offerings for Thai citizens as well as for expatriates who have chosen to work in Thailand,” she said.
Dr. Suaphan added, “In particular, Shrewsbury has placed a very strong emphasis on its Thai language programme so that children can be as fluent in good Thai reading, writing, and speaking as they will be in English. It also opens many opportunities for linkages with the Thai education system, Thai schools, as well as Thai teachers.”
Mr. Chali Sophonpanich, Founder of Shrewsbury International School Bangkok, said, “We set out to build the best primary school in Thailand, raising the bar in primary school education and hoping to contribute to making Thailand an even more attractive investment destination for international businesses and their expatriate managers.”
According to Mr. Sophonpanich, the design of Shrewsbury’s City Campus pioneers new concepts in school layout with “technology, security, and plenty of natural greenery designed into the school from inception.”
He said, “The classrooms are laid out in cluster formation and across only three floors to foster greater connectivity between children from different classes. It helps children expand the number of people of similar age that they meet and increases the pool of children from among whom to select life-long friends.”
The youngest learners are placed in a separate zone and building exclusively for children aged 3 to 5 years. These very young children have their own dining hall and kitchens. All the facilities are designed to be age-appropriate as well as to give young children an extra layer of safety and an environment in which they can be comfortable with their peers.
“Through these special physical arrangements we aim to reinforce Shrewsbury’s reputation as a school with a strong sense of community that provides its students a friendly learning environment that will foster a lifelong passion for learning and set them up to succeed throughout their lives,” Mr. Sophonpanich said.
The new city campus is built to international best-in-class standards and has a gross floor area (GFA) of 25,000 square metres. It includes a 520-seat auditorium, a modern library, a recital hall, a dance studio, a gymnastics centre and a dining hall. The school’s 15-rai land area also contains a large physical fitness and swimming pool complex, natural turf playing fields, as well as indoor and outdoor athletics tracks.
Parents are invited to apply at www.shrewsbury.ac.th/city and to visit the on-site Welcome Centre where they may speak with the Principal, Ms. Amanda Dennison, as well as meet with teachers and experience classrooms.
Beginning in September 2018, the school is organising Open House events and activities for prospective parents. Details are available by following Shrewsbury International School Bangkok City Campus on Facebook and Twitter.
For further information, please contact:
Bangkok Public Relations Ltd.: Pathara Kwantientong
tel: 02-664-9500 ext 115
Note to the Editor
Shrewsbury School in Britain was established by Royal Charter in 1552. Its tradition of excellence reaches to the time of the great British monarch Elizabeth I, who supported its development and expansion to become one of the finest schools in Britain. It is one of Britain’s nine ‘Great Schools’ that comprise
- Shrewsbury School
- Charterhouse School, Eton College
- Westminster School
- St. Paul’s School
- Merchant Taylors’ School
- Harrow School
- Rugby School
- Winchester College
