Shrewsbury’s calendar is full events which bring the community together in celebration. Some of these events celebrate the diverse cultural heritage of our international community. Starting with our very youngest students, Shrewsbury emphasizes the importance of tolerance, understanding and respect for different cultures and religions. The Parents Association is often asked to coordinate parent volunteers to help support these events – helping to decorate the school or distribute festive snacks.
For many of these events, students, staff and parents alike get into the spirit by wearing clothes or costumes which represent that event. For example, Chinese New Year sees an array of traditional red and gold Chinese costumes around the school. Parents can provide specific support to their own child by helping to buy, borrow or make costumes in advance. Many other events which are specific to certain year groups (related to learning topics or year group productions) also require costumes to be prepared in advance, and it is important for parents to understand what events are coming up in order to plan for these and ensure that their own child feels fully involved and engaged in the event.
Suitable materials and outfits can be found across Bangkok – and with a little creativity, simple household items or old clothes can often be transformed into an authentic costume at very little expense. Many parents are also willing to lend or donate costumes which their own children have now outgrown. Class representatives or Committee members are well placed to steer fellow parents in the right direction.
The school calendar (parent portal), communication books (Junior School) or the school’s mass media channels – newsletters, twitter, facebook etc – are used to remind parents about upcoming events where they can help their child or offer support to wider community celebrations. The specific timing and requirements of each event changes from year to year, but for the information below will give new parents an idea of the kind of events that come up every year.
WHOLE COMMUNITY EVENTS – GENERAL OUTLINE (may change from year to year)
TERM 1
DIWALI (Hindu Festival of Light). Junior students may wear traditional Indian costume. These are easily found in Bangkok’s China Town district, the Old Siam shopping mall at Pahurat (little India) and the area around it. The Parents Association often help decorate the Morris Forum, make and distribute Indian snacks, or even help to choreograph dances in the Diwali celebration assemblies.
WORLD PEACE DAY. Junior students may wear blue and white clothing items.
WORLD AIDS DAY. Junior students may wear pink and white clothing items.
LOY KRATHONG. Junior and Senior students may wear traditional Thai costume. These are easily found in Bangkok’s China Town district, The Old Siam shopping mall at Pahurat (little India) and the area around it.
THAI KING’S BIRTHDAY. Junior and Senior students may wear a shirt with the King’s crest and in the King’s colour (yellow). These are easily found in Bangkok’s China Town district, or at Tesco Lotus (Rama 3).
TERM 2
CHINESE NEW YEAR: Junior students may wear traditional Chinese costume. These are easily found in Bangkok’s China Town district, or at Tesco Lotus (Rama 3). The Parents Association often help decorate the Morris Forum, and help to make and distribute Chinese snacks.
BOOK WEEK: Children dress as their favourite book characters, or even as the book itself! An opportunity for children and their parents to get creative!
SONGKRAN (Thai New Year): Junior and Senior students may wear traditional Songkran Shirts. Bright and flowery! These are easily found in Bangkok’s China Town district, or at Tesco Lotus (Rama 3).
TERM 3
SHREWSBURY FUN RUN: Runners can wear T-shirts that are designed and sold by the school with proceeds going to the school’s charity partners. A different design is produced each year.
JUNIOR SCHOOL YEAR GROUP EVENTS
In addition to the whole community events, there are also a number of other days throughout the year where different Junior School year groups may dress up as part of their topic learning or as part of a year group production.
TOPIC DAYS:
For topic days, the type of costume depend on the topic at the time but recent examples have included: animals, superheroes and fairytale characters (Early Years), Space and Robots (Pre-Prep), Romans (Year 3), India Day (Year 4), Ancient Greece (Year 5) and The Second World War (Year 6). Suitable materials and outfits can be found across Bangkok – and with a little creativity, simple household items or old clothes can often be transformed into an authentic costume at very little expense.
YEAR GROUP PRODUCTIONS:
For year group productions, where costumes have to be prepared for specific roles in a play or musical, the making of costumes is usually coordinated by a group of class representatives. Parents are asked to make a contribution towards the cost of materials and making of their own child’s costume by others.
