Praht Thai School

Praht Thai School (PTS) is a trilingual co-educational school near Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. Open in 2007, PTS was set up to deliver the IC Internationalised Curriculum that was developed in Southeast Asia using the leading subject-by-subject curricula from around the world, but delivered largely in the Thai language following the requirements of the Thai National Curriculum. The curriculum imposes a fully structured and mandatory English and Chinese language learning programme commencing at kindergarten. Praht Thai School is for students from nursery (2 year-olds) through to kindergarten 1 (3 year-olds); primary school (Years 1-6) and is designed to include grades 7–12 in the school.

Praht Thai School is the first school in Thailand to be known as a "Thai International School".

Curriculum

The model of trilingual education applied at Praht Thai is known as the Praht Thai Internationalised Curriculum (PTIC). Students are taught four key subjects (mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies). Instruction is delivered with an emphasis on Thai language and cultural understanding. The infusion of the world's leading curricula from countries such as Singapore (mathematics and Chinese), the UK, the US, and Australia (social studies, science, and language arts). Praht Thai students learn (particularly in the early years) in the mother tongue (Thai) to ensure that the best level of education can be delivered without the confusion and curriculum constraints created by the so-called immersion models. Praht Thai does not believe in nor follow any form of immersion programmes as used in many bilingual or English programme schools.

In common with the better international schools, Praht Thai provides international learning and understanding for students in a form that can be easily absorbed through the enhanced Praht Thai Internationalised Curriculum. The Thai, English and Chinese lessons are taught by different teachers.

Praht Thai is a language-oriented school with a focus on advanced academics and personal development. Thai-medium lessons adhere to the standards set by curriculum developers from as far afield as Singapore, Australia, and Great Britain.

Internationalised curriculum and equivalency

Praht Thai Schools have adopted a benchmark standard called "equivalency". Through curriculum implementation and comparative analysis against major global curricula, the equivalency standard seeks to deliver a position for students whereby upon completion of schooling at a Praht Thai School, students are expected to be equally able to pursue higher education in Thai-language or English-language institutions in Thailand or abroad.

As the curriculum is based on leading subject area programmes from around the world, the curriculum becomes by default a globally equivalent standard at the highest level. By drawing on these recognised curricula IC has set an equivalency standard that will allow students the opportunity to be studying on par with the best in any subject area anywhere in the world at each age and grade level. (An example of this is the absorption of the latest Singapore MOE Mathematics curriculum into the mostly Thai-language Praht Thai Maths curriculum. Singapore's math curriculum is recognised in the past three TIMMS studies (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study conducted every four years since 1995) - ( see Timms link below)).

Language

Praht Thai is a trilingual school that has its base firmly in the native Thai language. Praht Thai teaches two other languages, English and Chinese. The English and Chinese language lessons provide complete language learning is delivered in a model designed to teach the language as well as enhance the subject matter learning encountered in the Thai delivered curriculum spectrum. This differs from the immersion models of schools where subjects are taught in English and students therefore are targeted to assume the ability of the English language in the process.

Attainment of academic and liguistic trilingualism is a strong focus of Praht Thai School system. The IC Curriculum takes the position that because of the great language distance between Thai and English, learning core subjects at a high level should be done in the mother tongue. IC highlights the importance of a strong language-learning focus in any non-Thai delivered components of the education process.

The language system used in Praht Thai follows the British genre of English curricula with input from the developments of language instruction dating as far back as the 1970s combined with modern linguistic learning technologies. Much of the course design also reflects European language training methodologies which have been used successfully throughout Europe for decades.

The education program

Praht Thai has a focus in three areas: -Academic excellence (core subjects at the highest level) -Language skills (Thai, English, and Chinese) -Personal development (Sports and creative thinking)

Learning methodologies

From kindergarten to Year 6, PTS applies a number of learning-based techniques and philosophies. These incorporate many aspects found in areas such as:

• -Brain Based Learning
• -Multiple Intelligences
• -E-Learning
• -Experiential Learning
• -Activities Learning
• -Montessori Techniques

Throughout, the school utilises regular activities designed to discover and express students' different intelligences, strengths, and talents.

Administration and staff

The school is managed by Mrs. Sumattaya Leenachunangkool with the assistance of the School Director, Mr. Aldo M Roberto and a team of Thai Directors supported by a foreign administration team. The team includes a growing academic staff comprising Thai and foreign teachers from Britain and Australia. All teachers are duly qualified teachers in their home countries with certified teaching qualifications.

References

External links

• Praht Thai School Website
• TIMMS (http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/.pdf, Page 3)