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About Phuket International Academy Day School

PIADS is a Nursery to Grade 8 (and by 2012, up to Grade 12) international school and is aspiring to become a three programme International Baccalaureate World School, promoting an international education for a sustainable future. The programme comprises of Primary School (ages 5-12 years), a Middle School (ages 11-16 years) and the Diploma Programme (ages 16-19 years). Additionally PIADS welcomes younger children into the Early Childhood Programme (ages 18 months – 4 years).

  • PIADS forms part of the Phuket International Academy, situated on an extensive campus nestled on the boundary of a mountainous national park on the north east of Phuket Island. Phuket International Academy is a dynamic and innovative institution uniquely composed of three separate centres: PIADS, PIASLC and PIAMC:
  • PIASLC - Phuket International Academy Sports and Leisure Club, not only provides facilities and expertise to develop elite performance in sports, foster creativity in the arts, and promote a balanced approach to personal wellness, but also provides an outstanding focus for community recreational involvement.
  • PIAMC - Phuket International Academy Mind Centre explores the potential of the human mind through the interface of neuro-scientific research and the ancient wisdom of the meditative traditions.

Together as the Phuket International Academy, the interplay of these three centres represents a unique approach to the integrated cultivation of body, mind and spirit, such that the impact of the Academy as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts; an institution that contributes to developing flourishing individuals in an increasingly sustainable world.

PHUKET INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY DAY SCHOOL MISSION

The Phuket International Academy Day School (PIADS) is aspiring to become a three programme International Baccalaureate World School, and will draw on the uniqueness of Asian culture and the best from Western educational traditions, developing inquiring, knowledgeable, compassionate young people who know how to live with integrity, cultivate genuine happiness, and strive to create a more peaceful and sustainable world.

LISTER HANNAH - EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

Mr Lister Hannah was appointed to the position of Executive Chairman of the Board for PIA Day School in mid 2009, to oversee the strengthening of the present governance and management of the school, and also clarifying and consolidating the strategic direction for developing PIADS as a world-class International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum school. He will be working closely with Robin Klymow, Acting Head of School.

Lister brings with him a distinguished record as an international educator. An Australian, he has been in education for over forty years, 34 of which have been heading schools on five continents. These include a Canadian high school and then the first IB school in Africa in the seventies; followed then by a principalship at the United Nations International School, New York, the headmastership of Munich International School, Germany, and Geelong Grammar School, Australia, in the eighties and nineties.

In 2000 he became the Founding President of the highly regarded Prem Tinsulanonda Centre for International Education (Prem Centre) in Chiang Mai. He retired from this position in 2006 but retains close ties with the Prem Centre, and is also a consultant with a number of schools and projects in Asia.

Lister has been involved with all three IB Programmes (the Diploma, Middle Years and Primary Years) since the mid-1970s, and has been instrumental in also founding two now fully-IB schools, the Bavarian International School, Germany, and the Prem Tinsulanonda International School, Prem Centre. He has also participated in and led many teams accrediting international schools world-wide.

He has a deep and long-standing interest in educating for a sustainable future and is a Senior Associate with the sustainability-focused AtKisson Group of consultants. Consistent with this interest, he sees the particular potential in international schools for promoting environmental and intercultural understanding, especially in valuing not only what we can learn from the West but also from Asian and other civilisations.

MESSAGE FROM THE ACTING HEAD OF SCHOOL, ROBIN KLYMOW

I feel most privileged to be working at this school, which certainly is exhibiting unique characteristics. Having worked in international schools for over 20 years now,  I can already see that PIA is striving to become a school that is living its mission.

As a small school, we are able to give that attention to detail that is so necessary for our students today.  As an international school implementing the International Baccalaureate Programmes in the Primary and Middle Years, we are developing what is now recognized as one of the most appropriate educational curriculum models available. With a unique combination of inquiry, academic rigour and assessment students develop skills, knowledge, understanding and responsibilities that make them able to deal with this constantly changing world.

The school has a strong team of teachers whose skills, experience and training will be invaluable to the development PIA and it students. 
With an international body of educators, we aim to instill in our students and our selves the elements of the PIA Mission Statement and the International Baccalaureate’s commitment to international mindedness and the Social and Emotional strategies that are so significant in creating well-balanced life long learners.

Furthermore, the school does have a unique capacity that I would argue no other international school can match or has the current capacity to deliver. That is in the field of Social and Emotional Learning. With the Mind Centre adjacent to the school educators in PIA have access to the latest research and evidence in the field of SEL. Evidence clearly shows that those involved in SEL do develop an enhanced and more focused academic performance. We will certainly be developing strands of SEL with our students through this academic year.