One of the leading premium international schools in Thailand, emphasising all-round education and preparing students for world-class universities
Denla British School (DBS) is a leading international school that bases its teaching on the British independent school curriculum, which is considered as the best in the world. It is located on 24 acres of land (60 rai) on Ratchaphruek Road, Bangkok. DBS reinforces its reputation as a premium international school, laying a multi-dimensional foundation for learning and development for its students, as well as continuing to expand its facilities to cover 40 locations throughout the school. DBS aims to bring out students’ potential, which includes academic, musical, sporting, and leadership skills development.
Outstanding and different with The Unique DBS Vision
Mr Mark McVeigh, Principal of Denla British School, who is an expert in education and has all-round experience from leading schools in England and South East Asia, comments that, “DBS has been created from a vision of “Nurturing Global Leaders” that aims to promote educational excellence and acquisition of life skills, such as teamwork, communication and leadership in a happy and enthusiastic environment.” To build and support students’ successes, DBS operates with the 4 pillars of The Unique DBS Vision, which are An Enhanced British Curriculum, Academic Excellence for All, Entrepreneurship and Creative Thinking, and Community and Global Perspectives. By operating with these principles in mind, students make significant improvement in all areas. DBS students have won various academic awards, as well as prizes from other activities and sports (non-academic awards), both individually and as part of a team. DBS already has a reputation as a leading international school that encourages future leaders and entrepreneurs. Currently, DBS provides courses from Pre-EY to Year 9 (Pre-Kindergarten to Matthayom 2).
The curriculum from British independent schools is considered the best UK curriculum.
The British international study programme is the most popular curriculum in the world. According to the International School Market Research and Trends, there are over 3,500 schools from around 10,000 schools worldwide (over 30%), that used the UK curriculum in 2018. All use the English National Curriculum, and the best enhance this based on the UK independent school model, which is more intense and diverse, and is therefore considered to be better.
“DBS is one of very few international schools in Bangkok that is modelled on the UK independent school curriculum. Taught by experienced and 100% native English speakers, this independent UK curriculum many advantages, including the focus on personalised learning. This is a teaching method that concentrates on encouragement and adapting the teaching method to each student, according to their skills and preferences. Approaches vary from specific teaching for each individual, to teaching in small groups, with teachers and their assistants supervising the entire process. Importantly, the school is not only known for its academic excellence, but also encourages a well-rounded education so that children can explore and discover their own talents,” Mr McVeigh adds.
Many people are not aware that students need an all-round education, as well as IGCSE and A Level qualifications, to enter the world’s top universities. Mr McVeigh also adds that, “students in Year 13 are nearing their graduation from Senior School, and are approaching a very important period of preparation for the A Level examinations. Eligibility for world-renowned universities, either in the UK, US, or anywhere else in the world, requires good academic qualifications and life skills, such as leadership, teamwork and communication. These special talents can’t be cultivated overnight, but have to be developed from childhood. With the outstanding feature of an independent UK school curriculum, including an additional 1.5 hours of learning and teaching (also known as the Extended Day system), students at DBS study more than other international schools at no additional cost for the parents.” Students’ time is filled with more than 40 subjects to choose from, which includes academics, robotics, music, sport, dance, cooking, and leadership courses. In this way, students can focus on their preferences and try new things, including the various clubs on offer and the time to complete their homework and prepare for the next day’s lessons. All of these activities are conducted under the close supervision of more than 60 expert teachers and assistants. This constitutes an important foundation to develop students to advance to world-class universities.
A Grade A curriculum needs to be supported by world-class facilities
What makes DBS different from most other international schools is that, with an area of over 24 acres (60 rai), we have designed a school building to properly meet the teaching and learning requirements of the enhanced curriculum. There are spacious areas, with each classroom approximately 50 % larger than other international schools, which facilitates teaching and learning to bring out the full potential of students in order to fulfil DBS’s mission of being a leading premium international school. This year, DBS has invested 30 million baht to build an additional 3rd covered sports hall to complement the existing 2 sports halls. When completed, DBS will have sports halls with a combined size of over 3,600 square metres. In addition, a giant stadium canopy is also being built to provide a sunshade for students to conduct their outdoor activities. A Café DBS is also being established, as a centre for bakery, food and beverage services for parents while waiting for their children during the day. Once all of these have been completed, DBS will be fully equipped, including the full size football field with FIFA-Preferred 2 Star turf, standard athletic track, large indoor swimming pool (salt water), gymnastics rooms, tennis courts, golf training facility, long jump pit, rugby field, 3 playgrounds, sand playground, 3 performance classrooms, 13 private music practice rooms, computer studio, science labs, library, art room, exhibition hall etc.
Excellent evaluations by ISAT and CIS
“We are proud to have exceeded the standards for membership to the International School Association of Thailand (ISAT) and Council of International School (CIS), both of which are leading organisations that assess the quality of educational standards of international schools. Teaching and learning at DBS focuses on academic strength, and all the teachers must have education degrees and teaching qualifications. All, except in Thai and Mandarin, are native English speakers, most of whom are from the UK. The teaching facilities and equipment are compatible to leading independent schools in the UK, and safety measures meet international standards. DBS encourages excellent relationships for highly effective cooperation between teachers and parents. DBS is also included in the “THE BEST INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS IN BANGKOK AND THAILAND 2019”, from the school website ranking: www.world-schools.com which compiles and ranks international schools from over 100 countries worldwide. DBS students have improved significantly in all areas since the opening of the school just over two years ago. It is clear that evaluations from prestigious international school organisations show that DBS is well placed to nurture its young leaders who will compete on the world stage, fully committed to the school’s motto; “Always to Greater Things”, Mr McVeigh concludes.
