Sunflower Trilingual School: Faculty Collaboration on Homework and Assessment Practices

Sunflower Trilingual School (STS) recently brought together its full faculty—including Thai, Chinese, and English teaching teams—for a collaborative session focused on strengthening homework and assessment practices across the school. This marked a comprehensive, cross-faculty effort. The meeting was designed to establish clarity, alignment, and consistent practices in teaching and learning (“clarity,” “alignment,” and “consistency” were terms identified by faculty).

The session opened with an overview of objectives led by Headmaster Mr. Simon Gauci, outlining the purpose and direction of the work. Faculty members were then organized into grade-level groups, including lower elementary (Grades 1–6), secondary (Grades 7–9), and upper secondary (Grades 10–12), providing representation across the learning continuum. Each group included a mix of Thai, Chinese, and English faculty, supporting collaboration across languages and programmes.

Key areas of discussion included homework allocation and guidelines, balancing academic expectations with students’ home life and activities, differentiation for varying student levels, considerations around weekend homework, and time allocation in the secondary years, particularly within the MYP.

Faculty worked collaboratively to review the current draft of the school’s homework and assessment policy, examining alignment with current practices, identifying differences, and considering connections to International Baccalaureate (IB) expectations and the evolving culture of STS. Discussions focused on:

• age-appropriate homework expectations

• balance between school, home life, and activities

• differentiation across varying student levels

• weekend homework considerations

• time allocation, particularly in the secondary years and the MYP

The level of engagement throughout the session was notable. With the full faculty working together—many bringing decades of experience in education and at STS—the session reflected a strong culture of collaboration and shared purpose.

The session was supported by key members of the academic leadership team. The IB Coordinator, Ms. Gleph, and the Assistant to the Director, Mr. A, played an essential role in facilitating the workshop through group guidance and translation support. In addition, Ms. Kru Tae, Academic Head, provided academic leadership across the groups, helping to ensure clarity and focus in the discussions. The school also extends its thanks to Teacher Leo for his assistance with technology setup and the organization of the facility.

This session represents an important step toward building a cohesive and consistent learning experience for students from Grades 1 through 12. Next steps include revising the policy based on faculty feedback, submitting it to the School Director for review, and then returning it to staff for a final round of input prior to formal adoption.

More sessions of this kind will be scheduled in the months ahead, with continued full-faculty collaboration focused on developing school-wide policies and practices that strengthen clarity, alignment, and consistency across the STS learning community.