by Mr Justin Byers, Deputy Head of Primary
LANNA has been part of the wonderful Chiang Mai community for close to 35 years. Since its inception, our school has prided itself on being a caring community. At the core of this community is our student population, an amazing group of motivated students who are excited to come to school each & every day.
LANNA focuses a lot of attention on student agency & creating future leaders who possess the skills necessary to be successful in an ever changing world. We are delighted to be finalists in the 2026 ASEAN Awards for Student Leadership.
In LANNA Primary specifically, one of the ways we are nurturing our students to develop these skills is through our Student Leadership programmes. Currently, we have three main programmes:
- House Captains (& Junior House Captains)
- Student Leadership Council (SLC)
- Digital Leaders
These programmes allow students to develop their leadership skills, social skills & most importantly make an impact on the school community & culture. The more students have a say in what happens here at LANNA, the more they feel valued which increases self-esteem, pride & confidence. In our Personal, Social, Health & Economic curriculum (‘PSHE’) all of these skills are taught from Primary Years 1 to 6, however, leadership opportunities allow for students to develop them even more.
In February 2026, 50 students – House Captains, SLC & Digital Leaders were invited to participate in the first ever Primary Student Leadership Camp in Demuth Hall. They were given the opportunity to experience different activities which promoted student leadership.
- Ms Tara & Ms Naw led several trust activities which showed how important trust & responsibility is for leaders;
- Ms Jacqui & Ms Sascha ran several team building activities which gave students an opportunity to see how important it is to work together to accomplish a common goal;
- Mr Craig led a communication activity where students learnt the importance of listening to build communication skills;
- Mr John Watson (from Secondary) led students in a public speaking activity in preparation for many of our students to move into Debating & Model United Nations activities in Secondary.
Finally, our Primary students had a chance to meet the leaders of our school, including Mr Neil (Head of School), Kru Dear (School Director), Khun Surin (Founder), Ms Sascha (Head of Curriculum & Learning Innovation), Ms Davina (PTO President) & several student leaders from Secondary to learn about what leadership means to them.
At the end of this wonderful morning, our students met in their teams to plan out the rest of the year for their teams (House Captains, SLC & Digital Leaders). All students were then presented with a certificate from Mr Neil (Head of School) to honour their hard work & commitment to learning about leadership.
This Primary Student Leadership Camp is just one example of many of the wonderful opportunities our LANNA students have to be part of a community, build their skills & develop their self-confidence & self–esteem. These are essential for our students to be successful in this fast-paced, ever-changing 21st Century.
Next year, we hope to repeat the success of our first Primary Student Leadership Camp.
Onwards & upwards, LANNA Primary leaders!