Patana News Volume 20 Issue 10

Our mission is to ensure that students of different nationalities grow to their full potential as independent learners in a caring British international community.

NEWS Patana

Friday 3rd November 2017

Volume 20 Issue 10

www.patana.ac.th

Settling Back into Bangkok Introducing new Primary Assistant Principal, Mr Mark Verde

Page 2

2017/18

Also in this issue

Cross Campus Principal Appointment / Field Studies on the Chao Phraya 03/11/2017

Bangkok Patana School News

Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit IB World School, accredited by CIS and NEASC

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Settling Back into Bangkok

Mark Verde, Primary Assistant Principal, Learning and Curriculum

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aving spent the last five years in the UK, I thought that it may take a while for my family, Gemma, Adam, Jane and I to settle back into the swing of Thailand and Bangkok life, but how wrong could I have been.

Bangkok Patana has welcomed us all, with open arms from the minute we stepped off the plane, making it so easy to quickly become part of the ‘Patana’ family and once again call Thailand our home. The friendliness of the school, staff and children has been so special. Every day that I am in a classroom, traveling through a walkway or passing by a playing area, I am surrounded by the sounds and sights of children’s chatter, laughter and wonderful smiles.

Being a part of this year’s new developments across the Primary School makes me feel proud to be involved in this stage of the school’s new growth and appreciate what a wonderful school Bangkok Patana is. The Year 3/4 building is vibrant and a hive of activity, the newly built Nursery is a sanctuary to watch the roots of the school emerge and grow into the wonderful, inspirational Senior Studies students in Years 12 and 13. As for the new Foundation Stage, I have honestly never seen anything so spectacular in my 23 years as a teacher. The thing that makes this setting so exciting is not just the wow affect the building has on anybody visiting, but more importantly, it is the learning that the teachers are creating for the children, by providing opportunities to explore, enquire and take risks. The children are constantly leading their own learning, sharing ideas 2

and collaborating with each other to provide a truly inspiring learning environment on which to build a great foundation.

I have been fortunate to watch Miss Kirsten create a dragon of children under a red floating piece of silk and enjoyed building boats in the outside classroom with Foundation Stage 1 and 2 children after a rainstorm.

One child proudly presented me with an orange play dough star – my favourite colour – that he had carefully, crafted one morning and then proceeded to confidently take me on a tour around his indoor classroom. Miss Sarah and Mr Dan’s classes invited me to run through the rain puddles with them before lunch time and proceeded to help me get very wet. And I have loved spending

“The thing that makes this setting so exciting is not just the wow affect the building has on anybody visiting, but more importantly, it is the learning that the teachers are creating for the children, by providing opportunities to explore, enquire and take risks.”

Bangkok Patana School News

03/11/2017

Cross Campus Principal Appointed Matt Mills, Head of School

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many a morning in the sand or pulling a cart filled with smiling children, around the pathway in the outside classroom.

Tiger Spirit Day has been a highlight for me – face paint, orange everywhere and all for wonderful charitable causes.

I have also enjoyed celebrating Loy Krathong today, wearing Thai dress, making Krathongs and learning about the traditions and cultures related to the special festival.

It is wonderful to be back in Bangkok and settled again as a family in Thailand – a place that Jane, Adam, Gemma and I, once again, call home.

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fter a thorough global recruitment process, I’m delighted to announce that Helen Thew has been appointed Cross-Campus Principal replacing James Penstone who is moving to a new senior role in Switzerland at the end of the academic year.

Helen has been Secondary Assistant Principal (Student Welfare) since 2005 and has just recently completed her MA in Education from Bath University in the UK. She also has a First Class Honours degree in Biochemistry from Birmingham University.

Helen is dedicated to achieving high standards for students through pastoral, academic and extra-curricular activities. She has overseen the Secondary House system since 2005 and is a huge Duke of Edinburgh International Award programme supporter. As a student Helen gained her Gold Award while at secondary school in Wales.

Helen and Rebecca Leiler attended the Antarctica 2041 expedition last year which is one of her all time highlights at Bangkok Patana thus far. She is also a very experienced scuba diver and has dived all over the world.

Helen is really looking forward to her new exciting senior role in the school and can’t wait to get started.

Bangkok Patana School News

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Leading with Our Ears Tony Berghuis, Senior Teacher, Key Stage 3 Curriculum and Assessment

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nabling all students to grow to their full potential is an ambitious challenge for any school to set for itself. Bangkok Patana is always looking to effectively assess current practice and re-shape the learning experience of its students to further support their ongoing well-being, learning, progress and attainment. Last year, we decided to lead with our ears and carry out a review of Key Stage 3 to discover more about the learning experience from those at the centre of this process: the students themselves (and their parents).

Stage one - Student Voice and Parent Voice The primary mechanism for “leading with our ears” was the use of focus groups. These focus groups provided over 200 Key Stage 3 students and about 60 Key Stage 3 parents the opportunity to raise and respond to wide range of learning-related topics in Years 7, 8, and 9 in direct conversation with me. The conversations ranged across a wide spectrum of learning-related topics, tending to fall into three broad categories: Assessment, Home Learning, and Communication.

In addition to focus groups, a small number of surveys were completed by Key Stage 3 students and parents. The most detailed of these surveys gathered responses from almost 500 Key Stage 3 students to help reveal an even wider landscape for us to reflect upon.

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Stage two - Teacher Voice The most common student and parent feedback was shared with all Secondary teachers who then shared their thoughts on how subsequent practice could enhance and support the Key Stage 3 student experience where possible.

Stage three - Implementation As of the start of this academic year, and in direct response to the full range of feedback and reflection from Key Stage 3 students, parents and teachers, baseline expectations in Key Stage 3 have been shared and clarified with all Secondary teachers. Additionally, these expectations have been shared via Firefly with all Key Stage 3 students and parents,and they outline the support Key Stage 3 students can expect from their teachers.

Bangkok Patana School News

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Stage four - Embedding The baseline expectations address the most commonly identified areas of need with respect to further supporting our Key Stage 3 students. Judging by the feedback we have received from parents and students so far this term, there has been a noticeable, positive shift in the learning experience of our Key Stage 3 students, particularly with regards to Home Learning.

Continuing to support teachers to ensure baseline Key Stage 3 expectations become embedded practice is the final stage in this review process.

A particular focus, as we move forward, will be

to continue to value and develop opportunities for student “voice”, and to also grow student “agency” - where students take a genuinely active role in discussions and decisions about their learning. This year, for example, some of our student representative bodies such as the Junior Student Representative Council (JSRC) and the Junior Delegates have demonstrated positive engagement in sharing constructive feedback about curriculum and assessment issues including the baseline expectations. Building on this, the opportunity for all Key Stage 3 students to offer feedback on their learning experience will continue throughout the year.

Our school vision articulates Bangkok Patana’s commitment towards developing “global citizens who shape their world through independence, empathy, creativity, and critical thinking” - and this includes enabling our Key Stage 3 students to actively inform and shape their learning experience, have fun, and fulfil their potential.

All parents and students are welcome to view the main topics raised and reflected upon throughout last year’s Key Stage 3 review process - and the baseline KS3 expectations as communicated to teachers and students - in Firefly here: https://community.patana.ac.th/ curriculum-1/ks3-curriculum/ks3-curriculum-and-assessment-faq

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Bangkok Patana School News

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Ror Dor students participate in Royal Cremation at BITEC Bangna

Bangkok Patana Thai Department

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n 26th October, a group of Ror Dor students from Bangkok Patana were at BITEC Bangna together with other Thai people to provide assistance to the community as thousands of people came to lay sandalwood flowers for the Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The Ror Dor programme is an optional Thai military service programme for male Thai students. As part of the community service element of their training, the students started their day at 4:00am and were there to assist people, clean up and serve water and food to those who waited in the line to pay their respects.

Click on the link to watch a local news report with interviews with our students https://youtu.be/1Nl0CaxxB98

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Bangkok Patana School News

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#73 The Screen Time Debate I don’t know if your household is like mine, but it seems as though things that were ‘boring’ have now become much more interesting. Since using the STEM material from my #72 tip Hot Wheels and Lego have become the most popular toys in the house. Here’s a little video my boys made of their endeavours.

The screen time debate continues and I urge you to read and listen to some of the advice coming from the American Academy of Paediatrics when it comes to appropriate levels of screen time for different ages. I really like the phrase “lap time over app time”.

For me it’s not really about the quantity; it’s the quality that is important. There is a recent TED talk called ‘3 fears about screen time for kids - and why they’re not true’ by Sara DeWitt, exploring the learning potential of technology and urging us not to focus on the negative. Watch it here and let me know what you think.

Have a great weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

Upcoming University Visits University / College

MCPHS - Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University of Nottingham University of British Columbia Assumption University Open House 2017 Bangkok Patana University Fair

Country Rep

US UK Canada

Rene Cabrera Dr Thanaset Jeff Kiyooka

Location

Date

Time

Senior Studies, 2nd floor 06.11.17 12:15 SEC 302 Senior Studies, 2nd floor Assumption University, Suvarnabhumi Campus Conference Centre

07.11.17 12:15 08.11.17 12:15 09.11.17 09:00 09.11.17 11:30

See page 16 for more information about the Bangkok Patana University Fair 03/11/2017

Bangkok Patana School News

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House Build in Rayong Theodore Bien, 12J

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very year the CAT Club Habitat for Humanity sponsors and builds a house. This year the Habitat team of 27 (24 students and three teachers) went to Rayong to build a house for a large family of nine. On the build site, we worked closely with local Habitat for Humanity volunteers who taught us specific techniques such as cement mixing and bricklaying. We also received help from two non-Habitat volunteers; Habitat for Humanity had previously built houses for the families of these two men and they wished to repay the club by helping to build this house. This is just one example of the impact that Habitat for Humanity has on communities, allowing for strong bonds to grow in which people volunteer to help each other out.

Overall, the build was extremely successful. The smaller house size and the large athletic group of volunteers meant that work each day was extremely fast and efficient. On the first day we started laying bricks, which is practically unheard of and doesn’t normally start until the third day. Similarly, in only four days we were able to finish four out of the five walls, which is extremely im8

pressive as the time taken to build a house is normally at least five days.

The build trip was not all work; the Habitat members, from Years 11 to 13, interacted with one another and formed close bonds. Before the trip many of us only knew each other in passing or not at all, but after the four days we were all friends and comfortable around one another. Habitat for Humanity not only brings the communities we work in closer together, but also the build volunteers as well. ​

Bangkok Patana School News

03/11/2017

Field Studies on the Chao Phraya Alexander (Coke) Smith, Secondary Environmental Systems and Societies Teacher

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ust before Half Term break, our Year 13 Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) students participated in a fascinating field study on Bangkok’s own Chao Phraya River. Mr Smith’s ESS students put in to practice actual skills and techniques they have learned in class. Students studied both river biodiversity and overall water quality in various areas of the Chao Phraya.

As one of the world’s most polluted rivers, the Chao Phraya provides our students an unparalleled opportunity to study water quality and human impact on a vital aquatic system. During their full day on the “Barge”, our

students focused on such factors as dissolved oxygen, phosphate and nitrate inputs as well as biological oxygen demand and fecal coliform bacterial counts.

Through their studies, our young environmental scientists confirmed that our river is in fact very heavily and negatively influenced by human activities and pollution. This generated a very fruitful discussion and data analysis lesson where students critically analysed the data and what steps would need to be taken in order to solve some of the serious environmental issues facing our river.

Term 2 2017/18 School Fee Invoices Invoices for school fees for Term 2 2017/18 were sent to families/companies on Wednesday 1st November 2017. If you have not received your invoice please contact Accounting Department or email to accounts@patana.ac.th Please note that the due date for settlement is on Friday 1st December 2017 and payments received after this date will be subject to a late payment charge of 1% per month.

Thank you, Accounting Department

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Bangkok Patana School News

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the m o r f t s The late

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PTG

Bangkok Patana School News

Click here to join the PTG Facebook page

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Bangkok Patana School News

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CATs Corner Tania Leyland, Youth Club and Community Services Coordinator

Manta Ray Coral Structure Design

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very year we build a structure which we are able to submerge into the ocean, becoming a building block for coral to grow.

This increases the marine biodiversity of that area. The island which we chose to put our structures in have the best conditions for this project, there isn’t a large current and the sea temperatures are optimal. Also, the seabed is shallow enough for the most sunlight; however, it is still deep enough to avoid fishing/ tourist boats. These conditions allow new coral to grow and replace old coral which has died or is damaged. As a CAT Club we vote on which design we prefer. After this is it passed on to our design team who spend time after

school and during lunch to create the structure. Our design team leader is in Senior Studies and other students who take DT in younger years are also a part of the team, many of the students have a good understanding of angles to help create the design. Then during our November dive trip, which anyone who has a diving license is allowed to come on, we team up with Mermaids Dive Center to place our animal into the sea. It is placed in the same area as the other structures which allows us to observe the progress made.

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n behalf of Hand2Heart, we would like to sincerely thank the Bangkok Patana Community for their generosity and kind donations. We have recently collected in the entire second hand trainer donation, which many of you dropped off at the pink box displayed at the front of school from the 26th September to 6th October, and over this short period we were fortunate enough to receive an astounding amount of over 70 pairs of trainers! Ranging from infant trainers less than 5cm wide to the latest Nike Flyknits, this Christmas all of these trainers will be donated to the Camillian Social Center Rayong, which provides healthcare and a homes for underprivileged children suffering from HIV / AIDS in Thailand. Your small acts of kindness will be greatly appreciated by all. Once again, thank you very much to everyone who contributed.

Lou Lou Schneider, Head of Marketing, Momoji Uji, Event Manager, Sarina Sugita, Event Manager

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or the celebration of World Food Day on October 16th, we organised a rice bag lifting competition in order to raise awareness on world hunger. Students and teachers were invited to test their strength to see how many rice bags they could lift. We decided to introduce this activity in hope that students would be able to comprehend the hardship many individuals suffer through in order to get their weekly rice dosage. Participants struggled to lift up large number of bags; and we hope this struggle helped them realise how privileged they are to be fed properly. Overall, this event was extremely successful and helped promote WFP to younger students from the school. All lifted rice bags were then given to the local community. We look forward to receive as much support in our upcoming Christmas Food Drive! Julia Verstraete, Year 13

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Bangkok Patana School News

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Diary for your

Musical Dates

10th November Patana Plugged 13th December Christmas Concert 8th February Patana Classic 21st March Patana Jazz and Blues 4th April Patana Unplugged 6th June Patana United Keep your eyes peeled for more information about each concert.

Royal British Legion

Poppy Appeal W

e are supporting the Royal British Legion and their annual Poppy Appeal again this year. You can make your donation and pick up poppies at Reception, the Secondary Office and Primary Office from now until 12th November. In past years, Bangkok Patana School has been a big supporter of the Poppy Appeal, and we are proud to support the Legion again this year.

Last year, Thailand members and helpers raised a grand total of 1.4m THB which consisted of over 250,000 THB from Bangkok and almost 171,000 THB just from schools! Thailand was also the second biggest overseas collecting branch globally and over 400,000 THB was spent in Thailand on supporting veterans, serving personnel and their families – as well as over 130, 000 THB to Thai veterans.

On behalf of the Royal British Legion in Bangkok, thanks in advance for your support.

To read more click here.

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Bangkok Patana School News

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Tiger Teams competing this weekend!

Please wish all of our competing sports teams and athletes the best as they take part in their respective tournaments this weekend. Come along to support them with your loudest cheers and celebrations!

SEASAC

Bangkok Patana School is hosting 16 teams for the SEASAC Football Division 1 Championship, our tigers will be playing at the sports complex from today until Sunday with the first matches starting at 8am.

ACCESS THE TIGER SPORTS PAGE ON FIREFLY FOR SCHEDULES here

bisac

Saturday 4th November

Junior Varsity GIRLS’ FOOTBALL @ ICS GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL @ RIS

Under 15 BOYS’ BASKETBALL @ ICS GIRLS’ BASKETBALL @ SHB BOYS’ RUGBY @ ISB GIRLS’ TOUCH @ ISB

Varsity Boys’ Football

Varsity Girls’ Football

Under 13 BOYS’ BASKETBALL @ ASB GIRLS’ BASKETBALL @ HIS

Varsity Volleyball Both teams are away at UWCE, Singapore

Sunday 5th November

Junior Varsity BOYS’ FOOTBALL @ SHB BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL @ RIS

SEason 2 sports tryouts begin monday 6th november

To our aspiring Season 2 athletes, the Athletics Council wishes you the best of luck at your tryouts, have fun and try your hardest. Be proud but humble, no matter the outcome. Go Tigers!

Keep up

with the action...

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@bps_athletics _council

@BPSSPORTS

@BPSSPORTS

Tiger Sports Teams Bangkok Patana School News

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Swim Extreme Richard Molloy , Head Swim Coach

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n Saturday 7th October, the TigerSharks turned up in mass to compete at the second NIST Falcons Swim Extreme competition. With swimmers from all over Bangkok, the team excelled and came away as overall Team Champions for the first time. Sadly, the meet was hit badly by a thunder storm so many swimmers missed out on their favourite events if they were planned for the afternoon.

The team also benefitted from some outstanding individual performances which helped swimmer earn ‘top in age group’ honours. Those TigerSharks swimmers were: 8 and under Girls: Sara Hutchinson =2nd 8 and under Boys: Schlok Somani 2nd 9 years Boys: Finn Eastwood 2nd 10 years Girls: Nicha Tongdee =2nd 11 years Boys: Gabe McCartan 1st, Justin Changbencharoen 3rd 12 years Boys: Max Stockdale 3rd 13 years Boys: Puddy Boonkongchuen 1st 14 years Girls: Mi Sol Cheung 1st, Kaitlyn Dibbayawan 2nd 14 years Boys: Daniel Fuchs 3rd 15+ Girls: Jasmina Barron =1st

Well done to all of the swimmers who took part, more than 100 of them! Next up for the TigerSharks will be the ISB Swim Fest in November. Lots more FAST Swimming to come!

Click here for the Canteen Menu 03/11/2017

Bangkok Patana School News

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University Fair 2017

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Bangkok Patana School News

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Many thanks for your help and support, any questions please contact Sinead Horton at whysweats@hotmail.com

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Bangkok Patana School News

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Sharing New Resources Sally Flint, Head of Libraries

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arlier this year I was lucky enough to attend the 80th anniversary of the Schools’ Library Association.

It was a wonderful event with visiting speakers including the UK children’s laureate Lauren Child, along with other prominent writers and illustrators such as Chris Riddell and even David Almond. Without exception they talked about the huge loss to UK society that all the library closures and poor budgets in the UK are bringing. It really brought home to me how well equipped our libraries are and how we have such fantastic support from our school leaders, who believe that our libraries should always be central in a school community.

It is then with a real sense of gratitude about how lucky we are, that I share with you our new arrivals for November. We have of late hugely increased our parents’ collection so do pop in our Secondary Library and take a look. We have both professional development texts and picture books available on many parenting topics. They range from collections on mindfulness to child safety, to exploring grief, to understanding and being transgender, to managing special educational needs. If you do have suggestions for titles that we don’t have or areas you think we may have overlooked please don’t hesitate to contact me on safl@patana.ac.th.

New in at the Library Early Years Library

Primary Library

Secondary Library

Fiction

Fiction

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Non-Fiction

Senior Fiction

Comic Books

Graphic Novels

Non-Fiction

Parents’ Collection

Teachers’ Collection

Did you know that we also subscribe to these magazines?

Dates for your Diary...

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Friday 10th November Patana Plugged Friday 17th November Farmers’ Market Saturday 25th November Ploenchit Fair Wednesday 29th November International Day Weds 6th - Thurs 7th December Shrek Jr. The Musical Wednesday 13th December Christmas Concert Friday 15th December Christmas Assembly Bangkok Patana School News

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Transport Corner Weekly news from the Transport Department End of Block 1 ECAs Today is the last day of Block 1 ECAs. During the week 6th - 10th November only selective sports, Dutch, Singapore Mandarin, Danish, Thai ETP (Year 7-9), and some Secondary Drama/Music ECAs will run as well as Season 2 Sports Tryouts. Please note there will only be 2:30pm and 4:30pm buses.

If you are unsure if your ECA activity is running please contact the ECA teacher/ provider. All students not involved in the specific ECAs above will be put on their normal 2:30pm bus home.

SEASON 2 SPORT TRYOUTS Secondary students who plan to participate in Season 2 Sports Tryouts should have signed up to do so already. If you have not yet informed Transport to cancel or change your bus on the day you will attend a tryout, please remember to do so as soon as possible. Please note that there will be a limited number of 4:30pm buses running and late requests are subject to both route and seat availability.

ECAs Block 2 Transport will be amended according to each students ECA confirmed selections. Please ensure that you are aware of what ECAS your children will attend for Block 2.

Primary students ECAs will commence on Monday 13th November, Secondary student ECAs will commence on Monday 20th November. Please note that any activity that finishes after 4:45pm will require private Transport arrangements home. If you make any late changes to Block 2 ECAs please ensure that you inform the Transport Office.

Secondary Residential Visits Please plan ahead and inform Transport if you know you will bring your child to school on the morning of departure of your child’s Secondary Residential Visit (Monday 13th November).

Transport on Monday 13th November will run as normal for Secondary students so please help to avoid unnecessary delays to other bus users by cancelling the bus for your child and any siblings if applicable.

When students return on Friday 17th November all afternoon transport home has been cancelled. If you would like your child to take the bus home on this day please ensure that you inform Transport in advance.

Year 11 and 13 Trial Exams Normal Transport service to and from school will operate for Year 11 and 13 students. Please note that not all changes and additional requests can be accommodated due to limited bus routes for the week of 13th-17th November, so please inform Transport of any changes as soon as possible. All requests are subject to route and seat availability.

Contact Us

Direct phone: 02 785 2470 Email transport@patana.ac.th The office is staffed from 6:00am - 6:00pm Monday to Friday.

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Community

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Community

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Community

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Community

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Community

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For daily updates, snapshots and news on life at school you can find us here...

643 Lasalle Road (Sukhumvit 105) Bangna, Bangkok 10260. THAILAND Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Fax: +66 (0) 2785 2399 www.patana.ac.th Email: reception@patana.ac.th 26

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