Patana News Volume 20 Issue 16

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 12th January 2018

Volume 20 Issue 16

www.patana.ac.th

The Monthly Blog

A round up of news from Head of School, Mr Mills Page 2

2017/18

Also in this issue

Roong Aroon Visit / FOBISIA Coding Challenge / Nurturing Greatness 12/01/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

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

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A New Year and a New Term

Happy New Year to all of our Bangkok Patana School community!

I do hope you had an enjoyable Christmas break and had lots of family time. My son Jake and I stayed in Bangkok for the holiday and enjoyed the slightly cooler climate especially just after school broke up and even experienced three days of light rain which is unusual at that time of the year. I enjoyed lots of regular walks in Benjakitti Park and read an excellent book on “Why we Sleep” by Matthew Walker. He is a Professor of Neuroscience at University of California, Berkeley and is a sleep guru. There is lots of data on the key negative influences to sleep like high alcohol consumption and caffeine but he has now done research incorporating 21st century influences impacting sleep including a wide range of technology devices. The key takeaway for me was your body only really heals when you are asleep. I’m so thankful that I’m a regular ‘eight hours sleep a night’ boy which Walker says for an adult is the minimum requirement!

Keeping the Focus is Key

Term 2 will go by very fast, which is always normal in international schools following on from a very long Term 1. For those parents who have children in either Year 11 or 13, it is a critical time for students to stay absolutely focused and keep a consistent eye on their key tasks and targets as their external examinations loom ever closer. Actually, research shows that this time of the academic year is when students to start to lose focus and their efforts can start to slacken. It is an important time for parents to give their children that extra bit of support, lots of praise and generally help them keep up to date and on track. Believe me it will all be so worth it once the academic year concludes.

Important People in the Patana Family

A selection of very important people in our school organisation who you may not know that well but their impact on the school is enormous. This month, I interviewed Boonchai Thippaya-archa, our IS/IT Manager.

Khun Boonchai was born in Bangkok and has been our IS/IT Manager since 2012. He attended Suankularb Wittayalai school here in Bangkok. He attended Kasetsart University, studying Electrical Engineering and gaining a Bachelor’s degree with first class Honours. Khun Boonchai is married to Mrs Ramida Chaonuam who works at Kiatnakin Bank as Assistant Vice President. Prior to working at Bangkok Patana School, he held positions at Progress Software Co., Ltd (Subsidiary of KBank), as the Senior Manager. He also worked at Holcim Services Asia Ltd as the Regional IT Infrastructure Manager. Khun Boonchai loves traveling and exploring for new restaurants. His top achievement at Bangkok Patana so far is his role in designing and implementing the IT architecture which includes Firefly, iSAMS, BPSnet, MS AX, HRMi and the Patana card (Smart card).

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Bangkok Patana School News

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Admissions

On the Admissions front, Rachel Jones our Head of Admissions, informs me that we have a total of 72 new students enrolled to start in Terms 2 and 3 with a grand total of 2,260 students attending our school. A very warm welcome to all of our new students and families that are joining us this term, we hope you have a very positive learning experience at our fabulous school.

On Monday 8th January, we had an orientation for our new starters and had 41 Primary students in the morning and 16 new Secondary students arrive in the afternoon. They got to meet their teachers/ Heads of Year, were shown around their learning environments and completed Admissions formalities ready to start school on Tuesday 9th January. The new students seem to have settled in well to their new learning environ and have started to make new friends already, which is so important.

Recruitment

It’s that time of the year again when the Principals and myself start to focus on making sure we fill all of our teaching vacancies for the next academic year. We have 14 Primary vacancies and 19 Secondary vacancies that include a new Primary EAL teacher position and a new Secondary Science position, which was approved by the Foundation Board in early December. Mr Cooper, Mr Smith and myself will fly to the UK today where we will interview top candidates from the UK and Europe. We have also conducted a number of interviews at school interviewing candidates based in South East Asia.

Being a teacher in the 21st Century is a very challenging task! It demands a broad knowledge of subject matter, curriculum and standards, enthusiasm, a caring attitude and a love of learning; knowledge of positive discipline and classroom management techniques, having an ongoing desire to up skill with modern technology tools that are ever-changing and an intrinsic desire to make a difference in the lives of young people. When we are interviewing prospective teachers to join Bangkok Patana, we are looking for all of the above; passionate professionals that are willing to go over and beyond to make sure that our students really do reach their full potential as Global 21st century learners.

James Penstone will be Acting Head of School during my absence and I will be back in my office on Friday 26th January. Mr Cooper and I are confident that we will probably fill all of the Primary vacancies during our January recruitment trip but it’s highly likely that Mr Smith and I will return to the UK for a second round of Secondary interviews for a week in late March.

It’s not all about the STEM subjects

Over the holiday period, I read an interesting article in the Washington Post written by Cathy N. Davidson, founding director of the Futures Initiative. She quotes two recent studies on workplace success that showed that the regular expected 21st century learning skills focusing on what we call the STEM subjects, science, technology, engineering and mathematics did not equate to total workplace success. Project Aristotle shows that the best teams at Google exhibit a range of soft skills: equality, generosity, curiosity toward the ideas of your teammates, empathy, and emotional intelligence. This is so important and relevant to what we are teaching our students in the classroom incorporating our powerful values statements and our current focus on Global citizenship. Enjoy reading the article.

Have a nice warm weekend here in sunny Bangkok as I head off to the Blighty and the cooler climes.

Matt Mills Head of School

12/01/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

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Roong Aroon Visit Environmental Sustainability James Penstone, Cross Campus Principal

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n Wednesday 22nd November 2017, a group of business staff, teachers and Primary and Secondary students visited Roong Aroon School in west Bangkok as part of our ongoing commitment to increasing environmental sustainability here at school. The main aim of the trip was to observe how we could develop environmental projects, especially recycling, at Bangkok Patana in the future.

A half-day visit contributed to greater environmental awareness and provided an excellent learning opportunity on the Waste Management Systems which Roong Arron have so thoroughly implemented. Several integrated environmental solutions were shared by Roong Aroon’s students, staff and a parent, with special focus on: • Converting food waste from the school kitchen into compost for the gardens • Ensuing ‘Waste-free’ classrooms from Kindergarten to Secondary school • Providing a genuinely ‘Zero Waste’ approach throughout the school where all members of the community are actively involved in refusing, reducing, reusing and recycling At the end of the day, on returning to our school, our staff and students participated in a discussion to develop better understanding from the examples seen in practice and to begin discussion on better ways to manage waste in the Bangkok Patana community.

Our sincere thanks to the Roong Aroon school, with whom we hope to build a long-lasting partnership.

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Bangkok Patana School News

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Minato and Elsie shared what they had learnt on the visit to Roong Aroon to the Key Stage 2 assembly at the end of Term 1. Here the girls tell us more about what they got from the visit: “On the day of the Bring Buy Bake Sale, Minato and Elsie as well as Secondary students, teachers and business staff went on a trip to a place called Roong Aroon School. The school is famous around their community in Bangkok as they started out on a mission fifteen years ago to become environmentally sustainable. The main purpose of our trip was to study how every bit of waste cab be recycled successfully.

They do this in many ways: washing plastic, putting everything in the right bins after washing them, producing the minimum amount of food waste and not using air conditioning. Also, their buildings were efficiently made; they didn’t have a single normal trash bin; they hung up plastic neatly; and all their food waste went into the fertilising pot. In addition, effective microorganisms, also known as EM are used to speed up the process. They showed us a cycle showing how the school worked efficiently. This cycle begins with food waste like banana skin, apple skin and carrot skin. Then, that gets mixed with EM and soil. After that, worms, beetles and other insects are added to break down the waste. Then, after all the dirty stuff is finished, the soil is full of nutrition to grow vegetables and the cycle begins again.

After the trip, we had a meeting to discuss the environmental improvements to our school. We thought the most realistic thing we could improve as a school was to sort everything into the right bin EVERY TIME. We thought the second most realistic thing was to reduce the amount of food waste. Do you think our school could be like this?”

Minato Yamasaki and Elsie Griffiths, Year 5 12/01/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

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FOBISIA Coding Challenge Mun Yee Chong, Secondary Computing Teacher

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n December, over fifty students came together to explore their love of coding while taking part in the annual FOBISIA coding challenge, an internationally recognised coding competition hosted in 12 countries. This year, the challenges were divided into different key stages and levels - bronze, silver and gold. The event saw a wide variety of students attending all the way through from Key Stages 2 to Senior Studies, over the course of two days after school with many teachers as well as other members of staff attending to supervise and support the students.

“Contrary to common belief, coding is more than just a language used to hack. To be able to code is one of the most liberating experiences presented to a student as it gives them the opportunity to build anything they desire, to solve any problem they feel passionate about” explains Year 12 student Dhruv Mittal, a member of the CAS Project which organised the event. With 50 participants in attendance, this was remarkably success in its attempt to ignite the passion for coding amongst the Bangkok Patana student body.

This success was possible thanks to the efforts of “Patana Development Bank” (the CAS Project which organised the event), their supervisor Ms Mun Yee Chong as well as the contribution from various other teachers in the Computer Science department. The organising group would also like

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to thank all participants for their enthusiasm in collaborating with their teammates to tackle problems both intuitively and creatively. The outcome intended for the event was not just for students to display their computing skills but also to collaboratively develop new skills from each other whilst establishing team-working capabilities that will greatly help students in their development into working adults.

Judging by the popularity and success of the event, the CAS Project is encouraged to organise similar events later in the year to push the capabilities of even the most experienced coders in the school.

Bangkok Patana School News

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Habitat at Christmas Thanya Siamwalla, Year 12

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abitat for Humanity is an international social volunteer organisation, for which Bangkok Patana Community Action Team (CAT) members join with to conduct various social volunteer activities, one of which is annually-conducted, ‘The Build’.

Our CAT club is a very ‘hands on’ club where we are given the opportunity to build houses for families without decent living standards. Yearly, our team organises a trip to a ‘build site’ where we collaboratively construct a house from scratch, brick by brick. Throughout the year especially during the Christmas season, our team works towards raising sufficient funds necessary for the project. To finance this project, we organise fund raising events, the two most successful are during the run up to Christmas.

This year we chose to set up a gingerbread decorating stall in the Secondary Lounge. We sold gingerbread men, providing students with various icings and buttons as well as selling Christmas themed cookies and brownies all baked by the team.

As well as the Key Stage 3 and 4 students, we were also able to reach out to the Primary students at our cookie decorating stall at the Christmas Concert. There, we sold plain, ready-to-decorate cookies, brownies and gift wrapping. It was great to see the involvement and interest in our cause from the Primary students as well as the parents!

We hope you had a Habitastic year!

The Habitat Team

Dates for your Diary...

W/C 15th January Secondary Photo Week W/C 22nd January Primary Photo Week Thursday 8th February Patana Classic Saturday 10th February Fun Day Wednesday 21st March Patana Jazz and Blues

Click here for the Canteen Menu 12/01/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

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Nurturing Greatness Suzanne Lindley, Secondary Assistant Principal

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he theme of the Secondary Awards Assembly at the end of last term was “greatness”. Mrs Lindley opened the assembly by reminding students that greatness isn’t just what students do, it’s what they are – and it’s part of our role to help students to recognise that. Students’ talents need to be identified and nurtured. This is where our excellent teachers here at Bangkok Patana are key.

To focus exclusively on achievement as greatness is to miss another, perhaps more significant, element - greatness is not solely about what you can do but about who you are. It describes those who have allowed their failures as well as their successes to define them, shaping qualities of character – resilience, self-belief, risk-taking – that help pave the road to achieving potential.

The challenge, in an increasingly target-driven and competitive society, is for us to parallel our messages about achievement greatness, with messages about character greatness. So, at the Awards Assembly on December 15th, we met as a community to celebrate both.

A number of students in the audience achieved academic ‘greatness’ by achieving outstanding Key Stage 3,

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(I)GCSE and IB results. But, we also celebrate those students who did not necessarily achieve the highest grades, but who made the most progress across two or three years.

They also showed their ‘greatness’ by persevering to push themselves forward in their learning.

However, the assembly wasn’t just about those students, it was about all of our wonderful students. Mrs Lindley reminded all students that they are unique and interesting as individuals. We value you just because of the person you are and the qualities you have. Individually, as well

“Studies have shown that to matter to others results in high self-esteem and is a key element in building resilience and resistance to stress. All students here at Bangok Patana, matter.”

Bangkok Patana School News

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as collectively, you matter. Being aware of this, frees you to pursue greatness, both of character and achievement, because your value does not depend on outcomes but on your inner core. The theory behind this is “mattering” – be-

beings. Students showed that in bucket-loads at House Athletics the day before the assembly, and we see it multiple times here every single day. In the world of work, high value is given to the non-cognitive, character skills that a

ing valued personally, not functionally.

Studies have shown that to matter to others results in high self-esteem and is a key element in building resilience and resistance to stress. All students here at Bangok Patana, matter.

One of the biggest challenges we face in the 21st century is to balance success in terms of measurable outcomes with the equally important task of nurturing resilient, compassionate individuals for the future.

There is evidence to show that strengthening resilience and self-belief may lead to better long-term outcomes, boosting children’s capacity to adapt successfully to changing situations and environments.

We are fortunate to have a plethora of opportunities available here at Bangkok Patana for students to develop those skills. We heard from some CAS groups in the assembly, led by Senior students, who are excellent role models in demonstrating our core values; where through their activities of kindness and putting others first, they are developing as well-prepared global citizens.

People are valued here at Bangkok Patana as human

person has.

We are aware that Artificial Intelligence is fast-developing. More and more, students will need to be able to demonstrate the skills that robots don’t have. In roles that rely on those skills, students will not be replaceable by robots.

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“People are valued here at Bangkok Patana as human beings.

Students showed that in bucketloads at House Athletics the day before the assembly, and we see it multiple times here every single day.”

If students develop those skills, you will achieve personal and academic success. Each and every single one of you, will achieve greatness.

Bangkok Patana School News

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New Arrivals and the Bangkok Book Awards Sally Flint, Head of Libraries

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his month in our new arrivals you will see that we listed all the titles shortlisted for the Bangkok Book Awards.

These awards are organised and run by a group of international school librarians in Bangkok with Bangkok Patana School playing a central role.

The shortlisted books have all been published in the last five years and promote diversity of author, theme, genre, setting and narrative style. There are multiple copies of all these titles in our libraries and also in your Primary children’s classroom and Secondary children’s English teaching room. We are proud to share that last year across the whole school our students cast the most votes of any in Bangkok but there is still scope for far more of our students to be reading these well chosen titles. Why not encourage your children to read the shortlisted books by reading along with them? Your children will be able to cast their votes in lessons before May 18th 2018. Who do you think will win?

More information about the awards can be found here.

Early Years Library

Early Years Library

Primary Library

Secondary Library

Picture Books

Fiction

Fiction

Fiction

Junior Books

Non-Fiction

Non-Fiction

Senior Fiction

Young Adult Books

Graphic Novels

Non-Fiction

Teachers’ Collection

UPCOMING LIBRARY EVENTS!

Did you know that we also subscribe to these magazines?

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Bangkok Patana School News

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Dear Students, Teachers and Parents, As Bangkok Patana will be hosting an official TEDx Event in March 2018, TEDxBangkokPatanaSchool, we cordially invite you to apply to be one of the speakers at this prestigious event. This is a great opportunity for you to speak up on ideas which you believe are worth sharing. Furthermore, your talk will be filmed and published to the TEDx YouTube channel!

To apply, complete the Google Form here!

We are looking for a diverse range of passionate speakers with local ideas that foster learning, inspiration, and wonder – to provoke conversations that matter; in regard to our theme of “Chances and Changes”. Desirable qualities for applicants include: Confidence in public speaking, organisation, flexibility and willingness to comply with deadlines.

To reiterate the time frames of the application process, please see the list below: 8th – 20th January 2018: Speaker Application Window (via Google Form) 22nd – 26th January 2018: Interview Phase (only student applicants will be invited for a short interview) 31st January 2018: Confirmation of application status for all applicants.

We would like to sincerely thank all applicants in advance for their interest and also invite the Bangkok Patana community to attend the event which will be on the 8th March 2018.

Kind Regards, The TEDxBangkokPatanaSchool Committee TEDxBangkokPatanaSchool is a TEDx event, an independently organised TED-like event, and are not TED. Organisers and Team Members of TEDxBangkokPatanaSchool, are not employees of TED.

Dear Bangkok Patana Parents, A sponsorship opportunity at the Bangkok Patana School Fun Day 2018 is now available. This is one of the highlights of the school calendar with students and their families looking forward to participating in the event on Saturday 10th February.

Fun Day has many activities including rides, shopping stalls, food stalls, lucky dips, and kids’ outdoor and indoor sports. One of the most popular stalls is the Lucky Dip, we would greatly appreciate if your company could support some of the prizes for the Lucky Dip. We strongly believe that the prizes from your company, along with others, make Fun Day even more special. More than 1,500 students and their family and friends were in attendance last year. We are anxious to provide an even greater Lucky Dip at this year’s event and hope that you will consider supporting us.

If your company would like to participate in this year’s event as a sponsor of the Lucky Dip, please contact me with the value of your donation.

Thank you for your time and consideration, Thitinan Kiatphaibool PTG Member – Lucky Dip and Sponsor Coordinator E-mail : Thitinank@gmail.com Tel: 091-532-1111 12/01/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

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he t m o r f st The late

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PTG

Bangkok Patana School News

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Click here to join the PTG Facebook page

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Bangkok Patana School News

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the m o r ef r o m Even

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PTG

Bangkok Patana School News

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Outstanding Thai Youth Award Dr Surapee Sorajjakool (Kru Gai), Head of Thai Programme

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he Thai government appreciates children; annually the second Saturday of January is National Children’s Day where Thai people celebrate children. This day is also a time to recognise outstanding youths for their accomplishments. With great pleasure, I am very proud to announce that this year there were four Thai Secondary students from Bangkok Patana who received awards at the ceremony of Children’s Day on Monday 8th January 2018 at the Royal Thai Government House.

Congratulations to: Thananuch (Password) Thepkanjana, Year 13 Outstanding Thai student from school Punn Tannirandorn, Year 11 Asian Junior Figure Skating Challenge Purich (Mel) Dhiranusornkit, Year 10 Ice Hockey Association of Thailand (Under 15 team) Purin (Mac) Dhiranusornkit, Year 8 Ice Hockey Association of Thailand (Under 15 team) Password, Year 13 – Outstanding Thai student from school “I am very honoured and grateful to have received the National Outstanding Youth award. I cannot thank my family, Bangkok Patana School, my teachers, my friends and everyone who have supported me through my journey enough for their guidance and contribution. Meeting other recipients of this award, proves to show that regardless of one’s age and background, everyone can make a difference for the betterment of society as a whole.”

Punn, Year 11 - Asian Junior Figure Skating Challenge “For two consecutive years, I have received the honourable National Outstanding Youth Award for bringing fame and international recognition to the country. I learned that while everyone here each specialised in different skills, we all had something in common: clear goals, determination and perseverance. Words cannot express how thankful I am for my family and Bangkok Patana School for supporting and guiding me through all my endeavours.”

Mac, Year 8 - Ice Hockey Association of Thailand (Under 15 team) “It is my honour to receive the Outstanding National Youth Award 2018 in Sport (Ice Hockey), from the Royal Thai Government. I am glad that I could be part of the successful Thailand National Youth Ice Hockey Team (Under 15) that received a gold medal at an international tournament recently in Malaysia.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, friends and supporters. Thanks also to Bangkok Patana School, teachers and staff who gave me such great support in both academic and extra-curricular activities.”

Mel, Year 10 - Ice Hockey Association of Thailand (Under 15 team) “On the occasion of National Children’s Day, I am so proud to be part of this event receiving the Outstanding National Youth Award 2018. I am captain of the Thailand National Youth Ice Hockey Under 15 team, which brought me to this honoured award. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my teammates, coaches and all those who supported our success in the championship at the South East Asian Youth Cup 2017. It is my great honour to be student at Bangkok Patana School and to enhance its reputation.”

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Bangkok Patana School News

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SWIMPACT Swimathon Success Kristine Huang, Year 12

We would like to wholeheartedly thank the 100+ Bangkok Patana students and teachers, including the 11 TigerPrawns and 35+ Primary TigerSharks, who helped make the 12-Hour Swimathon for Practical Action on December 12th 2017 a huge success!

We would also like to thank Coach Richard, Ms Cindy, Coach Chris, Ms Thew, Ms Ferguson, Mr Henao and Khun Peach, without whom this project would not have been possible.

The following is a summary of the funds raised for Practical Action from our Swimathon: Total Laps Swum: 7,632 Amount raised from Sponsor: (7,632 x 5THB) = 38,160 THB Donation box: 4,315 THB Total offline donations: 42,475 THB (US$ 1,295.00) Total online donations via www.justgiving.com/ swimpact: US$ 4162.93

Grand Total: THB 175,209.48 or US$ 5,457.93 The funds raised offline from our generous sponsor, Health Land Spa and Massage, and from our donation box were transferred to Practical Action’s Headquarters in the UK on the 29th December 2017. Online donations are sent directly to Practical Action.

All donations received will go towards the Sustainable Energy for Rural Communities (SE4RC) project, a large-scale four-year energy project that Practical Action is implementing, in partnership with five other organisations with the aim to generate electricity for 360,000 people without power to improve their livelihoods.

“The Sustainable Energy for Rural Communities project is helping families survive future droughts, put food on their tables and sell surplus crops to earn a living. We are achieving this by connecting irrigation schemes to solar-powered mini-grids. The project will generate over 200KW to power schools, clinics, businesses and irrigation schemes – transforming the education, health, wellbeing and earning opportunities of many local communities.” - Practical Action.

Thank you for your support!

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Bangkok Patana School News

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Japanese Language ECA and Japanese Group

Junior Varsity Girls’ Basketball vs Shrewsbury Loyola Lauvoravit, Year 10

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verall verdict, it was an intense one. The first half of the game was close, the first quarter 6-6. Two minutes past by 13-13. Each team tried their best passing the ball player to player around the court, seeking for an opportunity to pull off a pull up. Some found the chance to drive into the basket for a chance for a three-point play.

Then the fourth quarter kicked in, our team was exhausted. One minute and 37 seconds left in the quarter; we were down by seven. We knew that basketball isn’t an individual game so we implemented a tactic of constantly passing the ball around and running up to receive it. We started having doubts that we were not going to make it but maintained the mind-set of positivity. Nine seconds later, a player found an opportunity and shot a clutch three pointer. Swish! We were down by four. Shrewsbury panicked therefore we leveraged this opportunity and picked up a steal in the next possession. Step one, two, layup, swish - foul! The home crowd cheered along.

Sweat dripping, legs shaking, the player performed her free-throw routine, threw the ball up, follow through… swish! Parents and kids were screaming jumping up and down along the side line. It was our ball, we were down by three. All eyes focussed on the basket. The point guard (PG) dribbled the ball passed the half court line, the coach was shouting out the plays, the PG passed the ball to the wing, she did a power layup off the back board, swish!

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We were down by one: Just 23 seconds left; Coach is shouting “Man to Man Full Court defence”; All players finding a man to mark. Shrewsbury vigorously brought the ball up the court, trying to kill off the time. Our players marked other players with full focus, hands up, running around, seeking an opportunity to steal the ball but it was too late. Beep, the sound of the game clock died down. We lost.

Some players were down but the rest of the team cheered them up. Even though we had lost the game, we learnt a lot from our mistakes and failure. We as a whole truly believe in the mind-set of failing. Failure isn’t the end of everything, it’s just the start. And it’s all just part of the process. This is the first game out of four that we’ve lost and we’re glad that we’ve had this opportunity to taste failure in order to get even stronger in BISAC. I’m proud of all players in the team that we’ve made it this far from nothing. Compared to what we started with until now, the progress has been unreal; the advice that the coaches have given us and the hard work we’ve put into this has paid off. We’re looking forward to this journey of developing our basketball skills set together as a team and crushing BISAC.

Bangkok Patana School News

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#78 How to Remove Ad Tracking on Your Android or iPhone iOS Device

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here are many Android and iOS apps that can potentially be using the microphone on your device to listen to your surroundings without you knowing. Let’s be honest – how may of us actually read the ‘Terms of Service’ when we install and app on our phones? Here’s a short video on how to opt out of those pesky-nosy-parkers using that information to determine which advertising may be delivered to you!

Click to watch the YouTube video (2mins 28sec): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iK9Dx4qQzU Article mentioned in the video: https://betanews.com/2018/01/02/alphonso-mobile-audio-targeted-ads/ Step by step guide on how to opt out: http://alphonso.tv/mobile-opt-out-guide/ Have a fantastic ‘targeted ad-free’ weekend, Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

This course is designed for non -Thai speakers who have absolutely no previous experience of the Thai language. The course will be taught in four blocks covering a total of 56 hours in one academic year. Students will learn how to greet and introduce themselves, as well as vocabulary for food, drinks and conversations about Thai culture, going shopping, asking for directions and time and date.

Thai Basic Conversation Course for Complete Beginners (For interested parents) 18

Block 3 - 2017/18

Day: Monday Time: 10:15 – 12:15 Period : 29 Jan / 5, 12, 19 Feb / 5, 12, 19 Mar 2018 (7 sessions) Cost: 4,200 Baht (600 baht/session) Places : 6-12 Teacher: Khun Nittaya Venue: FHC 201 (Front Hard Court building) If you are interested in joining the Thai Conversation Course please email thai@patana.ac.th to register by Thursday 25th January 2018. The invoice will be submitted in the class.

Bangkok Patana School News

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CATs Corner

Tania Leyland, Youth Club and Community Services Coordinator

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AWS has had a busy few weeks including a visit to a local animal shelter and selling and distributing candy canes.

The Candy Cane Grams are one of PAWS most important annual Campaign Days as it the most well known throughout the Secondary school and raises a lot of money for the CAT club. From Monday 4th until Friday 9th December, PAWS sold the candy cane grams raising over 10,000 THB! This money was used to buy dog food, bowls and other pet supplies, which we donated in person on our first shelter visit this year to ‘Pic a Pet 4 Home’ on Sunday 10th December. During the visit, we painted the front gate of the shelter and socialised with the resident dogs and cats.

The group of dedicated members that came on the trip thoroughly enjoyed themselves and would like to go back again. PAWS is already excited to be planning the next visit to the shelter.

Jessica Montgomery-Day, Year 12 AMNESTY WRITE FOR RIGHTS ednesday 6th December was the first of this year’s Amnesty Campaign Days. We displayed a ‘Write for Rights’, where students and teachers could write postcards aimed at one of the three cases that Amnesty Patana has chosen to represent. These include Shackeila Jackson, Mahadine and Sakris Kupila.

The event was a success with students from all year groups participating in the postcard writing. These postcards will be sent to the official Amnesty Thailand, who will then redirect them to the individual addresses of the Write for Rights representatives.

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AMNESTY - STOP THE DEATH PENALTY CAMPAIGN ur Events Manager planned and helped to lead our campaign on stopping the death penalty. The plan was to raise awareness about our campaign through a factual Pong Game. To attract students of all years, our Events Manager brought pizza as a reward for answering the campaign related questions correctly five times in a row! There was also a hang-man game, which included words linked to death penalty. The students that guessed all of our words correctly won pizza.

We would like to thank all of the International Amnesty members that attended and helped out with the campaign.

Aaksh Ranjan, Year 13

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Bangkok Patana School News

WHAT’S

COMING

UP?

15th/16th January STOP – Human Trafficking Awareness Days 17th January Mercy Centre Campaign Day 26th January WFP bake sale 30th /31st January RISE Campaign Days 1st February Playing for Change – Teacher vs Students Karaoke 6th /7th February Refugee Action Project Campaign Days 9th February Hand 2 Heart Bake Sale 14th February Habitat Gift a Brick Campaign Launch 17th February Patana Marine Conservation Group – Reef Monitoring Trip 20th February World Day of Social Justice Exhibition 22nd February Spectrum Bake Sale

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Varsity Girls’ Basketball Serri Matula, Year 13

vs Shrewsbury

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n Wednesday 29th November, we had our first league game against Shrewsbury, our toughest competition within our league. They have always been one of the stronger teams, winning most of their games and tournaments. Although, at times we were close to beating them, our recent Varsity team had never defeated them…until last Wednesday.

We started off strong and focused, not letting our emotions take hold of our actions. The intensity was high as soon as we stepped on to the court - playing full court press, giving us opportunities to steal the ball and score easy layups. Additionally, we went though our new offensive plans, which worked incredibly well. At half time we were leading them comfortably by 11 points. However, Shrewsbury started to push back, catching up by scoring on fast breaks due to our increased number of turnovers. We still managed to keep them at bay, and won the game 51-47. This first win is a great start to our season and hopefully with the amount of effort that we all put in, it will give us the momentum to continue our winning ways.

vs ICS

T

he friendly game on Wednesday 6th December against ICS was an incredibly close game. Both teams were aggressive and fought for the ball. We were in the lead throughout the whole game, 12-4 in the first quarter, 16-15 by half time and 25-24 at the end of the third quarter. Bangkok Patana maintained the close lead in the final quarter. However, we lost to ICS in the last 10 seconds when one of their players shot a two-pointer, beating us by one point, a final score of 28 -29; an unfortunate loss. Although we had numerous numbers of fouls, which we should definitely work on, I still believe that we played well as a team, keeping up the intensity as well as pressuring the ball. Another aspect that we can improve on is our offensive and defensive rebounds.

Our two games so far have definitely allowed us to acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses, and highlights what to improve on so that we come back stronger in January against the other teams.

Author, storyteller and illustrator is visiting Bangkok Patana next week!

Gail is passionate about animals and caring for the environment. Find out more about Gail Clarke by visiting her website www.gailclarkeauther.com or simply scan this QR code.

Gail’s books will be available for sale at Primary Library.

Whilst stocks last ‘Ndotto An Elephant Rescue Story’ is half price at 150 baht. All profits from the sale of this book will be donated to Elephant Conservation Charities.

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Bangkok Patana School News

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Upcoming University Visits UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE

Nottingham Trent University

COUNTRY

UK

REP

LOCATION

Ella Davies

Senior Studies

17.01.18

12:15

Novotel Siam Square Hotel

17.01.18

18:00

Senior Studies

19.01.18

09:15

19.01.18

12:15

Hands On Panel Discussions Imperial College London

UK

Jennie Long

The London School of Economics and Political Science

UK

James Brown

Study UK Grand Exhibition 2018

UK

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor Royal Paragon Hall, 5th Floor

DATE

TIME

20/21.01.18

Update on Primary French HOLA ECA

I

f you would like learn more about the French Home Language (HOLA) ECA options for Primary students, please join us for a coffee morning on Wednesday 17th January at 8:00am in the Secondary Library Lecture room (the large, green room on the second floor of the Secondary Library). Please confirm your attendance on this link.

12/01/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

21

PRIMARY

Aquathlon 2018

Remember to bring your PE kit and trainers, swimming kit, sun cream and Patana hat to the training sessions and the event!

YEAR 3 AND 4:

YEAR 5 AND 6:

Thursday 18th January

Friday 19th January

during their normal PE lesson.

during their normal PE lesson.

In Year 5 and 6 students can choose to do the Competitive aquathlon which is timed.

In all year groups and events the students will be given a choice of distances to swim and run.

NB: Students will practice the Aquathlon during their Monday or Tuesday PE lesson of Aquathlon week. They will need their swimming and PE kits for both lessons during this week.

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12/01/2018

Community

12/01/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

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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 24

Bangkok Patana School News

12/01/2018