Patana News Volume 20 Issue 25

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 23rd March 2018

Volume 20 Issue 25

www.patana.ac.th

The Importance of Happiness Page 2

2017/18

Also in this issue

STEM Challenge 2018 / IB Geography Field Trip / Year 7 Fire Safety 23/03/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

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

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The Importance of Happiness James Penstone, Cross Campus Principal

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hen I joined the end of the Key Stage 2 assembly last Wednesday, the entire Primary Hall audience was in fits of laughter. Proper belly laughs. They were watching that scene in the classic 1964 movie, Mary Poppins, in which Uncle Albert and Bert sing “I love to laugh”. You’ll definitely remember the scene if you have ever watched it. The more they laugh, the more they float towards the ceiling. The children, Jane and Michael, join in...giggling their way up to the rafters. Eventually Mary Poppins’ disapproval subsides as she, too, is won over by the infectiousness of the others’ laughter and starts to float upwards. And if only this were a real thing, all of Years 3 through to 6 would have been bobbing off the ceiling like 700 chuckling human helium balloons.

that it would not be a very human experience if they were happy the whole time - neutral and negative emotions are inevitable. Things like boredom, discomfort, frustration and anxiety can have positive outcomes because they can help motivate young people to develop and grow from the experiences which those feelings are associated with. But we don’t want our children to be unhappy for most of the time.

Indeed, it should be our utmost priority to support them in whatever ways we can to be happy overall.

We want a number of things for our children. One fundamental hope is that our children are happy. We know

leads to happiness. However, I find a simple argument put forward by Shawn Achor – who advocates for positive

Defining happiness invites debate. Personally, I like the definition given by Dan Gilbert, a psychologist at Harvard University, who sees happiness as “frequent positive feelings accompanied by an overall sense that one’s life has meaning”. Linked to this, it seems sensible to say that all our This was one of Miss Claire’s perfectly chosen preludes students should feel valued and respected - vital ingredito the Primary School’s Smile Day dress-up on Wednesday ents of happiness. this week; a very colourful, and of course fun, event. The We often talk about learning in our school. But we need day was designed to raise awareness and funds towards to talk just as much about happiness. Without it, there will Operation Smile. It was partnered by the lunchtime activ- be no good, lasting learning taking place. There seems ities of our Secondary student CAT club dedicated to the to be a common philosophy the world over, in homes, same cause. The day was a good way of being reminded schools, and businesses, that you need to work hard to of just how much positive energy can be brought into our be successful. Because when you are successful, you will community by moments of shared happiness. achieve happiness. Notice the order of things: success

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psychology - to be compelling. He says that it is the other way round. Those who are happy – experiencing positive feelings and feeling valued - are more successful than those who are not, as shown by a whole range of metrics. Supported by research taking place in the fields of psychology and neuroscience, it is becoming ever clearer that positive states of mind affect the chemical state of the brain, allowing people to learn better and perform better. In a way the Mary Poppins scene illustrates this – the happier you are, the higher you can reach.

(For an easy way into this theory, Shawn Achor’s light-hearted TED talk is a simple introduction if you don’t mind the pace of his delivery).

So, what does this mean here at Bangkok Patana?

First, it means we need to design the right conditions for our young charges to be happy overall. And this doesn’t simply mean providing fun stuff, although that certainly helps a lot. It needs careful and intentional provision of pastoral care, something that my colleagues who have direct responsibility for student welfare throughout the school work tirelessly on. Secondly, we need to ensure that any changes we make to increase academic success do not compromise students’ happiness and wellbeing, as this would surely undermine the good intentions of the former. Thirdly, it also means we need to monitor happiness and wellbeing just as much as we monitor learning outcomes. This is not easy, because happiness and well-being are complicated and difficult to measure. However, there are ways. For example, Matt Jones, Head of Year 11, is leading whole-school research on student attitudes to school. Year 5 through to Year 10 have already taken the Schools Attitude Questionnaire Internet (SAQI) survey. This yields student views on their motivation levels and self-confidence – both of which are important indicators of happiness. Matt is busy interpreting the data to identify key recommendations to support our students’ wellbeing in the medium to long term. We look forward to more such research findings in the future.

5 pm

Wishing you all a very happy weekend and remainder of term.

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Bangkok Patana School News

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IB Geography Field Trip Athena Intanate, Year 12

“What are you going on a trip for … colouring?”

A Brief Recount of the Professional Colouring Geography Trip Think of a river.

A silver expanse of water: torrential, swollen, snaking across sand and earth.

Verdant vegetation, sprawling on both sides. Gently sloping riverbanks. The hushed trickling sound, water running over boulders and rocks.

An eyot in the distance.

Riffles.

You’re probably looking at a stock image, aren’t you.

While the Chaophraya definitely does not look like this anymore, the Mueng Nam in Chiang Rai has retained its natural beauty, and remains relatively pollution free. It was in this river that we waded and dug and measured and sprained backs for two days, under the sun can you imagine, collecting evidence that we’d use to eventually compile into what we call the Geography IA (Internal Assessment), a part of the IB Diploma.

While pebble collecting is a riveting past time, we weren’t offered the luxury of doing this for fun: this was some hard-core, top-notch stuff. As a result, we give it a much more pretentious name: bedload measuring. The caliper is to a geographer what a shield is to a knight (the sword would be colouring pencils), and we wielded this mighty tool with fine-edged precision as we hunted for sedimentary baubles (to you common folk, that’s pebbles). Since Mr Wright knew that we had to sacrifice our precious math lessons for this endeavor, he struck a deal with Dr Tooley: we had to integrate mathematics into this trip too, and hard math at that. Even though it was challenging, I can now gladly say that I am adept at counting from 0 – 9 thanks to measuring river widths, as well as depths at every 0.2 meters (converted, that’s 20 centimeters). Further mathematical genius was then demonstrated as we calculated the CSA (Cross Sectional Area) from data we copied off one another individually collected, using the equation width x depth. Well, it was mainly our calculators that did it for us, but we had to punch in the Wright numbers in the first place.

Not only were we given the opportunity to showcase our various mathematical skills in the river, Ms Ferguson also arranged for all of us to fulfill (in some cases) much needed CAS hours by helping out at a local school. Since it is bulking season after all, the boys were granted the opportunity to dig two metre holes for toilet installations in order to achieve those 50cm biceps they most fervently desired. While this was, unfortunately, never completely achieved, for two metres is quite a substantial amount to dig in an hour, as a school we also helped to clean and paint the metal beams which would then be used to construct a new building for the school.

While it “didn’t feel like we did much”, according to a lot of

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students, Ms Ferguson reminded us that every bit of help we give, whether small or substantial, was all leading towards a greater goal.

So, lads, keep eating your protein. We’ve got more holes to dig.

Nevertheless, an open apology must also be issued towards the underground residents of Mueng Nam. The numerous mosquito/sand-fly/red ant/assorted larvae lives we have taken on this arduous adventure of our own will always be remembered. For those whose lives were lost in the valiant battle against the army of Havainas™ under Generals Nike© and Adidas©, from the great one centimetre depths of Site 1, to the sand-fly empires of Sites 9, 10 and 11, a memorial service shall be held shortly in Hum307 this week in your honour.

And because Mr Hume asked me ever so nicely to, a further accolade must be dedicated to the raging bonfire we were treated to on our last night. Or at least it was raging at some point, just not when we were sat around in a ring, eating the stars because 7-Eleven ran out of our promised marshmallows (the curse of capitalism. Or is it just a supply-and-demand thing? Forgive me – I’m a Geography student). At any rate, that’s what Mr Hume said, and I don’t doubt a word of it.

Whilst, some of the mathenatical skills may have been basic whilst out in the field, these will no doubt get more complicated back in the class room such as calculating the hydraulic radius and performing a Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient test on our data in order to test our selected hypotheses.

All in all, it was a very lovely (yes, lovely, such a word exists in the oppression we know as IB) trip, and although we did not get to do much colouring, I say truthfully on behalf of the rest of the Grad19 Crayola Artists that we are very thankful indeed for everyone who made this possible. An extended thank you must also be given to everyone at the Mae Kok River Resort, for being so accommodating and helpful on our expedition.

And, finally, the Professional Crayola Masters: Mr Wright, Mr Hume, Ms Steciuk and Ms Ferguson; you all deserve a large applause (which, under normal circumstances I would give, but seeing as I’m writing this through a computer screen, is not possible). We know how much work goes into these trips, so thank you for all your time, help and patience. From helping us fabricate extrapolate data, demonstrating how to use lightsabers as ranging poles (or was it the other way around?), and, perhaps most importantly, teaching us that crocs are NOT water shoes, we have all emerged as better artists.

Or was it geographers?

I’m not too sure.

Despite my light hearted approach to reviewing the trip, we did learn a number of key skills, find the data we needed to complete our investigation and had a lot of fun on the way.

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Note to the reader: On a more serious note, this is a caricature of a trip, and therefore not an entirely accurate representation of the subject. Certain intellectual liberties were taken, and as much as I appreciate a good accolade, I appreciate the subject of Geography much more. Knowledge is a powerful tool, and I say this with a hand over my heart, the work we had to do is very empowering indeed.

So thank you, Geography, for all your enlightenment.

Bangkok Patana School News

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Year 7 Fire Safety

Gerard Tennant, Secondary Science and Biology Teacher

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ast week, Year 7 experienced what it is like to fight fires in their Science lessons. As part of their current unit of work, Chemical Reactions, they were challenged to use their knowledge of the fire triangle in order to extinguish fires.

the roof of the Science Centre to demonstrate to the students the different real-life safety methods used to put out some fires. The Year 7s got to see how a fire blanket should be used to smother a fire and then how effective a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher is.

In this lesson, the students tested three different methods of extinguishing fires and compared their results to find out which method was best. In order to do this, they built mini fires in the lab and timed how long it took to put the fire out using sand, water and a foam mixture as the extinguishing methods. This practical was particularly challenging as they had to manage equipment in a very safe manner to be able to get the fires under control. As a result, the students witnessed how easily a fire can spread, and how much smoke is produced in such a short amount of time.

“I learned suitable ways to put out fire using a fire blanket and a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher” Pa “I feel like it taught us about real life, and how if there was a fire we would know how to handle it” Lara “I enjoyed it a lot because I never usually get to “play with fire” and it’s good to know how to take out a fire” Kenny

“When we did the fire safety lesson enjoyed it because it was super fun doing all the experiments and it was helpful Once the practical had been completed, we headed to to know what works best to put it out.” Clara

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Regent’s STEM Challenge 2018 Dr Miles Ellerby, Chemistry Teacher

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team of five students from Year 10 attended the STEM Challenge at Regent’s International School last week. Ten schools were invited to compete against each other to come up with the best solution to a current global issue that we are facing: plastic waste. The teams had to come up with a solution to reduce plastic waste, incorporating aspects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). After a long day of research and teamwork, the team had to propose their idea to a panel of judges, and had to convince them that their idea was the best. In the end, the Bangkok Patana team came second out of the 10 schools, but with a tiny 1% difference in scores between the two strong leaders!

“It was amazing to be able to tackle such a serious, current issue, yet be able to be as creative as we wanted with our ideas. Although it was not real, having what felt like a huge power in our hands was so motivating and really made us work hard to accomplish what we wanted.”

Clara Boucher

“I liked how broad the challenge was because it allowed us to be as creative as we wanted and think of different ways to solve the problem. There was a lot of freedom as to how we solved the problem, which made the challenge really interesting.”

Fasai (Prin) Pulkes “Being able to represent Bangkok Patana at the STEM Challenge was a wonderful opportunity. We got to express our knowledge from various subjects, not only Science: we had to apply our math skills for calculations, and English for our presentation. However, whilst this was without doubt a great learning experience, being able to contribute, coming up with a possible solution, and realising that people are actively working to solve a global issue was what made the day memorable.”

Yunnan Dumnernchanvanich

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“This STEM challenge was an experience to remember. We were allowed to research and explore all the different ways we can save our planet which is quite enlightening if you think about it. It also helped us realise the many people that work hard each day and are currently trying to solve this global issue. It is an inspiring journey and an honor to play my part.”

Lyela Malik “By participating in the STEM challenge, I was able to use my creativity and knowledge of science to tackle a global issue, which was very rewarding. Additionally, my teamwork skills improved, and working with a wonderful team was a great opportunity. The topics we discussed are very important and serious, and it is good to know that students have recognised this and are trying to solve our world’s problems.”

Charles Golsby

Upcoming University Visits UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE

“Hollywood Comes to Bangkok” at EduExpo in Bangkok 2018 School of the Art Institute of Chicago University College Cork The University of Applied Sciences, Rotterdam University of Cambridge King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang

COUNTRY

US US Ireland

REP

Jackson Moore Gearoid McCarthy

Netherlands Hyam Falconi UK Thailand

Northeastern University

US

Dartmouth College Harvard University Stanford University Wellesley College University of Leeds

US US US US UK

Claire Canning Dr Ittipol Changchad Lauren Melaugh Nicola Smith

LOCATION

DATE

TIME

Westin Sukhumvit Hotel

25.03.18

15:00

Senior Studies, Second Floor

26.03.18

12:15

Senior Studies

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12:15

Senior Studies

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12:15

Secondary Library Room 207

29.03.18

12:15

Senior Studies, Second Floor

30.03.18

12:15

Senior Studies

02.04.18

09:15

Rosamund Stuetzel Theatre Rosamund Stuetzel Theatre Rosamund Stuetzel Theatre Rosamund Stuetzel Theatre TBC

04.04.18 04.04.18 04.04.18 04.04.18 05.04.18

19:00 19:00 19:00 19:00 12:30

click here for the Canteen

Please note the menu is updated for the following week on Friday at 1pm

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CATs Corner Tania Leyland, Youth Club and Community Services Coordinator

An update from the Heart… Collaboration between Hand2Heart and TechUP

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and2Heart recently went back to the Camillian Social Center Rayong in order to distribute the shoes that the entire Bangkok Patana community so generously come together and donated, and we have just received new photos of the students wearing their new shoes! We’d also like to extend an extremely gratuitous thank you to TechUP, for providing three laptops to the center, which as you can see in the photos are also being greatly appreciated.

Not only does the Camillian Social Center care for underprivileged or orphaned children who unfortunately suffer from the currently incurable AIDS/HIV, the centre also makes sure that they are able to get on their feet and become as self-sufficient as they possibly can in the future. With the help of sponsors, the centre is able to send orphans over 18 years to study further if they wish; these are who the laptops are currently being utilised by.

While direct action is always a great way to get involved in the wider national community, Hand2Heart is also about raising awareness of the AIDS and HIV, and tackling the stigma that has long been attached to them. This month, we are hosting tutorial sessions with Year 10 students to gauge their understanding of the topic, and how exactly their behaviour and their awareness of an issue we often feel detached from can help benefit us all in the long run.

Athena Intanante, Year 12 Hand2Heart Team Leader

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n initiative started last year was the introduction of a range of skills workshops to enable student to fulfill their team roles more effectively. The workshops were a great success and there has been a visible difference in the areas that the workshops focused on. This year we have decided to offer a wider range of workshops and deliver them right at the start of the CAT year to enable students to get the full benefit of the content. On Monday, Miss Chong delivered the Firefly Workshop to CAT members who hold the position of Firefly Administrator. Tam and Licha, both in Year 10, were there to learn how they could make the Amnesty page more engaging. Follow this link to the Amnesty Firefly page and find out what actions the Amnesty team have taken this year.

Next week’s workshops include Marketing, Finance, Trip Planning and Project Proposal Writing.

THANK YOU TO CHA TIME FOR THEIR DONATION OF 500 THB TO PROJECT STAR AND 500 THB TO INTERACT. THE DONATION FOLLOWS A SUCCESSFUL DAY SELLING PRODUCTS AT FUN DAY 2018.

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League Champions!

fter defeating NIST and Shrewsbury in the final league matches of the season, the Under 15 Girls’ Tennis team are league champions! The girls beat both teams 3-0 on Monday night, and had won all their league matches before that, and are therefore first in the league. Balloon won her match 6-0 at first singles, Clara won 6-2 at second singles and the doubles Pammy and Gem also had a 6-2 win in doubles. The Shrewsbury matches were also won comfortably by Tatiana, Prim and Gem. It has been a short but good season, and it looks good for the BISAC team event which will be held at Bangkok Patana this Sunday (25th)!

R E M I N D E R TO

SWITCH OFF YOUR ENGINE WHEN IN THE SCHOOL CAR PARK Please help us to protect the health of our students

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN WASTE LESS WEEKS

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WHAT ARE YOUR SMALL STEPS?

DON’T FORGET TO FOLLOW @BANGKOKPATANA_SEC ON INSTAGRAM AND KEEP SHARING YOUR #SMALLSTEPS WITH US!

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#86 #Summary of a Week of Tech Tips

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t the start of the week I challenged myself to product a Tech Tip every weekday until the end of term. The process has been interesting in that I’ve learned some of the limitations of Instagram (you cannot use GIFs or your laptop to upload photos) and had a crash course in using Sway – a free interactive presentation tool from Microsoft. The results so far can be found here: https://sway.com/yAzglWvzCBIjCtDG?ref=Link.

In particular I recommend you watch the video on #TopTechTip#004, particularly relevant given the level of scrutiny Facebook are facing lately. Did you know that apps, games and websites your friends use in Facebook can access your personal information, including when you’re online and current location? This is even is you have not used Facebook for several years.

Have a mindful weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Cross Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

Dates for your Diary...

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Wednesday 4th April Patana Unplugged Wednesday 4th April Dartmouth, Harvard, Stanford and Wellesley University Presentation Friday 1st June Bangkok Patana School AGM Wednesday 6th June Patana United Bangkok Patana School News

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DONATE YOUR

PLEASE DROP OFF @ YEAR 6 SHARED AREA BEFORE THURSDAY 5TH APRIL

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he t m o r f st e t a l e h T

PTG

B a n g ko k Pa t a n a P TG i s a c l o s e d g ro u p f o r p a re n t s a n d t e a c he rs

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Click here to join the PTG Facebook page

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Congratulations to all athletes!

SENIOR BISAC CHAMPIONS

JUNIOR BISAC RUNNERS UP

RUNNERS UP AT NIST FRIENDSHIP TOURNAMENT

FOUTH AT NIST FRIENDSHIP TOURNAMENT

UNDER 15

Tennis

VARSITY

TIGER

Badminton Sharks

IT WAS A BUSY WEEKEND FOR OUR BANGKOK PATANA ATHLETES WITH SEASAC AND BISAC TAKING PLACE

WELL DONE TO THE UNDER 15 TENNIS TEAM WHO COMPETED IN BISAC SINGLES OVER THE WEEKEND. SPECTACULAR RESULTS WITH MARK AS RUNNER UP. BALLOON WON THE A DRAW WITH GEM THIRD WHILST IN THE B DRAW LILY BEAT TATIANA IN THE FINAL AND ENA REACHED THE CONSOLATION FINAL.

Bangkok Patana School News 18 R THE HALF TERM, OUR TIGER SHARKS COMPETED HEIR SEASAC SWIMMING EVENT. NOTABLY, THEY

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S E A S A C S O F T B A L L @BPS T H I S W E E K E N D GO TIGERS!

GOOD LUCK TO OUR TRAVELLING SEASAC TEAMS! SENIOR GYMNASTICS @UWC EAST SINGAPORE VARSITY BADMINTON @ISY MALAYSIA

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KEEP UP

W I T H T H E AC T I O N . . .

@BPS_ATHLETICS _COUNCIL

@BPSSPORTS

@BPSSPORTS

TIGER SPORTS TEAMS

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e h t e v a S e v a s o t e t a d ! e f i al

Friday 30th March 8:30am-3:30pm Bangkok Patana School

CLICK HERE

to check if you are eligible to donate and to sign up 22

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Community

ANAPANA MEDITATION COURSE FOR STUDENTS

Anapana (Mindfulness of breathing) teaches students improved concentration skills and enhances calmness of the mind. This technique helps to relieve anxiety and is very useful at exam time to calm those nerves, but also for every day life.

The next Anapana Meditation course will be on

Sunday 29th April for students between 8-14 years.

The course is completely free!

To enrol or for more information, please contact Eva Sophonpanich at evasophon@hotmail.com You may also find this site useful: http://www.children.dhamma.org/en/children/about-meditation.shtmlÂ

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Community

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Community

BRITISH SCOUTING OVERSEAS

Would your child like to join UK ​Cubs​ (Ages 8 10½) or ​Beavers​ (ages 6 8)?

There is now a British Scouting Overseas group in Bangkok!

These new Cubs and Beaver groups run from 9am to 10:30am on Saturday mornings at Regent's International School, Pracha Uthit Road. If any adults are also interested in helping out, we would love to hear from you too.

Please email all enquiries to ​1stBangkokBSO@gmail.com​.

What is BSO? British Scouting Overseas is a UK Scout area, providing UK Scouting to UK citizens (and in some cases other nationalities) who are living overseas. BSO exists to support families around the world where, due to cultural or language barriers, it is not always possible for young people from the UK to join local Scout Groups in the country where they reside. Our aim is to ensure that all members of BSO will feel they are full members of UK Scouting. They will enjoy their activities in a safe and secure environment best suited to their local circumstances and will have access to high quality support and advice no matter where in the world they may be situated. There are a number of groups around the world including KL, Jakarta and Singapore however ​1st Bangkok​ is

the first group in this area.

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Community

T! H G I N TO

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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 28

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