Patana News Volume 20 Issue 27

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 27th April 2018

Volume 20 Issue 27

Head of School’s Monthly Blog Prioritising Positive Well-Being Within Our School

Also in this issue

Going For Gold!

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www.patana.ac.th

Page 2

2017/

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A Village in Need of Electricity

/ Patana Blood Drive

Bangkok Patana School News

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

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A Very Warm Welcome to Term 3!

I do hope you all had a relaxing and safe Songkran holiday! I took my family down to Koh Lanta for a very relaxing week on the beach.

The school campus is feeling considerably quieter now that our Year 11 and 13 exam students have officially gone on study leave as they prepare for their heavily anticipated exams. This is always a very fast-paced school term at Bangkok Patana as we head towards summer and confirm all the good learning that has taken place over the academic year. I am pleased to say that the principals and I have successfully filled all of our 2018/19 teacher vacancies and we have another very strong teaching cohort joining us in early August.

Positive Well-being Whilst on the beach at Koh Lanta over the holidays I suddenly realised that I was well into my 34th year of teaching without a break and while feeling a little on the extra old side, I felt really positive about all of the rich experiences I have had working with so many amazing students and teachers over that time period. Over the years my perspective on what matters most in student’s education has evolved considerably, particularly in recent years as we have increased the focus on student well-being. Even just 10 years ago, well-being would not have been prioritised as a key value statement in a school’s guiding statement document as it proudly is now at Bangkok Patana School.

Our students today come to school with a vast array of life experiences; some largely positive (e.g. enduring love, interest in learning material, healthy diet and lifestyle) and some negative (e.g. family breakdown, family neglect), and, of course, there are those who live with a mixture of positive and negative experiences.

Our hope, as educators, is that most of our students come to school with a background that is heavily weighted in the positive. We cannot change a student’s family, experiences or history but schools can – and do – help children feel valued for who they are. This improves their chances of developing resilience and a more optimistic future.

Most significantly, however, it also makes a difference to how effectively they learn.

Bangkok Patana has always placed high value on student well-being and regularly has positive education guru Clive Leach visit our school and work with students and teachers on building well-being, resilience, discovering your strengths, flourishing, youth provision and coaching conversations. Dr John Hattie’s meta-analysis (2009) on effective education emphasises the im2

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portance of the quality of the relationships between teachers and students. He strongly advises of the need to teach students first, and subjects second, to optimise the learning environment.

I believe that if we, as educators, focus on promoting overlapping dimensions of well-being such as using strength-based approaches, enhancing social and emotional learning, promoting positive behaviours and fostering a sense of meaning and purpose, then our students will flourish, as will our job satisfaction. Thirty-four years in, I am still happy to say that I genuinely look forward to coming to school every day.

Important People in the Patana Family We have a number 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 we interviewed Mr Keith Bunnell, our Human Resources Manager.

Keith was born in the historic walled city of Chester in England. There he attended Abbeygate College School and went on to study European Studies with French in Liverpool. Keith then gained his Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management and MCIPD from Manchester Metropolitan Business School. He is married to Amy who is from Australia and they have one son, Louis, aged five.

Prior to joining Bangkok Patana, Keith spent six years in human resources for the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IB) headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Roles at the IB included HR Associate Manager Geneva, EMEA Talent Manager, Global Talent Manager and culminating in his last position as Global HR Operations Manager, in which Keith led the team based in Singapore. He was responsible for the global HR systems, HR policy development, HR process improvement from hire-toretire, HR project management and governance and manpower planning across all global office locations. Keith is a keen skier, with his “homebase” being a chalet in the French Alps, and also enjoys photography and tennis.

Keith says his top achievement at Bangkok Patana so far is stabilising and improving HR processes and procedures to better service all of the business and academic stakeholders across the school.

Great Educational Articles to Share Assistant Principal Brian Taylor sent me this wonderful inspiring YouTube speech that I actually watched twice over my Songkran break as I found it so stimulating. Frank William Abagnale Jr. is an American security consultant known for his history as a former confidence trickster, check forger and impostor between the ages of 15 and 21. In this speech, Frank talks a great deal about learning from your mistakes and becoming a better person because of it. Enjoy!

Best wishes, Matt Mills Head of School

Dates for your Diary...

Wednesday 2nd May Dick Moore Presents to Parents Thursday 3rd May PTG Staff Appreciation Day Tuesday 22nd May PTG AGM Friday 1st June Bangkok Patana School AGM Wednesday 6th June Patana United

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A Village in Need of Electricity Alexander (Coke) Smith, Environmental Systems and Societies Coordinator

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e should all be very proud of our students in Bangkok Patana’s Roots and Shoots subgroup of our Student Environmental Committee who have been working hard raising money to support Pang Wua Village in Chiang Mai’s Wiang Haeng District. This Lisu Hill tribe village is located in a very remote area of Chiang Mai Province and is inhabited by approximately 70 people who currently live without electrical power. Being too far from the government grid, solar power is their only option. So, our Roots and Shoots students have taken it upon themselves to adopt this village and generate funds to help provide electricity to the villagers.

Some of our Roots and Shoots students have also been involved with the new natural building that is being built at the Outdoor Classroom this term.

In addition, they thought it would be a great idea to raise money by selling naming rights to the bricks that will be used in the building.

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Bangkok Patana School News

WHAT IS ROOTS & SHOOTS? Founded in 1991 by Dr Jane Goodall, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots is a global youth service program for young people of all ages. It’s mission is to foster respect and compassion for all living things, to promote understanding of all cultures and beliefs, and to inspire each individual to take action to make the world a better place for people, other animals, and the environment.

Click here to read more

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During Fun Day, the Roots and Shoots group received well over 30,000 Baht for their solar project! It was a great start to their fundraising efforts but this was just the beginning. The students are hoping to continue their fundraising campaign in many venues and at many events. With this in mind, they need your help to spread the word of their objectives and fundraising efforts as widely as possible. The Roots and Shoots members overall goal is to raise one million baht for the Pang Wua village in order to provide ample solar power for basic electricity.

There are several ways Bangkok Patana Community members can be part of this project: BASIC DONATION

your name on a brick: 200 Baht

BRONZE PLAQUE DONOR name engraved on a Bronze plaque to be prominently place on the earthen building wall: 1,000 Baht SILVER PLAQUE DONOR name engraved on a Silver plaque to be prominently place on the earthen building wall: 2,500 Baht GOLD PLAQUE DONOR name engraved on a Bronze plaque to be prominently place on the earthen building wall: 5,000 Baht The Roots and Shoots students are also hoping to find a very special donor who is willing to donate a significant sum to the entire building named after them or their family!

We would love to hear from you, whether you are interested in donating or simply

learning more about this very special project, please contact Mr Coke Smith by emailing cosm@patana.ac.th.

WHAT ARE YOUR SMALL STEPS? 27/04/2018

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Going for Gold!

Dr Miles Ellerby, Secondary Chemistry Teacher

50TH INTERNATIONAL CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD 2018 - BANGKOK PATANA STUDENTS TAKE THE CHALLENGE!

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uring January 2018 students from Bangkok Patana School entered the UK Round 1 of the highly prestigious and well established International Chemistry Olympiad. This year marks the 50th anniversary of this international competition. It culminates in Round 3 with national teams of selected Chemistry students, from over 70 countries, competing in a different host country each year.

Round 1 involves a two-hour written paper comprised of highly topical and extremely challenging questions, requiring students to think and reason at a much higher level than that of the IB specifications. It takes both academic brilliance and courage to tackle the questions! This year, 6,527 students from the UK and participating countries around the globe entered this challenging competition.

Congratulations to our students who have achieved success in the first round: Yuqing Wu - Gold Shifeng Xu - Silver Rohan Shanbhag - Bronze Kevin Hsieh - Bronze Jadesada (Lou Lou) Schneider - Commendation Tan Sriprai - Commendation

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Here is what our student competitors thought of the challenge:

“The Chemistry Olympiad has helped me consolidate my knowledge and apply this to solve problems in the context of the wider world.”

Yuqing Wu

“Exposure to such challenging questions has only deepened my interest in Chemistry - I would love to do it again!”

Rohan Shanbhag

“It was quite difficult especially as some of the content has not been taught in class yet or isn’t even on the IB syllabus. However, with careful preparation one can do quite well.”

Shifeng Xu

“I’m challenged.”

Kevin Hsieh

“It was a privilege to participate in the first round of the 50th International Chemistry Olympiad. We were required to extend the knowledge we’ve learnt in the laboratory to various real-world situations, such as exploding Lithium batteries of a major phone manufacturer, proving the importance of Chemistry in understanding our surroundings. Although very challenging, the scope of the topics the questions covered allowed me to truly acknowledge the diversity of Chemistry.”

Jadesada (Lou Lou) Schneider

“The Chemistry Olympiad was a great challenge and opportunity to see use of chemistry learnt in school, applied to interesting real-life situations.”

Tan Sriprai

For more information about the International Chemistry Olympiad, please contact Dr Miles Ellerby by emailing miel@patana.ac.th.

Upcoming University Visits UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE

Yale University 27/04/2018

COUNTRY

US

REP

John Yi

LOCATION

Rosamund Stuetzel Theatre

Bangkok Patana School News

DATE

TIME

07.05.18

12:30 7

CATs Corner

Tania Leyland, Youth Club and Community Services Coordinator

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o raise awareness for HIV and AIDS as well as our cause, members from Hand2Heart held interactive sessions with the Year 10 classes during their tutorial sessions to inform them more about HIV and AIDS, the stigma and discrimination surrounding it and how they can become involved in eradicating the stigma.

We decided to present in front of Year 10s as we thought they were the most appropriate age to discuss with about the issue. They certainly didn’t fail us in this aspect; the engagement and enthusiasm they displayed during the conversations, and the attentiveness with which they listened to our presentations, made us remember why we do what we do, and why we are passionate about our cause in the first place. The first activity was a brainstorming activity on what the Year 10s already knew about HIV/AIDS. This was followed by our presentation to further their knowledge, as well as to consolidate any areas of uncertainty. Finally, we concluded the session with the students adding to their original brainstorms the new things they had learnt in the session. It was great to see that there was a substantial addition of new knowledge.

Overall, we hope that the sessions were useful, and will allow the next generation of students to think more carefully about how we can sometimes accidentally perpetuate stigmas, and how to absolve these issues as well. We hope that we will be able to continue these discussions again in the near future. To the Year 10s, thank you all for being attentive, engaging and respectful during our discussions. We hope you enjoyed the sessions as much as we enjoyed hosting them.

Momo Uji and Oak Kornsri, Event Managers of Hand2Heart

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IMPAC T ALERT O

ver the course of the year, STOP Patana raised a significant amount of funds in order to help fight human trafficking: the modern form of slavery. We are proud and very honoured to announce that we will be donating 15,000 THB to fund a human trafficking victim’s dental reconstruction. This young survivor, a girl from Cambodia, was trafficked and exploited as a child by a family member. Thankfully, she is safe now.

Since the accident that caused the damage to her teeth, she has not been able to eat proper food and has been in extreme pain. On top of attempting to cope with her emotional trauma from being trafficked, this contributed to her feeling insecure about her appearance.

Currently, there are more than 13 million children trapped in human trafficking; more than 80% are women.

Through sponsoring this courageous young girl, STOP hopes that this procedure will help to restore the survivor and empower her for the rest of her life. We would like to sincerely thank A21 for providing us with such a meaningful opportunity to truly make a difference in someone’s life.

Thank you to all those in the Bangkok Patana community who contributed to our fundraising events that has allowed us to sponsor this life-changing surgery.

REMINDER TO

SWITCH OFF YOUR ENGINE WHEN IN THE SCHOOL CAR PARK

Please help us to protect the health of our students 27/04/2018

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Presenting Dick Moore W E D N E S DAY 2 N D M AY 8:00 - 9:00 a m P R I M A RY H A L L In collaboration with the PTG

C L I C K H E R E TO R E S E R V E YO U R P L AC E Who claimed that adolescence is just a phase?

Who suggested that being a parent is easy?

Dick Moore, the parent of four often errant children and a headmaster for almost 23 years, embarked upon a mission to discover more about what makes young people tick and what he could or should have done during the challenging times! He has a passion for adolescent mental health and wellbeing and will be exploring how young people think, why adolescence is an especially vulnerable time and about common issues which can arise when the going gets tough. Finally, he will offer some tongue-in-cheek tips for parenthood‌..

Dick has spoken at over 300 schools, universities, businesses and conferences both in the UK and overseas.

He has also appeared on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live, various local BBC radio stations and ITN News with Mary Nightingale.

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UPCOMING SPORTING EVENTS UNDER 15 BOYS @ NIST GIRLS @ RIS UNDER 13 BOYS @ SHB GIRLS @ ICS

BISAC VOLLEYBALL APRIL 28

UNDER 13 BOYS @ SHB GIRLS @ BPS BISAC SOFTBALL APRIL 28

BISAC GYMNASTICS

JUNIOR AND SENIIOR @ BPS

APRIL 28

ALL AGES @ BPS

BISAC WATERPOLO APRIL 28

Good luck to all the athletes competing over the weekend!

KEEP UP

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

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@BPS_ATHLETICS _COUNCIL

@BPSSPORTS

@BPSSPORTS

TIGER SPORTS TEAMS

SAVE THE DATE

25 TH MAY SPORTS AWARDS

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Patana Blood Drive Samuel (Dillon) Rajakarier and Suyash Kothari, Year 12, and the Blood Drive Team

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n Friday March 30th from 8:30am3:30pm, Bangkok Patana School’s Conference Centre was transformed into a Blood Donation clinic. Beds lined the room as a human conveyor-belt line flowed through, with the Red Cross team busy processing hopeful donors so that they may could give the gift of life: blood.

The red force of vitality flowing through our veins is a substance we usually take for granted in our everyday lives. However, currently there is a severe blood shortage for all blood types across Thailand. The National Blood Center of Thailand is unable to maintain donations at 1,600 to 2,000 blood units a day and at least 5,000 – 6,000 units of blood have been withdrawn per day for purposes such as medical operations and blood transfusions.

More than 150 Senior students, parents, teachers and staff to donated their blood at the event, making it more of a success than we had hoped.

Many students, ourselves included, donated blood for the first time - an experience filled with both excitement and anxiety.

Looking back, the feeling of anxiety seemed unjustified. Many remarked that the process was almost painless, a testament to the skill and experience of the nurses of the Red Cross. Donors were awarded with free treats as well as laptop stickers to commemorate their donation, which will no doubt be a step towards bridging the gap of blood shortages.

We would like to thank Head Nurse, Khun Patama and her team as well as the entire Bangkok Patana Community for supporting the Patana Blood Drive team, particularly teachers for allowing students to donate during the school day. With all of the blood collected, an amazing 120 units of blood, we could support all of Thailand for 10 whole days!

Just remember, you never have time to give blood, but you always have time to receive it!

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#88 World Clocks

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very short and quick tip from me this week. If you’re regularly needing to check the time in different areas of the world then there is a really great way to do it in Windows 10. I was going to make my own YouTube video on how to do it but after a quick search stumbled on this perfectly good one explaining how to do it. I particularly like the fact that you can pin the times to the start menu so that with one click you can access all of them. If there’s a way to do this using Mac OS with one click then please let me know.

Direct links in this article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iah0TMb-mrU

Have a great weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Cross Campus Curriculum Technology Integration Year 6 would like to thank everyone who donated to their Clothing Drive at the end of Term 2.

The students have sorted the donations which have now gone to the charity A21 who support refugees living on the Thai/Cambodian border.

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

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PTG

Bangkok Patana School News

Click here to join the PTG Facebook page

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the m o r f e r Even mo

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PTG

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Transport Corner

Important notices from the Transport Department

• Block 4 ECAs start on Monday 30th April. Please make sure you that you check what ECAs your child has been accepted onto via the Parents’ Gateway. Buses will be adjusted according to each students ECA schedule. If you make changes to your child’s ECA schedule please ensure you contact Transport.

• Remember that there is no school for students on Tuesday 1st May. There will be no buses operating.

• Did you know that your child can check with their ECA teacher what number bus they are on before heading to the Bus Park? Please encourage them to check the number in advance by looking at their new bus card (which will be distributed on Monday 30th April).

• From Monday 30th April, parents can also check the bus numbers on the Parents’ Gateway. Please help to let your child know what their bus number is and please note that it may be different every day of the week.

• For your information the following letters relate to the time of the bus. If you notice your child’s bus number is incorrect please email Transport.

HK/HT – 02:30pm A – 03:30pm D – 04:30pm • Year 11 and 13 students, please note that there will be NO Transport Service on the days that school is closed - Tuesday 1st May and Tuesday 26th May. If you have an exam on either of these days please ensure that you make private transport arrangements.

• Advance warning that Thai schools will return from Tuesday 15th May. Traffic will increase from this day onwards and it is important students are not delaying the bus in the mornings.

P h o n e : 02 785 2470 E m a i l t r a n s p o rt @ pata n a . ac . t h T he office is staffed from 6:00am - 6:00pm Monday to Friday 27/04/2018

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2018 Guiding Statements Survey This April, we are conducting a survey of our community understanding of our Mission, Vision and Values.

You should have received an email requesting your feedback with this important survey to help us understand how well we are fulfilling our Guiding Statements.

Thank you for helping us to shape meaningful experiences for your children here at Bangkok Patana School.

Click here to complete the survey

click here for the Canteen

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

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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

FOBISIA Events Executive FOBISIA, the Federation of British International Schools in Asia, is an organisation that supports British International Schools in the region. One of the main aims of FOBISIA is to provide high-quality student and staff events within the 58 member schools. The role of the Events Executive has been established to provide administrative support to achieve this aim. The successful applicant will be based in Bangkok.

Events Executive applicants must have: • a Bachelor’s Degree and be highly proficient in written and spoken English; • strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work independently; • strong organisational and ICT skills; • proven administrative skills including budget management.

Please send CV and any queries to Ms Tania Donoghue at tania.donoghue@fobisia.org

Closing date: Friday 4th May, 2018 Federation of British International Schools in Asia www.fobisia.org

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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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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 22

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