Patana News Volume 20 Issue 28

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 4th May 2018

Primary 3-Way Conferences

Volume 20 Issue 28

www.patana.ac.th

Page 2

Also in this issue

Diversity and Inclusivity / Global Social Leaders Competition / STEM Day 04/05/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

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

1

Primary 3-Way Conferences Jason Cooper, Primary School Principal

T

he Primary School was a hive of activity last week as we held our 3-Way Conferences. There was a real buzz of excitement as the students had the opportunity to share and celebrate their learning with their parents and teachers, while also identifying the next steps in their learning.

The 3-Way Conferences at Bangkok Patana are designed to: • Give students an opportunity to show evidence of their learning and progress • Encourage metacognitive skills such as reflection and self-evaluation • Develop self-confidence and oral communication skills • Encourage student ownership of their learning • Strengthen the student-parent-school partnerships Mr Verde, Assistant Primary Principal – Curriculum, had not seen 3-Way conferences before coming to Bangkok Patana, so it was great to hear his reflections: “It was a pleasure to experience the Primary School 3-Way Conferences, where learning was shared across the school, over an afternoon and a day. Watching parents, children and teachers come together and talk about the successes and challenges from this term and the aspirations and hopes for the

2

next year, reinforced how important and meaningful this experience is for everyone. The celebration of learning created an atmosphere of calm around every child, within an environment of smiles, talk, collaboration and pride. These 3-Way Conferences were another example of how every child is a valued and special member of the Patana school community.”

Mr Verde’s reflections and the quote below really highlight the benefits of the 3-Way conferences for our students and their learning: ‘Not only is the student the best person to tell their parents what they have learnt, but if we believe that students build their knowledge by communicating what they know, then providing an opportunity for the students to tell their family what they know can significantly assist with that learning.”

Michael Absolum, Clarity in the Classroom (2006) Providing students with opportunities to pause and reflect on the successes and challenges they have faced in their learning is an integral part of the learning process. Enabling the students to talk about their learning helps them to clarify where they currently are, where they are striving to get to, and what they need to do next in order to achieve their goals.

Bangkok Patana School News

04/05/2018

#89 Well-being

I

want to highlight a comment Dick Moore made to our Year 12 students about using Social Media when he presented to them on Wednesday this week: “…let it [social media] educate you, inspire you, make your laugh, smile and cry and fill you with wonder…..

BUT if you’re already feeling sad, depressed or lonely, go nowhere near it… instead, actively seek out physical interactions with your friends and family – and tell them how you are feeling…”

The presentation he gave to parents on Wednesday morning was emotionally moving and thought provoking. We recorded the event which you can watch here: https://goo.gl/dnzLKF (1hour 20min) Many were asking for a copy of his slides; we will make them available on our Parents’ Gateway shortly. As with most of our presentations and workshops, what is said, and how it is said, are sometimes more informative than the slides / images we show. In this case I think it is especially true, so if you could not make the make the morning in person, I highly recommend you watch a copy of his presentation on the link above.

Have a happy weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Cross Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

Dates

for your

Diary...

04/05/2018

Tuesday 22nd May PTG AGM Friday 25th May Sports Awards Dinner Tuesday 29th May Visakha Bucha Day (School closed) Friday 1st June Bangkok Patana School AGM Wednesday 6th June Patana United Wednesday 13th June Dance Extravaganza Friday 22nd June End of Year Assembly

Bangkok Patana School News

3

Diversity and Inclusivity

Moly Leelatham, Tavisha Khanna, Ella Painter and Gia Narayan, Year 9 Junior Delegates

O

ur school Value, ‘diversity and inclusivity’ is all about respecting, being mindful, empowering and appreciating everyone’s differences and origins. In an international community and school, we need to be inclusive, open and respectful of everyone’s opinions, cultures, sexual orientation, religions, personalities, age, race and skill set. We had the opportunity a few weeks ago to demonstrate and encourage diversity and inclusivity in Key Stage 3 during an assembly. As a group of four, we put together a presentation on explaining this value, how to link diversity and inclusivity, how we should embrace all of our differences, where this value is demonstrated and how to demonstrate the value by yourself.

At Bangkok Patana School, there are teachers and students from all around the world. In and out of school, students come across and embrace the different cultures in everyday life.

Within school hours students are surrounded with diversity and inclusivity, taught to accept and appreciate the different cultures through friendship groups, CAS/CAT, volunteering, tutorial and events such as International Day. By teaching and demonstrating this value in school many students are influenced to be active and vocal, using social media to raise awareness to campaigns and become involved with 4

diverse groups and teams.

Furthermore, diversity in schools is not about cultures and backgrounds but is also about having a diverse range of friends in terms of skill sets.

People are good at different things and as a community need to appreciate that. Students have already been showing their awareness and appreciation of different skill sets through groups within school. In addition to this, students in Years 7 and 8 demonstrate this extremely well during their Connections projects when each person has task based on their abilities and strengths.

REFLECTION FOR ACTIVE VOLUNTEERING Active volunteering is to willingly and constantly give up your time to commit to helping others inside or outside of school; expecting no reward.

As a group, we put forward the idea of making our time on stage more engaging and interesting by setting up a competition we called “Patana’s Got Active Volunteers”. The idea was that by setting up a Google doc and emailing the people nominated by Ms Leyland we would eventually obtain a range of ‘contestants’ that would be ‘judged’ by the three Heads of Year during assembly. The audience Bangkok Patana School News

got an insight into what different students do inside and outside of school, which was further explored when the judges asked them question, encouraging students across all Year groups to also actively volunteer. The students that volunteered included: Tadeo Cognac, Lily-Anne Boucher, Sharnipa Pa Tantiponganant, Prim Taey Traisorat and Keria McKnight Burrel from Year 7, Max Masson, Matthew Broadbent and Bethany Donahoe from Year 8, and finally from Year 9, Anika Chatikavanij, Camille Marchive and Anna Meller.

I would also like to mention two brave Year 6 students, Thomas Horton and Chalom Chuwanon, who talked about how they helped the environment by picking up plastic on the Year 6 Residential. In our opinion, all students shared a precious message but one of the most impactful stories was from one of the Year 9s who talked about their visit to Father Ray Foundation (a foundation that supports everyone from people with disabilities to young orphans) in Pattaya where they played sports with amazing people. We also found it astonishing how so many Year 7s are contributing to the community by volunteering for CAS Clubs ranging from the Student Environmental Committee (SEC), STOP and the Mercy Center. To finish, the Year 8 students also proved 04/05/2018

themselves to be active volunteers by telling us about their diving trip to Pattaya were they rebuilt coral reefs. To conclude our assembly, we gave way to Head of Year 9, Ms Brown to announce the winner. The twist was that there was no single winner as being an active volunteer means you are already your own winner and as a group, we found many different active volunteers from not only Key Stage 3 but also Key Stage 2 as well.

a group raising awareness about the volcano in Bali, Indonesia. To help the cause we organised a fundraiser where you could paint on medical masks during lunchtime and we explained to the students who participated all about what had happened.

With the money that we have collected we bought actual gas masks for the people in Bali to help them survive.” Angela Braun, Year 9

“I am part of the team who go to school one Saturday a month and THREE ACTIVE host lots of less fortunate children VOLUNTEERS TELL US THEIR from the Mercy Center. We spend STORIES: time playing with them in the pool “A while ago a group of people and on the playground, eating with in my class decided to be a part of them and doing various activities, in-

cluding Fun Day. It’s really nice getting to know the kids and see them enjoy the facilities. It’s great that they are all so happy and enthusiastic when they come, and over the visits, I have made some really sweet friends. We can barely communicate as I don’t speak Thai, and they don’t all speak English but it doesn’t matter to us. I love helping out with the visits, and always look forward to them!”

Sophie Stevens, Year 8 “Last year I took part in an ECA where we made toys from recycled materials and donated them to charities. It felt amazing to be able to help other people.” Leti Polastro Martinez, Year 7

New in at the Library Early Years Library

Primary Library

Secondary Library

Fiction

Fiction

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Non-Fiction

Senior Fiction

Chapter Books & Comic Books

Graphic Novels

Non-Fiction

Did you know that we also subscribe to these magazines?

Recommend a book for our libraries

click here for the Canteen

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

04/05/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

Menu 5

What’s Happening in the Library?

Sally Flint, Head of Libraries

A

s we share this month’s new arrivals (see page 5) it seems opportunity to give a short library news update. Firstly we must say a big well done to all our Year 3 and 4 Readers’ Theatre Competitors and a huge congratulations to our winners Gigi, Katja and Ella, from 3K, who read “Has Anyone Seen My Chihuahua?” and Pip, Jira and Georgia, from 4T, who read “Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed”. This was a wonderful celebration of reading with nearly 80 children taking part. The confidence our young readers demonstrated in reading with expression was a pleasure to witness.

ac.th. A useful website to visit to check what age group of children other parents think a particular book is suitable for, is www.commonsensemedia.org.

Stage 1 has read and voted on all the picture books already, with Antoinette Portis’ Froodle being a firm favourite amongst our younger readers. Our Key Stage 2 and 3 students have also started voting with Ghosts being an early leader in Key Stage 2 and Scythe proving a popular read at Key Stage 3. If you would like to learn more about the history of the Bangkok Book Awards then visit our website here. The winning titles will be announced on May 18th and work is already well under way to choose next year’s shortlisted titles.

with physical activity. If you are interested in yoga or perhaps would like to try a spot of juggling then why not pop in the library and borrow one of our new ‘Action Packs’?

The Carnegie and Kate Greenaway shortlisted titles are always eagerly anticipated, not just by us, but by schools worldwide. This year, as always, the choices are diverse and exciting, enabling wonderful discussion and debate across a range of issues. We have clearly labelled the spines of the books for those titles that we think are more suitable to Key Stage 4 students than Key Stage 3 so if you would prefer your child not to borrow Key Stage 4 recommended books then please let me know at safl@patana.

We do welcome feedback and involvement from our parent community so please do make suggestions for new additions to our collection via this link and share any suggestions you may have to make our libraries serve our Patana community even better than they already do.

As well as our extensive promotion of reading this term we have been encouraging our students to be mindful of their own sense of well-being. We have a broad collection of books exploring emotional health and well-being available in both our libraries. You may have noticed our new Secondary display, completed in collaboration with our student LETS CAS group, advising students where they can seek help if they are having mental health concerns. We We have been absolutely thrilled at how well our Bang- are not neglecting our physical health either and have an kok Book Awards promotion has gone. The whole of Key unusual new initiative that we are piloting, linking reading

6

It has recently come to my attention that not all parents are aware of our massive collection of Parenting Books that are housed in the Secondary Library. They range from dealing with particular learning needs, to supporting students completing the IB, to healthy eating to coping with grief. The full collection can be accessed from our library catalogue here.

Enjoy our new arrivals and until next time Happy Reading.

Bangkok Patana School News

04/05/2018

STEM Challenge Day With F1 in Schools Kylie Kim, Grace Sintavanarong, Hang Ching (Ching Ching) Kanjanapas, Hsu Htoo, Yu Ling (Nicole) Lu and Norramon (Cc) Nuntiruj, Year 8

A

t the STEM@Patana (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) Challenge Day on Wednesday 2nd May during the Design and Technology (DT) Workshop, we learnt many things, including: how to use Fusion 360 (a modelling software), the basics of aerodynamics and some other skills that we applied when designing and manufacturing our Formula 1 (F1) racing cars. We also got the opportunity to work with students from Bangkok Prep, NIST, Shrewsbury, Brighton College Bangkok, Regent’s Bangkok, Rayong English Program, ISE, KIS, Bromsgrove International School, Ascott International School and RBIS.

“We had to complete two car models, one computer design on a 3D modelling program called Fusion 360 and a second hand drawn design.”

During the morning, we got into three large groups in order to learn different DT skills that are very useful for designing and manufacturing; using Fusion 360, learning about aerodynamics and more about manufacturing with

different equipment in the workshop.

We were also introduced to some new testing methods, like using a wind tunnel and the airflow visualisation machine to test the drag of the car and the direction the wind will travel.

The second part of the day, we were split into smaller groups consisting of two to three people to create our final models that we are to compete with.

We had to complete two car models, one computer design on a 3D modelling program called Fusion 360 and a second hand drawn design. After we finished our model, we tested the drag and race time several times to make it the best we could. Because we didn’t get much time, we had to rush a bit at the end but , we were still quite successful.

At the end of the day, we were surprised to see the variety of designs that the different groups created and how the different designs affected the speed of the cars. We also raced our cars against each other in the semi-finals and final. It was very intense. Overall, the experience was very exciting and fun, while being educational; we are definitely looking forward to more opportunities like this in the future.

Special thanks to: F1 In Schools, teachers and students from the other 11 international schools, Mr Myers (host teacher), Bangkok Patana teachers and students.

Click here to read about the STEM@Patana Quantum Physics day on Patana Life

04/05/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

7

CATs Corner

Tania Leyland, Youth Club and Community Services Coordinator

​COBIS Global Social Leaders competition for students Students had to develop a project that addressed one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and submit a report outlining the main highlights of their project. Below is the Patana Marine Conservation Group (PMCG) entry. They are competing against teams of students from COBIS (Council of British International Schools) around the world.

Patana Marine Conservation Group Reef Restoration Project

Coral reefs around the planet are facing a range of grave risks including pollution and the effects of global warming. The reefs situated in the Gulf of Thailand are no exception. At PMCG we aim to help protect the marine ecosystem through a combination of reef /beach cleanups and habitat re-construction. In this project we are undertaking the restoration of the corals in Sattahip Bay, Thailand through coral aquaculture techniques. We are also raising awareness of the critical importance of protecting our marine spaces from further degradation through community-based campaigns.

Although our ocean remain threatened, we believe that they can be protected through careful conservation and the promotion of sustainable living practices.

Primary objectives: • Design and build a structure to create a false reef to encourage coral growth • Create a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of marine protection

Sustainable Development Goals Goal 14: Life Below Water - By building an artificial reef, who we called Timmy the Turtle, we have been able to create an environment that encourages the growth of coral which will in turn provide sustainable habitats for other marine life. The range of coral species that have attached to the reef has been spectacular.

Goal 12 : Responsible Consumption and Production - Our awareness campaign focused on how responsible consumption and production can have a positive impact on our oceans and how irresponsible consumption and production is having a negative impact on coral reefs and marine life. We brought in an artificial whale made out of plastic waste to highlight the level of damage that single use plastic is having in our oceans. Bobo the whale formed the centrepiece of our campaign within the Primary and Secondary School and acted as a visual representation to raise awareness and enable us to engage with students. The Foundation Stage children really enjoyed running in and out of his stomach and taking out all of the plastic bottles.

Goal 13 : Climate Action - As part of our awareness campaign and in preparation for the sinking of the reef, we organised a reef and beach cleanup. Divers cleaned nondegradable waste left in the sea whilst snorkelers went to the beach and collected sacks of plastic and fishing line that had washed up on the shores. We collaborated with Mermaids Marine Conservation in Pattaya.

8

Bangkok Patana School News

04/05/2018

Introducing our team…

Project Team Leaders: Jessica Cumming and Maya Lemaire Assistant Team Leader and Primary School Coordinator: Annabel Brett Secretary and Trip Logistics: Anika Kohari Photography: Gabriel Mattei and Annie Robertson Structure Designers: Marilou Turner and Naman Choudhary Key Stage 3 Representative: Rory Brett

Highlights

• The variety of coral that has started to grow on the artificial reef.

• Collaborating with different ages of students to help them create their own awareness campaigns which also

helped us develop our communication skills.

• Collecting 25 sacks of plastic waste from the beach and ocean bed.

• Learning about marine conservation and developing team project skills has been a major highlight for us. We

are better problem solvers and more resilient in tackling setbacks.

• Seeing the positive feedback we get from schools around the world via our social media pages

Funds & Donations?

•

• •

We raised awareness of our project at the Bangkok Patana Fun Day and received a donation of 10,000 Thai baht from the school PTG. The main elements of the artificial reef were donated by the Design and Technology department.

Student volunteers paid to join the reef and beach clean up trips so all costs were covered.

Upcoming University Visits UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE

Yale University

COUNTRY

US

REP

John Yi

LOCATION

Rosamund Stuetzel Theatre

DATE

TIME

07.05.18

12:30

REMINDER TO

SWITCH OFF

YOUR ENGINE WHEN IN THE SCHOOL CAR PARK Please help us to protect the health of our students 04/05/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

9

BISAC G ymnastics 2018

Goals over Golds

William Preston, Gymnastics Programme Coordinator

B

angkok Patana School was honoured to host the 2018 BISAC Gymnastics Championships last weekend. The Sports Hall was transformed into a full Olympic Gymnastics set-up for the two-day championship event.

Bangkok Patana Boys’ Gymnastics team were crowned BISAC Champions winning every single Team Category for the second year in a row. The Girls’ were also crowned joint BISAC Champions with NIST after both teams won the same number of team levels.

It is always nice to win, however our Gymnastics Programme’s primary focus is to help our gymnasts achieve their own personal goals in the sport. We believe if our gymnasts consistently set themselves challenging goals and are held accountable in achieving them with the help of our coaches, the results of any competition will naturally follow and the gymnasts will first take pride in accomplishing their goals than victory “Goals over Golds!”

Bangkok Patana continues to have the strongest Gymnastics Academy in Bangkok, for both boys and girls, from pre-competitive team to Level 8 and both recreational to competitive. We look forward to taking the programme to even greater heights and helping every student fulfill their full potential.

2018 BISAC GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS BOYS Level 1 Team – First Place Level 2 Team – First Place Level 3 Team – First Place Level 4 Team – First Place Level 5 – First Place GIRLS Level 2 Junior – Second Place Level 2 Senior – Second Place Level 3 Junior – Second Place Level 3 Senior – First Place Level 4 Junior Team – First Place Level 4 Senior Team – First Place Level 5 Team – Third Place Level 6 Team – First Place

10

Bangkok Patana School News

04/05/2018

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

PTG

Tuesday cardio 7:30 - 9:15am Thursday competition from 7:30am

04/05/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

11

he t m o r f re Even mo

12

PTG

Bangkok Patana School News

Click here to join the PTG Facebook page

04/05/2018

04/05/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

13

Community

14

Bangkok Patana School News

04/05/2018

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.

04/05/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

15

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 16

Bangkok Patana School News

04/05/2018