Patana News Volume 20 Issue 30

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NEWS Patana

Friday 18th May 2018

Volume 20 Issue 30

www.patana.ac.th

Royal Wedding Fever Takes Over!

Harry & Meghan Special Page 4 Also in this issue

The Full Range of Human Emotion... / STEM with Suyash / Latest from the PTG 18/05/2018

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 Full Range of Human Emotion…

Mick Smith, Secondary School Principal

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o that’s that then! Another cohort of Year 13 students have made it to the end of their great Senior Studies adventure and completed the super-demanding International Baccalaureate, IB for short. I’ve been lucky enough to see a number of the Year group take their last few turns around the IB dance floor this week as I’ve needed to revisit my old stomping ground as IB Coordinator. Mr Andy Roff, our actual coordinator, does a superb job ensuring that everything is perfectly organised to take as much stress as possible away from the students, allowing them to focus on doing their very best in the exams. Therefore, when he hurt his back this week and I had to step in for a couple of days, it would have been quite difficult for me to mess it up too badly! I had forgotten one or two moves and maybe trod on a couple of toes here and there, but after a while I was back in step with the IB waltz.

of fear in their eyes to subside. It doesn’t take long. Our students are well-prepared, have worked so hard for so long and been taught so well. They know how to go about their business.

I was actually IB Coordinator at Bangkok Patana from 20032006. I’m sure you can imagine how old I felt when I worked out that the Graduating Class of 2018 had just completed Year 1 when I last paced the examination hall in earnest! The students are still anxious, excited, nervous, as they circle the ballroom searching for the desk with their name on it, their dance partner for the next couple of hours. ‘Not this one, not that one, ah here we are, not right by the teachers, not by the door, not wobbly, no distractions, just right…’ For anything up to three hours at a time they sit in close embrace with their desk. The not so casual observer sees the full range of human emotion flit across their young faces. There are frowns aplenty, sighs, the odd look skywards for inspiration. Strangely, there are many smiles too, even grins. You see some students almost hugging themselves with satisfaction at a moment of insight, or when they’ve finally negotiated their way through a long and complicated problem. I saw one young man appearing to unpack and repack an imaginary box. He wasn’t unloading groceries or practising his mine routine but visualising a complex model he’d learned in Chemistry. One or two students seem to age about twenty years in front of your very eyes as they flick nervously through the paper looking for something that they recognise. I hold my breath waiting for the suggestion

silence all at once, one more done, almost there, it’s ok.

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A sign of this is that they seem to finish right on time. I haven’t spotted anyone looking up in anguish at the hateful clock still not started their final essay as I announce, as cheerily as I can that there are ‘5 minutes remaining’. Equally no-one has sat idly, or even worse sleeping, with half an hour to go, through misplaced confidence or resignation. No-one has asked to leave early. Our students carefully lay down their pens just as I mouth ‘The examination is now over’, their faces suggesting either satisfaction at a job well done, or at the very least, that it could have been a lot worse! The imaginary music stops, the lights come on and the students shuffle away excitedly, noise bursting from the

Despite my rather light-hearted description, I certainly do appreciate that this is a really tough and demanding time for our students. Year 12 and 13 are challenging and to some extent unrelenting. We try our very best to support the students with mentoring, with positive feedback, guidance and care. We know that you as parents have been through this time with your daughters and sons, have helped them when they’ve fallen behind or maybe given them a firm push in the right direction if they’ve been taking things a little too easy. The last few weeks in the run up to and during the examinations themselves are super intense. Some students breeze through, absorbing and even relishing the pressure. Others, probably most, find it quite tough at times but find their way, stay positive and are confident that they are doing their best. There are always a few students, and this has nothing to do with academic ability, who really do find the process to be a struggle and need the love and support of parents and friends and the guidance and trust of their teachers to get through unscathed.

The well-being of young people, how to monitor and support them is a major issue right now. In the UK, there is some alarm at

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the apparent lack of pastoral care at leading universities where students who need support are left to fend for themselves. As a high-expectation, high-achieving school we are acutely aware of the importance of maintaining balance in our approach. We absolutely want our students to achieve their full academic potential and do all that we can to support it. We are also aware of our duty to nurture happy, resilient, kind, thoughtful and mentally healthy young women and men, who will be able to sustain themselves and flourish independently beyond Patana in the future. I am very proud of the fact that I know that student welfare really is what we value most at Bangkok Patana. In Secondary, Helen Thew, Lena Perriam and their Heads of Year, counsellors and tutors, lead out and set the bar very high in this regard, but in reality, we are all here to enable our students to be successful and balanced. We have been able to increase our counselling provision this year and student-wellbeing will feature heavily on the Secondary School Development Plan in 2018/19.

Finally, in case this all sounds a little too serious, I literally

flipped from the old to the new in the time it took me to walk from the Conference Centre to the Rosamund Stuetzel Theatre yesterday. As Year 13 were quite literally walking out of one door of Secondary, Year 6, or at least their parents, strode purposefully through another. The Year 6 Parents Transition day is a handing over of the baton from Primary to Secondary. Current Year 7 and Year 9 students showed parents around school and the Secondary Leadership Team shared information and advice to encourage and assure them that all would be well. I think I may have blown it by telling them I’d just come from a place where seven years from now their children would be finishing their IB examinations! The final leg of their Secondary career will certainly challenge the Graduating Class of 2025, but they’ll be ready, healthy, and will have had a wonderful time on the way.

Have a great weekend, Mick Smith, Principal, Secondary School.

H

ello World! I’m Suyash Kothari from Year 12 here at Bangkok Patana School. I enjoy studying Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics for the IB, and I often find myself watching videos or reading articles about things related to these subjects in my own time. On a (mostly) weekly basis, I’ll be writing here in Patana News about concepts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) that I find particularly interesting from the things I’ve read about.

So...what is the point of this?

I like to think about how our world works; I find things that we encounter on a daily basis fascinating. Questions that always comes to mind are “how does X work?” or “how is Y concept used in our daily lives?”

It was only when I really started thinking about these questions did I realise just how ignorant I was about things in Science and Technology that govern our lives. Take the Internet, for example: half1 of the entire planet regularly uses the internet, yet only a fraction of this amount actually knows how it works. STEM related fields don’t exist in their own bubble only for Mathematicians and Scientists to attend to. Some concepts are so important and interesting that everybody should know about them!

Whether you are a member of staff, a student or a parent - regardless of whether you like STEM fields - I hope to show you why these concepts are so interesting and instill within you the same curiosity for them that I have.

I hope you will find the ‘STEM with Suyash’ section of the Patana News enlightening, and I will see you next week right here to answer our first question:

What exactly is the internet?

1 Taylor, A. (2016). 47 percent of the world’s population now use the Internet, study says. [online] Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/ wp/2016/11/22/47-percent-of-the-worlds-population-now-use-the-internet-users-study-says/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.9507a8f5fa08 [Accessed 8 May 2018]

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Congratulations Prince Harry and Meghan

See all the photographs from today’s Royal Wedding celebration on our Facebook page here!

Watch the Bangkok Patana

Royal Wedding Film here!

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CATs Corner

Tania Leyland, Youth Club and Community Services Coordinator

MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK – 7TH TO 11TH MAY LETS (Lets Erase The Stigma) are a club in school that aims to: • help spread awareness about common mental health issues such as anxiety, stress and depression • educate people about some ways to support their peers who experience these issues • improve students’ mental health by boosting their self-esteem and confidence through various activities.

We held our annual Mental Health Awareness Week during 7th - 11th May. On Monday, we shared this special quote. We think this quote links well with our purpose as a club and shows the positive qualities of an individual and can motivate us to have a more optimistic mindset.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we organised a slime making station in the Secondary Lounge. As exams are coming for some year groups in the school and stress is rising, slime is an easy and fun way to help calm down our nerves by venting stress on a stretchable texture. Overall, the slime activity was a success and many students came and got involved in making some slime.

Finally, on Friday we ran a Kahoot quiz in the lounge to allow students to learn more about LETS and understand the importance of good mental health in all of our lives.​

By Kelly-Ann Tan and Yu Xin Tan, Year 12

EMERGENCY RESPONSE COMMITTEE (ERC) The ERC meets to discuss how we as a school can respond to and support victims of natural disasters or national emergencies. Any student in the school can ask their Year rep to call a meeting to discuss an event that you are concerned about and that you think we, as a school, should be responding to.

The 2018/19 ERC Year group reps are: Year 12: Kieran Jagdeo Year 11: Isaree (Kara) Chewter Year 10: Thararak (Beem) Raktabutr Year 9: Pavanee Kalvakalva Year 8: Kylie Kim Year 7: Aastha Sawlani supported by Pearl

click here for the Canteen

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

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Bangkok Patana School News

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#91 Disable Fortnite in-app Purchases & 13 Reasons Why Season 2

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robably the most popular game amongst our students at the moment is Fortnite. If you’ve never heard of it then read the Parents’ Ultimate Guide to Fortnite. It’s reportedly made over $25 million in 30 days. If your children are playing this game then you should be aware that they can make in-app purchases up to $100 for outfits, gliders and dance moves for the characters. These are merely cosmetic for the gameplay. To avoid receiving a ‘shock’ billing on your Apple account, I suggest you watch this video on how to switch off in-app purchases for iOS devices that your children use, and that are registered to your Apple account.

Today, the second season of the Netflix series ’13 Reasons Why’ will air. Many of our students, including some as young as Year 6 watched the first season. If your children are planning to watch the second season then I think you should read this well-written post on ‘How to Prepare for 13 Reasons Why Season 2’, it includes a discussion guide and short video.

And finally, kudos to one of our teachers that spotted the deliberate typo in last week’s top tip on artificial intelligence: “Now I’m beginning to wonder if I could use it to write there technology tips…..”.

Have a great weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Cross Campus Curriculum Technology Integration Direct links in this article: https://www.cnet.com/videos/how-to-stop-your-kids-from-making-fortnite-in-app-ios-purchases/ https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/parents-ultimate-guide-to-fortnite https://www.screenagersmovie.com/tech-talk-tuesdays/how-to-prepare-for-13-reasons-why-season-2

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LAST WEEKEND’S SPORTING EVENTS JUNIOR SEASAC

CLIMBING

@ HIS

@ MKIS IN KUALA LUMPUR WELL DONE TO ALL THE SWIMMERS WHO PARTICIPATED AND CONGRATULATIONS FOR COMING FIRST!

INVITATIONAL CLIMBING

JUNIOR SEASEC SWIMMING 10TH - 13TH MAY

UNDER 11 INVITATIONAL TENNIS 13TH MAY

UNDER 11 TENNIS @ HIS

JUNIOR SEASAC GYMNASTICS 12TH - 13TH MAY

JUNIOR SEASAC

@ STAM IN SINGAPORE

Well done to everyone who competed in these recent events!

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

Bangkok Patana School News

GO TIGERS SAVE THE DATE

25 TH MAY SPORTS AWARDS

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CSTD Thailand Dance Grandprix 2018

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ongratulations to Tianjuta (Pearl) Thianthai 10M and her sister Kulchad (Sheen) 5W for their wonderful perfomacnes at the 5th CSTD Thailand Dance Grandprix 2018 that took place on May 3rd-6th at the Asara Theatre here in Bangkok. Winners of the event are invited to compete in the 20th Asia Pacific Dance Competition that is to be held in Singapore in August. Well done to Pearl and Sheen on their fantastic achievement in being selected to represent at the 20th Asia Pacific Dance Competition. There the girls will compete against the champions from ten other countries around Asia! Good Luck in Singapore from everyone at Bangkok Patana!

Pearl, 10M 1st place đ&#x;Ľ‡Lyrical solo, 17 and under 2nd place đ&#x;ĽˆClassical ensemble, 17 and under 3rd place đ&#x;Ľ‰Classical solo, 17 and under 3rd place đ&#x;Ľ‰Betty Tilley perpetual trophy dance challenge, 15 and over Honorable mention đ&#x;Ž—Demi-Character solo, 17 and under Honorable mention đ&#x;Ž—Modern troupe 17 and under

Dates

for your

Diary...

Sheen, 5W 2nd place đ&#x;ĽˆClassical solo, 11and under 2nd place đ&#x;ĽˆLyrical solo, 11 and under 2nd place đ&#x;ĽˆModern ensemble, 13 and under Honorable mention đ&#x;Ž—Modern solo, 11 and under Honorable mention đ&#x;Ž—Novelty solo, 11 and under Honorable mention đ&#x;Ž—Modern troupe, 17 and under Honorable mention Classical troupe, 15 and under

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

SWITCH OFF

YOUR ENGINE WHEN IN THE SCHOOL CAR PARK 18/05/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

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the m o r f t s The late

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PTG

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Click here to join the PTG Facebook page

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It’s time to dive into another Bangkok Patana Primary Sports event!

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May 2018

@25m Pool

FS2B and FS2O 8.00-9.00am

FS2D, FS2K and FS2P 9.30-10:30am

REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR SWIMMING KIT, GOGGLES AND TOWEL TO YOUR GALA. APPLY PLENTY OF SUN-CREAM!!

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FS2 SWIMMING GALA

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th

May 2018

@25m Pool 1D, 1J, 1K and 1S 7:45-9:15am

1A, 1C, 1L and 1T 9:45-11:15am

Remember to bring your swimming kit, goggles and towel to your gala. apply plenty of sun-cream!!

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Bangkok Patana School News

YEAR 1 SWIMMING GALA

It’s time to dive into another Bangkok Patana Primary Sports event!

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It’s time to dive into another Bangkok Patana Primary Sports event!

23 May 2018 @25m Pool 2D, 2M, 2S and 2T 7:45-9:15am

2B, 2C, 2J and 2L 9:45-11:15am

REMEMBER TO BRING YOUR SWIMMING KIT, GOGGLES AND TOWEL TO YOUR GALA.

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Bangkok Patana School News

YEAR 2 SWIMMING GALA

rd

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Community

Job Vacancy: Communications Director Communications Director Position Opening at AMCHAM to start immediately. The Communications Director is responsible for managing all communications channels, liaising with local media and overseeing the AMCHAM website and publications.

The position requires a minimum of 5 years of professional communications experience and outstanding English writing skills to write articles on economic and trade issues, speech writing and editing of advocacy papers. Knowledge and experience with current digital technology and trends necessary. The ideal candidate would be a Thai National with a strong U.S. education background or a U.S. citizen (visa and work permit provided). Click here for job description. To apply, contact execdirector@amchamthailand.com.

Application Deadline: May 21, 2018. Interviews will be conducted on May 25.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand 7/F GPF Witthayu A, 93/1 Wireless Road Lumpini, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330 Phone: +66 (0)2 254-1041 www.amchamthailand.com

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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 27th May 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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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 18

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