Patana News Volume 21 Issue 10

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 2nd November 2018

Volume 21 Issue 10

www.patana.ac.th

THE MONTHLY BLOG

MR MILLS IS BACK TALKING ABOUT 3-WAY CONFERENCES, THE PRESSURES OF TERM 1B AND THE IMPORTANCE OF JOY IN OUR LIVES

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Also in this issue...

The Devestating Effects of Littering / Foundation Stage and Secondary Home Language Collaboration 02/11/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

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

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Greetings everyone, A very warm welcome back to Term 1B! I do hope you all had an opportunity to relax over the mid-term break and recharge those important batteries. My family and I spent three wonderful days at the beautiful Island of Koh Kood, which is pretty close to paradise in my eyes; gorgeous, drop-dead beaches, amazing waterfalls in green forests and serene reflections of the mangroves with florescent blue kingfishers sunning themselves on the sagging power lines! That is enough poetry from me so now on to fabulous Bangkok Patana.

The next seven weeks as we head towards Christmas are incredibly hectic and important in so many ways; • Our students get straight back into their studies and experience new learning challenges on a daily basis • IA’s get submitted and reviewed • Secondary Residential Visits are finalised and ready to go, Primary Residential Visit planning is well under way as they start straight after the Christmas holidays • We celebrate International Day on November 21st which is a huge school community event on the annual calendar • SEASAC events kick into play, (pun intended) • Our Secondary musical Hairspray is performed to full houses in the Rosamund Stuetzel Theatre in early December • Then it is finally time to celebrate Christmas at the popular evening concert and the grand term finale in the Sports Hall as we ask ourselves that all important question, how is Santa going to arrive this year?

3-Way Conferences I was very proud of our Primary students just prior to half term as they celebrated their learning with their parents. I was thinking back to the early days of 3-Way Conferences and how far we have come with our enriched Primary curriculum that supports our assessment capable learners. I briefly spoke to one family who were so obviously proud of their child and the Dad said to me; “She spoke with so much confidence and I would have been terrified if I had to do the same thing way back in my early school days!” This learning conference process is an excellent example of show casing independent learners, which is a key descriptor in our school’s mission statement.

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Teacher CPL Days It was wonderful to have Ben Walden visit us prior to the mid-term break, he left a very positive mark in both the students and teacher’s minds. Ben runs an educational consultancy entitled “Contender Charlie”, whose key mission is to develop young potential. Contender Charlie is a new sister company to Olivier Mythodrama. Its aim is to offer inspiring courses to staff and students and to help develop strong leadership at all levels of school life. Ben believes that authentic leaders are ordinary people able to draw on extraordinary talents. They are prepared to bring all of themselves to work, to stand up for what is important, and to adapt appropriately to meet new challenging situations. Our teachers really valued having the opportunity to listen and learn from Ben and spend quality time to unpick the nuances and complexities of differing personality types with their colleagues.

Great Educational Articles to Share I really enjoyed this TED Talk on what is “JOY” and how we experience it. The video is 13 minutes long but well worth the longer view. The world is becoming such a fast paced and complicated place that I think it is really important that our students get to experience joy on a regular basis. Knowing what it actually is helps a great deal.

Have a joyful weekend!

Matt Mills Head of School The Plan Image Source

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SECONDARY AND FOUNDATION STAGE COLLABORATE ON HOME LANGUAGE Virginie Turner, Secondary Home Language Coordinator

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t the start of the new academic year, Ms Hooper and I offered students in Years 10, 11 12 and 13 the opportunity to use their Home Language to support their younger peers in the Foundation Stage. The aim was clear: let them have fun in their mother tongue at school.

This initiative is now very popular and, through the wonderful support of the Foundation Stage teachers, our Secondary students have developed skills in language learning, social development and sign language to name a few. We are lucky to have a wide range of language speakers in both Foundation and Secondary: Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, French, Hindi, Thai, Danish and Italian.

The following testimonies are a sample of the genuine interest our students have in maintaining their culture, native tongue and share it with others. read a book called ‘Hop on Pop’ by Dr Seuss and taught them new prepositions that might be useful when they are told to pack up during lessons. I have also taught them how to say different colours in English such as ‘red’ and ‘orange’.

HINDI: Vaidehi Kothari, 10D “I have really been enjoying spending time with the little ones and especially speaking to them in their home language. It’s amazing to see how some of the students become so much more expressive when they communicate in their home language. I think this service is impacting the Foundation Stage (FS) children to make sure that they don’t lose touch with where they are from – communicating in their home language ensures they are exposed to their unique backgrounds.

Personally, I have learned to be more imaginative and creative as I see the youngsters creating their own imaginative stories when they are playing. The FS teacher taught us how little ones copy what they see older students doing, therefore we made sure that we followed the things they do such as following the STOP and GO signs and being good role-models in front of them.”

KOREAN: Jiwon Yoo, 10D “I am a Korean speaker and I am currently teaching two boys called Taemin and Felix from in Foundation Stage. They are both new and cannot speak any English, they have to follow their friends to participate in class. I have talked to them and they told me that they are struggling to understand English and sometimes feel left out because no one can understand them. However, through our sessions, the boys got closer to each other and now they can talk to each other and feel less left out. Additionally, I have also taught them new words in English and Korean. I have

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I think my service is helping the wider community because just by teaching them basic words, they can understand a bit more than before and also help their teachers when they are giving them instructions. The children are feeling comfortable with me as well so they are not shy to talk to me about what they are struggling with, meaning I can help them straight away. I have also found it very interesting that children can learn very fast through playing with each other and just by talking to each other. I’ve been there four times and they remember the things I taught them the previous visit! It is a great pleasure for me to meet them and I would love to help them out as much as I can for them to have a comfortable and fun time in school.”

JAPANESE: Ena Hashimoto, 10R “I started this program as my Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award session, however, I am very happy that I joined as it is such a great opportunity for me and most importantly very fun! I think I am very fortunate in being able to participate in this program.

My home language is Japanese and I spend time with few Japanese children during lunchtime twice a week. It is very interesting to see how the small children learn quickly through play.

For example, I was colouring with one of the girls and I taught her how to say skin colour in Japanese. She quickly learnt this word and used it when we were talking. I was very impressed with her and also surprised at the same time.

There is a range in the strength of Foundation Stage children’s home language, but their attitude of wanting to learn is very impressive. I really want to try my best to develop their Japanese as I believe that home language is very important for them. In my opinion, home language is the base for everything when you want to learn a new language. I am very happy to continue participating in this session as long as I can since it is a very good experience for me and also children in Foundation Stage are very

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cute which makes me forget about all the learning happening.”

trying as well as the concept of delayed gratification.”

Tina Kong, 10T ITALIAN: Lucia Polastro, 10D “Recently, I began visiting Foundation Stage (FS) as a Home Language helper in Spanish and Italian. The purpose of the visit is not only to help the children become more confident in their home language but also to allow them to be able to communicate with other students if English is not their first language. This is not only helping the students develop awareness of their culture but also helps the wider community understand that there are many languages and cultures in FS.

MANDARIN “During my first experiences in the Foundation Stage, I had an enjoyable time communicating with the students in our home language of Mandarin. I believe that this service is beneficial to the community as it exposes more children to the idea of speaking a variety of languages with each other, increasing the chances of world languages being shared widely in our society.

At first, I had a few concerns that the children would be difficult to converse with as they were very shy but after a week, they began to open up and gradually started to speak to me in Mandarin comfortably. During the sessions, I have done a range of activities including reading several Mandarin storybooks to a group of kids, going on shape hunts and translating English books to Chinese. With this, the children also shared with me interesting stories about their families and lifestyle. From this experience, I have discovered the ways of how the children learn through play and also how they share their creative ideas with each other.

Furthermore, the FS teachers frequently let the children do things independently and I have learnt that this helps to develop their skills of solving problems themselves.”

Mirabel Leong, 10D

Prior to my first session, I was worried that I would not be able to communicate with my new friends or that they would not want to respond in the home language. However, after just one session we have already made significant progress. We not only read a book translated into Italian but also began encouraging the children to use their home language when playing. When playing in the building area, I allowed the children to promote their independence by challenging with simple questions in their home language such as “Can you show me how to make the tower taller?” or “Do you think we can make the tower stronger?” By talking to the FS teachers, I began to comprehend how our bodies, words and even sign language can help support the children’s learning of a new language. I would like to do a book voice over of some of my favourite children’s books or simply send a message in my home language to my friend to encourage them to further develop their listening skills.

Though my experience in FS, I have learnt that to promote the understanding of culture, social skills and language by early year children play, our body and words can be used to encourage them. Put simply, by our service we are also learning about general language development.”

“Not only are the younger children benefitting from this programme, but we Secondary volunteers and individuals are also learning essential life skills such as the ability to maintain calm and be patient. Personally, I’ve had an eye-opening experience with a very shy girl, who at first would not respond to me verbally or with gestures, this turned out to be very frustrating. However, as I got to know her, she started pointing at books she wants to read, took me to places she want to play and we had a non-verbal communication. To me, this was very pleasing and I learnt to keep

ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE (I)GCSE ENTRIES: YEARS 9, 10 AND 11 STUDENTS If your child studies a language outside of school, either a Home Language or an MFL, and would like to consider taking an IGCSE exam in that language, please contact Celine Courenq ceco@patana.ac.th. In the email, include: • the full name of your child • his/her tutor group • the language they wish to be entered for

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THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF LITTERING Liam Bowden, Leader of Learning and Curriculum, Year 2

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fter weeks of researching and constructing habitats, Year 2 were shocked when they arrived at school one morning to find them littered. Plastics bags, bottles, plastic straws, bottle tops, crisp packets and a host of other pieces of litter, were found strewn across their wonderful creations. As part of their ’Me and My World’ learning theme in Term 1A, the children had spent weeks learning about different habitats and the animals and plants that thrive in them. They were understandably disappointed to find them in this state, weeks later. After an initial discussion around how litter can be a bit of an eye sore, the children took a closer look at the effects of littering on different an-

imals in different habitats. They were shocked to learn that bags, straws and bottle tops can be mistaken as food by some creatures and they found images of animals stuck in cans and bottles just as worrying. A lot of children made links between their created habitats being littered and other places they had been that had been littered also.

Many mentioned beaches they had been to as an example. Motivated to avoid these incidents happening again, the children then decided to write a letter for Patana News to encourage everyone to think about the effects of littering but also offer some solutions. Please read them and please think about their message.

Year 2 habitats before the devastation

After the terrible littering

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READ MORE OF OUR YEAR 2s FANTASTIC LETTERS HERE 02/11/2018

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CELEBRATING CPL

Katherine Hume, Cross Campus Assistant Principal for Continuous Professional Learning

Helen Berghuis, Head of Secondary Humanities Faculty

Miranda Cawley, Leader of Learning, Year 6

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Dominique Chandler, Leader of Learning, Year 3

e would like to celebrate the success of several of our Middle Leaders, who have recently been awarded the National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership (NPQSL) from the Institute of Education at the University College London.

Matthew Jones, Head of Year 12, Secondary English Teacher

Ondine Ullman, Primary Leader of Learning, Language Acquisition

• leading with impact • working in partnership • managing resources and risks • increasing capability

They also had the opportunity to develop the following The NPQSL supports the professional development of leadership behaviours: aspiring senior leaders by developing the skills, knowl• commitment edge and behaviours that are needed to be a high-per• collaboration forming senior leader in a school. The qualification ran • personal drive over 18 months and involved face-to-face sessions, online • resilience learning and a school improvement project.

• awareness • integrity To develop their senior leadership knowledge and skills, • respect participants’ focused on six key areas: • strategy and improvement • teaching and curriculum excellence

Congratulations from the Bangkok Patana Community!

For more information about Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) at Bangkok Patana, please contact Katherine Hume, Cross Campus Assistant Principal kahu@patana.ac.th

Dear Parents, My name is Louise Velayo and I am a Year 13 IB student. I am currently writing my Extended Essay, which is essentially a research paper, about education in IB International schools in Bangkok and would really appreciate a few minutes of your to complete the following questionnaire.

The data that will be collected will help me to determine which characteristics of a school are most considered by parents.

From there I will be able to narrow down the most important characteristics, which I will investigate in my extended essay.

The questionnaire should only take a maximum of five minutes.

CLICK TO COMPLETE THE QUESTIONNAIRE Thank you so much for your support, Louise Matias (IV) Velayo 8

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The

BIG A N A T A P K O K BANG

S A M T S I R CH TOY DRIVE Please donate a new, wrapped* toy, game or book for a child in need aged 3 - 16

SPREAD THE JOY OF THE HOLIDAYS Please bring your donation to the tables at the Front of School between

26TH - 30TH NOVEMBER Give an extra gift this Christmas

TO THE DESERVING CHILDREN AT THE GIFT OF HAPPINESS FOUNDATION

!

*please label your gift with the age of child it is suitable for

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Bangkok Patana School News

u o y k n Tha

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UNI COUNSELLORS’ CORNER

NORTH AMERICAN UNIVERSITY ROAD TRIP

Kevin Keller, University and Careers Counsellor

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ast month, I had the distinct pleasure of travelling to North America to network with university admissions professionals from around the world and visit universities on the Pacific Northwest Coast. It was two weeks full of professional development, learning about admission trends from the world’s top universities, best practices for university counselling and of course, building relationships with university representatives who will be the decision makers for Bangkok Patana students applying to college.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

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he University of Wisconsin-Madison is recognised for their academic excellence, incredible students, inspiring faculty, exceptional value, and an amazing campus and community.

Admission to UW-Madison is holistic, competitive and selective.

UW-Madison offers instruction in more than 100 fields, with more than 4,200 course listings.

Learning takes place in a variety of settings, from traditional classrooms, to undergraduate research opportunities, to service-learning experiences in the community. UW-Madison students are expected to apply learning inside and outside the traditional classroom in ways that have a positive impact on the world. Known as the Wisconsin Experience, this principle draws upon opportunities ranging from conducting research to embracing entrepreneurship to developing multicultural competency. A beautiful campus comprising of 933 acres along the shore of Lake Mendota with five area lakes and 6,000 acres of parkland (including 260 parks and 14 conservation parks), and more than 150 miles of running, hiking, and biking trails in Madison.

Over 6,000 university and high school professionals from more than 20 countries attended the National Association of College Admission Counselling’s annual convention, held in Salt Lake City, Utah. I learned more about best practices for reference letter writing, developing a student centred college counselling curriculum and met with hundreds of representatives who were interested in learning more about the remarkable students at Bangkok Patana School. The conference was full of invigorating information sharing that enables the counsellor’s lucky enough to attend each year to stay on the cutting edge of university admission practices.

More importantly, I was able to visit universities both popular with our students and some new universities that could be a fantastic fit but are not recognisable by our students currently. The Vancouver, British Columbia leg of my journey began at Simon Fraser University, where they break away from more traditional teaching styles to give a cutting-edge approach to STEM education. The University of British Columbia was a beautiful and lively campus in the midst of serious amounts of construction. I learned about their increased institutional interest in students from Thailand, as well as the overall growing application numbers and increased competition for admission.

UPCOMING UNIVERSITY VISITS UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE Richmond, The American International University in London

COUNTRY UK

REP Felicity Lloyd

Bangkok Patana University Fair University of British Columbia

Canada

Jeff Kiyooka

LOCATION

DATE

TIME

Senior Studies, second floor 06.11.18

12:15

Secondary Student Lounge

08.11.18

08:00

Senior Studies, second floor 08.11.18

12:15

The University of Warwick

UK

Amarjeet S Mutneja Senior Studies, second floor 09.11.18

09:15

University of Leicester

UK

Senior Studies, second floor 09.11.18

12:15

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In Seattle, Washington, I had the pleasure of visiting Seattle Pacific University, where almost all science students work directly with faculty researching a topic of their choice - many will be published in scientific journals! Seattle University, right in the heart of downtown Seattle, is known for its top 30 ranked finance and engineering majors while offering students the resources of exclusive direct investment from local companies like Amazon and Microsoft. This includes facilities AND internships!

Both universities offer small classes where students can easily work with faculty.

My last stop was Portland, Oregon where I visited four universities that could all be a fit for the right Patana student. Lewis and Clark College is a small, liberal arts college that is one of the few (and maybe only) US college or university with an entire office dedicated to the support of Third Culture Students.

I was very impressed with their admission rates to Ivy League graduate programmes and suspect that it has to do with the graduate-level thesis that each student must complete and defend before graduating.

I had the pleasure of meeting some of our recent graduates at the University of Washington, a large research university.

They are all enjoying their time there so far and recommend it for students who are determined to catch the attention of professors in its large, competitive environment and for our students to participate in the extended orientation programme for any university they might choose to attend. The campus is beautiful and the academic resources are seemingly endless. The University of Washington has a very high number of international students and it is consistently ranked highly in the STEM and business fields.

The alma mater of Steve Jobs, Reed College was a beautiful campus with hiking paths that any of our Duke of Edinburgh participants would enjoy. Another university with extremely high Ivy League acceptance rates for graduate school, Reed assigns a faculty mentor for each student and it is the only undergraduate institution in the USA with a nuclear reactor lab!

Portland State University is a large, urban, public university that reminded me of many of the universities I’ve visited in London. They have a very close relationship with local corporation Nike and are very generous with scholarships and other financial aid. Finally, I visited The University of Portland, a medium sized university known in the US for their top-ranked undergraduate teaching, engineering and football programme. Students looking for a traditional, residential campus and a high amount of peer mentoring would be very comfortable here.

I hope that our students will consider these and many other of the 4,500+ universities in the US and Canada as they thoroughly research the universities they aspire to attend. Bangkok Patana School will also look forward to welcoming universities to our campus as a result of the connections made at the conference and they’re looking forward to meeting our eager students!

Challenge 7 Have a look at the universities attending the November 8th Fair.

Make sure you speak to a handful of them!

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Click Here to read the November University and Careers Newsletter Bangkok Patana School News

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UNIVERSITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 50 universities from •UK •Ireland

•Australia •Thailand •And more

+ Presentations delivered on selected topics

8th

November 8.00am to 9.30am Student Lounge Area If you have any questions about this event please contact saja@patana.ac.th

CLICK HERE TO SEE LIST OF INSTITUTIONS ATTENDING

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##105: A Tip, Tool, Text and Tutorial

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don’t know if you are like me, but on the first day of each month I get a small nagging feeling that I should take the opportunity to do something healthier or change an annoying habit. Thankfully the feeling quickly wears off as you progress further into the month. I suppose it’s something akin to the New Year resolution(s) we struggle to keep. So, with that in mind, and the fact that I’m writing this on the 1st of November, I’ve made a commitment to myself (having read this

by Seth Godin) to write a blog post every day this month. Here’s a link to my daily blog for November, if you would like to follow my endeavour then do please subscribe.

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a Tip: How to stop Google from tracking your location and activities

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a Tool: Save up to 95% memory and reduce tab clutter in Google Chrome

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a Text: My Scroll Free September (read time = 1min)

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a Tutorial: The Surprising Habits of Original Thinkers (see below – watch time = 15mins)

Have a breezy and sunny weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Cross Campus Curriculum Technology Integration Links in this article: https://seths.blog/2018/10/the-first-1000-are-the-most-difficult/ http://community.patana.ac.th/gc/digital-citizenship/digital-citizenship-blog https://download. cnet.com/blog/download-blog/how-to-stop-google-from-tracking-your-location-and-activities/ https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/onetab/chphlpgkkbolifaimnlloiipkdnihall https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxbCHn6gE3U

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

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 3: GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING - CAMPAIGN DAYS Good health and well-being are vital to everyone. Without our health we are unable to effectively engage in our local communities, participate in economic activity or participate in quality family life. During the week before half term, SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being was the focus of our campaign days. Many of our CATs have objectives that connect with this global goal and it was fantastic to see such a buzz of activity in the Secondary Lounge.

The World Food Project and the Community Garden ECA organised a seed planting activity whilst RISE challenged students to ‘rise’ to the fitness challenge by completing as many press ups as possible in a fixed amount of time. Operation Smile organised a game of ‘Operation’, as the World Food Project also encouraged students to play ‘nutrition twister’. In the wooden globe there were screenings of Sesame Street - Get Healthy Show and the Pixar film ‘Inside out’, which looks at the role of our emotions in our mental well-being. Continuing on the theme of well-being, LETS organised relaxation and yoga sessions in the Drama Studios where students could spend some time resting their minds and de-stressing from their daily routine.

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WHAT’S COMING UP IN TERM 1B? Although it is quite a short half term, we are fully packed with CAT events and activities to ensure that students have every opportunity to engage with issues of global significance.

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth Campaign days • Habitat For Humanity Bake Sale • SDG 14: Life Below Water - Campaign days • Operation Smile Bake Sale • SDG 4: Quality Education - Campaign days • Project Star - FUNdraiser • Hand 2 Heart Bake Sale • Human Rights Day • Habitat For Humanity - ‘BIG Build’ • PMCG Reef dive to check on the progress of the artificial reefs

FORDEC COLLECTION - A CAS INITIATIVE FROM YEAR 12

A big thank you to the Bangkok Patana community for your donations. The children at FORDEC day-care really appreciate all the donations of clothing and stationary.

The FORDEC CAS team

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STUDENTS SPEAK

How Does Music Affect The Brain?

By Karnsiree (Ling Ling) Chen, Year 12

The brain is a complex organ that is still very much a core focus in science, with neuroscientists all over the world making discoveries as we speak. Research has indicated that music affects the brain in three main ways: emotion, memory and learning and neuroplasticity. Music engages the brain on a unique front, and in understanding its benefits we can use music to enhance our cognitive abilities.

tions and the children could then indicate emotions based on what they felt. Music provides autistic children with a vehicle to express themselves, transcending verbal barriers.

2. Memory Music has also been found to stimulate memory, and aid in lessening the effects of Alzheimer’s. A 2009 study from Petr Janata at the University of California, found that a part of the brain “associates music and memories when we experience emotionally salient episodic memories that are triggered by familiar songs from our personal past.” In summary, this means our own familiar music can reconnect people with deep, meaningful memories from their past, which is particularly helpful to jog the memories of those with Alzheimer’s. These principles are what is used to form the basis of specifically constructed play-lists to evoke desired emotional responses through interaction with music and the brain.

3. Learning and Neuroplasticity

1. Emotion Studies show that music engages emotions through specific brain circuits, a conclusion which is apparent in everyday life. Have you ever seen a loudly wailing baby put to sleep by the sound of a soothing lullaby?

Or has upbeat music made you feel more cheerful on a bad day? These are both examples of how music can influence emotions in a positive way. Music is also a physical experience, as the brain releases hormones like oxytocin and dopamine when peak emotions are reached, stimulating the brain’s reward and pleasure centres.

Though many believe that emotions are linked to the heart, in reality the brain provides the bulk of emotional stimulus. Our understanding of the link between emotions and brain activity can be utilised in many ways: one of which being using music to create an emotional understanding between people. A study from the Journal of Music Therapy shows that using songs as a form of communication could increase emotional understanding in autistic children. The study used specific songs to portray different emo-

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganise itself by forming new neural connections throughout life, allowing the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment. When the brain is damaged, it can find or create new pathways to function properly, a process which music can be aided by providing the stimuli to create these new pathways and to help the brain to recover. The music affected the patients’ brains ability to reconnect to memories they previously could not access.

An example of this is shown in Gabrielle Giffords. Giffords experienced a brain injury as the result of a gunshot wound, which left her almost unable to speak. By engaging her brain through music therapy, she was able to provide new information to the mind through music and rewire her brain in a way that helped her to make the connections necessary to relearn language.

Music is endlessly beneficial to development and will continue to be so as neuroscience continues to advance and new discoveries and continually made.

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_brain

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HOW DID HALLOWEEN COME TO BE?

By Ann Kanchanasakdichai, Year 12

It’s that spooky season of the year again where we all dress up as witches, animals, celebrities and even the occasional hot dog. We decorate our homes with spider webs, skeletons and horror movie props.

But have you ever wondered, who decided that we should carve faces into pumpkins, drape white cloths over poor unsuspecting lamps and stick scarecrows around the house on October 31st. What for? And why October the 31st?

Halloween was originally from an ancient Celtic religion called the “Festival of Samhain” which took place in various parts of Europe. Their new year was celebrated on November 1st and they believed that towards the end of summer, before beginning a new year which often started off as a cold, dark winter, the barrier between the world of ghosts and our world becomes really thin.

So, to prevent having random spirits and supernatural creatures roaming our land, they thought that having a costume party and light bonfires the night before new year was a brilliant idea to ward off the spirits, which is why we celebrate Halloween on October 31st.

However, during the 9th century, Christianity had spread into the Celtic lands resulting in the two traditions blending with each other. There is a common belief that the church attempted to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a church-holiday called “All Soul’s Day” which was primarily the same as the fes-

tival of Samhain where they dressed up as Saints, angels and devils but is celebrated on November 2nd.

They also came up with an “All Saints Day” celebration: also known as All-hallowmas, that they celebrated on November 1st. And so, the Celtic festival that took place one day before it, was renamed “All-Hallows Eve” (meaning the evening before All Hallow’s Day) which then turned into the “Halloween” we know today.

“Why do we go around asking for candy (Trick or Treating)?”

Back then, during the Samhain festival, food offerings were placed outside the house on tables in case spirits came by. Poor villagers began dressing as spirits to take the food. A few decades later, another tradition came about where poor people could visit homes and promise to pray for the homeowner’s dead relatives souls in exchange for a pastry called “soul cakes”. Children started to adopt this practice and went around asking for food which turned to trick or treating.

“Why do we ‘bob for apples’ on Halloween”?

The Roman Empire ruled the Celtic lands for 400 years. In that time, they combined their festivals with the Celtic Samhain festival. One of their festival was used to honor “Pomona” the Roman goddess of fruit and trees whose symbol was an “Apple” and so the incorporation of Roman traditions into Celtic festivals resulted in the practice of “Bobbing for Apples”.

Sources: https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween - https://www.history. com/topics/halloween/history-of-trick-or-treating - https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/15169373 - image: pexels.com

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NEW IN AT THE LIBRARY Early Years Library

Primary Library

Secondary Library

Fiction

Fiction

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Non-Fiction

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Oversized Books

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Chapter Books

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DID YOU KNOW THAT WE ALSO SUBSCRIBE TO THESE MAGAZINES?

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RECOMMEND A BOOK FOR THE LIBRARY BY CLICKING HERE

TERM 2 2018/19: SCHOOL FEE INVOICES

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nvoices for school fees for Term 2 2018/19 were sent to families/companies on Wednesday 31st October 2018. If you have not received your invoice please contact Accounting Department or email to accounts@patana.ac.th Please note that the due date for settlement is on Friday 30th November 2018 and payments received after this date will be subject to a late payment charge of 1% per month.

Thank you, Accounting Department

DATES

for your

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Friday 9th November Patana Plugged Wednesday 21st November International Day Thursday 22nd November Loy Krathong Wednesday 5th December HM King Rama IX’s Birthday Monday 10th December Constitution Day Wednesday 12th December Christmas Concert Friday 14th December Whole School Christmas Assembly

Bangkok Patana School News

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TRANSPORT CORNER END OF BLOCK 1 ECAS Today is the last day of Block 1 ECAs. Between 5th - 9th November there will only be 2:30pm and 4:30pm buses. Selective sports, Dutch, Singapore Mandarin, Danish, Thai ETP (Years 7-9) and some Secondary Drama/Music ECAs will run next week as well as Sports Trials.

If you are unsure if your ECA activity is running please contact your ECA teacher. All students not involved in the ECAs above will be put on their normal 2:30pm bus home.

SEASON 2 SPORT TRIALS Secondary students who plan to try-out for Season 2 sports team should have signed up to do so already. If you have not signed up please remember to inform Transport to cancel or change your bus on the day you will attend a trial. Please note that a limited number of 4:30pm buses will be running and late requests are subject to route and seat availability only.

ECAS BLOCK 2 Transport will be amended according to each students ECA confirmed Block 2 selections, please ensure that you are aware of what ECAs your children will be attending. Block 2 ECAs for Primary students will commence on Monday 12th November, ECAs for Secondary students will commence on Monday 19th November. Please note that any activity that finishes after 4:3pm will require private transport arrangements home. If you make any late changes to Block 2 ECAs please ensure that you inform the Transport Office.

SECONDARY RESIDENTIAL VISIT WEEK Please plan ahead and inform Transport if you know that you will bring your child to school on the morning of departure of your child’s Secondary Residential beginning Monday 12th November.

Transport on Monday 12th November will run as normal for Secondary students so please help to avoid unnecessary delays to other bus users by cancelling the bus for your child and also for any siblings if applicable.

When students return on Friday 16th November all afternoon transport home has been cancelled. If you would like your child to take the bus home on this day please ensure that you inform Transport in advance.

YEAR 11 AND 13 TRIAL EXAMS For Year 11 and 13 students, a normal Transport service to and from school will operate. Please request any transport changes well in advance. Please note that not all requests can be accommodated due to limited bus routes for the week of 12th-16th November. All requests are subject to route and seat availability.

CONTACT US Direct phone: 02 785 2470

Email: transport@patana.ac.th

The Transport Office is staffed from 6:00am - 6:00pm Monday to Friday.

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Community

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Community

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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 28

Bangkok Patana School News

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