Patana News Volume 21 Issue 14

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 30th November 2018

Volume 21 Issue 14

www.patana.ac.th

WE ARE DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE, AND EMPOWERED

BY OUR INTERCULTURALISM

Mr Cooper looks at the importance of International Day for our community.

Also in this issue...

SPORTS NEWS / 30/11/2018

A WEEK WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA Bangkok Patana School News

/

Page 2

STRATEGIC SEARCHING

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

1

WE ARE DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE, AND EMPOWERED BY OUR INTERCULTURALISM

WATC H T H E INTERNATIONAL DAY FILM HERE ON

Jason Cooper, Primary Principal

W

ith nationalism on the rise in many countries and be an ‘above the water line’ event in terms of the cultural borders tightening, International Day provides us iceberg. However, when you take the time to listen to the with a lovely opportunity to celebrate everything that is conversations that take place in the lead up, throughout great about being in a global community that is made up of many different cultures.

On Wednesday 21st November we celebrated our International Day, a very important celebration on our school calendar as it highlights the diversity within our community. At the same time, it provides our Bangkok Patana community members with the opportunity to showcase and celebrate their cultural heritage, or in many cases, heritages.

Taken at face value, International Day may appear to

IMAGE SOURCE

2

Bangkok Patana School News

30/11/2018

the day, as well as after the event, you begin to realise that this special day facilitates opportunities to explore aspects of culture that are often under the surface. I lost count of the number of times I heard people ask ‘why’ throughout the day. Why do you wear a sari? Why do you have Thanksgiving? Why do you have corks on your hat?

As I spent the day speaking with students and watching them interact with each other, I couldn’t help but think that the world could be a wonderful place if we followed the examples set by our children. I observed many children proudly speaking about their national dress and explaining to their friends why certain foods are important in their home culture. I also saw many children engaged in deep discussions, asking their friends lots of questions about where they come from and what they do in their home country. This genuine desire to understand and appreciate one another, coupled with the joy of being understood filled me with great hope for the future, because if our children can carry this global mindset into their adult lives then they will surely create a world that is diverse and inclusive.

A big thank you to our wonderful PTG and all the parent helpers who gave up their time to ensure that International Day 2018 was a huge success, and for helping us as a community remember that we are Diverse and Inclusive and Empowered by our Interculturalism.

30/11/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

3

STUDENTS SPEAK

What happened when I spent a WEEK WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

By Palis (Fresh) Pisuttisarun, Year 12

Social media platforms allow us teenagers to have access to our circle of friends with just a tap of the finger. With so many apps and websites available to bridge the distance between us and our friends, it can be thrilling, addictive, and most definitely convenient, to share every aspect of our lives so intimately and stay so closely in touch with others.

Of course, this also leads to many, many problems. I know myself that I spend too much time eyeing my phone screen, nervously waiting for someone to reply, or scrolling through my infinite, cleverlytailored Facebook feed, unable to stop myself. I’ve been distracted whilst doing my homework because a notification popped up more times than I could count. I’ve felt left out looking at other people’s Snapchat stories during summer and insecure when my Instagram post falls short of a few likes (usually doesn’t happen though).

In short, I’ve had my fair share of suffering caused by social media. That’s why I decided to delete all my social media apps for seven days. Here’s what happened.

Day One I didn’t actually delete my social media apps just yet. I just wasn’t going to go on them. I convinced myself that I would be able to exercise enough self-control not to obey those distracting icons that were summoning me to tap on them. It was probably just my subconscious not wanting to go ahead with my ambitious plan. Of course, I failed and gave in within the first few hours. So I announced my hiatus to my friends and actually deleted the apps. For real.

I said goodbye to all the social media I currently use: Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. I had to spare LINE because I needed to communicate with my parents (usually involves reading rants from my mom, ignoring said rants, then receiving more rants about how I left her rants on read). Other than that, I lost all connection to my online profiles. I felt proud of myself for the first few hours, but then I started to feel

4

Bangkok Patana School News

30/11/2018

paranoid, bored and empty. Thankfully, I enjoyed a whole hour studying without any interruption and went straight to bed without the usual screen time scrolling through my accounts.

Day Two and Three I didn’t quite wake up with a spring in my step like I expected.

Instead, I woke up reaching for my phone to look at what people have sent me overnight (usually just pictures of them studying and complaining about school) only to be met with three blank spaces on my screen. I was a bit disappointed upon recalling my reckless decision from the day before but quickly brushed it aside. I occasionally had the urge to send updates to my friends whenever the tiniest things happened but after being forced out of this habit, I realised how pointless it was. My friends definitely did not need to know that “OMG GUYS, I SPILLED MY CEREAL LOL”.

“My friends definitely did not need to know that “OMG GUYS, I SPILLED MY CEREAL LOL”.”

On the third day, I was struck with the realisation that my Snapchat streaks were probably gone - I hadn’t sent a Snap in 24-hours! For those of you who don’t know, Snapchat streaks are literally numbers that represent the number of days for which two people have sent something consecutively once every 24 hours on the app. If you don’t send something within 24 hours, boom - your streak is gone, your friendship is gone, and your friend is now a stranger back at square one. People take streaks extremely seriously; blood, sweat, and tears have been put into a 748-day streak. I’m very embarrassed to admit that I was genuinely sad that my streaks were gone but I eventually realised that they were just numbers and my friends were still my friends.

Days Four, Five and Six I was almost, if not completely, adjusted to a social media-free life. I mastered controlling my itch to broadcast every little detail of my life. I mastered how to have fun without aimlessly browsing through Facebook. I mastered suppressing my paranoia of missing out on all the posts, likes, comments, and messages. After the short-term concerns dissipated, I started to appreciate the long-term benefits. I felt less anxious, pressured and insecure. I wasn’t distracted and found better alternatives to satisfy my craving for human interaction, such as helping my parents prepare tea and teaching my brother his homework. It felt good to finally live outside of the screen and be freed of all the irritating issues that those apps caused me.

Day Seven I was debating whether to re-install my social media apps. Genuinely, I was starting to like my new lifestyle.

On the other hand, I also missed the fun that social media could bring. I decided to re-install them but having spent a week without them, I knew how to control myself in order to avoid falling into the same traps as before. I learnt how to enjoy the good sides of social media without experiencing the bad. Ever since then, I managed to cut down my social media screen time massively (I’m talking like ten minutes a day).

Though spending a week without social media wasn’t exactly life-changing, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and learnt so much from it. We usually don’t ever think of taking a step back from something that has become such a big part of our lives and therefore don’t see the bigger picture. I would recommend everyone to give this challenge a go; you will gain a new perspective on an issue that affects all of us and truly appreciate just how much more in life there is than what we devote our time to.

Image source: https://assets.entrepreneur.com/content/3x2/1300/20180328153457-GettyImages-937504280.jpeg

30/11/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

5

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE

2019/20

CALENDER

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 before 7th December. In the email, include: • the full name of your child • his/her tutor group • the language they wish to be entered for

DATES

for your

Diary...

6

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 Monday 7th January Term 2 Begins Monday 7th - Friday 11th January Primary Photo Week Bangkok Patana School News

30/11/2018

SPORTS NEWS SEASON 3 JV AND VARSITY SPORTS TRIALS

Due to an unavoidable clash with the Year 12 Biology Field trip the Junior Varstity and Varsity Season 3 Sports Trials (Badminton and Softball) are taking place in January: Friday January 11th Friday January 18th Please register here.

Student Daily Notices will also be shared to remind everyone. Under 13 and Under 15 trials will continue on the “traditional” dates at the end of Season 2.

BLOCK 3 ECA SIGN-UP

Block 3 ECA Sign-up will go live on the first day of school after the holidays - 7th January at 12:00 midday.

Phase I will run until midnight on 10th January. Our ECA Helpdesk will be available in the PTG room from 7:30 – 8:30am on 8th and 9th January if you need assistance or advice.

Cindy Adair, Assistant Principal, Extra Curricular Activities and Sport

TIGERS MATCH REPORTS UNDER 13 GIRLS’ BADMINTON

UNDER 13 GIRLS’ FOOTBALL

Pia Kapur, Year 8

Amelia Ahl, Year 8

The Under 13 Girls’ Badminton team performed really well but there is still scope for improvement. We won four out of five matches which is really good. Despite our success, we should still be practising hard in case we face a strong team in the future. Areas that we need to focus on are footwork, smashes, drops and placement. If we work hard we will be able to keep up this good work.

The Under 13 Girls had a good match against Bangkok Prep. They won 9-1 with Sophie scoring two, Lily scoring two, Leti scoring two and Amelia scoring three. The team showed excellent passing skills, notably Tayla who dominated possession in midfield. Natalie and Zara showed excellent defending skills and were able to release Kelsey into space to create many assists. We look forward to our next match against ISB next week.

TO BE FEATURED, SUBMIT YOUR MATCH REPORT TO COACH CINDY 30/11/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

7

#109: Digital Well-being: Are you a Strategic Searcher?

H

ands up how many of us use Google to find the answer to something? It always amazes me how much time we squander by not using some simple search operators in Google. It’s like a language, you need to practice it often in order for it to become second nature. To help, I suggest you watch this short video on how to use the most common Google search operators. Then write them on a post-it note and stick it on your laptop screen (or monitor) so you have a constant quick visual reminder each time you search for something. They say “use it or lose it”, in this case what you are losing is precious time when searching inefficiently.

Have a time-efficient searching weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Cross Campus Curriculum Technology Integration Links in this article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9XZk9CLxK4&feature=youtu.be

click here for the Canteen

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

8

Bangkok Patana School News

Menu 30/11/2018

UNI COUNSELLORS’ CORNER

IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

University of Southampton, UK

T

he University of Southampton is one of the founding members of the prestigious Russell Group of researchintensive universities. There are five campuses in Southampton, one in Winchester and an engineering campus in Malaysia.

Between the campuses, there are over 24,800 students currently enrolled at Southampton.

Southampton is situated on the South Coast of England and is a lively city offering varied nightlife and attractions.

It has its own airport and is in easy reach of Winchester, Salisbury, Bournemouth and Brighton. The university boasts more than 200 clubs and societies. Since 2000, 12 companies have been born from research conducted at the University of Southampton proving its success in making its research commercially relevant and is consequently in high demand from both the public and commercial sector. This profile has also led to millions of pounds of investment into programmes and emerging technologies.

PARENTS COFFEE MORNING Dear Parents and Guardians of students in Years 10, 11, 12 and 13, Please click here to register for our final Christmas inspired University Counsellor Coffee morning of 2018!

When: Tuesday 4th December 2018 Time: 8:00 - 9:00am Where: Senior Studies Topic: Questions and Answers We hope to see you there!

Warm wishes, The Patana Careers and University Counselling Team

CLICK TO READ THIS MONTH’S CAREERS NEWSLETTER

UPCOMING UNIVERSITY VISITS UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE

COUNTRY

University of the Arts London

UK

Carleton College

US

REP

LOCATION

DATE

Senior Studies, second floor 03.12.18 Former students Proud and Leo Senior Studies, second floor 04.12.18

TIME 12:15 12:15

Challenge 11

Colleges and universities consider all of the ways in which you have positively impacted your community, be it through sports, the arts, academics or service. Get involved!

30/11/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

9

CATS CORNER

Tania Leyland, Youth Club and Community Services Coordinator

PATANA PLUGGED saw a bit of a change this year. Instead of being just a concert, it also doubled as a

market for students community teams to sell an exciting variety of goods to support their range of different good causes.

STOP PATANA is proud to have contributed to making this event

such a success by inviting a jewelry business, NightLight, to display and sell their products at the concert. NightLight aims to provide employment to victims of human trafficking as all their beautiful pieces have all been handcrafted by women who have previously been trafficked. We were very happy to have supported a worthy cause whilst also adding to the livelihood of an event in the Bangkok Patana’s concert series.

Other stallholders included PROJECT STAR, RIGHT TO READ, PATAROME, HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, CRAFTING HOPE, NEVERLAND, WFP, OPERATION SMILE AND ANJ BY JOYIA.

SDG 4 : QUALITY EDUCATION: ‘We are ethical and informed’ The campaign days for this Sustainable Development Goal took place in the Secondary Lounge this week. It was great to see so many students engaging with the teams and asking questions about what they do to address the issue of education inequality. I look forward to receiving the articles from the teams and sharing them with you next week.

10

Bangkok Patana School News

30/11/2018

LO ST

LAST CHANCE TO CLAIM YOUR MISSING ITEMS*

y t r e p o Pr 6TH & 7TH DECEMBER AT THE 25M SWIMMING POOL

*ALL REMAINING UNCLAIMED LOST PROPERTY WILL BE DONATED TO CHARITY

30/11/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

11

PRIMARY KEY STAGE 2 SPORTS DAYS 2018 Tuesday 4th December YEAR 4 7.40am-12.10pm

Thursday 6th December YEAR 3

7.40am-12.10pm

Friday 7th December YEARS 5 and 6 7.40am-12.10pm

In addition to your PE kit and your trainers, all students are reminded that they should bring their hats, sun cream and a named water bottle on Sports Day.

12

Bangkok Patana School News

30/11/2018

The

BIG A N A T A P K BANGKO

S A M T S I R CH E V I R D Y TO 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 NOV - 7TH DEC 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

30/11/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

u o y k n Tha

13

the m o r f t s The late

14

PTG

Bangkok Patana School News

30/11/2018

Join the PTG Facebook page here!

30/11/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

15

the m o r f e r Even mo

16

PTG

Bangkok Patana School News

30/11/2018

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 2nd December for students between 8-16 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

30/11/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

17

Community

18

Bangkok Patana School News

30/11/2018

Community

Bangkok Community Theatre

is holding auditions for a Tony awards winning Broadway musical, to be performed in March.

We are looking for singing actors (aged 16 and over) - six men and five women, but there may be some cross gender casting.

Auditions will be held at Bistro 33 (Sukhumvit 33, Bangkok) December 4th starting at 7:00pm We are also looking for ‘one small girl/little Ti Moune’ (at least 10 years of age, up to 15).

Auditions will be held at Bistro 33 (Sukhumvit 33, Bangkok) December 5th starting at 7:00pm If you are interested in more details about the chosen show and in receiving an audition form, please email: info@bangkokcommunitytheatre.com If you are auditioning for one of the 16 and over roles please type December 4th in the subject line.

If you want to audition for the ‘one small girl/little Ti Moune role please type December 5th in the subject line.

Click here for full auditions notice

30/11/2018

Bangkok Patana School News

19

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 20

Bangkok Patana School News

30/11/2018