Patana News Volume 21 Issue 22

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 1st March 2019

Volume 21 Issue 22

www.patana.ac.th

BANGKOK PATANA’S ACCREDITATION HISTORY AND GUIDING STATEMENTS SURVEY 2019 Page 2 Also in this issue...

Is it Ever Too Late to Learn?

01/03/2019

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Ror Dor Training Camp Bangkok Patana School News

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Careers Oxbridge Month

Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit IB World School accredited by CIS

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BANGKOK PATANA’S ACCREDITATION HISTORY AND GUIDING STATEMENTS SURVEY 2019

Helen Thew, Cross Campus Principal

What is Accreditation? ccreditation is a voluntary activity initiated by the school that requires a rigorous self-evaluation and an independent, objective appraisal of the overall educational quality by peers. Accreditation emphasises quality assurance and a commitment to continuous quality enhancement.

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Bangkok Patana was first awarded Council of International Schools (CIS) and New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) accreditation status in 2001, and was then reaccredited in May 2012. In March 2017, we had our five-year CIS/NEASC Team Visit and received the following feedback: “The school is demonstrating how an educational institution with a distinguished history, steeped in the best British traditions, can remain at the forefront of international education while remaining true to its fundamental mission.”

For the reasons outlined in my article in the last issue Patana News (read here) we have decided to concentrate on working with just one accrediting body (CIS) as we move forward. Our next step on our accreditation journey will be a Preparatory Visit from CIS that will take place in the last half of 2020 which will help us to get ready for our next reaccreditation visit during the academic year of 2021/22.

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Front cover photograph: Sarah, Year 11

Characteristics of a CIS-Accredited School The final award of CIS accreditation shows that the school has achieved high standards of professional performance in international education and has a commitment to continuous improvement. In particular, the award of accreditation shows that the school: • is devoted to its mission and vision for students • has thought deeply about the services it offers to students, family and community • focuses on the quality of teaching, student learning, as well as student safeguarding and well-being

• is committed to the development of the students’ global citizenship • has a suitable philosophy of education suitable for its students • promises only what it can deliver • is open to regular evaluation by its own school community and peer evaluators • constantly seeks improvement in all areas of the school plans strategically for the future.

As you can read from the first bullet point CIS will be looking in particular that as a school we are driven by our Guiding Statements (Mission, Vision and Values). One of the ways for us to reflect how well we are doing in this area is to survey the whole Bangkok Patana community to check how familiar all stakeholders are with our Mission, Vision and Values and how much they agree that these are a real part of the school. We first started our Guiding Statements survey back in 2015 and we are now running our survey for the third time as part of a longitudinal study in order to see how the awareness rate is changing as we are devoting more time to our Guiding Statements both inside and outside the classroom.

GUIDING STATEMENTS MISSION

Our mission is to ensure that students of different nationalities grow to their full potential as independent learners in a caring British international community.

VISION

We develop global citizens who shape their world through independence, empathy, creativity, and critical thinking.

VALUES WELLBEING

LEARNING

WE ARE

WE ARE

WE ARE

Protected, safe and secure

Rigorous

Committed to integrity

agreement than disagreement with our specific global citizenship values. However, we did pick up that some of our values were not quite as well understood as others.

We saw that we needed to explore further the values of ‘integrity’ and ‘interculturalism’ and see what these terms mean for our students and how they actually work in practice. For this reason, the summer photo challenge was along the theme of ‘Empowered by our Interculturalism’ (#patanasummerphoto). Many of the photos and stories received beautifully showed interculturalism in action.

These were then shared as examples at a whole school assembly. It is hoped that the students have now gained a better understanding as to what this value can look like and how they can engage with it themselves. It will be interesting to see what responses the students give us this year to our survey questions to allow us to see if progress in their understanding and application of our values has taken place over the last year.

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

Motivated and engaged

Inquisitive and creative

Active volunteers

Responsible and honest

Collaborative and confident communicators

Diverse and inclusive

Kind and compassionate Balanced and fulfilled

Critical, reflective thinkers

Empowered by our interculturalism

Passionate, resourceful and resilient

Inspired to improve global sustainability

Ethical and informed

Respectful contributors to digital and local communities

Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit IB World School accredited by CIS

For the last two years we have been particularly concentrating on our global citizenship values as our whole school performance management objective has been: ‘How can we enhance each of our students’ learning to support their development as global citizens?’

When we surveyed the students last year to find out if they felt if our global citizenship values were real or not we received the following feedback: Do students agree that our Global Citizenship values are real?

It was pleasing to see that these results showed more

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Guiding Statements Survey 2019 At this time, we will be asking staff, students (Years 5-13) and parents to take part in an online survey about what our Guiding Statements mean to them. The survey should take between 5 and 15 minutes to complete, depending on whether you choose to complete some optional questions. I will be emailing all stakeholders the link that they will need to use to be able to complete their survey. I thank you in advance for giving up your precious time to complete this survey and giving us valuable feedback to help us with our future planning.

The results of the Guiding Statements surveys will be published in a future edition of Patana News on Friday 10th May in Term 3.

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ROR DOR TRAINING CAMP AT KANCHANABURI PROVINCE Dr Surapee Sorrajakool, Head of Thai Programme

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ongratulations to the 54 students from Years 12 and 13 who successfully passed their Ror Dor (Reserved Officers Training Corps - ROTC) training during the half term break at Khao Chon Gai Training Camp, Kanchanaburi Province. This training is part of the requirement for Ror Dor students. It was a delightful experience for Kru Gai and Khun Dee to visit our students and meet Major General Traichakra Nakaphaiboon, Commanding General of the Army Reserve Training Center.

Here are reflections shared by some of the students: “The heat burned the back of our necks, the dust thick on our skin, and the guns weighing heavier by the second. Despite having caught a high fever just days before trip, I got through the three days at Khao Chon Gai nevertheless!

The soldiers kept a close eye on me and kindly allowed me to watch from the side lines while my friends crawled under barbed wire, ziplined from towers, and put on a full camouflage.

Regardless of what people say, I think we all had quite a lot of fun.”

Pasawat (Tang-Tae) Sakulpanich , Year 12

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“Khao Chon Gai training camp was something that I have been dreading since the start of ROTC. I was extremely afraid to go due to the stories I heard from others. However, when I got there, the experience was much better than I expected. The activities turned out to be somewhat fun and interesting and the conditions of the camp weren’t too bad. The training wasn’t much different than what we usually do on Saturdays. To the Year 11s who have to go to Khao Chon Gai next year: there is nothing you need to worry about!”

Tinn Habanananda, Year 12 “Although we could all agree that none of us had initially looked forward to Khao Chon Gai, the five days spent in the heat and dust turned out to be better than we had expected.

From watching explosive demonstrations and shooting guns to 3:00am patrol duties, we bonded together as friends and made it through to finish three years of Ror Dor training.”

Atiyut (Krating) KhemKhon, Year 13 “My experience at Khao Chon Gai has surprisingly been quite enjoyable. Even though some of the training was arduous, I was able to persevere through it with my friends and eventually complete my military service. My favourite part of the trip was running through a room filled with tear gas, as I had never experienced something so detrimental to my eyes. Khao Chon Gai has also taught me to appreciate the small things in life, as many of the luxuries we have are not accessible there and you are forced to make-do with what you have.”

Alexander MacKinnon, Year 13 01/03/2019

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UNI COUNSELLORS’ CORNER IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

The College of William & Mary, USA

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ounded in 1693 in Williamsburg, Virginia, The College of William & Mary (W&M) is big on legacy. It’s second only to Harvard (and tied with Yale) in turning out US presidents. Today W&M is lauded as one of eight “public Ivies” – public schools that offer just as stellar of an education as their Ivy League counterparts.

The university hosts five main schools: Arts and Sciences, the Mason School of Business, the School of Education, the Law School and the School of Marine Science. Together they offer more than 40 undergraduate programmes. The student body balances a passionate, if frenetic, load of ambitious coursework, community service and club or sports team membership. Students still converge daily inside the nation’s oldest college structure, the beautiful Sir Christopher Wren building, and stroll the gorgeous 1,200-acre grounds of the traditional redbrick campus. The College of William & Mary is all about engagement across a wide range of disciplines. One of the university’s big initiatives is helping students fuse their various interests into individualised study.

Challenge 19

Follow the Careers team...

Year 12 students: Have you scheduled your one-to-one meeting with your link counsellor? Meetings start this month!

In case you have forgotten, here are the Grad20 link counsellors: Mr Haughton – 12B and I; Mrs Jarrett – 12J and S; Mr Keller – 12M and L; Ms Perera – 12T and V

CLICK TO READ MARCH’S CAREERS NEWSLETTER 6

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UNI OFFERS...

Tan Yu Xin , Year 13

Congratulations on offers from the University of Bath, University of Edinburgh, University of Birmingham and University of Manchester to study Business “I chose to apply to these universities because of their reputations, specifically based on my course of choice which is business. They all have a beautiful campus’ which highlights a pleasing school environment. Furthermore, the teaching style of these schools focuses more on collaborative work, which suits my learning style thus expanding my learning potential.

I chose to study business as my course because I would like to learn about how the business world operate in more depth. As I will be studying business, I also considered the job placement and employments rates of the universities which will be beneficial to finding a job upon graduating. “”

OXBRIDGE MONTH!

The Careers and Universities Department will shortly be launching our Introduction Seminars to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. We encourage the attendance of all students who are interested in learning more about academics, student life and admission at two of the world’s most prestigious universities. Each seminar will take place at 12:30pm on the dates below. Please be sure to bring your lunch.

Wednesday 6th March: General Overview (SEC 302) Wednesday 13th March: Oxbridge alumni panel (SEC 205) Wednesday 20th March: Year 13 students’ Oxbridge journeys (SEC 302) Wednesday 27th March: Introduction of POPP programme (Year 12 students only- SEC 302) We will be advertising these events in the daily notices and encourage all students to come along out more. Year 12 students who will apply to Oxford or Cambridge next year MUST attend ALL sessions. Please contact your link counsellor if you have any questions.

UPCOMING UNIVERSITY VISITS UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE

Walailak University Alexander College University of the Fraser Valley Mohawk College of Applied Arts & Technology University of Toronto Manchester Metropolitan University The University of Warwick The American University of Paris NYU Abu Dhabi Kyoto University Youngstown State University Hofstra University University of Bristol 01/03/2019

COUNTRY

Thailand Canada Canada Canada Canada UK UK France UAE Japan USA USA UK

LOCATION

Senior Studies, second floor Senior Studies, second floor Senior Studies, second floor Senior Studies, second floor TBC SEC302 Senior Studies, second floor TBC Senior Studies, second floor Senior Studies TBC Senior Studies Senior Studies, second floor

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TIME

04.03.19 04.03.19 04.03.19 04.03.19 04.03.19 07.03.19 14.03.19 14.03.19 20.03.19 22.03.19 22.03.19 25.03.19 26.03.19

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STUDENTS SPEAK

Is it Ever Too Late to Learn?

By Karnsiree (Ling Ling) Chen, Year 12

As international school students, I’m sure most reading this will not think much of bilingualism, some of you may even be fluent in three or four languages as a result of living and experiencing a wealth of cultures all around the world. It is commonplace for us to speak a mixture of languages, an intermingling of sounds and expressions, fluidly weaving two worlds into a single thread of thought. At a young age, children don’t learn a language – they acquire it.

participants may have the advantage of maturity – like logic and problem solving – and greater linguistic experience that allows them to guess at context.

Babies acquire languages rapidly, with their brains only beginning to specialise after a year, becoming accustomed and focusing on the sounds we hear most frequently. The early years are crucial for acquiring our own language as shown in abandoned or isolated children who From this observation, it is easy to assume that struggle to grasp language that was neglected it’s best to start young. However, recent research at a young age. suggests that the link to languages evolves over a lifetime, and late beginners can eventually One of the most important factors that determine the speed at which a language is learnt is the grasp a language like native speakers. emotional bond. This can occur through love or As babies, we pick up different sounds swiftly; friendship with a native speaker or bonding with as toddlers, we tend to focus more on adopting other students and the teacher. Finding likenative accents. As adults, we have longer minded people makes it more likely that you’ll attention spans and cognitive skills that allow us persevere. Social motivation is key because to continually expand our vocabulary. It is not without it, focus is difficult to sustain. merely ageing that affects how well we speak languages, but also the learning environment A study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) based on nearly 670,000 and teaching methods. people found that to achieve native-like It appears that different ages are better at different knowledge of English grammar, it is best to start types of learning. A study by researchers in by about 10-years old. However, it is still possible Israel found that understanding language rules to keep getting better at languages, including and the application of new words into a given our own, over time. We only fully master the context. When eight-year olds, 12-year olds, and grammar of our own language by about 30. young adults were compared, the young adults scored higher than both the younger groups. Studying languages may seem daunting, but it is The researchers concluded that their older important to keep in mind that as long as focus is sustained, age is not a barrier to your success.

Sources: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0013648 / https://osf.io/pyb8s/ / image source

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TERM 3 2018/19 SCHOOL FEE INVOICES

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nvoices for Term 3 2018/19 school fees were sent to families/companies on Wednesday 20th February 2019. If you have not received your invoice please contact the Accounting Department or email accounts@patana.ac.th

Please note that the due date for settlement is Friday 22nd March 2019, payments received after this date will be subject to a late payment charge of 1% per month.

Thank you, Accounting Department

SEASON 2 SPORTS 2019/20

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lanning has now begun for next year’s Sports Calendar. This includes setting the dates for SEASAC. Season 2 SEASAC next year will fall over the first weekend of our half term break (Thursday Feb 6th 2020 – Sunday Feb 9th 2020).

Therefore please keep this in mind if you are booking family holidays including ski trips and are likely to be involved in a Season 2 Varsity team (Basketball, Rugby, Touch and Tennis).

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Please remember that if your child has lost anything (including water bottles) you can check on Firefly to see if it has been found or handed in.

Scan the QR code to view or visit https://community. patana.ac.th/community-events/lost-property Bangkok Patana School News

01/03/2019

“HOW CAN WE SUPPORT OUR SECONDARY STUDENTS IN MAINTAINING THEIR MOTHER TONGUE?” HOME LANGUAGE WORKSHOP FOR SECONDARY PARENTS 8TH MARCH 2019 CONFERENCE CENTRE 8:00 - 9:00AM Dear Secondary Parents, You are cordially invited to the ‘Home Language Development in the Secondary School’ Parent Workshop being held in the Conference Centre at 8:00am on Friday 8th March.

Maintaining and developing a Home Language in an international context can have its challenges as children grow and develop. During this workshop, there will be opportunities to discuss the challenges you as parents are facing and also share tips and ideas on how to maintain and develop your child’s home language(s).

Please complete the google form below to indicate your attendance at this workshop: RSVP HERE I look forward to welcoming you on the 8th March for this workshop. In the meantime, if you require any further clarification, please contact me at vitu@patana.ac.th Kind regards, Virginie Turner Secondary Home Language Coordinator

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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#114: The Importance of Sleep Follow-up

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have to say that the article in the Patana News before half-term must have resonated with many of you as I’ve never had so much feedback before. Since the article, I’ve presented to more Year groups and my hunch that many of us (students, staff and parents) are not necessarily getting a regular good night’s sleep, is bearing out. The anonymous survey that the students have been completing

is here; you may want to add your data to help me shape the advice I give to our parents on the 27th March at the Staying Healthy in Bangkok seminar. To help you make informed decisions about improving the quality of your sleep I’ve added two resources to this week’s tips below. I do hope you find them useful.

Have a great weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Cross Campus Curriculum Technology Integration Direct Links in this article: https://issuu.com/bangkokpatana/docs/patana_news_volume_21_issue_21 https://goo.gl/forms/to7NMcIbtjDf98wW2 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CQAUWASgZQNRE_7c0mjCmU-aBRw_iiGV/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_4HsiIFOdvg0_OnxYXEYUHpUUZfVr9w_/view?usp=sharing

DATES

for your

Diary...

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Thursday 14th March Patana Jazz and Blues Concert Friday 15th March Red Nose Day Monday 18th March IB Art Exhibition Opening Thursday 4th April Patana Unplugged Friday 5th April End of Term 2 Bangkok Patana School News

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HOME LANGUAGE COMMUNITY BOOK DRIVE W

e are expanding our selection of Home Language reading material for our learning community and we would love your support as we set out on this process. Do you have books at home in your Home Languages that your children have outgrown or perhaps you no longer need?

We would be very grateful if you would consider donating them to the Community Book Drive. If you’re able to support our initiative, please drop off any books that you have at the Primary EAL Office, which is located above the Primary Office and opposite the main entrance to Year 2.

If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact Ms Ondine at onul@patana.ac.th

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m the o r f t s e The lat

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PTG

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Join the PTG Facebook page here!

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the m o r f e r Even mo

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PTG

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Join the PTG Facebook page here!

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CATS CORNER

Tania Leyland, Youth Club and Community Services Coordinator

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CELEBRATING AND SHARING OUR SUCCESS: THE SOCIAL IMPACT EXHIBITION 2019

his week the teams have been busy putting together their boards for the Social Impact Exhibition. The purpose of the two day event is to enable the teams to share the activities and actions they have been involved in this year and to celebrate their impact on our local and wider community. It is fantastic to see the levels of collaboration and commitment to engage with issues of global significance. Alongside the exhibition we also screened a video loop with contributions from each team. This was

a fantastic opportunity for individual teams to showcase their outcomes and provide solid evidence of their social impact. Every student involved continues to strive towards true global citizenship and I am proud to be a part of their journey.

The teams have clearly embraced the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and strengthened their actions through the development of local and global partnerships. Well done to everyone involved.

THANK YOU

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would like to say a huge thank you to the students body for their ongoing support of our CATs. Without you they would not be able to achieve their goals. In particular I would like to thank: • The Junior Delegates for their donation of over 9,000 THB from the Key Stage 3 Dance. • The Student Environment Committee for their donation of 12,255 THB from the sale of roses on Valentines day.

The funds from non-uniform have not yet been counted, but thank you also to everyone who contributed.

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Key STAGE Stage One Sports Day KEY 1 SPORTS DAY

Wednesday 6th March 2019

Please feel free to follow your child and their class around the many exciting sports stations and cheer them on during the morning.

Year 1 Classes are participating from .

7.55am to 9:30am Year 2 Classes are participating from .

10.05am to 11:30am 01/03/2019

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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 22

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