Patana News Volume 21 Issue 27

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 26th April 2019

Volume 21 Issue 27

www.patana.ac.th

HEAD OF SCHOOL’S MONTHLY BLOG

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Also in this issue...

Robotics Rat Race/ Waste Less Swim / Career Skills for the 21st Century 26/04/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

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

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A Very Warm Welcome to Term 3!

I do hope you all had a relaxing and safe Songkran holiday!

I went and visited my oldest son Jake who is in his first year at Deakin University in Melbourne studying film. It’s amazing how mature your child suddenly looks once they are away from home and experiencing the independence that university life brings. I also got to fly across the Tasman Sea and spend five nights on Waiheke Island just off the coast of Auckland and experienced lovely autumn temperatures.

The school campus is feeling considerably quieter now that our Year 11 and 13 students have officially gone on study leave as they prepare for their heavily anticipated exams. This is always a very fast-paced school term at Bangkok Patana as we head towards summer and confirm all the good learning that has taken place over the academic year. I am pleased to say that the principals and I have successfully filled all of our 2019/20 teacher vacancies and we have another very strong new teacher cohort joining us in early August.

Celebrating our Wonderful PTG Our PTG are a group of incredibly dedicated and hard-working parents that are such strong advocates for our school. PTG Chair Melissa Golden and her executive team have had another successful year and I appreciate all that they do to support our amazing school. Melissa has confirmed that the 2019 PTG AGM will be held in the Black Box at 8.00am on Tuesday 28th. I hope to see you there.

New School Website Our long-awaited new Bangkok Patana School external website will be launched very soon! A huge thank you to our Marketing Department who have spent hours working on this very important whole school project. It’s going to be colourful, informative and 21st century focused. Our internal Firefly site is not being updated at this time, only our school’s external website. Stay tuned, it shouldn’t be long now.

Operation Senior Studies Andrew Gordon, our Business Director, and I just took a walk on the newly concreted second floor of the Senior Studies new build and the extra student space is going to be amazing. We are also extending the top corner of the Conference Centre over the summer, which will house all of the oral exams in the future. The Conference Centre is also getting an internal refurbishment over the summer holidays including new flooring.

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Outdoor Classroom On Wednesday, I joined Head of Secondary Science Matt Baker and Coke Smith our Head of the Outdoor classroom as we officially opened the new phase of our fantastic Outdoor Classroom. We have some new building structures plus some new roofing, paths, planting and some chickens who have a new home. Board member Craig White joined me in attending the opening of this important new school development, which is going to be so educationally beneficial to all of our Patana students. A huge thank you to Matt, Coke, Khun Turbo and all of the Science team that have spent hours developing this incredible outside-of-the-classroom learning environment.

Great Educational Articles to Share Here is one of the most heart-felt videos I have seen in a long time made by a very up and coming Iranian director/actor Babak Habibifar. Please show your kids. Share the love and it will always come back to you!

The Avocado Principles Here is another incredible educational metaphor from the brilliant Seth Godin!

1. If you wait until you really want an avocado, the market won’t have any ripe ones. You need to buy them in advance.

2. If you eat an avocado that’s not quite ripe, you won’t enjoy it. AND, you won’t have a chance to enjoy it tomorrow, when it would have been perfect if you had only waited.

3. If you live your life based on instant gratification and little planning, you’ll either never have a good avocado or you’ll pay more than you should to someone else who planned ahead.

4. Buy more avocados than you think you need, because the hassles are always greater than the cost, so you might as well invest.

5. And since you have so many, share them when they’re ripe. What goes around comes around.

All of these truths lead to the real insight, the metaphor that’s just waiting to be lived in all ways: If you get ahead of the cycle, waiting until the first one is ripe and then always replenishing before you need one, you can live an entire life eating ripe avocados. On the other hand, if impatience and poor planning gets you behind the cycle, you’ll be just as likely to waste every one you ever eat.

Plant your tree before you need the shade.

Enjoy your weekend.

Best wishes, Matt Mills

Head of School

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Bangkok Patana School News

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THE RAT RACE ROBOTICS COMPETITION

David Brettell, Head of Faculty, Computing

OUR FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION n Thursday 21st March 2019 Bangkok Patana School attended its first ever robotics competition; the third annual Rat Race at Charter International School, Bangkok. Around twenty-two teams participated from nine different schools. Patana’s twelve students fielded three teams with their robots named “Billy the Bully”, “A Cool One” and Julius Cheeser”. The competition consisted of a range of challenges and tasks from autonomously, using sensors only, navigating a complex inclining and declining track, weaving in and out of cones, pushing a rat off a pedestal to knocking three different coloured and sized balls off the track and stopping at the correct place in a tunnel. Points were awarded for dressing the robot up as a rat, making use of multiple sensors, explaining the robot operating code to the judges as well as presenting and explain the workings of the robot to visiting primary classes.

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For the first half of the competition Patana were top of the scoreboard, at first, second and third place. By the end of the competition team robot “Billy the Bully” took 3rd place, “Julius Cheeser” came in 4th and “A Cool One” was 13th.

A special mention goes to this team for holding the record for the fastest completion of the track, in 25 seconds, throughout most of the competition. The average time was 49 seconds for the nine robots that managed to complete the circuit. “A Cool One” held the record up until the last

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minutes of the competition when another school beat them by 2 seconds.

What was most evident with our students was their commitment and never-give-up attitude. Despite set-backs such as a failing motor, for which we were able to borrow one from another team, or sensor and programming issues, they carried on. Time and again the teams modified their robot’s construction or programming code in order to undertake multiple attempts at different challenges in order to earn points. It was this perseverance and positive approach that resulted in our Patana students performing so well in our school’s first ever robotics competition entry.

A word of thanks must go to the robotics teachers and technician who helped and directed our students. Prior to the competition Jim Thombs, DT Teacher, with the assistance of our technician, Jahziel Life Rafael, built part of the competition track for our students to practise on. Mun Yee Chong gave up many extra hours outside of school time to supervise students whilst they practised.

Here are some student reflections on the event:

Bangkok Patana School News

“I have not been in many competitions before, so this was a new experience for me. I enjoyed the experience of competing and watching our robot complete challenges and tracks.”

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Elyse Hawson, Y8.

returned motivated and enthused for the next competition.

Our VEX V5 kits have finally arrived and the students will begin learning how to build and code the newer VEX hardware and microcontroller, using a range of languages. Already there are competitions scheduled, for example the open platform Y7-12 Robotics FOBISIA Competition on Thursday 10th October 2019 and the weekend of 1st February 2020 for the next VEX Thailand Championship, with VEX scrimmages planned prior to this main event. The rules for the 2019-2020 VEX Game will be released shortly and our students will begin their robot design process to meet the challenges of this new game.

“I didn’t go to the competition, but I was committed to the robot regardless and I regularly came in my own time to help my team get ready for the competition. I helped my team program for the model track built in the school. I also helped fix our robot when it was falling apart.”

Anmol Gandhi, Y11.

“I think our team worked very well because we all communicated well, even though we started off by having some disagreements and we ended up actually doing quite well because we found ways to resolve these issues. Furthermore, I think “A Cool One” also did quite a good job because they delegated all the team members to different tasks and everything seems to have come together really well.” Tavisha Khanna, Y10.

“It was a great learning experience, as I learnt how the time should be managed during the competition, and to be more prepared before the competition.”

Zara Mansoor, Y11

Billy the Bully

Julius Cheeser

A Cool One

3rd place

4th place

13th place

Si Chao Xiong

Tavisha Khanna

Akshat Kachroo

Isaac Goh

Zara Mansoor

Arin Tongdee

Razam Sherwani

Marwin Banleulap

Isaac Goh

Elyse Hawson

Chaidat Chaimongkol

The students had an excellent and enjoyable day and

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Bangkok Patana School News

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CAREER SKILLS for the 21st century Andrew Haughton, Head of Faculty, Careers and University Counselling

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arents from across the school community learned about the career skills needed in our rapidly changing society at a seminar given by Dr Shanton Chang, an Associate Professor Shanton Chang at The Department of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne. Dr Chang is also Assistant Dean (International) at the Melbourne School of Information. He is well-versed in his field and gave an interesting and thought-provoking presentation for our parent body on the need for our students and parents to rethink the way we look at careers in the 21st century.

Dr Shanton Chang of the University of Melbourne asked parents to rethink the way we look at careers

Dr Shang encouraged parents to be aware of the need for their child to improve their language skills, to network across different industries, interact across cultures and increase their technical and content competence by doing well in their particular degree.

It was wonderful to see over 200 parents from across the school community enjoying Dr Shanton Dr Chang explored ideas on job clusters which Chang’s seminar and engage with him in thoughtencompass a range of careers in differing areas provoking discussions on the fast-changing landscape of fromDesigners to Carers, Generators, Coordinators, the 21st century career path.

Informers, Artisans and Technologists. Each cluster makes up a variety of jobs, but all require a similar new skill set: The ability to analyse and make decisions, create user focused experiences, enable digital human interactions and challenge the way we approach existing solutions for example.

Also key for our students is the need for digital literacy; an understanding of digital personal branding and digital emotional skills which include self-awareness, selfregulation, empathy and social skills.

NEW IN AT THE LIBRARY EARLY YEARS LIBRARY

PRIMARY LIBRARY

SECONDARY LIBRARY

Fiction

Fiction

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Non-Fiction

Senior Fiction

Comics and Chapter Books

DVDs

DVDs

Non-Fiction Parents’ Collection

DID YOU KNOW THAT WE ALSO SUBSCRIBE TO THESE MAGAZINES? 6

Bangkok Patana School News

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Waste less swim - Swimming with

Plastics

Cindy Adair-Bolakoso, Cross Campus Assistant Principal, Extra-curricular Activities and Sports

What’s it like for sea creatures to swim through plastic? A plastic. group of our students want us to be more aware of how our The Plastic Swim developed empathy for what fish and plastic affects the oceans. They organised a ‘Plastic Swim’ sea creatures might be experiencing in some of the more in the final week of Term 2 to promote awareness about the effect of single-use plastics on the marine environment. polluted areas of our oceans. The activity was fun and the students really seemed to enjoy the challenge and The students collected a range of single use plastics, learn a lot. Next time you are at the beach, lake or river predominantly bottles but also plastic bags, plastic cutlery, please do be sure to take home any rubbish (especially food packaging and even toothbrushes and disposable plastics), better yet, make it a habit to pick up some extra razors. It was staggering just how much plastic we, as rubbish and take it home too. All the plastics were safely a small group of people, collected in just two to three recycled afterwards! A big thank you to Napat Kornsri, weeks. After checking it was clean, the plastics were Sophie Preston, Maya Lemaire, Claire Hightower, Ana added to the 50m Pool and students from the various Bolakoso and Patrick Schlaeppi for being pro-active on TigerSharks squads were challenged to swim through the the environment!

LOST Property 26/04/2019

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

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UNI COUNSELLORS’ CORNER UNI OFFERS...

Hoang Huy (Henry) Phan

Congratulations on your offers from University College of London, University of Warwick and King’s College London to study Mathematics

“I really enjoy the logical side of Mathematics, its abstract concepts and fundamentals.

I appreciate how simpler Mathematics builds and forms more complicated Maths as well as the fun puzzles I can solve. Most importantly, it is the applications mathematics has in the real world which is extremely interesting, especially in my other interests such as Physics and Computer Science. I took part in various maths challenges such as: JMC, IMC and SMC. My interest in computing/programming and logical problemsolving developed into mathematical interest and I went to SEAMC (South East Asia Mathematics Competition).

IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

Frazer Briggs, University of Warwick After graduating from Bangkok Patana in 2014, I returned to the UK to study a Masters in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Warwick. I chose to study at Warwick primarily because the course was one of a few in the UK that allowed me to start by studying all branches of engineering (Mechanical, Civil, Automotive, Electronic, etc.) before specialising in my third and fourth years. Having never studied any engineering before this was exactly what I wanted, and the background knowledge has been very useful in my working life.

During my studies I’ve had the chance to get hands-on with all sorts of cutting-edge technologies, like metal 3D printing.

I’ve hosted and attended large conferences where I’ve discussed with industry leaders about the global energy crisis and the future of smart engineering. And I’ve worked alongside likeminded students from around the world on a variety of innovative projects (like 3D printing an entire aircraft!).

As a campus university, extra-curricular clubs and societies are a huge part of everyone’s life at Warwick; we have over 250 societies (not including sports clubs) which is more than any other UK uni. As a musician, I fully embraced the opportunities available to me: I’ve played in jazz bands and orchestras which have gone on tour throughout the UK and Europe, performed in many operas and musicals, and even

ran my own ensembles. My biggest advice for choosing a place to study is to look at the societies and other activities available outside of your degree, because your social life is just as important as the late nights in the library.

UPCOMING UNIVERSITY VISITS UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE

University of Chicago

COUNTRY

USA

LOCATION

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor

DATE

TIME

13.05.19

12:15

CLICK TO READ APRIL’S CAREERS NEWSLETTER 8

Bangkok Patana School News

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Under 13 girls softball wins the day

By Sophie Meller Year 8M Bangkok Patana School had our first softball match against ISB, and which also our BISAC final, on 1 April, 2019.

We won the game 7-5. Our team was especially strong fielding-wise as we caught many fly balls and stopped most ground balls. Kelsey played very well at first base as she caught all the balls we threw to her and she also called the play. Natalie also played well as catcher as she called the play a lot and caught the balls when they were thrown to home.

Pearl and Tayla had some good hits and ran well on the bases because they knew when they were forces and not forced. Overall, I think our team played very well and we look forward to future wins!

DATES for your

Diary...

Wednesday 1st May National Labour Day (Holiday) Monday 6th May Coronation (Holiday) Monday 20th May Visakha Bucha Day in Lieu Friday 24th May Sports Award Dinner Tuesday 28th May PTG AGM Friday 31st May Bangkok Patana AGM Wednesday 5th June Patana United Thursday 6th June Patana Primary Concert Friday 21st June End of Year Whole School Assembly

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Bangkok Patana School News

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#119: The Three Crucial Conversations to Have With Your Kids About Using Social Media

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’ll not influence you with the words I write here; please watch the video yourself and reflect on your own social media habits and those of your child(ren). Here are the links to Video 1, relevant if you’re considering buying your child their first mobile phone, and Video 2.

H

ave a great weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Cross Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

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

Menu 26/04/2019

PATAROMA @ Yoga Cafe BKK • Dadfa

PRICING: 1 BAG • 300 THB

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Location: Yoga Cafe BKK 33 Lasalle Road, Khwaeng Bang Na, Khet Bang Na, Krung The Maha Nakhon 10260

Bangkok Patana School News

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m the o r f t s e The lat

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PTG

Bangkok Patana School News

Join the PTG Facebook page here!

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Bangkok Patana School News

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e from r o m n e Ev

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PTG

Bangkok Patana School News

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Bangkok Patana School News

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NEILSON HAYS LIBRARY SEMI-ANNUAL BOOK SALE SATURDAY MAY 25 & SUNDAY MAY 26 FROM 9:30 AM TO 4:00 PM THOUSANDS OF SECOND-HAND BOOKS AVAILABLE FROM BANGKOK’S LARGEST COLLECTION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TITLES

Neilson Hays Library, a Bangkok institution renowned for its collection of over 20,000 English language books, is opening its doors on Saturday, 25 May and Sunday, 26 May from 9:30am to 4:00pm for its bi-annual book sale.

Locals, expats and tourists alike are invited to select from thousands of fiction and non-fiction books in English, plus a selection of other languages, donated by Neilson Hays Library supporters or withdrawn from the library shelves. The popular fundraiser offers books in all genres. Prices start at 20 baht, with a few rare books going at market value. Paper bags will also be provided for 10 baht each, fashionable Neilson Hays totes at 350 baht, or we encourage visitors to bring their own bags in order to help us reduce waste.

If you have any unwanted books to contribute to the sale, please drop them off at the library between 9:30am and 5:00pm Tuesday to Sunday before the sale. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of our landmark building and our educational and arts programs.

For those interested in attending the sale, Neilson Hays Library reminds you that parking is only available across the road in the Voravit Building for a fee of 30 baht per hour. Entrance to the parking lot is accessible via Surawong Road, near Naret Road, approximately 20 metres before library entrance. Visitors are encouraged not to park on the street in front of the library in order to avoid parking inspectors.

For more information, please call 02-233-1731, email info@neilsonhayslibrary.org or visit the Neilson Hays Library Facebook page.

All of the above photos credited Tom Wuthipol.

Neilson Hays Library 195 Surawong Rd, Bangkok Tel: 02 233 1731 info@neilsonhayslibrary.org Library hours: 9:30am - 5:00pm (closed Monday

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COMMUNITY

FOBISIA, the Federation of British International Schools in Asia, is an organisation that supports British International Schools in the region.

Events Executive

One of the main aims of FOBISIA is to provide high-quality student and staff events within the 63 member schools. The role of the Events Executive has been established to provide administrative support to achieve this aim. The successful applicant will be based in Bangkok.

Events Executive applicants must have: · a Bachelor’s Degree and be highly proficient in written and spoken English; · strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work independently; · strong organisational and ICT skills; · proven administrative skills including budget management.

Please send CV and any queries to Ms Tania Donoghue at tania.donoghue@fobisia.org Closing date: Friday 10th May, 2019 Federation of British International Schools in Asia http://www.fobisia.org/

Part-Time Administrator

One of the main aims of FOBISIA is to provide high-quality student and staff events within the 63 member schools. The role of the Part-time Administrator is to provide administrative support to achieve this aim. The successful applicant will be based in Bangkok.

Part-Time Administrator applicants must have: · a Bachelor’s Degree and be highly proficient in written and spoken English; · strong administrative skills including budget management. · good interpersonal skills and the ability to work independently; · strong organisational and ICT skills; Please send CV and any queries to Ms Tania Donoghue at tania.donoghue@fobisia.org Closing date: Friday 10th May, 2019 Federation of British International Schools in Asia http://www.fobisia.org/ 26/04/2019

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COMMUNITY

The BWG will donate proceeds raised from the charity lunch to; Gift of Happiness Foundation in Thailand and Steps with Theera

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Oven Baked Tiger Prawn and Scallops โ Pot au Feuโ ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย วก ย ย ย ย ย

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ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย

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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 times to calm those nerves, but also for everyday life.

The next Anapana Meditation course will be on

Sunday 12th May 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

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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 Tai, 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

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