Patana News Volume 21 Issue 33

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 7 June 2019

Volume 21 Issue 33

www.patana.ac.th

Graduation 2019

FREE, FREE AT LAST - GRAD 19

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Also in this issue...

Year 6 Clothing Appeal/TigerShark Swimmers to British Nationals/New Updated School Calendar 07/06/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

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

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“Free, Free at Last.” Graduation 2019 Mick Smith, Secondary Principal Learning and Curriculum

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ear Parents,

look for the passion in their hearts, ‘to lift them skywards.’

The Senior Delegates, Koko, Jo, Suyash, Malachi and Last Saturday, the day that every student is working Sophie spoke beautifully on childhood, family, friends, towards from their first day in Nursery to their last IB exam teachers, and dreams of the future. Their speeches were finally arrived for our current Year 13 students. Graduation carefully crafted and superbly delivered reflecting back at Day 2019! Free, free at last, indeed! where they’d come from and the anticipation of the world I truly believe that until a student has actually received they are about to enter into. their Bangkok Patana School Academic Diploma from Two crucial people in the lives of our senior students Foundation Board Chair Dr Tej, they don’t really believe are the IB Coordinator, Mr Andy Roff and the Head of that the torment of IB is finally over. The final two year Year, Claire Dale. Claire has been guiding this group course is so demanding that it can be all consuming, to since Year 8 and knows all their strengths, quirks and the point that we need to tell the students that it’s okay, foibles intimately. Her role has very much been to act as that they can stop, relax and enjoy a fabulous final day their advocate but also as their moral compass to support in school. them as they grew. Andy on the other hand leads them This year was extra special for me as my youngest daughter Betsy was among the graduates and so my wife Sally, elder daughter Annie (Grad 17) and I, joined every other family proudly cheering on their ‘child’ as they made that short journey up the steps and across the stage into the blank page of their adult lives. In many ways Graduation is the highlight of the year, our showpiece occasion when our young women and men put on their glad rags to recall special memories, celebrate achievements and say a fond farewell to their teachers and to the school where they have grown up together. As I stood outside waiting for the signal to enter and begin the ceremony, the foyer was abuzz with nervous tension and excitement. As always, when I then asked the audience to ‘Please stand for the processional of the Graduating Class of 2019’, the students fairly galloped across the stage, despite all our encouragement to take their time and ‘enjoy the moment’.

Pent up adrenalin found its first release and thankfully noone tripped over their dress!

Mr Mills introduced Lily and Joe who sang stirring renditions of the Thai and British national anthems. He then set the scene with a lovely quote asking the students to

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skilfully through the academic minefield of the IB. He has needed to remind them, sometimes more than once, about deadlines, the importance of planning ahead and being organised, but he has also encouraged and supported them too, sometimes interceding on their behalf to give them time to breathe and catch up.

Claire spoke about the special journey that she has shared with them and as a mother of a young daughter herself used the imagery of Thomas the Tank Engine to describe their path through Secondary. There were hard working engines, kind engines and somewhat mischievous ones too. They arrived at their destination together on Saturday and Claire had to face the unhappy realisation that they all had to disembark, her work proudly completed.

Andy chose Dr Seuss’ famous rhyming story, the highly appropriate “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” encouraging the students to think big and to recognise that in the future they will have times to celebrate but also times when they may feel sad or lonely. Such is life, but our students will have the skills, self-awareness and confidence to work through any difficult times.

After the last of the tutor groups had enjoyed their

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moment in the spotlight and received their Diplomas, I was invited to offer my closing thoughts to the graduates.

I aim to do several things in a Graduation speech. Firstly, congratulate the students and encourage them to think about their family, what this day means to them and how much love and support they’ve given them over the years.

(At this point I never really feel I’ve been successful unless a few parents tell me they burst into tears!) Secondly, I talk about what they’ve learned while at school both in terms of knowledge, skills and understanding, but also more importantly about values, how to conduct themselves as they lead their lives. Finally, I encourage them to think about the opportunities and challenges ahead, and how they might approach them.

but use their empathy, reason, their persuasive eloquence and their deep-rooted values as genuine global citizens to change minds and take action. This doesn’t have to be as a global leader or politician – though that is a possibility for our graduates - but can be in their university, their company, or community. I offered examples of Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg and New Zealand‘s values-driven Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, as positive role models for progressive action and inclusive leadership. I closed by borrowing a line from Sophie, one of our Senior Delegates, asking our graduates to be heroic, inspirational and to make the world a better place.

After that the students marched off into the future, via cocktails and a delicious Graduation Dinner!

This year I spoke at some length about how I/we Congratulations and good luck to the Graduating Class believe that our graduates have a responsibility to be active participants, to stand up for what they believe in, of 2019 – especially on results day, 6th July. to be positive, ethical and kind adults. There are many Have a great weekend. challenges facing them, from the existential threat of global Mick Smith warming to the rise of divisive political parties and regimes around the world. Our graduates must not be bystanders Secondary Principal

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TigerShark Swimmers to compete in British Nationals this summer

Richard Molloy, Head Swimming Coach

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our swimmers from Bangkok Patana School’s TigerSharks have successfully qualified to compete at the British National Championships in Glasgow this coming July. British Swimming invite the top 24 athletes across each event and age group following a qualifying window between March and May.

50m and 100m races and will be aiming to secure finals.

Andrew Bertoli (15) will swim 200m Individual Medley, as well as head to Sheffield for the second stage English Nationals where he will swim 200m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly and 400m Individual Medley.

Cross Campus Assistant Head Swim Coach Aekapol Prim Pingkarawat (13) will race against her 14-year- (Aek) Sumatha will be joining Prim in Cambodia for the old peers in both 50m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle, SEA Age Groups, gaining valuable experience alongside as well as head to Cambodia for SEA Age Groups in the Thailand National team coaches. Head Coach Rich June. Prin Chantarangkul (14) will race 50m Freestyle Molloy and Assistant Head Coach Tim Tripp will be and 100m Freestyle, and is ranked just outside the top 10. supporting the swimmers in the UK in what promises to be Max Stockdale (14) will swim all three Backstroke events, an exciting summer of racing for the Patana TigerSharks.

50m, 100m and 200m. He is ranked in the top 10 for his

Early Years’ Library

Primary Library

Secondary Library

Teacher’s Resources

Fiction

Non-fiction

Fiction

Non-fiction

DVDs

Fiction

Home Languages

DVDs

Professional Learning

http://northboundsales.com/nosense-prospecting-in-the-summer/

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Non-fiction

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Year 6 appeals for clothes for disadvantaged children on the border Sarah Horton, Year 6 Teacher s part of Year 6 charity fundraising efforts this year, students will be organising a clothing drive to collect much needed clothing to be donated to our partner charity A21.

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bedding, shoes, toiletries and underwear. Please ensure that donated clothes are in relatively good condition (i.e. no holes, stains, rips) and that the toiletries and underwear are new or are unused. The main reason for this is to place value on their lives of the people receiving the clothes. It A21 is an organisation that work with poor communities doesn't have to be new, but it should be something we and victims of trafficking along the Thai/Cambodian would wear ourselves. border. Many of the children are between 2 to 18 years old and live in small villages and slums surrounding the Also, A21 are implementing a program focusing city. on nutrition and hygiene so any items such as new toothbrushes, tooth paste, hand sanitiser, soap, shampoo/ Year 6 students welcome any donations of new or second conditioners or towels would be very helpful. hand clothes in good condition, they are also collecting

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n 2019/20 we are pleased to announced we are trying something new in terms of our annual community sporting event. Our annual Fun Run is hugely popular but over time the cost of running this event has risen to the extent that we are no longer able to contribute to our nominated charities in the way we’d like to. Therefore, from 2019/20 we are planning to move the Fun Run to a biennial event and we are also going to introduce a Family Golf Day. When we relaunch the Fun Run in 2020/21, we anticipate an exciting new format, which is more family friendly and ensures we achieve our core goals for this event, which are; community involvement and fundraising for our Community Action Teams. Look out for more information about the Family Golf Day after the summer break. We hope to see you on the course!

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STUDENTS SPEAK

The Most Toxic Animal on Earth

By Maya Lemaire, Year 12

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ain and discomfort are the usual side-effects of a sting from one of the 4000 species of jellyfish, however, the Box Jellyfish (Cubozoan) is fatal and known to be the most toxic animal on Earth. The jellyfish that lives in tropical and temperate seas kills between 20 and 40 people a year in the Philippines alone. Its sting is so painful that it leaves most victims in shock and struggling to return to shore and can stop the heart of victims in as little as 5 minutes. The name is derived from its cubic shape with 4 long tentacles attached to each of the corners and reaching up to 3 meters in length.

Each tentacle is filled with rows of hundreds of thousands of specialised cells that contain a capsule called a nematocyst which is capable of firing a tiny harpoon at over 60km/h. The venom is contained within a hollow thread attached to the harpoon that is injected into the body of the struck victim.

But How Do They Kill You? Find out more on Scientia Project Want to be published! Contribute here

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STUDENTS SPEAK

Could Extra Fingers Help Provide the Basis forBy Karnsiree Robotic Limbs?

(Ling Ling) Chen, Year 12 A study of two people born with extra fingers has shown how the brain adapts to the extra workload imposed by the presence of more digits and how this could be used studied to devise a way to control extra robotic limbs. About 1 in every 500 babies are born with this condition (also known as polydactyly) where a genetic mutation creates extra limbs. The way polydactyly brains have adapted to the workload have massive potential for scientists to investigate and develop a better understanding of brain elasticity. The findings also provide positive reaffirmation for the argument of keeping the extra toes or fingers if they are well-formed and functional.

resolution fMRI scans monitored their brain activity.

Each of our fingers is joined to the hand by dedicated tendons, moved by dedicated muscles, and linked to dedicated nerves – all of which are specific to each finger. Our bodies are well oiled machines, so the way the brain fits in extra digits within this precise arrangement has perplexed scientists for a while. Professor Etienne Burdet, of Imperial College London suggested that “Extra fingers and toes are traditionally seen as a birth defect, so nobody has thought to study how useful they might really be.”

These results say the findings could potentially aid in the development of artificial limbs and digits to expand our natural movement abilities. Either to help people who have lost limbs, or perhaps construct robotic arms that are controlled by doctors to be used in surgery.

The data showed that like non-polydactyl fingers, the extra digits had their own individual biological components as well as extra corresponding brain regions in the motor cortex. Polydactyl participants also performed better at many tasks than their non-polydactyl counterparts. They excelled in activities like tying shoelaces, with only one hand, which is almost impossible for those with only 5 fingers. Although controlling the extra fingers requires extra work for the brain, the two subjects suffered no obvious cognitive disadvantages.

However, he also warned that people with robotic extra limbs may not achieve as good control as observed in the two polydactyl subjects. Any robotic digits or limbs wouldn’t have dedicated bone structure, muscles, tendons or nerves. In addition, subjects would need to learn to use The experiment studied the capability of two people extra fingers or limbs, much like how an amputee learns with six fingers on each of their hands, with a well-formed how to use a prosthetic arm. extra finger between each thumb and forefinger, in Despite some of the possible drawbacks, the analysis exploring objects with their hands, tie shoelaces, type on of polydactyly brains is likely to prove fruitful, if not for the their phones, and play custom-made video games. This manufacture of robotic limbs, but for the insight it gives us data was analysed and compared to the movements of into how the human brain works. people without polydactyly. During the experiment, high07/06/2019

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#124: Using the (Super) Computer in Your Pocket W

hen you take a look at the time you spend on your mobile phone, in particular how much time you actually use it as a ‘phone’, you start to realise it’s much more of a computer than a phone. Hence the term Smartphone. Although I’m pretty sure it’s not making me any smarter – if anything, perhaps a little lazier in committing things to memory. Anyway, I’m going off on a tangent. If you were to compare the processing power of the modern phone to its equivalent ten years ago, you might even say it was a supercomputer. That’s what I thought when I saw this article recently.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration Links in this article:

https://www.cnet.com/ how-to/turn-a-photo-ofdata-into-a-microsof tYou can now simply take a photo of data on a piece of excel-spreadsheet-in-apaper with your ‘phone’, and it will automatically convert snap/ it into an editable Excel file. Perfect for students in a lesson ht tps://play.google. where they need to quickly analyse data. Gone are the c o m / s t o re / a p p s / d e laborious hours of creating tables to store information tails?id=com.microsoft.office.excel in Excel – you can simple sketch one out and let the https://itunes.apple.com/app/id586683407?mt=8 supercomputer in your pocket render it for you. Download and try the free Excel app for your Android or iOS device.

ONLINE NOW! The School Calendar for 2019/20 has been adjusted to accommodate two new holidays Following the government’s announcement of two new public holidays in 2020 on 4th May and 3rd June, we have needed to revise our academic calendar in order to maintain our 180 school days.

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29th October 2019 will become a normal school day for all students and staff

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10th December 2019 will become a normal school day for all students and staff

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4th May 2020 Coronation Day (Public holiday – school closed)

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3rd June 2020 HM Queen Suthida’s Birthday (Public holiday – school closed)

The updated calendar is available here.

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Dugongs Feature in Year 6 Performances on Endangered Animals Sofia Lin Year 6L

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or the past 5 - 6 weeks, some students from Year 6 have been writing and preparing short plays about endangered animals to be performed for the Y1s, who have been learning about conservation in Thailand. This was a fresh challenge for this group of students who were all involved in Project Based Learning in Terms 2 and 3.

All three groups performed plays, coincidentally, about dugongs.

er years. It’s interesting because we had to write it from scratch and didn’t have much help but we collaborated and I think it turned out ok.”

The other groups’ performances were story-led rather than a poem, but all had a strong message about how people can help wildlife and nature. These two story based groups used props to good effect, including a fake ocean! The dramatic pieces were meticulously practiced One of the group’s script is in the form of a poem, per- in the run-up to the performances, detailed and slowly formed very literally. The poem talks about how humans perfected. “I hope they will understand what is happening have hurt the sea life and other animals, and also referenc- to the sea in a fun way,” said Kaitlyn 6T. And understand es other ecosystems, such as the forests. The cast consists they did, for the students loved the play. To quote one of of two dugongs, a narrator and two humans who are very the Year 1 students: “Wow!” The actors put a lot of feeling different - one cares about the world and the other has a into the show, and the actors are: Kaitlyn, Nicha, Turbo, very short-term future idea. The cast comprises Jacob and Kaeo and Ethan. As Nicha puts it, “It's really fun and it's Zheng as the dugongs, Pippa as the narrator, Sofia as the a great way to explain to the Year 1s about endangered eco-friendly human and Xavi as the human who doesn’t animals.” particularly care. The Year 1 students were very inquisitive, The Year 6 students learnt a lot from the Year 1 students, and even managed to guess what animal would feature in the play! “To be honest I’d say this was a pretty big oppor- too. The younger students know lots about endangered tunity for me. It was a pleasure to do all of this.” remarked animals and shared information about pangolins, includwriter/dugong Jacob 6L. From Sofia 6L: “I couldn’t have ing the fact that a baby pangolin is called a pango-pup and that pangolins eat ants with their long sticky tongues. enjoyed doing this more. I loved it.”

The Year 1 students very much enjoyed watching the perThe co-writer/dugong in one of the plays, Zheng 6D, formances. They made lots of predictions and asked some commented, “It was really fun and I hope it was nice for very challenging questions. It certainly was a successful the Year 1s so that they can see what they can do in lat- collaboration for everyone.

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UNI COUNSELLORS’ CORNER

UNI OFFERS...

Congratulations on offers from

CHRISTOPHER SIDDONS

University of Bath, University of Durham, University of Exeter, University of Leeds and University of East Anglia to study Accounting and Finance

Chris has a reputation for always being willing to help others and believes strongly in altruism and has been involved in Hand 2 Heart. He gets genuine satisfaction from the success of his peers. Chris has demonstrated that he is ready for the demands of university study through his impressive work ethic; he has worked very hard to develop excellent skills in time management and looks forward to the job opportunities available in his chosen path.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, UK

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he Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts started life in 1945 as the Mountview Theatre Club before becoming the Mountview Theatre School and finally the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. The Academy prepares students for a professional career in the performing arts. Dame Judi Dench is the Academy’s current president, while past presidents include Dame Margaret Rutherford, to obtain professional vocational training at Foundation, Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir John Mills.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels in performance The school generally only accepts students with some and production arts. The Academy presents around 28 experience under their belt so it was quite the coup for productions each year including classic plays, new writour Andrea Gatchalian to be accepted straight out of ing and musicals. The school works with some of Britain’s high school. Notable alumni include the famed model of leading writers to develop new work including Roy Wilthe 60’s Twiggy, composer Laurence Wythe, playwright liams and Philip Ridley. Mountview Academy is in the Alecky Blythe, presenter and actress Amanda Holden, heart of London with easy access to public transportation actor Josh Dallas and Emmy award winner Brendan and has two theatres; the 80-seat Backstage Theatre and the 200-seat Mountview Theatre.

Coyle of Downton Abbey fame.

Mountview is well-known for its intensive, rigorous and hands on coaching for students who attend the school

Please join us for our final university counsellor coffee morning this academic year on Tuesday 11th June 2019, 8am to 9am in the Black Box Registration form here

Check out the June University Newsletter here 07/06/2019

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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

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COMMUNITY

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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

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