Patana News Volume 22 Issue 15

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

Patana

NEWS

Friday 6th December 2019

Volume 22 Issue 15

www.patana.ac.th

SUSTAINING OUR REPUTATION Mr Mills’ Final Blog of the Term

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Also in this issue...

FOBISIA Gymnastics/D+T Design Friendly Awards/PTG Doing their Bit for the 3Rs 29/11/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

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

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try and meet as many new prospective parents as I feasibly can when my Admissions team drop in to the Sala.

One of my go to questions is always, “How did you hear about the school?”. More often than not, the reply is, “The school has an excellent reputation!”.

Reputation comes from the Latin word reputationem, which means "consideration." Its how people consider, or label, you — good or bad. My wise father always used to say, “it’s not something to take for granted!”. As Head of School I am always cognisant of the fact that its all about the endeavour to keep the positive reputation sustained over long periods of time. When reflecting on 12 years of Bangkok Patana’s reputation, the sustaining reputation indicators are; • A truly international school that has a diverse student body with a global outlook • Incredibly confident students so willing to learn and have a daily voice • Passionate teachers always wanting to add to their already established toolkit • Supportive parents having a strong desire for their children to flourish both in academics/sports/arts • Modern state-of-the-art learning environments • State-of-the-art facilities that support Sports/ECAs/Arts opportunities • Solid consistent curriculum that allows rigour • A caring and dedicated business staff • Lucid infrastructural systems and policies that work well • Clear, transparent guiding statements that are owned by the whole school community I am very proud to be leading a school with such a stellar long-term reputation that defines a quality provider of education.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle Ploenchit Fair: A large number of the Bangkok expatriate community attended the 2019 Ploenchit Fair on Saturday 30th November.

It was a stunning warm morning on the beautiful grounds of our amazing school. The Ploenchit Fair originally used the leafy British Embassy grounds for many years. The British Embassy hosted the Fair for the very last time in 2018. It was extra special to have Bangkok Patana Gymnastics and Swimming showcase events at the same time. This is a major Bangkok fund-raising event which the school has been proud to host for several years now. The whole event went very smoothly, and I observed many very happy families enjoying a fun community day with all funds going to well-deserving charity groups in Thailand.

Celebrating the Arts: I had the privilege to watch two incredible Bangkok Patana School drama productions in a matter of weeks. I first saw the wonderful Primary musical version of ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’. It had a large cast with brilliant acting and stunning vocals. The set car was incredible, and I just smiled from ear to ear as I observed young students acting their little hearts out. The show was a class act from start to finish.

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This week I got to watch the Secondary Senior play ‘Cabaret’ which had a German theme set in 1931 Berlin. The beloved Black Box was transformed into the ‘Kit Kat Club’ where five masters of ceremony entertained with panache and zest. The story revolves around American writer Cliff Bradshaw and his relationship with English cabaret performer Sally Bowles. A deep and meaningful historical play that made the audience laugh and cry at the same time.

A heart-felt congratulations to the talented Bangkok Patana cast and support crews for performing such enjoyable and memorable school shows, what an early Christmas treat!

International Day: One of my favourite events in the school calendar is International Day. We had (59) nationalities represented on this very special day as we celebrated diversity and global citizenship. We had incredibly cool temperatures in the morning, which was such a blessing to all of the colorful country groups waiting to hit the parade. A huge thank you to this year’s International Day committee, • Radhika Chawla • Amelie Marie Noelle B. Buysschaert • Vanessa Girling • Aki Roughley • Jen Nevin • Michela Pianesi and their amazing team of helpers. The committee have continued making some positive changes to this year’s event which went like clockwork including the incredible cultural group performances in the Sports Hall. One of my highlights of the day was observing the Indian Bollywood dancers who captivated the Bangkok Patana school community. I also sampled the delicious cuisine in the International Food Hall with over 30 countries represented. Many thanks to the PTG and all of our parent helpers who put a great deal of time and effort to plan this very special day at Bangkok Patana School.

Christmas Assembly: Not to be missed! The final Friday of term in the Sports Hall starting at 8.00am. This is such a fun and exciting, younger years themed assembly where each year we pose the question; “How is Santa going to arrive?” Last year Santa arrived in the Toy Story remote car, much to everyone’s surprise.

This is one assembly that all the parents like to attend so make sure you get in early so you can get a good seat upstairs on the mezzanine floor.

Great Educational Articles to Share: I wanted to share an excellent synopsis by John Dabell on the Traits of Effective Teaching which I thought you would value.

Wishing all of our Patana community a safe and enjoyable festive season and a happy and successful 2020.

I look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Monday 6th January as we start another exciting Term 2 together.

Best wishes, Matt Mills Head of School 29/11/2019

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Fobisia Gymnastics 2019 Will Preston, Head Gymnastics Coach

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n Saturday 30th November – Sunday 1st December, The Federation of British International Schools in Asia, also known as FOBISIA, hosted its annual FOBISIA gymnastics competition at Bangkok Patana School in association with the Ploenchit Fair.

er example of active volunteerism. The student members volunteered throughout the weekend to welcome and help provide assistance to visiting schools. Additionally, Tara Gibson from Year 10 and Best and Bam Sukamongkol from Year 13 volunteered to sing the Thai Royal Anthem at the opening ceremonies over the weekend making the Over 500 students from 17 International Schools repre- weekend experience truly dazzling for the students parsenting five different countries across Asia participated in ticipating. this wonderful celebration of gymnastics. FOBISIA Gymnastics directly corresponds to Bangkok Patana’s mission; An event of this size could not be possible without the to ensure that students of different nationalities grow to integrity, motivation and engagement of all different detheir full potential as independent learners in a caring Brit- partments working collaboratively together. From the Marish international community. keting Department creating the banners and taking event photos; IT Department setting up the sound system and live Bangkok Patana and all the students involved in FOBI- streaming, Buildings and Grounds Department physically SIA Gymnastics were able to raise THB137,400 in do- setting up the entire event; Sports and Activities Departnations for the British Community in Thailand Foundation ment helping to ensure we have the best vendors so both for the Needy (BCTFN). Bangkok Patana had the great the parents and students are well fed; Security making honour of His Excellency, Brian Davidson, the British Am- sure we are safe and protected; to the maids ensuring bassador to Thailand, alongside Carolyn Tarrant MBE our campus and facilities are spotless and the coaches and President of the BCTFN visit FOBISIA Gymnastics to from the Gymnastics Academy who ensured the gymnasts receive the donation on behalf of the BCTFN. from 17 different schools across Asia were able to particiThe Bangkok Patana Athletics Council, were also anoth- pate and fulfil their passion of gymnastics. Lastly, the event

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would not be possible without the love and support of all the parents from all the schools.

We are proud to me members of Bangkok Patana and Proud to be a Tiger! We look forward to hosting FOBISIA Gymnastics 2020.

Go Tigers!

Varsity Cross Country Heads to Singapore Cindy Adair, Cross Campus Assistant Principal Extra Curricular Activities and Sports

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he Varsity Cross Country team headed to Kuala Lumpur for their annual SEASAC competition. With lots of injured runners and several new athletes on the team, no one really knew what to expect of the weekend. Day 1 was an individual 5km race and Day 2 was a relay, where each of the five members had to run 3km. We were all excited to set off for the run, but we had no idea what was awaiting.

The course was a real cross country path; uphill, downhill, mud, dirt, water, grass and any other surface you can imagine, it had it all! It was really tough on both days but the team really persevered and got through it. Special mention to Vincent who ran twice on the relay day as Amar unfortunately was injured from the first day. It was a tough weekend for everyone but the team came together and supported each other through the rough course and it was a great experience for everyone. Thank you to Mr Hume and Mrs McGuire for their endless support throughout the whole season and the hectic weekend. With only one senior graduating, Blanche, the team for next year looks quite promising!

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2019 Seasonal Sports in Numbers Reyce de la Cruz 8D

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s we prepare to celebrate the Holiday Season with our families in a few days, I reflected on the two Under 13 sports teams that I have participated in the first two seasons of the year.

Time really flies, more so if one is passionate and loving the sports that we play with our friends, learn and develop our skills and celebrate success together as a team.

UNDER13 BASKETBALL 1 - Only lost once to ISB in our BISAC league games. In that away game, we were outplayed with their fast breaks. We took the learning experience positively. Opportunities for improvement were identified and we trained even harder, with extra Friday morning practices, to better our skills, speed, strength and conditioning.

Beat ISB by 1 point in our bronze medal game (35-34) during the BISAC Cup day hosted by NIST last Nov. 2nd. Made the winning free throw (1 out of 2)to give us the lead with 9 seconds left in the game.

2 - Placed 2nd in the group stage of the league games. On the BISAC tournament, we crossed over to the other pool and played against STA (36-22) and HIS (25-35).

3 - 3rd place finish and won the bronze medal after beating ISB in a thrilling and memorable game.

Indeed, a successful basketball season as all of us learnt a lot and had fun in playing the games that we love.

UNDER 13 FOOTBALL Soon after, we tried out for the Under13 football team and Season 2 was under way.

4 - The number of goals conceded in our first league match vs ICS (1-4). A good learning experience for the team as we stay positive and improve for the next games.

Four Y8 students are in the team.

5- The number of League games scheduled for our team before we head for the BISAC Cup on 2nd February next year.

The Football Academy, with the network of Coach Mark, arranged for a friendly match against a Under 13 team Academy team from Manila on 25th November. We were ahead 3-1 in the second half until the visitors scored two consecutive goals coming from the corner kicks for the equalizer and the match ended with a draw (3-3). Again, high quality football, with numerous touches and defensive plays, were on display by both teams.

We thank our fellow student-athletes, coaches and parents for the time devoted to our trainings, for exposing us to friendlies and the cheers for the Tigers during our games and matches. It has been a successful sporting year.

Wishing everyone a Happy Holidays.

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Under 15 Friendship Tour to Singapore Cindy Adair, Cross Campus Assistant Principal Extra Curricular Activities and Sports

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rom 29th November – 1st December Bangkok Patana launched the first event Under 15 Friendship tour, taking 28 students to Singapore to fulfil the following goals:

• To take part in friendly fixtures against high quality teams who they will meet again as they become Varsity athletes and progress towards SEASAC participation; • Provide a safe and fun environment for students to meet new friends and solidify relationships with existing friends; • Provide a snapshot into a travelling team experience, where students have to independently get to meetings on time, pack their own gear and manage their bumps and bruises as a result of sports participation; • Expose the students to some sights, tastes and sounds of the tour destination.

As with any new venture, there were some tweaks we’ll make for next time (the giant thunderstorm which delayed our flight and a broken down bus adventure all added to the fun).

Our Basketball and Football teams played three fixtures on Friday against Tanglin, UWC East and UWC Dover. Our Girls’ Basketball had three big wins taking home the Friendship trophy, our Boys’ Basketball a win and two losses and our Boys’ Football a win, a loss and a draw. There was lots of learning to take away from all matches.

After a team dinner and a well deserved rest, Day 2 saw us visit Dulwich College Singapore, a school which is only six years old but already has an enrolment of 2,500 students and is growing by the day, they are sure to become a sporting power-house in the future as their Senior School grows. Our Girls’ Basketball team won their match convincingly against a team from Dulwich who were probably more comfortable on the Netball court. The Dulwich Boys’ Basketball team however were much more experienced and gave our boys a really tight and competitive match. One of their key players was Ryan Tan who went to Bangkok Patana with several of the team members through most of Primary School! Dulwich snatched the win 55-49 in an exciting last quarter. The Boys’ Football team started slowly but improved throughout their match against Dulwich, going down fighting.

After the matches, the team enjoyed a swim to cool off and a leisurely lunch at Dulwich before heading out for some shopping and culture in Singapore. This included a visit to a fantastic hawker stall to sample Singapore’s famous satay and then the light show in the Super Tree Grove at Gardens by the Bay. It was great to see our students develop as people throughout the trip. They were polite and respectful of our hosts, they improved their independence by getting to meeting points on time with the right kit and most importantly they forged new friendships and had new experiences.

New 2020/21 Calendar Here

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Useful Design for Village International Centre Students Richard Smith, Head of Faculty Design and Technology

As the Design + Technology Faculty continues its commitment to the concept of socially responsible design, we are now working with the Village International Education Centre, a school exclusively for children with special needs. Our Socially Responsible Design Project has been a collaborative process between The Village specialist team and our Bangkok Patana D+T students.

Through a series of four visits to the school our students work with the team and the children in The Village to identify ways to support the children by designing products that provide educational stimulus or emotional support.

Our Year 13 IB Design Project is now reaching its final phase, our students have been working on specific design needs with individual students and have visited The Village School three times. Our students are currently at the working prototype stage of the design process. Ideas that need to be tested.

On Tuesday 3rd December Principal Harshi Sehmar and his team brought six children from The Village School on a visit to D+T at Bangkok Patana hosted by our Year 13 and Year 12 IB students. After an introduction and tour of the faculty they stopped to look closely at the laser cutters and 3D printers. The Village children spent time with our Year 13 students trying all the products our students had designed. It was clearly great fun for the children. Our students conducted valuable evaluation and testing, collecting data, taking photographs and talking with the children and members of The Village staff. This information will be used for the final development of design prototypes before the fourth and final visit to the Village in January when students will be evaluating their final product. Products will be donated to the school.

Halfway through the visit, The Village children moved classrooms, had a break of orange squash and biscuits and started activities led by our IB D+T Year 12 students. Our students worked one on one with The Village children showing them how to produce simple drawings in a computer aided design program, some of the drawings were then laser cut in acrylic and glued together, other students worked on gluing pre- laser cut pieces of acrylic together to create Christmas decorations for the Christmas tree back at The Village school.

The main objective of this short activity workshop is to help our students to become familiar with the emotional, social and communication disorders that some of the Village children have in preparation for their forth coming Design Project in Term 3.

The Village students also gain from this experience helping them to develop confidence while moving to new and

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unfamiliar environments and to enjoy the D+T facilities while they are with us.

We feel the relationship we have works well for both parties. Our Year 13 students can work on design briefs that produce high-quality innovative products while using the latest technologies of 3D printing and computer-controlled manufacturing. Our students are designing for real life clients with the empathy as Global Citizens.

“Meeting the Village students was an eye-opening experience. It allowed us to have a better understanding of how we could further work with the students in our IB course, and possibly design something to help them with daily activities. Being able to meet the students also broadened our knowledge and understanding towards their needs and how they behave. Overall it was a great experience” Caroline Vandlik 12G “It was only after personal interaction with these children that I realised the importance of establishing a close relationship between the user and designer. Through this experience, I gained a deeper understanding on the needs of children with learning disabilities from The Village” Ying Chi Ku 12B “It has been an amazingly enriching seven months in D+T. It was my first experience with a full, extended design project, and I’ve learned so much. I picked up Computer Aided Design software, experienced what iterative design really is first hand, gained a deeper understanding of how to gather and utilise client feedback, and more.

More than anything, though, the experience was simply humbling: I realised that even at 17 or18 years old, we have the ability to impact real lives through our ideas, design thinking and hard skills. It’s stirring. I’m so thankful to have seen first-hand how design can leave a tangible impact on real lives, and sincerely hope our products serve the kids at the Village well!”

Kelly-Ann Tan 13B

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Presenting at the Thailand Friendly Design Awards 2019 Richard Smith, Head of Faculty Design and Technology

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n Sunday 1st December six Year 13 IB D+T students presented their IB Design Project ideas in front of a panel of judges as finalists in the Thailand Friendly Design Competition at the “Thailand Friendly Design Expo 2019” at IMPACT Muang Thani. This competition brings together student designs of products and services of a Socially Responsible Design nature.

The design competition attracts entries from universities, technical colleges and Thai secondary schools throughout the country Bangkok Patana students’ design ideas initially appeared on the Thailand Friendly Expo Facebook and the general public were invited to vote.

Despite the pressure of cameras and an audience, all six of our students presented clearly and eloquently in front of a panel of leading designers, medics and university professors. Our students spoke for three minutes with an accompanying power point that communicated their design proposals. Although we failed to win any big prizes this year, the experience of making a presentation of this nature will certainly help our students in the future.

Great thanks go to the following students for their efforts and hard work.

• Emily (Millie) Morton • Guillermo (Will) Rodrigues de Acuna • Kelly-Ann Tan • Marilou Turner • Alexander Steffen • Sam Haughton

Dropping off personal items ALL ITEMS FOR STUDENTS SHOULD BE DROPPED OFF AT THE PRIMARY OR SECONDARY OFFICE PARENT TO PARENT ITEMS SHOULD BE LEFT IN THE PTG ROOM RECEPTION ARE HAPPY TO SUPPORT THE DROP-OFF AND COLLECTION OF ITEMS RELATED TO SCHOOL EVENTS, PRODUCTIONS, ETC.

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Amnesty Representatives visit upcoming Write for Rights campaign

Rie Aiyama, 10L mnesty International representatives Lia Dietrich and Kor Kittipoom kindly visited our ECA session to introduce the Write for Rights 2019 case studies. Write for Rights is an annual Amnesty campaign in which anyone can write words of support to those who are currently fighting injustice around the world. Every year, thousands of postcards encouraging their activism are written and sent to the individuals. Moreover, numerous petitions and appeals are sent to governments demanding their release and the recognition they deserve.

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This year, the 12 case studies put the spotlight on youth activists, including Nasu Abdulaziz, Sarah and SeĂĄn, Yiliyasijiang Reheman and Yasaman Aryani. They face issues such as land eviction, insufficient refugee aid, abduction of ethnic minorities and forced veiling of women.

Amnesty Patana is a CAT club that aims to raise awareness about human rights. We share common aims with our parent organisation, Amnesty International; however we aspire to make small, yet impactful changes and deepen the understanding of these rights within the school community. This year, topics we are focusing on include women’s rights and disability discrimination.

Our upcoming campaign day on Write for Rights is on Wednesday December 11th. Please come along at breaktime and lunchtime at the Lounge and show your support by writing postcards and answering questions about the case studies. Petitions are also available to sign if you are 18 or above.

Amnesty Patana meets every Monday after school; we hope you will consider joining us and helping us tackle these growing concerns in society, one step at a time.

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ECA Pause Please note all ECAs including selective and year-long will not run from 9th – 13th December to allow the whole community to enjoy the Christmas festivities and attend the various events both in school and outside of school.

All school buses will revert to 2:30pm.

Block 2 ECAs will resume on the first day of school in Term 2 (6th January).

World Food Project Food Drive 2019 Jamie Loh, 12N

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orld Food Project (WFP) is a CAT club that aims to raise awareness about world hunger, as well as seek ways to reduce food waste within our school community. In term 1, we launched our annual Christmas Food Drive, where each Secondary tutor group was asked to donate a list of food ingredients, such as rice, cooking oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, milk, glass noodle and cereal.

These donations were then delivered to a local slum community in Khlong Toei on the 30th November. Students who volunteered to be a part of this trip not only got to distribute the food items, but also got to organise games for the children and we had a chance to visit the community. It was really an eye-opening experience that showed us that we should not take food for granted and we should really appreciate what we have now. On behalf of WFP, we would like to thank everyone for their donations and we hope to organise more food drives in the future!!

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TRANSPORT CORNER

End of Term Changes 1. There will be no ECAs, selective sports in the last week of term. All students will depart school on their default bus at 2:30pm.

2. There are no 3.30 or 4.30pm buses next week.

3. Please don’t forget to cancel your child’s bus home if you are making alternative arrangements home for class parties outside of school or other events.

4. If you will be changing address over the Christmas period, please inform Transport as soon as possible. School transport provision is subject to route and space availability. A minimum of five working days advance notice is required before the requested start date.

5. Please be informed that the shuttle bus at 5.30 pm (BPS - Bangna BTS) will be cancelled from 6th January 2020 onward due to the low number of users. The other time of the shuttle bus service are still available at 2.30pm, 3.3 pm and 4.30 pm.

Real-life Ecosystems in the Outdoor Classroom Yunnan Dumnernchanvanich, 12K y Year 12 HL Biology class went to the Outdoor Classroom as we are currently studying about Ecology as part of our IB syllabus. Being able to engage with the images shown in the textbooks in real life was an enriching experience that cannot be done in a classroom setting. Despite the changes the Outdoor Classroom has gone through, the area still maintains its ecosystem.

With additions to infographics in each area, the Outdoor Classroom has become a much more educational experience than before. Knowledge can be gained simply by reading the signs placed in each area.

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The purpose of this visit to the Outdoor Classroom was to observe the various plants that were in different areas and do some sketching, in addition to recording abiotic factors using Lab Quest sensors. I am looking forward to collecting data on terrestrial and freshwater organisms on

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our next visit and exploring the Outdoor Classroom even further. I am glad that our school has such facility – it is truly a shame I could only spend an hour there. The fieldwork skills we are developing at the Outdoor Classroom will be utilised when we travel to Khao Yai in January as part of our IB Biology course.

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UNI COUNSELORS’ CORNER

Hospitality Schools Aren’t Just for Hoteliers Paul Yap, Careers and Universities Counsellor

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uring my recent trip to the Council of International School’s (CIS) Global Forum on International Admission and Guidance, I had a wonderful opportunity to speak with admissions officers from universities from all around the world with Europe a particular focus for me. The three-day conference was filled with fruitful discussions on university transitions for students, wellness and the importance of continued conversations about the best fit for students. In addition, I was able to visit higher education institutions in Switzerland focusing on the hospitality industry.

The hospitality industry has typically been synonymous with tourism, hotels and food. But when looking at it from a broader sense, it is about the relationships between a provider and their client. This is the definition that hospitality schools are now taking, and it has allowed them to inject themselves into career fields and pathways that are wider than just the hotel industry. Speaking first hand to admission representatives as well as current students has allowed me to develop a deeper understanding of the process that each applicant goes through as well as the experience every student has during their time there as well as after.

Hospitality schools such as Glion, Les Roches, and Ecole Hotellier de Lausanne are seeing over 49 percent of their graduates go into other industries such as business consulting, education, as well as NGO work because they focus not only the practical business aspects but also build on the soft skills training; skills such as communication, creativity, negotiation, critical thinking, and people management.

Degrees at these institutions are more than just for hotel restaurant, they are full Business Administration degrees that may have a singular focus such as event management or luxury brand management. The structure of the course is like any that you would be able to find at any business school – courses such as Macro-economics, finance, accounting, Mathematics and even Business integration. What differentiates them from a typical business school is that every student has to go through a semester of practical arts, where they explore service in hotels such as housekeeping, front of house, wine tastings, and culinary arts. Each student goes through these workshops to ensure that they understand the difficulties that the people they will be managing in the future will be going through. Students who wish to enhance their skills in particular areas of the practical arts may do so on their own time. Aside from the practical arts semester, students are also required to do two internships during their time in these institutions. The first semester is typically in a hotel operations position and the second semester focuses on the management side of a business. The second internship need not be in a hotel, which allows students to broaden their horizons in terms of what fields or industries their skills can be used further.

The Careers and Universities team continually suggests the importance of visiting campuses as each university and 14

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institution has a distinct feel with a strong emphasis on different areas. Hospitality schools are no different.

Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), currently the top ranked hospitality school, is 15 minutes away from Lausanne city and a quick 40-minute train ride from Geneva airport. The campus itself is not too large and is able to house all of its students for the duration of their 3.5 years of education at EHL. Currently undergoing a massive construction project or provide further amenities and classroom space for its students, EHL hopes to be able to provide a broader range of specialities for its students. EHL’s first year practical art students work on campus for the different workshops as well as their Michelin Star Restaurant “Le Berceau des Sens”. EHL students are encouraged to be creative by creating menus for the following cohorts and a regular review is done of the different services they provide. During the final year of the programme, EHL students are given the choice whether to do a regular research paper on different topics in the business or to take on a real-life business project pitched by over 60 different companies. Companies such as Nestle, Credit Suisse and Accor hotels are but some of the over 700 companies that have taken part in proposing business projects to be tackled by EHL students. Ninety percent of the results and recommendations of the student projects are taken on board by the companies and over 50 percent of the students involved in the proposal are hired by the companies.

Les Roches International School of Hotel Management, currently ranked second in the QS World rankings for hospitality management, has a main campus located in stunning Bluche, Valais. With campuses in Marbella, Spain as well as Shanghai, China – the global perspective is one that is embedded in the makeup of Les Roches and its students.

About three hours away from Geneva and nestled halfway up the mountain, Les Roches provides a focused, quiet approach to the hospitality industry. Les Roches inspires a very strong sense of entrepreneurial individual while giving them the chance to study in a village-style campus next to world-renowned winter resort, Crans-Montana. During their 4th and 5th semester at Les Roches, students can ‘study abroad’ in their two other campuses and explore the specific learning and industry at those locations.

Glion Institute of Higher Education was founded in 1962 and has a strong focus on luxury and the marketing of luxury brands. Glion’s original campus, located above Montreaux in Glion, hosts Practical Arts. With their own hotel and restaurant facilities that are open to the public, Glion’s students can interact quickly and immersively with guests even in the first semester. The faculty at Glion boasts some of the best practitioners in the field and allows strong connections between students and faculty. From Glion, students move to Bulle about an hour and a half away. Bulle is a purpose built facility that hosts amenities much like a university campus. During the last semester of study, students are able to choose to specialise in three different areas: Luxury Brand Management, Event Management or Hospitality Finance.

Les Roches and Glion are managed by Sommet Education. Sommet Education is a unique education group that focuses on hospitality management and the culinary arts. They have also acquired Ecole Ducasse in Paris. This unique partnership between the three institutions allows students to be more flexible in their career options.

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UNI COUNSELORS’ CORNER ALUMNI EXPERIENCES:

Alexander Kiechle-Cornish One of my favourite memories of my time at Bangkok Patana School has to be the Smoothie Bar! I also really enjoyed the swim team and how it built such strong team cohesion between us all. Being an international school, the exposure to other students from all over the world and teachers from all different backgrounds really helped shape who I am today. The ability to 'gel' and communicate with people from all different backgrounds has been incredibly useful for me and something I truly treasure having learned at Bangkok Patana school.

After Bangkok Patana I moved to Phuket for nine months and then to New Zealand. During my time at Bangkok Patana I was a swimmer, training under Coach Cindy in the National Squad. I truly loved swimming, but after breaking my wrist two weeks out from my biggest competition in Phuket, I struggled to regain the motivation when I moved to New Zealand. Looking for a way to strengthen my wrist, I signed up to the school rock climbing club. I made some really great friends and became obsessed with the clear and objective nature of climbing. It's also incredibly meditative, it's just you and the rock and is a brilliant stress reliever. I now love competing and being a part of climbing as it really begins to accelerate as a sport (Tokyo 2020), but I also love rock climbing outdoors, as it takes you to some of the most remote and beautiful places on the planet.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

The University of Leeds, UK

The University of Leeds was founded in 1874 originally as the Yorkshire College of Science and was granted a royal charter as the University of Leeds by King Edwards VII. The University was one of the first colleges in the UK for students of all faiths and backgrounds, set up to challenge the exclusivity of Oxford and Cambridge. A short walk from Leed’s city centre, the school hosts over 5,000 international students and over 30,000 students in total. The school has partnered with Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu and offers students a unique UK-Chinese engineering curriculum. Students at Leeds may choose from twinned European universities in the Erasmus programme.

Notable alumni include astronaut Piers Sellers, actor Chris Pine, musicians Mark Knopfler and Little Boots, IMDb founder Col Needham, Nobel Prize winner and President of the Royal Society George Porter, Nobel prize winners Sir William Bragg, Wole Soyinka, Archer Martin, and Richard Synge, journalist Paul Dacre and politician Jack Straw amongst many others.

Upcoming University Visits UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE University of Exeter Savannah College of Art and Design University of Bath University of Southampton 16

COUNTRY

UK USA UK UK

LOCATION

Second Floor Senior Studies Second Floor Senior Studies Second Floor Senior Studies Second Floor Senior Studies

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11.12.19 11.12.19 10.01.20 13.01.20

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Year 7 Thai Language and Culture Learn About Thai Desserts

Somchok Ongsakul, Thai Teacher awd Chong is one of the most famous Thai desserts be- had to get more cream than milk from the grated coconut cause of its colour and flavour. After the class watch- powder. ing a video on how to make Lawd Chong body, Year 7 students of Thai Language and Culture made sweet coconut milk to eat with the Lawd Chong body.

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The contrast colour of green Lawd Chong, made from pandan leaves and white coconut milk make it ever distinctive and eye-catching. It is a very beloved dessert among Thai and foreign visitors. All diners fall in love with creamy milk and the unique smell of sweet sugar palm.

As well as highlight the Lawd Chong flavours, we added steamed taro.

A fun and challenging activity in the lesson was the competition to squeeze the creamy milk from the freshly grated coconut powder. This challenge seems very easy, but it is genuinely not, however it is entertaining. The winning team

Gaming Tournaments for a Good Cause Keane Sarasas Senisrisant, 11J

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ith the qualifier rounds completed, the CAT club UpSkill is currently hosting a Super Smash Bros Ultimate competition with great success! The gaming tournament is held to fulfill the aim of raising awareness for UpSkill's cause: To refurbish and donate computers to underprivileged children in local schools. Students are encouraged to bring in tech-related donations for the opportunity to participate in the first-ever Smash tournament held at Bangkok Patana.

The semi-finals are currently underway, featuring only the most skilled fighters within the student and teacher bodies, who are all striving to rise above the competition and KO their way to becoming the ultimate victor. Watch out for this spot to stay updated with the current tournament results and feel free to donate to UpSkill!

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Year 6 in the Outdoor Classroom to Study Human and Physical Features Anyssa (Reirai) Bunnag, Parawan (Jazlyn) Sathienthirakul, Janya Phlaphongphanich, 6F

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ear 6 students had the most enjoyable connected learning lesson ever when we went to the Outdoor Classroom to discover physical and natural features; human features are man made and physical features that are natural.

We went with 6J (Mr Jones’s class). The Outdoor Classroom is on the other side of the school. Whilst we were walking there, we had to identify the human and physical features around us. It turned out that there were barely any natural/ physical features on Soi Lasalle, whereas in the Outdoor Classroom there were barely any man-made features.

We met Khun Turbo who would guide us through our visit. After we talked about the safety rules, we all headed in.

As we walked in, all of us were taking notes about what we could see. We had a discussion about the natural and man-made objects. Some of the natural objects are not natural anymore because humans have used it. For example, humans turned stone into a pathway by reshaping it. We saw bullet ants and lots of insects that we can't usually find in the school.

Although we had a short amount of time in the Outdoor Classroom, we learnt a lot. We learnt that even if something is made from natural materials, if it is made by a human it is not a physical feature.

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The PTG - Doing their bit for the 3 Rs Aki Roughley, PTG Cross Campus Representative

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or some time, the PTG have been working towards what we could do to a make a difference and also encourage other Bangkok Patana parents to engage in more environmental projects. When considering taking on the role as the PTG Cross Campus Representative, I was rather surprised to find that one of the responsibilities included “environmental projects.” However, this part of my role has been most rewarding.

that rely on second-hand donations and supports the local residents of Klong Toey, Bangkok’s largest slum. Not only are the goods re-sold through Second Chance to the residents of Klong Toey at affordable prices, Second Chance also provides employment for many of the local people who have the skills to transform old fabrics into something new (and pretty amazing), in other words, upcycling.

When I visited their workshop, I was really impressed by the feeling of inspiration and creativity that filled the air.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, are commonly known as the They were given a box of donated primary school unithree R’s in waste management and as a school Patana forms and they came back to us with some beautiful handalready does a wonderful job in raising awareness made and exclusive items (pictured) that will be available and educating our children about the environment and for you to purchase in the Tiger Shop from February 2020. introducing such concepts as social responsibility and The PTG will continue to rely upon donations of Patana sustainability throughout the curriculum. The Student En- uniforms and hope that we can nurture this mutual relationvironmental Council (SEC) and other CAT/CAS groups ship with Second Chance. are actively involved in various projects that will make a difference to our community. However, Patana parents RECYCLING SECOND-HAND UNIFORMS and the PTG identified that there was definitely room for Following many suggestions and feedback from the improvement for recycling and upcycling disused school Patana community, the PTG will also introduce secuniforms and other clothing and fabric items. ond-hand uniform sales in the Tiger Shop. Any donated We all love a bit of fashion and the accessibility and af- uniforms that are in excellent condition only will be availfordability of clothing today has made it easier than ever able for resale. The money raised from these sales will go to change our clothing regularly to keep up with the latest toward community based PTG projects. trends. However, did you know, that this so-called “fast As of Monday 9th December there will be a donation fashion,” is second only to the oil industry as the world’s box located inside the PTG Room where you will be able largest polluter? It causes increased carbon emissions, to donate your unwanted uniforms, any other clothing and wastewater production and large amounts of landfill fabrics at any time of the year. These items should be launwaste. All of us may be a little guilty and add to this prob- dered and clean but can be in any condition. Second lematic issue, but there is something we can do.

Chance will put them all to good use. They will then be Initially, the PTG introduced the Swap Shop last school year. Parents were able to bring in their unwanted school uniforms and swap them for others in a different size or in better condition. This was successful, but we still ended up with a mountain of secondhand uniforms. Parents obviously wanted to donate their unwanted uniforms somewhere purposeful. Uniforms that their children may have grown too big for or if they were leaving the school. As a result of this demand the PTG now have two new projects that we are pleased to introduce to the Patana community.

sorted into three categories. Bangkok Patana uniforms that are in excellent condition for recycling, all other Bangkok Patana uniforms for upcycling and finally, any other fabric items to be repurposed.

The PTG is very excited about the new projects and additional products we will be offering through the Tiger Shop next term. So, the next time you need somewhere to donate any of your unwanted uniforms or clothing, think about the 3 R’s and upcycling. Collectively, we can make a big difference to our community and environment. We appreciate your support.

UPCYCLING UNIFORMS Second Chance Bangkok is a charitable organisation 29/11/2019

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STUDENTS SPEAK

Are the Best Notes Made Digitally or On Paper?

Karnsiree (Ling Ling) Chen, 13I he increasing prevalence of tablets and laptops today mean that note-taking has shifted away from pen and paper to being typed up. Many people prefer typing as this is often faster, especially if they’ve been exposed to technology from a young age. At first glance, laptops seem like the ideal note-taking medium since it allows you to take notes quickly and easily.

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This is likely not the case. In an experiment at Princeton University published in 2014, students took notes to summarise a Ted talk. The students using a keyboard to take notes were more likely to type the lecturer’s words as they were said, while students who wrote by hand were forced to engage with the information to summarise it. The students were then given some tricky intelligence tests to distract them, and were then quizzed on the content of the lecture. There was little difference in ability to remember facts, but the students who used pen and paper did markedly better when asked to explain ideas.

This is because verbatim note-taking involves a shallower form of cognitive processing which can technically be done without thinking about the content. But when using a pen and paper, information is processed more deeply because there is no time to write it all down. Another advantage is that you can interact with the material much more easily, circling or underlining important bits of information.

The study was repeated to test if the students were really affected by laptops or if the poor understanding was due to verbatim note-taking. In the new experiment, students were advised against taking verbatim notes. Despite this, analysis of the notes showed that the laptop-using students still took more verbatim notes and still couldn’t answer the conceptual questions as well as the people taking longhand notes.

Logically, having more complete should help when it comes to revision. Counterintuitively, it appears that this isn’t the case. The students used their notes before being tested a week later, and the pen-and-paper group still did better. This provides for the argument that cognitively processing material more deeply while you listen, helps you both to understand it and to remember it later on. The mere process of creating notes by extracting important information can be useful, even if you never read them again. The exception is with learning simple facts. Then taking notes on a laptop can work just fine.

In conclusion, there’s no set way to obtain the perfect revision notes, as what’s best is up to personal preference. The critical factor is simply the way notes are processed. It is however important to consider is that typed notes do have an advantage when it comes to easy storage and searching.

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Celebrating Linguistic Diversity Britta Modi, World Languages Teacher

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ith over 60 nationalities, the Bangkok Patana community is a culturally and linguistically diverse one. In the World Languages Department in particular, we value and celebrate this multilingualism on a daily basis. We are passionate about the languages we teach and those of our wider community and it always makes us extremely happy when students share this passion and apply themselves to their language studies. Learning a language can be tricky at times and it requires a lot of dedication, practice, perseverance and patience. A few weeks ago, I was introduced to Deana and Adeline Chang, two most remarkable language students who took their language studies beyond the classroom. After reading their story I am sure you will agree that their dedication, foresightedness and passion is exemplary. I wish you all an interesting read.

Ting-Yu (Deana) 8G & Cha-Jie (Adeline) 9W Chang e both started to learn German in September line tutoring, and 2018 and study the language online three hours found us a tutor. per week, however, Deana also takes German as an My sister and I MFL2 in Patana where Adeline takes Spanish instead. have online GerAt first, Deana was motivated to study German; howev- man tutoring every er, Adeline, on the other hand, was not quite so passion- Wednesday and ate. After many discussions with our parents, we realised Saturday. The workGerman is used in many countries in Europe, so we decid- sheets and files we ed we should give it a go. usually need are in a shared Google We would say German isn’t one of the easiest foreign Drive, so we can languages we’ve learnt, especially when there are three open any files any different articles (der, die and das), and there are also time whenever we four different types of them that you use at different occa- have to practice. sions (Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ and Genitiv) which you We also both have two notebooks for German, one will also have to memorise. The grammar in German is for noting down new German vocabulary with English also very confusing at times because whenever you add translation, another book for homework, weekly quizzes "modal-verbs", you will have to put the verb at the end. or writings. After all, we would say online tutoring is very The past tense is also complicated because it needs a convenient because everything you need is online. helping verb, of which there are two kinds. Comparing it with Mandarin, We also don’t think we have such things It took us around eight months to prepare for the Geras “modal verbs” or the word “the”, so in Mandarin you man A1 test, but after all, we both passed A1 so we found wouldn’t have to memorise them. preparing for the test for eight months was really worth it. Listening was particularly hard for both of us because We would say the alphabet in German is honestly not they spoke really fast, and speaking was also pretty comthat hard, it took us around one week to remember and plicated. Since you have to work with other examiners, pronounce the alphabet accurately. However, in Manda- surprisingly, both my sister and I scored the highest marks rin, there are no alphabets, but the characters, and there in speaking. are more than 3000 in Mandarin. So we would say the German alphabet might look difficult, but it’s honestly not We visited Munich, Germany during our 2019 summer as hard as people think. break and it was a pretty interesting experience. The point of visiting Germany last summer was because we were The Goethe Institute is very far away from our house, looking for future universities we might go to, and we also hence my dad decided to find us another place to learn tried to practice our German in the short amount of days.

German since my father thinks taking German as a MFL2 Overall, it was a great experience, and we will probably in school would not be enough. He brought us to different go to summer camps in Germany next summer. Last but schools and tutors, but it was all too far away or the sched- not least, we really recommend anyone to try some new ule did not match with ours, so my dad thought about on- foreign languages, and never give up practising.

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#140: Christmas Shopping

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ontinuing on from last week’s theme of Christmas, here are a couple of Tech Tips you may find useful when looking for a discount or deal. If you want to find the lowest price an item has been on Amazon then I use the site camelcamelcamel.com (don’t ask me how the name came about!). You paste in the url, or name of the item you are looking for, and you see a graph of the price over the past month, 3 months, 6 months, year or all time. The best part of all is that you can set up an email alert when the price drops to what you are prepared to pay for it. Here’s mine for the Surface Pro 7.

My other recommendation is a Google Chrome extension I’ve only just discovered. It’s called PriceBlink. When you add the extension it automatically checks for the prices of the item you are viewing at other sites. It also finds coupon codes you can apply when purchasing items or services.

Happy shopping!

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

Brian Taylor is our resident technology pantomath (we call him a guru but he’s not keen on that word apparently!). The first Wednesday of every month you can find him in the PTG Room from 8:00 - 9:00am to answer any tech queries and offer advice and support on parenting in this digital age. Also keep your eyes peeled for his amazing parent workshops.

If you have something that can’t wait until next term, email him on brta@patana.ac.th.

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Tiny Tigers Playgroup Openings Do you think your toddler, aged one year or older, might like to come along to our playgroup a couple of times a week? Our very popular Tiny Tigers playgroup may have some vacancies coming up soon.

If you would like to know more, please contact Mrs Geet Harris in the Admissions office at admissions@patana.ac.th or 02785 2206.

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Desert Island Discs With Damon Parker, Cross Campus Teacher Librarian

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his column follows in the style of the famed BBC podcast which features a celebrity every week – here we feature our own Bangkok Patana celebrities! What eight songs, one luxury item and one book would you take with you if you were stuck on a desert island?

Today Damon Parker, Cross Campus Teacher Librarian, is stuck on a desert island.

MR PARKER, IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WHAT EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? God Only Knows - The Beach Boys Life on Mars - David Bowie Up the junction - Squeeze Inbetween Days - The Cure NothingEver Happens - Del Amitri Something for the Weekend - The Divine Comedy Viva la Vida - Coldplay

Listen to Mr Parker’s playlist here

The Castle on the Hill - Ed Sheeran PICK ONE LUXURY ITEM YOU WOULD WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU. THIS ITEM MUST BE INANIMATE AND OF NO USE IN ESCAPING THE ISLAND OR ALLOWING COMMUNICATION FROM OUTSIDE. A gallon of bug repellent sunscreen WHICH ONE BOOK WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? @NatGeo: The Most Popular Instagram Photos by National Geographic Find out more on BBC. Have a list of your own? Let us know! Contact SHKN with your favourites.

DATES

for your

Diary...

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Tuesday 10th December - House Athletics Wednesday 11th December - Christmas Concert Friday 13th December - Whole School Christmas Assembly Saturday 14th December - Term 1 Break Begins Monday 6th January - Term 2 Begins

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the m o r f t s The late

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PTG

Join the PTG Facebook page here!

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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 Tai, Bangna, Bangkok 10260 THAILAND Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Fax: +66 (0) 2785 2399 www.patana.ac.th Email: reception@patana.ac.th 28

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