Patana News Volume 22 Issue 7

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 4th October 2019

Volume 22 Issue 7

www.patana.ac.th

LONG TERM STUDENT-ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT Assistant Principal Cindy Adair on Nurturing Talent and Achieving Potential

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Also in this issue...

String Players Join ISB Orchestra/Congratulations to CIE Award Winners/Lip Sync Battles 04/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

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

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LONG TERM STUDENT-ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT Cindy Adair, Cross Campus Assistant Principal, Extra-curricular Activities and Sports

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t Bangkok Patana School we are blessed with fantastic sporting facilities and a range of specialists ready to support your child to achieve their potential. As a parent it's easy to look at all this and start to imagine your child as the next Michael Phelps, Simone Biles or Ronaldo. So how do we nurture talent and at the same time ensure that we promote an active and healthy lifestyle, or "sport for life" philosophy to our students? The answer is to take a long term approach! The average age of an Olympic athlete is 24 and the vast majority of those Olympians train full-time for at least the four years preceding the Games. To undertake this level of intense training you must have a passion and deep love for your sport, so that is where we start...

FOUNDATION STAGE In Foundation Stage we have both indoor and outdoor learning environments for our young learners to explore: Tricycles to ride, climbing frames to dangle from, toys (big and small) to engage with and plenty of room to run! Our Teachers and our Physical Development Specialist Miss Gemma design challenges for our students to build their fine and gross motor skills. We want our children to run, jump, kick, roll, climb, throw and catch. Students at this age (and all ages really) need to move to learn and so a big part of the day is spent active. There is no focus on any particular sport, although some students will develop early passions for certain activities, which is great. You can help at home by being active as a family - go swimming together, ride bikes, visit the park or an indoor play centre.

KEY STAGE 1 AND LOWER KEY STAGE 2 (YEAR 1 -4) In Year 1 and 2 your child may start their first organised sport or physical activities. We have a huge range of extra-curricular activities for your child to try; Swimming, Gymnastics, Football, Tennis, Dance, Taekwondo and more!

Sampling a range of activities is encouraged. During PE all children are involved in a broad range of activities grouped not by sport but by skill area - Eg: Striking and Fielding Games. The focus at this level should be on developing the FUNdamentals of movement. The classes are short, fun and focused on skill development. Competition is limited to fun, modified games which are quite simple, informal and not at all focused on winners and losers. You can help at home by continuing to expose your child to a range of active play opportunities - jumping on a trampoline, learning to ride a bike without training wheels, learning to hula hoop or skip with a jump rope are all great age-appropriate fun.

UPPER KEY STAGE 2 AND KEY STAGE 3 (YEAR 5 - 9) As your child turns eight or nine years old (females tend to mature physically earlier), they start to become ready to consider a slightly more serious approach to their sport or activities. Early specialisation is discouraged; however, your child might narrow their focus to two or three of their favourite things. At this age coaches and teachers often observe a period of accelerated learning of coordination and fine motor control. ECAs and PE classes for this age group will include not just skill development but sports specific rules and opportunities for students to learn how to train more intensely. Some competitions are offered but at a ratio of 70 percent training versus 30 percent competition, so as not 2

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to overdo things and become too externally focused on results.

At Bangkok Patana, students in the Under 11 – Under 15 age groups can access BISAC tournaments if selected and our school policy promotes equal playing time for all at these age groups. Students in Primary are able to take part in inter-class/inter-colour fun tournaments during PE, whilst Secondary students can enjoy the House Sports offerings, which include traditional games such as basketball and football but also fun activities such as dodge ball.

You can help your child by ensuring they don't specialise too early and maintain an interest in several activities. If your child is losing interest in physical activity, help them find something they enjoy, consider taking a fitness class together - yoga, spinning, boxing and indoor climbing are all great options. Being active as a family is also great - walk the dog together, enter a fun run or learn to wakeboard.

KEY STAGE 4 AND 5 (YEAR 10+) As your child enters the "pointy end" of their time at school, regular physical activity becomes all the more important for them to manage stress and a healthy mind and body. Core PE is retained right through to Year 13 and students are given a broad range of choices so that they get a workout and social exposure to physical activity at least once a week. It is hoped that via this approach we are equipping these students with both the confidence and basic knowledge of the rules to join social leagues and clubs when they transition to university or their working life.

Senior Studies students are allowed to use the Fitness Suite unsupervised (since having undertaken a safety induction) and a range of fitness opportunities are available including morning running club and morning cross-fit to cater for busy students and teachers who fancy a workout. Those with a passion for sport can pursue selection in our Junior Varsity and Varsity teams where training is more focused, intense and requires a bigger time commitment. Training

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sessions include ongoing skill development but also fitness and strength development, tactical awareness and competitive challenges.

Students in these programmes are training to compete and will have more regular competition in the form of league fixtures, friendly fixtures, BISAC, SEASAC and FOBISIA. At these fixtures playing time may no longer be completely equal as the team will set goals to win particular tournaments and the best players will need to be on court/pitch for longer. A small number of our students may have the potential and wish to pursue a college or professional career in their sport, in this case we have a team of experienced Career Counsellors who have guided students who have taken up Athletic Scholarships in the US in recent years. There is also an ECA for students in Year 10 and up titled "Get Recruited" where we share tips on how to turn this dream into a reality. At this stage you can help your child by letting the coach be the one to guide their athletic career and offer your support by ensuring they are well fed, well rested and know that they are loved regardless of their last sporting result.

STAFF/PARENTS As the adults in the lives of our students, our example can be extremely powerful. Do you get your 30 minutess of physical activity a day? The PTG are supporting this by offering a range of fun activities for parents including Running Club, Yoga, Swimming Club and Cardio Tennis - get involved. Our staff value their wellbeing and run a range of activities for each other including football, climbing, netball, spinning, bootcamp, Friday night golf and more. One of our goals is that our students are lifelong participants.

Whilst it may be tempting to rush through each stage, especially when we see that our child has a particular aptitude for an activity, remember there are no 10 year old World Champions or eight year old Olympians. Enjoy and trust the process.

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Congratulations to CIE Award Winners!

Suzanne Lindley, Assistant Principal Curriculum and Assessment We received excellent news this week to celebrate as a school community, as CIE announced their Awards for this year’s IGCSE and AS Level results. These are awarded each year in three categories – High Achievement, Top in Thailand and Top in the World. We are delighted and super proud to share that our students have been awarded 16 of these prizes, across a wide range of subject areas, surpassing our previous best.

such a high level of achievement of being Top in the World!

We are so fortunate to have students with such self-belief, commitment and passion for their studies.

Students, keep on believing in your capacity to succeed and keep on inspiring us teachers and leaders to continue to be the best we can be and to provide you, and all our A number of these students sat the qualification a year students, with all the opportunities and support you deearly, making it even more impressive to have attained serve to achieve your ambitions.

Year 9 Biologists Learn to Hunt Prey

Alexander (Coke) Smith, Environmental Science Coordinator ear 9 students are deep in to their studies in Biology. conducted “hunts” for several cycles and noted changes The topics for their term are Biological Evolution and in the prey types and numbers over time. Students found Natural Selection. In class we’ve been learning the de- that some prey were favourably adapted to the environtails of the theories as well as the various forms of evidence ment and some were not – even to the point of extinction. that support change over time in populations and how that Through this investigation we were able to tie apply their change happens. While learning all this from texts and knowledge of class is fine, nothing beats hands on experiential learn- Natural Seing for promoting deep understandings of these complex lection to a concepts. scenario that mimicked naStudents were tasked with designing a scenario in which ture. And our “natural” predators of their design “hunted” prey in an en- students had vironment that the students created and changed. Students fun doing it!

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Year 12 Student Wins Le Prix d’excellence Virginie Turner, Home Language Coordinator, French and Spanish Teacher start off with oral exercises from the textbook discussing the topic with initial questions and ideas and then move onto reading comprehension from the textbook, sometimes two.

New vocabulary was always searched using a dictionary and noted. At the end of each week, a ‘boite de mots’ full of new vocabulary was used to test our understanding.

This competition happened every week between my sister and I. This was incredibly hard to comprehend and I am still learning and improving myself in these (grammar) ear 12 student Clara Boucher received the Le Prix topics, but it was incredibly helpful in understanding French d’Excellence for best results in the C1 DALF exam- grammatically. The lessons were taught purely in French, ination at L’Alliance Française de Bangkok. The DELF/ the teacher was not able to speak English very well. This DALF diplomas are “certificates delivered by the French helped me feel more comfortable in listening and underMinistry of Education and recognised as fulfilling French standing the language in a more conversational context language entrance requirements by French universities”. as well as a teaching environment. This, in turn, helped my These certificates also inform potential employers on the fluency in speaking because I became more comfortable proficiency of an individual in that language. in the French environment.

Studying for such a certificate allows many of our stuSurrounded by French culture and language, it was esdents to maintain a high level in their mother tongue(s) and sential that I let down my barriers and try to speak more as evidence if they want to return to their home country for often with a good accent and fluency. It took a few lessons further studies or employment. for me to open up, but by the end I felt very comfortable

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This type of certification exists in many languages; German, with the Goethe Institute, Spanish with the Instituto Cervantes and Chinese with the HSK, a standardised Chinese proficiency test and the JLPT in Japanese.

even if I made a few mistakes every once in a while. It was very useful just learning life skills in Paris; using the Metro, the bus and walking in a French environment taught more than just language and culture.

SENIOR STUDENT GAINS VALUABLE FRENCH LANGUAGE EXPERIENCE Some of our Senior students also pursue qualification in a language, such as Stephanie Davis who went to Paris over the summer holidays to take the DELF B1. She reflected on her experience:

With my improved French skills, I was able to use sources in French for my History EE. My experience learning French in Paris helped me in other subject areas.

To certify in DELF B1, I used eligible mock IB exams and an online grammar test by the school. My departure was sad and tears of happiness were shared between teacher and student. My improvement in French was very apparent and I feel incredibly accomplished with my progress and work. It was not an easy task, but with a lot of work and perseverance, I was able to do it. It was definitely the best way I could have spent my summer improving for IB French and embrace and learn a new culture. “

“During the summer, I was able to spend four weeks in France learning French with a company called Eurocentres. We studied French 15 hours a week with the same teacher. However, I decided to take a different path in this experience. I organised a learning experience based on the topics of the IB syllabus with mock exams and grammar.

Thus, there was only a small class of myself and my sister.

We would usually focus on one topic for a few lesson (ie. migration, health or families) and then change. We would

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Top String Players Join ISB String Orchestra Festival Alec Bien, Head of Arts Faculty

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welve of Bangkok Patana’s top string players attended the ISB String Orchestra Festival on 27th and 28th September. They joined students from other Bangkok schools and formed a well-balanced string ensemble of about 100 members. The visiting conductor, Dr. Mark Laycock, Professor of Music at Wichita State University, Kansas in the United States communicated his musical ideas with detail and clarity. The students could easily hear their progress from day one to day two, and they were justifiably proud of the end result. The concert on Saturday at 2 p.m. was well attended and very much appreciated by all.

Early Years’ Library

Primary Library

Secondary Library

Professional Learning

Fiction

Non-fiction

Fiction

Non-fiction

DVDs

Fiction

Senior Fiction

Graphic Novels

Home Languages

Professional Learning

Chapter Books & Oversized Books

List of the library subscriptions and magazines are available here.

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Non-Fiction

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Country Spotlight for International Day

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his year the PTG is introducing the Country Spotlight to broaden the learning opportunities of International Day. Students will be introduced to activities related to a specific country or culture. Participating countries will have a stall next to the Primary Snack Bar or in the Secondary Lounge for students to visit during their lunch period.

Come join and learn something new about another culture. Remember, International Day is November 1st.

7th Oct - South Africa - Secondary Lounge – Learn about South African culture and traditions at the South Africa Spotlight stand today.

Mongolia - Secondary Lounge – Come to the Mongolia Spotlight stand to learn more about their country and culture.

8th Oct –Singapore – Primary Snack Bar - Come play Singaporean traditional games Kuti Kuti, Fives Stones and Capteh and make a pop-up of the Singapore skyline.

Thailand - Secondary Lounge – Take part in a Thai traditional toy festival.

9th Oct – Argentina -Primary Snack Bar – Come paint and learn about Argentina’s national symbols and play cultural games.

Thailand - Primary Snack Bar – Take part in a Thai traditional toy festival at the Spotlight on Thailand display.

Italy - Secondary Lounge – Join the Italy Spotlight stand for fun arts and crafts including a Leonardo Da Vinci parachute.

10th Oct – Taiwan - Primary Snack Bar – Try Chinese Calligraphy Writing, learn Taiwanese geography while throwing bean sacks and play a matching game to find out facts about Taiwan.

USA - Secondary Lounge – Join Team USA on the Front Hard Court to practice your shooting skills and to learn some fun facts about the US.

11th Oct – Mongolia - Primary Snack Bar – Learn more about their country and culture.

South Africa - Primary Snack Bar – Learn about South African culture and traditions at the Spotlight on South Africa stand display.

Taiwan - Secondary Lounge – Learn more about their famous food brands, popular landmarks, rare animals and culture.

India - Secondary Lounge – Participate in Indian henna designs, elaborate or simple, are put as symbols of celebrations in the family like weddings, festivals, religious ceremonies.

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Country Spotlight on Malaysia, Italy, South Korea and the United Kingdom O

ver the last two weeks the PTG have set up tables in the Primary Snack Bar and the Secondary Lounge giving students a chance to learn more about different countries. Parents from Malaysia, Italy, South Korea and the United Kingdom gave demonstrations, teaching students how to make pasta, Malaysian sweets and much more. The activiites have served to inspire students for International Day on 1st November.

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 about it, please contact Mrs Geet Harris in the Admissions office at admissions@ patana.ac.th or 02785 2206.

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Junior Varsity Girls Volleyball – Exciting Home Game Against Harrow Amanda Yongvanich, 11G

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he Junior Varsity Girls played a match against Harrow last week and, although it was a ‘friendly’, our team still put in our best efforts and used this game as preparation for BISAC.

Harrow was significantly better in skill compared to the other schools we competed against; however, we played even better than our last matches and managed to beat them 2 – 1. Despite being a little nervous in the first set, we won 25 – 14. In the second set, we felt pressured and let it get to us by losing 19 – 25. At this point, we knew that we had to stay calm and start the last set with a positive attitude. Our team was confident that we had the ability to win and needed to stay focused. At first Harrow took the lead by eight points, but our hard work and determination led to us catching up, ultimately beating them in an extremely close match (25 – 22).

Overall, we were very pleased with our performance: our serves were more consistent, our attacks were well executed and our collaboration was excellent. So far, our team have won three games out of three and cannot wait to show our hard work in action at BISAC.

Under 15 Girls’ Touch Rugby in Draw Against Harrow Hang Ching J. Kanjanapas, 10G

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n Thursday 26th September, The Under 15 Girls’ Touch Rugby team played our second league match of the season away against Harrow last week.

For this game, we drew 1-1 and won 2-0 in our friendly match afterwards. This time, our defence was strong as only one try was let in during the first half. However, during the second half and in the friendly half of the match, our defence was even stronger as we communicated more, shifted in a line and let no trys in at all. On the other hand, for our attack, I think our settles were a bit slow on the first half but got a lot better in the two other halves. Many of us tried looping, doing dummy passes and we communicated across the pitch pretty well.

I think we improved a lot from the last match and I'm sure we will get even better for our next match against Bangkok Prep. Well done everyone!

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Junior Varsity Boys’ Football in Strong Start to the Season Constantin Ayrle, 13I

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he Junior Varsity Boys’ Football team had their first friendly match against ICS on 9th September and the game ended with a 3-1 win for Bangkok Patana School.

In the first half BPS played the ball well with each other and quickly found the 1st goal by Niki - a good shot in the bottom left corner. The second goal was also scored in the first half by Agnik who was our starting striker on the day. The first half ended 2-0. In the second half the BPS quickly conceded due to a quick turnover in possession.

Shortly after BPS strengthened their result through Nozo who found the back of the net with a well placed shot.

End Result: 3-1

the first goal that was scored by Niki who was our starting striker today. The first half ended 1-0. Shortly after BPS completed their winning result through Indy who found the top left corner off the post and Agnik who scored a great side netting bottom left corner goal. Indy was our starting central midfielder and Agnik was our starting left midfielder/winger today. End Result: 3-1

The JV Boys Football team had their first BISAC league match against St. Andrews on 23rd September. The game ended with a 3-1 win for Bangkok Patana School. In the first half BPS made great runs with Jack sending beautiful balls out to the wingers. BPS conceded first as the St. Andrews left winger out ran our defenders. Eventually we got

Varsity Girls’ Football at the Top of the Group Janelle Lourdes de la Cruz, 11T

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he Varsity Girls’ Football team played against Harrow on 2nd October - shortly after playing against St. Andrews. Having confidence in winning 3-1 just before, the team went into the game with their heads high and with confidence.

We started off the game with aggressive attacks and quick passes. Our team kept on pushing Harrow to commit mistakes in order for us to get the upper hand. We took a lot of shots at goal, which eventually ended up at the back of the net. Our strong attacking continued for the rest of the game. Our team’s defense was also strong, we did not allow Harrow to have a lot of time on the ball. Our hard work translated into a victorious 8-0 win.

Our team finished on the top our group and will be playing in the BISAC Cup this Sunday at ICS. Go Tigers!

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JV Boys Football Come Out on Top Against NIST

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n Thursday 3rd October, the JV Boys’ Football had an intense game against NIST where we came out on top.

Two of the goals were scored by Agnik (Year 13). In the first half, we really showed that Bangkok Patana school was the more dominant team by pressuring NIST and also not wasting our opportunities. The second half was tough, because some of our players were tired. Although they were tired, our players did not give up and kept fighting for the win.

This time, our communication was much better than the previous game. Meaning the game didn’t look as messy and also the game was flowing better. Now, the JV Boys are training and looking forward for their next game against Ruamrudee International School on October 9th.

Battling it out to Raise Funds for Habitat for Humanity T

wo competing teams danced it out for the Lip Sync Battle of the Year with Pre Malone walking away the winner against Chicken Girls. Whipping the crowd into a frenzy, Pre Malone enlisted the aid of the audience in his performance, cementing his place as Lip Sync Battle King with his performance of Better Now. The Habitat for Humanity Club raised over 6,000 baht from the Lip Sync Battle, with funds going towards the 250,000 baht they are raising from their various fundraisers. The money will be used to build a home for a family in Thailand in December. Lucy, one of the club’s leaders, said that while they usually they hold the Patana’s Got Talent event, this year they decided to try something more inclusive by holding the Lip Sync Battle. By all accounts, it was a big hit! Watch his performance on Vimeo

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Hearty and Healthy Options in the Canteen and Snack Bar Shana Kongmun, Communications Coordinator s part of the school’s continuous effort toward providing students with a healthy and happy day at school the Canteen has added many new items and made old favourites even healthier than before.

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The team continues to research new menu items and over the summer brought in an Italian chef to train the staff in cooking pasta and other tasty Italian dishes. They spent the summer testing out new recipes, taste testing and brainstorming new menu items.

In addition to the tried and true favourites of lasagne and fish and chips, one of the new items the canteen has added is cauliflower balls with pasta and cheese sauce that increased the number of items on the vegetarian menu.

The trend towards vegetarian continues as the canteen maintained the Less Meat Mondays menu – removing one meat item each Monday and replacing it with a vegetarian item.

The school nutritionist has been kept busy with the new menu items as all new food items for the canteen and the snack bar are reviewed to ensure that they are MSG and trans-fat free, balanced in macronutrients, low in sodium and sugar, and healthy and tasty too.

The Canteen purchases organic vegetables, halal beef and chicken with all meat coming from reliable companies certified for quality and safety and uses only olive oil and rice bran oil; in fact, only 5 percent of menu items are fried foods each week! Students are served healthy brown rice for Thai meals; however, Primary students get a mix of white and brown rice as well all know our younger eaters can be a little pickier!

Students are encouraged to give their feedback to their student representatives, the Canteen team want to know what they love and what they would like to see on the menu.

SOME OF THE NEW MENU ITEMS IN OUR CANTEENS • Cauliflower Parmigiana Pasta Bake • Cheesy Vegetable Hash • Curried Lentil and Vegetable Stew • Tomato, Basil, and Corn Pizza • Tomato, Coriander and Ginger Dhal With Tomatoes • Warm Lentil Salad with Pumpkin and Chili

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• Kid-friendly Lentil Stew • Warm Roast Veggie Salad with Lemony Lentils • Brown Rice and Lentils with Spinach • Sautéed Sweet Chili Tofu • Pan Fried Sesame Garlic Tofu • Mushroom Rice One-Pot • Cauliflower Balls in Tomato Sauce • Zucchini Tomato Italian

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Sweet Sausage Soup Macaroni Seafood Soup Asian Chicken and Pickle Ginger in Honey Sauce Crispy Prawns with Sweet and Salty Garlic Sauce Shrimp Sweet Salty Garlic Sauce Lemon Garlic Butter Flank Steak with Mushrooms Grilled Beef Steak Bal-

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samic Sauce Baked Lemon Chicken Italian Style Pan-seared Fish with Italian Style Salsa SNACK BAR Chicken Paprika Cheese Wrap Sandwich Chicken Shwarma Wrap Sandwich Chicken Pesto Wrap

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Here

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MONITORING AIR QUALITY AT BANGKOK PATANA SCHOOL O

ver the summer, Bangkok Patana School installed pre-cooled, filtered, fresh air systems in all buildings. You can read about the changes here. These new systems reduce the PM2.5 levels in classrooms. Although the air in our buildings is healthy, we still monitor pollution levels throughout the day and implement procedures to ensure a good environment for our community Many parents may not be aware about how we monitor air quality on our school campus. Our policy was developed in consultation with other international schools and is in line with the US EPA guidelines.

We use the data provided from two official Thai government sites, both of which use data directly sourced from the Air Quality and Noise Management Bureau (Whilst these are the main sites, we also monitor readings from other sites): 1. http://air4thai.pcd.go.th/web/station.php?station=05t 2. http://aqmthai.com/public_report.php Besides being very high quality units able to deliver detailed readings, the Bureau’s monitors use a beta ray system certified by the US EPA, which is more accurate and precise than the light scattering method used by other systems.

We also have two high quality air pollution monitors on site which we also reference daily.

We refer to two sets of air pollution data: a) AQI: Measures five air pollutants (particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone), and converts the measured pollutant concentrations to a number using a globally accepted formula. b) PM2.5: refers to atmospheric particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers.

We monitor the Air Quality readings everyday so that we can recognise shifts in trends. At 6.00am we report the average reading over the past 24 hours to Senior Leadership who then follow the directions in the Air Quality Policy.

Of the two data sets (AQI and PM 2.5), we act on the reading which indicates the greatest level of risk.

We reference readings using the Bangna monitoring station which is 2km from our campus. From time to time we contract third parties to take readings on campus. Using a gravimetric method also certified by the US EPA, comparing the air on campus to the Bangna monitoring station, the air was between 33% to 65% better on campus. However, we use the readings at the Bangna station as this gives us a more conservative measure.

In school, we bring Primary children indoors from 7.20am if the 6.00am reading is in the category of ‘Caution for All’. If we are still in the ‘Caution for All’ category at 11.00am, then Primary students are brought inside earlier during lunchtimes and for their ECAs. Throughout the day, we make changes such as having Year 1 and 2 children complete their PE lessons indoors if we are in the ‘Caution for All’ category. In Secondary School as well, students’ time outdoors is limited and adjusted during the day.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP US? We have received feedback from many parents concerning private cars that are left idling in the parking lots, particularly in Foundation Stage. Please make sure your vehicle engine is turned off while parked at school. Using the school transport system or car-pooling reduces the number of vehicles on the roads and in the parking lots, reducing hte number of cars on the road has proven to reduce air pollution levels. If you require more information, please contact our Cross Campus Principal at heth@patana.ac.th.

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UPCOMING UNIVERSITY VISITS UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) Claremont McKenna College Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Jagiellonian University

COUNTRY

USA USA Ireland Poland

LOCATION

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor Senior Studies, 2nd Floor Senior Studies, 2nd Floor Senior Studies, 2nd Floor

DATE

TIME

16.10.19 17.10.19 1.11.19 4.11.19

9:15 12:15 12:15 9:15

Are you a Bangkok Patana alum and like to play sports? Then join us for a day of fun competing against other international school alumni and let’s show that the Tigers never lose their teeth!

Log in to your alumni account, or register your account and then register online here

REGISTER ONLINE HERE

TRANSPORT CORNER

Construction and Traffic Delays

**Construction areas 1) Chuea Phloeng Road (Now - 13th March 2021) Impact Area: Rama 3, Rama 4, Wireless, Sukhumvit , Phetchaburi Road.

2) Tiwanon Road, Chaengwattana Road (Now - Unknown) 3) Rama 9 Road, Ramkhamheang Road (Now - Unknown) Impact Area: Phetchaburi Road, Soonvijai Road, Ramkhamhaeng Soi 24, 76 4) Srinagarindra Road, Thepharak Road (Now - Unknown) 16

Impact Area: MooBaan Laddawan, MooBaan Nantawan - Srikarin 5) Ladprao Road (Now - Unknown) ** Traffic Congestion areas 1) Saphan Taksin (Taksin Bridge), Ratchaphruek Road, Kanlapaphruek Road 2) Motorway No.7, Srirat Expressway

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IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

UNI COUNSELORS’ University of Texas at Austin, USA T CORNER

ALUMNI EXPERIENCES: Darrell Bletchley

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angkok Patana alum Darrell Blatchley’s D’Bone Collector Museum in Davao in the Philippines was named the UNESCO Plastic Initiative Award Winner in September for ongoing public awareness activities on the effects of plastic and improper waste disposal. The natural history museum is currently collaborating with a plastic recycling company to create furniture, which will be distributed to different schools and establishments.

Darrell, a marine biologist and founder of the museum, and his team work with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and other organisations in the Philippines to assist in rescue and recovery of marine animals. Darrell has become known for his work in publicising the impact on marine life, in the past ten years he has recovered the bodies of 61 whales and dolphins, of which 57 died due to man made causes, usually ingesting plastic or getting caught in nets.

he University of Texas at Austin is located in the charming capital city of the state of Texas in the US. Austin is well known for its thriving arts scene with the famed Austin City Limits music festival and is known as the live music capital of the US. The main campus for the University of Texas is located in central Austin and has over 150 buildings, a research campus is set in north Austin. The university has undergone extensive expansion and growth with the addition of the Bill & Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex and Dell Computer Science Hall and the Belo Center for New Media. The University has 18 colleges and schools and offers more than 100 undergraduate degrees to over 50,000 students.

Ranked 36th in the US News and World Report Global Rankings and 38th in the Times Higher Education World Rankings; the school ranks third in the world in Computer Sciences in the US News and World Report Global Index.

The University of Texas at Austin has produced many notable alumni including former members of the US Cabinet, 20 Pulitzer Prize winners, nine astronauts and famed musicians such as Janis Joplin, actors Eli Wallach and Matthew McConaughey, former news anchor Walter Cronkite, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nobel laureate James Allison in Physiology or Medicine and four Olympic gold medallists.

Darrell credits Bangkok Patana with its hands-on approach to education, which was true even when he attended between 1991 and 1993. “The best memories I have are related to the way the school was so hands on with everything,” UNESCO’s ‘Plastic Initiative’ was officially launched at the Green One UN House in Hanoi in March 2019 to address the issue of plastic pollution in the Asia/Pacific region through grass-root projects, educational material and assistance in the development of national waste management action plans. According to a 2017 study more than half of the 9 million tons of plastic dumped in the ocean each year comes from just five countries in East and Southeast Asia — China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

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Desert Island Discs With Andrew Tatam

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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 Mr Andrew Tatam, Primary Leader of Learning, Physical Education, is stuck on a desert island.

MR TATAM, IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WHAT EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Spread Your Wings – Queen Lonely Boy – Andrew Gold The Combine Harvester – The Wurzels Stand and Deliver – Adam and the Ants This Ole House – Shakin Stevens Jessie – Joshua Kadison Dignity – Deacon Blue

Listen to Mr Tatam’s Spotify playlist here

Come on Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners 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 Cornish Pasty from Barnecuts WHICH ONE BOOK WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee Interested in learning what other people would take? Find out more on BBC. Have a list of your own? Let us know! .

Contact SHKN with your favourites and why!

Anapana Meditation Course SUNDAY 6TH OCTOBER STUDENTS AGED 8 - 16

Anapana (Mindfulness of breathing) teaches students improved concentration skills and enhances calmness of the mind and relieves anxiety. The course is completely free!

To enroll please contact Eva Sophonpanich at evasophon@hotmail.com 04/10/2019

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STUDENTS SPEAK Our Human Errors Karnsiree (Ling Ling) Chen, 13I

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espite having a large number of well developed systems, programmed to work in unison and perform the function of life, our bodies are far from perfect. Though evolution has indeed gifted us with many unique and irreplaceable anatomical wonders like large brains, opposable thumbs and rotating joints, it has skipped over other features like our vulnerable necks and the delegation of the essential function of feeding and breathing to tubes that follow the same path up to about half way down the neck, which is left largely unprotected by the thin skin of the neck in comparison to other essential areas like the heart (protected by the ribs) and the brain (protected by the skull).

These errors have remained largely untouched by natural selection, as they most represent lapses in efficiency and do not pose enough of a weakness to eradicate the organisms with the mutations. One such curiosity is the ‘Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve’ (RLN) which is made up of axons that originate near the top of the brain and connect to muscles of the Larynx (voice box) which allow us to make and control audible sounds when we speak. When considering the efficiency of the system, you would expect the RLN to travel a short and direct distance from the brain to the spinal cord, and to the Larynx. This is far from the truth. In actuality, the RLN is more than 3 times longer than it needs to be, winding a complex path down the spinal cord, all the way to the upper chest. It then enters the spinal cord slightly below the shoulder blade, loops under the aorta and travels back up to the larynx. The way it runs through the body means that heart surgeons must be very cautious to avoid damaging it in surgeries, due to its complex entanglement with great vessels from the heart. In the past, researchers have assumed this may have had some functional explanation, but it appears that this is not the case, and this anatomical oddity is the result of evolution.

This nerve originated in ancient fish ancestors and all modern vertebrates have it. In fish, the RLN connects the brain to the gills, what you could call the fish equivalent of a larynx. However, it is not as inconvenient in fish as they don’t have necks, their brains are small and have hearts that have a far less sophisticated pumping system than ours. The circulatory system in fish consists of a nerve that makes the trip from the spinal cord to the gills in an efficient manner, despite passing through some of the major vessels exiting the fish heart, equivalent to the aorta in a human. This weaving is acceptable is fish because it allows for efficient use of space, allowing for a simple arrangement of nerves in a tight space. However, this structure then lay the framework for the strange way the RLN is wired in humans.

During the course of vertebrate evolution, the heart began to move backward with the formation of the chest and neck. The heart gradually crept away from the brain, while the gills did not. The position of the larynx relative to the brain is very similar to the position of the gills relative to the brain in fish. The RLN was affected by the changing position of the heart due to its entanglement with the heart’s vessels. It was as a result, forced to grow into a large loop in order to traverse the distance between the brain and the neck. An example that allows a visualisation of how necessary this extra distance is of the ostrich. The RLN should only need to travel 2-3cm to complete its function, but it travels nearly a full meter down the spinal cord and back up. In comparison, our RLN loop is practically diminutive!

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Sailing with Light; The Science Behind Solar Sails T

Sonam Okuda, 12M here have been a myriad of myths and stories where people have been able to walk or glide on light, such as the Norse myth of Bifrost, the legendary rainbow bridge that connects Asgard, the realm of the Aesir, with Midgard, our world. Of course, this is all fantasy. However, while we may not be able to walk on light, we are able to sail with it.

ABOUT SOLAR PRESSURE Solar or radiation pressure is the force exerted on a surface due to the exchange in momentum between the object (which is usually reflective) and an electromagnetic field, as Wikipedia states. Basically, this means that light can exert forces on things. Usually, these forces are too small to be considered, but in certain circumstances, like in outer space, they play a huge factor.

Now solar pressure seems impossible; photons (packets of light) have no mass, so how could they exert force? Here’s a little math: using de Broglie’s equation, λ = h/mv (λ being wavelength, h being Planck’s constant, and mv being mass x velocity, or momentum), we can rearrange it to become mv, or momentum = Planck’s constant / wavelength of the photon. So although photos don’t have mass, they do have momentum.

Even so, the momentum of a single photon is tiny. But when the vacuum of space and the sheer number of light particles are taken into account, the principle of conservation of momentum means that there will be a rather large force on the affected object. When launching probes and satellites into space, solar pressure is significant enough to be taken into account.

USES OF SOLAR SAILING Here is where the concept of solar sailing takes centre stage.

We take what seems to be a nuisance or a setback, and we turn it into an advantage. Using large reflective, retractable metal sails, spacecrafts can use solar pressure to (for example) correct their orientation without expending too much fuel, increase their orbital height, or even propel themselves further into space. The Ikaros spacecraft was the first to actually use solar sailing technology, using the generated force to visit Venus and return back after three years. LightSail2, a small satellite funded by the Planetary Society, used solar sailing to increase its orbital distance from Earth by rotating its sails to maximise the force resulting from the sunlight.

(Refer to the Real Engineering video for a full explanation) Read all about solar sails on the Scientia Project here

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#132: PTG Tech Talk Brian Taylor, Cross Campus Assistant Principal

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ednesday morning saw our first PTG Tech talk of the 2019-20 academic year. I have to say I think come away from these meetings with more ideas and solutions than those I impart. We discussed apps that are in and out of fashion with our children, and how Bangkok Patana School can help support the active, creative, relationship building use of technology in our (children and adults) lives. Collectively we decided that the PTG Tech talks should have more of a focus associated to each one. At the next event we will be honing in on parental settings in mobile devices, laptops and home wi-fi systems. If you’re interested in finding out more about this topic, please join us at our next event on Wednesday 13th November.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

Dutch Home Language Skills Featured

Most of the Dutch and Belgium students at Bangkok Patana follow the Home Language programme supported by the Dutch government. Teachers and students worked with a professional film team and put together an incredible video clip: A very moving introduction to Thailand, as well as to the Dutch school.

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COMMUNITY

Neilson Hays Library Autumn Book Sale Saturday 2nd November Sunday 3rd November 9.30 - 4 pm Library Courtyard

There is a number of beautiful books already donated for the sale, including; recent issue thriller books, a large number of Thai language titles and a range of new and read children books. Additionally, there are a number of bound copies of the boxing magazine 'The Ring' from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Donate Your Books!

Books can be donated into the Library from Tuesday - Sunday from 9.30 am to 5 pm. Any book donations would be gratefully received. Please contact the library on 02 233 1731 or info@neilsonhayslibrary.org for more information.

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For daily updates, snapshots and news on life at school you can find us here...

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Bangkok Patana School News

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