Patana News Vol 18 Issue 2

Patana

NEWS

Bangkok Patana is an IB World School, accredited by CIS and NEASC

The Secondary Principal’s Letter Dear Parents, It’s my turn to welcome you all, whether returning ‘Patana veterans’, or new members of our school community, to Term 1 2015/16. As you will have read from Matt Mills’ article last week, the Secondary School students returned to find dramatic changes to their learning environment. We have all enjoyed seeing students and teachers alike relish their new classrooms, collaboration areas and laboratories. To hear one of our most experienced Science teachers describe our new Science Centre as ‘astonishing’ and for us all to agree that it surpasses anything that we’ve ever seen in schools all around the world, gives an idea of just how proud we are to add the latest jewel in the crown to Bangkok Patana. I’ve been delighted to spend time in both English and Learning Support this week too and see students immediately using the breakout areas to great effect for individual and collaborative learning. As usual we’ve also had a smattering of recent alumni calling in before returning to university standing with jaws-dropped, bemoaning the fact that ‘we never had anything like this’!

This week we held our first Sec-

ondary Assembly of the year where we celebrated the academic results of our new Year 7, our IB Graduates and our new Year 12 students.

The Year 12s received the last of their (I)GCSE results following Matt’s article last week. We had 1,400 qualifications sat by students from Year 8 to Year 12. I’ve included the summary and headline figures on the right. Once again our students have excelled in their public examinations and are already engaging with the new challenges of IB confident that they have the skills and understanding to be even more successful in two years’ time. I would like to congratulate all of our students and wish them every success with their further studies.

The start of the year is always an exciting time. We have around 70 new students who are being well looked after by their helping hands and tutors. Of course, if Year 13 have left then that means that everyone else moves up

a year and we have our latest cohort of Year 7 students bringing energy, fun and NOISE as they tear around the Secondary School to a chorus of ‘awww, sooo cuute’ from Senior students. Watching Year 7 settle and find their feet over the first weeks of term is a great pleasure and in no time at all they are completely at home.

This week has also seen hundreds of students across Secondary trying out for our competitive sports teams. The coaches have difficult decisions to make in selecting their strongest squads and ...continued on page 3

By Julie Whittaker, Class Teacher Sometimes people choose to move, sometimes this movement is forced upon them. Both can have an impact on the societies and places that they leave behind, and those that they join at their journey’s end. With this ‘big idea’ in mind, Year 6 have embarked on their first learning journey: ‘Great Migrations’.

Imagine you had to move from the place where you live and urgently! What would you take with you? What would you leave behind? As a group, Year 6 had to decide which five items to take with them. These items needed to help them survive, so careful choices had to made! Next came the exciting Year 6 team challenge of using this chosen equipment to prepare a warm, waterproof shelter. So how could this relate to a real life situation? Throughout the “Great Migrations’ unit, Year 6

...continued from page 2 unfortunately some students will be disappointed this time around.

I hope that this doesn’t put them off, that they look to join one of the second teams and that they will come back and try out again next season. I can’t wait to see our teams begin Season 1 next week. Go Tigers!

We’ve also welcomed new parents into school over the last week, firstly to give them an overview of the Secondary School and then, this week, to provide a more in depth exploration of the academic and pastoral curriculum and the chance to meet with the

students will explore key questions:  What are the pushes and pull of migration?  What are the positive and nega-

most important member of staff for all students, their class tutor.

Two final points this week. Firstly, in amongst the excitement of the start of term there is some really stimulating and high quality learning taking place. A real focus across the whole school this year is the quality of assessment and feedback for our students. Discussions are already underway in faculties regarding how we can best ensure that students have a very clear idea of where they are in their learning in each subject, have challenging but realistic targets and understand the steps they can take to achieve them.

Secondly I spoke briefly in assembly on how keen we are to see

tive aspects of migration?

How can we use primary and secondary sources to learn about the past?

This unit allows many opportunities to investigate and explore the current migrations of people from Syria, Eritrea, Afghanistan and other places that have led to this year’s ‘Mediterranean crisis’.

A case study of migration to North America sets the backdrop of our history learning, with a focus on the early Europeans settlers of the 17th century and their encounters with Native Americans, to the expansion west with the Californian Gold Rush: wagon trails, frontier towns, cowboys and the Wild West! Stark contrasts will then be made with the forced migration of African people to America during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. 

students showing their pride in being part of our community and how following our dress code is an important way that they can do this. The vast majority of our students already adhere to the dress code and we will follow up with the small number who sometimes wear inappropriate shoes or a skirt that is noticeably too short.

Getting this right early in Term 1 will make things smoother for the rest of the year and enable everyone to focus on the important business of learning and enjoying school life.

Have a great weekend, Mick Smith Principal, Secondary School

By Maria Hotte, 13A On the first day of CAS for All, a group of students from Project Star spent a day at the Camillian Home.

The Camillian Home is a non-profit children’s charity founded in 1987, working with children living with disabilities. The aim of the Home is to allow each child to receive specialised care and treatment in an environment that encourages and develops the capability of each child. The Camillian Home is one of the few facilities in Thailand that cares for these children and helps provide them with opportunities, which give them hope for a better future.

As soon as we arrived, we were able to take a tour of the Home, receiving detailed explanations about the purpose of each room and the measures taken to ensure each resident’s needs are taken into consideration. After the tour, we met the group of children we were spending the day with and started the first activity on our schedule for the day.

The first activity was colouring and making egg maracas; colouring templates were previously printed out, so the children were able to choose what they wanted to colour and how they wanted to express their creativity. This was a huge success and both the students and the children at the Home were having fun creating their

Chopsticks Noodle Bar will open a new serving point next week.

This will mean that students can be served from three areas, two queues at the front (current location) and one serving point from the back (new). This will help to reduce the waiting time for our students and staff who want to enjoy the yummy and popular

own unique instruments. After a brief lunch break, we set up our second activity, which was baking a delicious batch of cupcakes and letting the children take full control of the baking and decorating process. As we finished earlier than anticipated, we were invited to attend an impromptu performance organized by the Home’s own music band. It was impressive to see how these four young musicians were able to overcome the limitations posed by their disabilities and work together to perform with such talent and create such an unforgettable and unique experience.

At the end of the day, we were all very sad to have to say our goodbyes to all our new friends, but we left

with the promise of returning and having many more wonderful days together in the future.

Upon our return to school, we spent some time reflecting upon the day’s events and we came to the conclusion that simply giving donations was a big help to the Camillian Home, but what really made the difference was meeting all the wonderful people at the Home and making their day different from the rest. I am personally looking forward to help organise more visits to the Camillian Home this year and create some opportunities to further develop and encourage the creativity all the children have shown to posses.

The calendar for this academic noodles prepared daily by our year is available on the front of staff. The price for noodles is 50 the school website or click here to THB per bowl. view it.

Click here for the Canteen Menu

What do all those acronyms mean anyway?

By Linda Ortwein, Careers and University Counsellor For families with Year 10, 11 and 12 students who may be considering applications to the United States, this is a good time to get to know the testing requirements of many US colleges.

While not all colleges require tests, most do require either the SAT administered by the CollegeBoard, or the ACT administered by ACT.org. They are each offered five or six times per year between September and June and are generally taken during Term 2 and/or 3 of Year 12 and/or Term 1 of Year 13. Some of the most competitive colleges require Subject Tests, which are also given by the CollegeBoard. It is a useful step for Year 12 students and families to review their calendars

in the fall and determine when it might be best to prepare for, and take, the SAT, subject tests or ACT. The SAT has been redesigned beginning with the test administration in March 2016.

There are some meaningful changes to content and the scoring will range from 400 to 1600 points (instead of the current

2400 point maximum). More information about the SAT and subject tests can be found at: http:// www.collegeboard.com/testing/.

For more information about the ACT: http://act.org/ The PSAT is offered to students in Year 11 and Year 12 In preparation for the SAT, the CollegeBoard offers the PSAT (or Practice SAT) once per year, which will be administered at Bangkok Patana on Wednesday, 14th October this year. It is offered to students in Year 11 and Year 12. The dates and specifics are set entirely by the CollegeBoard and Bangkok Patana has no ability to modify either the test or the date on which it is given. The PSAT is a practice test to help students become familiar with the test format and style (for now, the format follows the old version of the SAT). It is a little over two hours in length, entirely multiple choice and measures Critical Reading, Writing (grammar) and Mathematics. Unlike the SAT or ACT, there is no essay writing section.

Colleges do not receive score results and there is no need for students to prepare in advance. A useful purpose for the PSAT is to establish a baseline for students

to understand their strengths and weaknesses in order to focus their test prep later in Year 12. A letter and opportunity to sign up for the PSAT is going out shortly to parents of Year 11 and 12 students. More information about the PSAT can be found at: http:// www.collegeboard.com/student/ testing/psat/about.html Bangkok Patana School is a closed centre for the SAT and PSAT Bangkok Patana School is a closed test centre for the SAT and PSAT, which means we offer all of these tests to our students but not to outsiders. Students register through Bangkok Patana for the PSAT but directly with the CollegeBoard for the SAT. In order to register, students need the following codes: CEEB Code: 695190 Test Centre Code:71106. We are not currently a test centre for the ACT, so students need to register and take the test elsewhere. We are happy to provide support and guidance for decisions related to these tests, but registration for them is the responsibility of the student.

Please visit our Firefly page: https://community.patana.ac.th/ cug Individual guidance is available from our Careers and University office. We look forward to working with you and your students on their future plans!

By Genevieve Ahl, Services Manager Bangkok Patana School takes the safety of our school community very seriously. We have a management team that meet and discuss many different crisis scenarios and we have processes and procedures in place for these. We have strong links with the local police and the various embassies who alert us to any security concerns and also visit our school to review our existing procedures and provide advice on security measures.

One of the areas that we practise regularly throughout the year is the Fire Evacuation and Lockdown procedures. In Term 1 we will have an ‘announced’ fire drill and an ‘announced’ lockdown drill where staff and students are informed about the date and time of the practice in advance and we ensure that everyone knows what to do should they hear one of the alarms sound. At other times of the year we hold ‘unannounced’ drills. This enables us to see how our community react to the alarm sounding when they are unprepared for it. You may hear from your child/ren in the next couple of weeks that they have taken part in a fire drill.

Please read below so you are aware of our procedures

should you be on campus when an alarm sounds.

What should you do if you are on the school campus when an alarm sounds?

Lockdown Alarm If you are on campus and hear the ‘lockdown’ alarm (like an old war time air raid siren) please follow instructions from nearby staff. If you are not in a building please enter the nearest building and follow instructions from staff. In a lockdown, you should be out of sight until you hear three clear whistles from the security team or are instructed that it is all clear from a security guard or member of staff. You will not be allowed to enter or exit the campus during a lockdown.

Fire Alarm If you are on the school campus and hear a fire alarm, please act immediately and follow the Evacuation Route sign to the nearest assembly point. (see example below).

Please make sure that you report to the Zone Fire Point Person who will be wearing an emergency jacket and have radio communication. They will be located in the middle of the zone area and will take your name and tell you where you need to stand. There are six zones – green, yellow, blue, white, red, and purple. Look for these signs when you are next in school to familiarise yourself with the evacuation routes.

If you are outside the school grounds during a Fire Evacuation please note that you will not be allowed entry into school until the all clear has been given. Please follow instructions from our Security team.

Upcoming University Visits University/College

Representative

Location

Date / Time

Rollins College Chapman University Santa Clara University Nagoya University University of Oregon Glion Institute of Higher Education Les Roches International School of Hotel Management Blue Mountains Hotel School University of British Columbia

Brandy Fransen Ali Klein Becky Konowicz Satomi Niwa Robert Hardin

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

2nd Sept, 12.00pm 2nd Sept, 12.00pm 2nd Sept, 12.00pm 3rd Sept, 12.00pm 3rd Sept, 12.00pm

Simon Phillips

2nd floor Senior Studies

3rd Sept, 12.15pm

Simon Phillips

2nd floor Senior Studies

3rd Sept, 12.15pm

Miss Jyotika Khanijou Jeff Kiyooka

2nd floor Senior Studies Senior Studies

8th Sept, 12.15pm 11th Sept, 12.15pm

By Andrew Tatam, Leader of Learning, Physical Education Parents and students will now be aware that our Extra-curricular Activities (ECA) calendar has changed with four blocks of ECA, replacing the previous 3-Term schedule. This change will effect timings for our 2016 FOBISIA Team selection process, bringing things forward in the calendar.

The format for the Games will remain the same as last year, which means that we will be selecting ten boys and ten girls from Year 5 and ten boys and ten girls from Year 6 giving us a team of 40 students. Competitors will compete in all four sports of swimming, athletics, teeball and football across three days of competition.

For those parents and students new to Bangkok Patana or those parents who have children who may just have shown an interest in the FOBISIA Friendly Games, I hope that the following information will help in any decision making.

The Primary FOBISIA (Federation of British International Schools in Asia) Friendly Games is a sporting festival and competition for British International Schools across Asia. We select teams to represent Years 5 and 6 and Bangkok Patana is in Group A1 with other large schools from the region: Tanglin Trust, Singapore; Dulwich College, Beijing; Shrewsbury International School, Bangkok; Alice Smith and Garden International Schools from Malaysia.

The Games will take place between Wednesday 25th and Friday 27th May and will be hosted by Bangkok Patana, making it a very special year indeed.

Selection is based on a number of criteria including the overall balance

of the team being selected, the children’s performances during ECAs and various timed or measured events held during the selection process.

This is an extensive time commitment and attending all of the ECAs does not guarantee selection. This year we will make an initial selection cut after Block 2 and a final selection after Block 3, which should allow those students not selected, time to make alternative ECA selections of their choice. Please also note that the FOBISIA squad selection is final.

If children wish to be available for selection they must meet the following ECA criteria from Block 2.

Please note that there may be ex-

tended ECAs or fixtures for FOBISIA trialists and eventual team members when school transport may not be available. Parents will need to make alternative arrangements should this situation arise.

Monday: Athletics ECA (optional but recommended in preparation for Record Breakers on Sunday 7th February which all those who continuing with the selection process must attend unless a very good reason can be provided) – Parental sign up required.

Tuesday: Tee-Ball ECA (compulsory) – Automatic sign up when signing up as a FOBISIA trialist.

Wednesday: Non TigerShark FOBISIA Swimming ECA for children who are not already Tiger Shark swimmers – Parental sign up required.

This is optional, but all children have to attend at least one of the two time trial galas during Block 2 and 3.

Thursday: Appropriate age group Football ECA (compulsory). If your child is involved in the Year 5/6 Aladdin Jr. rehearsals on a Thursday in Block 2 please contact me directly. – Automatic sign up when signing up as a FOBISIA trialist.

If your child fully understands the level of commitment expected, and would like to try out, you need to sign them up for the relevant Year group Girls’ or Boys’ FOBISIA Games option on the ECA sign up for Block 2 which begins on Monday 9th November.

If invited to continue trying out for our 2016 FOBISIA team after Block 2, your child must attend Monday, Tuesday and Thursday ECAs, plus a Wednesday Swimming ECA for any non-Tiger Shark swimmers in Block 3. If finally selected after Block 3 your child will need to continue with their Block 3 ECAs into Block 4.

If you have any questions regarding this years’ FOBISIA Games please do contact me at antt@patana.ac.th We certainly feel that all students benefit from the process of trying out across the four sports whether they make the final team or not so I would encourage your child to give it a go!

Good luck to all of those Year 5 and 6 risk takers out there who are willing to take up the FOBISIA challenge for 2016!

Does Your Country Have a Representative?

By Vani Sharma, PTG Plans for International Day to be held on 10th - 11th November are already under way. The following countries have representatives, if your country is not listed please contact the PTG using the email listed below: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mozambique, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA, Vietnam.

For more information please email: ptgintlday@gmail.com The next International Day meeting will be held on Tuesday 8th September at 8.00am

Sport

Team

Opposition

As part of our ongoing professional development programme we ensure our Swim coaches and PE team have the necessary First Aid and Life-saving training. At the start of the term Coach Chris, who is a qualified NPLQ Trainer Assessor, delivered the National Rescue Award refresher course for members of the PE staff and Swim Coaches to prepare them for the academic year.

Venue Details

Wednesday 2nd September 2015 Football

Boys’ Varsity

Volleyball

Boys’-Junior Varsity Thai-Chinese International School

Volleyball Girls’-Junior Varsity Friday 4th September 2015 Football Boys’ Varsity Football Girls’ Varsity Volleyball Boys’ Varsity Volleyball Girls’ Varsity Saturday 5th September 2015 Football Boys’ Varsity Football Girls’ Varsity Volleyball Boys’ Varsity Volleyball Girls’ Varsity

Assumption Samutprakarn

Home | SPC Pitch 1 Home | SPH 2

Thai-Chinese International School

Home | SPH 3

NIST International School NIST Invitational NIST Invitational NIST Invitational

Away | Main School Away | NIST International School Away | NIST International School Away | NIST International School

NIST Invitational NIST Invitational NIST Invitational NIST Invitational

Away | NIST International School Away | NIST International School Away | NIST International School Away | NIST International School

By Patana Chutima, Head Nurse

The table below is a guideline for a child immunisation schedule (from July, 2014). Please consult your doctor to discuss your child’s specific immunisation needs.

When to Immunise At birth One months old Two months old

Three months old

Four months old Six months old

Vaccine Given in the UK

Vaccine Given in Thailand

Hepatitis B * BCG * Hepatitis B *

Hepatitis B No.1 BCG Hepatitis B No.2

DTaP/IPV/Hib (Pediacel or Infanrix IPV Hib)2 PCV (Prevenar 13) Rotavirus (Rotarix) Hepatitis B * DTaP/IPV/Hib (Pediacel or Infanrix IPV Hib) Men C (NeisVac-C or Menjugate)2 Rotavirus (Rotarix) DTaP/IPV/Hib (Pediacel or Infanrix IPV Hib) PCV (Prevenar 13) Inactivated flu vaccine (annual) *

DTaP ,IPV/OPV, Hib No.1

-

DTaP ,IPV/OPV, Hib No.2

Between 12 and 13 months old – within a month of the first birthday >12 months old

Hib/MenC (Menitorix) PCV (Prevenar 13) MMR (Priorix or MMR VaxPRO)2

DTaP ,IPV/OPV, Hib No.3 Hepatitis B No.3 Japanese B Encephalitis x 2;(3-4 weeks apart) (12 months old) MMR No.1(12-15 months old)

-

Chickenpox No.1

1 ½ year old

-

DTaP ,IPV/OPV, Hib No.4

>2 years old

-

Hepatitis A x 2(6-12 months apart)

Two, three and four years old

-

4-6 years old

Flu nasal spray (Fluenz Tetra) (annual) (if Fluenz unsuitable, use inactivated flu vaccine) DTaP/IPV (Infanrix IPV or Repevax)2 MMR (Priorix or MMR VaxPRO) (check first dose has been given)2 -

11-12 years old

-

DTaP ,IPV/OPV No.5 MMR No.2 Chickenpox No.2 dTap

Girls aged 12 to 13 years old Around 14 years old

HPV(Gardasil)

-

Td/IPV (Revaxis), and check MMR status MenC (Meningitec, Menjugate or NeisVac-C)2 5

-

Three years four months old or soon after

References: www.nhs.uk www.pidst.net www.samitivej.com

-

By Genevieve Ahl, Services Manager

If you will be moving house in the near future please contact the Transport office in advance with your new address and the date you will require transport from your new residence. We require a minimum of five days notice and please note a route is not guaranteed from your new area if we currently do not service the area. You may wish to contact the Transport Office in advance when considering any relocation.

Whilst we do try to limit changes to your child's bus route and/or pick up time, occasionally we may need to make amendments. The reasons for this may include: the bus is not arriving at school on time, new students move into or out of your area, students join the transport service later into the term, students move from temporary accommodation. You will be notified in advance if there is a need to adjust your child's bus number or pick up time only.

ECAs start on Monday. Please ensure that you are aware of what ECAs your children have been accepted onto by checking via the Parents' Gateway. All students who have been accepted onto an ECA will

be allocated an appropriate afternoon bus following their ECA schedule. On Monday you can check the Parents' Gateway and see the new bus number – it should start with H – 2.30pm, A – 3.45pm or D – 4.30 eg. D-04 or HT21. If you make any changes to your child (ren)'s ECA schedule from Monday, please contact Transport to rearrange their bus if necessary.

Parents are welcome to use the school bus to and from school. Please contact Transport in advance to ensure seat availability.

The Transport office's phone number is 02 785 2470. The office is staffed from 6.00am - 6.00pm Monday to Friday. Transport can also be contacted by emailing transport@patana.ac.th.

Bangkok Patana School offers Thai Language Courses for parents and staff. There are many levels offered from Beginner to Intermediate and Advanced. A minimum number of participants is required for each course to run. For more information and to sign up for courses, please click here.

BSL Registration and regular season games take place at the Sports Complex, Bangkok Patana School We also offer a competitive inter-league games

Visit www.bslclub.com for age group timings, to register and for more information.

The weekly canteen menu is available here.

Please check the calendar on the Parents’ Gateway, Student pages and Staff Centre for up-to-date information on school events.

Visit www.patana.ac.th and click on the relevant icon to log in