Patana News Issue 23 Volume 23

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 5th March 2021

Volume 23 Issue 23

www.patana.ac.th

JUST GIVE ME A SECOND!

By Brian Taylor, Secondary Assistant Principal, Student Welfare

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Also in this issue...

Red Nose Day/Meet the New Primary Principal/Habitat for Humanity New House Build 19/02/2021

Bangkok Patana School News

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

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Just Give Me a Second!

Brian Taylor, Cross Campus Assistant Principal, Curriculum Technology Integrator nspiration for this week’s article came from weaving together several posts I’ve read about time, and a recent conversation on the Year 3 Residential in which a colleague, Lavinia Dallas, recommended a book called The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom.

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My weekly Tech Tips is often too short to delve deep, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to focus on one particular aspect of technology. I have chosen one app that we are all familiar with and has become a staple of our digital diet.

It was ‘born’ in 2005 to three former PayPal employees as an online dating service and would be in Year 11 now if it were a student here at Patana. If I were to stop and ask you to name the top three social media platforms, I don’t think you would mention YouTube. The Year 8 students didn’t when I asked them in our tutorial session earlier this week on Digital Balance: Screentime and Posture. I suspect it is because we consider it more in terms of consumption than communication. However, as you can see by the graphic below, YouTube is second only to Facebook in terms of monthly active users.

YouTube is an incredibly useful tool, and, like all tools, we need to learn how to use it responsibly.

What YouTube does really well, apart for inform and entertain us, is consume our time. It’s algorithms are finely tuned to pique your curiosity. You want to watch all of the recommended videos. Trisan Harris explains beautifully in this interview with Yuval Noah Harari:

Source: We Are Social/Hootsuite

‘“I'm just going to watch this one video and then somehow, that's not what happens. You wake up from a trance three hours later and you say, “What the hell just happened?” And it's because you didn't realize you had a supercomputer pointed at your brain. So when you open up that video you're activating Google's billions of dollars of computing power and they've looked at what has ever gotten 2 billion human animals to click on another video. And it knows way more about what's going to be the perfect chess move to play against your mind. If you think of your mind as a chessboard, and you think you know the perfect move to play—I’ll just watch this one video. But you can only see so many moves ahead on the chessboard. But the computer sees your mind and it says, “No, no, no. I've played a billion simulations of this chess game before on these other human animals watching YouTube,” and it's going to win.’

Yuval Noah Harari

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I’ve written about YouTube parental settings before, but this time I would like to focus on the data YouTube provides you with on your mobile device, and how you can start to take back some of the control over how much time you spend on the platform. You can use this data and the various settings as a crutch to help climb out of the YouTube ‘rabbit-hole’ we often get sucked into.

Step 1: launch the YouTube app on your phone and click on your account icon top right if you’re signed in

Step 2: click on ‘Time Watched’ and explore your weekly diet and daily average. It’s ~42 mins/day for most viewers.

Step 3: switch on ‘Remind me to take a break’

Step 4: switch on ‘Remind me when it’s bedtime’

Step 5: make sure the ‘Autoplay next video’ is switched off. This is critical, otherwise you will be ‘sucked’ into watching the next video that the YouTube algorithm determines you want to view.

I do hope you find that useful. Lastly, I highly recommend this fascinating article on how Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Ray Dalio, and Elon Musk see the world differently, because they see time differently.

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New Primary Principal Chosen I

’m delighted to confirm to our school community that we have appointed Mrs Sarah McCormack as our new Primary Principal starting in August 2021.

The selection committee were delighted to receive top quality applicants from all around the world and six outstanding candidates were selected for shortlist from over 40 applications received. Sarah is currently Junior School Principal at St Andrew’s College Junior School, Dublin, Ireland.

She has also opened a school in Hong Kong and is an experienced primary school leader. Sarah is married to John who works in the technology field and they have two boys, Oisin who is 15 and Arlo who is 11.

Sarah is really excited about joining the Bangkok Patana School community and we are looking forward to welcoming Sarah and her family to our amazing school in early August.

A big thank you again to everyone who was involved in this very important recruitment process.

Best wishes, Matt Mills Head of School

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Year 10 Student Secures First ITF World Ranking Points Dan Ahl, Head Tennis Coach

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ongratulations to Rainer Schestak who won three matches to qualify for the ITF Under18 World event in Bangkok this week before beating a higher ranked opponent in the first round of the main draw to secure his first World ranking points.

Although Rainer lost to the number 3 seed in the second round, he fought hard and gained more valuable experience against a player who is ranked in the top 200.

Year 6 Pianist Wins 1st in Junior Award Y

ear 6 student Svari (Teya) Tejacharoenanan took home First Prize in the Junior A category for ages 11 and under in the Hong Kong International Youth Performance Arts Festival 2020. Teya performed Variations on a Theme of Paganini

by Isaac Berkovich.

In the final round, Teya was one of three finalists from Thailand out of a total of 45 competitors from all countries. We are very proud to hear of Teya’s win in this difficult category. You can view Teya’s performance at the 1:33:20 minute mark on YouTube and enjoy!

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Body Conditioning Classes Vallary Lokre, Head Dance Coach Whether you are an aspiring dancer who hasn’t begun taking classes yet, or a dancer already taking classes, or part of one of our selective teams or you are involved in any other sporting activity be it football, basketball, swimming, tennis, gymnastics, volleyball etcetera, this class is sure to benefit you! With Block 4 ECA signup around the corner, we invite everyone to come and try one of our body conditioning classes three times a week (Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday) IMPORTANCE OF BODY CONDITIONING FOR ATHLETES/DANCERS. Initially designed to assist our dancers to become stronger and more flexible, Tiger’s Dance Academy have modified their Body Conditioning programme and sculpted it to benefit all athletes as well as any student interested in becoming physically fitter and stronger.

• Improved Alignment - Body Conditioning improves alignment. Good alignment means your ability to align the skeleton for maximum movement efficiency.

Movement efficiency helps segregate the muscles needed for a particular task. This reduced stress in joints and muscles, and paves the way for a beautiful and precise movement • Improved Neuromuscular Cardiovascular Endurance

Coordination

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• Improved Flexibility - The deep stretching exercises used in a body conditioning class will help to open up your joints as well as improving the range of motion of your muscles both of which are helpful in any and every sport.

So whether your aim is to achieve your splits, become fitter for the sport of your choice or you are a dancer who • Injury Prevention - A conditioning regime allows would like to be able to pick up and execute choreography dancers and other athletes to strengthen their bodies more easily, this class can help you achieve your goals. and compliment their dance/sport training to Sign up opens 15th March here. prevent injuries.

And They’re Off.....

NEW KARTING SEASON BEGINS WITH A ROAR Maarten Vliegen, Patana Parent

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he Karting season begins this weekend at Bira Racetrack and four Patana students head to speedway. Jem, Charya, Taiyo and JJ are ready for Round 1 of the Kart Championship of Thailand. We look forward to hearing more from these Karting champions.

You can follow their exploits on their Karting Facebook page created by fellow racer Axel Pedersen.

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Quiet on the Sidelines

Mark Potter, Head Football Coach I have been questioned a few times as to why our coaches are quiet on the sidelines as opposed to some of the other coaches we play against in fixtures and tournaments. I would like to take this opportunity to offer some insight and hopefully give some clarification on what may be occurring.

setting the highest standards using age-appropriate but technical language.

In match scenarios, I have asked our coaches to observe and offer positive reinforcement whilst adding in “reminders” only when required. I have asked them to control their emotions and certainly never raise their voice into a shout only their “coaching voice”. On occasions CONCENTRATE WITHOUT NOISE Over many years of observing my wife drive she will especially during festivals for the younger children in our often listen to music, the radio or a podcast she then goes programme, I have asked them to observe from afar, about singing along or offering her thoughts on what she giving the players opportunities to learn, play and make is listening too this was always the case until she gets lost mistakes with absolutely no fear. or needed to park, as soon as something random that is TO REMIND AND NOT CHASTISE not autonomous comes up she immediately turns the radio Reminders come into play when a young player continues off. At first, I thought it was quite sweet and never really questioned why this was happening, until one day I asked to make the same or a similar mistake over and over again, her why she had just turned the radio off - she told me in this instance, I have asked the coaches to offer some to “shut up” and proceeded to park. After she parked I guidance on how to get out of that predicament. This asked her again and she said that having no noise helps should always be done calmly and fairly without showing her concentrate without distraction. This is something that any frustration or exacerbation. They should address the child by name first (so they know you are talking to them) has stuck with me. and offer clear and concise information.

LOUD DURING THE WEEK, QUIET AT THE WEEKReminders also come into play when one of our players END are not representing our school appropriately or not My previous job before arriving here was working with displaying the right levels of commitment, hard work and elite players back in the UK in a Premier League academy attitude. Some children require these reminders more than my old boss Paul ‘Noddy’ Holder had a few clear maxims others! that he expected from his coaches one was to be “Loud during the week, quiet at the weekend” this something that YOUR ROLE I have brought with me to my role here at BPS In my experience, I have found that during match situations (playing against external teams) young players In training I have asked our coaches to be loud and reinforce the key messages from that session's topic have far too much to think about without having to respond (similar to a learning outcome within a classroom), they and act out what adults on the sidelines are asking them should take the time to speak to individuals, small groups to do. and everyone. We should be descriptive and prescriptive

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• This is their opportunity to show their learning.

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• This is their opportunity to succeed or fail (both are the ball at his feet and tried to select a pass to one of his fine). teams mates feet, on two or three occasions we managed to intercept the ball and have an opportunity to score. In • This is their opportunity to play the game, after all, it the lead, up to these mistakes (learning opportunities), the is their game. coach told the goalkeeper to pass and unfortunately, the As coaches and parents, it is our job to help the children player failed to execute. The coach was exacerbated learn and improve and the best way for them to do so is and child felt exposed - after the seventh time of trying the goalkeeper did play an excellent raking pass to one of his making their own decisions. teammates who then went on to create a goal. This was Shouting “SHOOT” when a young player is near the the highlight of my afternoon and I was excited to hear goal may make them change their original decision, it may the positive feedback from the coach instead the coach put them off completely or they may indeed shoot and queried ‘Why couldn’t you do that the last six times” my score. What you as a parent might not realise is we have heart sank and it further reinforced that what we are doing been working on “creating off the ball”, asking players is the right thing for the young players in our care. to scan for their teammates and pretend to shoot before My father has often said to me “there is a reason you playing a through the pass. If the player was to shoot we have two ears, two eyes and only one mouth” this is have lost our opportunity to observe their learning. something I have passed onto our coaches.

EVERYBODY HEARS BUT NOT EVERYONE IS LISIn speaking with Mr Mills around this topic he offered TENING this quote by Robert Tew - “You are always responsible for In one of my previous roles within the Football Association how you act, no matter how you feel” and we collectively in England, we did a small anecdotal test to see if people urge our wonderful parent community to look and listen can listen and understand what going around them whilst before offering anything other than positive feedback. doing a task. We asked two coaches to stand eight metres apart and they had to play a game of “one-bounce” which is a game where they had to pass the ball to one another but they could only touch it once and it had to bounce once (harder than it sounds). While they were doing this the other coaches would shout out footballrelated commands “PASS” “SHOOT” “TACKLE” when this happened the player’s performance dropped, they lost their rhythm and either required more than one touch or more than one bounce, We put them off, we became the car stereo.

Whilst doing the same task we set about shouting random words for a minute, (again they struggled to complete the task but did manage to keep going for a minute) we then asked the players to recount the words that were shouted whilst they were “busy” they got 2 out of 15 right - one was their name and randomly the other word was pig.

This went further to reinforce that shouting from the sidelines had a detrimental effect on performance and the performers are hearing but not listening!

WAITING TO PRAISE We were recently playing a fixture against another school and I observed their coach who is a genuinely lovely bloke, who cares so much about his players improving quickly he feels he has to help them get to their destination ahead of time. During the match, their goalkeeper had 19/02/2021

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International Award Silver Reflections Sophie Stevens, and Norramon (CC) Nuntiruj, 11S Hansae Ryu, 11M, Kirsten Winyard, 11E and Runrad (Honeymay) Pathomsak, 11P The purpose of our Assessed Journey is to build team skills. We will do this by preparing for the trip together, as well as helping to boost and keep up morale during the hike by working with cohesion. Ultimately, we would like to learn valuable skills as a group and document our feelings and takeaways in an article format. e are a group of students who went on the In- continue anymore, we all waited and helped carry their ternational Duke of Edinburgh’s Silver Assessed tent or Trangia without hesitation. During the nights at the Journey in December. With the Bronze expeditions right campsite, we played various games that allowed us to around the corner, we wanted to share our experiences, grow closer as a team and dissipate any frustration from in hopes that other students preparing to embark on their the day’s hike, making the overall experience much more enjoyable. expeditions might find them helpful.

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For future participants, we would say that teamwork and group morale are absolutely essential for success. Being able to rely on your group mates means that you can each play to your strengths since different aspects are more challenging for different people. By doing so, everyone can overcome the various problems and mental barriers together. For example, when one of the campsite’s shower doors could only lock from the outside, a few people would “guard” the doors to make sure everyone could have their turn without any anxiety of being walked in on.

PERSEVERANCE AND TEAMWORK Challenges that would otherwise have been extremely Perseverance and teamwork were crucial traits that taxing were made less draining - and even funny - by were showcased multiple times throughout our journey. supportive teammates.

For instance, when crossing a treacherous stream, We can speak on behalf of every member of our members of our group selflessly tossed large walking team when we say that we very much look forward to sticks across, as well as their own water shoes to protect from the razor-edged rocks since not every member of our participating in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award, team had their own pair. A helping hand always awaited whether it be a hiking, sailing or cycling expedition. beyond a particularly unstable crossing, and the limitless Completing the Bronze and subsequently the Silver supply of communal snacks and water perpetuated high Award has broadened our horizons and allowed us to spirits. In addition, our close communication allowed us to learn valuable skills by pushing us to our physical and overcome negative emotions. Whenever one of us couldn’t mental limits.

Before embarking on the four day trip to Chiang Mai, we split up the preparation tasks and allocated each member a specific part so that we could be more efficient. For instance, we distributed the numerous parts of the route card among the six of us: different people were responsible for doing the bearings, distances, timings and descriptions. We also communicated when packing and meal planning by sharing tips or ideas, as well as asking each other for help if we were unsure about anything.

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CAT/CAS CORNER

New House Build for Habitat for Humanity

Vanessa Blake, 13M and Nabhadol Sudlabha, 12E

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n this year’s annual build, our Habitat for Humanity student-members travelled to Ayutthaya for a four day trip to help Habitat’s chosen family in need. This year, we were partnered up with a 67-year-old woman and her daughter who, due to COVID-19, lacked the finances required to pay their rental costs for their former home. The family currently live in a run-down shed, which lacks the essential features a household should contain; thus, they have been granted the opportunity of receiving a new place to live from the Habitat for Humanity team. During this trip, our student members all collaborated together to execute each part of the construction process: mixing the cement, scaffolding, bricklaying etc.

cement and laying bricks the whole day, so we had gotten a good portion of the house done. Finally, on the last two days, we completed our finishing touches with bricklaying and cleanup which was then followed up with the House Dedication ceremony.

On the first day, we moved the dirt and filled the base of the house, we also mixed the cement and poured the mixture into the floor. The boys also started digging the hole for the septic tank and finally, we ended the day with a little bit of bricklaying. The second day included mixing

“This is my third Habitat build and this year there were many new members to the club, I was very impressed by everyone’s positive attitude and effort towards the fund raising and preparation throughout the year as well as the hard work on the build site. Another successful year finishing the house early!” - Vanessa Blake, Year 13

In this experience, many of our first-year student members were able to obtain new skills of house building, however, all members were able to develop their teamwork, collaboration and time management skills to complete this project. Overall, the prevalent opinion of the trip was undoubtedly positive, with our student members feeling fortunate for this opportunity to partake in an enjoyable experience and give back to the community.

“We didn’t think that we would enjoy the manual labour, however we really enjoyed working as a group and mixing the cement.

The laying of the bricks was our favourite part because it was a new experience for us.

Over the four days we persevered through the heat and learnt valuable skills.” - Camille Marchive and Kaitlyn Dibbayawan, Year 12 19/02/2021

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Smile Club Picks a New Board

George Beckley, Smile Club Advisor, Secondary Mathematics Teacher

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t is the time of year where the boards of various CAT clubs are handing over to their replacements for the next year. I have been really impressed with the thorough way in which the out-going members of Smile Club’s board were able to create a legacy through the appoint-

ment and training of the new members into the role. I asked three of the outgoing board members to write some reflections on their time on the board and if they have any advice to share for new board members. Learn more about the club on Firefly here.

RISAKO KUSUMOTO To the new board members: Good luck, we completely believe that you will do great things for the club!

I am the President of Smile club and this entails structuring the weekly Thursday ECA sessions with the help of the board members. I am also responsible for delegating YING CHI KU I am the Secretary of Smile Club. This involves sending work to the board members so we can work efficiently out emails to club members, taking the register, and doing together. any administrative/delegated tasks from the president. I Throughout my time at Smile Club, I have learnt to also attend weekly meetings on Wednesdays to plan for respond to feedback and to prioritise everyone’s opinions our ECA sessions on Thursday. through communication. In achieving this, I have created a Through this experience, I have learnt the importance of wonderful team dynamic and I am extremely proud of the time management and communication with the board as work that we have achieved in the years together. well as the regular members. I believe my communication Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we selected our new skills have greatly improved since joining the club. On board members through a Google form. These questions occasion where the president/vice presidents were unable revealed the commitment and qualities in each of the to attend the sessions, I would be in charge of leading the students so that we could decide which role was the most meetings. This pushed me to take on a leadership role and suitable for the student. The main aspect of this decision ensure that all members of the ECA were participating and was the communication between the current board felt included. As I am usually the first to register the new members, taking their own experiences into account and members, I have gradually developed the confidence to offering their opinions. Although there were initially some approach and welcome new members. disagreements, we were able to find a consensus after As holding interviews were not an option in our current listening to each person’s opinion. I am extremely happy with the decision that we have made because it was a situation, a Google form was created and sent to potential board members. These contained questions on their group decision and maybe one of our last ones. qualifications, their goals for the club, and possible ways If I am to take away one thing, it is to listen to your team that would approach conflict. During the board meeting, and your advisor (Mr Beckley). Being in a leadership we discussed the strengths of each individual applicant position, I have learnt that being open-minded to the combined with our knowledge of their participation during feedback of your peers and your team members is very the ECAs to allocate the roles. By staying open minded important in self-growth and for the growth of the club. and listening to each other’s perspectives, we were able Acting on the feedback that you receive will only help the to come to an agreed conclusion for the new board. club improve and create a better team dynamic.

Overall, I am extremely satisfied with our result as it takes

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into account the commitment, personality, and skills of each member and allocates the best suited role for them. As the new board members are full of passion and commitment, I am confident that the club will be in good hands.

smaller groups. Another skill is patience and adaptability, sometimes things will not go as planned, as a lot of us have seen during the time of COVID-19, so you have to be able to keep your members motivated regardless of any cancellations or changes in your schedule for the In general, I think building trust and reliance on each year. This means coming up with back up plans and new other is central to the success of the club. Though it may activities constantly. seem daunting and awkward at first, it will naturally develop over time as you work together and understand We were unable to hold interviews thus used an online each other’s strengths and personalities. To the next Google form to receive applications for the board secretary; good luck in remembering everyone’s names positions. Following this, the board discussed each in a week! applicant’s strength and weaknesses, and tried to relate this to their prospective role in the club.

SAMANTHA WALLACE A significant piece of advice that I would give to new I am the Co-Vice President. This role entails supporting the president in planning sessions, and it depends on board members is to be willing to adapt. This can pertain the delegation of the president, so your jobs can vary to the planning of the sessions, the opinions you have on depending on the agenda at that time. You should certain projects, or your role. Sometimes, you may have to be reliable and ready to take over for the president if take on something that you don’t think is particularly part of your role, but this is what it means to work as a team and necessary. be there for one another. You have to be willing to do as The main skill I have learnt is that of communication. much as you can for the benefit of the club as a whole.

Being a leader of a group means that you have to be able This means being able to rely on one another and get to to articulate your ideas clearly for the club members to fully know your board members well! Good luck to the next understand, so my confidence with this has grown, and I board! (another tip is to use prizes as an incentive during feel more comfortable speaking in front of the group or in the sessions e.g. KitKats)

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ARTS COUNCIL Moving Out of My Comfort Zone

Kanitkanda (Didi) Mahathorn, 12C

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ver since (I)GCSE, I have felt more comfortable creating art pieces based around the idea of nature and landscapes. I did try and experiment with a couple of portraits and objects, but the proportions never came out right or it looked funny. Most people in my art class focused more on portraits, which made me unsure whether my work was up to their level or not. In Years 10 and 11, I made paintings on sunsets and sunrises. It was my ongoing theme for the two years - my comfort zone. During those years, I developed a variety of skills that could be applied to my paintings, further improving it.

The change from (I)GCSE to IB was different.

Somehow, I went from painting sunsets and sceneries 100 percent of the time to just zooming in on the natural aspects. This project started off completely out of nowhere. Mrs Marcovici came into class one day and told us to grab a canvas or two, and just start painting it. I painted mine a dark brown shade, because it reminded me of tree bark.

After that, I added white marks to the top with a palette knife so there was some sort of a contrast.

When we finished the activity, I was left with two big canvases. I brainstormed and came up with multiple ideas on what I could do with the painting and finally settled on doing a natural sculpture of a tree branch. At first the branch was painted with browns and blacks - but it turned out to be a bit too bland. With the help of Mrs Marcovici and Mr Ferne, I ultimately decided to make the trees colourful as it could be. I used oil pastels to create a layer of colour above the sculpture and went over the background to create a middle ground for the branches. As a final touch, I used red yarn to thread the two canvases together.

As a conclusion and a self-reflection, I think I did a good job on this project, considering that this is out of my comfort zone and it’s something I’m definitely not used to. If you have anything you’ve been wanting to try before, do it! Even if you think you’ll ultimately fail, you will never know until you try. It might turn out to be one of your best decisions yet!

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PARENTS ARE ALLOWED ON CAMPUS BUT PLEASE FOLLOW SAFE SOCIAL DISTANCING REQUIREMENTS

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Changes in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 Library Stephen Murgatroyd, Cross Campus Head of Libraries

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year is a long time in the life of a library, and in this time small (and sometimes big) changes are made to enhance the provision we are able to provide – the three spaces we are fortunate to have at Bangkok Patana are no different. I would like to share with you what has been happening in our libraries over the next few weeks in a series of four articles.

This week, it is the turn of the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 Library, the home of our youngest learners.

One of the biggest structural changes to occur recently has been the extension to the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 Library, where we brought the outside ‘in’. This almost doubled the available floor space and gave the whole Library a more open and relaxed feel to it. During the redesign, we were able to rotate the seating area for stories and lesson introductions as well as making it larger. We were also able to have more space for our ‘Creative Zone’, which the children love to use with the craft activities that are offered at playtimes and lunchtimes. Finally, it meant that we could have a large carpet area, which the children love to use to share books and listen to audio stories and the teachers love to use when they bring their classes over from Foundation Stage.

Although our parent community have not been able to make the best use of the new space yet, due to the restrictions placed upon us, it has still been wonderful to see them sharing books with their children both before and after school – this is what we are all about, being able to offer the opportunity to share and enjoy the wonderful books we have on our shelves just waiting to be read … creating that awe, wonder and joy that all young children have when sharing a story or finding out new information is just magical.

All in all, the physical change that the extension created has meant that we have been able to provide an area that the children, staff and parents really enjoy using throughout the day … we love it.

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What’s New in the Library?

Early Years’ Library

Primary Library

Secondary Library Fiction

Fiction

Fiction Non-Fiction Non-Fiction Comic Books

Senior Fiction Life Collection

Professional Learning

Graphic Novels Home Languages Parents Non-Fiction

Did you know that we also subscribed to these magazines?

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Primary Musician of the Month Dame Evelyn Glennie Lisa Mallett, Primary Music Teacher Each month in Primary Music, we focus on a famous musician, learning about their life and their music. This ongoing project enables students to connect with music and musicians from a range of countries and cultures, discovering new sounds and styles. For the month of March, we will learn about Dame Evelyn Glennie, a Scottish percussionist and composer.

Despite losing her hearing from the age of twelve, she has carved out a successful career as a musician, recording over 40 albums and composing for film, theatre and TV. She has won many awards including two Grammys, an OBE and a Damehood by the Queen for her work in music.

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She was only thirteen years old when she composed one of her most well known pieces for marimba, Little Prayer.

Her mission is to ‘Teach the world to listen’. Listen to her remarkable story in her TED talk here.

Evelyn performs and writes music in a wide variety of styles and on lots of different traditional percussion instruments, as well as everyday objects such as kitchen bowls! Enjoy listening to the diverse music she has performed on our playlist here and watch her incredible marimba skills in this video.

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PARENTS ARE ALLOWED ON CAMPUS BUT PLEASE FOLLOW SAFE SOCIAL DISTANCING REQUIREMENTS

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UNI COUNSELORS’ CORNER

Transitioning to University Charlotte Hamilton, Careers and Universities Counsellor

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n all the excitement of preparing for university life it is easy to overlook the fact that students often find the transition to university more challenging than they might have anticipated. Any life transition is a psychological process, influenced by social and practical factors, and it’s important to remember that when preparing for university the transition process can be a two or even three-year process, beginning from the time you start thinking about where to apply and usually lasting until around the end of the first academic year at your chosen destination.

TIME MANAGEMENT, EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE AND RELATIONSHIPS From a university perspective, the issue of how well prepared their incoming students are for university life is a current topic of concern. Common reoccurring issues raised by universities around the world that impact their student body are related to issues of time management, emotional resilience and managing relationships – both personal and academic. For universities, the expectation is that at the point of entry, students are independent adults and as such, will be able to meet their own needs, understand their own sense of purpose, feel academically and socially competent and be able to integrate into and feel part of a wider community.

what needs to be done. For students transitioning into this sphere, the reality of their own readiness in this regard is often very different.

PRE-ENTRY EVENTS Pre-COVID-19, summer schools, pre-entry events and in-person talks from university representatives were often a useful starting point in helping students become more familiar with what to expect. Now, virtual and online events and resources are a common starting point and although not the same, they are no less valuable in helping you prepare for your transition to university. As well as providing you with useful information to guide your decision-making process, they are there to offer an introduction into the world you will likely be embracing, whether that be this year or in one- or two-years’ time.

They can help you identify any skills gaps, understand more about student life, engage with university staff, curb any unrealistic expectations and help you to understand the processes expected of you so you can begin to normalise the transition process and significantly reduce any stress further down the line.

RESOURCES FROM CAREERS FACULTY In addition, the Bangkok Patana Careers Team has also provided a comprehensive Firefly page of resources that It is worth remembering that once you leave the security is useful for parents and students alike, and includes blogs, of your Secondary school environment, unless you attend articles, self-care tips and books to help prepare you for one of the smaller universities and colleges, professors this next stage in your life. and tutors are unlikely to notice if you’re not in class and they won’t be chasing you to check up on any essays or assignments you didn’t hand in. It’s up to you to keep track of what you need to do and to motivate yourself to do

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University Offers Anmol Gandhi

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ongratulations to Anmol Gandhi on his multiple university offers! He is planning to study Finance and Economics

Loughborough University, University of Manchester, Cardiff University, University of Leicester, Singapore Institute of Management, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), City University of Hong Kong

“As of now, I am not sure which university I am will attend, as I have not applied to all my schools yet and I have also not heard back from all the ones I applied to. But out of the offers I have received so far, I am leaning towards City University of Hong Kong. I applied to Singapore and Hong Kong as they are quite close to home and they are also very good schools for the courses that I want to pursue, with good academic rankings, employability rates and facilities.”

“I also took part in the work experience programme.

I was placed at The Westin Grande in the Food and “I was drawn to Finance and Economics when Beverage Department, Banquet section. Some of my duties COVID-19 first hit, as I saw the impact lockdowns and as an intern there were to help coordinate communication shutdowns were having on the economy and the stock between the different departments to allow smooth market. It was at this point, I got very curious about this and operations of the events happening at the hotel, and to did the Financial Markets MOOC (online course), which learn about the logistics involved in organising such events. gave me a deeper understanding and that was when I I have also been involved with the School Robotics Team decided to study Finance at university.” and the Treasurer for the RISE CAT club.”

In the Spotlight... Vesalius College, Belgium T

Located in the heart of Brussels, Vesalius College is one of the few educational institutions in Belgium teaching only in English. The college, established in 1987, is operated in association with the Vrije Universiteit Brussels and offers three-year Bachelor’s degree programmes in Business, Communications, International Affairs and International and European Law. The International Affairs curriculum also offers an undergraduate certificate in European Peace and Security Studies.

University Visits UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE

COUNTRY

LOCATION

University of Akron

USA

Senior Studies

11.3.2021

7.35 am

Schweizerische Hotelfachschule Luzern (SHL) University of Westminster

Switzerland

Senior Studies

15.3.2021

2.30 pm

UK

Senior Studies

31.3.2021

2.30 pm

University of Oxford

UK

Senior Studies

21.4.2021

3.00 pm

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TIME

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Contact scientia@patana.ac.th Check out the latest articles online here

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Contribute your article for publication in the magazine online and in the Patana News

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Desert Island Discs With Duncan Ferguson, Year 4 Teacher

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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 Duncan Ferguson, Year 4 teacher, is stuck on a desert island.

MR FERGUSON IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WHAT EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Welcome to the Jungle - Guns ‘n’ Roses Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Monty Python Shine on You Crazy Diamond - Pink Floyd Left Hand Free - Alt J Rust in Peace...Polaris - Megadeth Hey Jude - The Beatles Billie Jean - Chris Cornell

Listen to Mr Ferguson’s playlist here

The Sea - Morcheeba 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 guitar (with plenty of replacement strings!)

WHICH ONE BOOK WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Different Seasons by Stephen King Catch the real Desert Island Discs on BBC. Now that you are stuck at home, what are you listening to? Have a list of your own? Let us know! Contact SHKN with your favourites.

Community Offers FIND SPECIAL OFFERS FOR THE BANGKOK PATANA COMMUNITY HERE

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COMMUNITY NOTICES

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COMMUNITY NOTICES

For further information and bookings please contact: Khun Prasert or Khun Supanut thesiamsociety.org

at 02 661 6470-3 ext 504, 506 or supanut@

Contribution of THB 20,000 (THB 21,000 for non-members) covers airfare, local transportation, meals, entrance fees and other costs.

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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 26

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