KEY CONTACTS
Head of School
Mr Chris Sammons
crsa@patana.ac.th
Primary Principal Mrs Sarah McCormack samc@patana.ac.th
Vice Principal, Learning and Welfare
Vice Principal, Learning and Curriculum
Head of Admissions
Ms Carol Battram caba@patana.ac.th
Mr Mark Verde mavd@patana.ac.th
Ms Rachel Jones rajo@patana.ac.th
Curriculum
Extra-curricular
Key
Counselling
Our school family is united by a common purpose bequeathed to us from our founder: to provide a first-rate education for our children.
The pioneer Rosamund Struetzel arrived in Thailand in 1938 and her ambition to remain here with her family led to the founding of Bangkok Patana school in 1957. A British based correspondence course was chosen as the curriculum that enabled children living in remote locations all over the world to be taught by adults who were not qualified teachers.
The world has changed, so too the curriculum we teach children. Seventy years of service, development and thinking by countless world class educators has led to what we do today. It is as ambitious today as the first pioneers who wanted young people to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills in readiness for their futures.
Ask our generations of Alumni who have spent longer in our school than any job they have had since. Their curriculum has enabled them to achieve highly, develop their purpose, progress to study with world leading academics; most of all, they have been able to meet the demands of any future job that is yet to be thought of. This is our curriculum, the written and unwritten legacy which generations of educators and learners continue to weave.
We look forward to meeting you, to understanding your child’s interests and talents, to adapt to their needs as they become themselves, to see them make use of our incredible learning resources, and; for them to feel rooted in this caring community.
Chris Sammons Head of School
“Our faculty prepare learning that allows students to explore factual and debatable knowledge, as well as making connections to the concepts which exist between different domains of knowledge.”
Chris Sammons, Head of School Co
“We aim to provide the very best education for your children within a happy, caring environment. We begin the journey of developing life long learners.”
AtBangkok Patana Primary School we continue to put learning at the heart of everything, so learners of all ages can fulfil their potential in everything they do. We look to develop students who are protected, safe and secure; independent; have a global understanding of who they are; have a desire to learn more; enjoy their learning, make good progress and achieve well. Our continual aim is to bring learning to life.
The curriculum is built around the expectations of the UK National Curriculum but is adapted to meet the needs of the international student body. The aim of the Primary curriculum is to install a life-long desire to learn more. We do this through our ‘connected learning’ approach where subject areas are linked together and taught in context to create real engagement in learning. We look to make learning as meaningful as possible, to provide quality, memorable opportunities for learning. All learning is skills based, following a backward by design approach, using a thematic study to guide the context of learning.
For learning to be successful, we realise we need students who feel safe, happy and secure in their school environment. We want to encourage our students to take risks, make mistakes and learn from these experiences. In addition to our academic focus, we are always looking to develop the whole child by providing opportunities to learn outside the classroom, experience experts from both outside and within the Patana community, enjoy practical and open-ended activities, often developed from their own ideas. We want our students to be inquisitive, questioning, (with respect) confident, morally and ethically aware, diverse in thinking, and excited to explore what is happening in the world around them. It is important that they all can lead safe, healthy and fulfilling lives and are ready for the challenges of a life after Patana, by being responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society as they mature into well-rounded adults.
The Primary School curriculum is broadly based on the English National Curriculum, but we adapt it to meet our international learners and develop learning opportunities to meet the needs of all our children. The purpose of this Curriculum Guide is to introduce you to this curriculum and how we put it into practice. The English National Curriculum begins in Year 1 and is used all the way through the Primary School. Alongside the academic curriculum, wider aspects of learning, such as social and emotional skills, as well as student attributes are promoted and developed in line with our guiding statements.
Interwoven through the curriculum, we seek to develop the children’s thinking by having a creative approach to learning and we aim to equip our children with well-rounded personal attributes. This begins in Foundation Stage with the introduction of the Characteristics of Effective Learning, which are developed throughout the Primary School with a focus around the attributes of Engagement , Motivation and Critical Thinking .
PSED focuses on well-being and developing learners who integrate into society as confident, responsible, global citizens; young people who have empathy and respect for others and a desire to safeguard ourselves and our natural world.
“We aim to provide the very best education for your children within a happy, caring environment. We begin the journey of developing life long learners.”
Mark Verde, Vice Principal, Learning and Curriculum
To ensure the learning needs of our international student body are met and to celebrate their diversity, we look to seek out meaningful and appropriate intercultural opportunities which are relevant to all. We also look to celebrate our host country and the learning opportunities this brings. Opportunities are also given within and outside of curriculum time to celebrate different cultures and home languages.
“Research from the University of Southern Queensland shows that Primary students can readily understand atomic theory and internalise it when their imaginations are fresh and enthusiastic.”
Ian Stuart
The Primary School is committed to creating a happy, caring and confident community of independent learners. We have high expectations and we aim to develop self-disciplined, skilled, resourceful and principled young people. We value our staff and seek to provide them with opportunities to develop professionally.
We nurture learning through child-centred approaches, technology and a variety of learning styles. We also endeavour to develop within our children thinking skills and strong personal characteristics. Through the English National Curriculum we strive to deliver creative and interactive programmes of study that are further enhanced and enriched by a comprehensive programme of extra-curricular activities that add breadth and depth to our children’s learning.
The Primary School values the cultural, religious and linguistic diversity of the students and seeks to establish respect for all nations. We also value the individual child and seek to meet their needs within our resources. In particular, we aim to effectively and sensitively induct all new students and their families into our community and to prepare them well for the next stage of their education and life.
“We aim to effectively and sensitively induct all new students and their families into our community and to prepare them well for the next stage of their education and life.”
The Primary School Mission Statement
The Characteristics of Effective Learning describe behaviours that children use in order to learn and are incorporated into the Primary School curriculum from Foundation Stage up to Year 6.
To learn well, children must approach opportunities with curiosity, energy and enthusiasm and we believe that effective learning must be meaningful to a child, so that they are able to use what they have learned and apply it in new situations. These abilities and attitudes of strong learners will support them to learn well and make good progress in their learning and development.
The Characteristics of Effective Learning are broken down into three three categories with three strands in each category:-
Playing and exploring - Engagement
• Finding out and exploring
• Playing with what they know
• Being willing to ‘have a go’
Active learning – Motivation
• Being involved and concentrating
• Keeping on trying
• Enjoying achieving what they set out to do
Creating and thinking critically – Thinking
• Having their own ideas
• Making links
• Choosing ways to do things
ThePrimary School and the Secondary School together form Bangkok Patana School and share many of the facilities on our spacious and purpose-built campus and both have their own Principal. The Primary Principal is supported by two Assistant Principals, who act as deputies to the Principal and are responsible for ensuring student safeguarding and welfare, the implementation of the curriculum and fostering learning across the school.
The Primary School takes children from 2+ in the Nursery through to 11+ in Year 6.
• Foundation Stage Nursery, Kindergarten 1 and Kindergarten 2
• Key Stage 1 Year 1 and Year 2
• Key Stage 2 Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6
Each Year group has a Leader of Learning and Welfare who leads the pastoral activities of the year and a Leader of Learning and Curriculum who leads curriculum developments in the Year group. Both Leaders of Learning are responsible for leading the learning in the Year group. They are supported by an Assistant Leader of Learning and a team of classroom teachers. Outlined below are the ages of our children in Key Stage 1.
Year 1 (ages 5+ to 6+) - eight classes
Year 2 (ages 6+ to 7+) - eight classes
In line with UK practice, students are placed in Year groups by age, the cut-off date being 31st August. All children in Year 1, for example, will have reached their fifth birthday by September 1st. Each Year group contains a diverse range of students. It is our policy to cater for all children within their correct Year group where individual academic and social needs will be met through well-planned, effective differentiation.
Students’ progress to the next Year group at the beginning of Term 1 of each academic year. Great care is taken to ensure there is a balance of students within each class in a Year group, so maintaining a mix of gender, ability, nationality and personality. To ensure this balance is maintained, the classes are mixed at the end of Nursery, FS1 and FS2, and again at the end of Year 3. This mixing of classes is overseen by the Principal and the Assistant Principals, who take advice from the academic staff. We are unable to take into account requests from parents for specific teachers.
Start of school: 7.30am
Morning break: 9.15am – 9.35am
Lunch break: 11.30am – 12.30pm
School ends: 2.30pm
Optional Activities: 2.30pm onwards (ECA Programme)
Year 1 and Year 2 are known collectively as Key Stage 1 (KS1). This is in-keeping with the English National Curriculum terminology.
The term ‘curriculum’ refers to all the learning opportunities that take place at school. At Bangkok Patana the curriculum is carefully planned to ensure that it is relevant to the backgrounds and experiences of our international student body.
The National Curriculum from England provides the basis for our formal curriculum at Key Stage 1. This is modified and extended to give a broad and balanced curriculum for all our students and extra-curricular activities (ECAs) extend the opportunities for students even further. The curriculum is designed to meet the needs of all students in each Year group so work is suitably differentiated to cater for students of all abilities.
Aspects of the curriculum are explained to parents at meetings held at the beginning of each academic year and throughout the year Curriculum Mornings for Parents are held to explain different areas of the learning.
All students are regularly assessed to ensure that progress is being made and that our teaching is accurately pitched. They are built into the curriculum and from these, teachers can ensure that learning is taking place and student progress is occurring. Assessments can take the form of observations, performance tasks such as projects and presentations, one to one student interviews and the analysis of written pieces using rubrics and check-lists.
Written reports are sent home to parents twice each year, in Term 1 and in Term 3. Parents are invited to conferences with the class teachers twice during the school year. These are 3-Way conferences involving the student, beginning in Year 2. In Term 2, Year 1 students join the conference with their parents and teacher. If parents wish to see teachers or specialist staff at other times, appointments can always be made through the Primary School Office.
Education does not only take place at school and we hope that all children will continue their education at home. In most cases this will involve sharing books and discussing activities and outings with parents and family.
Spelling activities and games are introduced to children in Year 1 and from time-to-time students may be asked to complete specific tasks or projects. It is important that children of this age have a healthy balance between formal work and play. Too much emphasis on formal work at home may well have a detrimental effect on learning and student motivation. Home learning should never become a chore and it is important that a positive environment is created for home learning activities. If the time or the mood is not right, far better to leave it and try again at another time or day.
All learning objectives are taken from the The White Rose Maths Curriculum .
These objectives are structured under four strands for Key Stage 1:
1. Number
2. Geometry
3. Measurement
4. Statistics
English
All Literacy learning objectives are taken directly from the Primary Framework for Literacy. This is broken down into 12 strands of learning which include Speaking and Listening, Reading, Writing and Spelling. Objectives are clearly defined to meet the needs of all students within their Year and age group. Teachers develop and use a wide range of teaching styles and strategies that include a balance of teacher-led and child initiated activities.
In Key Stage 1, children receive four phonic sessions each week which focus on securing word recognition skills to support our children in developing their literacy skills.
Speaking and Listening plays an important role in our curriculum, through role play opportunities and drama activities that develop the children’s social, emotional and cognitive development, as well as their confidence to speak and perform in front of their peers and an audience.
The reading curriculum in Key Stage 1 is based on the use of high quality texts to provide opportunities for children to apply their reading skills appropriately. Children take home levelled reading books from the school reading scheme amd visit the library weekly. Direct teaching of reading is carried out with groups and individuals on a weekly basis.
Children are encouraged to write for a wide variety of purposes and these writing tasks are linked to other curriculum areas to provide a context for writing. Handwriting is taught as a discrete subject, although it is often linked closely to the teaching of spelling.
A storytelling approach is used throughout the Primary School to develop a range of narrative writing skills. Once the students have internalized a fluent version of the basic story then children are taught how to use their imaginations to craft the story and make it their own.
Storytelling provides the children with a bank of possibilities to draw upon when creating their own stories and encourages the flow of story language and patterns. When children learn to tell stories orally, it improves the quality of their writing.
At Bangkok Patana our specialist music teachers aim to instill and sustain a love and appreciation for music from an early age so that our children will find in music a lifelong source of enjoyment and fulfillment. We believe music is a practical subject and as such, children learn best through; singing, playing, moving, performing, experimenting, creating, and actively listening.
At Bangkok Patana School our specialist PE teachers offer a high-quality PE curriculum, which provides opportunities for our children to become physically confident in a way which supports their health and fitness, inspires them to do their best and excel in a wide range of activities and competitive sports.
At Bangkok Patana School we strive to develop an innate love of art through learning technical skills, connected learning, and the knowledge of art movements linked to famous artists.
Pedagogy in primary art centres around drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and textiles-collage.
The primary art curriculum is taught in each key stage and year group by class teachers. In conjunction with this learning a specialist art teacher provides discrete art lessons Year 2.
Our Technology curriculum in Key Stage 1 is taught by specialist teachers who separate it into three main strands of learning; Digital Literacy, Computer Science and Design Media and IT. Additionally, Digital Citizenship is constantly revisited in both the Technology and PSHE curriculum.
Thai Language and Culture is a specialist subject which is offered to all Primary children at Bangkok Patana to help them learn and appreciate the culture and language of the host country.
Year 1 and Year 2 students study this subject with teachers who are Thai nationals. The students are divided into different groups based on their language abilities; some groups are for Thai speaking students and others for non-Thai speaking students. The broad content of the curriculum for all children focuses on Thai oral language development with cultural topics embedded. However, Year 1 and Year 2 Thai national students are required to learn Thai lessons for four sessions a week.
The curriculum focuses on Thai oral language development with the integration of social and cultural aspects of Thailand.
All Thai national students are required to learn Thai language and literacy skills. The content of the curriculum, in accord with the content standards set by the Ministry of Education, is aimed to develop their language skills and knowledge of Thai literature and Thai Studies. Details of the Thai literacy programme are included in the Thai curriculum booklet.
Bangkok Patana Primary School caters for children with a range of abilities.
The Inclusion Team support individual learners to ensure that they have the resources and strategies to reach their full potential.
This is achieved primarily by working with and through the class teachers to ensure quality first teaching and highquality differentiation that tailors the learning to the individual needs and strengths of our learners.
If class teachers have any concerns about the progress a student is making, they will talk with parents first. Similarly, if parents are concerned about their children, they should discuss this with the class teacher in the first instance.
Following this parents or staff may contact the Support for Learning teacher within their year group team to ask for advice, strategies or resources to support a student. Students may also be identified at the admission stage as requiring Support for Learning. The Support for Learning teacher will then assess the needs of the student to ascertain what support may be required.
The amount and nature of support given to students is flexible depending on their needs.
Children requiring speech and language therapy may be referred to our school speech and language therapist who, with parental permission, will assess a child’s needs and then provide a programme of therapy if appropriate. Parents requiring this service are asked to first have a discussion with their child’s class teacher or Support for Learning teacher.
Fees are charged for the services of the speech and language therapist and for any in-school support that is in addition to that provided by our Support for Learning teachers.
If specialist intervention or advice is recommended, for example, from an Educational Psychologist, Occupational Therapist or other professional, the Learning Support staff can provide information on contacts and options available to parents.
In most cases, we are able to implement many of the recommendations from a report generated by a specialist. In very rare cases where a child requires a level of support and input that we are not able to provide, or if a child’s progress causes significant concern, an alternative more appropriate school placement may be recommended.
Counselling Services
We are fortunate in the Primary School to have our own
counsellors. They work throughout the whole school from Nursery to Year 6. The counsellors are available to offer support and guidance to students and their parents. This will be when a child is experiencing difficulties of an emotional, personal or social nature.
Referrals to the counsellor can be made through the class teacher. Parents may also contact the counsellors directly to request counselling support.
EAL staff support children whose first language is not English to become proficient English language users, both in social and academic areas.
All children for whom English is not their primary language are required to take a language assessment before admission to the school. A decision is then made as to whether EAL support is required. EAL support starts in Key Stage 1.
Direct support is provided mostly through in-class support as well as in small groups and one to one instruction where appropriate. Additionally, indirect support is provided by EAL staff who plan closely with the class teachers by recommending strategies and selecting resources to suit the learning needs of the individual children.
EAL children come to us with a variety of different experiences in terms of primary language skills. Our EAL team believes that a close relationship with parents can help the children succeed in learning English as an Additional Language.
The progress of the children is continually monitored and assessed. Once the children reach a level of English proficiency whereby they no longer need extra EAL support, they then exit the programme.
A fee is charged for the first six terms of the EAL.
As an international school, we believe it is important to provide support to develop Home Languages for all children.
The Home Languages programme strives to provide multilingual children with the opportunity to maintain and develop existing fluency in their home language. Our Extracurricular Activities programme is driven by the needs of the community and offers a range of Home Language opportunities.
Throughout the year, many activities are organised to both enrich the curriculum and enhance the students’ understanding
of our key school values of Learning, Well-being and Global Citizenship. These events form an integral part of school life and add an extra dimension to our provision. Some annual events, such as International Day, involve the whole school. Year groups also organise special days and invite parents into school so that the children can share their learning.
A range of optional extra-curricular activities are offered over four Blocks each year, and include a variety of sporting, musical, artistic and cultural activities. Students in Key Stage 1 can select up to three ECA choices each block.
Details of ECAs on offer for each block are found via the Parents’ Gateway. Booking a place is completed on-line and subsequent confirmations are made through the website and we operate a system which allocates places as fairly as possible.
Educational visits are planned around the Units of Learning and Year 2 students also have a sleepover in school during Term 3 as their first experience of our Residential Visit Programme.
Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 admissions@patana.ac.th www.patana.ac.th