Our mission is to ensure that students of different nationalities grow to their full potential as independent learners in a caring British international community.
NEWS Patana
Friday 29th March 2019
Volume 21 Issue 26
www.patana.ac.th
HEAD OF SCHOOL’S MONTHLY BLOG
Page 2
Also in this issue... Atomic Theory in The Primary School / Going Wild in Year 7 / The Power of Eye Contact 29/03/2019
Bangkok Patana School News
Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit IB World School accredited by CIS
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The Penultimate Week of Term 2 I cannot believe we are in the penultimate week of Term 2 and soon we will be bidding farewell to our lovely Year 11’s and 13’s as they embark on their extended period of exam study. I do hope they have a productive period of pre exam study in early Term 3 and their exams are all what they hope for. It has been another incredibly action packed term at Bangkok Patana and so many students have successfully juggled all of their in-depth academic study with sports, music, ECAs, drama, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award and the list goes on….. Getting that important balance between work and play is so critical when measuring whether you are flourishing or not. If your well-being is not carefully attended to, happiness and self-fulfilment can fall off the radar and that can lead to a very slippery slope. Happy students are generally happy learners. As Head of School I continue to be incredibly proud of the Patana student work ethic and it is simply incredible what a Bangkok Patana student accomplishes in any given school week. I do hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Songkran holiday and it’s okay to sometimes not be thinking about school! A New Zealander’s Reflection As a fellow New Zealander, I was devastated when the first news came in of the horrific terrorist attack in Christchurch on Friday15th March 2019. New Zealand is such a beautiful and peaceful country; it prides itself in celebrating its rich history of diversity and embracing those of a differing race and creed. In a world of such extreme contrasts in life styles and beliefs, the need for tolerance has never been greater. Like the treasured Pohutukawa tree, if your tolerance isn’t rooted deep within your own inner truth and essence of love, it will fall in the winds of circumstances. Also like the tree, it requires time and nurturing to mature. When your tree starts to blossom and bear radiant red flowers, life becomes a beautiful and magical expression of wisdom, humility, appreciation, patience and love. May all the victims of the Christchurch mosque massacre rest in peace.
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Bangkok Patana School News
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Reflecting on our Guiding Statements Many thanks to those of you who took the time to fill out our annual Guiding Statements online survey. We greatly value your feedback and cannot get things absolutely right unless we know clearly what gaps to fill. Our school has set a vivid target for improvement. Our Mission, vision and three sets of value statements prioritise objectives for student learning and define real goals for better ensuring the young people of Bangkok Patana School will be successful. We want to inspire them to develop the needed academic skills, knowledge and attitudes to be creative in thought and design, and to be good people. The learning journey requires all of us to work together sharing common understandings. GUIDING STATEMENTS MISSION
Our mission is to ensure that students of different nationalities grow to their full potential as independent learners in a caring British international community.
VISION
We develop global citizens who shape their world through independence, empathy, creativity, and critical thinking.
VALUES WELLBEING WE ARE
LEARNING
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
WE ARE
WE ARE
Protected, safe and secure
Rigorous
Committed to integrity
Motivated and engaged
Inquisitive and creative
Active volunteers
Responsible and honest
Diverse and inclusive
Kind and compassionate
Collaborative and confident communicators
Balanced and fulfilled
Critical, reflective thinkers
Empowered by our interculturalism
Passionate, resourceful and resilient
Inspired to improve global sustainability
Ethical and informed
Respectful contributors to digital and local communities
Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit IB World School accredited by CIS
Our strength at Bangkok Patana School is in the relationships we build with each other. Our work is to inspire intellectual curiosity, depth of thought, mastery of core knowledge, creativity and goodness of character. Our programmes prepare our young global citizens to be highly adaptable to constant change which seems to be more and more critical at the present time. Great Educational Articles to Share Nigel Coutts talks about how our students are currently living in post-normal times and there is an even greater need to be developing creative, collaborative skills to be able to adapt to succeeding in an ever-complicated world. He also talks about the need for bravery and how it has evolved to be an important survival trait. Read his article here. Enjoy your final weekend prior to the Songkran holidays. Best wishes, Matt Mills, Head of School Front cover: Congratulations to Boys’ Level 3 SEASAC Gymnastics Champions, Thailand Interschool Sailing Champions and the SEASAC 29/03/2019 Bangkok Patana School News Softball Girls’ Champions.
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DOES ATOMIC THEORY HAVE A PLACE IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL? Mark Verde, Primary Assistant Principal Learning and Curriculum
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am sure you will recall the whole school being abuzz with excitement last October as Ruben Meerman, the Surfing Scientist, opened all of our eyes with his investigations involving, liquid Nitrogen, vortex smoke rings and balloons filled with Helium. Ruben was as excited by our school as our students were about his experiments and he left us suggesting we go even further by embedding atomic theory into the learning for our Primary students. In February 2019, after an introduction from Ruben Meerman, Ian Stuart visited Bangkok Patana School, loaded up with microscopes, periodic tables and sticky atoms ready to introduce atomic theory to our primary students. Ian Stuart is a retired secondary school Chemistry teacher from Australia and the Founder of Atomic School.
innovation. Most students around the world get the opportunity to learn about this essential scientific concept when they are in secondary school and some only, when they opt to study this aspect of chemical science in their learning journey during IGCSE. So why wait until then! Ian’s research and practice with the University of South Queensland, has shown that children are ready to explore atomic theory from the age of five upwards. Knowing this, we are excited to collaborate with Ian and open up a new concept of scientific learning for our students. “Ian Stuart’s discovery that young children are capable of and absolutely love learning atomic theory is a game changer that propels them a decade ahead of their peers. Most adults are baffled by the Periodic Table but it is, quite literally, Mother Nature’s alphabet. Atoms are her letters making molecules her words. Chemical reactions are her sentences which makes life the most amazing story atoms have ever told. I can’t wait to see what Bangkok Patana School students will achieve with this knowledge!” Ruben Meerman, The Surfing Scientist
Ian’s goal is to bring atomic theory to every primary school in the world, opening up student learning to this concept by motivating, engaging and critically thinking about atoms, molecules and elements in the periodic table. He will do this by providing opportunities for the students to investigate experiment and understand the learning that is… atomic theory. As a leading international school in Asia and across the world, renowned for its excellence in learning, we have partnered up with Ian to help his dream come true, as he supports us with our dream, which is to become the largest, prestigious and most influential school in the world to pioneer the teaching of atomic theory at primary level. Bangkok Patana is now the leading edge of this science education 4
Ian was at Bangkok Patana for a week and over this time he collaborated closely with the Primary lead science teacher; Ross Sutcliffe and the science advocates from each age phase, to develop the concept of atomic theory. He modelled a series of 3 lessons in Year 1 , Year 3 and Year 5, beginning with the question of What is an Atom? and building up to the students in Year 3 and Year 5 construction a protein molecule from various atoms. The learning throughout the week was rapid, engaging and exciting and the students were more than capable and motivated to learn about this fascinating scientific concept that links into so many areas of learning. Atomic Theory underpins learning in all science disciplines. By giving young students this backbone of knowledge, we expect will make science accessible to them and help them better transition to the challenges of Secondary science.
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Lesson 1 introduced the atom by using investigations with microscopes of varying magnification to understand that all things are made up of atoms that cannot be seen by the human eye because they are so small; a million can be found on the tip of a pin.
the students at Bangkok Patana School. Ian will be returning to us next year, when he will help us to embed this learning into the curriculum and deepen it further to make it the best learning we could possibly offer to our students at Bangkok Patana School. “The learning of atomic theory is often delayed until secondary school. Research from the University of Southern Queensland now shows that primary students can readily understand atomic theory and internalise it when their imaginations are fresh and enthusiastic. Bangkok Patana School has shown that it is a world leader in the field of science education by developing a programme that enables primary students to learn about atomic theory.� Ian Stuart
Lesson 2 built on the previous knowledge and introduced the periodic table, exposing the students to metals, semi metals and non-metals that had specific symbols and numbers assigned to them dependant on their weight.
By doing this, we will be well on our way to making our dream come true; to embed atomic theory into and across the primary curriculum at Bangkok Patana School.
Lesson 3 provided opportunities for the students to build molecules of varying length and complexity from atoms, starting with a simple H2O structure, which grew into a string of 13 amino acids to form a protein molecule. The whole week was captured on video, so that the learning could be shared within our community and with a wider audience across the world. Our next step is to take the learning and, in collaboration with the science advocates and Curriculum Leaders, develop a specific unit of learning that opens up atomic theory to
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Bangkok Patana School News
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GYMNASTICS ACADEMY SENIOR SEASAC GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019
William Preston, Gymnastics Academy Coordinator
INDIVIDUAL APPARATUS RESULTS Girls Level 5 Emily Cannon - 3rd Place Beam Dewi Hollema - 3rd Place Beam Girls Level 6 Nyasha Manda - 3rd Place Vault Kaitlyn Dibbayawan - 3rd Place Uneven Bars Girls Level 7 Roisin Sehmar - 2nd Place Vault ut of the 15 member schools in the SEASAC league, Paengrum Chatchupong - 3rd Place Beam only nine schools participated in Senior SEASAC Boys Level 3 Gymnastics. Out of these, Bangkok Patana entered teams in William Stuart - 1st Place Vault, 1st Place High Bar, six out of 10 levels, making it the school with the most teams. 2nd Place Ring Bangkok Patana has one of the most comprehensive Gymnastics Alexander Leiler - 1st Place Pommel Horse, 1st Place programmes in SEASAC, which caters for full teams in both Rings, 2nd Place Floor, 2nd Place Vault Boys and Girls throughout levels 1-7. There were many teams Sam Jones - 3rd Place Vault Boys with girls in one level but none in another, or just Girl teams but no Boy teams, or some Boys in one level but not another. The Boys Level 4 number of teams we entered shows depth in all levels for both Jacob Broadhurst - 3rd Place Rings Boys and Girls. Moreover, on the individual level, the gymnasts Tund Theerawit - 2nd Place Ring 1st Place High Bar Miles Tang - 3rd Place Pommel Horse were able to perform very strongly. Cody Finnegan - 3rd Place Floor The coaches are very proud of every gymnast. Their behaviour was exemplary and they represented Bangkok Patana as great Boys Level 5 ambassadors in line with the school’s vision and values. This Aron Steinmetz - 1st Place Vault, 2nd Place Pommel was demonstrated by the fact that Bangkok Patana has won Horse, 3rd Place High Bar, 3rd Place Rings, 3rd Place the Sportsmanship Awards for two years in a row at SEASAC! Floor, 3rd Place Parallel Bars Giles Kinsella - 3rd Place High Bar Go Tigers!
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Team Results Boys Level 3 – Champions Boys Level 4 – 2nd Place Boys Level 5 – 3rd Place Girls Level 5 – 7th Place Girls Level 6 – 4th Place Girls Level 7 – 2nd Place
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Bangkok Patana School News
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THAILAND INTER-SCHOOL TEAM SAILING CHAMPIONS!
Patrick Ledoit, Year 10
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very year, the Royal Varuna Yacht Club hosts the Interschool Team Sailing Championship. Varuna was founded under the patronage of His Late Majesty King Bhumibol, himself a gold-medal winning sailor in the South-East Asian Championships. The purpose of the Interschool Team Sailing Championship is to promote a friendly and civilised rivalry across international schools in Thailand, which develops esprit de corps inside the constituent teams. After a season with limited training, this was an event that we were just happy to have the opportunity to sail in. Such low expectations were fully confirmed in the first race of the round robin, where all three of Bangkok Prep’s boats beat all three of our boats. Or, put another way: their slowest boat was faster than our fastest boat. Let that sink in… However, from adversity it sometimes happens that good emerges. After a round robin, Patana surprised many finishing in second place and secured a playoff race against the third placed team to see who would compete in the final against a strong Bangkok Prep team. Many people will underestimate how grueling this was, but the round-robins were 20 races spread over 12 hours, taking two days, and all the kids who crawled on the shore after their races were completely spent. They had given their all both physically and mentally for the school. This was turning into a sheer test of endurance and willpower.
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After a narrow victory over Shrewsbury in the Semi Final playoff race, Patana walked on to the beach to pick up their boats and face a Bangkok Prep team that had won all four of their previous encounters. This was going to be a real test of character! The first race was miraculous: the Tigers beating the Bulldogs with a 1, 2 3 placing and a clean sweep. It is hard to explain how it happened, the most reasonable explanation being that fighting hard for the right to challenge Bangkok Prep had hardened Patana. What we knew for sure was that Bangkok Prep would come back with a vengeance: This was a best-of-three series, so the first victory meant nothing, all was still to be played for. The decisive race came down to a contest between our last two boats. This is often the case in team racing: when the fastest boats of both teams are evenly matched, it is their slowest boats that become the tie-breaker. After some tactical sailing from the Bulldogs, their captain had the final Patana boat pinned, but with a spark of ingenuity the crew on the Patana boat did the unthinkable, turning upwind and ‘accidentally’ colliding with the Bangkok Prep captain’s boat. Collisions are also not allowed because sailing is not a contact sport, so penalties had to be taken. The Tiger’s boat crossed the finish just one meter ahead. At 10 knots of wind, one meter is 0.194 seconds. So 12 hours of sailing over two consecutive days boiled down to the last 0.194 seconds. That’s all a Tiger needs to pounce.
Bangkok Patana School News
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UNI COUNSELLORS’ CORNER UNI OFFERS...
Rohan Ramesh Shanbhag
Congratulations on your offers from University of Birmingham, University of Manchester and University College London to study Chemical Engineering, MEng “From a young age I was brought up hearing the names of different acid/reactive dyes as a by product of my chemical engineer father. Going to his office to see giant spray dryers and vats of chemicals used to produce the colours on our clothes, papers and textiles, I saw just one of the many faces chemical engineering presents to us in our daily lives. Now, my motivation to pursue engineering rests in my obsession with finding creative solutions to the everyday problems which challenge society’s progress.”
IN THE SPOTLIGHT...
The University of Manchester, UK
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he University of Manchester is a Russell Group University. With almost 40,000 students, it boasts the largest student community in the UK. With all its higher education institutions combined, the city of Manchester has the largest student population in Europe, which makes for a lively and welcoming atmosphere for its student body, that come from all over the world. Teaching at the university is divided into four faculties, each housing individual schools. These are the faculties of Life Sciences, Humanities, Medical and Human Sciences, and Engineering and Physical Sciences. The university campus, situated on Oxford Road, is the largest estate in UK higher education, spanning 270 hectares with 245 buildings, 24 of which are listed. It is within walking distance from the city centre and close to the ‘Curry Mile’, a road famous for its curry houses and Middle Eastern supermarkets. Travelling up Curry Mile, you find yourself in Fallowfield, the student village that is home to many of the university’s halls of residence as well as a vast array of pubs, bars and food outlets.
The university’s library holds more than four million printed books and manuscripts, over 41,000 electronic journals and 500,000 e-books. It is also one of just five National Research Libraries. The John Rylands Library, located in the city centre, is a grade-I listed neo-Gothic building that houses 250,00 printed volumes and more than a million in its archives. Other notable buildings owned by the university are the Whitworth Art Gallery, which has benefited from a recent £15 million renovation, the Manchester Museum, and the Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire. Manchester claims to have the largest alumni network of any campus-based university in the UK, comprising more than 300,000 people from over 190 countries. Among them are the actor Benedict Cumberbatch and the physicist Brian Cox.
Follow the Careers team...
Challenge 23 Keep an open mind! Your link counsellor is here to help you achieve your goals and hopefully to get you to consider additional and new goals.
UPCOMING UNIVERSITY VISITS UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE
COUNTRY
Cornell University Northeastern University
USA USA
LOCATION
Shangrila Hotel Senior Studies, second floor
DATE
TIME
30.03.19 04.04.19
13:00 09:15
CLICK TO READ APRIL’S CAREERS NEWSLETTER 8
Bangkok Patana School News
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SOUTH EAST ASIA MATHEMATICS COMPETITION 2019
Madeleine Mcdonagh, Secondary Mathematics Teacher
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t the beginning of the month, six students from Year 9 and 10 travelled to Singapore to compete in the South East Asia Mathematics Competition (SEAMC). The students had an excellent time testing their knowledge and understanding as they competed in a three-day competition. Here are a few of the student’s reflections from the weekend. “It was a fantastic opportunity for me to represent Bangkok Patana at SEAMC 2019 in Singapore. We had a great time competing in nine different rounds of mathematics. It was my second time participating in a SEAMC competition and my favorite round was ‘Duel’, a tactical round played head to head against other competitors. Last year, I found it difficult to find a pattern and tactic to win; however, the game this year was very interesting and I enjoyed the challenge. I even made it to the final round, which I am very proud of. I am also proud and happy that I have improved from last year as this year I received two silver medals and a golden ticket invitation to compete at the World Mathematics Competition in Australia. I am delighted that every participant from Patana won an award from the competition. It was a great experience!” Jiwon Yoo, 10D “This was the first time I participated at SEAMC. I especially enjoyed the ‘pursuit’ round, where we had to work as a school team. Since we knew our teammates well, we could trust each other, work together and have fun solving the questions. I loved that the competition allowed me to use different skills related to maths, but also that we got to know people from different schools and countries, which made SEAMC an even more wonderful experience for me. I’m proud that I got a silver medal, but I’m most proud of everyone in our team, who all individually achieved a medal, golden ticket or even both!” Ena Hashimoto, 10R “SEAMC is a competition that needs many of the characteristics of the IB learner profile such as being knowledgeable, critical thinkers, and demonstrating good communication. We used all these skills when working within our school teams and with competitors from other schools. I gained new mathematical skills and was challenged to think differently and creatively as I faced mathematical problems that are outside of the school curriculum. I enjoyed it very much and hope to participate in school team again next year.” Tanarawin (Win) Viravan, 9P Well done to all, it was a fantastic trip.
DATES
for your
Diary...
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Saturday 30th March Solo Festival Thursday 4th April Patana Unplugged Friday 5th April End of Term 2 Monday 22nd April Term 3 Begins Wednesday 1st May National Labour Day (Holiday) Monday 6th May Coronation (Holiday)
Bangkok Patana School News
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#118: Learn While You Sleep
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hen you fall sick or have an injury you seem to become a mini-expert in that particular diagnosis – researching all the available remedies, discovering the various ways in which you can make yourself better. The information available online is a fantastic tool for this, but we have to filter the content through a lens of scepticism, be strategic with our searching. Nonetheless, I’m a firm believer that the more informed you are about your ailments, the further that goes to help you in the healing process, some may say the placebo effect. On that note, lately I seem to have become somewhat of an ‘expert’ on sleep in other’s eyes, and am finding many of my day-to-day conversations with colleagues and students gravitating to the subject. I’m no expert, just sharing my own journey and acting on the research I’ve digested. I do think it’s great that a large swathe of our community is now talking about the importance of sleep. The mere fact that this (something we do for a third of our lives and significantly impacts the other two thirds) is part of a conversation at the ‘kitchen table’ is a step in the right direction for our well-being. The real expert is in the video above. Thanks to Thomas Brookes for sending this my way. If you can’t watch all of it (it’s very long) – then skip to 5:00 minutes into the interview and watch for five minutes until the 10:00 minute mark. It’s fascinating. Use this link to jump straight to it: https://youtu. be/bEbtf7uS6P8?t=300 Have a re-charging weekend. Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Cross Campus Curriculum Technology Integration
click here for the Canteen
Please note the menu is updated for the following week on Friday at 1pm
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Bangkok Patana School News
Menu 29/03/2019
NEW RECREATIONAL TRAMPOLINING ECA IN BLOCK 4! Have amazing fun whilst you exercise! Did you know that Bangkok Patana has three full sized professional trampolines? Sign up now for this fantastic new ECA open to all levels. For more information contact William Preston, Gymnastics Academy Coordinator & Secondary ECA Coordinator. Sign up via the online ECA system on the Parents’ Gateway. Block 4 Phase II Sign Up closes at 23:59 on 4th April.
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Bangkok Patana School News
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STUDENTS SPEAK
The Power Of Eye Contact By Karnsiree (Ling Ling) Chen, Year 12
Eye contact is often emphasised as the most essential factor in public speaking, and often touted as the primary way to exude confidence when speaking. Eye contact is a natural part of human interaction, but that it is common place does not diminish its effectiveness. It is a key factor in first impressions as we subconsciously form assumptions about people’s personalities based on the amount of eye contact they make during conversation. There are deeper connotations, however, which have been studied by psychologists and neuroscientists whose findings reveal much more about why it is so significant. A common finding is that gazing eyes grab and hold attention, causing other stimuli to blur and ‘fade to grey’. Meeting someone’s gaze immediately engages a series of brain processes, as we recognise that we are indirectly engaging with the mind of another person. As a result, we immediately become more conscious of the other person and begin to think about their mind and perspectives, resulting in increasing self consciousness. Humans are wired to subconsciously acknowledge anything that may give the sensation of judgement and scrutinisation. You may have even felt this before when walking past a portrait painting which appears to be making eye contact. The phenomena triggered is linked to social cognition- the process where your brain begins to think of yourself with relation to others.
looking at a video of a face. The volunteers struggled more at the challenge with the projection of the face in front of them, showing that the realisation of another object or mind is highly distracting. The researchers think this effect occurred because eye contact – even with a stranger in a video – is so intense that it drains our cognitive reserves. Other studies also suggest the effect of eye contact on perception. We generally perceive people who make more eye contact as being more engaged, intelligent and sincere. We therefore tend to believe them more. This is perhaps why eye contact is emphasised in jobs like teaching and public speaking, as the power of eye contact can make your arguments far more convincing. On the flip side, too much eye contact can also make us uncomfortable – and people who stare for extended periods of time are often thought of as creepy. In a study conducted by psychologists, it was determined that the average preferred length of eye contact is three seconds, and no one preferred gazes that lasted longer than nine seconds. This corroborates the hypothesis of prolonged periods of eye contact coming off as creepy. Eye contact is a useful tool and can be effectively employed to craft a confident outward perception of yourself. Remember this the next time you are giving a presentation in front of class and you will notice a difference in the engagement of your audience!
In a recent study conducted by Japanese researchers, volunteers participated in a word association game. In one trial, the viewers had to complete the exercise while
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Bangkok Patana School News
Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27880776 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027716302360 https://www.royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.160086
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Bangkok Patana School News
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WATER CRISIS!
Alexander (Coke) Smith, Secondary Environmental Systems and Societies Leader
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ur Year 8 students are concluding their Mixtures and Compounds topic learning about and investigating water crises around the globe and how to mitigate these events by filtering dirty water for consumption. With this in mind, our students designed and built their own water filters using commonly found materials such as sand, gravel, cotton, charcoal and grasses.
solved solids and electrical conductivity. As part of the unit, we incorporated local Thai historical information by tying the unit to the water quality problems ancient Thai society would have faced living along the Chao Praya River. The Year 8’s viewed excerpts from the famous Thai TV Drama, Bupaysaniwat. Our students loved the local Thai connection to this very important topic!
Our investigation resulted in a competition of sorts Here you see students from Mr Lodge and Mr Smith’s whereby students’ filters were judged based on the clarity Year 8 classes planning and making their filters. of the filtrate as well as other factors such as pH, total dis-
NEW IN AT THE LIBRARY EARLY YEARS LIBRARY
PRIMARY LIBRARY
SECONDARY LIBRARY
Fiction
Fiction
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Non-Fiction
Senior Fiction
Comics and Chapter Books
DVDs
DVDs
Non-Fiction Parents’ Collection
DID YOU KNOW THAT WE ALSO SUBSCRIBE TO THESE MAGAZINES? 14
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Bangkok Patana School News
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GOING WILD IN YEAR 7 Joycelyn (JoJo) Intanate and Gabriel Mattei, Year 12 students
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s part of the IB Diploma each year, students are expected to fulfill a CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) criteria where we collaborate with others and achieve a goal to benefit a community. We decided to do a presentation on reptile awareness to Year 7 students. In order to provide a stimulating yet educational experience, we brought in Gabriel’s pet reptiles, which included different species of snakes, skinks and tortoises. The inclusion of live animals provided our audience with a memorable experience. We aimed to educate Year 7 on the different species of reptiles and their biological nature, the misconceptions/manipulation of reptiles through the media, and the do’s and don’ts of interacting with them. We asked questions such as “What makes a reptile a reptile?” and “Why do the tongues of snakes often flicker?” in order to get our audience engaged.
LOST Property 16
Throughout the presentation, it was great to see the involvement and interest from the whole Year group whilst remaining respectful of the animals. Many approached us after the presentation and were keen to continue observing the animals and ask further questions. It was both encouraging and uplifting to know that many students, like us, had a passion for animals and were enthusiastic to learn more about them. We would like to thank Ms Barton for extending the opportunity to us and allowing us to present to her Year group. This was a CAS project which undeniably took much time and effort in terms of organisation and preparation, but the reaction we achieved was very much worth it and we would love to carry out this presentation to other Year groups if the opportunity arises.
Please remember that if your child has lost anything (including water bottles) you can check on Firefly to see if it has been found or handed in. Scan the QR code to view or visit https://community. patana.ac.th/community-events/lost-property
Bangkok Patana School News
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When thinking about the essentiaI skiIIs and knowIedge of young peopIe for them to thrive in their careers, there are often key areas that are fundamentaI for success. In the earIy 2Oth century, these incIuded mathematics and grammar. In mid to Iater 2Oth century, it was about criticaI thinking and abiIity to appIy knowIedge. These were considered fundamentaI skiIIs no matter the industry or profession for empIoyabiIity. In the 21st Century, a recent US Report from the Department of Labour suggested that up to 65% of today's students wiII be empIoyed in jobs that do not yet exist! How do we prepare students for such a future? Even where we focus on traditionaI professions in accounting, commerce, Iaw, medicine, engineering or the sciences, the question remain on how these professions are changing? For exampIe, sustainabiIity anaIystƒmanagers, digitaI entrepreneurs, digitaI brand managers, digitaI marketing
aII jobs that did not exist between 2OO5 − 2OO7. This presentation seeks to highIight to key skiIIs and knowIedge needed as we consider the future of our students and chiIdren. What key skiIIs and areas of study might be important in preparing them for an uncertain technoIogy driven future.
Date: Wednesday the 24th of April Time: 8.OO a.m. - 9.00 a.m. Venue: Primary Hall
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Dr. Shanton Chang is an Associate Professor in the SchooI of Computing and Information Systems at the University of MeIbourne. Dr Chang’s research interests incIude young peopIe’s onIine behaviour and its impact on education, mentaI weII−being and sociaI networking, heaIth informatics and information needs and information systems security. His research on sociaI networking behaviour has been appIied across a number of different contexts and he has been invited to speak at more than 4O forums in AustraIia, New ZeaIand, South Korea and MaIaysia on this topic in the Iast 5 years.
Dr Chang is aIso the recipient of numerous teaching awards at the University of MeIbourne, an AustraIian NationaI Citation for ExceIIence in Teaching and Learning in 2O11, and ICT Educator of the Year 2O17 by the AustraIian Computer Society (ACS). 17 Bangkok Patana School News
THAI BASIC CONVERSATIONAL COURSES FOR ADULTS (PARENTS) IN BLOCK 4 Basic Thai Conversation for Complete Beginners This course is designed for non-Thai speakers who have absolutely no previous experience of the Thai language. Students will get the opportunity to learn how to greet and introduce themselves, basic vocabulary for social contexts including food, drinks, shopping, asking for directions, saying the date and time and engagement with Thai culture.
Block 4 2018/19 Day: Monday Time: 8:00am - 10:00am Dates: 29/04/19 – 17/06/19 (7 sessions) Cost: 4,200 baht (600 baht/session) Places: 6 -14 Teacher: Khun Nittaya Venue: FHC 201 (Second floor of Front Hard Court building)
If you would like to join a conversational course, please email thai@patana.ac.th by Monday 1st April to register.
The invoice will be given to you in class.
SENIOR FUNDRAISER FOR EDUCATION Year 13 Students As we, the Graduating Class of 2019, approach our final weeks of school, we reflect back on our incredible experience as students of Bangkok Patana School. We realise that we are privileged to have received the outstanding quality of education that Bangkok Patana offers and we want to celebrate this with our peers at school and with the wider community. Starting today, our Year group is launching a Secondary school effort to give back the gift of education for students of Nong Bua Pittayakorn School. This underfunded Secondary School offers education to approximately 50 students, and is looking to expand this number to 120. After consulting with Nong Bua Pittayakorn School, we plan to provide the students with sports equipment for table tennis, volleyball, basketball and football as well as school and sports uniforms, including shoes and socks. We have raised funds this week with bake sales on Monday and today, and the Athletics Council All-star basketball that happened on Wednesday. On Monday 1st April we invite all Secondary students to a ‘wear what makes you happy’ Casual Dress Day. We are very excited and hope all students will be too. If any parents would like to be involved in improving education access in the Nong Bua Pittayakorn School, you can contribute via donations through the cashier under the name ‘S14.5 Naan School Donation’. GRAD 19 are hopeful they can make a significant impact on this school and leave a lasting legacy. We are thankful for everyone who can help in this objective to make our final Patana Campaign a success.
CALLING ALL HINDI-SPEAKING FAMILIES! T
he Home Languages programme needs your help. We would like to find out what language needs you might have as a community and how we might support our Hindi speaking students in maintaining and developing their Home Language. If you would like to join a coffee morning at 8:00am on April 4th in which we explore the Home Language programme and how we could potentially work together, please add your contact information here. We will contact you with a confirmed venue and any further details. If you have any questions, please contact Ms Ondine at onul@patana.ac.th
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The parenting teenagers course The Parenting Teenagers Course is a DVD, discussion & workbook based course for parents, step-parents, prospective parents or carers of teenagers aged 11-18 years. The course is for every type of parenting situation including parenting on our own, step-parenting and parenting as a couple. Although the course started at HTB church in London in 1997, it is useful for all faiths.
Parenting Teenagers Course Promo DVD Please join us for a chance to dialogue together on a 5-week Parenting Teenagers Course developed in 1990 by Nicky and Sila Lee, authors of T he Parenting Book. 11am to 1:30pm (over light lunch, starting after the Songkran holiday break). Tuesday:
April 23 - Session 1 Keeping the End in Mind April 30 - Session 2 Meeting our Teenagers’ Needs May 7 - Session 3 Setting Boundaries May 14 - Session 4 Developing Emotional Health May 21 - Session 5 Helping Them Make Good Choices
Venue: Srinagarindra/Ring Road Area. Nantawan Srinakarin Village 10 minutes from the new BTS Srinagarindra E20 (Private van shuttle pickup outside exit 4) Cost: The Parenting Teenagers Course Guest Manual 300 baht Contact: Angela Frye to RSVP 29/03/2019 Bangkok Patana School News for more details +66 8 1966 6872 f ryes72@gmail.com
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COMMUNITY
FOBISIA, the Federation of British International Schools in Asia, is an organisation that supports British International Schools in the region.
Events Executive
One of the main aims of FOBISIA is to provide high-quality student and staff events within the 63 member schools. The role of the Events Executive has been established to provide administrative support to achieve this aim. The successful applicant will be based in Bangkok. Events Executive applicants must have: · a Bachelor’s Degree and be highly proficient in written and spoken English; · strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work independently; · strong organisational and ICT skills; · proven administrative skills including budget management. Please send CV and any queries to Ms Tania Donoghue at tania.donoghue@fobisia.org Closing date: Friday 10th May, 2019 Federation of British International Schools in Asia http://www.fobisia.org/
Part-Time Administrator
One of the main aims of FOBISIA is to provide high-quality student and staff events within the 63 member schools. The role of the Part-time Administrator is to provide administrative support to achieve this aim. The successful applicant will be based in Bangkok. Part-Time Administrator applicants must have: · a Bachelor’s Degree and be highly proficient in written and spoken English; · strong administrative skills including budget management. · good interpersonal skills and the ability to work independently; · strong organisational and ICT skills; Please send CV and any queries to Ms Tania Donoghue at tania.donoghue@fobisia.org Closing date: Friday 10th May, 2019 Federation of British International Schools in Asia http://www.fobisia.org/ 29/03/2019
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COMMUNITY
The BWG will donate proceeds raised from the charity lunch to; Gift of Happiness Foundation in Thailand and Steps with Theera
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ANAPANA MEDITATION COURSE FOR STUDENTS
Anapana (Mindfulness of breathing) teaches students improved concentration skills and enhances calmness of the mind. This technique helps to relieve anxiety and is very useful at exam time to calm those nerves, but also for every day life.
The next Anapana Meditation course will be on
Sunday 12th May for students between 8-16 years. The course is completely free! To enrol or for more information, please contact Eva Sophonpanich at evasophon@hotmail.com You may also find this site useful: http://www.children.dhamma.org/en/children/about-meditation.shtmlÂ
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643 Lasalle Road (Sukhumvit 105) Bangna Tai, Bangna, Bangkok 10260 THAILAND Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Fax: +66 (0) 2785 2399 www.patana.ac.th Email: reception@patana.ac.th 28
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