Patana News Volume 22 Issue 14

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 29th November 2019

Volume 22 Issue 14

www.patana.ac.th

BUILDING A POSITIVE SCHOOL CULTURE Carol Battram, Primary Assistant Principal of Learning and Welfare

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Also in this issue...

The Princess’s Cup/Reef Building by the PMCG/New Ways to Learn a Second Language 29/11/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

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

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Building a Positive School Culture Carol Battram, Primary Assistant Principal of Learning and Welfare

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uilding a positive school culture doesn’t happen without shared understanding; agreeing what’s important to a school takes time. Building and then maintaining that culture is hard.

Many years ago, I attended a conference at which the keynote guest spoke about school ethos and the challenge of making the intangible feel real. The line that stayed with me was a plea that we ‘Live it, don’t just laminate it.’

At Bangkok Patana, we have had over sixty years to develop a positive school culture and this makes itself felt in countless ways: when teachers greet every student who passes and are greeted in return; when students support each other during times of stress; when parents feel welcomed into classrooms; when alumni come back and say thank you; when prospective parents comment on the ‘warmth’ they encountered whilst touring our school; and when ex-Patana staff return years after they left and still get smiles of recognition from our host staff. Culture is a precious entity; not to be taken for granted.

SO, SOME QUESTIONS As a proudly diverse community of students, parents, carers, academic staff, business staff, board members and alumni, does everyone understand how our (often laminated) Bangkok Patana Values help build our culture?

Are our norms explicitly shared and modelled through our communications and daily interactions?

Is Well-Being just another buzz word on a poster, or is it something that we consistently and consciously champion?

Do we do what it says on the tin?

As a staff, we are collectively exploring and deepening our understanding of what Well-Being could and should look and feel like in our school community.

HOW CAN WE ENSURE THAT WE PROMOTE, VALUE AND NURTURE WELL-BEING IN OUR COMMUNITY TO SUPPORT STUDENT LEARNING? Teaching, learning and the development of student Well-Being are complementary processes; we prioritise student Well-Being in order to help all students succeed in their learning. By consistently championing the importance of 2

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Well-Being alongside learning, we hope that every student feels part of an inclusive school culture in which they can develop healthy relationships, enjoy their learning and make positive contributions to our school community. If culture really does eat strategy for breakfast, we’d best make sure that our school culture reflects our values in a very real way.

As part of this process, we are taking stock of what we already do well, but also looking for the gaps. Being kind and compassionate is a key school value, but how do we make this value explicit, in word and deed, tto every newly arrived student so that each family member finds the support they need?

Relationships are, of course, the key. A positive school culture is built on relationships and no significant learning can occur unless anchored by supportive and essential relationships.

As teachers, we have a responsibility to nurture respectful and purposeful relationships with our students through which rules and boundaries are seen as important and are well understood; systems and procedures help maintain consistency and fairness; warmth, kindness and courtesy permeate our interactions.

We know that teachers who actively build such relationships have a strong effect on the way students think and act. Students are more likely feel positive about school in general, to have a go, risk making mistakes and ask for help when they need it.

A school culture that places a premium on Well-Being is even stronger and more effective when there are strong links between school and home. We want to develop a shared understanding of the skills and attributes that will help our students - your children – grow to their full potential and with the social and emotional skills necessary to navigate their way happily and successfully through life.

Regular events, run by our staff, our parents and our magnificent PTG, help build a positive school culture in partnership with each other. Coffee Mornings are opportunities to share ideas and offer support. Parent Workshops help to ensure that occasional differences in approach do not become barriers to us learning from each other. Connecting home and school through our shared values helps our students – your children – become global citizens who are ready to meet their futures with kindness, compassion, empathy and integrity.

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New Ways to Learn a Second Language Shana Kongmun, Communications Coordinator

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earning a second language is not something that should be rushed according to recent visitor Dr Gianfranco Conti.

Dr Conti spoke on developing fluency in those who are learning a second language; whether that language is English, French, Chinese or something else. Dr Conti came to the school to give workshops to both Bangkok Patana teachers and some from other schools on what is necessary to help students develop not just fluency but confidence; one is dependent on the other.

Dr Conti said that language teaching is probably one of the most misunderstood subjects and that the reason he started bringing cognitive science into language learning is because he could see student interest dropping in learning new languages.

“My mission is to disseminate good practice and evidence based practice. Teachers need to be informed what happens to the brain when someone learns a language.” He continued, “Teachers generally teach the way they were taught but it doesn’t work that way in language learning. The big issue is to get the teacher to understand the difference and then give them to tools to design a curriculum and use in in a classroom”.

Dr Conti added that the student disinterest comes with a focus on grammar and vocabulary when really, what they need, is to practice speaking and listening to the language instead of memorising words.

Dr Conti uses a game to demonstrate that you can only remember only a few new words in a string. He asks you to learn one new word and then adds a new word on to that word in a string of words. Most people make it to four words before they stop being able to process (try it, it’s hard!). He pointed out that a student uses more than four words when speaking so it is better to teach them in chunks rather than in a long string of vocabulary they won’t be able to retain.

“There is an elitist vision of language, that it is it is purely intellectual and you have to be “smart” to get it, but really,” he said, “anyone can learn a new language, it just needs to be put in ways that the student can relate to and that they aren’t overloaded.”

Students learn by doing, by listening and speaking, “Teachers need to be the main providers of language, they need to speak, and the students can hear it.”

Dr Conti pointed out that students need to comprehend about 95 percent of the words they hear to learn the content.

When they only understand 80 percent of the content they can lose motivation and give up. Teachers should not rush the content in order to complete it for the end of term assessment. Instead, Dr Conti proposes that teachers scrap the test at the end and do formative assessments throughout the term. Then, at the end of the term get the students to do real life tasks to use their new found language skills in a fun way.

“Learning the traditional way, students don’t find it interesting, they find it difficult and they don’t feel confident. By teaching in chunks and giving them fun tasks as their goal instead of a test as a kind of punishment, they become more engaged and confident in the learning and using the language.”

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late shuttle bus for ecas

Don’t forget to take the shuttle bus!

There is a 5:30pm shuttle bus from Bangkok Patana school to BTS Bearing for students involved in Swimming, Gymnastics, Tennis and late fixtures.

Please contact Transport for more information transport@patana.ac.th

Early Years’ Library

Primary Library

Fiction

Fiction

Non-fiction

Chapter Books & Comic Books

Non-fiction

List of the library subscriptions and magazines are available here.

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Secondary Library

Professional Learning

Fiction

Christmas Fiction

Graphic Novels

Professional Learning

Non-Fiction

Parents’ Collection

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Sea Creatures Find New Home in Artificial Reef Annabel Brett – Patana Marine Conservation Group President, Year 12 student

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ver the last weekend the Patana Marine Conservation Group held a trip to Samaesan, near Pattaya. The aim of this trip was to attend to our second artificial reef that we started in January. We managed to place another metal structure a short distance from the existing one, add some ceramic fish as an experiment as to what promotes coral growth the best, fix the structure that had tipped over and still have time for a fun dive.

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Although tending to our reef is important it couldn’t be done without hard work from students to design and make the structure. The work pays off when we see marine animals such as stingrays, puffer fish and a hermit crab find a new home in our reef. This is the first of two trips that we run every year, the next one is on 14th March and will be to once again attend our reef and see the progress that we are making. We have a direct impact with what we are doing, our work allows us to see what we are doing first hand and as someone who has been part of this group for the better part of five years the satisfaction of seeing the impact that you are having on the environment doesn't wear off. The PMCG would like to thank the Art Department for their time committed to help us with our project and contribution of ceramic fish, and also the Design and Technology Department for allowing us to use their materials and tools.

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Winners of the Most Eco-Friendly Stall on International Day

Events Group, Student Environmental Committee

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his year was one of the most environmentally friendly years for the Food Hall, with exceptional improvements in reusable or recyclable displays and the general reduction in the use of single-use plastics. It was an extremely close competition between all 30 participating countries for the title of “Most Eco-Friendly Stall� based on five categories: limited use of plastics, use of reusable containers over single-use materials, use of natural materials, use of locally sourced ingredients and extra measures taken to be eco-friendly. It was great to see many countries using reusable plates to display food as well as fabric tablecloths and decorations. We also received great feedback from students regarding the biodegradable plates, which were eco-friendly and helped in reducing food waste.

FINALLY, THE WINNERS OF THE ECO-FRIENDLY STALL COMPETITION: Tied for first place was Indonesia and Malaysia, who showed extensive use of biodegradable materials such as wicker, bamboo and banana leaves for their displays and serving of food. All of their food was homemade from locally sourced ingredients and most of their displays were also handmade, reused from previous years and recyclable.

Malaysia even used natural food coloring to make their desserts look even more appetising!

In second place were South Africa, Lesotho, and Namibia who showcased a beautiful fabric and banana leaf display and authentic decorations from home. This stall used the least amount of single-use materials for display, which made the food taste even better!

A close third was Germany, which utilised beautiful wooden trays to display their delicious food and homemade cookies. Primary students helped make their very special paper display celebrating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and their plates were going to be recycled to be used in making plant pots in an ECA! The SEC would like to thank the parents once again for all their efforts to showcase their countries in the most ecofriendly way. Next year, we look forward to seeing even less plastic and paper used!

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Phuket Trip a Journey on the Road to Success Mark Potter, Cross Campus Head Football Coach

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he Football Academy led a trip to the BISP Phuket 7’s tournament supported wonderfully by Mr Tatam and Mrs Blundell from the Primary PE department. The tournament was great fun and we have received a lot of positive comments from parents and players alike.

Through the tournament, the teams played at least five fixtures - we won some games and lost some too. In some games, teams won convincingly and in others, we lost heavily - none of this, in my opinion, is a yardstick of success.

Success should not be defined by the result, it should be assessed against age-appropriate parameters - understanding that these tournaments and fixtures are just checkpoints on the journey, not the final destination! I want our players and parents to be reflective upon their own performances as opposed to comparisons with others. I would like us to compare our latest showing to the performance we put in the time before - looking inwards rather than outwards. We should be making improvements each time we play, sometimes subtle and sometimes highly visible but improvements all the same.

Footballing success for these players meant our goalkeepers tried to select a pass rather than just clearing the ball, we attempted to defend resiliently as a team, we looked to pass to our teammates more often rather than trying to dribble and when we had opportunities to shoot we endeavoured to get a shot away. The real success for us as coaches was not the outcome of each of these attributes but the intent: the fact that we ‘tried’ ‘attempted’ ‘looked’ and ‘endeavoured’ is just as important as the result - intent is where the magic of learning takes place!

Other success came in the shape of an Under 9 session learning to tie their laces, children playing in a multitude of positions and loving it, the forgetful child remembering to bring to field everything he needed (boots, shin pads, sunscreen, hat and water bottle), the child who rarely felt comfortable speaking to coaches or in front of groups is now impossible to keep quiet.

So, for us as a Football Academy, we did not manage to take home the trophies, but we most certainly had a successful weekend!

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Wild Animals - Art and Language for Year 5

Patricia Calmels D’Artensac, Primary French Teacher, Gabriele Odermatt, Primary German Teacher and Marie-Claire Redman, Secondary Art Teacher n the Unit of Learning ‘Wild Animals’, Year 5 students in Residential in January.

French and German have been developing their lanThe aim of this collaborative Learning project was to guage abilities in describing an animal (fur, stripes, scales, compare the two different languages when describing feathers, beak, trunk...), but also saying where the animal an animal. By doing so the students were sharing with lives and how it moves. each other their newly learned vocabulary about the Learning new language and structures is always animals. Moreover, by linking an art technique/gesture challenging, especially when you don’t use this with a word, the Year 5 children associate a gesture with language regularly, that’s why it is crucial to implement the word and then assimilate more easily. It is also a way a meaningful, engaging context to embed the language. to realise that collaboration is efficient, is useful in their This unit of learning was the perfect occasion to link their learning as well as in their future life. new knowledge with some practical art techniques. The For the Year 8 students it was an opportunity to increase students had the chance to collaborate with Secdary Art Teacher Marie-Claire Redman and her students. For this confidence in their communication skills when describing special session, they focused on the animals living in the best practice of familiar Art techniques. Describing the National Park of Khao Yai to prepare for the upcoming techniques to a new audience proved to them how much they know themselves!

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Pope Francis Visits Bangkok

Matias Grassi, 6F efore I went to see the pope, I felt very excited. I had After seeing him, and hearing him talk, I felt wiser and to go to my dad’s office to wait before actually see- also peaceful. His visit has left a remarkable memory with ing him. I was desperate for the visit to start. As I waited, me. more and more cars arrived and I got more and more excited! I was surprised that there were so many cars just for him and his guards.

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When I finally got to see him, I had feelings I can’t really explain. It seemed as though everybody there had the same. It was strange to see so many people waiting just to see one person. I had to stay outside but my dad was fortunate enough to go in and he was actually only about a meter from him when he made his speech. He talked about always having faith. We were all blessed by the pope, which felt very special. The pope also blessed all the people in St Louis Hospital.

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The Princess’s Cup - Reflections of Student Equestrians QUALIFYING FOR THE THAI NATIONAL TEAM

Alissa Welser Y13I he Princess’s Cup is one of the most prestigious and biggest events for the equestrian community in Thailand, with international riders and judges attending the event. This event is my favorite competition to be a part of, as it holds honour to ride under HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakany. Over the past couple months, I have been trying to qualify for the Thai National Team to represent Thailand in the first ever upcoming Asian Championships in Pattaya jumping qualification rounds from 140-150cm. With the performance I had over the weekend, jumping the biggest class, I have officially qualified to represent my country along with three other very talented riders in the showjumping discipline. As the youngest competitor, I get to learn and experience the atmosphere of a big international competition with riders I look up to, the ability to train as well as compete with them enables me to try and perform the best I can. I will be jumping 140cm in the team events as well as 150cm in the individual events during the competition along with other Asian Nations that have flew their horses over to compete. I am very honoured and proud to be able to seize this opportunity and represent my country after a lot of hard work and determination put into training to achieve the spot on the team.

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COMPETING IN MEDIUM CLASS Nynn (Gor-Bua) Puttisombat, 8D competed in Medium Class, which was a very high level where there were Thai National Team members and international coaches competing together. It was nerve-wracking and scary because I was the youngest and wanted to do my best, if I didn’t I would regret it. I was really tense because throughout my riding journey I have faced many situations where I couldn’t handle the horse so I was cautious but by the end of the first day I placed fourth. The second day was the scariest as the horse I rode on that day was very cheeky and could suddenly buck and make the rider fall off. I was scared but chose to keep going for my teammates as I was also competing as part of a team. I ended up with one of the highest scores I’ve ever gotten and placed 2nd Individual and 1st as a team. Placing 2nd was actually pretty big for me as the horse that I rode, Golden Spirit, I’d only been riding a month.

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On the last day I already knew what I could have done better before so I tried gathering all the knowledge I had to make that test the best test I had done the whole week. I placed 3rd with less than 2 marks away from the 2nd and 1st winners. I was going against international coaches and even though I didn’t get first I still overtook many coaches and adult riders.

During the course of these few days I’ve learnt many things. I’ve learnt to appreciate whatever score I get because it counts as a milestone that I have passed. Another really important lesson I’ve learnt is that you don’t always have to be proud of what you’ve done because sometimes you’re already very honoured to be competing at whatever sport you are doing.

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All About Engineering Bridge Trusses Y

ear 11 student Mark Chan attended an engineering summer course with Oxford Scholastica Academy where he learned all about bridge engineering. Putting that to use, he wrote and published an article about bridge trusses and which was best in the Scholastica Journal of Engineering recently. Oxford Scholastica offers summer school courses for 12-18 year-olds from around the world with tutors at the cutting edge of their subjects, including Oxford and Cambridge University academics.

Check out Mark’s article here on Oxford Scholastica Journal of Engineering.

Aidan McDonagh The Puzzle of the Week features a new mathematics puzzle released every Monday and students have a week to answer. Do you know the answer?

Click here for this week’s puzzle!

Want to find the solution to last week’s puzzle?

Check here

Enter your solution here

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UNI COUNSELORS’ CORNER WORK EXPERIENCES:

Jack Kinsella, Year 12M

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or my work experience placement I worked at the law firm Baker & McKenzie for a week as an intern in the Intellectual Property group.

During the first day, I was tasked with doing general research on what intellectual property is and the different aspects, such as copyright and trademarks. This was necessary for my research task about the legal liability of Artificial Intelligence that took up the majority of the week. For this, I compiled information from a variety of different countries as there is no official worldwide framework in place yet due to the complexity of the topic. Although I had to read through countless documents and websites, I enjoyed the task and found it really interesting. Finally, on the last day I spent time writing cease and desist letters based on previous cases. On one of the days I was lucky enough to visit the Thai Central Intellectual Property and International Trade Court and the Department of Intellectual Property. It was interesting to see how the Thai courts are run even if I couldn’t understand what was being said as it was all conducted in Thai.

I learnt much about the work life of a lawyer from my time at the firm. What stands out the most is how intensive it can be. On most days the lawyers wouldn’t leave for a lunch break and would stay in the office working very late. As I was limited to intellectual property I would still like to gain more experience in other departments before settling on law, however my experience at Baker & McKenzie has definitely reassured me that work as a lawyer is a possible career path for me due to my enjoyment of the tasks and work style.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

National University of Singapore

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NUS has an overseas programme that gives business students the The main campus is located in the southwestern part of opportunity to Singapore,there is also a Faculty of Law and a School of live, study and Public Policy. Originally founded in 1905, it is the oldest work in an entrepreneurial hub. Participants take part in higher education institution in Singapore and ranks 25th courses in partner universities and work in start-ups in 12 on the Times Higher Education World University 2020 different locations. Notable alumni from NUS include rankings. The Yale-NUS liberal arts college was created former Prime Ministers Goh Chok Tong of Singapore, in collaboration with Yale University and the Duke-NUS Abdul Razak Hussein and Mahathir Mohammad of Medical School in collaboration with Duke University.

Malaysia and physicist Margaret Chan. he National University of Singapore is the first autonomous research university in Singapore and covers a wide range of disciplines including design and environment, the sciences, medicine and dentistry, computing and much more.

Upcoming University Visits UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE University of Sussex Savannah College of Art and Design University of Southampton University of Nottingham

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COUNTRY

UK USA UK UK

LOCATION

Second Floor Senior Studies Second Floor Senior Studies Second Floor Senior Studies Second Floor Senior Studies Bangkok Patana School News

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2.12.19 10.12.19 13.01.20 14.01.20

09.35 12.15 09.30 12.15 13

TRANSPORT CORNER

School Parking Management Rules W

e would like your help to ensure that the traffic management is working well for our community. Please be reminded for our school parking management rules:

1. Taxi Rank: Please do not pick up and drop off students from private vehicles at the taxi rank outside True Coffee. This makes it dangerous for people who are using taxis as they have to step into oncoming traffic in the second lane to get into their taxis.

2. Drop off or pick up is not allowed at Gate 7 (on Soi 39).

3. Vehicles driven by Bangkok Patana families should have a parking sticker affixed to the left-hand side of the front windshield. If you do not have stickers for your cars, please contact school reception desk or email reception@patana. ac.th. Our security guards will be looking for these stickers.

4. Please be cautious and courteous: Do not honk your horn or drive aggressively and be cautious when reversing. Always give way to pedestrians.

5. When exiting the vehicle, hold the hands of young children. Young children should not be moving around vehicles unaccompanied by an adult.

6. Follow the directions of the security team controlling the traffic. Our traffic procedures sometimes need to be adapted and only the security team has the authority to change traffic procedures.

7. Engines of parked cars cannot be left idling at school.

2019/20 Calendar Here

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Desert Island Discs With Sathita (Waree) Kitcharoenthumrong

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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 Sathita (Waree) Kitcharoenthumrong, Secondary General Librarian, is stuck on a desert island.

K WAREE, IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WHAT EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Perfect - Ed Sheeran Photograph - Ed Sheeran Lost Stars, A Step You Can’t Take Back - Keira Knightly A Way Back Into Love - Hugh Grant I’m Yours - Jason Mraz Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars I Lay My Love On You - Westlife

Listen to K Waree’s playlist here

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 WHICH ONE BOOK WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Little Women by Louisa Alcott Find out more on BBC. Have a list of your own? Let us know! Contact SHKN with your favourites.

Saturday 30th November - Ploenchit Fair

DATES

for your

Thursday 5th December - H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Birthday/Father’s Day Tuesday 10th December - House Athletics

11th December - Christmas Concert Diary... FridayWednesday 13th December - Whole School Christmas Assembly Saturday 14th December - Term 1 Break Begins

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STUDENTS SPEAK

Gut feelings: where do they come from?

Karnsiree (Ling Ling) Chen, 13I

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veryone’s experienced the influence of a “gut feeling” at some point in their lives: maybe you decided to bring an extra jacket on a sunny day in anticipation of a turn of weather or swerved your bike toward the right to avoid an upcoming rock. In the past, this phenomenon has been largely mystified and attributed to unknown processes. And as society has developed, many have left the ‘gut feeling’ as a tool of the past and tend to prefer more logical, analytical deductions. However, gut feelings may not be as emotionally dependent as they seem: in reality, they have a far more scientific explanation.

Gut feelings are a result of the sensory information we receive and process, which is digested by the brain for application to predictive ideas in everyday life. We compare incoming information and current surroundings with stored knowledge of past experiences in order to predict the best course of action for the task at hand. This is known as ‘predictive processing framework’ and is part of the quintessential human way of learning through experience.

This ensures that the brain is always as prepared to deal with the current situation as optimally as possible. When a mismatch between the predicted actions and reality occurs, the brain adapts quickly and efficiently, making a note of the new event to broaden your mental database- a process that happens both automatically and subconsciously. The gut feeling occurs when your brain has discovered a match/ mismatch but has not yet fully processed it within the realm of your conscious awareness. Think of it this way: the more experiences, the bigger the brain’s store of information and the more likely that it will be able to match the current experience with a relevant memory. Intuition can therefore improve with experience.

However, though intuition is scientific, this doesn’t necessarily mean that we should completely rely on our gut feelings.

Because intuition was a result of the evolutionary need for fast and automatic processing, it can fall prey to inherent cognitive bias. These are systematic errors in thinking, that can automatically occur.

Moreover, since quick thinking was necessary in archaic environments where survival was far more cutthroat, it may not always trump the products of analysis and subsequent solutions to the problem at hand. Gut feelings can also be primitive, a vestige of our ancestors strategies for survival. You may have experienced this when you have a craving for sweet and salty foods with a large amount of sugars and fats: back in hunter-gatherer times, stocking up on energy would have been a beneficial instinct.

The next time your intuition guides you to something- don’t ignore it completely and instead consider the reasons behind the fast-processing results. Have you experienced something similar in the past? Careful analyses of often overlooked behaviour may unveil aspects of behaviour that you’ve never consciously thought about!

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Turning an Extended Essay into an Academic Paper Anika Kothari, 13S

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ho is Much?

Much Tantipipatpong previously attended NIST International School Bangkok. He did the IB diploma where he wrote a Chemistry Extended Essay about the extraction of Bromelain from pineapple. Much has always been interested in finding sustainable ways of living for this reason he was the creator of Everleaves which was a project where he used pineapple waste and converted it into paper by creating fibre sheets.

The Interview: Anika: Hi, Much. How are you doing? I have heard that you managed to turn your chemistry Extended Essay into a science paper that is later getting published. Could you please tell me a bit more about that?

Much: Hi Anika, I’m doing well, thank you for asking. My science paper will soon be published in the Journal of Emerging Investigators, a Harvard University research journal that is dedicated to printing high school-level research.

Anika: How much effort did it take to turn your research into a science paper?

Much: To be completely honest, it did take quite a bit of effort. Firstly, one of the requirements of the Journal of Emerging Investigators was that the paper had to be original. To elaborate, the paper had to incorporate [original] data or findings.

But, before I get into that, let me explain to you what I did. My project was based on the extraction of bromelain from pineapples.

Anika: What exactly is Bromelain?

Much: Bromelain is a digestive enzyme that can be obtained from different parts of a pineapple. For instance, it can be obtained from the fruit itself or other pineapple-related waste (like pineapple leaves and stems). So, what I did in my research was to calculate the yield obtained from extracting these sort of enzymes from the pineapple waste. In my case, I was easily able to collect pineapple waste because my family personally runs a pineapple canning business that generates a lot of it.

Read all of Anika’s interview on Scientia here

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#139: Christmas Gift Idea?

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ach week our Primary Student Environmental Committee visit the classrooms to collect all of the batteries their peers (and staff) have placed in our battery recycling containers. Above right shows the batteries collected after just one week. I know in our household we get through a lot of batteries, especially for the remote controls of the aircon units. So, with Christmas just around the corner, why not use the time to gift a battery charger with a set of rechargeable batteries?

They may come in very handy for the presents Santa forgets the batteries to. I’ve tended to stick with the Panasonic eneloop pro batteries since they came with a charger, but there are other brands out there that I’m sure are just as good.

Have a nice weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

Brian Taylor is our resident technology pantomath (we call him a guru but he’s not keen on that word apparently!). The first Wednesday of every month you can find him in the PTG Room from 8:00 - 9:00am to answer any tech queries and offer advice and support on parenting in this digital age. Also keep your eyes peeled for his amazing parent workshops.

If you have something that can’t wait until 4th December, email him on brta@patana.ac.th.

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the m o r f t s The late

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PTG

Join the PTG Facebook page here!

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COMMUNITY

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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 24

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