Patana News Volume 22 Issue 9

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 18th October 2019

Volume 22 Issue 9

www.patana.ac.th

SUPPORTING STUDENT WELL-BEING IN SECONDARY Secondary Assistant Principal Lorna Conroy on Living a Happy and Fulfilled Life

Page 2 Page 2

Also in this issue...

Whale Watching/Varsity Boys’ Football Takes BISAC Title/Summitting Mount Kilimanjaro 18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

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

1

Supporting student well-being in Secondary Lorna Conroy, Secondary Assistant Principal, Student Welfare

S

upporting well-being is essential if our students are to grow to their full potential, to achieve academically, and develop the skills and attributes needed to live happy and fulfilled lives. It is central to our Mission and Vision at Bangkok Patana, and alongside Learning and Global Citizenship forms our three core values.

Definitions of well-being vary enormously, some have a very narrow focus, while others are so broad it’s hard to grasp the precise meaning. The definition I find most useful is that used by the World Health Organisation in their 2001 report ‘Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope’: ‘Wellbeing is present when a person realises their potential, is resilient in dealing with the normal stresses of their life, takes care of their physical well-being and has a sense of purpose, connection and belonging to the wider community.’

WHO 2001 The World Health Report 2001: Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope.

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL COUNSELLING In the weeks since term began, a range of events and developments have taken place with the aim to improve the way we support student well-being at Patana. One area that has experienced considerable change is the role of the social and emotional counselling team. Over the summer break the pre-existing counselling space was renovated to create two additional counselling rooms to accommodate the growing team of counsellors, and the adjacent area was remodelled to create The Hub. The Hub is an area completely devoted to supporting the well-being of the students, as well as other members of the Patana community. The two new full-time Secondary counsellors along with the two parttime counsellors have had a very busy start to the academic year. They have continued to provide the specialist oneto-one counselling sessions that a number of our students need, but in addition they have introduced a much broader provision, with the aim of supporting the well-being of the entire student body. The Hub is a place where all students can access support and guidance from the counselling team. At break and lunchtime each day any student can drop-in for a chat about their concerns, or just to have some quiet time away from the hustle and bustle of the student lounge.

The counselling team have also delivered a number of sessions to Year 11 students as part of the Tutorial Programme.

Students have learnt a range of strategies to help manage stress and anxiety, an important skill during this exam year.

These sessions have included an introduction to yoga, meditation and mindfulness. In a short period of time our new counselling team have made a significant impact on the well-being of secondary students and they have been a valuable source of support to many. Currently the counsellors are busy preparing for their first Parents’ Workshop that will take place in the Hub in early November, more information to follow.

THE TUTORIAL PROGRAMME A further area that has seen significant changes this year, with the aim of supporting student well-being, is the Tutorial 2

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019

Programme. It is built around three key themes that are revisited throughout the programme and centred around our core values.

In the weeks since the start of term every Year group has completed a range of activities designed to support their well-being.

Year 7 – Managing the transition to Secondary • Relationships: What makes a good friend? The importance of friendships, how they might develop and change over time.

• Emotional Health and how to manage it.

• Safeguarding: Where to access support in Secondary • Building resilience Year 8 - Safeguarding: Where to access support in • Positive online behaviour • Managing different emotions • Taking responsibility Year 9 • Social media use • Managing your emotional health • Perfectionism • Managing relationships (including peer pressure and resilience)

Year 10 • Managing the transition to iGCSE. • Coping with changing relationships • Peer pressure • Building resilience Year 11 - Stress management (mindfulness, meditation and yoga) • Coping with teenage anxiety • Self defence Year 12 • Managing the transition to IB • Time management and organisation • Nutrition and healthy exercise Year 13 • Life skills: cooking, sewing, budgeting

VISITING SPECIALISTS Staff at Patana are very experienced when it comes to supporting students through their time at school. However, we can all benefit from the specialist input of visiting presenters.

One major risk to the well-being of our students is the mis-use of different substances. This term we welcomed two specialists from FCD Prevention Works, Rodney and Morgan. They specialise in working with young people, educating them on the risks of alcohol, vaping and other drug use. Over the four days they were with us they worked closely with all individual tutor groups in Years 9 and 10 and presented to all students from Year 8 to Year 13. They visit on an annual basis so students in Year 7 will learn from their expertise next year.

Dick Moore’s recent visit to Bangkok Patana has, and will continue to have, an impact on the well-being of our students. During his time at school he spoke with students in Years 9 and 10 about mental health and the challenges faced by young people in their age group. He also presented to all students in Seniors, focusing on managing their mental health as they transition to university and how they can look after themselves as they become independent young adults. Dick also presented to parents with a record audience of over 300. Finally, he supported 13 Secondary teachers through the internationally recognised Mental Health First Aid course, thus enabling then to give additional support to the students.

So, a lot has happened since the start of the year and it is only October! Further developments and events will take place throughout the year, so please watch this space for updates and come along to the Parent’s workshop in The Hub on the 7th of November.

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

3

Thar She Blows! Year 13 Goes Whale Watching Alexander (Coke) Smith, Environmental Science Subject Leader

Y

ear 13 students from Alexander (Coke) Smith’s and Adrian Palmer’s Environmental Systems and Societies (ESS) classes spent time on 11th October on the Gulf of Thailand searching for and finding Thailand’s unique species of cetaceans, commonly known as Bryde’s Whales.

excess of 12 meters in length is truly an unmatched experience. This year there has been a great abundance of anchovies, the preferred food or our local whales, so seeing the whales’ amazing behaviours has been a regular event.

This expedition complimented the course content for ESS Our long day on the sea allowed us to experience the by showing students first hand an outstanding example of a habitat and behaviour of at least seven to eight individual local endangered species. Trophic (feeding) relationships whales. After a long sail over to the Petchaburi coast area, were observed in situ. Students also witnessed the we finally spotted many individuals feeding and playing in pressures humans have placed on this species and the their natural habitat. Students were amazed with the var- other creatures of the Gulf of Thailand. Plastic pollution ious behaviours observed while on their expedition. Be- was ever present on our voyage as were fishing vessels haviours such as “lunge feeding”, “trap feeding”, mating competing with the whales for food. For now, our whales behaviours and general play were observed and noted appear to be doing fine though. by our students.

As a teacher, I can find no greater professional satisfacMost people do not know that Thailand is home to its tion than to share with the next generation of stewards of own local resident population of Bryde’s whales and that our planet the beauty of a wild animal in its natural habitat. their behaviours, such as “trap feeding”, are unique to this And to have such an amazing show to impress the kids, I population. Students were amazed with the diversity of have no doubt that this day will be a high point for the rest sightings and close proximity of our sightings for the day. of their lives!

And to see such unique behaviour in animals that range in

4

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019

"It was an eye-opening experience, which has allowed me to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the environment."

Rebecca Leiler 13S “It was really interesting to be able to work closely with the team of experts as we were able to ask any questions about the whales we saw, making the trip even more worthwhile” Phoebe Vincent 13V

“WOW! I was simply mesmerised. What a privilege it was to witness one of the most amazing species on earth; the whale.”

Toby Mills

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

5

Dick Moore Speaks to Parents and Students on Youth Mental Health Shana Kongmun, Communications Coordinator

W

ell-known speaker Dick Moore paid a visit to Bangkok Patana School recently and his irreverent humour, easy manner and outgoing personality kept his audiences engaged and interested. Dick Moore is more than just an inspirational speaker, he is a concerned teacher, parent and former headmaster who realised that mental and emotional health and well-being was of paramount importance to students, teachers and yes, even parents.

We sat down with him to learn a little bit more about him and what keeps him going.

“When I was a Headmaster, I think I was good at seeing young people as individuals. I have always felt a certain empathy for young people. I spent most of my career as a teacher and headmaster wanting to be liked but I realised what is important is not me but that the young people feel liked and cared for by their teachers.

He added that he always knew adolescence was challenging, after all, we’ve all been there but he said having kids of his own made him realise it how much of a challenge it really was. Tragedy struck Mr Moore and his family when his son committed suicide, he said that his son’s death had an extra-ordinary and quite profound effect on him. He attended a mental health retreat where he said he learned so much that, had he known it before, he would have made a better father, teacher and head master.

He has taken those skills and expanded on them, using the Youth Mental Health First Aid course to get the word out.

“I get a huge amount of satisfaction making a difference in young people’s lives, having students feel they can come and talk to me, I see as such an unimaginable privilege that people can trust me.”

Mr Moore had some suggestions for students looking for ways to maintain healthy emotional well-being; • Keep a sense of humour and a sense of fun.

• Be able to smile even when things are dark.

• Ask for help, both boys and girls.

• Admit to the fact that we are all vulnerable and heed help; that asking for help is a sign of strength not weakness.

• Keep a realistic view of a threshold – keep your expectations, that having things doesn’t make you happy.

For parents he noted that they need to have red lines, for example no phones in the bedroom overnight.

However, he said, parents need to listen to their kids and their viewpoints. He also said it is important for parents to ask themselves “Who are your aspirations for? Are they for you, or for your children?”

Some key points for parents; • Praise more than pick.

• Communicate – your part is to keep lines of communication open.

• Compromise – parents should be willing to listen to their kids, compromise is not a dirty word.

• Be open and honest.

• Model that we aren’t all perfect, let your kids see that we can make mistakes.

• And remember, kids are not stupid!

6

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019

Year 7 student summits Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for charity

David Wheeler velyn Wheeler, now a Year 7 student at Bangkok Patana School, was living in Nigeria when she and her father decided to summit Mount Kilimanjaro over the summer. Their inspiration came when Evelyn saw a group of people wearing t-shirts that said ‘Mount Kilimanjaro’ at the airport and thought, yes this! They made the decision to use this opportunity to raise funds for SANDS – Stillborn and Natal Deaths. The main difficulty leading up to the trip was the training! Lagos in Nigeria and Bangkok are hardly the best locations for training to scale a 19,000+ foot mountain and while Evelyn and her father did a few walks on Koh Samet and walked all the time in the Hampshire hills when back in the UK they also spent quite a lot of time going up the 37 flights of stairs of the Bangkok Marriot Marquis. A special thanks to Simon Bell (General Manager of the Marriot and father of Michael and William Bell for allowing access). They flew from the UK to Tanzania for the trek and she started the climb with her father on 17th July. They took the Lomocho route, the longest way up the mountain; taking six nights up and one down, they found it much colder in the evening than they

E

had anticipated. Led by Monix Adventures, Evelyn and her father reached the summit at 5:05am on the 23rd of July after having been on the go for 24 hours. They decided not to wait for sunrise as the minus 13 temperatures and very gusty winds made for a decidedly difficult place to sit out and wait - and Evelyn’s fingers had started to swell.

It was so windy they thought they might be blown off! The trekking team were very impressed with how well Evelyn did on the climb especially as she had no mountaineering experience. She managed to call her mother and sister from the summit to tell them they had made it,which was a very moving experience.

Climbing back down saw another four hours added as they needed to make it to the next camp, however after making camp they slept a solid 10 hours after no sleep at all the night before. They both felt a loss of appetite from altitude sickness during the trek and after had a few blisters! Evelyn and her father raised just over £8,000 for charity. They believe she is the youngest English girl to ever summit Mount Kilimanjaro; the youngest person is only eight years old.

Tiny Tigers Playgroup Openings

Do you think your toddler, aged one year or older, might like to come along to our playgroup a couple of times a week? Our very popular Tiny Tigers playgroup may have some vacancies coming up soon.

If you would like to know more, please contact Mrs Geet Harris in the Admissions office at admissions@patana.ac.th or 02785 2206.

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

7

8

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019

Country Spotlight for International Day O

ver the last three weeks the PTG have set up tables in the Primary Snack Bar, Back Hard Court and the Secondary Lounge giving students a chance to learn more about different countries. Parents from India, China, Singapore and Germany gave demonstrations, teaching students how to play traditional games, bedazzle pictures, tie traditional knots and learn about the fall of the Berlin Wall and important German landmarks. The activiites have served to inspire students for International Day on 1st November.

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

9

Varsity Boys’ Football Takes the BISAC Title

Justin Jempson, Cross Campus Assistant Head Football Coach

A

dramatic afternoon at the Sports Complex ended with the Bangkok Patana Boys’ Varsity team winning BISAC for the second year in a row against NIST on 16th October. Bangkok Patana led at half time 1-0 after a confident first half performance. Shawn Richardson danced past two players before slamming the ball into the back of the net to claim the opening goal.

Shortly after half time the Tigers scored again. An excellent run down the right-hand side from Matt Murphy ended with a shot at goal which the goalkeeper parried. Shawn Richardson picked up the loose ball on the edge of the box and scored.

The tension at the Sports Complex ramped up when NIST scored twice (one of which in the final seconds) to take the game to extra time. Three excellent penalties however, from Shawn Richardson, Oddie Chaiworamukkul and Jeff Taylor, in the penalty shoot-out settled the match 3-2 in Bangkok Patana’s favour. The boys now look forward to SEASAC where they look to retain their gold medal from last year. Let’s go Tigers!

League Matches for Under 15 Touch Hang Ching J. Kanjanapas, 10G

O

n Thursday 17th October, Bangkok Patana’s Girls’ Under 15 Touch Rugby team played their last league match against Bangkok Prep and Shrewsbury(SHB) before BISAC on 2nd November.

We played Prep first and won 8-0; this was followed by our match with SHB which ended with a loss of 2-1. However, we all still played really well and we were really happy and proud of ourselves with these scores. During the game against Prep, we played really well and the only thing we could improve on is to remember to settle to one side.

Otherwise, it was a really well-played game. Additionally, for our match against SHB, two things to remember are to not backpedal and cover the gaps when someone is shooting. Overall, our attack was strong and our defence was just as strong and we played so well. This is our last league game before BISAC and I'm certain we'll do really well in that too. Go Tigers!!

10

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019

Girls’ Varsity Football BISAC ‘19: Road to the Finals Janelle de la Cruz, 11T he BISAC Cup was hosted by ICS on 6th October.

Our team was inspired and excited from finishing on top of our group. We all had the same goal and destination, the finals.

T

Our first game was against the home team (ICS). We started with multiple aggressive attacks, however the ball could not find the back of the net. We fought hard in the first half, continuously taking chances on goal. The goals scored by ICS were scored towards the end of the game.

We did not let the fact that we were 2-0 down discourage us too much, instead we kept on playing the Patana way.

Our resilience led us to score a goal, however the referee just blew the whistle just after. The game ended 2-1.

On Wednesday, we came back to ICS with our heads held up high, and were excited to be in the finals after about two years. Our team played against NIST, a team we had never played but we were motivated to do our best. Our team started off strong and had most of the possession of the ball. This led to a 1-0 lead after the first half.

However, in the second half NIST came at us hard. They were able to score a goal and the score stayed the same The second match of the day was against Shrewsbury. for the rest of the game. Both teams went into golden goal, It was an important match as we needed to win it in order where nobody scored. Penalties were next, and unfortuto get into the finals. Our team’s desire to reach the finals nately our team lost. BPS came in second at BISAC. this year helped us play significantly better. We started off Coming in second is a massive improvement for the Varstrong with a number of attacks and chances on goal. The team was determined to redeem ourselves and take one sity Girls’ team. Our team came in fourth at the BISAC of the two places in the finals. Our hard work paid off and prior to this one. Even though we may have not won, our our team won 3-0. Everyone felt proud of how the team team knows that we are truly improving not only individuplayed. The finals was unfortunately cancelled due to a ally but as a team as well. We will only come back stronglightning warning, although the game was rescheduled to er for next year’s BISAC. Go Tigers!

Wednesday (9th October).

Under 15 Touch Against NIST

Hang Ching J. Kanjanapas, 10G n Tuesday 15th October, the Girls’ Under 15 Touch team played a league match at home against NIST and won 4-2.

O

While waiting for them to arrive, we had time to warm up by practicing settles, loops, passing down a line and five metreplays which helped us during our match. During our game we did really well on communication, our defense and attack was pretty strong (especially in the first half). This helped us score a try in nearly the first 30 seconds! The only thing we all agreed that we could have done better was our settles as a lot of us didn't control our touches or settle to one side.

Even so, everyone played really well this game.

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

11

STUDENT REFLECTIONS; VISITING CHORAL DIRECTORS Year 8 and 9 joined together (to sing) with the one and only Mr Baker. Mr Baker visited so many schools and I think our school was his last one. We all had a nice laugh and more.

People danced and people finally memorised their parts before the big day. Mr Baker was an energetic man who likes a lot of songs.

He normally teaches high school students but for some reason, he was chosen for this Choral Festival. He chose all the songs and I think everyone agrees with his choices. He also introduced us to his wonderful wife Mrs Baker and she actually teaches middle school students. The Choral Festival is a great place to meet and learn new things.

Ben Jennings-Chick, 9W

We worked on sections we found challenging (with the visiting director); changes in the music and pronunciation as well as on our different parts and how we all sounded together. He taught in ways that were attention grabbing and kept everyone focused, all while making it entertaining. It was a great decision to have the conductor come in as we now feel more prepared and we know more about the songs we will sing, as well as having enjoyed ourselves a lot.

This was fantastic to be involved in and I hope we do something like this again soon.

Clara Kelsey, 9T

TED A D UP

9!!

201 E UN

J

2019/20 Calendar Here

12

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

13

UNI COUNSELORS’ CORNER

ALUMNI EXPERIENCES: Riki Matsumoto ‘13

M

y favourite memories of Bangkok Patana are hanging out with my friends during lunch time!

Also I spent an inordinate amount of time in the pool. I was incredibly privileged to have received the kind of education and experience that Bangkok Patana offers. Not only did I receive an excellent education, I ended up with an enduring sense of curiosity and desire for learning. I’d say it’s very hard to quantify or measure the causal impact of a Bangkok Patana education, but it was a life shaping experience for sure. I also spent a ton of time in Primary School reading in the Library, so shout out to the Library!

I earned a BA in International Affairs and a BS in Economics from George Washington University and graduated in 2018. Currently I am a Research Associate at the Yale Program on Financial Stability. I research case studies of specific government policy interventions during financial and banking crises.

Can you tell us a bit about your journey to this current position? For sure! I took an All Nippon Airline flight from Bangkok to Tokyo, then from Tokyo to Washington, D.C. At this point I would like to note that Dulles International Airport by D.C. is surprisingly mediocre (relative to say Suvarnabhumi Airport) for a country with $59,532 per capita GDP. After four years in D.C., I took the Amtrak (for those not living in the USA, it’s like a generally slower and less re-

liable, but continent-wide version of the Bangkok Metro Skytrain?) to New Haven, Connecticut.

I’m a big fan of running and cross-fit now, since I don’t have regular access to a swimming pool. I’m also very passionate about using R to write data-driven articles on classic topics such as detecting seasonality in Afghan conflict statistics or identifying the impact of conflict on financial markets using Ukraine as a case study.

Finally, I am a bandwagon casual observer of the Brexit crisis in the UK, with a tiny sense of schadenfreude which will inevitably come around to bite me (because karma).

In ten years time I would like to be on my phone, watching a complete overhaul of traditional economic growth models across the world such that we limit anthropogenic global heating to 1.5C (or more likely 2C) above pre-industrial levels. Otherwise we will have a climate catastrophe. ~Thank you for coming to my Ted talk~.

CLICK TO READ THE LATEST CAREERS NEWSLETTER

Upcoming University Visits UNIVERSITY / COLLEGE

COUNTRY

University Fair Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Jagiellonian University Savannah College of Art and Design

14

Ireland Poland USA

Bangkok Patana School News

LOCATION

DATE

TIME

Secondary Lounge

31.10.19

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor Senior Studies, 2nd Floor The St Regis, 189 Ratchadamri Road

1.11.19 4.11.19

7:459:30 12:15 9:15

10.11.19

14.00

18/10/2019

IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

Jagiellonian University, Poland Visiting Bangkok Patana on 4th November is Jagiellonian University; set in the heart of historic Krakow and founded in 1364, it is not only the oldest university in Poland but one of the oldest surviving continuously operating universities in the world. While the main language of instruction is Polish, several degrees are offered in German and English. Jagiellonian, or the University of Krakow as it is also known, is considered Poland’s most reputable institution of higher learning. The storied university has undergone many changes and upheavals, from the takeover of Krakow by the Austrian Empire to Nazi occupation, the establishment of a Communist government and finally Poland throwing off its Communist government in 1991 and entry in to the European Union in 2004.

The University has many international partnerships, especially with Heidelberg University where the two Law Faculties are closely linked. In the English-speaking world, the Jagiellonian University has international partnerships with the University of Cambridge, the University of Melbourne, the University of Chicago, and the University of California, Los Angeles. In the French-speaking world, partners include the Sorbonne, and the University of Montpellier. Other cooperation agreements exist with Charles University Prague, the University of Vienna,

the University of Tokyo, Saint Pe t e r s b u r g State University, the Technical University of Munich, and the Free University of Berlin. In fact, Jagellionian offers specialisations in German law.

Jagiellonian has over 3,000 international students out of a total 42,000 and ranks 51st on the US News and World Report Global Index. Famous alumni include Nicolas Copernicus, the astronomer who revolutionised science in the 1500s by placing the Sun at the centre of the Universe rather than Earth. More recent alumni include Pope John Paul II and and Nobel laureates Ivo Andrić and Wisława Szymborska, both winners of the Nobel prize in Literature.

University Fair 31ST OCTOBER 7:45 AM - 9:30 AM THE LOUNGE OVER 80 UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES FROM THE UK, AUSTRALIA, IRELAND, THAILAND AND MORE

CONTACT ANHA@PATANA.AC.TH FOR MORE INFORMATION

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

15

(I)GCSE Exams in Home or Foreign Languages If your child studies a language outside of school, either a Home Language or a Foreign Language, and would like to consider taking an (I) GCSE exam in that language this academic year, email Celine Courenq, Head of Faculty World Languages at ceco@patana.ac.th before the 28th November and include: • Student’s full name • His/her tutor group • Language they wish to be entered for • Syllabus code of the exam. For example; Cambridge IGCSE Chinese - Second Language (0523).

How to Be an Exceptional Sports Parent WEDNESDAY 30TH OCTOBER CON-420 3:00—4:30pm

This workshop with Lynn Kachmarik will explore trends in Youth Sports (including the impact of technology) and how best to support your student-athlete as they navigate their academic and sporting careers. Lynn is a dynamic and experienced speaker with plenty of real life examples to share. Light refreshments will be served.

Sign up here!

Lynn Kachmarik CEO True Brand Sports NCAA Div I Head Coach (Water polo) Bucknell University Athletic Director St Mary’s College

16

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019

Desert Island Discs With Matt Baker

T

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 Mr Matt Baker, Head of Science Faculty, is stuck on a desert island.

MR BAKER, IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WHAT EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Jurassic 5 – Concrete Schoolyard Marlena Shaw – California Soul Intense – Eastern Promise Miles Davis – So What?

Technimatic – Looking for Diversion VIP Maculate | Aretha Franklin - Respect (Sol Rising Funky Bass Remix) Check out Mr Baker’s Spotify list here

Happy Mondays – Step On Motörhead - Ace of Spades

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 mask and snorkel WHICH ONE BOOK WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein Find out more on BBC. Have a list of your own? Let us know! Contact SHKN with your favourites

DATES

for your

Monday 21st October - Half-term Holidays Begin Friday 1st November - International Day Friday 8th November - Patana Plugged

Diary... Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st November - Primary Musical - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

17

STUDENTS SPEAK

Has Modern Life Changed our Bones?

Karnsiree (Ling Ling) Chen, 13I There have been numerous cases where adaptations have made their presence known, much to the amazement of scientists. In 1939, the skeleton of a goat who was missing a left front leg and had a severely deformed right leg was observed to have thicker hip and leg bones, stretched out ankle bones and angled toes and hips. This was eye-opening evidence that bones were not fixed like we previously understood, but in fact malleable and not programmed by our genetics from the moment of conception. The goat had improvised a special way of getting around, which involved adopting a half-upright posture and jumping. This maneuver resembled the locomotion of a hare or a kangaroo, causing changes in the bone structure of the goat, making it so that it began to resemble a hopping animal at the time of its death. Today, we know almost objectively, that skeletons are relatively malleable and made up of living blood vessels which are constantly building and breaking down. Our bones are bespoke for the unique living conditions we face.

meant that this is a problem. Our necks must strain to hold our heads in this position, causing pain. Shahar, the man in charge of the spike bone investigation, believes that the spikes developed because the hunched posture creates extra pressure on the place where the neck muscles attach to the skull – and the body responds by laying down fresh layers of bone. These help the skull to cope with the extra stress, by spreading the weight over a wider area. Interestingly, the strong men from the Mariana islands also tend to have growths on their skulls. They are thought to have developed for a similar reason – to support their powerful neck and shoulder muscles.

On the other side of the world, in Germany, scientists have discovered yet another shocking development: our elbows are shrinking and with it, our skeletons. The team found a strong link between how robust the children’s skeletons were and the amount of walking they were doing.

Every time we use our muscles, we increase the bone mass supporting them by building more bone tissue. Shrinking Similarly, the mystery of the “strong men” of Guam and bones appear to be a direct result of a more sedentary the Mariana Islands puzzled scientists for decades after lifestyle where we are less active than our hunter gatherer the discovery of a male skeleton on the island of Tinian. ancestors.

The man’s skull, arm bones, collarbones, and the bones Another curious finding involves jaws. Early human skulls of his lower legs suggested that he had been immensely strong and unusually tall. As other graves were discov- had much larger jaws, largely due to the prevalence of ered, it was discovered that Tinian and surrounding islands hunter gatherer societies and a diet consisting of tougher had exceptionally brawny men. Gradually, a conclusion foods from a young age. In the modern age of processed dawned upon the team of researchers after inspecting the food, we are exposed to much smoother consistencies remains near the bodies. They lived in stone houses and and therefore don’t have to work as hard as we once did built with stone rocks, constructing a livelihood out of the to chew food. This change means we’re much more likely hard labour in masonry. The mystery was not one of super- to suffer from dental problems – dental crowding, crooknaturally gigantic men, but a result of evolution, achieved ed teeth, etc.,” through hard work.

Future scientists In regards to modern adaptations, one of the most wide- may examine our ly known is the spike-like feature, also known as the “exter- bones with the nal occipital protuberance” found at the lower back of the same awe as we skull, just above the neck. Scientists discovered this feature viewed our anwas much more prevalent in the youngest age group test- cestors, holding ed, and therefore began to attribute to the smartphone ex- in their hands the plosion that has come with modern technology. When we key to unlocking hunch over them, we crane our necks and hold our heads the mysteries of the forward. The weight of our heads (around 4.5 kg) has human body.

18

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019

How do Polaroids Work?

Priya Shah, 12C

R

ecently I was gifted a Polaroid from my friends (which I now absolutely cherish), but I found myself curious as to how exactly the camera may work, the mechanism behind the slow development of an image on the iconic Polaroid film.

Whilst researching, I found that understanding the way a black and white film camera works is necessary to understand the mechanism in which a colour polaroid works (understandable as this was the initial invention). I shall try to explain this to the best of my understanding.

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY To start off, one should know about the film in the Polaroid camera. In black and white film, you ave a top layer of plastic and a light sensitive layer. This light sensitive layer is made of silver halides (for example silver bromide) which react and decompose when exposed to light (essentially it breaks down into silver and halogen ions). This means that silver atoms form in the areas exposed to light, making the image darker.

Now, for the part where the image is shot, and its development. When the shutter of a camera opens, light enters the camera and hits the film creating a map of the image. The shutter only opens for a fraction of a second to ensure that it capture (more or less) a frozen picture. The areas of the scene where there is more light exposure will be darker on the film, whilst the areas with less light will be lighter. This is as more silver atoms are formed where there is more light hitting, and the accumulation of metallic silver atoms will render that part darker. This forms an inverted image known as a negative image: the areas which should be light are dark, and the areas that should be dark are light. This would be seen as the step between the first and second image below.

To generate the positive Black and White image, one would simply need to expose the negative black and white image to light again: the dark areas would not have as much light exposure, whereas the light areas would have less exposure. Thus silver atoms would accumulate at the now light areas, which were the initial dark areas and vice versa.

It’s kind of like a reverse UNO card.

So, the mechanism in which black and white film works is just some basic chemistry: the decomposition of silver halide atoms to silver and the halogen. Next is Colour Photography....

Read more on Scientia

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

19

#134: Lock it Tight Brian Taylor, Cross Campus Assistant Principal

I

’ve written before about useful features in the Apple and Android operating systems that allow you to find your device when you’ve misplaced them. However, for a Windows laptop it’s a little more difficult. That’s where this free tool comes in handy. Like similar recovery solutions, LockItTight runs a small background client that stays more or less dormant until activated remotely. In other words, if you sign into your account from another PC, you can see your lost or stolen laptop’s location on a map and get alerted when it goes in and out of designated zones. You can also capture a screenshot, webcam photo, keystroke log, browser history and so on.

Obviously, all of this is based on your laptop being connected to the internet. If a thief merely fences the system without first turning it on and connecting to Wi-Fi, LockItTight probably won’t do you any good. Similarly, if you password-protect your laptop, which you should, there’s little chance it can connect to Wi-Fi to report its location. Notwithstanding this, I do think it’s worth having though, because without it, your chances of recovery are much closer to zero.

Enjoy the half term break!

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration Links in this article: https://www.cnet.com/how-to/use-the-new-find-my-app-to-hunt-down-your-friends-and-your-iphone/ https://www.cnet.com/how-to/this-is-how-you-get-your-lost-or-stolen-android-phone-back-fast/ https://www.lockittight.com/ Brian 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 6th November, email him on brta@patana.ac.th

20

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

21

the m o r f t s The late

22

PTG

Bangkok Patana School News

Join the PTG Facebook page here!

18/10/2019

COMMUNITY

Neilson Hays Library Autumn Book Sale Saturday 2nd November Sunday 3rd November 9.30 - 4 pm Library Courtyard

There is a number of beautiful books already donated for the sale, including; recent issue thriller books, a large number of Thai language titles and a range of new and read children books. Additionally, there are a number of bound copies of the boxing magazine 'The Ring' from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Donate Your Books!

Books can be donated into the Library from Tuesday - Sunday from 9.30 am to 5 pm. Any book donations would be gratefully received. Please contact the library on 02 233 1731 or info@neilsonhayslibrary.org for more information.

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

23

24

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019

18/10/2019

Bangkok Patana School News

25

For daily updates, snapshots and news on life at school you can find us here...

643 Lasalle Road (Sukhumvit 105) Bangna Tai, Bangna, Bangkok 10260 THAILAND Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Fax: +66 (0) 2785 2399 www.patana.ac.th Email: reception@patana.ac.th 26

Bangkok Patana School News

18/10/2019