Term 1 Magazine December 2018

The Termly Magazine of Bangkok Patana School

Bangkok Patana

Magazine

Issue 56 Term 1, December 2018

Learning

Robots in Competition

Well-Being

Academies – Long Term Vision

Global Citizenship Student Design Council

Bangkok Patana School is an IB World School, accredited by CIS and NEASC

LEARNING

CONTENTS

Issue 56, Term 1, December 2018 戀礀 䈀䤀䐀䌀

Learning

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Hybrid Teachers for Hybrid Learners Supporting Our Teachers to Engage in Further Study Robots in Competition Along Came The “Surfing Scientist” Arriving on a Cloud of Liquid Nitrogen

吀栀攀 䐀攀渀琀愀氀 倀爀漀昀攀猀猀椀漀渀愀氀猀

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䌀漀猀洀攀琀椀挀 䐀攀渀琀愀氀

Well-being

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New Academies and the Long Term Vision Stretch and Challenge Life Beyond the Classroom

24 䤀渀瘀椀猀椀戀氀攀 伀爀琀栀漀搀漀渀琀椀挀猀 16

䌀漀猀洀攀琀椀挀 伀爀琀栀漀搀漀渀琀椀挀

Global Citizenship

12 24 26

The Design Council Alumni Stories: Life after Patana Inter-School Alumni Networking Event

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∠ 䈀愀渀最欀漀欀 䤀渀琀攀爀渀愀琀椀漀渀愀氀 䐀攀渀琀愀氀 䌀攀渀琀攀爀 ∠ 䐀攀渀琀愀氀 匀椀最渀愀琀甀爀攀 愀琀 倀愀爀愀最漀渀 ∠ 䐀攀渀琀愀氀 匀椀最渀愀琀甀爀攀 愀琀 䔀洀儀甀愀爀琀椀攀爀 ∠ 䐀攀渀琀愀氀 匀椀最渀愀琀甀爀攀 愀琀 䌀攀渀琀爀愀氀 䔀愀猀琀 嘀椀氀氀攀

匀挀愀渀 昀漀爀 倀愀琀愀渀愀 匀琀愀昀昀 ☀ 䘀愀洀椀氀礀 匀瀀攀挀椀愀氀猀

Front cover photograph taken by Aiko Saeki, Year 11

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㈀ ㌀ 㘀㌀㈀㈀

眀眀眀⸀䐀攀渀琀愀氀匀椀最渀愀琀甀爀攀⸀挀漀洀

L ELAORBNAI LN C G GI T I Z E N S H I P

FOREWORD I

t is a rare kind of learning that moves smoothly and rapidly from ignorance to comprehension, from clumsiness to expertise. Learning often involves a period of “not knowing”, a process of struggle, taking the time to take stock and reflect and then go back and try again. In short, any learning that is truly worthwhile takes commitment and effort.

How, then, are we making this visible to children, demystifying the process of learning and giving children permission to make mistakes and learn from them, positively seek out and take on feedback and truly relish the struggle of learning?

As adults we can model the process of learning. What are you learning at the moment?

What have you learned in the past? Talk to children about your challenges as a learner – your ups and downs, pits and falls, how you feel when something falls into place and when it is frustrating and you just can’t get it.

This will enable children to see learning as a lifelong process and to feel encouraged to take on learning struggles of their own.

Learning at Bangkok Patana is endlessly challenging, open-ended and inspiring. In my first weeks as a newcomer, I have had the joy of seeing children actively live and enjoy the process of learning. In Year 1, where I am based, children have spent time developing, reflecting on and improving their learning, from making storyboards that have evolved into imaginative and elaborate

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

stories to models that have transformed from a few cardboard boxes into detailed and well-thought out cars, rockets and computers (to mention but a few!). All of this learning has involved the children using their imaginations, taking the time to plan and reflect on their learning, be resilient to unforeseen challenges and be relentlessly committed to producing the best finished product they can.

By talking through the process of their learning and actively seeking out challenge, they have truly created something original and of value. Within this issue you will have the chance to read about creating stretch and

Editor: Rebecca Meadows Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Email: reme@patana.ac.th Advertisement: Finn Balslev Tel: +66 (0) 2943 7166-8 Email: finn@scandmedia.com

challenge in the classroom environment. You will also have the chance to read about what can spark this kind of imaginative and meaningful learning, when we explore our visit from scientist, Reuben Meerman.

It’s a privilege and a duty for us as teachers and parents to engage in the process of our children’s learning; to nurture it, encourage it and revel in the process of it. Within the pages of this magazine are some things to take home with you to understand and be part of the learning process at Bangkok Patana.

Enjoy! – Rebecca Carlzon, Year 1 Teacher

Design & Production: Scand-Media Corp., Ltd. Tel: +66 (0) 2943 7166-8 Fax: +66 (0) 2943 7169 www.scandmedia.com

Bangkok Patana Magazine is the termly publication of Bangkok Patana School published three times per year and distributed to 2,000 members of the School community. Reproduction of articles, artwork and illustrations by written permission only.

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LEARNING

HYBRID TEACHERS FOR HYBRID LEARNERS Jason Cooper, Primary School Principal

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verywhere we look, we see Artificial Intelligence (AI) being used to enhance our lives. Our email inboxes are free from SPAM thanks to AI filtering incoming messages. The medical profession is using AI to interpret scans and detect cancer with more accuracy and consistency than human doctors can. The finance industry relies heavily on algorithms to analyse people’s financial situations and determine the most appropriate strategy for creating future wealth. The transport industry is on the precipice of being completely transformed by the incorporation of self-driving vehicles that rely on AI to drive further, safer, and more consistently than humans can. One area where we do not see the power of AI being incorporated yet is education.

When we read about AI in the media, it is often linked to a future jobs market where humans are replaced by machines. The real power of AI, and the future of education, lies in AI working with, rather than instead of, humans. The examples above from the

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medical profession, finance industry, as well the transport industry all involve AI and humans working together to reach a level of consistency and efficiency that neither one could achieve on its own. While AI is better at playing chess than any human, it is no match for a human-AI hybrid player. This hybrid or ‘human in the loop’ approach will help us to realise the full potential of AI across all industries, including education.

Our students are already hybrid learners, utilising a range of tools and platforms to engage in a knowledge economy beyond the walls and timetables of Bangkok Patana. They access their learning at times that are convenient for them, in ways that suit their personal preferences, making the most of their human teachers by supplementing them with online resources. With the help of AI we have the opportunity to capitalise on our students’ intrinsic motivation to learn anywhere, anytime, through the provision of 1:1 AI mentors that utilise the data analysis power of AI to provide real-time accurate

information on the student’s learning and which strategies and resources are having the most impact.

Imagine an individual mentor, a Siri or Alexa if you will, or a virtual mentor that you can see like Magic Leap’s “Mica”, that engages with students and leads them through a learning journey that is anchored to prescribed standards. For example, picture a student saying, “Alexa, let’s do some simultaneous equations.” Alexa responds by accessing the student’s learning journey and picking up where they last left off, providing a range of engaging and challenging tasks designed to consolidate the understanding and application of the skills or standards currently being worked on. In the background AI is busily working to analyse student responses, using these responses to determine the next step in the student’s learning, then providing resources and tasks to ensure the student’s proficiency in any given standard.

Students will be guided to move forward or revisit concepts based on the information

Bangkok Patana Magazine

Source: https://apttus.com/blog/artificial-intelligence-works-intelligent-enterprise/

they provide through completing the tasks.

This information can be provided to the class teacher in real time, enabling the human teacher to enhance the learning when they come to class by engaging the students in four of the top five ‘Most In-Demand Skills of 2020’ according to the World Economic Forum – creativity, complex problem solving, collaboration and critical thinking (Future of Jobs Report, World Economic Forum: 2016).

The more an individual uses the AI Mentor, the more the Mentor learns about the student and the more accurately it is able to tailor the learning experience. At the same time, individual data could be used to contribute to a worldwide education Big Data picture, enabling trends and patterns to reveal themselves, showing which resources and teaching strategies are having the most impact on student learning. Think John Hattie on steroids, and in real time.

AI also needs to be in the curriculum, not just teaching it. Our students should be engaging in philosophical and ethical discussions about how we use AI, as well as what a future with AI should involve. Exploring questions like, ‘How much privacy are you willing to sacrifice for convenience?’, or ‘Can the human race continue to progress without AI?’ will help our students to understand both sides of the AI argument, while positioning them to be able to make informed decisions.

The teachers of the future will be those who are willing to embrace and work with AI

Source: https://open-organization.com/en/2017/03/07/how-kodak-missed-the-turn/

“The fact is, it isn’t going to be long before the businesses that have failed to embrace this new technology are going to be left behind.” – Terence Mills, AI Pioneer Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/07/31/ eight-ways-big-data-and-ai-are-changing-the-business-world/#5ed9dbe645b6

to provide a wider range of learning opportunities than either a human or AI can provide on their own. Our hybrid learners deserve

hybrid teachers, and schools that fail to prepare for and embrace this future risk going the way of Kodak and Nokia.

TERM 1 – 2018/19

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WELL-BEING

NEW ACADEMIES AND THE LONG TERM VISION Cindy Adair, Cross Campus Assistant Principal Extra-curricular Activities and Sports

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angkok Patana School has a proud sporting tradition, the heart of which is our year-long academy programmes.

Our Swimming, Gymnastics and Tennis Academies pride themselves on creating an environment where success is inevitable.

Highly qualified coaching staff with a passion for their sport, a comprehensive year-round schedule of age-appropriate competitive exposure and fun, engaging training sessions are the hallmarks of these year-round programmes. This systematic approach has resulted in consistently high results at BISAC, SEASAC and FOBISIA over the past 10 years. The standard of training and performance from these students is on a par with high performance club programmes in many of their home countries.

In 2018/19 we have added two further programmes to our suite of Academies – Football and Dance and Drama. The extracurricular programmes we have had in place for both Football and

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Dance and Drama in the past had reached a tipping point in terms of participation numbers and our data showed great demand for a programme which offered year-long provision for both recreational participation, but also a pathway to high performance.

Over the coming months and years, we plan to build strong and robust year-long programmes with the following features: - Recreational groups which introduce young learners to Dance, Drama and Football.

- Selective groups which allow students to train and develop their skills alongside peers of a similar standard.

- A comprehensive schedule of age-appropriate competitions and performance opportunities.

- Fun and engaging holiday camps with visiting coaches and artists in residence to inspire our students.

Bangkok Patana Magazine

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour...”

– John Heywood - Regular feedback for parents and students, which incorporates target setting and mirrors what we do in the academic setting.

- Development of a highly professional team of staff to support each and every child’s Football or Dance and Drama learning journey with passion and expertise.

As with any new programme this will take time and there will be hurdles along the way. We are certain that our two new Head Coaches, Ms Tamara Spalding and Mr Mark Potter are absolutely the right people to steer us through this all-important start-up phase of our Academies. Both bring a wealth of industry experience to their roles and 10+ years of teaching experience.

In Block 1 (August - November), our focus has been on providing a high-quality induction for our Head Coaches and introducing them to our community. Both programmes have offered a variety of “soft start” activities which have been heavily over-subscribed, something we are treating as encouraging.

As we move into Block 2 and beyond, we will continue to recruit a team of staff to work alongside Tammy and Mark allowing us to

offer an ever-expanding range of classes to suit the needs of each and every student at Bangkok Patana. Thank you in advance for your patience during this transition phase as we assess our existing programmes and adapt or change them to fit this new model.

Phase I - 6 months/2 Blocks - Induction of Head Coaches - Assessment of current programmes - Soft start activities Phase II - 4 - 18 months - Official launch - Recruitment of Assistant Coaches - Gradual roll-out of the full provision with a focus on building a strong base of young learners - Realignment of programmes offered in the past via the ECA programme Phase III - 19 - 36 months - Ongoing development and quality control of our provision - Expectation to see improvement in our performance on the pitch and the stage

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L ELAORBNAI LN C G GI T I Z E N S H I P

THE DESIGN COUNCIL Richard Smith, Head of Secondary Design and Technology Faculty

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e would like to introduce the new student Design Council to the Bangkok Patana community. The Design Council has been formed by senior students who share a passion for innovation and design-orientated problem solving which encompasses the use of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

The Design Council is run by Year 13 students and is open to students from Year 7 upwards through the ECA programme. The aim of the council is to create a better school environment and contribute to the wider community by identifying design opportunities and generating smart solutions by encouraging the sharing of knowledge and understanding across subject areas where teamwork is paramount. The overall focus is Sustainable Innovation and Socially Responsible Design.

The Design Council’s first assignment is working in partnership with Thailand Friendly Design: A government backed media-based initiative that promotes awareness for products and services that support disabled people and the elderly in Thailand, with an emphasis on “Access for All”. In collaboration with Thailand Friendly Design, the Design Council has hosted the Junior Friendly Design Competition. On Monday 8th October, representatives from Thailand Friendly Design presented to a group of design students in 12

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The Design Council: Anunay Mehta, Jin Ju Lee, Zahra Poonevala and Thanadol Thanunmanee

the Design and Technology department and launched the project. The launch included games that helped students in attendance to better understand what it is like to have a disability.

The competition was open to all students in the Secondary School with Thailand Friendly Design judging the submissions.

Contestants were expected to generate design proposals to help improve the quality of

life for wheelchair-users and the elderly. The ten best design proposals were showcased at the Thailand Friendly Design Expo at the IMPACT Convention Centre on 1st December.

The participants were also given the chance to present their design at the Expo, which had television coverage on Nation TV. Large national corporations, such as PTT and SCG, were also in attendance at the expo. By the time this magazine goes to print, the winner

Bangkok Patana Magazine

will have been chosen and you can read more about the competition and Thailand Friendly Design on the Design Council page on the Design and Technology Firefly page.

This competition and working with the Design Council is a great opportunity for students to become involved in Socially Responsible Design as well as being excellent preparation to work at IB level. This was a great opportunity to get younger students involved in a national competition and promote the launch of the Design Council at the same time.

The team believe that it is important that the Design Council is globally engaged in order to gain understanding of real-world design-based issues. In turn it will be their responsibility to share this awareness with the younger students. As IB Diploma students, they understand the importance of sustainable design issues and are also working on socially responsible, user-centred design assignments. Through their combined experience across multiple subject areas, they feel that they can direct younger students towards a way of thinking that considers and cares for the present whilst looking towards the future.

The products the council will be designing and manufacturing will be sustainable design solutions that have minimal impact on the environment. One of the first problems they are planning to address is the use of tissue paper in the canteen.

Currently, a knife acts as a weight on napkins to prevent them from being blown off the table by the overhead fans. Even though the knife performs the desired function, it isn’t a safe or good solution. The Design Council aims is to resolve simple problems in the school environment and by doing so make it a better place. The team have many ideas for short design and make assignments and some long-term ideas i.e. plastic recycling.

The Design Council’s overall longterm aim is to develop awareness for the

importance of solving problems through design amongst students at Bangkok Patana School: The importance of sustainable consideration when designing, the true value of empathy when designing for other people, the importance of bringing subjects and students together with different interests, working as a team, and learning from each other. “We hope to instil leadership qualities in younger students. We want the Design Council to be a medium through which students celebrate their interests in problem solving and designing. We want to leave a legacy for other students to follow when we have moved on.”

For further information on how you can get involved with the Bangkok Patana Design Council, please contact anme19@patana. ac.th or rism@patana.ac.th TERM 1 – 2018/19

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LEARNING

SUPPORTING OUR TEACHERS TO ENGAGE IN FURTHER STUDY Katherine Hume, Cross Campus Assistant Principal for Continued Professional Learning

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xcellence in the classroom requires the very best training.

We know from research that further study is important, not only for raising the status and professionalism of teaching, but also in supporting colleagues to become better teachers and school leaders.

Further study through accredited qualifications such as Master’s degrees, or the NPQ (National Professional Qualifications) programmes for leadership, really do have a transformational impact on teachers, their colleagues, their students and their schools. At Bangkok Patana, we proactively and strategically encourage and support our teachers and leaders to

engage in further study.

Over the past five years, we have established links with the University of Bath in the UK and we now run a regional study centre twice a year for colleagues to undertake Masters units here at Bangkok Patana. More recently, we have collaborated with the Institute of Education at the University College London (UCL), to facilitate the NPQ programmes for Middle Leaders and Senior Leaders, as well as supporting aspiring leaders through the Early/Developing and Widening Leadership programmes.

I would like to introduce you to three colleagues who have recently, successfully completed courses in further study.

Primary EAL teacher, Claire Myers recently completed her Masters degree I recently completed an MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) through the University of Portsmouth in the UK. The three-year course involved elements of language analysis; scrutinising classroom practice, both past and present; as well as reading and conducting research into key areas of linguistics. This research centred around frequently debated areas, such as ‘When is the optimal age to learn a second language?’ or ‘Is there an elite variety of the English language?’ I learned a great deal from each module, particularly those areas that lack consensus and were passionately ‘discussed’ in the existing research.

My classroom practice has improved as a result of the course as I developed greater understanding of how children learn a second or third language, the impact their first language has upon this and other factors that can affect the process. Students who are new to English when arriving at Bangkok Patana are highly motivated to learn because all interactions at school, including making and maintaining friendships, require an understanding of the common language: English. It is often this motivation that explains their rapid progress. However, certain other factors play a major role in how rapid this progress is and, more importantly, how successfully this process occurs. These include the strength of the student’s home language, the structure of their 14

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home language and how similar/different it is to English, or the student’s personality and how willing they are to have a go and make mistakes, to name a few.

My goal is to develop each student’s language proficiency to enable them to fully access the curriculum. This involves providing in-class support, using carefully designed resources that aid understanding and extend language, as well as focusing on specific linguistic areas of difficulty during extra English sessions.

Finally, it is my job to celebrate the success of our student linguists and remind them how amazing their bilingualism really is!

Bangkok Patana Magazine

Helen Berghuis, Head of the Secondary Humanities Faculty completed her NPQSL Two years ago, I embarked on the National Professional Qualification of Senior Leadership (NPQSL) offered by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL), in collaboration with University College of London (UCL). The program consisted of four workshop days facilitated by Senior Leaders from Bangkok Patana and schools from around the region, and the leadership of a schoolwide project.

The focus of the project was to improve students’ response to feedback, in order to help them make better progress with their learning. I also sought to develop my own professional leadership competencies, especially in the areas of impact, influence and inspiring others.

Three main steps were untaken in the completion of this project:

1. Planning for improvement: This included both primary and secondary research to find out what the current pedagogy recommended in terms of students’ response to feedback, as well as gathering information from students (via a school wide questionnaire and focus groups) to get a better understanding of their perspective.

2. Implementation: This involved getting the Heads of Faculty (HoFs) and all Secondary staff on board. They were persuaded to trial and share a number of strategies that would help their students better respond to feedback, over a 12-month period.

3. Evaluating the impact: Data was collected from students and

staff. The data was analysed, and ultimately it was concluded that much progress had been made, especially with the extensive use of Success Criteria to support students’ response to feedback. However, there were some areas that still needed continued work, for example, in the planning for Dedicated Improvement and Reflection Time (DIRT) during lessons.

Ultimately, the project (and the qualification as a whole) was very worthwhile. With the support of the Secondary School Leadership team and HoFs, I was able to raise the importance of students’ response to feedback and persuade faculties to make it a key feature of their classroom practice. Additionally, leading a project across the whole Secondary School, pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I was able to develop my own leadership skills considerably.

Matt Smith, Leader of Learning and Curriculum in Year 4 completed his NPQML As a teacher my role is to support children to learn. It is a privilege to watch students mastering new concepts, developing new interests and growing both socially and emotionally. As a middle leader it is also my responsibility to support and challenge other teachers to be the best they possibly can be. Central to this is continued professional learning and, as a teaching staff, we are fortunate at Bangkok Patana to have access to a truly world class programme.

I recently accessed part of this programme in order to complete the NPQML (National Professional Qualification of Middle Leadership).

This 18-month professional course, overseen by the UCL Institute of Education, develops the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to be a high-performing middle leader.

The course was split into a series of modules, each focusing on a specific aspect of school leadership and each providing the opportunity for me to meet with colleagues from across the school to engage in guided professional discussions. The knowledge, experience and skill within the Bangkok Patana teaching community is vast and these opportunities to reflect with, and learn from, other school leaders were invaluable in giving me the skills and knowledge to better lead my team. Each session led to new opportunities: from visiting the Secondary Science department to observe how the learning environment is used to facilitate outstanding student learning; to conversations with colleagues in the Foundation Stage about how

to develop active, student-led learning. Sharing these opportunities with my team enabled us all to develop professionally and ultimately be better able to support the learning of our students.

As part of the qualification, I also led a year-long school improvement project within Year 4. This project focused on implementing the CPA (concrete, pictorial, abstract) approach to Mathematics within the Year group curriculum. Developing this in line with global best practise increased engagement with mathematics and enhanced student learning. From a personal perspective, it also provided me with a valuable opportunity to develop my own ability to plan strategically, manage change and to measure and evaluate the impact of this change. I look forward to continuing to use these skills for the benefit of the incredible students at Bangkok Patana.

TERM 1 – 2018/19

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WELL-BEING

STRETCH AND CHALLENGE Duncan Ferguson, Primary Extended Learning Teacher

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hen looking at our school values, it is striking to note that Well-being comes before Learning and Global Citizenship; without consideration for well-being, learning capabilities are impacted. There is much that is laudable at Bangkok Patana School, and placing Well-being first is one such example, especially as the order of these values was the result of student voice.

So, what does ‘Stretch and Challenge’ have to do with Wellbeing? Under the heading Well-being, the second bullet-point is ‘Motivated and Engaged’. It is a generally accepted fact that challenge is beneficial – it stretches learners, pushing them out of their comfort zone and enabling them to grow. It’s a marvellous feeling to persevere with something one finds hard, and then to master it. The concept of having a Growth Mindset is embedded at Bangkok Patana; students are encouraged to be motivated to improve, and to engage when learning is challenging. The final bullet-point is ‘Balanced and Fulfilled’. Balance suggests undertaking a range of activities and this, in turn, leads to fulfilment. One element of this fulfilment is exercising – or ‘stretching’ – the brain.

The term ‘Stretch and Challenge’ has been around for a few years. It was previously associated with enabling ‘more able’ students to reach their potential. However, ‘teaching to the top’ is now being advocated as an approach that should be used with all pupils, leading to greater attainment for all. ‘Stretch and Challenge’ by Debbie Light makes a compelling case for adopting this approach. The idea is that, if ‘more able’ students feel challenged, everyone feels challenged. The teacher facilitates this 16

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by making the learning accessible in the classroom through planning to support all learners to reach their full potential and asking probing questions. The key is to have high expectations for all.

One class in Year 6 has been focusing on using activities designed to stretch and challenge them – by playing games, completing puzzles and doing activities that force them to think outside the box, they have been developing their critical and creative thinking skills. Several activities from Torsten Payne’s book, ‘Stretch and Challenge for All’, have been used and adapted.

Bangkok Patana Magazine

they feel challenged by reasoning and problem-solving activities, multi-step problems and open-ended tasks. Nearly 70% of them said that they were bored when learning isn’t challenging enough. When asked why it is important to feel challenged, definite common themes were evident: learning, thinking, deepening understanding, engagement and fulfilling potential, to name but a few.

One student said, “If you aren’t challenged, you won’t deepen your understanding of concepts.” Another said, “I think that it is important to feel challenged so that we can get better at the things we aren’t comfortable with.” Feeling uncomfortable is a key component of learning. It is interesting to consider the words the students associated with learning that is challenging:

Positive Some activities from this book have been used in classes across Year 6. The activities have been devised to be accessible to all, to encourage thinking and to enable students to shine by putting no limit on what can be achieved.

Many different approaches can be used to stretch and challenge thinking. The following example demonstrates what it may look like: in line with their current science topic, students discussed the question, “What if light didn’t travel in straight lines?” Once they started to unpick this concept, their thinking quickly became highly creative; their discussions included the idea that not everybody would see things at the same time (sport wouldn’t work at all), people would be able to see around corners (hide and seek would be a pointless game), there would be less light and there would be mass climate change.

Further discussion arose when they had to sort their ideas into three columns: Plus, Minus and Interesting. All students were totally engaged, feeling that their contributions were valued. There was fabulous co-operation to develop assertions. Some students challenged each other’s ideas which led to further deep thinking.

In another activity, students had to take an everyday object and imagine a different use for it. Encouraging lateral thinking opens students to this approach in other areas in the curriculum.

In order to gauge the impact of these activities, a sample of Year 6 students were given a questionnaire. They said that

Excited; interested; finding things out; happy to be pushing myself; like I’m achieving; happy; frustrating but fun; like I’m learning; like my brain is being stretched; challenged; focused

Negative Nervous and sometimes scared; anxious; frustrated and annoyed; a lot of pressure; confused; angry and exasperated; I feel like I have a slight headache; dizzy and lightheaded; fidgety

Several students used both positive and negative statements to describe the feeling. This quote encapsulates the feeling of challenge: “I feel annoyed, excited, focused and challenged!” That annoyance, or struggle, shows that learning is happening.

“Without taking [students] out of their comfort zone, they cannot truly develop their knowledge and understanding, and they cannot make great progress.” Debbie Light Setting up a climate of Stretch and Challenge takes time.

At the heart of it is belief in students’ abilities, having high expectations and planning activities that make learners think hard.

Everyone needs more opportunities to reach beyond what they think they can do. It is going to be exciting to continue to develop this approach in Year 6.

Here’s a challenge for you to try at home. Can you write four sentences to link from sentence 1 to sentence 6? Each new sentence should link to the previous one; don’t try to link straight from 1 to 6!

1. Wishing everyone a fantastic Christmas holiday!

2. _____________________________________ 3. _____________________________________ 4. _____________________________________ 5. _____________________________________ 6. Stretch and Challenge helps to raise attainment for all.

Sources: Light, D. (2017) Stretch and Challenge, Bloomsbury Payne, T (2017) Stretch and Challenge for All, Crown House Publishing Sherrington, T (2018) Taking the Lid Off: Stretch and Challenge in the Classroom [online: www.sec-ed.co.uk]

TERM 1 – 2018/19

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LEARNING

ROBOTS IN COMPETITION David Brettell, Head of Secondary Computing Faculty, Mun Yee Chong, Computing Teacher and James Thombs, Design and Technology Teacher

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or the first time in Bangkok Patana history, the school now has a Robotics team. The VEX Robotics Competition is the world’s fastest growing competitive robotics programme for middle schools, high schools and colleges around the world.

With more than twenty thousand teams from fifty countries participating in more than one thousand three hundred VEX Robotics Competition events worldwide, Bangkok Patana School has ambitions to compete alongside the best in the world.

The team consists of sixteen pre-selected students, from Year 7 to 11, who meet weekly for two hours to “train” and “workout”. Each team member has committed to attending every week for the entire academic year as there is so much to learn and such a wide range of skills to be gained. Before students focus on a particular individual skill, or VEX team role, such as designing, building, coding, driving, administering and marketing, every team member must experience these various roles and become an ‘expert’ in at least two of them. For example, as part of the administrative role, students are expected to have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the Turning Point Competition Rules Manual.

Training currently consists of building VEX Version 4 ClawBots and programming them using various programming environments and languages. We have four students working on each ClawBot. Initially the students will program their robot to circumnavigate a course following their pre-set programs. The next stage will be for the students to integrate sensors onto their robots and for their robot to autonomously navigate a course, given various obstacles placed at random, as well as complete tasks.

The Bangkok Patana Annual Fund kindly provided THB 500,000 to initiate this new venture. Using this money, the latest VEX Version 5 competition super kits were ordered at the end of last academic year, 18

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Bangkok Patana Magazine

“

...Working as a team has been empowering and has really helped us gain social and communicational skills...

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Image courtesy of www.ntcmn.edu

although they didn’t arrive in school until November. We also ordered all the latest VEX Turning Point field and game elements.

A full competition specification robotics playing field will be setup so that the students will be able to test their robot designs in order to meet the challenges of the current Turning Point competition requirements.

The students selected for the competition team will represent the school at local, and possibly international, VEX robotics competitions. The Bangkok Patana Robotics team have their work cut out since a small group of international schools in Bangkok already have a number of years of VEX Robotics

building and competition experience. These schools, NIST, International School Bangkok, Thai-Chinese International School and Harrow, have offered to work with us and we plan to visit and invite them to Bangkok Patana to work with our students once our new equipment has arrived and we have the competition field setup.

Despite our lack of VEX robotics experience, we believe our students are equal to the challenge. Bangkok Patana has some excellent, motivated, creative and hard-working students with many years of problem-solving and programming experience under their belts. Last term, some of the team built robotic

arms and controlled and programmed them using Arduinos. Tavisha Khanna in Year 10 explained “It has been very exciting working together with a group of like-minded people who all like programming and robotics in general. Working as a team has been empowering and has really helped us gain social and communicational skills. I find it exciting that we have a school team dedicated to robotics and I look forward to competing”.

The final words go to Naphat (TK) Buristrakul from Year 8, concluding, “I would say that it is an honour to partake in this ECA and representing the Bangkok Patana community as a whole.”

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WELL-BEING

LIFE BEYOND THE CLASSROOM Henry Brosnahan, Year 11

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earning at Bangkok Patana does not finish at the end of academic lessons. We are incredibly fortunate to enjoy a diverse range of extra-curricular opportunities as our learning continues far outside the walls of classrooms and well beyond the regular school day. The number of different clubs, sports and activities that we are offered, able to join and make new friends in, is truly amazing.

I have attended Bangkok Patana for eight years and every term I have enthusiastically joined in the ECA Programme, discovering my passions and gaining incredible experiences along the way. Music has always been a passion of mine and the broad array of instruments that students are able to learn

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here are truly a privilege and something I am sure students appreciate. Being a part of the Choir and Orchestra, I have been able to learn so much about music and increase my technical skills as well as form new friendships, deepening my appreciation for working collaboratively and discovering the aspects of music I especially enjoy. Being able to spend two hours surrounded by like-minded people who all want to play/sing music together and create something that we can be proud of has consistently been a highlight of my week. Private music lessons for violin have also been an integral part of my life at Patana. Spending half an hour every week one-on-one with a music teacher to guide me and help me improve has been beneficial to

me as the lessons have allowed me to refine my violin skills and understand musical theory more deeply.

I am in Year 11 and, while studying (I) GCSE is incredibly rewarding, it can often be a stressful and hectic time. Balancing the need to complete tasks, revise for tests and maintain good mental health can be a struggle; but a way that I have been able to cope with this stress is through participation in my ECAs. A particular passion of mine is Musical Theatre and being able to participate in the school musical is something which allows me to take my mind off anything stressful. We are currently rehearsing for ‘Hairspray’ and I am so excited to share our fantastic work with the Bangkok Patana community in December (the show will have happened by the time you are reading this!).

Alongside the arts and music, we have an astounding array of sports activities available in our ECA programme. A friend of mine, Clara Boucher, is on the Cross Country, Volleyball and Tennis teams and comments that “being able to participate in sports helps me to take my mind off of everything. It’s great because I can put basic skills we learn in classrooms like social skills and teamwork into use to make new friends.

I get to spend more time around people who are similar to me and who are interested in similar things.” Clearly, being part of a sports team allows students to feel comfortable with others who enjoy similar passions, thus, strengthening friendships.

Last year I successfully completed my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s International

Bangkok Patana Magazine

Award and it was a really rewarding experience. The Award includes an Adventurous Journey where students are able to strengthen and develop friendships. Completing the Award also drives us to commit to more activities in the form of physical recreation, service and a skill. This helped me massively because even though I already took part in the service and skill sections of the Award, I am not someone who actively participates in much physical recreation. Through the Award I joined the early morning running activity at school and it helped me understand that it is crucial for both mental and physical

health to regularly exercise.

Extra-curricular Activities at Bangkok Patana are not limited to fun activities or sports after school; we also have an inspiring number of CAT (Community Action Team) Clubs dedicated to a variety of worthy causes. As the President of the CAT group ‘Spectrum’, I am able to advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, as well as educating students and staff about what it means to be LGBTQ+ and the issues people face.

There are many clubs which are ‘awareness’ based, striving to ensure that people are educated about social, political, economic

and environmental issues. Other CAT Clubs work with an organisation or group in order to raise funds to make a change. The focus of our clubs range from advocating for human rights in Amnesty, to raising funds to sponsor a child’s education for a year in the North of Thailand in One4One to supporting and playing with the children from the Mercy Centre who enjoy our school’s facilities once a month on a Saturday. This incredible variety of causes is not only educational for students and the rest of the Patana community, but also allows us to make a significant contribution to our world as global citizens.

We are able to show that we have the integrity to do something about the injustices or problems that we see in the world and actively volunteer our free time due to the support of our teachers in working towards our CAT Club’s goals. Through our involvement in service opportunities we are able to be more inclusive and informed.

An excellent example of this is Bangkok Patana’s prominent Student Environmental Committee (SEC). As a student-led group the SEC has made significant changes to the school. Everyone at school has been able to help conserve the environment through the SEC’s recycling bins, along with their implementation of new wrappers for foods and biodegradable cups for smoothies. Their numerous informative presentations about environmental footprints have inspired our school to become more sustainable in our production of energy, by introducing solar panelling. Our school is now able to produce 702 kilowatts of clean, solar energy meaning we produce 400 less tonnes of carbon every year. If we did not have such a dedicated student body, supportive staff and visionary school leaders, then this would not be possible. This is yet another example of why it is so important for students to be active and engaged wherever they can.

I understand just as well as anyone that school can feel overwhelming at times as we work hard to achieve the grades that we want. And, while it is important to focus on your academic studies, it is also crucial to take the time to enjoy your passions, experience something new and join a group to make a positive impact on our world.

Not only will this show potential universities and employees that you uphold the values of global citizenship but, more importantly, it will enrich your experience of school and give you long lasting memories and strategies to cope with stressful situations in the future. Ultimately, there are so many opportunities for students here at Bangkok Patana it would be a great shame for anybody to miss out!

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LEARNING

ALONG CAME THE “SURFING SCIENTIST” ARRIVING ON A CLOUD OF LIQUID NITROGEN Mark Verde, Primary Assistant Principal Learning and Curriculum

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irst came a school assembly with bouncing eggs, self-inflating balloons and an exploding bag of red food colouring. Then, along came Ruben Meerman, the Surfing Scientist who arrived on a cloud of liquid Nitrogen, with jars of bubbling dry ice and a Vortex machine that fired huge smoke rings through the air, knocking polystyrene cups off children’s heads. One could be forgiven for thinking that we had stepped back into the magic of the Patana Hogwarts Christmas Assembly.

Ruben’s visit created a buzz of excitement across the school for science, sparking intrigue with his investigations and pure awe and wonder with his demonstrations. Throughout Thursday and Friday, children and adults were heard gasping, wowing, clapping and laughing as he poured liquid Nitrogen (N at - 196°) over balloons

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and shrank them into crispy bags, cooling the air inside into liquid Oxygen (O2) and powdered Carbon Dioxide (CO2). As the balloon warmed up, it returned to its original elastic state and after showing the audience the changes inside the balloon, he then poured the oxygen into a glass and used it to relight a glowing taper. Children as young as three years old in Foundation Stage 1 explained that air contains oxygen, while a Primary Hall full of students chanted that air is made of SOMETHING not NOTHING. The demonstrations quickly travelled out of the Theatre and Primary Hall and into the classrooms and homes. Children in Year 3 were seen leading their own learning by making paper gliders and asking ‘which material will make the best glider?’ and ‘does the paper always have to be thin?’ The following Monday, one boy told

Bangkok Patana Magazine

me that over the weekend he had successfully passed seven pencils through a bag of water without it exploding!

The liquid Nitrogen experiments amazed the children, but Ruben was very clear throughout all his presentations about the hazards and risks related to using these resources and the importance of good health and safety when carrying out scientific investigations.

In between his class scientific demonstrations, Ruben delivered Continuous Professional Learning to all the Primary Leaders of Learning and Science Advocates. He got Primary staff talking about introducing the concept of the periodic table – the alphabet of Science – into every classroom. Ross Sutcliffe, our Primary Science Lead Teacher, and the Science Advocates from every Year group, are looking forward to enhancing our Science curriculum with unique

Shrinking, not melting, balloons with liquid Nitrogen to produce liquefied Oxygen (O2 at - 183°) and powdered Carbon Dioxide (CO2 at - 79°) is a magical scientific phenomenon that sticks in my mind, but the moment Ruben blew a Styrofoam cup off a child’s head with a massive smoke ring must be my favourite moment of the visit… what was yours?

and exciting investigations for the children at Bangkok Patana School to explore, following on from Ruben’s visit. They will be playing with and investigating sticky atom kits, which are as addictive as Lego, but enable children and adults to see and make the molecular structures of water, Carbon Dioxide and 24 Amino Acids. They will explore the possibility of introducing these concepts into the Science curriculum at age appropriate levels. If this is possible, Ruben said that it will make us one of the first schools in the world to introduce simple molecular science to children between the ages of 5 to 11.

We will be staying in touch with Ruben who is keen to watch our scientific journey. He has shown us how important it is to give our children the opportunity to investigate with lots of practical activities and to give them the time to play and explore.

Ruben Tweeted: @surfnscientist Oct 3rd 2018 Wow! Thank you @BangkokPatana students, teachers and staff for reminding me that I really do have THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD! I’m still buzzing too

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ALUMNI STORIES

LIFE AFTER PATANA

A Fascination with Animals Turns into a Museum Name: Darrell Dean Blatchley Nationality: American Left Bangkok Patana: 1993 Even as a child at Bangkok Patana School, Darrell Blatchley had unusual pets such as pythons and other snakes, beetles and even monitor lizards! He had an archaeological interest in animals, something not common amongst teenagers. After finishing secondary school, Darrell returned to the US to take a course in Children’s Ministry at the US Bethany School of Missions. He didn’t complete the course, shifted gears and went on to be an aviation fuel engineer.

After getting married, Darrell moved to the Philippines with his wife. On a trip to the National Museum in Manila, Darrell said he realised he had more in his personal collection on natural history than the Philippine National Museum did. As well, he felt that children in the Philippines were not being taught enough about natural history.

He realised that he could do something with the interest he had always maintained – and decided to open up a museum.

In 2012, Darrell and his wife opened a private museum called D’Bone Collector Museum in Davao City with 150 specimens.

Now, six years later, the museum has grown into a three-story building with 6,500 specimens, an incredible array of skeletons of many things between alligators to zebras.

The museum continues to grow as people donate more animals to the collection.

In addition to being the founder and chief curator at D’Bone, Darrell also helps the government with its preservation projects, hosts a television show and does consultation work on environmental projects. Darrell credits Bangkok Patana with its hands-on approach to education, which was the true even when he attended between 1991 and 1993. “The best memories I have are related to the way the school was so hands on with everything,” he says. He also said

that he enjoyed the size of the campus and benefited from the many international friends he made.

In 2015, Darrell was a recipient of the Datu Bago Award, which is bestowed annually upon an individual who has contributed to the development of Davao City and who best serves as model of excellence and as an inspiration to the residents of the city. Darrell was the first American to receive the award since it was established in 1970. When we asked Darrell what he’d like to be doing in ten years, he said, “The same thing and bigger!”.

What is it like to work in Biochemical Engineering?

Nuttinee Yongsanguanchai spent eight of her formative years, from Year 1 to Year 9, at Bangkok Patana School. In 2007, she transferred to the UK to complete her GCSEs and A-levels and pursue further education.

She completed her BSc at the University of Reading in Nutrition and Food Science and then proceeded to University College London for a Master’s degree in Biochemical Engineering. Nuttinee has become particularly interested in stem cell research and is currently in her final year as a PhD researcher at UCL in Regenerative Medicine.

“PhD research is all about discovering novel things and being the first to publish your data in journals. Labs are competitive and secretive because they don’t want other groups to steal their idea and publish work before them so usually you only show your results at conferences when you’re really close to publishing. However, people also collaborate a lot, because in exchange for their help their name will be in the publish work. It really all about getting your name in as many papers as possible,” explained Nuttinee. She gets her motivation to work from her belief that regenerative medicine is the future. “I work mainly with stem cells called Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs). These are adult cells that have been reprogrammed 24

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back to a stem cell state. You can use your skin cells or hair cells to make stem cells – it’s just so crazy! I truly believe that in the future you can grow your own organs from this!” she said. Groundbreaking reseach isn’t always exciting. Nutinee said she has to endure many failed experiments, and sometimes it is hard to figure out what went wrong because everything was done the same way as a previous experiment that failed.

Nutinee’s specific goal is to improve the way stem cells are grown. A lofty goal that wold really be ground breaking in her field. “As mentioned, I work with iPSCs.

They are equivalent to the Embryonic stem cells and can become any cell within the human body. Conventionally these cells are grown in incubators at 21% oxygen (atmospheric level) and on plastic. My research is to grow them on conditions that are more similar to what would be found in the body and grow them on plastic that is as soft as brain or as hard as bone or muscles. Currently to differentiate stem cells into a particular cell type lots of expensive reagents are added so we hope that by growing them in these conditions it would help direct them to that cell type without having to add the expensive reagents and therefore reduce the cost.”

Did Bangkok Patana have any influence on her determination to pursue this path? “I think the most important thing I learnt during my nine years at Bangkok Patana was to be comfortable and confident with myself. Patana created an environment where my young self could learn to be confident and grow. This really helped me to be comfortable in any situation instead of being like others I have seen who struggle with meeting new people or being in new environments or with public speaking.”

Nuttinee hopes to spend a few years in the stem cell industry and clinical trials and then move onto to life sciences and biotech consulting. All the best with your research, Nutinee!

Bangkok Patana Magazine

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Inter-School Alumni Networking Event Thanks to the alumni who attended the Interschool Alumni Networking Event on 8th October at The Bar Upstairs, Bangkok. For information on upcoming alumni events, make sure you are signed up to the Bangkok Patana Alumni Platform at http://alumni.patana.ac.th

ARE YOU GRADUATING FROM UNIVERSITY THIS YEAR?

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU email us at alumni@patana.ac.th

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