Home Away from Home

By Safy Rizk, Bangkok Patana Parent and PTG Chairperson

“Can we go to school on the weekend?” is a question I often get asked by my Year 4 daughter, which ends up in me asking “Why?”. The answer has been the same for the past four years: “because I love Bangkok Patana”. I remember when I was her age, school was not my favourite place to be, which made me wonder why Bangkok Patana is so popular among not only its students, but also among its parents.

While researching to write this article, most of the families I spoke with mentioned a common factor: Bangkok Patana offers a sense of belonging. This is a quality that takes years to build, or, as one of the parents I spoke with said, “It’s an accumulation of many small unnoticeable daily things that couples with the big events and brings everyone together”.

The Bangkok Patana community thrives on engagement, communication and relationships. The three pillars act as a strong foundation for embracing both existing and new parents. The school offers an open-door policy, which advocates transparency. Parents are always welcomed to be a part of the campus, whether by visiting libraries, joining their kids for lunch at the canteen or by volunteering in any of the numerous Parent Teacher Group (PTG) activities. This, in return, builds that sense of security for both parents and students and knowing they are part of the bigger picture creates that sense of home. And this is what Bangkok Patana is all about: a home away from home.

Being part of the Bangkok Patana community creates an unspoken commitment. Commitment to be diverse, resilient and supportive, in other words, a global citizen.

“My takeaway as a parent is that the school offers a sense of togetherness within its community, I don’t feel alienated or left

out although I only joined Bangkok Patana in August 2022”. As wonderful as that sounds, it came as quite a surprise to me – how was that achieved in just two to three months’ time? The answer was quite simple: they felt welcomed.

I enjoy talking to students as they always offer an entirely different point of view than that of adults. When gathering opinions on how students see their parent’s engagement at school and whether they support it or not, most of them agreed that they feel comfortable knowing that on certain days their parents are “within reach”.

We all crave a sense of belonging, whether we realize it or not. Whether at work, at social events, within our families, or even at school. We want to feel welcomed, appreciated, valued and accepted for who we are. That sense of validation you receive, regardless of your race, ethnic background, gender or faith, helps in establishing healthy connections with the community around you, and this is what Bangkok Patana provides: a sense of belonging.