Term 3 Magazine April 2021

The Termly Magazine of Bangkok Patana School

Bangkok Patana

Magazine

Issue 64 Term 3, June 2021

PRIMARY RESIDENTIALS Year 4 Residential: Reconnecting in Hua Hin

LEARNING

Micro-teaching: A Valuable Professional Learning Tool

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

Grad’21 CAS Project Tackles Waste with Rescued Glass Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit IB World School accredited by CIS

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LEARNING

CONTENTS

Issue 64, Term 3, June 2021

Thailand’s Official Specialized

PRIMARY RESIDENTIALS 8 10 12 14

Year 3 Residential Visit Reconnecting in Hua Hin Khao Yai – Yay! The Final Chapter in Chanthaburi

Dental Hospital

10 LEARNING 16 Micro-teaching: A

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Valuable Professional Learning Tool 20 The Impact of Targeted Grades on Student Achievement

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP 18 CAS Service in the Pandemic: The English House 22 Life After Patana: Alumni Breakfast 26 Grad’21 CAS Project Tackles Waste with Rescued Glass

Sedative Dentistry - BIDH offers Sleep & IV Sedation for Dentophobia & Dental Anxiety - Hospital-based Safety & International Sterilization Standards

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24 Long Service Awards

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• Bangkok Patana School

Dental Cosmetic Experts

Award-winning Aesthetics Dentists - Digital Smile Transformations - Implant Teeth Replacements - Invisible Braces for Adults

WELL-BEING

Front cover: Artwork by Bhunnapa (Katie) Chua, Year 4

Pediatric Dentists - Oral checkup for Babies & Children - Children & Teen Braces

Bangkok International Dental Hospital (BIDH)

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Sukhumvit Soi 2, Khlong Toei, Ploenchit area, Bangkok 10110

Scan for Patana Staff & Family Specials

www.DentalHospitalThailand.com

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

FOREWORD

W

hen adults think about childhood, they often remember it as an idyllic time, one filled with friendship and fun. The reality, however, can be a little different. The world can be scary and unsettling, especially to its youngest inhabitants. Consequently, most children like routine – in their daily lives, their friendships and in their learning. Strong routines can help a child feel safe and protected, thus supporting their well-being, self-awareness and self-confidence, all essential attributes for successful learning.

Nevertheless, an over dependence on regularity and routine can be detrimental and, whilst most of us can handle minor changes easily, we struggle with major change.

Therefore, last term I was incredibly proud of my class when they agreed to undertake the ultimate risk – to explore new friendships and choices during playtime. This was a huge ask on my part, as playtime is when students have the most freedom and choice. However, once I had justified my reasons

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

and we had undertaken a (very) thorough examination of the pros and cons, my class were up for the challenge.

At first, playing with new friends was strange and trying new games was tricky. With perseverance, however, everyone saw the benefits, establishing many new friends and inventing their own ‘class’ games. Their willingness to persevere and embrace change is pertinent to us all as we begin Term 3 in CSL. I especially seek to be guided by their positivity, as I prepare to leave Bangkok Patana after 16 amazing years.

Back in 2005, leaving my family, friends and routines was a huge challenge but one that paid amazing dividends.

Now, as I prepare to leave my Bangkok Patana family, I am taking a leaf out of my classes’ book and accepting a new challenge. I am sure that I too will experience one or two hiccups along the way but, without a teacher to listen to me, I wonder who I will find to grumble to – any volunteers?

– Michelle Brinn, Year 2 Teacher

Editor: Shana Kongmun Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2411 Email: shkn@patana.ac.th Advertisement: Finn Balslev Tel: 081-866-2577 Email: finn@scandmedia.com

Design & Production: Scand-Media Corp., Ltd. Tel: +66 (0) 2943 7166-8 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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• Bangkok Patana School • Bangkok Patana School

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YEAR 3 RESIDENTIAL VISIT Relaxing happy days, playing in the sea!

Eggs and toast for everyone!

Soft beds make me sleepy.

Ice cream is very cold and yummy.

Dinner was an amazing delicious feast!

Excellent games that I like.

Noise from the fin of the kite.

Tick, tick! Goes the clock in the canteen.

Itchy, disturbing mosquito bites, made us scratch Amazing activities kept me awake.

Lunch was such a magnificent meal!

By Zi-Han Wang, 3A

Room-mates weren’t messy, when we were on Resi!

Eggs for breakfast every day, keeps us ready for our play.

Searching for shells in the sand, Ice cream dribbling all down my hand.

Dogs walking on the sand, we love to watch them from the land.

Eating eggs in the sunshine.

Nurses reminding us about our medicine all the time.

Talent show on the go, Into the pool, splash we go!

Ants running around...ouch, they bite.

Leaving Residential was sad, but soon I get to see mom and dad.

By Janita (Janis) Kovitchindachai, 3H

Raining, pouring dripping.

Eggs as soft as a cushion.

Sausages for breakfast!

Ice cream as cold as ice!

Dice for board games.

Excited to eat a delicious dinner!

Not going home was sad.

Teachers dancing and prancing.

If the rain stopped it would be better.

Always having fun!

Lasting memories for everyone!

By Olivia Tam, 3D

Residential here we go!

Excited to see our room.

Swimming in the pool was fun, I slept with my friends.

Dinner BBQ was yummy, Emma was there.

No sausages were left at the end!

The sea view from my window was beautiful, I like ice cream dribbling down my chin.

A bowl of crunchy cereal for breakfast, Leaving the hotel was sad.

By Su Hsien (Emma) Loo, 3K

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Bangkok Patana Magazine

Rapid waves whacking faces with water Extremely epic activities with expanding excitedness Seamus and Rui Rui silently sleeping smashingly In the burning, boiling, blazing room, boisterous boys played Dude, it was an exciting epic expedition Every excited child had fun Never ending fun To the beach!!!

Indoors and outdoors And also no chores Liking it is perfectly good.

By Seamus Doherty, 3L

Rain crashing, bashing in the sky!

Mr Mac was v Ery funny at the talent show!

A sun Set as colourful as a rainbow” Incredible, yummy vanilla ice cream The sanD was as gold as the sun!

A sEa as beautiful as a pear!

Naughty children talking while teachers are talking!

HoT, sunny sweaty beach!

I love the roti after dinner!

WAves are crashing on the shore!

Crabs crawLing on the sand!

Thunder and

By Alexis Metcalfe, 3M

Riding on the bus with my friends Elegant clothes to go for dinner Sand cooling my toes Incredibly cold ice cream running down my cheeks Delightful sunset view Everyone eating lunch, munch munch munch!

Night stars twinkling in the night sky Trees waving in the wind Islands far out in the greeny blue sea Amazing activities were great fun for me Lots of children cheering as we drive into school

By Elise Barck- Holst, 3W

The Rooms were cool I Enjoyed the pool The Sand was smooth We ate Ice cream which was delicious food I had sweet Dreams It was very Exciting because of the rooms.

It was Night time so we went to snooze.

We made a beautiful Tie-dye cloth too We saw an Island nearby which was very cool All fun!

We left our Luggage in our rooms

By Nawarin (Chloe) Charanchitta, 3P TERM 3 – 2020/21

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LEARNING

YEAR 4 RESIDENTIAL VISIT

RECONNECTING IN HUA HIN

By Alexander Lowe, Assistant Leader of Learning

A

fter a turbulent year Bangkok Patana Year 4 students have shown just how passionate, resourceful, and resilient they can be by embracing our Residential Visit to Hua Hin. After periods of online learning, it has been fantastic to see that the wonder and excitement of Residential from our students has not be dampened. Their curiosity and resilience have driven them as to where our new adventure will take us. With such excitement came the usual questions about the resort, the food, the activities and more importantly who they will be sharing a room with!

When asked what they would like to get from a Residential their answers did not disappoint:

• To have fun!

• Learn new things that we cannot learn at school.

• Be more independent and learn how to be away from our families.

• To make new friends and meet different people from other classes.

• Learn to solve problems together.

• Reconnect with the people I have missed.

• Enjoy the wonders of the Thai coastline.

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Creating and Strengthening Friendships An important part of the visit to Hua Hin is not only spending quality time with friends and learning how to get along in new and sometimes challenging situations but also to create and

Bangkok Patana Magazine

citizens. By exploring the Suan Son beach and looking at the human impact upon it, students can begin to question and explore ways in which they can have a positive impact upon the environment.

“After seeing so much beach wildlife, we loved the hermit crabs, we realised how important it is to take care of the ocean. We can help by picking up plastic and using reusable water bottles’ – Risa and Namaree, 4A

Seeing People in a New Light Residential Visits allow for staff and students to see a new side of each other – a side that is only achieved through these fantastic Residential opportunities. The trips allow for a less formal student – teacher relationship. As staff involve themselves in the wealth of activities, the children get to see a different side to the adults and the adults see the hidden talents and abilities of the students.

“Mr Laiyoung was so funny all week especially as Troy in the talent show.” – Thanom, 4A “Black Mountain Water Park was so much fun! I loved the slides and was super scared to go on the steep one at first but once I’d done it is was so great. It was fun to see the teachers in their own clothes and see a funny side of them.

I was sad to leave Residential but happy to be back with my mum and dad.” – Aria, 4K develop new friendships. To encourage this, we provide students with ‘down time’ allowing them to interact and play with one another in a safe and secure environment. They can relax on the beach; have fun in the pool and sea; hang out in their bedrooms and enjoy mealtimes with friends.

“I loved spending time in my room with my friends eating loads of snacks and playing games.” – Peyton, 4L “Having a chance to spend time with people in my class and others was great. I’ve made so many new friends!” – Gavo, 4W It would be a shame to waste such a wonderful opportunity to explore and play on one of the many beautiful beaches Thailand has to offer so, as well as a visit to Black Mountain Water Park, we also have a number of activities allowing students to play on the beach and in the sea.

Active Volunteers That Are Ethical and Informed At Bangkok Patana we strive and encourage our students to be open minded, considerate, and respectful of people and the surrounding environment, to become good global TERM 3 – 2020/21

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LEARNING

THE YEAR 5 RESIDENTIAL VISIT

KHAO YAI – YAY!

By Olivia Clutterbuck, Assistant Leader of Learning

A

s we boarded buses for our Residential Visits this year, you could feel the excitement in the air and the Year 5 Khao Yai trip did not disappoint! As promised, the Residential to the beautiful Khao Yai National Park allowed students to enjoy the great outdoors, collaborate with peers and demonstrate resilience throughout the four-night trip.

The week began with a wonderful night safari that really sparked everyone’s interest in the fantastic surroundings as we managed to see porcupines, a fox and so many deer!

It was also great to get out in the cooler night air as we drove around looking out for these wonderful creatures, eyes peeled and flash lights on. Sadly, we did not view any elephants but we remained hopeful we might sight one later in the week.

Each day, classes participated in a range of experiences that contributed to our Bangkok Patana values as well as being great fun! One day included a trek that brought us even closer to nature and taught us all the key skills required when identifying a variety of animal poop. Year 5 are now experts on this matter! We also loved learning how to identify the

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track marks left in the dirt and on trees by a wide range of animals. The trek day also allowed time to purchase some gifts for family and friends back in Bangkok as well as time to explore the visitor centre that taught us many more facts about Khao Yai National Park.

Another day we visited a river and a waterfall, which enabled us to carry out our own science experiment through both pond dipping and measuring the river depth. It was easy to spot those of us who were less fond of creepy-crawlies as well as those who were not so keen to immerse in cold water! The braver explorers among us launched themselves into the river with their metre stick at the ready as they progressed to measure the depth of the water. Meanwhile, our budding David Attenboroughs confidently and carefully caught an array of butterflies, spiders, beetles and even found some frog spawn that started to develop into its next life form before our very eyes! The waterfall was a magnificent sight and enabled some key application of skills we have previously learned in class as we described the surroundings using our senses. After lunch, some outdoor art was enjoyed as the students showed their creativity through any of the natural materials they found in the surrounding area.

Bangkok Patana Magazine

The third day of activities took place at St. Stephen’s School and truly tested our abilities to collaborate as a team. Not only did Year 5 have to work together as they helped a partner complete the low-ropes course, which had some very challenging moments, but they also had to build a raft to survive a race in the pool! Teams had to communicate and share out the workload as they used a range of pipes and bottles to create their ship. Lots of rope tying skills were developed and the moment of truth came as each team first, cautiously placed their raft onto the water and took a deep breath as they waited to see if it would sink or float! After the racing, a much needed water fight concluded another day of wonderful memories.

By the end of the week, one class was lucky enough to see an enormous elephant as they travelled in to the National Park, and even though the remaining classes were not so lucky, everyone had enjoyed a fantastic week enjoying the beautiful landscape only four hours outside of Bangkok.

Let’s hear from some of our Year 5 students about their best memories from the trip:

“My best memory is when we had the talent show because I got to see a lot of the acts on stage.”

“On the trek, after walking four km we got to see a beautiful view.”

“My best memory was the bat cave because I never saw anything like it before.”

“At lunch at the river/waterfall, when a monkey attempted to steal my food but someone scared it away. Then the monkey went to my friend’s table and he was so scared he threw the banana he was about to eat and the monkey took it and ran away.”

TERM 3 – 2020/21

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LEARNING

THE YEAR 6 RESIDENTIAL VISIT

THE FINAL CHAPTER IN CHANTHABURI

By Elizabeth Davies, Assistant Leader of Learning

I

t was a slightly different send-off for Year 6 this year, with masks on and hand gel at the ready, but as usual, the atmosphere was electric with anticipation. As the buses set off for the final Residential of Primary School, excited chatter filled the coaches. Team-building activities and learning centered around conservation awaited Year 6 at their destination: Chanthaburi.

Upon arrival, Year 6 kicked off with a collaborative game which is always a firm favourite – the holey pipe game. This requires students to fill a pipe with water, except there is one problem. It’s filled with holes! Splashing and laughing, classes worked together to achieve their goal, albeit with a lot of soggy children at the end.

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A highlight for many students was a trip to Khao Khitchakut National Park. Whilst there, children hiked through the forest, their destination a waterfall where they could cool down by splashing amongst the resident fish in the forest pool. Shrieks of laughter echoed through the National Park as the curious critters nibbled students’ toes.

Later that afternoon, students began to prepare dinner.

Everyone took on a role to create a mouth-watering feast: chopping vegetables, grilling meat, cooking corn and of course, washing up. When it was time to sit down and devour their dinner, students reflected on how proud they were to have whipped up such a delicious meal by collaborating with their classmates.

Bangkok Patana Magazine

Camping was a new experience for many of our students and it is after dark when the creatures of the forest really come to life. Falling asleep beneath the stars with the soundtrack of birds, tokay geckos and the occasional frog to lull them to sleep was a fantastic way to spend the night.

Another destination where witnessing wildlife in their natural habitat really brings learning to life is the mangrove forest. Amongst these amazing trees, which protect the land and provide a habitat for many creatures, children learned about this fascinating ecosystem.

Many groups were lucky enough to spot kingfishers, fiddler crabs, mudskippers and even a snake! With a focus on mindfulness and well-being, students painted watercolour landscapes beneath the boughs.

Returning to school on the buses, students’ talk was full of roasting marshmallows on campfires, spotting turtles at the Conservation Centre, ice creams galore, and playing happily with friends on the beach. Tired but happy, Year 6 drifted off for a well-earned snooze at the end of their final Primary Residential.

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LEARNING

MICRO-TEACHING: A VALUABLE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TOOL

By Bryony Wilson, Primary Leader of Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Katherine Hume, Cross Campus Assistant Principal, Continued Professional Learning

A

s teachers at Bangkok Patana, we are always looking for ways to improve our practice and the impact our teaching has on our students’ learning. In the Primary School we continue to pursue opportunities to foster this and have recently begun our journey of implementing ‘Micro-teaching’ as an effective developmental model to support teacher professional learning.

We know that professional learning is most effective when it occurs in the context of an educator’s daily work.

School-based professional development helps educators analyse data and identify challenges and gaps, develop solutions, and promptly apply those solutions to address students’ needs. This sentiment is echoed by Tucker (2021) as he states,

“Professional development is not so much what happens when teachers sit in workshops, as it is the process of learning that takes place in an environment in which the school is organized so that continuous learning is built into the very fabric of the teachers’ work itself.”

Microteaching as a professional development tool supports this process of teachers learning in their context, in real time, responding to challenges and developments which are relevant to their professional practice and their students’ needs.

What is Micro-teaching?

Micro-teaching was invented in 1963 at Stanford University by Dwight W Allen and has subsequently been used to

develop educators in all forms of education. The process works by a teacher videoing a segment of a lesson, reviewing the recording, and then getting constructive feedback from peers about what has worked and what improvements can be made to their teaching technique. This provides teachers with an “under the microscope” view of their teaching.

There is strong evidence that microteaching works. A review in 2012 of the evidence for micro-teaching, undertaken by Professor John Hattie as part of his Visible Learning project, found it was the sixth most effective method for improving student outcomes.

‘Micro-teaching gives us the opportunity to hear the thinking of teachers, to see their impact on students, and to create a common dialogue about thinking and impact.’ (Hattie, 2012)

Our philosophy We believe that when teachers work collectively together, we can have a much greater impact on student learning. The microteaching model promotes ongoing dialogue, reflection, adaptation and action focused on pedagogy.

Throughout the Micro-teaching process we endeavour to create a culture of professional trust and risk taking within a safe environment, where teachers can explore different approaches to teaching and learning and analyse the impact these approaches have on student success.

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Bangkok Patana Magazine

How Micro-teaching works in the Primary School • Identify a focus: Teachers begin the process by choosing a specific focus area. For example, questioning or feedback. The focus areas are normally linked to the Primary School development priorities or individual teacher’s professional development objectives. This ensures that the focus is relevant and enables collaboration with colleagues, encouraging ongoing discussions around pedagogy.

• Video the learning: The teacher would then video a segment within a lesson. These are short video clips of around five minutes, aiming to capture the specific focus.

• Self-reflection: Rubrics are used to help gather observational data from the videos and reflect on what went well, as well as next steps we need to take, or adaptations we need to make to our practice to enhance our teaching and student learning.

• Collaborative peer discussions: Most importantly, we can share the videos or the reflections with colleagues and share ideas and different approaches that we could use to increase the impact that our teaching is having on the students. This fosters honest, reflective conversations about

what is being taught and learned in a classroom, impacting both a teacher’s teaching and a students’ learning.

What the teachers say…

“I often use micro-teaching opportunities in the moment, when talking to the children about their specific learning or when I see an opportunity to explore a child’s thinking and want to go deeper with questioning and feedback. The recording allows me to focus on the child in their learning, which I will capture in the video and review after in more detail to consider the next steps and how I question and give/receive feedback.”

“The micro-teaching process has shown me that much deeper learning can be captured and later reviewed and analysed to provide and plan for future quality learning opportunities that suit the needs of the child or children in the class.”

“I would like to share the video with colleagues that have a similar focus.

We can then support one another and discuss ideas to improve our practice.”

“The micro-teaching process so far has made me think more carefully before and during lessons: what would this look like if I watched it back? My focus is on engagement, maintaining students’ attention and asking leading questions to reduce teacher talk.”

“I watch the recording a couple of times and then scribe the questions that I have asked, before categorising them into question types. This process is helping me reflect on the types of questions I ask, and which types I should ask to probe and deepen the students’ thinking further.”

Micro-teaching, as a professional learning tool, is one that we will continue to explore and embed over time within the Primary School. We believe, successfully implemented, the Micro-teaching model, will support teacher professional growth and enhance high quality learning and teaching, consequently having a positive impact on our students.

TERM 3 – 2020/21

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GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

CAS SERVICE IN THE PANDEMIC: THE ENGLISH HOUSE

By Caroline Ferguson, Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) Coordinator

T

he restrictions imposed on school and community life in response to the pandemic have presented challenges to all of us. For our Senior students it has meant that they have found it very difficult to engage in meaningful direct action service in the local community. The English House Programme project is one of the few opportunities for students to be active volunteers, without having to leave their own homes!

The opportunity arose this year to work with our partners, The Mercy Centre, on a collaborative project which aimed to meet a real and identified need in their community. The Centre is home to eight primary and middle school aged children who have been identified as

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gifted and talented, and as a result have secured scholarships to several international schools in Bangkok. In order to support the education of this group of children the team there established

a new programme called ‘The English House’. However, before long it became clear that these children would need extra support if they were to keep up with their peers and so the decision was made to set up a long-term tuition programme for these children and those who follow in their footsteps. This is where the Bangkok Patana team, comprising eleven students from Year 11 and 12 along with three teachers, stepped in to offer weekly online tutoring for the children in Maths, English and Science.

Running such a programme has not been without its challenges, as any students or teachers who have been engaged in CSL over the past year will agree, but in spite of these challenges, the experience has been immensely rewarding for both the tutees and the tutors alike.

Bangkok Patana Magazine

So let us hear from some of the team: “When I arrived in Bangkok it was very important for me to find a way to connect with the local community and give back, in whatever way I could. I teach the importance of community service but it has been a while since I have modelled it myself.

Doing more Maths teaching was not what I had in mind but in fact, it’s a skill I have and this is about the community’s needs, not mine.

It is a challenge, but an incredibly rewarding one. The Mercy Centre is very supportive and the children are hilarious and eager to improve.” Rory Stewart (Maths Teacher) “I thoroughly enjoy tutoring Gun, because I am able to share my love of learning with him. In our typical session, we go through areas of knowledge he finds difficult with interactive activities such as Kahoot and crosswords. A 30-minute session every week can go a long way towards making a positive impact on his learning!” Yizhen (Tina) Kong, 12T “I decided to join the Mercy Centre tutoring team as I believe that helping these children will boost their knowledge on certain subjects, expose them to new ideas and so help enhance personal development, preparing them for the future.”

Sharlene Lertpisitkul, 11S “I decided to be a part of the Mercy Centre tutoring group in order to help out in the community and I really enjoy spending an hour each week with my student Bai Tong, helping her improve her confidence in English.”

Reem Omair, 11P “I’ve always enjoyed interacting with younger children. Also, I believe it’s crucial for me as a privileged student to help others that are not given the same opportunities, but have the same passion and determination.”

Kylie Kim, 11B

IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE EDUCATION OF THIS GROUP OF CHILDREN THE TEAM THERE ESTABLISHED A NEW PROGRAMME CALLED ‘THE ENGLISH HOUSE’.

This project shows how our students are managing to continue with direct action service and how initiative, innovation and collaboration can help us all overcome the many barriers presented by the pandemic. Well done all of you for your commitment and the contribution you have made to making this project a success.

A final word from the volunteer leader at the programme: “What a fantastic experience! The children love it, think it is fun and are always excited about their tutoring sessions.” Daniella Fischer (The English House Programme)

TERM 3 – 2020/21

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LEARNING

LEARNING

THE IMPACT OF TARGETED GRADES ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

By Tim Jarrett, Head of Year 13; History Teacher

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fter beginning my Master’s in Education at the University of Bath eight years ago, the final assessed piece of work, a 15,000 word dissertation on a topic of my choice, was all that was left to complete before receiving the accolade of Master of Education. Having worked at Bangkok Patana School for nine years and seen a number of changes introduced in this time, it seemed a good idea to investigate the impact the student - teacher agreed target grades has had on (I)GCSE attainment since their introduction in 2014. Something very pertinent to me in my role as Head of Year is using attainment data to support our students in fulfilling their potential and this is a crucial part of the job.

After much discussion with my tutor at Bath we agreed on the following question “Has the introduction of teacher-student agreed target grades from 2014 had a significant impact on (I)GCSE attainment at Bangkok Patana School”?

To start this investigation a review of the literature took place to identify what

different practitioners and educational researchers have written about the use of target grades in schools. The aim of this was to discover what practitioners that have written about target grades consider good practice in this field.

Other aims of the literature review were to investigate what the different impacts

A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE TOOK PLACE TO IDENTIFY WHAT DIFFERENT PRACTITIONERS AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHERS HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT THE USE OF TARGET GRADES IN SCHOOLS. 20

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of target grades are on attainment and schools and whether the benefits of using target grades outweigh the negatives, regardless of whether the student and teachers agree to them.

A survey was designed for students that were preparing for their (I)GCSEs (or had recently completed them) on the importance they attach to target grades, the extent to which target grades motivate them to succeed and the level of understanding students have in how they are generated.

The survey was to help investigate whether a relationship existed between teacherstudent target grades and the increase in the number of students achieving all A*-B

Bangkok Patana Magazine

Bangkok Patana School (I)GCSE Grades 2011-2018

at (I)GCSE since 2014. To ascertain whether there had been an improvement in student attainment since 2014 when the new target grade process was introduced, analysis of the school’s (I)GCSE results was also necessary.

The third and final research undertaken was in the form of staff interviews, where staff of varying levels of seniority

(but all with an investment in whether teacher-student target grades have had impact on attainment) were interviewed in a semi-structured format. The main feedback gleaned from the interviews was that the introduction of teacher – student agreed target grades had improved attainment. However, staff felt it was difficult to state how much this can be attributed to target grades.

After reflecting on the literature, student survey, staff interviews and school (I) GCSE results, there has been a clear improvement in (I)GCSE attainment since 2014 (as the graphic above illustrates) and a relationship between the use of teacher – student target grade exists, however what remains unclear is the extent that improved attainment is due to the target grade process.

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GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP LIFE AFTER PATANA: ALUMNI BREAKFAST

CLEMENT PITHON If there is one thing Grad’11 alumni Clement Pithon has learned, is that plans change. Clem visited the school and shared his experiences in the IB programme and beyond at the alumni breakfast for Year 13s in Term 2. Students were inspired to hear how he overcame challenges and adapted his plans to change.

Clem started in Foundation Stage 2 so knows Bangkok Patana well. He addressed the challenges he faced in the IB programme and what he did to overcome them. He also offered some sage advice:

“Have a broad idea of where you want to go in life, you don’t need to be very specific as plans can change. You need to be prepared to change your plans a bit, be able to adapt to things out of your control. However, make sure that you look ahead, think about what would make you happy, see yourself at the age of 50 and what you need to do to reach the milestones that make you happy.”

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“I had plans to attend university in London and study Business Administration. However, life threw a spanner in the works when I didn’t test as well on my IB as I had expected.

Suddenly, my carefully laid specific plans were out the window. However, I realised I needed to fix it, it was my problem. I knew the self-doubt I was plagued with wasn’t going to help. I emailed lots of universities, explained my problem

Bangkok Patana Magazine

and asked them to give me a chance. The University of Exeter, who visited the school often, was willing to give me that chance. I went into a different programme, Management with Leadership. This change actually ended up teaching me more than I may have gotten with my original plans.”

Difference between Management and Leadership “The programme taught me the difference between management and leadership; for me, management is being able to just manage a situation, problem and people effectively.

Leadership is about being able to inspire people to follow you. A manager is not necessarily a leader. We’ve all seen people who manage well but don’t inspire – a leader is someone who goes above and beyond for their followers and by setting an example encourages their followers to do the same.

Management can be given, leadership has to be earned.”

“I finished my degree in the UK, knew that I wanted to do a Master’s degree and that I wanted to live in France at some point in my life as my father is French. I saw that I could merge these two aspirations in one go. It was amazing as I got to discover another part of my life that I had only had a glimpse of before; I had spent every summer there when I was younger but it is not the same until you actually live there. The school I went to, ESCP Business School, is one of the most selective in

France, so it was a big point of pride to study there. I spent one year in Paris and one year at their campus in London which allowed me to transition into my new job. For my Master’s degree there was a requirement to do nine months of professional experience so I decided to take time off in the middle and work for Mercedes-Benz, as an industrial placement. This is a specific year-long internship for students.”

After Graduation “After graduation, although I was offered a job with Mercedes, I didn’t want to go back and do the same thing, I wanted to be stretched. So, I went for a job in consulting to push myself a bit and did that for two years. The company really threw you in the deep end from day one – you really had to stand up and lift that weight. It was very hands on work almost immediately. There is no better school than really just going for it and doing the job.”

“I knew long-term that my future was in Thailand and not the UK, so I was looking for opportunities to move back to Thailand.

Of course, there was an opportunity to move here with my company as they have an office in Bangkok, but I wanted to focus on sales and strategy, so I checked to see if MercedesBenz had something like that open in Bangkok. I contacted the company here and we started talking and here I am!”

Life After Patana Stories Our alumni have had some amazing experiences since they left Bangkok Patana. Scan the QR code to learn more about their journeys.

Visiting Bangkok? Want to come back for noodles? To book your alumni visit, get in touch at alumni@patana.ac.th TERM 3 – 2020/21

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LEARNING

WELL-BEING

Long Service Awards Bangkok Patana School is honoured to celebrate the dedication of the employees listed below, who have served twenty years and more at the school. To put this into perspective: Our thirty-five year employee started around the same time as the Foundation and the establishment of the PTG. Our thirty-year employees began when the campus moved to Soi LaSalle and the Secondary School was established; our twenty-five year employees started around the same time that our first class graduated from Secondary School; our twenty-year employees the same year that the TigerSharks were formed and the Tennis programme began. Congratulations to all our long service staff! When you see them, be sure to ask them to recount some of their most interesting and fondest memories of the school.

35 YEARS

Mrs Wilai Pongsantisuk Accountant Collections Supervisor

30 YEARS

Mrs Kornthong Pol-ar-wut Housekeeper

Mr Phutipat Ruecha Reprographics Officer

20 YEARS

Mrs Pornpimon Chuenchandaeng Primary Teaching Assistant 24

• Bangkok Patana School

Mr Kazuya Yoneyama Secondary World Languages Teacher (Japanese)

Mrs Sarina Dhawan Primary Teaching Assistant

Ms Bongkot Piyawiphat Personal Assistant to the Head of School

Bangkok Patana Magazine

25 YEARS

Ms Rapeeporn Tangkitpanich Senior Accountant

Mr Anawat Pensiri Admissions Officer

Mrs Harsha Ambani Primary Teaching Assistant

Mr Michael Lyons Secondary Mathematics and Theory of Knowledge Teacher

Mrs Diana Jones Primary Leader of Learning and Development, Year 3

Ms Siyapa Chaiyakornpakitti Cashier - Payables

Mrs Pornpen Nuangjumnong Secondary Science Technician

Mrs Debra Youplub Secretary to Cross Campus Assistant Principal, Professional Learning

Ms Masaya Chouaynakorn Secretary to Careers and Universities Department TERM 3 – 2020/21

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

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

GRAD’21 CAS PROJECT TACKLES WASTE WITH RESCUED GLASS

By Divyansh Jain and and Abhishek Pawa, Year 13 students

T

he entire Community Action Service (CAS) project started with a group of friends passionate about working with real businesses that are actively involved in tackling global issues. We thought the most prevalent problem in this part of the world was improving the quality of waste mitigation for various single-use items. We found a non-profit social enterprise, Rescued Glass, that works to reduce the impact of glass bottles by upcycling them to create high quality home decor. They aim to create something beautiful that would impact the local community at a much larger scale than a personal project. They do this by creating a movement of circular disposal of obsolete glass products by minimising the volume that is sent to landfills.

It is astonishing to learn that glass bottles have a larger carbon footprint to manufacture than plastic bottles of the same mass.

Furthermore, with glass being easily and almost infinitely recyclable, it is only logical to participate in this movement.

We directly witnessed, and learned, how it is possible to creatively re-engineer glass bottles and repurpose them into unique and stylish household decor such as candles, vases and glasses.

As a social enterprise, Rescued Glass works with Second Chance Bangkok and Green Samurai for the production of their packaging. These businesses are social organisations

that help the local community in their own respective ways.

Second Chance recycles secondhand clothing to create the packaging for the individual products, which is further manufactured from workers who live in underprivileged communities such as the one in Khlong Toei. Green Samurai recycles plastic pellets to create larger packaging for the more stylish products such as the high-in-demand wine decanters.

Since the opening of school early this year, we have managed to promote this movement within our Secondary School, with a group of 30 actively participating young students and aspiring entrepreneurs. This has not only allowed younger students to directly experience the workings of local businesses, but also allowed us, Senior students, to develop and enhance our communication and leadership skills. We have learnt valuable lessons with e-commerce by creating a functional website, along with selling products through large online retailers such as Shopee and Lazada.

We plan to further develop and increase our involvement in the local community with aspiring students at Bangkok Patana School hoping that, together, we can reduce the figure of 28 billion glass bottles and jars that fill our landfills annually.

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A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY Celebrating the Class of 2021 532 University Offers from 170 Selective Universities Offers from Oxbridge/Ivy League Schools

Offers from Top 50 Times Higher Education World University Rankings: 119 Carnegie Mellon University Harvard University Imperial College London (4) Katholieke Universiteit KU Leuven King’s College London (20) London School of Economics and Political Science (3) McGill University (3) University College London (11) University of British Columbia (18) University of California, Berkeley (2) University of California, Los Angeles (5) University of California, San Diego (9) University of Edinburgh (10) University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (3) University of Michigan University of Oxford University of Toronto (23) University of Wisconsin, Madison (2) Yale University

University of Oxford Brown University Dartmouth College Harvard University Yale University

Offers from Specialised Colleges and Programmes Catalyst Institute for Creative Arts and Technology, Berlin - Film Production Chulabhorn International College of Medicine Thammasat University HRH Princess Chulabhorn College of Medical Science Royal College of Surgeons Ireland - Medicine Srinakharinwirot University - Medicine University of the Arts London - Illustration University of the Arts London - Fashion Management University of Leeds - Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering University of Nottingham - Veterinary Medicine

Offers from Top US Liberal Arts Colleges Babson College Bowdoin College

H I STO R Y

FAS H I O N M A N AG E M E N T

Claremont McKenna (2) Middlebury College

ECONOMICS

Smith College Wellesley College

COMPUTER SCIENCE

View the complete list of offers to the Class of 2021 and read the stories behind them.

admissions@patana.ac.th www.patana.ac.th Tel: (0) 2785 2200 Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit IB World School accredited by CIS