Patana News Vol 18 Issue 7

Patana

NEWS

"When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative assessment; when the customer tastes the soup, that’s summative assessment.”

Paul Black P. 4 Bangkok Patana is an IB World School, accredited by CIS and NEASC

The Cross Campus Principal’s Letter "When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative assessment; when the customer tastes the soup, that’s summative assessment.” Paul Black This year, all academic staff are looking for good answers to this question: How can we use assessment to improve the quality of learning for each of our students?

There are two types of assessment: formative and summative. The quote above is designed to show the difference. A cook would be testing the soup in order to adjust what he or she is currently doing and to make further improvements towards what they consider to be their intended goal – the best soup possible. A customer would pass judgement as to the overall quality of the soup after it has been made.

We use formative assessment to monitor our students’ learning, providing us with ongoing feedback.

This feedback is in turn used to modify teaching and learning activities so as to further improve student learning outcomes. Summative assessment focuses on the outcomes at the end of an instructional period (e.g. the end of a topic, course, term or school year). Both are important.

During the recent staff professional development day we were visited by Dylan Wiliam, a British expert in formative assessment. In the late 1990s he co-authored a book called ‘Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment’. The other author was Paul

Black, who gave us the quote at the top of this article. Nearly two decades later, their research is still having a significant impact on education.

I think there are two main reasons why formative assessment can transform learning.

Students should know the answer to three key questions: Where am I headed with my learning? Where am I now with my learning? How can I close the gap? The soup should taste like that, right now it tastes like this, and I know I next need to add a pinch of salt to make it taste as intended.

Identifying and sharing the answers to these questions with our students is prevalent across the whole school, such that our students are becoming better equipped at steering their learning. You should, for example, be able to spot how such questions inform our upcoming 3-Way Conferences (Primary) and Parents’ Conferences (Secondary).

Parents can ask: What are you hoping to achieve? What are your next steps to get there?

Parents can support their children by asking similar questions at home.

While it is always tempting to ask ‘how did you do’ in such and such a lesson, try asking these forwardlooking questions instead: What are you hoping to achieve? What are your next steps to get there?

The second main advantage of formative assessment is that it can be designed to regularly check each

and every student’s learning (their understanding of a concept or their current skill-level, for example). This is done to reveal any mistakes and correct them when they arise rather than checking after learning has taken place and when it is possibly too late.

Dylan Wiliam lent us a range of handy strategies to check whether each of the students in our classes actually ‘get it’. One example is to carefully design questions which require all students to provide their answer at the same time so that the teacher can identify those who do and don’t get it, and react accordingly. The pictures below shows one such method in action. These Year 11 Physics students have been asked to draw the particles in a liquid and hold their answers up for the teacher to check. The teacher - Mr Baker in this case - ‘tastes the soup’, identifying who amongst the class needs further instruction on this matter and who is ready to move on because they already get it.

Look back at the picture on the front cover of Mr Tyers and one of his students in Year 5, reviewing her learning. Who is the cook? Both are, of course. They can taste the soup together and both can make adjustments to what they are doing accordingly. This could be an example of what we might call ‘coconstructed learning’ but that’s another article in itself …

By Thanyamai (Mai Mai) Chansavangwonk, 13V This year’s annual Bangkok International School String Orchestra Festival was held at the International School of Bangkok from the 24th to 26th September. The guest conductor, Kirt Mosier, certainly struck a chord within the 16 Bangkok Patana students as well as the other schools that participated with his eccentric and witty quips that juxtaposed the sleep-induced bus rides to ISB. Kirt Mosier’s experience in conducting and composing, widely recognised in the Unites States, undoubtedly aided the string orchestra to fulfil his vivacious visions of the collection of pieces to be performed. Although the three days spent rehearsing were unequivocally long and intense, Kirt Mosier’s jest fuelled the orchestra’s energy to “stop ‘rushin’ because we’re not Russian”.

Mosier’s spirited nature guided the students to connect and feel the music, similar to the way he emphasised the importance of the

orchestra’s connection with the conductor, subsequently allowing for an electrifying performance that started with powerful bursts of energy in the opening of Mozart’s Symphony, contrasted by the delicate beauty within the “sparkling” chords of Newbold’s ‘Le Froid de L’Hiver’ (‘The Cold of the Winter’). Mosier’s own compositions were performed, and it can be said without a doubt that the theatre had transformed into

the Wild West with the dynamic nature of ‘American Reel’.

By the end of the performance, all sections of the orchestra glowed like the bright lights Kirt Mosier had carefully and patiently conducted them to be. There was irrefutably a major difference between the first rehearsal and the concert, and the next time all the international schools will perform united as one, will hopefully be again for next year’s festival.

By Miranda Cawley, Leader of Learning and Curriculum Year 6 In Year 6, the students have been learning about different aspects of migration. This week we had a visit from Kate Rome, a Community Outreach Worker for Asylum Access Thailand. Kate spent two hours with Year 6 discussing and exploring the life of refugees in Thailand with a particular focus on children in detention centres. Year 6 children explored what life would be like without the most basic of human rights: right to clean water, right to food, access to family, access to medical care, right to practise their own religion and various other basic human rights.

Kate’s presentation gave the children an insight into what life is like for a refugee held in detention centres here in Thailand. We found it hard to imagine a room barely bigger than one of our classrooms filled with one hundred people and all of their possessions, and we were shocked to find out that people are sometimes kept in these conditions for more than two years. Kate’s organisation aims to end immigration detention of children. All evidence shows that detention is seriously damaging to the short and long term mental health and development of young children. Other alternatives to detention are in use in other countries and have been found to be more effective. In Year 6, we aim to support this organisation this year through our charity-based activities.

By Genevieve Ahl, Services Manager Bangkok Patana School advises all parents to ensure that they have suitable personal accident insurance for their children whilst taking part in all school activities. To find out more details about the School Insurance Cover, please click here. This information is also readily available on the Parents’ Gateway.

All personal items that students bring to school are

the responsibility of the student to keep safe. Any damage, loss or theft is not covered within the school insurance policies. Please ensure that you have adequate insurance cover for all necessary personal high value items and remind your child to ensure they take good care of all of their own items.

Please note that the Primary and Secondary Libraries will be closed between 9.30am and 3.15pm on Thursday 15th October.

By Tim Jarrett, Head of Year 8 On Thursday 24th and Friday 25th September, Clive Leach came to Bangkok Patana School to work with Year 8 students, the Year 8 Tutor Team and parents of Patana students. Clive’s area of expertise is in positive coaching to help people from all ages and walks of life to recognise their strengths so that we can “flourish”.

“On 24th and 25th September, Year 8 had the great experience of meeting Mr Clive Leach. He helped us conclude what type of person we really are. For example, someone might be a modest person – and this could be a strength. We completed quite a few fun activities as a group with the other people on our table. In one of the activities we (each table) chose someone who we thought might have had most of the [desirable] qualities. In another activity there were many cards, each describing the types of people and explaining what they mean and how the person with that quality would act. Everyone got to choose three to five of the cards. On a sheet we wrote which cards we chose and why. All of us got to learn what type of person we are and the strengths we have in just one, two or three words”.

Kaela Penwarden, 8F “During last week’s visit of Clive Leach, Year 8 students were learning how they could fulfil their po-

tential by discovering their key attributes. Some of these attributes are: Perseverance, Creativity, Curiosity, Integrity, Love, Appreciation of beauty, Social Intelligence. Overall there are 24 attributes and each individual person

has seven strongest attributes.

Mr Leech was in to talk about this with students as a coach. We talked about various people that were ‘flourishing’ and what it was that allowed them to do that. In our discussion people we identified as flourishing included Caitlyn Jenner and Emma Watson. We also learnt about how these attributes could benefit many areas of our life, such as job interviews and our education.

We were also taught how these skills could be overplayed; for example someone’s leadership strength might lead them to becoming controlling or self-absorbed because they know they’re good at leading. Overall, we were able to learn a lot about how we can use our strongest attributes to improve on our everyday life. He taught us that it is important to

know your strengths just as well as you know your weaknesses and, although focusing on improving is good, understanding our strengths is very useful too”. Henry Brosnahan, 8W After working with Clive Leach, Bangkok Patana students are now going to get the opportunity to develop their own strengths in tutorial sessions and reflect on the language and skills Clive Leach highlighted. The Year 8 Residential is fastapproaching and the positive language that Clive Leach was working on with the students will be used consistently to help students “flourish” particularly when they come across challenging and new situations when out of the classroom.

Click here for the Canteen Menu

Upcoming University Visits University/College

Representative

Location

Date / Time

University Fair in Bangkok by EARCOS and

-

The Shangri-La Hotel,

3rd Oct, 3.30pm

Boston University Tufts University American University Ryerson University S P Jain School of Global Management Carleton University University of Colorado at Boulder University of Exeter The University of Iowa University of Missouri Columbia School of the Art Institute of Chicago Merrimack College California Lutheran University

Anne Corriveau Jen Simons Julie Soper Soeun Outh Krishti Chatterjee Andy Raeburn

2nd Floor, Senior Studies 2nd Floor, Senior Studies 2nd Floor, Senior Studies 2nd Floor, Senior Studies 2nd Floor, Senior Studies 2nd Floor, Senior Studies

Jim Myton

2nd Floor, Senior Studies

5th Oct, 9.15am 5th Oct, 9.15am 5th Oct, 12.15am 5th Oct, 12.15am 5th Oct, 12.15am 6th Oct, 9.15am 6th Oct, 12.15am 6th Oct, 12.15am 6th Oct, 12.15am 6th Oct, 12.15am 7th Oct, 12.15am 8th Oct, 9.15am 9th Oct, 9.00am

University of Southampton

Caitlin Shriner 2nd Floor, Senior Studies Joseph LaTorre 2nd Floor, Senior Studies Tracy Howtamfat 2nd Floor, Senior Studies Mr. Mohamed Torbati, 2nd Floor, Senior Studies Engineering Professor

15th Oct, 12.00pm

By Nicola McRae, Head Gymnastics Coach Just one month into the 2015/16 academic year and the Bangkok Patana Gymnastics team have performed at their first competition of the season, the BPS In-house Competition 2015.

On Saturday 26th September, the Gymnastics team hosted this first in-house meet to get the athletes back into ‘competition mode’. The first of its kind, the In -house Competition gave our gymnasts an opportunity to perform their new routines for the first time to the judges in a friendly setting, in front of team mates, friends and family. And of course they got to try out their new team leotards!

Our gymnasts returned to training in August at the ‘Back to School’ camp, which has been followed by an intensive month of regular training, they have worked hard to learn and prac-

tise their new routines and skills in preparation for the start of the competition season. This year a new programme has been introduced for all Bangkok and South East Asia schools competing at the BISAC and SEASAC competitions, for this reason the BPS Inhouse Competition was also an important occasion for the Thailand judges who were able to familiarise themselves with the new code of points.

The weekend saw 75 Bangkok Patana gymnasts compete across 11 different levels, with our gymnasts competing in open age categories against their team mates.

It was a great chance for our gymnasts to gain valuable competition experience and receive feedback on their performance with a clear understanding of their areas for improvement.

In the Boys’ team, Hugh Graham, Tristan Vandermeer, Zachary Bolesta and Aron Steinmetz won their individual all-around

competitions and it was Hanami Roughley, Usha Hollema, Scarlett Taylor and Jessica Bastin who took the titles in the Girls’ categories. Special mentions must also go to Password Thepkanjana, our eldest, most decorated and longest serving gymnast on the Bangkok Patana team, who wowed the spectators with some impressive new skills and to Oliver Morgan who is our youngest gymnast, competing for the very first time.

Thanks go to all of our gymnasts, coaches, parents and support staff who made this event such a success.

Make sure you check out the Patana Gymnastics website for regular updates about the Gymnastics team and for a full listing of results from the competition and some great photos. Please feel free to drop by the Sports Hall and join us in support of our teams as they go for gold at their first major event of the year, the FOBISIA Gymnastics Invitational Championships held on Saturday 10th – Sunday 11th October.

THE ROAR Produced by the Athletics Council

Athlete of the week Moniqa Nielsen Who scored 5 tries against NIST Year: 9 Team: U15 Touch Position: Wing Sporting icon: Caroline Wozniacki Sport quote: “It’s a slow process, but quitting won’t speed it up” Food that I’ll never eat: Nothing!

Favourite after sports snack: Frozen grapes How long I’ve played Touch: Only 1 month

Results and Highlights Cross Country Varsity – Sri 1st Place, Ross 1st Place Football Girls’ Varsity vs. HIS – Won 4-3 Boys’ Varsity vs. HIS – Won 4-1 Girls’ JV vs. HIS – Won 5-2 www.facebook.com/bpssports Girls’ Varsity vs. ISB – Won 2-1 Boys’ Varsity vs. ISB – Lost 0-2 Volleyball Girls’ Varsity vs. HIS – Won Boys’ Varsity vs. HIS – Won Girls’ JV vs. HIS – Won Boys’ JV vs. HIS – Won Girls’ Varsity vs. ISB – Lost Boys’ Varsity vs. ISB – Lost Boys’ JV vs. ISB – Won For more results from last week visit http://www.patanasport.com/default.asp?Id=28480

Upcoming Fixtures Monday 5th October Basketball – Girls’ U15A Away Basketball – Boys’ U15B Away Basketball – Boys’ U13A Away Rugby Sevens – Boys’ U15A Away Wednesday 7th October Football – Boys’ Varsity HOME Football – Girls’ Varsity HOME Football – Varsity 2nd Team HOME Football – Boys’ JV HOME Football – Girls’ JV Away Volleyball – Boys’ JV HOME Volleyball – Girls’ JV HOME Thursday 8st October Basketball – Boys’ U15A HOME Basketball – Boys’ U13A Away Basketball – Girls’ U13A HOME Touch – Girls’ U15A HOME Tennis – Boys’ U13A HOME Tennis – Girls’ U13A HOME Friday 9th October Basketball – Boys’ U11A Away Basketball – Girls’ U11A Away Volleyball – Boys’ Varsity Away Saturday 10th October Gymnastics – Gymnastics Program HOME Tennis – Boys’ U13A HOME Tennis – Girls’ U13A Away Volleyball – Boys’ Varsity Away Volleyball – Girls’ Varsity Away

Sunday 11th October Cross Country – Varsity Away Golf – Varsity Away Gymnastics – Gymnastics Program HOME

BIG CONGRATULATIONS to all the student athletes who participated in the ISB Spirit Night and the Fun Run!

www.facebook.com/bpssports

By Stuart Welham, Coach (Bangkok Soccer Schools) “Good experience for the Under 19’s 2nd team on Wednesday 23rd September against Harrow” As both teams took to the field it was obvious that we had a younger team. A nervous start quickly saw us go behind and further mistakes in defence were quickly capitalised on by Harrow players. The first half was tough for our players and we ended the half 6-0 down. Half time team talk

was all about relaxing and trying to play to our capabilities. They quickly did and a more composed group of players began to settle, relax and enjoy their football, more so by the end of the half with the players producing a much more assured second half display. The second period saw Bangkok Patana hitting the woodwork three times and coming close on numerous occasions with vice-captain and ‘Man

of the Match’ Mitsuyoshi Araki scoring an excellent long range strike that was easily the goal of the game. The fixture ended in an 8-1 defeat but the boys have a lot to be positive about and hopefully the team can build on their second half performance in next Monday’s match against Ekamai International School.” (The team was captained by Henry Zoeller).

Fun Run 2015 Well done to all the runners, helpers and organisers from Sunday’s annual Fun Run event. A large album of photographs are now available on the School’s Facebook page and results can be found here.

A big thank you all our sponsors!

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors PTG & ThPG (Parent Teacher Group & Thai Parent Group)

Silver Sponsors

ECA Block 2 Phase 2 There is a vacancy for a Part Time (two days a week) Entry Clearance Officer in the Visa Section of the British Embassy. The closing date is 8th October and the advert is on the British Embassy website. Because of security considerations the position is restricted to nationals from the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, United States, European Union or European Economic Area.

Registration opens at noon on Monday 5th October and closes at noon on Friday 5th October.

Please note these dates are different than those given previously in Patana News and in the Year planner that was distributed at the beginning of the academic year.

By CJ Wang, Taiwan Country Rep We will take part in the parade this year, if you are interested in having your kids join us, please contact CJ Wang at wang@taiyofastener.com.

Your help is appreciated. Thank you very much.

To move ahead with planning could you kindly send your email and contact details to your country rep: Daphne - daphne.seiler@telkomsa.net

…

Please join us by participating in and/or contributing towards International Day. To be a member of Team India, please email: lakshmi.rn@gmail.com.

Support Team India by contributing THB 500 per Indian family Drop your envelope (labelled with the child's name and Year group) at the Cashier's office.

Together - we can make this day special for the children.

Best Regards, Lakshmi

By Genevieve Ahl, Services Manager 

If your Year 7 child will be staying to meet you for the Parents' Conference Evening on Monday 5th October please ensure that you cancel their bus home by emailing transport@patana.ac.th. Not cancelling the bus can cause delay and inconvenience to other bus users.

Your cooperation is very much appreciated.  Year 12 and 13 students may make amendments to their transport schedule themselves but please ensure this is done by 11.00am or earlier. Late requests put unneces-

sary pressure on the busy Transport Department and may be refused.  Parents of students in Year 11 and below must make requests for transport changes for their child.

Please also ensure this is received before 11.00am at the latest. A notice of 24 hours or more is preferred.  Late Buses: Please note if a bus is late due to traffic congestion an SMS will be sent to parents. If you are worried or feeling anxious due to an unusually late arrival of your

child’s bus, please call the Transport Office who will be able to let you know the location of the bus. The phone number is 02 785 2470. Do you also know the emergency numbers of the Transport Department? These are available at the back of the green Transport Booklet and also available on the Parents' Gateway. They should only be used in an emergency. All queries can be handled through the Transport Department office.

Australia

Andrea Chaplin

ptgtigers@gmail.com

Austria

Irma Leiler

anrealir@gmail.com

Bangladesh

Asfia Hussain

asfilabu0112@gmail.com

Belgium

Petra Brouckmans

petrandrew@yahoo.co.uk

Brazil

Bela Woodrow

mbortigao@yahoo.co.uk

Britain (UK)

Alexandra Masson

Alex@lottieandmax.com

Canada

Ann Baines

ann@anngibbspr.com

China

Liuyu

YULIU105@hotmail.com

Czech Republic

Martina Koralova

koralek@hotmail.com

Denmark

Malene Bloch Lundgaard

maleneblochlundgaard@gmail.com

Finland

Daranee Lius

daranee.lius@gmail.com

France

Alex Borione

aborione@hotmail.com

Germany

Maike Schoeppner

m.schoeppner@gmx.net

Hong Kong

Mabel

mabel_tse@hotmail.com

India

Lakshmi

lakshmi.rn@gmail.com

Indonesia

Lakshmi Tantya

tantya_lk@yahoo.com

Ireland

John Campbell

john.campbell@amecfw.com

Italy

Luciana Callieri

lucianacallieri@gmail.com

Japan

Fusako Dart Kraeuchi

kraeuchidart@bluewin.ch

Korea

Jinkyung Choi

cjky7@hanmail.net

Malaysia

Eunice Flannery

flannery_3@yahoo.com.sg

Mozambique

Fernanda Goncalves

fgoncalves242@gmail.com

Myanmar

Naylin Oo

unaylinoo@gmail.com

Netherlands

Helke Vijsma

helkevijsma@gmail.com

New Zealand

Sarita Arya

sarita_arya@hotmail.com

Norway

Bjorn Inge Holberg

bjorn.inge.holberg@gmail.com

Phillipines

Rica Delos Santos

ricaching2001@yahoo.com

Poland

Dru Bolesta

drubolesta@hotmail.com

Russia

Darya Kaygorodtseva

daria.kaygorodtseva@gmail.com

Singapore

Shin-yi Chan

sgp.patana@gmail.com

South Africa

Daphne Seiler

daphne.seiler@telkomsa.net

Spain

Maite Mateos

maitemateos@hotmail.com

Sri Lanka

Thalindra Welikala

thalindrawel@gmail.com

Sweden

Milan Bobic

milansofia@spray.se

Switzerland

Prapinya Sprenger

prapinyasprenger@gmail.com

Taiwan

Chun-Jih Wang

wang@taiyofastener.com

Thailand

Thitinan kiatphaibool

thitinank@gmail.com

USA

Karin Zarifi

teamusa.bps@gmail.com

Vietnam

Ngoc Richt

ngoc_richt@yahoo.com

The Neilson Hays Library Rotunda and Garden Cafe Galleries presents the oil painting exhibition: “Horizons� from 6th October until 1st November, 2015 Join artist Sangeeta Mogha for her opening reception and art auction on Thursday, 8 October @ 6PM. The public is invited to take part in this free event to meet the artist and view her work.

Ms. Mogha is an Indian artist who explores the intersection between European Romanticism and a subcontinental sensibility - uniquely shaped by the era in which she was raised. She has been a resident of Bangkok since 1984. Greatly inspired by the works of J.M.W. Turner, Samuel Palmer, Joseph Wright of Derby and William Blake - this current exhibit "Horizons"consists of both studies and full-size oil paintings.

The weekly canteen menu is available here.

Please check the calendar on the Parents’ Gateway, Student pages and Staff Centre for up-to-date information on school events.

Visit www.patana.ac.th and click on the relevant icon to log in