Patana News Volume 19 Issue 12

Patana

NEWS

Positive Changes for our Early Childhood Learners Page 2 Habitat for Humanity Annual Build and SEASAC Boys’ Volleyball Report Bangkok Patana is an IB World School, accredited by CIS and NEASC

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ver the last few years we have been improving the quality of learning and teaching here at Bangkok Patana School, particularly within writing, to the point where our students can articulate their learning and share their next steps.

Whilst we first saw a significant impact on the progress of our older children, we have refined our practice and strategies so that even our youngest children now find ways to demonstrate their understanding and expect a greater level of involvement in the direction of their learning.

To help develop even more effective learning strategies with our younger children, and following much research and discussion, the Foundation Board has approved extending the learning day for children in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 to 2:30pm.

The school day for children in Nursery will still finish at 11:50am, with parents having the option for their children to stay until 2:30pm.

In the book, Time to Learn: How a New School Schedule Is Making Smarter Kids, Happier Parents and Safer Neighborhoods, the authors discuss how a longer school day can support achievement in Reading and Mathematics whilst providing a richer, broader curriculum. The book includes discussion on how the extended day has a positive effect within public schools throughout the country, the impact on teachers and families and the clear benefits for English language learners and children with specific learning needs.

(Time to Learn: Benefits of a Longer School Day by Christopher Gabrieli, Warren Goldstein)

Brian Herbert The feedback from our existing parents, and from prospective parents looking to enroll their children at Bangkok Patana, is that a school where Year groups finish at the same time would be easier to manage from a family perspective.

We are currently working through the logistics of this change. In Term 2 we will communicate in greater detail the changes that we will need to make and how we are going to enhance the learning through this approach. Please do bear with us at this moment in time as we put plans in place to ensure that our provision remains purposeful for all.

Whilst we realise you will have questions, we also ask that you are open to the potential of this change as a way to further enhance and develop every child’s capacity to learn.

With kind regards, Clare Sharp, Primary Principal

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n a busy Friday morning at Bangkok Patana School, SEASAC Volleyball commenced in the Sports Hall with seven participating teams from four countries. Our first game was against last year’s runner up International School Yangon (ISY) at 8:00am.

It came down to the wire in a tight five set match with ISY winning the fifth set 16-14. At this point it was our best performance of the season so we did not dwell on the loss but kept our heads up high.

The second match on Friday was against NIST in a Bangkok derby! Unfortunately, the result once again did not go in our favour. With the help of the vocal home crowd we pushed the game all the way to five sets, but we were not clinical and unable to close the game, losing 15-12 in the last set.

Our last game was against Canadian International School of Hong Kong (CDNIS), who eventually ended up winning the tournament. This game finished in four intense sets. We clearly lacked energy compared to the other games that day but we still played outstanding volleyball. By the end of Friday, we had conceded three close defeats which did not leave us in a good position in our group.

Saturday came and we played Ruamrudee International School (RIS) first. With winning being the only thing on our minds, we comfortably won three straight sets. Our work ethic combined with the focused mentality we had was the perfect recipe to win the game.

We played our last pool match against United World College East (UWCE) which was basically our quarterfinal. The winner of this game would move on to play ISY in the semifinal. Despite us playing a decent game, UWCE had their best game of the tournament and we lost in three really close sets with some controversial calls. This cut our Saturday shorter than we had hoped for but the results do not always go in our favour.

Sunday came and we were playing for relegation, not the position we had hoped to be in at this point in the tournament, but it was no reason to keep our heads down. We came out hot and won the first set against RIS. However, they bounced back and won the second. We managed to pull away and win the third; the excitement in the building was definitely rising! RIS went up early in the fourth set which we

never managed to pull back - a fifth set was needed to decide the winner. We came out confident and took a 7 -2 lead. Amazingly RIS managed to come back and earn a match point at 14-10. We were one single point from relegation, nevertheless we stayed calm, kept our cool and never gave up. Having saved match point 7 times, we came together and won it as a team 23-21. The game will never be forgotten by anyone who witnessed such a remarkable match. Neither team deserved to get relegated, demonstrated by the high standards at the tournament but thankfully due to our sheer determination and hard work we will be staying in Division 1 next year.

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ver 170 TigerShark athletes took part in either the internal Long Course or the ISB SwimFest from Thursday to Sunday last week. There was plenty of inter squad rivalry and many personal best times were swum over the two days.

Well done to the following swimmers who broke school records at the Long Course meet: Shlok Somani Age 8 and Under – 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 200m Individual Medley Gabriel (Gabe) McCartan Age 9-10 years - 50m Fly Patrick Walsh Age 11-12 years - 50m Fly, 100m Fly At ISB SwimFest the TigerSharks dominated the points scoring taking a first day lead of over 300 points and increasing this to nearly 400 by the end of the meet. Bangkok Patana won the top team trophy for the third year in a row and also took the aggregate points per swimmer award with an impressive 20-point average swimmer score – nearly three points higher than the second place team. A superb effort from nearly 100 swimmers.

Once again many personal best times were achieved and new school Short Course records were set: Male Age 7-8 years Freestyle Relay – Shlok Somani, Ken Sintavanarong, Joshua Burkill, Finn Eastwood Medley Relay – Shlok Somani, Pran Busrapan, Finn Eastwood, Ken Sintavanarong

Male Age 9-10 years - Freestyle Relay - Justin Changbencharoen, Jate Vanasin, James Thorp, Gabe McCartan Male Age 11-12 years - Medley Relay - Mark Chan, Norapat (Earth) Kornsri, Patrick Walsh, Tanat (Puddy) Boonkongchuen Male Age 10 years – 100m - Gabe McCartan In the age group results Bangkok Patana had the following podium winners: Girls Age 9-10 years 3rd Puinune Busrapan Girls Age 13-14 years 1st Niamh Flannery, 2nd Misol Cheung Boys Age 8 and Under 3rd Finn Eastwood Boys Age 9-10 years 3rd Gabe McCartan Boys Age 11-12 years 1st Patrick Walsh, 2nd Mark Chan, 3rd Andrew Bertoli Boys Age 13-14 years 2nd Patrick Schlaeppi Boys Age 15+ 2nd Lachlan Dibbayawan

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angkok Patana Secondary Students present Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – one of the most popular and longest running musicals in the West End. The musical retells the biblical story of Joseph and the coat of many colours in a magical roller coaster ride through the decades. This is a fun filled show suitable for the whole family. Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday 23rd November, 2016 and are available from Khun Ying in the Arts office.

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ver the half term break, a group of 22 student volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, and three teachers travelled to Korat, Nakhon Ratchasima, to construct a new home for an underprivileged family of farmers.

The build, which lasted for four days, required teamwork and collaboration across the different Year groups. At the site, the volunteers worked alongside the family, as well as members of Habitat for Humanity Thailand. The students completed tasks such as mixing cement, bricklaying and construction of the foundation of the house. The Bangkok Patana group, despite not all being Thai-speakers, worked efficiently and easily with the locals in their combined building efforts. Not only was it a unique opportunity for the students to interact with the local community and people from different backgrounds, but it was also a learning experience in terms of the process of construction.

The Habitat for Humanity team at Bangkok Patana is always working to raise funds for our next build. In fact we're hosting a Gingerbread House Building Competition in early December! Keep an eye out for more information in the coming weeks.

Chavisa (Dee Dee) Boonpiti, 12P and Sarah Lim, 12L

International Day Has been Rescheduled for Tuesday 13th December

University / College

Representative

Location

Date

Time

City University of Hong Kong

Jacky Tam

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor

23.11.16

12:15

Savannah College of Art and Design Hong Kong

Andrea Stahlman

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor

23.11.16

12:15

Invoices for school fees for Term 2 2016/2017 were sent to families/companies on Wednesday 2 nd November 2016. If you have not received your invoice please contact Accounting Department or email accounts@patana.ac.th Please note that the due date for settlement is on Friday 2 nd December 2016 and payments received after this date will be subject to a late payment charge of 1% per month.

Thank you, The Accounting Department

Foundation Stage / Year 1 / Year 2 children must be collected by a trusted adult when they arrive home by bus. The adult must come outside and be clearly seen by the Bus Monitor. It is not sufficient to signal from a balcony or window.

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The main role of a Bus Monitor is to oversee the safety and speed of the driver. The Bus Monitors ensure that all students wear their seat belts for the duration of the journey and do not stand up and move around the bus.

They report any concerns, including behavioural problems, to the Transport Office either during the course of the journey if it is a safety concern, or once they return to school. Any behaviour reports are then followed up by Academic staff.

In case of an accident, emergency or unscheduled stop, the Bus Monitor will immediately telephone the Transport Office.

Our Bus Monitors provide a good level of care for our students, but it is not their role to help feed a child or carry out other request such as plaiting or combing hair, returning library books, carrying school bags or other items.

No student, driver or Bus Monitor should be taking photographs/video clips of others whilst on school transport.

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The amount of items left on the school bus is increasing. Please help by reminding your child to ensure they check the bus area around them before getting off the bus to make sure they have all of their belongings with them.

Please remember that no cars should be left unattended in the pick up / drop off zone at the front of school. Parents and/or drivers must remain with their vehicle at all times and not walk into school. Blocking the area for other parents/drivers causes inconvenience and upset. Please help to ensure that no cars are left unattended to keep this area running smoothly. If parents/ drivers need to leave the car to enter school please park across the road in the Sports Complex Car Park. Thank you for your understanding.

Please help to ensure the safe pick up and drop off of our community and avoid picking up students/parents in the area in front of True Coffee. Cars waiting in this area not only cause congestion on Soi Lasalle but they also block the area for people using a taxi often requiring them to step out into the road to get in a taxi. We want to help to ensure the safety of our community at all times so please assist by dropping off/picking up in the Drop off zone or at the Sports Complex car park.

Some students are being dropped off at the U-turn area / entrance to Soi 39. Please avoid dropping off in this area. It causes congestion and is not considered a safe drop off area. Please drive into the car park to drop off, use the drop off zone or the Sports Complex Car Park. Thank you for helping to ensure the safe arrival of your child to school.

The Transport Department’s direct phone number is 02 785 2470. The office is staffed from 6:00am - 6:00pm Monday to Friday. You can also contact us via email at transport@patana.ac.th

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angkok Patana School takes the safety of our school community very seriously. We have a management team that meet and discuss many different crisis scenarios and we have processes and procedures in place for these. We have strong links with the local police and the various embassies who alert us to any security concerns and also visit our school to review our existing procedures and provide advice on security measures.

One of the areas that we practise regularly throughout the year is the Fire Evacuation and Lockdown procedures. In Term 1 and 2, we have ‘announced’ and ‘unannounced’ drills. This enables our community to practise reacting appropriately in the event of an alarm sounding on the school campus.

Please read the information below so that you are aware of our procedures should you be on campus when an alarm sounds: Lockdown Alarm If you are on campus and hear the ‘lockdown’ alarm (similar to a siren), please follow instructions from nearby staff. If you are not in a building, please enter the nearest building and follow instructions from staff. In a lockdown, you should be out of sight until you hear three clear whistles from the security team or are instructed that it is all clear from a security guard or member of staff. You will not be allowed to enter or exit the campus during a lockdown.

Fire Alarm If you are on the school campus and hear a fire alarm please act immediately and follow the Evacuation Route sign to the nearest assembly point (see Green Zone example).

Please make sure that you report to the Zone Fire Point Person who will be wearing an emergency jacket and have radio communication. They will be located in the middle of the zone area and will take your name and tell you where you need to stand. There are six zones – green, yellow, blue, white, red, and purple. Look for these signs when you are next in school to familiarise yourself with the evacuation routes.

If you are outside the school grounds during a Fire Evacuation please note that you will not be allowed entry into school until the all clear has been given. Please follow instructions from our Security team.

If you see a flashing red light on the wall or ceiling it means that an alarm has been activated somewhere in school.

When the light is just flashing you do not need to do anything or leave the building but be on alert to listen for an audible alarm which will let you know what to do next. The activated alarm will be checked by the guards and if necessary the fire alarm or lock down alarm will then sound for you to respond to as normal. So you only need to respond if you hear the actual siren or if a guard or senior member of staff gives you instructions to follow. If it is a false alarm the flashing red light will stop shortly without any alarms sounding.

Luckily anytime you may have heard the alarm it has been a drill only. We hold announced and unannounced Fire and Lockdown Drills throughout the year and these procedures are for the safety and protection of all students, staff and visitors. If you are on the school campus during the alarm sounding please help to set a good example to all students by responding quickly, remaining quiet during this time and following instructions from Senior Staff.

NETBALL The most popular sport for girls in Australia and New Zealand, and a national sport in Great Britain, Netball provides loads of team work, fast action on the court, defence and attacking skills and of course is FUN and GREAT for fitness.

Bangkok Junior Netball Academy (BJNA) Bangkok Junior Netball Academy (BJNA) has returned to the courts of Bangkok Patana School. All girls aged 6-16 years are welcome to join, regardless of experience. We will be scheduling a 10 week skills development and match play program with a coaching staff (which involves volunteering parents). Training runs from 8:30am – 10:00am Saturday mornings (dates can often change and BJNA does not run during Bangkok Patana school break).

Registration can take place each week or request a Registration Form via email bjnetballacademy@gmail.com Returning Players please fill in Registration details and bring it along on with Registration fees.

Registration Fees are 500baht for returning players and 850baht new players (club t-shirt included and water bottle for new players) Any girls aged 6- 16 years old are welcome to join.

No previous experience needed.

We will divide players up into groups according to their Netball ability.

Skill development and match practice will be based around mini games.

All skills will be aimed at FUN TO LEARN developing into more competitive games.

Mini games, skill practices, full matches in accordance to age.

We aim to provide playing and mini tournament opportunities v clubs and schools To register or for more information contact bjnetballacademy@gmail.com or find us on Facebook

BJNA NEEDS YOU! We are looking for volunteers to help run our Saturday sessions as well as a volunteer to assist with administration. If you could help on a regular basis please email bjnetballacademy@gmail.com

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