Patana News Volume 19 Issue 2

Patana

NEWS

Who is a Global Citizen?

Page 2

#GreenSummerSelfies - The environmentally friendly holiday photos that got the community talking

Polar Explorer Robert Swan

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Girl Rising

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The Practical Princess

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

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James Penstone, Cross Campus Principal A global citizen is someone who commits to making positive contributions to the communities which they are a part of, from their local communities to the world community at large. They also care about the environment surrounding and sustaining those communities, recognising that if we neglect our natural environment, we also neglect ourselves and our future generations.

We want our students – all of them – to become global citizens. Our new vision statement is that:

“We develop global citizens who shape their world through independence, empathy, creativity, and critical thinking.”

This vision begins, crucially, with our very youngest students. In Foundation Stage (Nursery, FS1 and FS2) our students learn a broad range of things that set vital groundwork for being effective global citizens. To put this into context for a moment, imagine what the world would be like now if all of its heads of state had properly learned the following skills and qualities:  making relationships  self-awareness  listening and attention  understanding people and communities  understanding the world These are key ingredients within the ‘Development Matters’ framework which apply to all our Foundation Stage children.

Now consider the top six skills which will be required by future employers, as emphasised by Mr Andy Haughton (Head of Careers and University Counselling) at the Secondary School assembly on Tuesday:  curiosity  creativity  determination  digital awareness  contextual thinking  humility All of these skills will not only make someone more employable, but will also help them to build their own capacity as a global citizen.

Our Mission and our newly defined Vision and Values provide a highly relevant and important framework for our students as we prepare them to help shape their world. During the recent holiday, a number of our students and staff members were looking out for positive contributions which people are making to the world, with special emphasis on environmental solutions. I was very grateful for all the ‘Green Summer Selfies’ sent in, many of which I shared in our start of year assembly, reflecting a wide range of environmental solutions in different parts of the world. Some showed students and staff acknowledging renewable energy sources, effective recycling facilities and alternatives to single-use, disposable plastic.

Others showed students and staff doing things themselves, such as cleaning up beaches or upcycling plastic waste to make something decorative and/or useful. Looking at world-scale problems and looking for practical solutions is one of the hallmarks of our future global citizens.

Mr Robert Swan O.B.E. was the first person to reach both the South Pole and the North Pole alone. He prefers to avoid labels such as explorer or environmentalist – he is much happier to settle with the word survivor – but he could equally be described as an exemplary global citizen given the ingredients mentioned

Natalie in Year 6 is standing in the New Forest in England where people are being encouraged to graze livestock once more, as has happened historically, to help protect the delicate ecosystem there. earlier. He is coming to our school on October 20th in the afternoon to present to an audience of students and parents, and I highly recommend you book in the time to come and listen to this inspirational visionary.

He is passionate about protecting Antarctica – which he describes as the world’s last true wilderness – from future exploitation. His main strategy for doing so is by inspiring young people the world over to harness their skills and talents to raise awareness about the future of both Antarctica and the world in general given the challenges posed by climate change. More generally, he wants young people to have the courage of their convictions and make a difference where it matters. This is what we hope all of our students will learn how to do.

I wish all our students and their families a fulfilling year ahead.

Mr Penstone, Cross Campus Principal

To see more #GreenSummerSelfies click here.

W

e would like to congratulate two of our students who recently competed in the 18th Asia Pacific Dance Competition 2016. The competition was held at the Sands Theatre in Macau, China on August 18th-21st and saw the girls compete against dancers from 10 other countries. Congratulations to Pearl and Sheen on their wonderful performances and medals!

Tianjuta (Pearl) Thianthai, 9S 15 years and Under Classical Ensemble 1st place 15 years and Under Classical Troupe 1st place

Kulchad (Sheen) Thianthai, 4S 9 years and Under Novelty Solo 2nd place

Open age National Troupe 1st place 18 years and Under Lyrical troupe 2nd place

9 years and Under Classical Solo Honourable mention

University/College

Representative

Location

Date

Time

Keio University

Hori Masahiro

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor

29.08.16

09:15

University of Chicago

-

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor

29.08.16

12:15

Cornell University

-

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor

29.08.16

12:15

Rice University University of British Columbia Baylor University

Dan Warner Jeff Kiyooka Jared Fuller

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

29.08.16 30.08.16 31.08.16

12:15 12:15 12:15

Chapman University

-

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor

02.09.16

09:15

Rollins College

-

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor

02.09.16

09:15

St. Edward's University

Amy Rader Kice

Senior Studies, 2nd Floor

02.09.16

09:15

University of California, Los Angeles

Jonathan Cao-Nguyen

Senior Studies

02.09.16

12:15

Claremont McKenna College

-

Senior Studies

02.09.16

12:15

Harvey Mudd College

-

Senior Studies

02.09.16

12:15

Pitzer College

-

Senior Studies

02.09.16

12:15

Pomona College

-

Senior Studies

02.09.16

12:15

Scripps College University of Bristol

Jo Philipps

Senior Studies SEC302-303

02.09.16 02.09.16

12:15 12:15

Polar explorer, environmentalist, survivor and the first man ever to walk unsupported to both the North and South Poles is coming to Bangkok Patana School.

Thursday 20th October 2016, PM Come and be inspired by this world-class communicator and public speaker who is on a life-long mission to ensure that Antarctica remains protected from exploitation.

This fascinating speaker will be in school as part of a two-day Global Learners Conference and we would like to invite students from Year 3 upwards and all parents to an audience with this inspirational man.

More Details to Follow

Mimi Thompson, 13B

“31 million girls of primary school age are out of school around the world, and women make up nearly two thirds of the world’s illiterate adults” (UNESCO, 2013)

D

oes this figure startle you or are you indifferent? Around the world today, over 62 million girls are not in school (USAID 2015) and because of this, it makes it difficult for them to develop skills, get jobs and earn money for their families. In so many places, girls and woman are losing opportunities to educate themselves when so many are capable and desperate for a chance to have a better life.

‘Girl Rising’ is a campaign which advocates the empowerment of girls through education. This advocacy has been documented in a film which places emphasis on the stories of nine young girls and their struggles in achieving an education. These struggles are what we, The Girl Rising CAS project, want to share with the Bangkok Patana School community.

As female students at Bangkok Patana

School, we feel it is important to address the fact that not every young girl gets the education we do. Not every young girl gets to attend school five days a week where she might do mathematics one day and English the next. If the figures alone startled you or if you have more to share about your thoughts on feminism and equality of education, we are hosting a screening of ‘Girl Rising’ on Thursday September 8th in the Theatre from 2:455:30pm.

Focusing on the empowerment of girls, we are also inviting student speakers to tell us about their personal experiences. Sharing this message through an amazing film has been an incredibly worthwhile experience for every one of us and we hope that you will be able to hear it too. All are welcome.

Fancy Playing Tennis?

Coach Dan and his team of coaches run a cardio tennis session on a Wednesday morning from 7:30 9:00am. There is ladies competitive doubles on Thursday morning 7:30 - 9:30am coordinated by Shirley Tan and Lorraine Slowther.

The floodlights are now up and running and can be used - court costs are 250 Baht per hour per court and coins for the lights can be purchased from the cashier at the front of school. Please contact Dan to book a court. Lessons are available from the eight part-time coaches at weekends or after 5pm on weekdays.

For more info please contact Head Coach Dan Ahl daah@patana.ac.th

Did You Collect Your 2016 Yearbook?

It’s not too late to get your copy, just email publish@patana.ac.th

Year 13 student and budding author Saloni Kothari has just written her first novelette e-book which has been published on Amazon.

Here Saloni tells us about her inspiration behind the book and the message it contains for all young readers. You can purchase The Practical Princess here.

I

always loved fairy tales as a child; the wondrous idea of living in stone castles, having pet dragons and riding flying carpets excited me.

But in hindsight I never realised that most of their plots were centered around a damsel in distress whose freedom depended on another person, and how detrimental they were to female confidence.

Originally, the book was supposed to be a birthday present for my four-year -old cousin who absolutely adores bedtime stories. So, I thought it would be a good idea to veer her away from the conventional, helpless roles that women are usually assigned in fairytales and encourage her to be confident about her interests. Women can 'strike business deals' as well as men,

they can run for president and they be computer scientists without being tomboys. I just wanted to ensure that she knew that she had options, and didn't have to be intimidated by men in the working world.

With this message in mind I wrote, and as I wrote the plot got more complex and I realised that this fairy-tale could inspire lots of other girls and boys, which is why I decided to publish it instead.

The story still includes the mythical beasts, castles and towers that I love, but the protagonist's relationships with these are modified. I hope that whoever reads the book enjoys this mythical world as much as I do, and that they are left empowered by the fact that nothing is out of reach.

This novelette consists of a short tale in which the protagonist - a rational princess refuses to be the damsel in distress when her kingdom is threatened by the reckless son of its arch enemy. The odds are stacked against her when she is locked up in a tower, terrorised by an albino griffin, has her castle under enemy surveillance and family imprisoned. Will she be able to thwart the opposition to win back the sovereignty of her kingdom?

T

he Tiger Cart has been doing a ‘roaring’ trade in the school reception area since the beginning of term, but it is now time for us to pad home! From Monday 29th August the Tiger Shop, located behind the PTG room near the Primary Blue Area, will re-open every morning from 7:30-9:00am. If you haven’t yet bought a new cap for your child, a lanyard for your Patana ID card or even a colourful Patana golf umbrella to protect yourself from Bangkok’s rainy season then pop in and see us. We also have a new line of girl’s dri-fit sports shorts, with an under-short, and of course all the usual orange Tiger t-shirts, which always prove very popular attire on Tiger Spirit Day (coming up on 7th October this year!).

I would like to thank all the wonderful Patana parents who have given up some of their time to volunteer on the Tiger Cart over the last two weeks. We couldn't have opened the cart without you.

The Tiger Shop is also looking for new volunteers to keep the shop open, especially for afternoons. If you are interested in finding out about becoming a volunteer, now or in the future, then email us at ptgtigers@gmail.com or pop into the shop one morning for a chat. The more people that help out, the more often we can open the shop.

We hope to see you soon!

Registration NOW open RACE CATEGORIES Price

320 THB 440 THB

PRESENTS

THE BANGKOK PATANA

FUN RUN

A fun run for all the family

BOOKS

There are lots of new arrivals across the school libraries, from ‘The Jar of Happiness’ in Early Years to ‘The Lost Girls ‘for Secondary students, there is something for everyone including new DVDs. Click on the links to see the full listings.

Fiction Non-Fiction

Comic Books/Fiction Non-Fiction DVDS

Mindfulness Fiction Senior Fiction DVDS Graphic Novels Teachers’ Collection

Patana PTG Annual Social Evening Wednesday 5th October 7:30pm At Quince Eatery & Bar Sukhumvit Soi 45 +66 2662 4478

Everyone Welcome!

Food courtesy of PTG, you just need to pay for your drinks!

Please R.S.V.P to ptg@patana.ac.th Join our Facebook group here

Genevieve Ahl, Services Manager

B

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 below so you are aware of our procedures should you be on campus when an alarm sounds.

What to do if you are on the school 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 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.

What does the flashing red light mean?

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.

When will the alarms sound?

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.

Many thanks for your cooperation.

Weekly news from the Transport Department

ECAs REMINDER that ECAs start on Monday 29th August.

Please check your child’s bus numbers. These can be found in the parents gateway under ‘Student Services’. The prefix of the bus number is linked to the scheduled bus time. Please ensure these are in line with the relevant ECA/s your child is attending. If you notice that a bus number may be incorrect, please email transport@patana.ac.th PLEASE NOTE: These bus number will not be correct until Sunday evening as the rerouting of all buses for the start of Block 1 ECAs will take place on Saturday and Sunday.

BK/BT – 12:00 noon bus MK/MT – 1:50pm bus HK/HT – 2:30pm bus A – 3:45pm bus D – 4:30pm bus For your information the morning Bus Numbers begin with J, K, L, N, P, Q, S, T and these relate to the area of pick up.

Contact details Please ensure that your contact details are up to date on the Parents’ Gateway. It is these telephone numbers that will be used should Transport need to contact you.

Cancellations and changes to Transport Please ensure that you contact Transport@patana.ac.th if you will be picking up your child and they will not be using their afternoon or morning bus. All changes must be received by 11:00am in order to ensure the changes can be made in time. Your cooperation is much appreciated.

Contact Us 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

Make sure you stop by the Bangkok Patana School booth!

Call to Auditions It’s Panto Time Again!

This year the Bangkok Community Theatre (BCT) will be performing the traditional British pantomime Aladdin over the first 2 weekends of December 2016 (December 2, 3, 4 and 9, 10, 11) at Creative Industries @ M Theatre on Phetchaburi Rd. For those of you who don’t know this ever popular form of entertainment, British Pantomime is nothing to do with "mime". It is a non-stop, fun packed show with lots of over the top acting (if you can call it that), singing, dancing and comedy. It’s a crazy, chaotic, fun-packed couple of hours of entertainment beloved by the young and young at heart.

After the rip-roaring success of Cinderella in 2014, this year BCT will be performing Aladdin, directed by Ian Robinson, and produced by Suman Tharan and John Wright.

Auditions Details: Auditions for the show will be held at Bistro 33 on Sunday 4th September from 11am to 1:30pm.

There are 11 named parts, and the show also needs a chorus of 6 to 10 people who enjoy singing and dancing.

British pantomime is very flexible and, although the list of the characters on the website outlines what we are looking for, if you think you have any special skills (e.g. tap dancing, circus skills, gymnastic skills, magician, martial arts or whatever) come along to the auditions, strut your stuff, and the production team will see if your speciality can be incorporated into the show!

For complete details and character descriptions and an audition form, go to: http://bangkokcommunitytheatre.com/project/aladdin-2016/

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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