Patana News Volume 22 Issue 30

Our mission is to ensure that students of different nationalities grow to their full potential as independent learners in a caring British international community.

Patana

NEWS

Friday 15th May 2020

Volume 22 Issue 30

www.patana.ac.th

FAMILY WELL-BEING UNDER LOCKDOWN Carol Battram, Primary Assistant Principal, Learning and Welfare

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Also in this issue...

Well-being Counselling for Parents and Students/Grad’20 Sports Awards/Coach Dan’s Tennis Tips 15/05/2020

Bangkok Patana School News

Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit IB World School accredited by CIS

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Family Well-being Under Lockdown Carol Battram, Primary Assistant Principal, Learning and Welfare

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his article is not about COVID-19 – well, not directly.

Nobody needs another article about living in unprecedented times. This is more a hodgepodge of things I’ve seen or read in the last few weeks that I found helpful, interesting and even joyous.

Our teachers are now focused on keeping things simple and consistent for our students. When Mr Cooper wrote to Primary parents last week, he stressed the importance of keeping to familiar routines, and eliminating some of those distractions and unnecessary choices that can get in the way of sustained and attentive learning. I’m not sure if this is exactly what Confucius shared, but wise words, nonetheless.

For a while, as memes and jokes landed in my inbox, there was a hesitation – was I still allowed to find something funny, given the impact of this pandemic? We all know families who have experienced high levels of stress and uncertainty. Some of you will have friends who are living with loss. Our students have no such hesitation. One of the nicest things about live lessons and well-being calls is hearing children re-connect and laugh with their friends and teachers. I’ve been astounded by the ability and resolve of our teachers to stay positive, supportive and upbeat whilst interacting with their students.

Some of the most uplifting feedback from parents has

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focused on the impact of shared laughter during live lessons and well-being calls. One of the daily registration questions asked students to share what they enjoyed about these calls. The phrasing differed, depending on age, but the message remained consistent.

• Friends • Seeing my friends • Sharing with friends • Seeing my friends was so fun • I can see my friends

• Like we are in class with our friends • We get to see our class again • Meeting friends • I like seeing my friends’ faces

Any list of well-being indicators will reference the importance of human connection – to friends, family, community and the wider world. At some point, our students will be invited back into school, and one of our goals will be to make time for reconnecting. Some schools in other parts of the world re-opened this week, and a Primary teacher working in the Netherlands wrote about their priorities.

The first of these was to take time to reconnect, followed by making time to listen, finding ways to laugh, and giving everyone time to adapt to another new normal.

I’ve watched a number of webinars about the emotional impact of lockdown on families. The best ones shared realistic messages and did not over-catastrophise. Some provided helpful take-aways about managing stress and conflict in the home such as, ‘Model the behaviour you want, rather than react to the behaviour you’re getting.’

Easy to say, not so easy to do – but worth aiming for.

Most of us will have experienced days that feel fraught, when the sole focus is to get to the end of the day without letting those frustrations show. On other days, you

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happy, sad, angry, frustrated, frightened, worried and excited. So many stories, books and films have emotion at their core and, as brains develop, children start to distinguish between more nuanced emotions. A well-chosen story or film is time well-spent.

You’ve probably watched this one already. might be able to step back and help your child understand that their emotions are important, but generally fleeting.

Too much time spent in front of screens has been a worry for many of us but there is treasure amongst the trash. I was pleased to stumble across this timely cache of materials linked to Caring for Each Other.

On the days when this feels possible, it’s good to know that helping your child experience self-awareness, Some of their materials, such as this one with Abby and self-regulation, self-motivation and empathy for others will Rudy, can help normalise and make sense of the way that benefit them all the way through school and beyond. we are currently living. They even have something for parents...

In school, we use feeling cups at the start of the day to help children develop a language for common emotions:

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Well-being Webinars for Parents Matthew Conroy, Secondary Social and Emotional Counsellor

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e are extending our support to Secondary parmuch more than lessons, ents by holding a weekly live event (Mondays • Finding it hard to manage the distractions of home at 9.30am) when Counsellors offer a brief presentation – they are in an environment they associate with fun outlining issues affecting young people during the current and relaxation. pandemic. This is followed by a question and answer session led by the Counsellors promoting interaction within It can be difficult to gauge how students are getting the parent community. along without face to face interaction. We thought, who Throughout this period of Continuous Learning the Coun- would be best placed to tell us a little but about how stuselling team maintain contact with students via Microsoft dents are managing? The obvious answer was parents Teams using a combination of text, voice or video calls. It and so we created these sessions. They allow us to gauge has become apparent that they have all had very differ- how students are coping and take a sample of both posent experiences. Some have thrived and enjoyed working itive and negative experiences. As counsellors we offer some feedback on how these matters can be addressed. from home: More importantly, we create an opportunity for parents • Not having to get up so early, to share ideas and tips on how to make the whole experience a bit more manageable.

• Not having long journeys to school, All parents have access to these sessions via a link they • Greater access to free time because ECA’s and Tu- receive by e-mail. In our initial session held this week, we toring have been cancelled, highlighted a well-being page on the school website.

• Some have felt more comfortable managing their This site is regularly updated and contains links to docpeer relations remotely. uments offering guidance to parents about supporting Equally some students are not enjoying the experience: • Not able to have face to face contact with friends,

teenagers during a lock down, information to support teenage and parental well-being and some guidance on managing gaming in the home.

• Limited opportunities to get out of the house and exercise,

On Monday 18 May, we will talk about the anxiety brought about from the impact on both students and • Missing structure - the day to day routine (break parents of COVID-19 and self-isolation. Please join us at times/lunch times/clubs), reminders that school is 9.30am online.

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Coach Dan’s Tennis Tips LEARNING TO LOB IN THE GARDEN

Get your watch party organised!

Live on BPS Sports Facebook Page This event is to celebrate our Year 13 student athletes.

A second event will be held in June for the rest of Secondary athletes.

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Patana Geocaching Cindy Adair, Cross Campus Assistant Principal, Extra-Curricular Activities and Sports

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eocaching is a popular outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", at specific locations marked by coordinates all over the world.

As the parks in Bangkok have recently re-opened we thought it would be fun to hide four Bangkok Patana Geocaches at popular parks for you to find!

There are Bangkok Patana geocaches at Rama IX, Lumpini, Benjasiri and Nong Bon Water Parks. You will need a mobile phone with iMaps or Google Maps, comfortable clothing to walk around in - and sun protection as it’s hot out there right now!

For each “cache” we will provide you with the park where it can be found, the longitude and latitude where we have hidden it and two to three picture clues of nearby landmarks to help you.

It’s very important that once you find the cache you don’t remove it. By all means take out the little Patana elephant and take a selfie, but then carefully hide it away agin so we can all play! The cache includes instructions for any nonPatana community members who come across our caches in both Thai and English, hopefully they will play along too.

However, please understand if the cache does go missing at some point - that happens sometimes. Hopefully you will have had a fun family visit to the park regardless.

Find more information on the Continuing Student Learning ECA blog on Firefly.

Invoices for school fees for Term 1 2020/21 were emailed to families/companies on Wednesday 13th May 2020. If you have not received your invoice please contact the Accounting Department accounts@patana.ac.th. Please note that the due date for settlement is on Tuesday 30th June.

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UNI COUNSELORS’ CORNER UNI OFFERS...

Matyas Monfils, Year 13 Congratulations on offers from

• ACM Birmingham, UK To study Music Industry Practice specialising in Creativity Artistry

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atyas will be attending ACM Birmingham, UK, for a BA (Hons) in Music Industry Practice specialising in Creativity Artistry. His goal is to become a successful DJ and world-famous music producer but also to use music as a form of therapy in health and education settings. Matyas is currently locked down in Paris and has already entertained his neighbours with his tunes from his balcony! He enjoys a variety of genres including drum n’ bass, hip hop, lounge and deep house and performed at two big festivals; the Szigit Festival in his home country Hungary and the Namti Chaung Thar Festival, Myanmar where there were over 20,000 people in the crowd.

In his role as leader of the school’s DJ club, he has helped younger students improve their mixing skills, prepared them for live gigs and taught them how to set up the equipment. He has performed at school discos and various community events such as Patana’s Fun Day showing his ability to adapt his sets according to the audience.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT...

University of Pittsburgh, USA

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nown as the Steel City for its early start in industry, it is also known as the City of Bridges for its 446 bridges that span its’ rivers. Pittsburgh is home to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Andy Warhol Museum and the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The University of Pittsburgh was founded in 1787 and is ranked 20th nationally and 47th globally by the US News and World Report. The university has 25,000 undergraduate and 10,000 graduate students, of which 11 percent are international students and has campuses across the entire state. The main Pittsburgh campus in the Oakland area of the city spans 132 acres of land and houses a large number of the university’s notable buildings, including the imposing Cathedral of Learning.

The university has 16 schools and colleges, including the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, the Swanson School of Engineering and the School of Social Work. The school is in the top 25 for Clinical Medicine, Neuroscience and Behaviour, Oncology, Psychiatry and Psychology and is third nationally for Surgery. The university’s varsity team, Pittsburgh Panthers, compete in Division I of the NCAA. University faculty have been pioneers in such fields including Jonas Salk in Virology and Benjamin Spock in Psychology. Three alumni have been award Nobel prizes and two the Pulitzer Prize.

Other famous alumni include Fred Rogers (beloved star of the children’s show Mr Rogers Neighbourhood), author John Irving and actor and choreographer Gene Kelly among many others.

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Aidan McDonagh he Puzzle of the Week features a new mathematics puzzle released every Monday and students have a week to answer. Do you know the answer to this week’s puzzle?

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Submit your solution here

Can you solve this week’s puzzle? Email it to Mr McDonagh at aimc@ patana.ac.th and your solution might be featured in next week’s Patana News!

Solution by...

Mr McDonagh

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#153: Oxford Reading Owl

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short one from me this week. Thanks to Miss Kim in Year 2 for passing this onto me. As a parent you can register at the Oxford Owl website for free and then explore the vast number of e-books they have released temporarily.

It’s a read-aloud opportunity not to be missed.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration Links in this article: https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/user/sign_up.html https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1233113.pdf

2019/20 CALENDAR HERE WE CONTINUE TO FOLLOW THIS YEAR’S SCHOOL CALENDAR

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Desert Island Discs With Miranda Cawley Leader of Learning and Welfare, Year 6

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his column follows in the style of the famed BBC podcast which features a celebrity every week – here we feature our own Bangkok Patana celebrities! What eight songs, one luxury item and one book would you take with you if you were stuck on a desert island?

Today Miranda Cawley, Leader of Learning and Welfare, Year 6 is stuck on a desert island.

MS CAWLEY, IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WHAT EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Beethoven’s 5th Symphony Four Seasons - Vivaldi Like a Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan Piano Man – Billy Joel Missing – Everything but the Girl Imagine – John Lennon

Listen to Ms Cawley’s playlist here

Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen Dancing Queen - Abba PICK ONE LUXURY ITEM YOU WOULD WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU. THIS ITEM MUST BE INANIMATE AND OF NO USE IN ESCAPING THE ISLAND OR ALLOWING COMMUNICATION FROM OUTSIDE. A lighter or matches WHICH ONE BOOK WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov Catch the real Desert Island Discs on BBC. Now that you are stuck at home, what are you listening to? Have a list of your own? Let us know! Contact SHKN with your favourites.

Click Here For Updates and Information on the School’s COVID-19 Procedures 10

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Please be sure and affiliate Bangkok Patana School when donating for this studentrun initiative in collaboration with a NIST CAS project.

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For daily updates, snapshots and news on life at school you can find us here...

643 Lasalle Road (Sukhumvit 105) Bangna Tai, Bangna, Bangkok 10260 THAILAND Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Fax: +66 (0) 2785 2399 www.patana.ac.th Email: reception@patana.ac.th 14

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