Patana News Volume 24 Issue 1

www.patana.ac.th

PATANA NEWS

Friday 21st August 2021

Welcome to the Mr Mills’ First Blog of the eYar New Academic Year

by Mr Mills P 2 age

Also in thisMissue...

ECAs Live in Teams Year 6 Donation Habitat for Humanity Update PTG and Kerry Express Team Up

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

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Welcome to a New Academic Year!

Greetings Everyone,

I am delighted to welcome you all back to the 2021/22 academic year. A special welcome to our new families joining us this August, we are so pleased you chose Bangkok Patana School.

I am starting my fourteenth year as Head of School and 38th year in education and it continues to be a real honour to lead a school I’m so proud of.

The new academic year has started as smoothly possible as students and teachers have started their CSL learning programmes and are adapting to some of the changes made to our programmes over summer.

As a school, we are doing everything we possibly can to make the learning from home experience as authentic as possible. SLT have reviewed our parent surveys platform so we can glean even more feedback on our latest programme enhancements. We encourage parents to give us feedback so we can make required adjustments from time to time.

We are still hoping at some stage to be able to bring small learning pods of students into campus so that they can do important lab work etc. but we are still seeking approval from government authorities.

The other key development is looking at ATKs (Antigen Test Kits) as a way to get staff and students safely back into school. We are considering a hybrid of the UK and Hong Kong schools’ model of rotational testing of students and staff over a two-week period administered by our nursing team. We will keep you updated on any developments as they get confirmed and approved.

To the students starting a new academic year of learning, I challenge you to make the most of this new learning opportunity. Ask yourself what you want to achieve this year – be honest – and then plan the steps you will take to realise your ambition. I do hope you have a great year ahead!

“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” – Richard Branson

New Students We have 303 new students starting Bangkok Patana School this year! We do have a number of students that are still based overseas or are currently in quarantine and we will be supporting their learning through our CSL programme. We hope your transition is a smooth one and we are so glad you are joining the Patana community!

We have 31 new staff joining us for this academic year, the new staff have already spent a week participating in a very well organised and informative staff induction programme, which Katherine Hume and Khun My with their teams have done a superb job planning! We are so fortunate that we were able to get all our new teachers safely into the country and they have all completed the mandatory 14-day quarantine period.

New Guiding Statements I’m delighted to share our new school Guiding Statements as our value statements were fully reviewed last term. There have been a number of changes that are pertinent for the school at this time including some fine tuning of our Global Citizenship Values. They

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have been reformatted into a new look document, which will be proudly displayed around the school. A huge thank you to the Guiding Statements review team who did a splendid job.

IB Diploma/ IB Courses Results 2021 Bangkok Patana’s graduating class of 2021 were among the 60 percent of IB candidates worldwide who were on the non-examination route in May. The students’ final grades were awarded by the International Baccalaureate Organisation using School Awarded Predicted Grades and Externally Assessed Coursework. Pleasingly our students achieved our highest ever average total point score of 38 out of 45, with the world average being 33.

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We wish to acknowledge and celebrate the fantastic achievement of a maximum 45 point score for three students, Clara Boucher, Lyela Malik and Odele Pang. Only 1.5 percent of IB Diploma Candidates worldwide achieved this prestigious result in 2021 and we are very proud of them. We wish all our Graduating Class of 2021 the very best as they begin their studies at their chosen universities. Congratulations to you all on outstanding results

45 POINTS Clara Boucher

44 POINTS James Broadhurst

Odele Pang

Charles Golsby

Lyela Malik

Zi Chieh Gooi Vatsal Jalan Junsu Kang Manya Mittal Junha Park Fasai Pulkes

43 POINTS Nabhiraks Bhakdibhumi Vincent Boulom Divyansh Jain Da Hyun Kang Katie Keith Jack Kinsella Risako Kusumoto Priya Shah

42 POINTS Misol Jeong

41 POINTS Emiko Araki

40 POINTS Jeet Bhasin

Ying Chi Ku

Dev Bhatnagar

Joshua Milne

Yunnan Dumnernchanvanich

Ansh Shah

Vrund Italiya

Sho Ishizaki

Jenna Slater

Emma Laroche

Sonam Okuda

Sasilada Srivikorn

Sirada

Samuel Roberts

Henry Brosnahan

Tatiyaratana

Kanlayarak Tangkaravakoon

Dollapak Sakulpanich

Rhea Agarwal

Maia Stevens

Ayumi Ishihara

Alysee Serre Om Italiya

Samantha Wallace Susan Brosnahan - IB Coordinator

IGCSE Results 2021 Last week our Patana students received a fantastic set of (I)GCSE results, what a journey these students have been on. It’s safe to say this astonishing group of young people have shown courage, resilience and grit in the face of adversity throughout the past two years. The global pandemic has challenged so many of us, in so many different ways, yet to adapt to these circumstances during your examination years is an extra barrier, not all students have faced, and we are so proud of what they have achieved during this time.

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As many of us are fully aware, once again (I)GCSE exams were cancelled, meaning grades were awarded based on Centre Assessed Grades, along with a standardisation process set by the exam boards to ensure fairness for all students globally. This year we were well prepared for this eventuality; our students had not only completed all their courses and had covered all parts of the syllabus by the point at which the exam boards cancelled the exam but we were well organised in gathering appropriate and substantial assessment evidence for awarding grades.

It is a remarkable achievement that this year’s results have surpassed all five-year averages across all measures, for both the Cambridge and Edexcel exam boards. These results included an overall pass rate of 98 percent A*- C for CIE and 94 percent for level 9 to level 5 measures with the Edexcel board. This is an impressive and superb achievement for a non-selective school. Well over two-thirds of the cohort (87 percent) received all their IGCSE grades at A* to B / 9 to 6. Overall, the proportion of the highest grades of A* to A / 9 to 7 was an impressive 74 percent.

Despite the challenges we have faced with the cancelling of exams, no students’ progress to the IB Diploma has been affected by the grades and all students will continue with the subjects of their choice.

As our new Year 12 students move to the next stage of their learning journey, we wish them all the very best in their endeavours at IB level. They are fully prepared academically for the road ahead and we will be supporting and encouraging them every step of the way.

Luke Jones- Assistant Principal Curriculum and Assessment

Great Educational Articles to Share At my first whole staff virtual welcome back meeting, I talked about the importance of optimism as we all continue to be challenged by this global pandemic.

We are all experiencing the pandemic in different shapes and forms; we have to somehow dig deep and stay optimistic that things will get back to a degree of normality at some stage in the future. Here is an excellent student TEDx Talk on the positive powers of optimism.

Here is another worthwhile article from Time Magazine focusing on the cliche work/life balance which I found interesting.

Enjoy your first weekend of this academic year.

Matt Mills Head of School

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Join an ECA Live on Teams!

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Year 6 Donations Assist in Anti-Trafficking and COVID Relief Stephanie Jones, A21 FROM THE A21 CAMBODIA TEAM hanks to the support from Year 6 students at Bangkok Patana School during the last academic year, A21 was able to partner with local authorities in charge of a community vaccine campaign to support the Cambodian government's fight against COVID-19 and help to prevent human trafficking during the pandemic. We donated 100 cases of drinking water while distributing human trafficking prevention resources and information on how to report suspected abuse to thousands of people across the community.

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We also provided human trafficking awareness resources and water to a migration centre on the Thailand/Cambodia border, which is working every day to try to identify victims of human trafficking as they cross illegal borders.

The support contributed to basic needs supplies, hand sanitiser for Covid relief, plus printing and distributing human trafficking prevention resources to the community.

FROM THE A21THAILAND TEAM We have been able to prepare and provide COVID relief packages, including face masks, hand sani-tisers, toiletries, dried food and A21’s CYSM fliers and prevention comic books to Wattana District Office, who have been working to support migrant workers in several construction camps in the district where there have been COVID-19 outbreaks and the communities have been sealed off. We also provided face masks and hand sanitiser, with A21’s prevention comic books, to both Chonburi and Banglamung hospital whom we work with to support the victims of trafficking in the area where our Child Advocacy Center is located.

Thank you again, so much for your support. A21 has been able to spread an anti-trafficking message and also support communities practically during the pandemic, because of your school’s generosity.

A21 was established in 2008 and is one of the largest global organisations dedicated solely to ending human trafficking.

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Click and Collect from the Libraries Stephen Murgatroyd, Cross Campus Head Librarian

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he Libraries are now offering a ‘click and ordered each day are ready to be collected, collect’ service for books, audio CDs the booking and collection system will work as and DVDs, starting with the Primary Libraries. follows: The booking system opened for Primary on Order Collect Wednesday 18th August and we have already Monday Friday received many requests for books, which is Monday wonderful. Books will start to be available on Tuesday Wednesday Tuesday Tuesday 24th.

Thursday Wednesday The Secondary booking system will be going Thursday live on Tuesday 24th August and the first avail- Friday able date for collection will be Monday 30th August.

All parents in Primary have received information on how everything works, with all of the details we need, to successfully have the books ready. Our Secondary parents and students should receive their letter by the end of the week.

So, for example: Library books ordered on Monday 23rd August will be ready for collection on Friday 27th August.

Library books ordered on Tuesday 24th August will be ready for collection on Monday 30th August.

Library books ordered on Wednesday 25th When ordering books you will need to do three things to make sure that you can success- August will be ready for collection on Tuesday fully get them, using the links provided in the 31st August...and so on. letter: For the first week of collections in the Primary 1. If necessary, read the instructions on how School, the books will be taken to the entrance to the school next to the Foundation Stage to use Destiny, our library catalogue. building, on the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th Au2. Complete the book order Google Form gust. However, from the 30th August, all of the 3. Fill in a date and time slot to collect your books for both Primary and Secondary will be available for collection from the front of school. books from school You may request books as often as you like, up to the maximum number allowed, which is 20 books per parent account – 40 books/ items per family – for Secondary Students, it remains at five items each. The books can be kept for two weeks. However, if you would like to renew them, please email Khun Aom (susi@ patana.ac.th) in the Primary Library or Khun Waree (waki@patana.ac.th) in the Secondary Library and they will happily help you out.

COLLECTION SYSTEM To enable us to ensure that all of the books

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If you have ordered a lot of books, then you might like to bring a bag to take them home in.

If you have any books to return, these can be brought in at the same time and left in the ‘Book Drop’ box where you collect your books from.

We are really looking forward to being able to make sure that everyone has a good selection of books to read during this latest period of CSL HAPPY READING! The Library Team

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CAT/CAS CORNER Habitat for Humanity Build Update Aidan McDonagh, Secondary Mathematics Teacher, Habitat for Humanity Advisor

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ast year, the habitat for Humanity CAT club built a house in Ayutthaya for Mrs Somjai. Habitat for Humanithy Thailand sent recent photos of Mrs Somjai safely in her new home and a letter to the students thanking them for their hard work and effort. The club hopes to continue its efforts in building new homes from underprivileged people as soon as allowed.

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In the Spotlight...

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Amherst College, USA

mherst College, located in Massachusetts, is the joint top ranking Liberal Arts College in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings. Classes are small at this highly selective school which offers four-year undergraduate courses with around 40 major programmes.

Students can create their own interdisciplinary major, picking from advanced and introductory courses in sciences, arts, humanities and interdisciplinary fields.

As a member of the Five College Consortium, students may attend classes at the four other member institutions: Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke, Smith and UMass Amherst, expanding available courses to more than 5000. Notable alumni include poet Emily Dickinson, author Dan Brown, Albert II, Prince of Monaco, director David O Russell, multiple Pulitzer Prize winners and six Nobel Prize winners in Physics, Economics and Physiology or Medicine.

PTG Offers Learning Pack Delivery Through Kerry Express T

he PTG, in partnership with Kerry Express, are FUTURE DELIVERIES pleased to inform parents that if you cannot pick up During this period of CSL, as learning packs become learning resource packs from school, Kerry Express can available from school, the PTG and Kerry Express will deliver them to you. This offer is only available for addresses within Thailand and the deliveries will take place the communicate sign up and delivery periods through Patana News and the PTG Facebook group. week after the school pick-up dates.

THANK YOU TO KERRY EXPRESS ‘LOCAL HEROES’ If you arrange a delivery through this service, we would like to suggest having your child(ren) prepare a thank you FIRST DELIVERY card, or a bottle of water or small snack for the couriIf you are a parent of a child in FS – Year 3, please er. This follows Kerry’s internal programme to honour their complete the form here to arrange a delivery through Ker- couriers who are on the front line and working very hard ry Express. The form will be closed on Wednesday 25th during this pandemic.

August at 12 noon.

We would love to see your pictures of these initiatives, The items will be picked up from school and delivered to please send them to ptgevents@patana.ac.th. homes within the following week.

A big thank you to Kerry Express for offering this service to Bangkok Patana families at no cost.

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STUDENTS SPEAK Vaccine Passports Yerin Kang, 11R

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uropean Leaders across 27 nations recently met on virtual summits to discuss the various issues on the Coronavirus on Thursday the 25th of February. In addition to discussing the EU’s significantly lagging vaccine rollout, border closures and restrictions, there was a catchy debate on one particular topic: vaccine passports.

WHAT ARE VACCINE PASSPORTS? Vaccine passports are documents consisting of medical reports; proving that the individual has received the vaccination against the COVID-19 virus.

IS THIS A COMPLETELY NEW IDEA? For decades, people travelling to certain countries have proven that they have received vaccinations against yellow fever, rubella and other diseases by producing the vaccine passports - or “yellow cards”. What is different for these COVID-19 vaccine passports is that governments are focused on digital systems - to ensure accuracy, eliminate chances of forgery and allow a smoother and efficient process.

WHY ADOPT VACCINATION PASSPORTS? It is reported that in 2020, European destinations experienced a steep decline in tourist arrivals between 51percent and 85 percent [1], compared to its previous year. The pandemic has led to long-lasting lockdowns and lengthy self-quarantines, resulting in significantly reduced international travel during holidays. Currently, the EU is restricting unnecessary international travel to contain the rapid spread of the virus. However, the vaccine passports could be a way of avoiding lengthy lockdowns, enabling freedom to travel again within the EU, and helping the slumping sectors - hospitality, tourism, arts - back to their feet. Countries whose economy heavily depends upon tourism (such as Greece, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden) are especially looking forward to adopting the vaccine pass for the upcoming Summer holidays.

SCIENTIFIC CONSIDERATIONS? The COVID-19 vaccines (AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna) are still in the phase of universal distribution with ongoing widespread testing. In the state of uncertainty - whether the vaccines would effectively immunize people and prevent the host from spreading them - it seems too premature to discuss COVID-19 vaccine passport proposals.

Moreover, the details on how to issue the criteria are unclear. How long is the immunity maintained within our bodies?

Should we also issue the passports to those only inoculated with a single jab (rather than two complete doses)? Can we ensure the efficacy of the vaccine against the emerging COVID-19 variants?

Conitnue reading on Scientia Magazine here.

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est The lat e from th

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G Click here to join the PTG Facebook Group

Thursday 2nd September 8.00 am to 9.00 am Click here to RSVP before Wednesday, 25th August RSVP Here

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#190: Top Games That Explore Empathy I

t’s been a really tough summer for the members of the Taylor clan on many levels. The events that have transpired have reinforced in me, as both a teacher and parent, that empathy in our children is an incredibly precious resource that we must carefully nurture. In my opinion, empathy is not merely something we can switch on or off, it’s something that grows and evolves over time as we experience events in our lives. Empathy becomes more sophisticated and highly tuned into our relationships as we mature. Its fidelity increases as we become wise to the world. I also believe the amount of empathy we have for those around us is not inexhaustible – we have a finite amount of empathy per day.

Over the course of the day little bits of our empathy ‘tank’ are siphoned off in our daily interactions with each other.

When the empathy tank dries up, when we’re running on empty, we get irritable, snap at those around us, become over-sensitive to things we would normally shrug off.

We can however increase the depth of our empathy tank; we can hone our empathy skills by modelling and practicing. There’s an ongoing debate on screen time that, in my opinion, particularly pertinent in the current climate, is misaligned. It should be a debate on screen quality, not screen time. Common Sense Education have put together a useful list of games that explore empathy. You can find them here: Top Games That Teach Empathy | Common Sense Education. I’m not going to recommend one in particular; every family is unique in what works for them. But I do encourage you to explore them and read the reviews. Developing our empathy is a skill. It’s a social and emotional skill that the OECD recognises as critical in becoming a responsible global citizen

“SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS, SUCH AS EMPATHY AND RESPECT FOR OTHERS, ARE BECOMING ESSENTIAL AS CLASSROOMS AND WORKP L ACES BECOME MORE DIVERSE.” OECD REPORT

Have a wonderful weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

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Desert Island Discs With Sarah McCormack, Primary Principal

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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 our new Primary Principal Sarah McCormack is stuck on a desert island.

MRS MCCORMACK, IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WHAT EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Mad World – Tears for Fears

Run – Snow Patrol

Waterfall – Stone Roses

If I Lose Myself – Alesso v OneRepublic

Brothers in Arms – Dire Straits

Children – Tinlicker V Robert Miles

7 Seconds – Youssou n’Dour and Neneh Cherry

Apricots – Bicep

Click to listen to Mrs McCormack’s playlist

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. My four poster bed, with weekly clean linen!

WHICH ONE BOOK WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald 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.

HAVE YOU BOOKMARKED THE SCHOOL CALENDAR YET? 2021/22 CALENDAR

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COMMUNITY

Created by Viola Spolin, "Theater Games For The Lone Actor" is a perfect resource for actors of all abilities that are stuck home alone during a pandemic!

Reserve your spot now at clubnights@bangkokcommunitytheatre.com because this is LIMITED to 20 people! So book now to avoid disappointment.

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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 16

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