Patana News Volume 24 Issue 31

PATANA NEWS

Friday 27th May 2022

Developing Great Teachers

By Katherine Hume

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Also in this issue...

PTG AGM Results Primary Busking Day University Major Spotlight FOBISIA Poetry Competition Secondary Drama Production Pop Art Portraiture

Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11

www.patana.ac.th

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

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Developing Great Teachers Katherine Hume, Cross Campus Assistant Principal, Continued Professional Learning

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uality teaching and leadership is at the heart of our work. We are very fortunate to have a dedicated teaching staff at Bangkok Patana who are lifelong learners striving to grow and develop professionally. Our teachers seek out ways to improve their practice so as to provide the best possible outcomes for their students.

The Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) days across the school year provide a valuable opportunity for us to participate in high quality, relevant and timely professional learning experiences, Encouraging and empowering teachers’ professional growth and supporting us to reflect on our practice and develop and grow our individual expertise.

ary and Cross Campus teams each followed a bespoke programme of workshops, keynote and collaborative sessions. It gave us the opportunity to further embed school development priorities and share best practice, relevant to the different teams across the school.

“One size fits no one.”

The Developing Great Teaching report from the Teacher Development Trust, UK supports our vision of impactful CPL. Highlighting the ineffectiveness of generic “one size fits no one” approach to CPL shows how we need to find ways to give teachers opportunities to engage in carefully designed collaboration that is actively supported by school leaders. Underpinned by a culture of trust and respect. Stating how ‘effective teacher learning combines a high-quality in-house approach with access to external expertise and support.’

This model for CPL was the framework for the day, with carefully planned blended opportunities, providing us with access to external consultants: • Tom Sherrington, delivered a keynote on Instructional coaching and evidence-based teaching strategies; • Andy Hailey from UWCSEA Singapore, discussed Ecological Dynamics with our sports academies.

As you can imagine, we were delighted that the 2nd May CPL day could take place on campus and in-person for the first time in two years. The Primary, Second-

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These sessions were in addition to many in-house CPL sessions facilitated by colleagues, showcasing the depth and breadth of expertise of our staff. These ranged from Promoting Inclusion, to the Power of Reading, to Safeguarding specific Peer on Peer Abuse training. They created rich and diverse opportunities to learn, reflect, and

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collaborate together. Through our CPL days we continue to be mindful of aligning our school values of Well-being, Learning and Global Citizenship, and creating professional learning opportunities which support the development of these values.

As COVID restrictions ease, we are delighted today to host our first regional face-to-face CPL event in two years. The FOBISIA PE Conference will see us welcoming 90 participants from around the region to Bangkok Patana, giving us an opportunity to showcase our fantastic PE provision and create needed networking and collaborative opportunities for our PE teachers and Sports coaches. As we look around the corner to next academic year, we remain hopeful and optimistic that our world class CPL events can resume, and even expand, to ensure our teachers continue to flourish.

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Patana Participates!

Achievements from Our Community:

Have a story to share? Send your information & photos to stml@patana.ac.th Nicolas Reichert, 6T

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n April, my football team was selected to represent Thailand at the TAR tournament based in Spain. I was proud to represent Bangkok Patana as the only player from the school at the competition. We were invited to compete against the youth teams of Barcelona FC, Real Madrid and Real Betis among many others. It is possible I played against the next Lionel Messi - look out for a player called Polo in the future! It was incredibly exciting to participate in an international tournament in Europe and I hoped we would have some chance of winning against such acclaimed opposition.

to cope with playing football in the cold, dry weather of Spain but at least we had the nice warm food from Spain to cheer us up; I loved the omelettes!

We had two warm-up matches against Spanish children before the tournament started. This gave us a taster of things to come. In the actual tournament we were surprised at the amazing quality of our opposing teams. This gave us a chance to learn and improve our own skills.

Despite my best efforts to score as many goals as I could, the goalkeepers in these teams were exceptional!

The trip to Spain was a very special week in my life. It was extremely fun but hard at the same time as we had

I was so glad to share this experience with some of my family, whom I had not seen for two years!

Thanyathorn Tejacharoenanan, Patana Parent

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vari Teya, 7W made it to the semi-final round in the professional category at the 6th Steinway Youth Piano Competition Thailand 2022. This live competition is hosted every two years by Steinway & Sons Piano Thailand. Svari Teya performed two songs and received a semifinal medal and certificate. This was a fantastic opportunity!

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DiabOne Information About

DIABETES Different Types TYPE 1

DIABETES MULLITUS a chronic metabolic disorder characterized by impaired ability of the pancreas to produce or respond to insulin.

Keywords: Insulin - the hormone that sends signals to cells in the liver and muscles to convert glucose into glycogen.

Glucagon - the hormone that sends signals to cells in the liver and muscles to convert glycogen into glucose.

The endocrine gland - the "master gland" that secretes glucagon and insulin. (however, the pancreas also secretes the two enzymes)

Introducing the hormones

Type 1 diabetes occurs when your immune system - the body's system for fighting infection - attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas (autoimmune reaction).

In most cases, people need to inherit risk factors from both parents and some environmental factors. Viruses may also trigger type 1 diabetes.

TYPE 2

CAT/CAS CORNER

DiabOne is a CAT club that aims to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes as well as fundraise to provide life-saving equipment for those in need.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas produces insulin but the body shows insulin resistance. At first the pancreas makes extra insulin but eventually it can’t make enough to maintain blood glucose at a normal level.

A stronger link to family history (obesity tends to run in families), environmental factors also play a role.

Studies have shown that it’s possible to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes by exercising and losing weight.

Insulin and glucagon are released by alpha and beta cells of the pancreas Insulin is released by alpha cells when blood glucose concentrations are high. It reduces the blood glucose levels. (occurs after eating) Glucagon is released by beta cell when blood glucose concentrations are low to increase blood glucose levels (usually after exercising).

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PTG Annual General Meeting A

fter two years of online meetings, it was wonderful to be able to host parents in-person at the PTG Annual General Meeting (AGM). The meeting was chaired by out-going Chair Philip Ngan, who graciously thanked the current committee who have helped connect parents and the school, a role that was ever-more important during a school year when parents were not free to socialise on campus. Treasurer Jonathan Lee was pleased to deliver the good news of a balance sheet that showed more income than budgeted. Much of this was due to sales in the Tiger Shop – a big thank you to Safy Rezk the Tiger Shop manager, the parent volunteers and the CAS students who work in the shop!

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The PTG and the school also thanked outgoing PTG Vice Chair Aki Roughley for the many years of support she has given the PTG and Bangkok Patana School – we wish you all the best in your next destination!

A big welcome to the incoming committee led by Chair Safy Rizk, Vice-Chair William Wang and Treasurer Jonathan Lee. The full list of the PTG executive committee and representatives can be found here. The PTG is looking forward to an active calendar next year, full of events, so if you are looking for a way to connect with other parents, do email ptg@patana.ac.th

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NEW SCHOOL SHOES FOR THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR Please add plain black school shoes to your August shopping list!

Shoes should be durable and support the whole foot. Plain black shoes can be sourced in many shops and department stores in Bangkok. If your child has to wear other shoes for a specific reason, please let their teacher know.

UNIVERSITIES AND CAREERS: PATANA PATHWAYS

Do you love your DT lessons? Interested in using art and design in a more technical manner? Find out more about pursuing Product Design in your pathway after Bangkok Patana! Product design is the process of creating a new product to be sold by a business to its customers. A very broad concept, it is essentially the efficient and effective generation and development of ideas through a process that leads to new products. In a systematic approach, product designers conceptualise and evaluate ideas, turning them into tangible inventions and products. The product designer’s role is to combine art, science, and technology to create new products that other people can use. Their evolving role has been facilitated by digital tools that now allow designers to communicate, visualise, analyse and actually produce tangible ideas in a way that would have taken greater manpower in the past. Product design is sometimes confused with (and certainly overlaps with) industrial design and has recently become a broad term inclusive of service, software, and physical product design. Industrial design is concerned with bringing artistic form and usability, usually associated with craft design and ergonomics, together to mass-produce goods. Other aspects of product design include engineering design, particularly when matters of functionality or utility (e.g. problem -solving) are at issue, though such boundaries are not always clear. If this subject sounds interesting to you, be sure to ask your Universities Counsellor which schools offer this subject in order to learn more about potential portfolio requirements or other prerequisites.

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Scientia Anik Ratta, 9F

HOW WOULD YOU MEASURE THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CIVILIZATION? TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION NIKOLAI KARDASHEV CREATED A THEORETICAL SCALE TO MEASURE THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT OF A SOCIETY. TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS FASCINATING METRIC, CHECK OUT OUR NEW SCIENTIA ARTICLE ON THE KARDASHEV SCALE BELOW. READ MORE HERE: HTTPS://WWW.SCIENTIAPROJECT.COM/ANIK-THE-KARDASHEV-SCALE

SURVIVAL: FOBISIA Poetry Competition Ana Bolakoso, 7D

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ongratulations to Ana Bolakoso for taking 2nd Place in the Key Stage 3 section of the FOBISIA Poetry Competition! There were 24 schools entered in the competition overall and the judges were struck by the quality of the entries. They commented on the creativity, meaning and inspiration in the poems they chose as the winning entries. Read Ana’s poem below:

Ancient script, forgotten scrolls, patterns in the sand…

Words and sounds, lost and found, Exploited for who I am.

Colonised, occupied, left to adapt or die...

Conform, Westernise, Learn to write in lines!

Will I survive this place and people?

Mother tongue lost forever, replaced with foreign slurs Take it slow, don’t shout at me Enunciate your verbs!

Your accents strange, your characters unfamiliar, You can’t spell or speak Are you some kind of imbecile?

You don’t get the joke, slow to the punchline Sarcasm is lost on you Seriously… speak English!

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Fake smile and laugh, pretend to understand, Nod your head, don’t attract attention, Say nothing, blend in.

Will this language I was born to survive?

The language of my Father and Fathers Father The language of my Mother and Mother’s Mother The language of my heritage, my history My songs, my food and favourite things My first loves and my heartbreaks Bilingual, trilingual, a linguist and polyglot Clever and cultured, I can do the lot!

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Wendy and Peter Pan Ella Cordery, Drama Teacher

“THINK OF THE HAPPIEST OF THINGS. IT’S THE SAME AS HAVING WINGS.” PETER PAN "It was so refreshing and energising to finally be able to do another performance after so long and I am so glad that I could be a part of it."

Raiya (Rats) Williams, 10S “The play provided a great opportunity to perform again and work with different students that we wouldnt normally work with. It was also lots of fun and I really enjoyed it!”

Holly Myers, 10L

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e wanted this production of Wendy and Peter Pan to ask the audience to reflect on what it means to grow up, what we lose and gain along the way and the sense of play, magic and innocence that we must remember to keep with us. In Neverland, we discover how to be brave, even when the glistening teeth of a crocodile or flailing sword of a pirate, is staring us in the face. We see how time isn’t always of the essence, but it’s what we do with that time and the joy we can share with others within it that’s important. Coming to terms with growing up, growing older but not necessarily wiser, losing time and losing people around us, is a part of life’s journey. If we remember to find the light, joy and magic within it, we will never get too lost.

It has been a privilege to work with this hugely talented cast. For many of the Key Stage 3 students, it is their first time being involved in a production. For our Year 10s it has been a long time since they have been able to get lost in the magic of a performance. What they have all brought to the stage makes the storytelling in this production so believable, even in the dream-like world of Neverland. Their commitment, enthusiasm and creativity has been unwavering, but most of all it has been their resilience during this unpredictable and ever-changing rehearsal process that has re-inspired me and reminded me of the magic of young people! Thank you, cast and backstage crew - it’s been a dream!

[Excerpt from Director’s Note in Production Programme]

“At first, it was a challenge to see if the play would come together. But over the time, as more of the set and direction came together, I was confident that I could see the final performance coming together. I am so proud of what we achieved.” Niamh Smith, 10L “In the beginning, I was quite scared to perform and I didn’t want to (I signed up to do backstage!). The only reason that I joined the acting was that I thought that the play would get shut down because of COVID - so I didn’t think i would have to perform on stage! I think in the end, it was alright! I did have stressful moments and nerves with going on stage, but I am really glad that I did it and got to perform as one of the pirates.” Maisy Evans, 9T “At the very beginning I was very worried about it, because we were doing it in the Black Box and I thought we should have done it in the Theatre. But I loved the Black Box in the end and it was made really beautiful. I really liked the process and made lots of friends, it was so much fun, but at times hard work and I didn’t know it was going to come together.” Sanja Rodel, 7D 10

“Everyone and the teachers were really nice. It was such a nice experience as it had been a really long time, I haven’t had much theatre experience and it was great to do a live performance.” Adrien Lombard, 8R

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Pop Art Portraiture Mihaela-Marcela Marcovici, Art Teacher

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ear 9 students studied the Pop Art movement, including Pop Art Portraiture created by Andy Warhol.

Students were assigned to portray a person that is important to them, with some choosing friends, teachers, grandparents and siblings. Students were really able to capture the essence of Pop Art Portraiture through this lesson, as can be seen in their artworks below. I am extremely proud of the Year 9 students who poured their talent and effort into their pieces, demonstrating their determination to make the most of their art lessons before the end of Key Stage 3!

Their works will be on display in the outdoor area of the Arts Centre near the Reflection Pool until the end of Term 3.

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Desert Island Discs With Daria Kirbai, EAL Teacher

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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 EAL Teacher, Daria Kirbai, is stuck on a desert island.

MS DARIA, IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WHAT EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Inside Out - Bryan Adams

California - U2

Deep In The Bottom - Black Coffee

Another One Bites the Dust - Queen

Hasta el Amanecer - Nicky Jam

Sorry - Madonna

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! - ABBA

The Chain - Fleetwood Mac Click to listen to Ms Daria Kirbai’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. A huge flamingo floatie!

WHICH ONE BOOK WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Heaven Has No Favourites by Erich Maria Remarque 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 STML with your favourites.

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#219: Online Safety for Under 5s: 10 Tips for Parents Even for our younger children, digital devices are as much a part of their everyday play as Lego and colouring books were for previous generations. With many parents and carers having justified concerns, however, over problems like exposure to inappropriate content and picking up unhealthy screentime habits, online activities can be tricky to introduce.

This guide has advice for parents and carers of younger children who are just starting to discover the excitement of exploring, playing and learning in the digital world.

From general safety and security tips to suggestions on how to manage little ones’ screen time without any tears, you’re sure to find some useful – and realistic – guidance here.

Have a great weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

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COMMUNITY

MEET THE AUTHOR We are thrilled to host acclaimed Thai-American author Christina Soontornvat at our upcoming 101 Years Strong Celebration on 11th June. She will be our guest storyteller for our morning Story Time Special. Our exhibition Bangkok Chattana: Alchemy of Architecture and Narrative by award-winning architect Chatpong Chuenrudeemol is inspired by Christina's Newbery Honor book A Wish in the Dark. Signed copies of her young adult books will be available for purchase at the event.

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COMMUNITY

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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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