Patana News Volume 24 Issue 5

www.patana.ac.th

PATANA NEWS

Thursday16th September 2021

A Special List

Mr Mills’ First Blog of the eYar

By Primary Assistant Principal Mark Verde Page 2

Also in thisMissue...

Peace Day Challenge

Page 4 Primary Parent Workshop Page 5 Year 7 Student Performs Live for Page 8 Rotary Page 9 Live ECAs Online

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Bangkok Patana School News

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

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A Special List

SPECIALISTS IN PRIMARY SCHOOL Mark Verde, Primary Assistant Principal Learning and Curriculum

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hat was your favourite subject when you were And this is why specialist subjects like the Arts, Music, a child at school? Mine was always ART and PE, ICT and Languages and our support services are so this love of the subject stemmed from the day Mrs Young; valuable to all of us as they open up other worlds that my Year 1 teacher, walked into the classroom with a new traditional subjects don’t necessarily unlock as easily and book called Where the Wild Things Are and spent the quickly for some of us. They fill us with imagination, colfollowing week and a day… with us drawing, building, our and excitement in a different way that Maths , English, designing and creating the most wonderful creatures and Humanities and the Sciences do. And more importantly, lands that we had ever imagined, inspired by the illustra- at Bangkok Patana School we have the added bonus of tions that jumped off the pages of this very special book. having them taught by experts in their fields who, through It wasn’t the story or mystical adventure or relating to Max their enthusiasm for their subjects, share their knowledge being naughty before bedtime or even the amazing jour- and understanding and inspire our children to nurture and ney he went on that grasped my love of art. It was the illus- grow a love of all learning. Here are some reasons why trations by Maurice Sendak that I can still see vividly in my our Special List teachers enjoy providing learning opporhead as clearly as when I did when I was five years old. tunities for our children.

CLAIRE MYERS - PRIMARY EAL TEACHER “Having a specialist teacher allows both class teachers and specialist teachers the opportunity to focus on particular targets with smaller numbers of students. It is very rewarding to track small steps in progress and watch our students flourish. Not all students have the same specific needs or areas for development and specialist support in lessons means both class teacher and specialist teachers can further differentiate our instruction and assessment. Class teachers and specialist teachers each bring different strengths and expertise to the lesson. Children thrive on immediate feedback and love sharing their learning during the lesson, preferring to hold up their learning on screen and show the class rather than posting it online to receive feedback later. Live lessons provide more scope for this. Sharing success in this way is mutually beneficial: the sharer receives instant feedback, often praise, and the other students are motivated and can ‘magpie’ ideas for their own learning. Again, smaller groups allow this to happen more easily.”

MS PATRICIA - FRENCH TEACHER “Teaching live MFL makes remote learning impactful by allowing regular opportunities to collaborate and experiencing challenging learning like we would normally do in class. Clear pronunciation is a key part of language learning and our CSL program offers a meaningful approach to this skill by enabling the children to practice their pronunciation at home (muted) before saying the word/sentence (unmuted) aloud. Individual feedback can be also given to children who can record themselves and send their recording privately via SeeSaw and Microsoft Teams.”

GRACE SMITH - LEARNING SUPPORT TEACHER “I get so much engagement and enjoyment from the students as they are all so keen to become involved in our learning and share their thoughts and ideas with me. Sensory and Well-being learning in the Foundation Stage is so important for the students as they are able to engage at their level and take their learning in a direction that excites and motivates them.”

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CHARLIE MCLEAN - LEAD MUSIC TEACHER “Live lessons give us the chance to have immediate interactions and feedback with the students. It’s much easier to judge the pace of the lesson or activity based on the students’ reactions, rather than guessing when making a video. It is also great just to see their smiling faces! Music is a unique and incredibly enriching part of the curriculum which engages students in ways no other subject can. The fact that it is practical, creative and often active, means that it can ‘feel’ quite different to other lessons and allows children to learn in a different way.

The children have been hugely motivated by our live lessons compared to recordings. We’ve intentionally started with lots of active, movement based songs which gives us the chance to see them joining in, (even when we can’t hear them). Seeing the screen come alive with singing, body percussion, dancing and laughter has been a real pleasure for teachers and students alike.”

CORA BATLEY-MOSS - ART TEACHER “We love teaching online live specialist Art lessons to the Primary School because it gives us a chance to see more of the artwork that students make at home, and develop relationships based on their artistic preferences. Art and creativity are key skills to help students whilst they work online. We have seen so many talented students who are using their skills to creatively organise their day, challenge themselves with new techniques, or recharge and unwind from screen time with the calmness of painting.”

MAX HOPWOOD - LEADER FOR ICT “The ICT team are enjoying getting live feedback and seeing the learning take place. We love to support on the spot and be part of the learning process. We are teaching key skills with digital tools and hope to help build independence and problem solving skills when using tech. Engagement is enhanced through the use of online apps, games and web resources, which allow students to be creative, think laterally and express themselves. We try to enrich the students' media diet with new concepts and teach them how to best learn and communicate in this digital world.There has been a massive uptake and much more visible progress with the live ICT lessons and the response from families and children has been great.”

STEPHEN MURGATROYD - HEAD OF LIBRARIES “Reading and sharing stories are very powerful ways of engaging and connecting with the children and I feel privileged to be able to have the opportunity to do it through live library lessons. The looks on the students' faces have been wonderful to behold – you can always tell if a story has ‘hit the spot’. Telling stories to children is one of my favourite things to do and I am always delighted that the children are happy to both listen to them and enjoy them. “

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International Day of Peace: Primary Challenge Sarah McCormack, Primary Principal

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o honour the International Day of Peace on Tuesday 21st September, the Primary School will be holding the Peace Day Challenge. Start by choosing a Peace Day challenge from the list below. Take a photo or video of you completing the challenge. Email your photo to Mrs McCormack samc@patana.ac.th. Then be sure and check out the hashtags on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to see which Peace Day challenges your friends have been completing.

Be sure to try another challenge on the list, and include your family or community in the challenge!

Learn how to say ‘peace’ in five languages Reach out to someone new in your class Design and display a rainbow for peace Enjoy a minute of silence Pick up litter for 10 minutes in and around your community List five things that you are grateful for Write a ‘peace’ poem Learn about other countries and cultures to help foster a better understanding of our world community Read about different peace-makers Learn more about the Convention on the Rights of the Child Watch the news or read a newspaper – discuss the key issues with a family member Create a design for a sustainable village/town Read about people who have won the Nobel Peace Prize – send them a letter

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Write to lawmakers to consider more peaceful approaches Connect with/spend time in nature Discover five facts about the United Nations Create a dove or flag for ‘peace’ Make peace resolutions in your own life Learn more about the sustainable development goals Think about our school values – how to they help create a vision for harmony in our school Learn more about careers in the field of peace Consider how to promote equality and diversity – start small!

Interview an older relative about his/her life Lend your skills to help somebody in your community Read some of the books on the recommended reading list Create your own act of ‘peace’

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CAT/CAS CORNER

Meet the Tiger Shop Team Safy Rizk, PTG Tiger Shop Manager

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espite some hiccups last term due to COVID-19 closures, the Tiger Shop CAS team is ready to grow Tiger Spirit in school. They are spending this time formulating new designs, marketing plans and more. After a Teams meeting with Tiger Shop Manager Safy Rizk, all assignments were made and they coming back with a roar. We look forward to the day we can shop in person, but until then email tigershop@patana.ac.th for all your Tiger themed swag!

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Year 7 Student Performance to Raise Funds for Rotary Rotary Clubs of District 3350 ear 7 student Svari (Teya) Tejacharoenanan will be performing live on Facebook and YouTube in the event “Musical Artists in Asia Join Rotary Thailand in COVID-19 Relief Virtual Charity Concert 2021.” Teya will perform on the piano and be joining other such well-known artists as Tasana Nagavajara, Pink Panther, the DDB Boy Band and many more. All funds raised by Rotary will go towards COVID-19 relief. You can learn more about donating and the concert here. Visit Rotary District 3350’s YouTube channel here. Rotary International is a non profit, secular, world-wide service organisation dedicated towards supporting humanitarian service

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In the Spotlight...

The University of Queensland, Australia

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his large university has around 40,000 students, of whom 12,000 are international. Ranked second in Australia in a tie with Australian National University, it is ranked 54th in the Times Higher Education global rankings.

The university’s main campus is located in the green and leafy inner Brisbane suburb of St Lucia, Brisbane is wellknown for its wonderful weather and great lifestyle.It is also highly in the most livable cities in the world. There are two other campuses as part of the university and 40 teaching and research sites. The university offers six faculties including leaders in biotechnology and vaccine research. Famous graduates include a Nobel laureate, two Fortune 500 company CEOs and more..

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Moving ECAs to Live Online lessons

Cindy Adair, Cross Campus Assistant Principal, Sports and ECAs s we faced the re-opening of school for the popular regular ECA offerings: singing, Minecraft and 2021/22 academic year online, and the prospect more cooking. We were also able to offer a range of of students missing out on their favourite extra-curricular pre-selected ECAs which students really value includactivities once again, we decided to shift to a LIVE model ing International Award, Junior Achievement, Orchestra and create a programme to get students up and active among others! Our mantra became “why cancel when after school. Our fantastic Academy coaches were up you can go LIVE online?” On 3rd September I got an exfor the challenge and we launched a pilot programme in cited Teams message from Mr Clarke our Head of OutAugust. When we discussed our plans, we estimated we door Education saying, “…I got 97 students on my call might get 20 – 30 students join each call… imagine our yesterday, which is amazing. There is certainly an appetite delight when over 150 students dialled in on Day 1! Our for extra-curriculum based learning!”. Another afternoon I programme is offered free of charge with no sign-up re- dropped into a Books and Cakes ECA call and saw students from Year 6 through 13 chatting away, sharing their quired in advance – just turn up and have fun. love of literature and catching up. It’s not often students It was fantastic to see our students, parents, helpers and from such a range of Year groups get to socialise and even pets on screen getting involved in dance, football, share their passions. tennis, fitness, gymnastics, Zumba, cooking and more!

Professor Michael Kocet PhD, of the Chicago School of “The online ECAs help me relax after a Psychology writes in reference to his love of cooking, or long day of online learning dealing with what he calls culinary therapy, technical glitches and lots of screentime. I can

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stay connected to my friends and coaches and can keep my fitness and well-being on track. I feel like I have a chance of getting back to where I was by participating in this programme. I also love getting the House points, my friends from my Tutor group and I are doing it together – we want to win Tutor Group of the term”. Secondary Student

“Having hobbies can be essential to maintaining mental health and wellness.

In a period of so much uncertainty, hobbies provide people with a sense of accomplishment that is satisfying and comforting.”

It isn’t just the students who benefit – our coaches and teachers have really enjoyed re-connecting with students and seeing them smile, laugh and have fun. Not to mention their pride in mastering the world of LIVE broadcasting.

It’s been touching to see students post messages on MS Teams saying, “So nice to see my coaches – I miss you!”.

Students have been adapting to the space and equipment they have available. No basketball? Use a balloon.

Not got a kettlebell? Fill an old backpack with tinned food or heavy books. Where there is a will there is a way! What wonderful resilient and creative students we have.

SEPTEMBER SUCCESS After the successful pilot programme we published our September schedule, which included some of our most

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VIRTUAL MEDALS AND HOUSE POINTS One of the highlights of the programme has been seeing the students really commit to the activities in pursuit of Virtual Medals and House points. Day in and day out they’ve been showing up online at 3pm to try the various activities, even those they would not normally choose to do. Footballers dancing their hearts out, gymnasts showing us their skills in the kitchen and swimmers who can really sing! Students have been earning virtual medals at home, in quarantine and overseas. At the time of this article we have awarded our first Virtual Gold Medals to students who have attended 15 or more sessions since school began and launched our next incentive level – the Platinum Medal. Gold and Platinum winners receive a special delivery to their homes via Grab Bike, which is eagerly anticipated.

It is great to see students setting goals and smashing them!

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ARTS COUNCIL Innovative Adaptions in IB Music

Jia Yi (Mirabel) Leong, 13D

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am an IB Music student and have currently been focusing on creating an adaptation of a piece of music on the piano. As part of the new syllabus for IB music, students are required to execute an imaginative Performance Adaptation of a piece of music using their preferred instrument. Therefore, I decided to choose a Norwegian folk song called ‘Villeman og Magnhild’, which I came across in my research, to transcribe on my piano. Being creative and inventive in the way you adapt the music is crucial and I was inspired by the idea of using a prepared piano to recreate the timbre of the folk song. This is where a piano has its sounds temporarily manipulated by placing a variety of objects between the strings.

John Cage, a composer, has used a prepared piano in his compositional works during the 1900’s, this inspired me

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to do the same in my exploration.

During the process of creating my version of the piece of music, I opened the lid of my piano and placed different objects I found in my house on top of the strings, some of which included: tin foil, a ruler and soft cardboard. The sound produced as I played the keys was rather unique, as it generated a muted and percussive sound on the note.

After recording the sounds that I wanted to use, I layered them in LogicPro and added some extra automation to produce the overall tune that represents the timbre of the bagpipes in the song. Overall, this experience has been very fulfilling so far as I had the opportunity to explore features about the piano that I hadn’t engaged with before and transform music in an innovative way.

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ARTS COUNCIL Inspired by Klee to Face Challenges Sofia Lin, 9Y

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uring Key Stage 3, I have learned many art skills, both in school and out. When I was studying with artist Elzahn Nel, I created many pieces with various skills I had learned, but my favourite is a papier-maché horse with my version of Paul Klee’s painting Mount Niesen, 1915 on it. While I knew nothing about this artist, I enjoyed the simplicity of his expressionist and cubist work, since most of my previous art focused on small details. But with this piece, the big picture was the key to bringing it all together, which helped me learn to blend detail with the overall effect.

Many challenges that I have faced in art are internal, such as doubt and procrastination. It’s hard to get started on a big piece that you’ve been planning for a while, but you need to start if you want to finish (not that that is much of a motivator). It helps if I’m also working on something else at the same time, so that I can procrastinate on one by doing the other (works wonders for a perfectionist procrastinator). Doubt was much trickier because it doesn’t disappear after I start. One way that I avoid it is to call it my ‘editor’ and try to ignore it until I actually have something to edit.

The Arts are very important to me and have been throughout my life.

There is art in everything I see, and it is a much more interesting way of looking at life: a metal water bottle is made up of silver and black lines of light reflection, and a lamp has a saturated halo. Detail works help me calm down and concentrate, and big picture work helps me relax and see things more simply.

Mount Neisen by Paul Klee 16/09/2021

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STUDENTS SPEAK

DIABULIMIA Carolyn Suradejvibul, 13A

Diabulimia is a media-coined term referring to an eatSome psychological symptoms are similar to those of ing disorder affecting people with Type 1 Diabetes, in other eating disorders, while others are more specific to which the sufferer purposefully restricts insulin to lose Diabulimia: weight. Currently, Diabulimia is not formally recognized • Extreme focus on food, weight and/or calories as an eating disorder and does not have its own diagnostic criteria. Instead a person’s diagnosis will depend • Expressing concerns about their appearance and/ on their eating disorder behaviours. or weight Only people with Type 1 Diabetes can have Diabulimia, as Type 2 Diabetes is often treated with drugs that do not contain insulin, and even if the drugs do contain insulin, the consequences of restricting insulin are not the same. Nevertheless, people with all types of Diabetes are at an increased risk of developing eating disorders due to a variety of reasons, including: A diagnosis of any chronic illness is likely to trigger feelings of stress, anxiety, and/or depression, putting an individual at a higher risk of developing disordered eating behaviours.

Furthermore, the elevated focus, specifically on control, of food and numbers such as weight and blood glucose, can lead to controlling and perfectionist behaviours that are understood to be true in eating disorder development.

Finally, the weight gain commonly associated with proper insulin usage can impact body image, putting people with Diabetes at an even greater risk of developing eating disorders Symptoms of Diabulimia The symptoms of Diabulimia vary from person to person, however certain physical and psychological symptoms are commonly observed.

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• Isolating themselves and avoiding social activities • Refusing to eat in front of others • Exhibiting signs of depression or anxiety • Talking about insulin’s effect on weight • Secrecy or discomfort surrounding Diabetes management • Avoiding medical appointments, particularly those that are Diabetes-related.

The physical symptoms of Diabulimia can be severe, including: • Nausea or vomiting • Frequent urination • Bladder infections • Blurred vision • Inconsistent readings of A1C (estimated average of sugar in one’s blood.

Find out more about this eating disorder on Scientia Magazine here

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#194: Family Media Plan and Media Time Calculator F

rom the AAP Media Plan at Healthchildren.org

“Media should work for you and work within your family values and parenting style. When media is used thoughtfully and appropriately, media can enhance daily life. But when used inappropriately or without thought, media can displace many important activities such as face-to-face interaction, family-time, outdoor-play, exercise, unplugged downtime and sleep.”

“By creating a Personalised Family Media Use Plan, you can be aware of when you are using media to achieve your purpose. This requires parents and users to think about what they want those purposes to be. The tool below will help you to think about media and create goals and rules that are in line with your family’s values.”

“To make YOUR family’s Media Use Plan, start by entering your family’s information. This information will remain private and confidential.”

Find the Media Planning Tool online here.

Have a relaxing long weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration

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

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Desert Island Discs With Nicola Crompton, Senior Teacher, Leader Student Support Services

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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 Senior Teacher Nicola Crompton is stuck on a desert island.

MS CROMPTON IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WHAT EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap Heart of Glass - Blondie Zero - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Popscene - Blur

Wide Open Space - Mansun

Les Fleur – Minnie Riperton

That’s Entertainment – The Jam

The Man Who Sold the World - Nirvana Click to listen to Ms Crompton’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. An espresso machine and an unlimited supply of fresh coffee WHICH ONE BOOK WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman 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.

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