NEWS Patana

B a n g k o k P a t a n a i s a n I B W o r l d S c h o o l , a c c r e d i t e d b y C I S a n d N E A S C

Communication is Key!

P. 2

The Head of School’s Letter t has been a very smooth start to Term 1 and I have been very

impressed with our students’ very positive attitude to school in general. Students are making a real effort to stick to the clear uniform guidelines and I have seen numerous examples of students supporting other stu-dents in need. I have observed quali-ty learning taking place in all of the classrooms that I have visited. We have successfully completed our first whole school fire-drill of the year which is so important being such a large school. The new Sports/ECA four block module has started very well and Mr Balo informs me that our Patana Tiger sports friendlies have gone very well too.

I thought I would take some time this week to focus on a very important school-related topic that needs to be clarified right at the beginning of the school year. It is what I describe as “Home-School Communication”. I sometimes refer to the communication triangle having three defined points that inter-relate in both directions; the school, the students and the parents. Healthy communication channels oper-ate when communication is transpar-ent between all three parties.

The research quite clearly confirms that children do best in school when parents are involved with their educa-tion. During the first weeks of the new academic year, we have numerous op-portunities for parents to visit the school and learn more about their child’s programme. We want parents to be comfortable talking with their children’s teachers, and teachers want to be able to contact parents with questions, concerns and positive re-ports of student progress. In this day and age, we have numerous resources to help support quality home-school communication including one-to-one meetings, telephone, home-school contact books and 3-Way Conferences in Primary and of course email. My advice to parents is to try and use a balance of each of the communication resources available rather than relying

on just one form. If it is quick response data sharing, I find email works very well. However if emotions are involved in any shape or form, the use of tele-phone or one to one meetings are more effective. We are fortunate to have a world class school website and our school Facebook page, which both get updated on a regular basis and are also effective communication tools.

At the beginning of every school year we normally get a lot of questions con-cerned with homework, particularly why schools set homework.

Homework/Home Learning is not simply busy–work assigned to keep students occupied at home. Homework and studying serve several educational needs that are imperative to receiving a complete education. Homework pro-vides students an opportunity to devel-op self-discipline, positive study habits and time management skills. Children learn how to be independent and re-sponsible. They can set homework goals and enjoy a sense of accomplish-ment when the goals are met. Children practice taking initiative by beginning assignments on their own and studying when necessary. Homework also closes the gap between school and home. Learning should occur at home as well as school.

Homework tasks can be divided into three areas:

Practice homework allows children to review what they covered in class.

Preparation homework helps children prepare for an activity or in-class as-signment.

Extension homework includes long term assignments such as papers or

projects. Parents also play an important role

and can help students succeed with their tasks. Review homework tasks with your child and provide support and guidance, but be sure not to do the work for them. If homework tasks are unclear, communicate with the teacher and ask questions. Most im-portantly, parents should provide con-stant support and encouragement. Demonstrate to children how im-portant homework is by taking an in-terest and guiding them.

A good relationship between schools and parents starts with lucid communi-cation links. I hope all parents will take advantage of the opportunities to build strong relationships with their chil-dren’s teachers. After all, parents are teachers too and schools cannot be successful without support from home.

One final note from me this week. I

had the pleasure to attend our first monthly PTG meeting on Wednesday. The key objectives of these PTG meetings is for parents and senior ad-min to talk about the current issues at school, talk about upcoming events and seek solutions to any issues that may arise. It was a very productive meeting of PTG parents and senior management of the school and lots of good ideas were aired. As Head of School I greatly value all the good work Njah and her PTG team do for the school community. Have a restful long weekend. Matt Mills Head of School

Click here

for the

Canteen

Menu

The calendar for this academic year is available on the front of the

school website or click here to view it.

ign up for Block 2 of the ECA (Extra-curricular Activity) programme begins on Monday 21st

September at noon. Please see the dates below for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the sign up: Phase 1 21st -25th September Phase 2 30th September to 2nd October Block 2 ECAs begin on 9th November 2015.

By Satinee (Nina) Chatuchinda and Thanyamai (Mai Mai) Chansavangwonk

he sun had not yet touched the dewy grounds of Bang-

kok Patana on the morning of the 12th September when 26 stu-dents and four teachers assem-bled together, ready to head to the beaches of Pattaya. We were taking part in the International Schools Reef Clean, which is an annual event. (Bangkok Patana also does another reef clean later in the year). This year we joined nine other international schools, and there were a total of 350 stu-dents diving or snorkelling to pick up rubbish from the ocean bottom.

By 8.00am, our buses arrived at the Mermaid’s Dive Centre and the sleepiness of the early morn-ing that had possessed us during the car ride decided to take flight and excitement began to stir with-in us with each ocean wave that collided with the pier. Perhaps it was the soft music that the breeze carried or the heat of the sun radi-ating on our necks that energised us on the boat all the way to Koh Sak, and remained with us when we finally arrived. It lingered

whilst the divers sorted their tanks and suits, and the snorkel-lers with their fins and snorkels. It persisted even in the sharpest dodge from the sea urchins, the awe at the tiny schools of fish, and when picking up the slightest bit of plastic that littered the beach. The divers delved deep into Pattaya waters with an objective to retrieve anything that looked incongruous in the underwater world, and despite the currents and poor visibility, did a terrific job working together as a team. Bangkok Patana goes to the same area every year, hoping that this regular cleaning will slowly help

the area regenerate. However, every year we continue to find many polystyrene containers, most of them likely from people who carry a packed lunch but do not take the small step of using reusable containers. Picking up this garbage, which is not bio-degradable makes us more aware of the litter that we produce.

Overall, this is a wonderful event to be a part of, and on be-half of the students and staff that took part, we would love to say a big thank you to everyone at the Mermaid Dive Centre for making this possible.

By Andrew Tatam, Leader of Learning, Physical Education (Reprint from Patana News Vol. 18 Issue 2)

arents and students will now be aware that our

Extra-curricular Activities (ECA) calendar has changed with four blocks of ECA, replacing the pre-vious 3-Term schedule. This change will effect timings for our 2016 FOBISIA Team selection process, bringing things forward in the calendar.

The format for the Games will remain the same as last year, which means that we will be selecting ten boys and ten girls from Year 5 and ten boys and ten girls from Year 6 giving us a team of 40 students. Com-petitors will compete in all four sports of swimming, athletics, tee-ball and football across three days of competition.

For those parents and students new to Bangkok Patana or those par-ents who have children who may just have shown an interest in the FOBI-SIA Friendly Games, I hope that the following information will help in any decision making.

The Primary FOBISIA (Federation of British International Schools in Asia) Friendly Games is a sporting festival and competition for British Interna-tional Schools across Asia. We select teams to represent Years 5 and 6 and Bangkok Patana is in Group A1 with other large schools from the region: Tanglin Trust, Singapore; Dulwich College, Beijing; Shrewsbury Interna-tional School, Bangkok; Alice Smith and Garden International Schools from Malaysia.

The Games will take place between Wednesday 25th and Friday 27th May and will be hosted by Bangkok Patana, making it a very special year indeed.

Selection is based on a number of criteria including the overall balance of the team being selected, the chil-

dren’s performances during ECAs and various timed or measured events held during the selection process. This is an extensive time commit-ment and attending all of the ECAs does not guarantee selection. This year we will make an initial selection cut after Block 2 and a final selection after Block 3, which should allow those students not selected, time to make alternative ECA selections of their choice. Please also note that the FOBISIA squad selection is final.

If children wish to be available for selection they must meet the follow-ing ECA criteria from Block 2.

Please note that there may be ex-tended ECAs or fixtures for FOBISIA trialists and eventual team members when school transport may not be available. Parents will need to make alternative arrangements should this situation arise.

Monday: Athletics ECA (optional but recommended in preparation for Record Breakers on Sunday 7th Feb-ruary which all those who continuing with the selection process must attend unless a very good reason can be provided) – Parental sign up re-quired.

Tuesday: Tee-Ball ECA (compulsory) – Automatic sign up when signing up as a FOBISIA trialist.

Wednesday: Non TigerShark FOBI-

SIA Swimming ECA for chil-dren who are not already Tiger Shark swimmers – Pa-rental sign up required. This is optional, but all chil-dren have to attend at least one of the two time trial galas during Block 2 and 3. Thursday: Appropriate age group Football ECA (compulsory). If your child is

involved in the Year 5/6 Aladdin Jr. rehearsals on a Thursday in Block 2 please contact me directly. – Auto-matic sign up when signing up as a FOBISIA trialist.

If your child fully understands the level of commitment expected, and would like to try out, you need to sign them up for the relevant Year group Girls’ or Boys’ FOBISIA Games option on the ECA sign up for Block 2 which begins on Monday 9th Novem-ber.

If invited to continue trying out for our 2016 FOBISIA team after Block 2, your child must attend Mon-day, Tuesday and Thursday ECAs, plus a Wednesday Swimming ECA for any non-Tiger Shark swimmers in Block 3. If finally selected after Block 3 your child will need to continue with their Block 3 ECAs into Block 4.

If you have any questions regard-ing this years’ FOBISIA Games please do contact me at antt@patana.ac.th

We certainly feel that all students benefit from the process of trying out across the four sports whether they make the final team or not so I would encourage your child to give it a go!

Good luck to all of those Year 5 and 6 risk takers out there who are willing to take up the FOBISIA chal-lenge for 2016!

Upcoming University Visits

University/College Representative Location Date / Time University of California, Los Angeles Connie Wu 2nd Floor Senior Studies 17th Sept, 12.00pm

University of California, Davis Mu Chou 2nd floor Senior Studies 23rd Sept, 12.15pm

New York University Abu Dhabi Campus, Charles Hornstra

2nd Floor Senior Studies 24th Sept, 12.00pm

Brandeis University - 2nd Floor Senior Studies 25th Sept, 12.00pm

Case Western Reserve University - 2nd Floor Senior Studies 25th Sept, 12.15pm

Emory University - 2nd Floor Senior Studies 25th Sept, 12.00pm

New York University Beau Benson 2nd Floor Senior Studies 25th Sept, 12.00pm

University of Rochester - 2nd Floor Senior Studies 25th Sept, 12.00pm

American Education Exhibition hosted by AEO Tour Plaza Athenee Bangkok - A Royal Meridien Hotel, Plo-enchit

26th Sept, 1.00pm

Hawaii Pacific University Brandon Fairchild 2nd Floor Senior Studies 29th Sept, 12.00pm

Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne Joshua Gan 2nd Floor Senior Studies 29th Sept, 12.15pm

Universiteit Maastricht Felix Schulte-Stathaus 2nd floor Senior Studies 29th Sept, 12.15pm

Massey University NZ Linda Oostenrijk 2nd Floor Senior Studies 30th Sept, 12.15pm

Baylor University Garrett Peery 2nd floor Senior Studies 30th Sept, 12.15pm

Ghent University Global Campus Taewan KIM 2nd floor Senior Studies 30th Sept, 12.15pm

University of Southern California David Park 2nd Floor Senior Studies 30th Sept, 12.15pm

he first Year 7 Coffee Morning of the year was a

busy event with over 100 attendees. As may be expected, a vast array of information was con-veyed to parents in presentations by Tony Berghuis, Senior Teacher for Key Stage 3 Curriculum and Assessment, Brian Taylor, the As-sistant Principal for Cross-Campus Technology Curriculum Integra-tion, Laura MacRitchie, the Head of Music, Andy Thain, the Learn-ing to Learn Co-ordinator and Ow-en McDevitt, the Head of Year 7. Lena Perriam and Scott Tooley, Head of Key Stage 3 Pastoral and Head of the Mathematics Faculty respectively, were also on hand to answer questions after the presentations. There was also an opportunity for parents to meet

the Year 7 tutors once again, as well as to mingle with other par-ents.

Andy Thain had everyone on their feet in a brief session that demonstrated some of the activi-ties and skills explored within Learning to Learn; it was very en-tertaining to see some initially re-luctant participants became zeal-ous competitors after being grouped and issued with a task that pitted parents against par-ents.

All of the information from the Year 7 Coffee Morning can be found on the Firefly Year 7 Tutori-al page and can be accessed via the link below: https://community.patana.ac.th/student-welfare/year-7-tutorial/y7-parent-communication

by Owen McDevitt, Head of Year 7

Calling all Australian Families Please contact our Australian rep-resentative Andrea Chaplin on ptgtigers@gmail.com to become involved in the preparation for the International Day.

Athlete of the week

Alessandro

Kho Pablo

Year: 10

Team: Varsity Boys

Football

Position:

Midfielder

Who is your sporting icon: Andres Iniesta. This great athlete is one of the best midfielders in the world due to his intelligence on the football field. But not only is he a great athlete, he is also very humble and charismatic.

What is your favorite sporting quote: "Football is sim-ple, but it's hard to play simple" - Johan Cruyff.

What is your favorite after sports snack: Sometimes, when I finish training or a match I drink a bottle of Gatorade to keep myself hydrated.

How long have you played your sport: I've been playing football since I was 6 years old.

Recent Results & Highlights

Shrewsbury Invitational Tournament

JV Boys’ Football Champions

JV Girls’ Football 2nd place

U15 Boys’ Basketball 2nd place

Varsity Football

Boys’ Football 5 - 7 Assumption College

Girls’ Football 3 - 9 Bangkok Sports School

JV Volleyball

Boys’ Volleyball 2 – 1 NIST

Girls’ Volleyball 2 – 1 NIST

Varsity Volleyball

Girls 2 - 0 SHB

Boys 2 - 0 SHB

Upcoming Fixtures

Monday 21st

Football – Girls’ Varsity HOME

Tuesday 22nd

Basketball – Girls’ U13A Away

Wednesday 23rd

Basketball – Boys’ U15B Away

Basketball – Boys’ U13B Away

Football – Boys’ Varsity Away

Football – Girls’ Varsity HOME

Football – Boys’ 2nd Team Away

Football – Boys’ JV Away

Football – Girls’ JV HOME

Volleyball – Boys’ Varsity HOME

Volleyball – Girls’ Varsity Away

Volleyball – Boys’ JV HOME

Volleyball – Girls’ JV Away

Thursday 24th

Basketball – Boys’ U15A Away

Basketball – Girls’ U15A HOME

Basketball – Boys’ U13A Away

Basketball – Girls’ U13A HOME

Rugby Sevens – Boys’ U15A HOME

Tennis – Boys’ U13A HOME

Tennis – Girls’ U13A HOME

Touch – Girls’ U15A HOME

Coming up…

35 DAYS till SEASAC

Football/Volleyball

www.facebook.com/bpssports

THE ROAR Produced by the Athletics Council

e are pleased to an-nounce that two train-

ers from the Freedom from Chemical Dependency (FCD) or-ganisation will return to Bangkok Patana from Tuesday 29th Sep-tember to Friday 2nd Octo-ber. Ms Marley Bennett and Mr Dave Waterman will be working mainly with Year 9 students, meeting with them every day, but will also give presentations to Years 8, 11, 12 and 13.

FCD is a non-profit organisation that provides substance abuse pre-vention education for schools. Since 1976, they have taught over a million students of all ages. Their mission is to: Encourage and support the non-use of alcohol and other illegal or illicit drugs during the growing years

Empower young people to make healthy, responsible choices

regarding alcohol and other drug use Teach students and adults how to recognise the early warning signs of substance abuse and to intervene appropriately Educate students, parents, teachers, and administrators on the physiological and psychological effects of alcohol and other drugs

Promote awareness of drug addiction, including alcoholism, as a progressive, chronic, and often fatal disease Provide educational communi-ties with the guidance and training necessary to implement compre-hensive, effective approaches to substance abuse prevention

The partnership between Bang-kok Patana and parents has al-ways been a vital and crucial ele-ment in the pastoral care we pro-vide. To this end an FCD session will be offered to all parents to

meet and discuss common con-cerns about substance abuse pre-vention for their children in Bang-kok. Some of the topics to be addressed include: Effective ways to communicate with your child about drugs and drug use Up-to-date facts about current drug use and trends

What to say about your own experiences with alcohol and/or drug experimentation How to spot early warning signs of trouble and effective ways to respond

This meeting will take place on Thursday 1st October at 6.00 pm at Bangkok Patana in the Confer-ence Centre. We encourage you to take advantage of this oppor-tunity to meet with the FCD edu-cators and to hear their stories.

hy we have yellow handled serving spoons at the buffet?

The yellow handled spoons are used for vegetarian dishes. Have a look next time you are in the canteen.

Who can go into the canteen first?

There is a daily rota listing when each Year group can enter the canteen first. This is to help manage the queues in the canteen and is clearly displayed at the entrance to the can-teen. For example Year 7 can enter first on a Friday.

Where is the canteen menu posted?

The weekly menu can be found online and also on the board at the entrance to the canteen.

Are there dishes with nuts in them?

The Primary School has a nut free policy but in Secondary school there are some menu items may contain nuts. Any nut dishes will be clearly labelled.

By Jackie Houghton, Assistant Prin-cipal Professional Learning

live Leach (M.Org. Coach-ing) will be returning to

Bangkok Patana this time to work with the Year 8 students and tutors from 24th – 25th September. Par-ents from across the school will also be invited to hear him present on positive education on Friday 25th September at 8:00am. Creating Flourishing Individuals and Organisations

Clive Leach will talk about the strengths, mental toughness, resili-ence and mindfulness approaches that are relevant for all children whatever their age and which are also good for parent well-being too.

Click here to sign up for Clive Leach’s workshop.

By Genevieve Ahl, Services Manager

fternoon buses will depart from the school car park 15 minutes after the finish of school/ECA,

or earlier if everyone scheduled for the bus arrives promptly. Please do not delay getting to your after-noon bus otherwise you may find that the bus has gone and your parents may need to be contacted to come and collect you from school.

When parents/students do not cancel their after-noon bus home it causes unnecessary waiting time on the bus for other users. Every day there are ap-proximately ten Secondary students who do not inform transport that they have made alternative arrangements home. Please help to reduce this number by asking your parents to contact the Transport Department if you are not going home on the school bus.

Remember that any changes to a student’s ECA schedule must be communicated to the Transport Department.

Don’t forget there will be no school transport to-morrow, Friday 18th September – school is closed for students, so there will be no buses in the morning!

Friday 25th September 2015

Cross Country Varsity XC International School Bangkok

Away , Main School

Football Boys' Varsity ISB Invitational Away

Football Girls' Varsity International School Bangkok TBC

Football Girls' JV International School Bangkok

Away | Main School

Saturday 26th September 2015

Football Boys' Varsity ISB Invitational Away

Tennis Boys' U13A Invitational Tennis Doubles Home, Tennis Centre

Tennis Girls' U13A Invitational Tennis Doubles Home , Tennis Centre

Volleyball Boys' Varsity ISB Invitational Away

Volleyball Girls' Varsity ISB Invitational Away

Sunday 27th September 2015

Cross Country Varsity XC Bangkok Patana Fun Run Ancient City

Golf Varsity Golf Harrow International School Bangkok

Riverdale Golf Club, Pathum Thani

ANAPANA MEDITATION COURSE FOR

CHILDREN Anapana (Mindfulness of breathing) teaches children im-

proved concentration skills and enhances calmness of the

mind. This technique helps to relieve anxiety and is very

useful at exam time to calm those nerves, but also

for everyday life.

The next Anapana Meditation course will be given

on Sunday 11 October for children aged between 8-16

years.

The course is completely free!

To enrol, please contact Eva at 081-8456153 or email to

evasophon@hotmail.com

for all further information.

You might find this site useful:

http://www.children.dhamma.org/en/children/about-meditation.shtml

The weekly canteen menu is available here.

Please check the calendar on the Parents’ Gateway, Student pages and Staff Centre

for up-to-date information on school events.

Visit www.patana.ac.th and click on the relevant icon to log in