term 1 magazine december 2015

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Bangkok Patana Magazine

A New Science Centre for Secondary

Secondary

The Termly Magazine of Bangkok Patana School

Bangkok Patana

Bangkok Patana School is an IB World School, accredited by CIS and NEASC

MagazineIssue 47 Term 1, December 2015

Cross CampusSeason 1 Sports Round Up

PrimaryBeyond the Orange and Black on Tiger Spirit Day

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4 • Bangkok Patana School

S E C O N D A R Y

Contents Issue 47, Term 1, December 2015

SECONDARY 6 Pushing the Frontier of

Science Education

PRIMARY 14 Beyond the Orange

and Black on Tiger Spirit Day

20 Digital Learners and Digital Literacy

CROSS CAMPUS 16 International Day 22 Positive Changes from

our ‘Small Steps’ 24 Season 1 Sports Round

Up 26 Record Breaking

Annual Fund 26 Class of 2005 Reunion 28 Alumni Profile: Shari

Nementzik, Class of 2006

30 Alumni Sports Day 17th October 2015

THAILAND’S

FIRSTFOOTBALLPROGRAM FOR

CHILDREN 1-5 YEARS OLD

THAILAND’SFIRST 3v3 SOCCER PROGRAMFOR CHILDREN 5-10 YEARS OLD

Contact Us: 090-790-1432 THAI. / 082-645-6406 ENG., JPN., FRA. [email protected] / www.kiddy-kicks.com

10 CAS Projects: Turning Passion into Action

TERM 1/2015 • 5


FOREwARD

Bangkok Patana Magazine is the termly publication of Bangkok Patana School published three times per year and distributed to 2,000 members of the School community. Reproduction of articles, artwork and illustrations by written permission only.

643 Lasalle Road (Sukhumvit 105)Bangna, Bangkok 10260, ThailandTel: +66 (0) 2785 2200Fax: +66 (0) 2785 2399Email: [email protected]

Editor: Cheryl RegoTel: +66 (0) 2785 2200Email: [email protected]: Finn BalslevTel: +66 (0) 2943 7166-8Email: [email protected]

Design & Production:Scand-Media Corp., Ltd.Tel: +66 (0) 2943 7166-8Fax: +66 (0) 2943 7169www.scandmedia.com

It doesn’t get any different. Freezing on the way to work or wondering whether a short-sleeved shirt would have been

a far smarter option. Wondering whether you might need more seasoning on your chips, versus looking for something to cool your mouth down as it’s exploding due to a so-called “not spicy” dinner op-tion. Hearing the thickly-accented voice of a South London bus driver then the sing-song sounds of a Thai street food seller. Each time I notice what’s around me and remember what was, I know I have chosen well. Moving to Thailand was a good idea. Before I moved here, I thought Bangkok was not the most glamorous of places, but I also realised that what it may lack in looks it makes up in terms of character, food, weather, history, unique culture and more. I walked into Bangkok Patana School and … lack of glamour was certainly not an is-sue any more. I can’t imagine working in a more stun-ning school environment! Normally, it’s easy to forget your surroundings at work, with all those different things running through your head: Planning, evaluating, remembering the good and challenging and what yet remains to be done, putting things in order and evaluating some more. But here when you stop and look around, what do you start to notice? A hundred and one varieties of leaves everywhere; trees, bushes, flowers, tall grasses. There are fish ponds scattered around, smiling children, parents sitting in the wooden sala chatting, birds, tropical

storms brewing in the distance, funny in-sects and wonderful facilities. Each time I walk through the campus, I take time to look around. You may see me sometimes walking along and not look-ing ahead. I am likely to walk into things or even you, so beware. I’m often looking up, looking around or staring intently at a bush. It’s not that I’m odd (at least I hope I’m not), I’m just happy to be here, a place that is so different from where I was just a couple of months ago. This sense of curiosity is not just reserved to the school. I do like to notice new things no matter where I am. There are a multi-tude of differences between England and Thailand and they are all refreshingly fun to notice. I saw a lady with a pet scorpion the

other day, people driving motorbikes way too fast, with no helmets, on the wrong side of the road and, of course, buses deciding to stop in the middle of a three-lane sec-tion on Bang Na Trad, because a taxi driver decided to park at the bus stop. No end of amusing things all around. I am wondering how long this sense of awe will remain, before it becomes the norm. Hopefully quite a while. In the meantime, I will just have to keep look-ing, keep watching, keep noticing and try my best not to walk into things. And who knows, maybe this kind of mindfulness will rub off on my students too. On that note, I could say “goodbye”, but instead I think I’ll mindfully say “see you”. – Bart Cowling, Year 3 Class Teacher


S E C O N D A R Y

PUShINg thE FRONtIER OF SCIENCE EDUCAtION

Five stories high with separate floors for Biology and ESS (Environmental Systems and Societies), Chemistry

and Physics, the aesthetic design suc-cessfully mimics the learning areas. The classrooms are spacious and the collabora-tive learning areas on each floor provide additional learning space. Cubby holes for students’ belongings ensures that the learning areas are clutter free and safe for practical work. Adjacent classrooms with interconnecting doors provide a hub for interactive, collegial student learn-ing. How many schools can boast all of their Chemistry classrooms having their own fume cupboard? Safety is always an uppermost priority and the exposure to fumes, vapours and dusts is kept minimal. Classrooms are entirely suited for practi-cal work having large tables equipped with gas, electricity and water. Tables are fitted

out with four gas taps, a sink and eight sockets creating comfortable and spacious learning environments in which students can do their best learning. Head of Science Faculty, Matt Baker states that having the opportunity to be involved in the planning was invaluable. The main improvement with the new building was to incorporate an investiga-tive approach to science learning into the design. “A key thing for us was getting, in all of the laboratories, a standard set of equipment in trays along the side of the lab with things like beakers, tripods and Bunsen burners. Having the equipment visible and readily available means that students can self-select equipment that is most appropriate for the practical they are conducting, ” he said. All the classrooms have three types of whiteboards, which are a super tool

to facilitate formative assessment. At the front of the classroom and around the walls are huge, wrap-around, whiteboards. The teacher’s zone is an area in the middle, which can be used as a traditional white-board or converts into a smart board when used with the new interactive ‘short throw’ projectors. The second type of whiteboard is a group-work whiteboard which two or three students can use together to share their ideas. The final type of whiteboard is the mini whiteboards or ‘show me’ boards and there is one for each student in every lab. Biology Teacher Joel Lodge says the whiteboards in the classroom give him very good insight into his students’ learning. “There is the potential for stu-dents to display their work all around the classroom – and we can even write on the glass walls! The students show their un-derstanding on the whiteboards and this

Mick Smith, Secondary School Principal was delighted to hear the Science teachers describe the new Science Centre as “astonishing”. The enthusiastic response that teachers and students alike have shown to this new learning centre has been phenomenal.


S E C O N D A R Y Fulfilling PotentialSince 1957

In the most recent IB examinations, the Class of 2015 achieved outstanding results, including an average total point score of 35 out of 45, against a world average of 30.

Of our students, 15% achieved a score of 40 points or higher, compared to a world average of 6%.

For a second consecutive year one of our students received a perfect score of 45 out of 45, a feat achieved by less than 200 candidates worldwide.

We are rightfully proud of these results and congratulate our graduating students.

For more information on our students’ achievements across all stages of our non-selectiveprogramme, please scan the QR code below or visit www.patana.ac.th/Go/?To=846

www.patana.ac.th | [email protected] | +66 2785 2200 | 643 Lasalle Road, Bangna, Bangkok 10260


Our Senior Studies students work hard to meet the rigours of the challenging IB Diploma programme. They must demonstrate cooperation, determination and

self-reflection to fully achieve their own potential as independent learners;qualities that are integral to the mission of the school.

is most powerful. Th ey are up and about, they can show their learning without get-ting in each other’s way. Th e students love it – especially when they can write on the walls!” Matt Baker said the whiteboards allow teachers to very quickly check the knowl-edge and understanding of every student in the room at key points during the les-son. When students hold up their “show me” board with an answer, within seconds the teacher can see who has the correct an-swer. If the answers are varied, the students are asked to explain the reasoning behind their answers. Often, purely based on the strengths of their justifi cations, students in the class will form a consensus around the correct answer without the teacher having to say which it is. Satinee (Nina) Chatchuchinda (13I) who has studied at Bangkok Patana since Nursery, is thrilled that the Science Centre has been fi nished before she graduates. What better time to enjoy a ‘state of art’ facility than in her fi nal year! She talked about working in the new classrooms: “When we are doing experiments, things are well labelled, easily accessible and we have everything we need to carry out in-vestigations.” Nina explained that with the increase in the amount of practical work completed in class, the students not only have a chance to apply the theories they learn, but they also develop good laborato-ry skills. “I like how it feels professional… It [the Science Centre] was a really great investment to make especially because the modern world is moving towards this high standard of scientifi c research and mim-icking this in our school is very benefi cial,” she said. Whilst the infrastructure of the build-ing is now complete, we are continually striving for excellence in the Sciences and Matt Baker is thrilled that there is now room to increase the amount and the quality of the practical resources avail-able to students. An electron diff raction tube is on order and this will be used in Year 13 Higher Level Physics to demon-strate the wave-like nature of sub-atomic matter. Th e Faculty recently acquired a digital spectrum analyser. A Year 13 class were amazed when this piece of equip-ment gave them the ability to investi-gate the sub-atomic structure of helium

by viewing its emissions. Many students are already using it for their IB Science extended essays and their Science IAs (Internal Assessments). Admiration for the new centre goes beyond our current cohort of staff and students. Two alumni students re-cently visiting Bangkok Patana were both amazed by the quality of the facil-ity. Shaifali Th akker, currently studying

at University of California, Berkeley and Wen-Ding (Davey) Tseng at the University of British Columbia, both stated it compared most favourably to the facilities they use at their universities. Matt Baker meanwhile, can’t stop prais-ing the Centre. “It is without a shadow of a doubt the best teaching space I have worked in, it takes us to a whole new level of Science teaching,” he said.

“We were doing displacement reactions in Chemistry. The reaction gives off a toxic gas and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without a fume cup-board. We were in the classroom that has five fume cupboards and instead of watching the teacher, we actually were able to do the practical ourselves.” – Thanyamai (Mai Mai) Chansavangwonk,13V

“Just a few weeks ago we were studying waves in Physics. Our teacher just had to press buttons to lower the blinds and we had a completely blacked-out room, which enabled us to see the diffraction patterns. The apparatus we are using and our learning environment is very modern and it feels like we are on the frontier of something. It is absolutely amazing!” – Priyansh Lunia,13B

Fulfilling PotentialSince 1957

In the most recent IB examinations, the Class of 2015 achieved outstanding results, including an average total point score of 35 out of 45, against a world average of 30.

Of our students, 15% achieved a score of 40 points or higher, compared to a world average of 6%.

For a second consecutive year one of our students received a perfect score of 45 out of 45, a feat achieved by less than 200 candidates worldwide.

We are rightfully proud of these results and congratulate our graduating students.

For more information on our students’ achievements across all stages of our non-selectiveprogramme, please scan the QR code below or visit www.patana.ac.th/Go/?To=846

www.patana.ac.th | [email protected] | +66 2785 2200 | 643 Lasalle Road, Bangna, Bangkok 10260


Our Senior Studies students work hard to meet the rigours of the challenging IB Diploma programme. They must demonstrate cooperation, determination and

self-reflection to fully achieve their own potential as independent learners;qualities that are integral to the mission of the school.


S E C O N D A R Y

CAS PROjECtS: tURNINg PASSION INtO ACtION

As part of the Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) component of the IB Diploma programme,

students are encouraged to get involved in at least one CAS project. A CAS project at Bangkok Patana School is initiated and led by students and must focus on direct action and service in the community. In other words, it requires students to find an issue or cause which interests them, iden-tify a need or an NGO (non-governmental organisation) to work with and then plan and undertake their own community ser-vice work. Not a simple task, but several students from the Class of 2016 not only got in-volved in a CAS project, but initiated and led projects which ultimately have made a real difference to the lives of students at Bangkok Patana and people in the wider community. Here, in the students own words, are some examples of how students turned their passion into action.

Caroline FergusonCAS Coordinator

World Food Project As a keen geographer, Riya Shah is deeply interested in global development and passion-ate about humanitarian issues. She started her

project when she was still in Year 11. “I started my club ‘World Food Project’ after watching a video during Geography class, which talked about the United

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Nations World Food Programme and its role in promoting food security around the world. World hunger is an issue that is recognised by many people, but it is also an issue that we have become desensitised towards to a certain extent. We take food for granted. We don’t need to think about where our next meal is going to come from or how we are going to sleep yet another night on an empty stomach. Food is a basic human right that everybody should have access to but there are still 850 million hungry people in the world today! The urgency of this cause continues to motivate my friends and myself to raise awareness of this issue in the school com-munity. We have received tremendous sup-port during the various CAT (Community Action Team) events such as Campaign Week and also during World Food Day. We’ve also tried to deal with this issue lo-cally by working with organisations such as the Mirror Foundation and Action Aid Thailand, with whom we are currently co-ordinating a farming trip, as sustainable ag-riculture is a crucial step towards promot-ing food security. My personal experiences such as see-ing hungry people on the road and a baby with an appalling weight of 750g, have highlighted the prevalence of this issue. I know that these shared experiences will continue to motivate members of the club to continue striving to tackle this issue.”

Spectrum Christina Zellerbach felt there was something missing from the support

network which was available for students at Bangkok Patana, in response to this she set up Pride, which later became Spectrum. “In the beginning of February 2015, ‘Pride’ was established as Bangkok Patana’s first LGBT advocacy group. I was moti-vated to do this as I felt that despite the wide variety of clubs available at Bangkok Patana, there was something missing, a topic that has become more pertinent than ever; the topic of LGBT+ equality. This is a matter that I feel very passionate about and was aware that many others shared my interest, and so I wanted to offer other stu-dents the opportunity to make a stand and be contributing members of a more toler-ant and ultimately happier society. With the help of a few friends and similarly

open-minded individuals, the aims of the club were established as an LGBT advocacy group aiming to promote equality and ac-ceptance throughout Bangkok Patana and the wider community. One of our main successes was a series of presentations we gave to each and every Year 9 tutor group as part of their tutorial programme on self-acceptance. We had the pleasure of witnessing first-hand the com-plete acceptance and open-mindedness of these students. To see the whole Year group display such a mature level of tolerance was truly gratifying. Moreover, we have recent-ly seen a large rise in popularity of the club, and have more and more members attend-ing our meetings each week. Due to this, the club was renamed ‘Spectrum’, which signifies the sexuality and gender spectrum in which everyone holds their own won-derfully unique place. The future certainly looks exciting for Spectrum and with the support of such great people, I don’t doubt that the changes to come will lead to a more positive and caring world.”

Ball with Pong Ploy Eshana Pussegoda is a student with a big heart. She really wanted to be able to share her passion for basketball with chil-dren from a less privileged background, and she has. “Ball with Pong Ploy is the name of our CAS project. We are group of students who share a passion for basketball and when given the opportunity to help the wider community, we translated our passion into


S E C O N D A R Y

a service project with the aim of allowing children who are less fortunate, to be able to develop a love for the game as well. We bring children from the Pong Ploy School to Bangkok Patana every Friday, from 2:30pm until 3:45pm and we teach them basic drills and game play situations. We embarked on this CAS project in order to encourage sport in schools and amongst young students, as we started to realise that younger children have started to rely on electronics as a source of relax-ation during their free time. It is amazing to see the students come back every week with enthusiasm; excited to show us the skills they had practised and are slowly starting to master.” LETS Holly Desjupa has for a long time been interested in mental health and the CAS programme gave her not only the oppor-tunity but also the drive to explore this in more depth. “The reality is one in four people have had a mental health issue at some point in their lives yet the issue remains a taboo sub-ject for many. This is why I started a LETS (Let Us Erase the Stigma) group. LETS aims to erase the social stigma surrounding mental health issues, such as schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorder. In addition, we also touch upon the consequences that regularly result from mental illnesses, like self-harm, eating dis-orders (e.g. bulimia, anorexia) and suicide. Our goal is to help erase the fear and the shame of seeking help if you have a men-tal health issue, whether it be to a friend, a teacher, a counsellor or your parents. We do this by educating peers on these various mental health issues, as well as the stigmas that are attached to them. For example, anxiety is not seen as a real problem. Society tends to wave it off with a “Just get over it” – it is this stigma that causes the unwilling-ness of those with anxiety to go seek help. We want to encourage a kinder and more inclusive atmosphere around the school, where those with mental health issues feel less ashamed and will openly ask for help. Our main success must be the LETS Event we held last year, a mini-conference in the style of a TED Talk. We had a range

of speakers, including students, teachers, myself, an occupational therapist from London and the founder of LETS himself. We all explored the connection between individuality and mental health issues. We chose individuality because it is incredibly undervalued – we value the efforts of those who think outside the box, yet conformity is expected of us. Thus arises a feeling of inadequacy towards ourselves, especially those with mental health issues, and this “self-stigma” too often prevents them from seeking help from their friends, family or community. Having a mental health issue does not categorise you as “not normal” or a “lesser citizen” – mental illness or no mental illness, we are all human. Being different is perfectly alright. LETS is spontaneous and new ideas continually crop up out of the blue – we hope to continue this, to make every-body realise they have a beautiful life that not uncommonly is looked over at times. Here’s to LETS.”

Child’s Dream Maria Hotte is actively involved with a number of service activities which focus on education and child welfare and so it was obvious for her to look for a CAS project in this area. “Child’s Dream is a charity located in Chiang Mai. They teach English in local schools and work in many other countries

such as Laos and Myanmar to promote education, build schools and provide schools with stationary and resources. When I found out about Child’s Dream, I immediately decided that it was a great opportunity to help, as I strongly believe that education is one of the most impor-tant assets in life. Thus, I decided to start my own CAS Project. Some of the main highlights and successes of Child’s Dream was the CAS Day bake sale and Fun Day, where we set up a mini golf course and got loads of support from the Bangkok Patana community. We were able to raise a large amount of money for the construction of a school playground, which we brought to Child’s Dream during our visit to their headquarters in Chiang Mai. I would love to be able to continue with Child’s Dream and continue helping to provide the opportunity of getting an education to these children; I feel that we were able to use the opportunities given to us in order to make a difference in many children’s lives.” A massive congratulations to all these students and their teams, undoubtedly we can learn from their example. In spite of the pressures of the IB curriculum they have turned thoughts into plans, passion into action and have strived to make a dif-ference whether it be within the school community, in the local area or on a wider global stage. This is CAS in action!


P R I M A R Y

Clare TomlinsonPrimary CAT Coordinator

on Friday 2nd October Bangkok Patana was a sea of or-ange and black as students, teachers and parents cel-ebrated our annual Tiger Spirit Day.

Tiger Spirit Day is a way to celebrate school spirit, teamwork and come together as a community. Students and teachers get dressed up in orange and black, wear tiger accessories such as ears or tails. Some people even paint their faces! The Big CATs (student charity representatives) interviewed students about Tiger Spirit Day. Here are some of their responses:

BEYOND thE ORANgE AND BlACk ON tIgER SPIRIt DAY

What does Tiger Spirit Day mean to you? “I think it means having fun and saving other children.” “It’s about going to school in orange and black and donating money.” “Tiger Sprit Day is when we celebrate the school mascot.” “To me it means team work and having fun.” “To have fun and to raise money for charity.”

Alongside having fun and working with other Year

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groups, Tiger Spirit Day has a purpose which is to raise money to support children’s charities. This year we raised an amazing 73,250 THB.

What is your favourite thing about Tiger Spirit Day? “I really enjoy pairing up with the younger students in 3O and doing fun activities such as treasure hunts and some crafts to do with tigers.” “Mine was meeting with other children from Year 2 and sharing ideas about Tiger Spirit Day and making a tiger collage.” “I really enjoyed doing the dancing at the end of the day.” “I loved working alongside Year 3, doing a Roald Dahl treasure hunt and ‘cracking the code.’

What are your favourite memories of this year’s Tiger Spirit Day? Some favourite memories include: funny assemblies in Key Stage 1, helping out with the students from Foundation Stage, decorating cakes and making tiger models. “Doing arts and craft with our Year group buddies and dress-ing up. Last year we had some musical entertainment in the can-teen and the Snack Bar there was even a samba band. Teachers put on their sporty outfits to play volleyball and showed their muscles and skills to all the Primary student supporters.” “I remember when we were in Year 3, Mr Cooper dressed up as a tiger and went down to Foundation Stage and he squirted passing students with water.” Overall, Tiger Spirit Day is a way of celebrating the won-derful Bangkok Patana School community spirit by working and learning together.

Tell us a bit about your Big CATs Club The Big CATs club was set up last academic year and is a way of getting the students involved with charity events and giving the student body a voice about where donations are spent. Some of the activities the Big CATs have done is to create posters that advertise events, take a lead role in charity assemblies and interview other students. Our aim is to spread awareness of events and reasons for doing them. One of our main projects last year was to create the first ever Bangkok Patana cookbook where students across the school had the opportunity to enter their favourite family reci-pes into a cookbook. If you would still like one please come and see Miss Clare in Year 5C.

Where will the money be donated to this year? The Primary CAT (Community Action Team) is run by a number of teacher representatives in each Year group and co-ordinated by Clare Tomlinson. The philosophy of CAT is to support children’s education and welfare, mainly in Thailand but also in some regional, international projects. We also re-spond to natural disasters where appropriate. Tiger Spirit Day raised over 73,000 baht. It is still to be decided where the money will be spent but it will certainly make a difference to the lives of others.


S E C O N D A R Y

16•Bangkok Patana School

INTERNATIONAL DAY

C R O S S C A M P U S

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P R I M A R Y

INDEPENDENt lEARNERS AND 3-wAY CONFERENCES

students in Primary School have been participating in 3-Way Conferences for four years. Compared to a tra-

ditional parent-teacher interview, a 3-Way Conference puts the student at the helm of the communication exchange. It is seen as a worldwide best practice and it supports our school mission in the development of independent learners. 3-Way Conferences provide an opportunity for the student to really share their learning and their under-standing of the progress they have made within the different curriculum areas. They derive from the idea that the responsibil-ity and ownership of learning rests with the learner. While teachers can speak about the progress of a child in their class, this be-comes more powerful when the child can

articulate his or her own progress. 3-Way Conferences are a celebration of the children’s learning. At Bangkok Patana Primary School children begin 3-Way Conferences in the second term of Year 1.

In preparation, teachers help the children choose examples of learning for their port-folios and teach them how to reflect on their learning. The children compare their work to the success criteria and also set targets for themselves. Year 3 student Alexander Cheung explained: “If I can explain my learning then I will know how to improve it next time. I know that I have to do this or I’ll just skip that. It makes my learning a lot better.” Alexander’s father said that he felt the target Alexander had set himself kept him on track and the difference was visible in his child’s learning. “I think the students are very good at knowing where their strengths and areas for development lie,” said Kerry Meaden-Kendrick, Leader of Learning and Welfare, Year 3, just before

Cheryl RegoCommunications Coordinator

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Bangkok Patana MagazineBangkok Patana Magazine

the 3-Way Conferences in Term 1, “This is their [the students’] third year. We were looking at our calculation strategies and those on which they have made progress and they are really articulate. The children are excited about the Conferences for the most part.” As children progress through Primary School, they develop deeper reflections on their learning, set more accurate tar-gets and take control over evaluating their own progress. Rachel Cheung spoke about attending her son’s second 3-Way Conference: “We were excited to see devel-opment and see how things have changed. I felt that this time being his second 3-Way Conference, he is a lot more confident in explaining his learning and I feel like he is a lot more reflective and very systematic too in terms of the way they [the students] are thinking and going about improving on their work. With a piece of learning he will start from the beginning; what’s the objec-tive of this learning, he explains the whole process and how he got feedback and made it better. It is definitely a more thought through process than last year.” Parent Lisa Dibbayawan said she valued the 3-Way Conferences. “What impressed us most about Caitlyn during her 3-Way Conference was her confidence in being able to articulate her learning and what she is strong at, what she needs to develop, the next steps of her learning and what she needs to focus on; that she was able to identify these things herself as an inde-pendent learner and take that to the next step… The Conference allowed Caitlyn to showcase what she has done not in Maths,

Science, Arts and Literacy alone but how it is integrated into all the subjects and how that one part is connected to another, not just independent pieces,” she said. Some teachers were asked how 3-Way Conferences in their classrooms had changed since they first began doing them. “I spoke too much at the start but now I give the child more opportunity to talk. The children know more than you ever imagine. When they are in the Conference they often show that they know way more than you ever think they do,” said Hayley Hatfield, Class Teacher, 5A. Ms Meaden-Kendrick said that for the first time, she had a few children who were planning to do their 3-Way Conference in their home language. “I gave them that choice. If it makes the child and the parents more com-fortable, then why not? As a teacher you

can read body language and tell what the students are thinking,” she said. Would the students prefer to go back to the traditional parent-teacher confer-ences? Maria Cecilia Egan Ruiz asked her son Diego if he would prefer his par-ents to go alone and speak to his teacher. “No!” he said, “Because I don’t get to ex-plain my learning and say my next steps. And you might just teach me things that I already know!” Riona Jensen, now in Year 7, summed up the main benefit after one of her Year 6 Conferences: “It makes you more independent doing these 3-Way Conferences. The teachers aren’t just telling you what you need to do and what would be good if you have to do it. You actually have to think yourself and see what you can do and what would be exceeding it [the target].”

“For the focus to be kept on learning, and the ownership of the learning with the child, then the best person to talk about the learning is the learner.” – Michael Absolum, Clarity in the Classroom, 2006

some of the benefits of 3-Way Conferences:

• Studentsacceptgreaterresponsibilityfortheirlearning• Studentsengageinanopenandhonestdialoguewithparents

and teachers about their learning• Studentsdeveloptheirabilitytoreflect,takeactionandjustify• Studentsdeveloporganisationalandcommunicationskillsand

increase their self-confidence• StudentsdevelopasIndependentAssessmentCapableLearners


P R I M A R Y

DIgItAl lEARNERS AND DIgItAl lItERACYBrian TaylorAssistant Principal, Cross Campus Curriculum Technology integration

the term ‘Digital Literacy’ is relatively new to the teaching profession and is defi ned by Cornell University as “the

ability to fi nd, evaluate, utilise, share, and create content using information technolo-gies and the Internet”. Beyond the defi ni-tion there are elements of digital literacy that reach into areas of global citizenship. At a Digital Learners and Digital Literacy Parent Workshop in Term 1, Peter Howe, Primary ICT Leader of Learning, and students from Year 4, 5 and 6 presented an engaging and powerful snapshot of their learning in ICT thus far. As a warm-up to the students, we explained the role of digital literacy in our nine areas of Digital Citizenship and tested the parents’ knowl-edge of social media using the popular Web 2.0 formative assessment tool called Kahoot! It proved as much of a hit with parents as it does in the classroom with the students. I mapped the development of

TERM 1/2015 • 21


Dylan William said in his recent work-shop for Bangkok Patana staff “learning is the remnants of thought”. As digital learn-ers we need to be mindful of choosing the

“Machines are for answers, humans are for questions” – Kevin Kelly, Founder of Wired Magazine

technology in the past ten years and the impact it has had on our lives, in particular as learners in the digital era. There has been exponential growth in computing power and as learners we have the world’s collec-tive information at our fingertips. Technology is simply a tool that makes harvesting and presenting the information more efficient. As digital learners we need to be mindful of the fact that technology is not necessarily a laptop, smartphone or tablet. The humble pencil, paper, pens and sticky notes are just some of many key parts of a learner’s toolkit. More often than not in the embryonic, organic and often messy evolution of an idea or concept, they are just the right tool for the job – they merge into the background and open doors for creativity to flow.

right tool to get the thinking done; all effort should be focussed on the thinking, not the tool. All too often we are lured into choos-ing the ‘cool tool’, the latest must-have-gad-get that is faster, lighter and shinier. In this world of 21st century learning, the skills of collaboration, cooperation and compromise are more often better honed in face-to-face learning episodes; technology should simply lubricate the learning process. Towards the end of the presentation, I touched on the definition of digital learn-ing with parents by asking them to be mindful of the following questions when using technology:

• AmIusingtechnologyinaconstructiveway?

• AmIusingtechnologytoenhancemycommunications and relationships with others?

• AmIusingtechnologyasagooddigitalcitizen?

In December, after this magazine had gone to print, Primary Parents were invited to another workshop, one entitled “Am I a Good Digital Citizen?”. The format of the workshop involved parents in small group discussions rotating around key topics like: cyberbullying, e-safety, gaming, digital self and reputation. Watch out for a Digital Citizenship workshop for Secondary Parents which will take place in February 2016.

1. Set a good example

Undoubtedly, you use your phone or computer for work, but try to separate work time from family time. Your approach to media becomes a model for your child to live by. 2. Sit next to your child

Many parents use an iPhone or iPad to keep a child entertained while waiting for a doctor or sitting in a restaurant. ..Take time to sit next to him or her and explore apps together. You can learn many things about your children as they play games and explore apps.

3. Set up your computer, tablet or phone for play time and learning time

Organising apps together can be helpful. For example, are you using apps to practice math facts with your child? Organise the apps together and talk about when and how you want your child to use them.

When your child spends time on a device, have times for free choice and times where specific applications are used to accomplish a learning goal.

4. Observe a Sabbath

Consider setting aside a longer period of time to abstain from media as a family. Sundays are often a good time for this, and other restful activities can be included for you and your family. Explore an art project together; play a family game; get outdoors; take a long walk. Whatever you do as a family, try to do it without the influence of media.

Extracted from “Technology: Castles, Cameras and Connectedness” by Lanette Walters, The Old Schoolhouse, Spring 2015

Four Golden Rules


S E C O N D A R YC R O S S C A M P U S


POSItIvE ChANgES FROM OUR ‘SMAll StEPS’Natasha Zimmerman and Sonal KawatraYear 13 Students

our planet Earth has been around for approximately 4.6 billion years. If we scale that huge num-

ber down to just 46 years – we humans have been here for only four hours and the industrial revolution started one minute ago. In that single minute itself, we have destroyed over 50% of our Earth’s natural forests. That is not sustainable. The Student Environmental Committee (SEC) is a four-year-old, student-led organ-isation that focuses on bringing about posi-tive and sustainable environmental change within the Bangkok Patana community. Our guiding concept is that small steps taken collectively can make a difference and this has been our driving force behind the past four years of change and development within the SEC.

When we first started our journey, we identified the largest issue that we wanted to tackle: waste reduction. It has not been an easy journey by any means but the challenges are compensated by how worthwhile it has been. Last academic year, several institutional changes were made that dealt with this over-arching theme; most notable were the PTG subsidised Nalgene water bottles that are now sold at the school shop, the transfer to hav-ing all the paper in exercise books and loose-leaf lined paper made from recycled tetra pack materials and a generous grant from the school’s Annual Fund to revitalise the recy-cling systems and facilities at our school. As our projects incorporated more than just the Secondary School, we found ourselves collaborating a lot with Primary students and expanding certain projects

to include the Primary School. We are now a cross-campus committee with two ‘branches’: Primary SEC and Secondary SEC. This in turn has motivated us and brought a large sense of community within the SEC as we are now becom-ing part of a bigger movement with like-minded people all working towards the common goal of positive change to pro-tect our environment and move towards sustainability. This momentum was catalysed through the opportunity that the SEC had at the end of last academic year, which was the creation of a short film about the plastic usage at our school. The trailer premiered at the Cross Campus assembly at the be-ginning of the year and the response was everything we hoped for and more, as we

TERM 1/2015 • 23


were able to convey the severity of the con-sequences of plastic usage, whilst motivat-ing the audience to make small changes that can have large positive impacts. We look forward to a time later in the year when we will share the full documentary. The growth and development that we have experienced this academic year already epitomises the momentum that has been generated. Within the Secondary branch of the SEC, there are numerous projects cur-rently in motion that range from develop-ing the recycling programme and encourag-ing the use of water bottles (Project Refill) to a group of Year 12 Students who are in-terested in environmental engineering. Likewise, the Primary students in the SEC are focused on educating younger students to make them more environmen-tally aware, bringing recycling to the fore-front of students’ awareness about rubbish and a initiative to reduce the plastic at the Primary Snack Bar (Project Snack Attack, in which the Secondary students are now also participating). Ultimately, this is reflective of the con-cept of ‘small steps’; every small achieve-ment that the SEC has made, and those aforementioned groups make, is a positive change, regardless of the size. This high-lights the passion that exists within the students at Bangkok Patana towards devel-oping a school community that is environ-mentally and sustainably conscious. The environmental state of our planet is not looking good, but that does not mean that there is not hope. And so we leave you with this question: What are your small steps?




SEASON 1 SPORtS ROUND UPMike BaloAssistant Principal Extra-curricular Activities and Sports

We have had a super start to the year. Over 700 students tried out for 34 teams in

our Competitive and Selective Sports Programmes. It always amazes me to see the support we receive from the Bangkok Patana community and how keen the stu-dents are to participate. The season got off to a great start with all coaches and students demonstrating an enthusiasm for sport. In Season 1 we

had 28 teams playing competitive sport in addition to our second teams and pre-season training. To kick off the season, our Varsity teams attended invitational tourna-ments at NIST and at ISB and our Under 15 and Under 17 teams participated in a Friendship Tournament at Shrewsbury. All teams gained valuable experience which helped them throughout the season. Most notable results from these invitational tournaments were: Varsity Boys’ and Girls’

Football - 2nd, Junior Varsity (JV) Boys’ Football - 1st, Under 15 Girls’ Football - 2nd and Under 15 Boys’ Basketball - 2nd. The continuation of second teams and pre-season training has been a success once again. We had over 100 students doing pre-season sports and three second teams competing and giving additional students’ opportunities to play competitively. In BISAC, we had some great results this season. Our seasonal champions were

Under 11 Boys’ and Girls’, Under 13 Girls’, Under 15 Girls’ and Varsity Girls’ Cross Country teams, Under 15 Girls’ Touch, JV Girls’ Football and Varsity Girls’ Football. Our individual BISAC champions are Pawinee (Balloon) Ruamrak in Under 13 Tennis and Laura Worthington, Ross Nicholson, Louie Kelly and Lily-Anne Boucher in Cross Country. In SEASAC, we performed well in our Division 1 SEASAC Championships. We are the only school to have all teams in Division 1. Our Girls’ Football team narrowly lost in the final to Tanglin in ‘golden goal’. Our Girls’ Volleyball team made vast improvements and finished in third place overall. These are both excel-lent results! Boys’ Football and Volleyball both finished fifth place, avoiding relega-tion to another division. This year being the 20th anniversary of SEASAC, NIST hosted the first “Super SEASAC” of the year, which meant there were multiple tournaments happening on the same weekend at the same school. At the end of January 2016, Bangkok Patana will host the largest Super SEASAC for Season 2 when we welcome about 700 athletes from around Asia for Basketball, Tennis, Rugby and Touch SEASAC tournaments. New initiatives are part of our pro-gramme. This year our Cross Country team has really taken off. We have over 20 runners training regularly for BISAC and SEASAC events. This was our first year participating in SEASAC Cross Country, which was held in Hong Kong. Additionally, our Climbing and Sailing teams have taken off. In October and November we held trials for both teams and we will be competing in BISAC and FOBISIA in both these sports. One community initiative being led by

our Head Tennis Coach, Dan Ahl, is Cardio Tennis for parents each Tuesday. We have had a great turnout this year and we are ex-pecting more to come as the word gets out. Well done to our Tennis coaching team. Under 11 Sport has also been thriving in the Primary School. The students have been playing basketball on Tuesdays and football on Thursdays. We had an amazing four teams in Boys’ Basketball and three Girls’ teams for our Tuesday ECA. Our teams have been improving all the time. Our selective sports are off to a great start as well. The Tennis Programme un-der Coach Dan has over 250 participants. Swimming under Coach Richard has over 400 swimmers and our Gymnastics Programme under Coach Nicola has over

300 participants throughout the week. All three coaches have worked hard to make their programmes the best in Bangkok. Coach Richard being new, has already fit-ted in very nicely at Bangkok Patana. Upcoming big events that Bangkok Patana is participating in are: the third annual FOBISIA Gymnastics champion-ships here at Bangkok Patana, FOBISIA Tennis championships in Brunei, SEASAC Football and Volleyball at NIST, SEASAC Golf in Kuala Lumpur, the Feeding Frenzy Swim Gala with over 600 swimmers at Bangkok Patana and numerous friendly tournaments held in Bangkok. A massive thank you to our 78 coaches for the time and effort they have put forth to prepare our teams for their champion-ship tournaments.

BIsAC tournament Results

Varsity Girls’ Football 1st

Varsity Boys’ Football 3rd

Varsity Girls’ Volleyball 3rd

Varsity Boys’ Volleyball 4th

JV Girls’ Football 1st

JV Boys’ Football 5th

JV Girls’ Volleyball 4th

JV Boys’ Volleyball 2nd

Under 15 Girls’ Basketball 3rd

Under 15 Boys’ Basketball 5th

Under 15 Boys’ Rugby 2nd

Under 15 Girls’ Touch 1st

Under 13 Girls’ Basketball 5th

Under 13 Boys’ Basketball 5th

Under 13 Boys’ Tennis 2nd

Under 13 Girls’ Tennis 2nd

Under 11 Boys’ Basketball 2nd

Under 11 Girls’ Basketball 3rd

seAsAC tournament Results

Girls’ Cross Country 5th

Boys’ Cross Country 7th

Girls’ Football 2nd

Boys’ Football 5th

Girls’ Golf 3rd

Boys’ Golf 3rd

Girls’ Volleyball 3rd

Boys’ Volleyball 5th




RECORD BREAkINg ANNUAl FUND

ClASS OF 2005 REUNION

Emma GoligherDevelopment, Alumni and marketing manager

We are very pleased to announce that this year’s Annual Fund has attracted the highest amount of donations in the 11 years it has been running! We would like to say a big THANK YOU to all our donors. The Fund now totals over 690,000 baht and will help support the school in fulfilling potential across all academic stages. Our donors come from all parts of our community – parents, staff, alumni and board members – and their generosity is greatly appreciated. These donations will be used to provide experiences and /or resources that benefit and enhance our educational programme, above those covered by tuition fees. In Term 2 staff and students will propose projects for consideration by the Annual Fund committee to use these financial gifts and we will update you on the successful bids in Term 3. There is still time to donate to our record breaking Annual Fund. Please download and complete the form at www.patana.ac.th/Go/?To=893 and return to the Development, Alumni and Marketing Office at school. Thank you once again.

Purnima Ruanglertbutr and the Class of 2005 organised a 10 year reunion in August 2015 and we were happy to see them back!




AlUMNI PROFIlE:ShARi NEmENTzik, CLASS OF 2006

Nationality: South AfricanCurrent Location: Sydney, AustraliaYears at Bangkok Patana: Year 8 to Year 13 (August 2001 – July 2006)

Favourite memories of Bangkok Patana School: Wow, where do I even begin! Bangkok Patana is a place that will always be so special to me. I made some of my best friends at the school and even though we are spread all over the world now, we still stay in touch. I have to admit I really loved my IB years the most and getting involved in all the activities on offer, like putting together the Graduation Book and the charity fun-draisers we threw. How can I ever forget every time The ‘Eye of the Tiger’ played at school events? Whenever I hear it I think of Bangkok Patana. Go Tigers! And, of course, the noodle lady – oh how I miss those lunches!

Where did you go after leaving Bangkok Patana School? When I left Bangkok Patana, I went to study Broadcast Journalism at the University of Leeds. I had never been to England be-fore, but the course was perfect for me and Emily Preston, one of my closest friends at Bangkok Patana, also got into Leeds, so it was meant to be! I spent three years at Leeds and I loved it. After graduating, I went home to South Africa where I worked in ra-dio for a year before deciding I’d like to do a Masters degree. I had some cousins here in Sydney, so it seemed like a good place to be for a year (or so I thought just a year…). I did my masters in Media Practice and while I was there I got an internship with Woman’s Day, Australia’s number one weekly magazine. And as the saying goes, the rest is history!

Are there any experiences/lessons at Bangkok Patana that have helped you through university and your ca-reer so far? Bangkok Patana not only taught me how to tackle my university work, but it taught me life lessons which are invaluable. It taught me how impor-tant it is to give back to your commu-nity and to celebrate our differences and

backgrounds and never judge anyone. I am so lucky that at Patana I never experi-enced any form of bullying because there was zero tolerance. Speaking to friends abroad, they weren’t always so lucky. It was during Theatre Arts classes in my IB years where I became more confi-dent with public speaking and decided I wanted to be a journalist and, be prepared

Congratulations to alum Shari Nementzik who was recently appointed the Features Director for Cosmopolitan magazine in Australia.

TERM 1/2015 • 29

Bangkok Patana MagazineBangkok Patana Magazine

for a massive cliché, “be a voice for the voiceless”.

What was the career path to your current job? From my internship at Woman’s Day magazine, I was hired as a casual writer, writing entertainment, celebrity news, travel and real-life sto-ries. From there I got a full-time role as a junior writer before being promoted to TV Editor and then later, Entertainment Editor. It was an amazing five years, but I was ready for a new challenge this year and applied for the features director role at Cosmopolitan, a dream job for me. I’m still pinching myself!

is working at Cosmopolitan as excit-ing as we think it is? I’m still fairly new to the position, but I love it. It’s such a great team and I love the stories I get to write – it’s so varied!

What is the toughest thing you have to do in your job? Sometimes there are some really big personalities that we feature in the magazine and making sure we’re keeping them happy, while also en-suring we get the best end product can be tricky. What is the thing you enjoy most about your job? I love interviewing peo-ple. I’ve always enjoyed meeting people and I get to speak to some of the most inspir-ing women in the world. I also really like

writing features which can make a differ-ence in someone’s life. Cosmopolitan is all about empowering women and I love that.

Do you meet famous people, and who are some of the famous people you have met? During my years at Woman’s Day, I met a lot of famous people – Flo

Rida, Ricky Martin, Sandra Bullock, Steve Carrell, Channing Tatum (drool), Zac Efron, Angelina Jolie – I was so lucky and it was such good fun. My first celeb-rity interview was with Jake Gyllenhaal and I was a nervous wreck, I struggled to get my words out! Luckily, I’ve had no real horror stories, but I did accidently walk out of an interview with Ricky Martin’s sunglasses in my hand! I returned them, of course…

What do you enjoy doing when you are not working? I have such a busy job, which involves attending so many events during the week that by the time the weekend comes round, I am ready to collapse! I usually just plan long brunches with friends and catch up on all my life admin! My parents always told me to enjoy every minute of my school years and all I wanted to do was be rid of homework and jump headfirst into adult life. Looking back, they were right. I’d love to go back in time, just for a little while and be back at Bangkok Patana. Being an adult isn’t always so easy!



30 • Bangkok Patana School 303030 ••• Bangkok Patana SchoolBangkok Patana SchoolBangkok Patana School




AlUMNI SPORtS DAY17Th OCTOBER 2015Bangkok Patana school was pleased to host the 2015 Alumni sports Day. the Patana Alumni tigers hosted alumni teams from IsB, nIst and RIs for an afternoon of round robin volleyball and basketball games. the event closed with an opportunity for the alumni to reminisce over dinner. It was an enjoyable event and it was great to see the Alumni tigers in action!

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