The Termly Magazine of Bangkok Patana School Bangkok Patana Magazine
Bangkok Patana
Magazine
Issue 44 Term 1, December 2014
Secondary
Primary
Cross Campus
Student Leadership in the Secondary School
Art and Design in the Primary School
Season 1 Sports Round Up
TERM 1/2014
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Contents
Issue 44, Term 1, December 2014
Thailand’s first football program for children 1-4 Years old!
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SECONDARY 6 Student Leadership in the Secondary School 8 Design and Technology Faculty Receives Award 10 Year 11 Elective Course: Getting Ahead of the Game
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PRIMARY 12 Art and Design in the Primary School: Moving from Crafts to Arts 16 Teachers Appreciate New Year 1/2 Learning Environment 20 The Joy of Coding
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CROSS CAMPUS 18 International Day 22 How Can Online Technology Enhance Student Voice and Participation? 24 A Decade of the Bangkok Patana Annual Fund 26 Beyond Bangkok Patana: Community Initiatives of the Foundation Board 28 Alumni Profile: Purnima Ruanglebutr 32 Alumni Profile: Claire Findlater (née Younger) 33 Season 1 Sports Round Up
Front Cover: International Day 2014, Anirooth Khantee
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Bangkok Patana Magazine
A Journey through Primary School
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hen I was younger, I used to wonder what it would feel like to be at the top of the totem pole in Primary School at Bangkok Patana. I’m sure most people have had the same feeling at some time in their life. Well here I am living the reality, no more fantasies. I’m in Year 6 and have made it to the top of the Primary School. Surprisingly, I don’t feel any different. I am adjusted to the whirlwind of moving up a year. I’m ready to face more challenging puzzles. When I think about it, I’ve always been preparing for this moment. I was here in K1 where we learned to write. I was here when our class learnt to recognise numbers. And it was here that I met some of my closest friends who have been with me every step of the way. Every day of every year has prepared me for this journey. Along the way, I’ve met teachers who have encouraged and helped me when I didn’t understand something, teachers who were fun but firm, teachers who put the word “teach” into teaching. From year to year, my steps have been small compared to the big leap I’m about to take now. Reaching the pivotal point in Primary School has opened up so many possibilities for me. No one can argue with the fact that life at Bangkok Patana is one full of opportunities.
Sometimes, school life is a rollercoaster. You may have ups and downs, but every once in a while you get a loop – a loop that makes life exciting and purposeful. Now I face the reality that in Year 6, I am a big fish in a small pond, longing for freedom but the thought of being the smallest fish in a gigantic ocean,
is another story altogether. Looking back, I can see how far I have come on my journey through Bangkok Patana. Looking forward, I can see how far I have to go. This is just the beginning.
643 Lasalle Road (Sukhumvit 105) Bangna, Bangkok 10260, Thailand Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Fax: +66 (0) 2785 2399 Email: reception@patana.ac.th www.patana.ac.th
Editor: Cheryl Rego Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Email: chre@patana.ac.th Advertisement: Finn Balslev Tel: +66 (0) 2943 7166-8 Email: finn@scandmedia.com
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By Palida (Pammy) Leenabanchong, 6C
Bangkok Patana Magazine is the termly publication of Bangkok Patana School published three times per year and distributed to 2,500 members of the School community. Reproduction of articles, artwork and illustrations by written permission only.
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Student Delegates
Student Leadership in the Secondary School Helen Thew
Secondary Assistant Principal Student Welfare
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n keeping with Bangkok Patana School’s philosophy of providing a well-round education, the emphasis is on encouraging students to develop their talents to the fullest extent. In the Secondary School we support and encourage our students to do their best, to meet challenges and develop independence by taking on leadership roles within the student body.
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Senior Student Representative Council (SSRC) by Phuriphat (Mark) Younguen, President (13W), Metinee Ding VicePresident (13H) and Jidapha (Pim) Vongluekiat (13S) The SSRC is a student-lead committee, comprised of students ranging from Year 10 to 13, encouraging the student body to have a voice in school life. Our leadership roles mean that we chair weekly meetings with fellow students as well as attend monthly meetings with other leadership groups. At our meetings, topics can range from what do students think in terms of how we can improve the quality of learning for each student, to what should our new report cards look like, to food prices at the snack bar or issues about school uniform. As a group we try our best to solve these issues or address them in a manner so that the students can understand not only what is being done about their concerns but also why certain concerns are unable to be addressed or resolved. As leaders of the SSRC, we have developed skills that are tremendously helpful, not only in school life, but also in our daily lives. From the SSRC we learnt about leadership and the ability to captivate listeners, skills that will prove useful not only during meetings, but also in our future as young adults in a world full of other aspiring leaders.
Bangkok Patana Magazine
Junior Student Representative Council by Joint Chairs, Benjamin Sanders (9G) and Remy Benner (9P) We are the joint chairs of the Junior Student Representative Council (JSRC). The JSRC is a group of students supervised by Mr Coates that consists of one representative from each Tutor group in Key Stage 3. The aim of the council is to discuss suggestions and concerns related to school life at Bangkok Patana and feedback to relevant members of staff to make a change and an impact. This year as chairs, we aim to bring all feedback we receive from our representatives to light; no matter how big or small the issue! We hope to accomplish this by bringing our suggestions to the people who can make a difference and pushing for change in order to make the Bangkok Patana experience as enjoyable as we can for everyone – staff, parent or student.
Senior Delegates by Melina Thompson (13R) and Saffron Jhanji (13R) Taking on a leadership role at Bangkok Patana School entails a huge responsibility, but nevertheless it is an honor to take on an important role in the busy school life. Student delegates have a significant role in school as we exist to be the voice of the students. We consist of 20 Year 13 students, who have been nominated and voted for by our teachers and fellow students to represent the school on behalf of the student community. Our aim is to improve school life for each student, and forge a link between the student body and teachers. Our experience so far has been extremely enjoyable, as we’ve helped new students settle into our school, addressed the Senior students’ stressful work load and tackled the “dreaded” padlock and locker debacle with the Year 7s. We’ve learnt many skills from our delegate role such as communication skills, voicing our opinions, taking initiative during difficult situations, and we hope to pick up more experiences along the way. Please don’t be afraid to ask the Senior Delegates any questions at school, as we’re very easy to spot due to the high visibility of our bright orange fluorescent vests!
Junior Delegates by Anna-Maria Woodrow (9P) and Suyash Kothari (9G) The Junior Delegates are a selected group of students from Year 9 who aim to make Secondary School an enhanced and friendlier place. We’re basically the ambassadors for Key Stage 3 students, representing them and putting their ideas forward into improving certain aspects of the school. Being a Junior Delegate is challenging, but also extremely exciting. From helping to plan Residential Visits to organising the AntiBullying week and improving student welfare, we find it thrilling to lead and have responsibility. Key Stage 3 students are encouraged to talk to us and other delegates about any concerns or questions. From helping and advising our classmates, we get a better understanding of right and wrong with regards to situations that we ourselves can relate to. These responsibilities are a great practice for the future because we improve our leadership and communication skills, while helping others in the process. TERM 1/2014
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Design and Technology Faculty Receives Award Richard Smith
Head of Faculty, Design and Technology
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angkok Patana School is the first school in Thailand to have been awarded The Design Mark in recognition of its excellence in teaching design. This quality standard has been developed by the UK Government’s Department for Education, The Design Council and the Design & Technology Association. As a Design Mark holder the school joins an elite list of only 51 other schools in the world, and just two outside of the UK, who are delivering the very best design education to their students. The inspiration behind Bangkok Patana’s application came from attending CPD (Continuing Professional Development) at the first International Design & Technology Conference in Southeast Asia at Jerudong International School in Brunei. While listening to two moderators of The Design Mark, we realised that the work we do at Bangkok Patana was worthy of this recognition and status. The process of preparing for the Design Mark has spanned just over 18 months and involved working towards and meeting the criteria. These fell into five areas: Belief and values about design education; Management of design education, Effective teaching in design education; Learning through design education.
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During this time we collected and presented evidence of our work in the space allotted to us on the Design Mark website. The school’s application was scrutinised by two independent moderators, one of whom commented “I think it is the best application I have seen. You should be really proud of the work you and your team are producing, simply outstanding.” The attainment of The Design Mark reflects the strong design ethos embedded throughout the school, where design has been skilfully used to create an atmosphere that promotes learning. It also recognises the innovative practice undertaken by the faculty, such as working with industry leaders to make potential design scenarios real and its commitment to sharing good practice locally within Thailand and throughout the region. The excellence in design teaching is also reflected through the outstanding 2014 (I)GCSE results for Design & Technology, with 50% of Bangkok Patana candidates receiving an A*, and a further 29% achieving an A grade. We will continue to use The Design Mark as a standard to benchmark good practice within the faculty. The Design Mark is an ongoing process and we will now be working towards our review in three years’ time.
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Year 11 Elective Course: Getting Ahead of the Game Patrick Stenger
Careers and Universities Counsellor
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his year, we are offering a new elective for Year 11 students. Our plan is to help students to consider their futures as designable, empower them take control and choose for themselves what their futures would look like. New to Bangkok Patana School and new to working together, Linda Ortwein and I viewed teaching this elective course as an opportunity to get to know students as well as having the opportunity to deliver our careers curriculum to a younger group of students. During the first class we asked students what motivated them to choose this elective and what they hoped to gain by taking this course. We’ve used what the students shared with us to shape the curriculum. We wanted to introduce the world of work, guide students through self-reflection and discovery and finally to provide information necessary for them to create a plan for achieving their dreams. “What outcomes do we want students to leave the class with today?” has been the guiding question followed by “How do we 10
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design the class to involve the students?” With 36 Year 11 students in the class, we’ve been conscious of holding their attention as well as allowing for the students to contribute, share with each other and answer their own questions. Some of the comments and thoughts shared by students have been incredibly insightful and thought provoking.
Teaching this course has been very rewarding for both Linda and myself. Often when planning for the next class we’re anxious and unsure whether we’re too ambitious and will have enough time for our plan but once we’re working with the students, we quickly get into our “flow”, a time and place where/when our combined experiences and professional knowledge come together with our plan and we’re in our element. When I experience” flow” in my life, I know with certainty I’m doing what I’m meant to do and what I enjoy the most, and that’s inspiring students. The Year 11 elective course is one opportunity within the Bangkok Patana School community where we have been allowed to offer our expertise, to share with wonderful young students and to be in the “flow”. Given that this is the inaugural careers elective course we intend to reflect on this term’s success as well as areas for improvement and we intend to ask our students for advice and input as we move into Term 2 working with more students from Year 11.
PRIMARY
Art and Design in the Primary School: Moving from crafts to arts David Whittaker
Primary Art Teacher
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n the UK Primary curriculum, Art and Design is one of a handful of ‘foundation,’ or non-core subjects which provoke a strong reaction within the teaching community. Teachers are often afraid of Art. Level 6 Mathematics and tricky Science units are regarded as a walk in the park compared to teaching Art! There also used to be the presumption that you can’t teach or learn art (especially drawing); you’re simply born that way, springing into the world like a fully-formed miniature Michelangelo! Consequently, in some schools, Art and Design is often reduced to a craft activity. Children simply follow set lists of instructions to produce one-off ‘products;’ often neat, identical drawings or objects for class topic displays. Such activities have no preparatory design or cognitive process leading up to them and offer nothing in terms of developing new art skills to facilitate their construction. These kinds of activities are described by American teacher and lecturer Susan Striker in her book Young at Art as ‘anti-art activities,’ as they offer no opportunity for self-expression, critical thinking, problem-solving or skills development. We need to provide children with opportunities to think like artists; to conceive visual ideas, to develop them through drawings, and explore and refine those ideas using taught skills in a range of materials and processes. We need to prioritise the process of being an artist – the thinking, problem solving, exploring and experimenting – over the development of ‘neat’ products. In the Primary School at Bangkok Patana, we have developed the curriculum to ensure that children develop skills in a wide range of materials and processes. Each year, children extend their expertise in 12
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drawing and painting, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, textiles and photography/ digital art in carefully escalating developmental stages. By teaching Art not as a linear series of instructions to be completed, but as a process of development leading to a number
of possible outcomes, we develop children as critical thinkers, constantly making artistic decisions; as communicators, striving to convey information visually; as risk takers, continuously developing new skills and experimenting with a broad range of visual media and as problem solvers. Perseverance
Bangkok Patana Magazine
and the willingness to fail, learn from mistakes and apply new understanding are key. We also teach drawing skills formally.
developed ideas were realised as final pieces of work, demonstrating control of new skills and materials.
The Art and Design Process: Year 2’s Pirate Flag Textiles Project
Teaching cognitive skills through Art and Design – using the elements of art
In Year 2, we began the project by recording ideas, combining them, selecting and then developing these ideas in sketchbooks. The children were taught art skills (sewing and using mixed media), which they then explored and practised. Fully
The foundation stone of developing the child as a confident, critically thinking artist is to provide children with opportunities to develop their knowledge, understanding and control of the design principles known as the elements of art. Broadly, these are:
• Line – Thinking artists choose from a visual vocabulary of lines (straight, broken, dotted, zig-zag, curved etc.) for effect • Shape – Building complex visual forms like rabbits or motor cars from simple, geometric shapes to achieve correct proportion • Form – Describing the world through (illusory) 3D shapes in drawing and painting • Texture – Creating the surface quality of an object – real in ceramics, implied in drawing and painting • Space – The emptiness around drawn objects, and the illusion of depth (perspective) • Colour – The understanding both of the science of colour – the hierarchy and application of primary, secondary and tertiary colours – and how to manipulate its emotional impact on the viewer These artistic principles are universal and applicable in any medium. It is children’s awareness of these concepts that holds the key to becoming a critical thinker in art. Once students have gained rudimentary knowledge and control, the elements of art can be consciously manipulated for effect – and critical thinking TERM 1/2014
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skills come into play. Perhaps even more crucial, however, is the role of the elements of art in developing the children as reflective learners. If the children gain the knowledge and skills to break their own and their peers’ work down into the elements, they become assessment capable learners, a role more traditionally fulfilled by the teacher. They can identify the strong elements of their work and also those which require improvement, whether it be a lack of variety in their use of line, or a clash of colours. At this point, primary Art ceases to be mere craft and becomes a very high level, thinking subject. In fact, the children can use this deeper understanding to generate their own next steps and improve.
Once students have gained rudimentary knowledge and control, the elements of art can be consciously manipulated for effect – and critical thinking skills come into play. 14
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The critical importance of drawing At Bangkok Patana we teach drawing skills formally. In Key Stage 2, the progression of the children’s skills are visible and we build their skills as they move through: Year 3 – Control of shape and line Year 4 – Develop tone, texture and simple perspective, achieving proportion Year 5 – Vanishing points to create depth Year 6 – Human form and expression Around the age of 10-14, children strongly desire to draw the world around them representationally, and realistically, nothing else will satisfy them. They view excellence in Art at this age as nothing but the ability to draw the real world with some degree of accuracy and no amount of drawing their attention to Picasso’s Cubist period will change their minds. This is a good time to teach children the skills they need to draw form, tone, proportion, perspective and the rest, and give them a skill and medium for self-expression they will cherish for life.
PRIMARY
“Good facilities do more than teach, they inspire. They aspire to shape minds both inside and beyond the classroom.” – Pit Li Phan, Senior School Architectural Consultant and OECD advisor
Teachers Appreciate New Year 1/2 Learning Environment Marcus Madden
Year 1 Class Teacher
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rimary School Teachers are always excited at the start of a new academic year, looking forward to the challenges ahead and meeting their new class and colleagues. This year there was added anticipation (and a little trepidation) as the Year 1 and 2 staff came back to school in August, hoping to find their new building completed and ready to move into. First impressions were favourable, peering through the windows at the cavernous space within. At the official unveiling on Monday 18th August, we discovered a completely transformed learning environment: • larger classrooms, with lots of storage space for resources and hidden cupboards for the teachers • spacious collaborative spaces shared
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between pods of four classes dedicated spaces for Design Technology, Art, Food Science, Physical Development, Thai and ICT smaller withdrawal rooms for meetings, assessments and small-group learning shared rooms between pairs of classrooms for quieter activities and groups a redesigned playground on the same level as the classrooms new tables, desks, storage units and display boards purpose-built stock cupboards to store equipment, ICT resources etc.
The next two days were spent unpacking the essential resources for the start of term and starting to make sense of how to turn this blank skeleton of a building into
a living, breathing 21st century learning environment. At the end of Term 1, the staff and children were well on the journey to transforming the original design into different spaces that facilitate quality, independent learning, fit in with our educational philosophy and have become enjoyable spaces to work and learn within. So what makes an effective learning environment? In ‘Creating Excellent Primary Schools’, an abstract by the UK Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment from 2010, the authors felt: “Good school design matters. It is about the education and life chances of young people. Evidence shows a clear link between well-designed schools and student
Bangkok Patana Magazine
performance and behaviour. Good design alone doesn’t raise standards, but bad design impacts on the quality of teaching, the aspirations and self-perception of students and the sustainability of a school.” When the Year 1 and 2 team first got together to discuss the new building, we split into small focus groups and made a list of all the desirable elements of a stimulating, learning environment. We then ranked these in order of importance and effectiveness, before combining all our ideas into one document, using the headings ‘Essential’, ‘Desired’ and ‘Possible’. Some of the practical issues we considered included: • the size, shape and furnishing of classrooms being sufficiently flexible to meet a variety of teaching styles and evolving thinking about teaching and learning, allowing for short-term changes of layout and use, to help ‘future-proof ’ the design. • additional spaces provided for smaller groups and individual learning, both with and without adults • outdoor spaces for small groups and individual learning • capacity for using ICT in a variety of ways within the learning environment Another consideration was to ensure that the building provided suitable environmental conditions throughout, including good levels of natural light, appropriate ventilation, enriching colour schemes and durable materials. Creativity is heightened through an optimum level of arousal – too much stimulation through colours, sounds and materials and the creative response can be overwhelmed; too little and the response will be too weak. Teachers know there is no collective ‘right level’ that works for every class, but it was important that flexibility was built into classrooms so that changes could be made easily and without fuss. This led to a great deal of debate about which colours should be used in the new classrooms. Colour is an integral part of our lives and visually affects how we perceive our environment. It affects our emotions and feelings and stimulates our moods either positively or negatively. Dr Willard Daggett (the President of the International Centre for Leadership in Education) stated that: “Colour is an important factor in the physical learning environment and is a
major element in interior design that impacts student achievement, as well as teacher effectiveness and staff efficiency.” Many people have a preference to certain colours due to their cultural background, gender or geographical region. However, the research is relatively clear about which colours best support learning - blue is the overwhelming “favourite colour” for this age-group. It is seen as trustworthy, dependable and committed and it can cause the body to produce chemicals that are calming. It is also the least “gender specific” colour, having equal appeal to both boys and girls. How do the Year 1 and 2 staff utilise the new learning environment? The flexible nature of the building allows us to rapidly change the set-up of a classroom from whole-class instruction, to group work within one room, collaborative learning with students from other classes in shared spaces, individual instruction or assessment in quieter rooms and myriad of
other permutations. Developing a growth mindset has allowed both the staff and students to adapt to these changes, independently accessing and organising the appropriate materials, equipment and resources for our learning. Specialised learning is facilitated by having access to well-resourced areas such as the ICT rooms or Design Technology spaces, so that less time is spent in transition from one area of learning to another. The students are more involved in how their learning spaces should look and feel (for example, setting up a market or Toy Town in the collaborative space) and this supports personalised learning, leading to better educational outcomes. Because the walls and cupboards are largely covered in muted backing suitable for displays, staff and students are also able to exercise their creativity by adding a variety of instructional displays and student examples designed to highlight key learning and add needed complexity, variety, and richness to the environment. But don’t trust the teachers’ thoughts about the effectiveness of the new learning environment – here are some of the comments from Year 1 and 2 students about their new classrooms and facilities: “We can learn really well here.” “I love scooting around the new track in the playground.” “It’s [our new classroom] fantastic!” “I can really concentrate as I have more space for my things.” “We know where everything is we need to help with our learning.” TERM 1/2014
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P RRIO C MSASR YC A M P U S
INTERNATIONAL DAY
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The Joy of Coding James Abela
Head of Primary ICT
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oding is thrilling because it’s about designing games that are fun, saving people hours of calculations, sorting data into insightful information and storytelling at its finest. The first coder, Lady Ada Lovelace, loved the elegance of coding. In the first half of the 20th century coders saved lives in the Second World War. In the second half of the century, it made coders such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs into billionaires. Already in this century, we have used coding to connect the majority of the world’s knowledge into a massive world wide web, produce blockbuster movies and more than a billion people now enjoy
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video games. It has also become an integral part of the new UK curriculum with huge backing from industry and universities to ensure that we have 21st century skills for 21st century careers. At its heart, coding is problem solving and that is why it is such an important skill for children and adults alike. It teaches children to select the data that is important, to break it into smaller parts and to try different ways of solving problems. In ICT, we say that FAIL, is simply the First Attempt in Learning or as Thomas Edison put it, “I didn’t fail. I just found 2,000 ways not to make a lightbulb; I only needed to find one way to make it work.”
At Bangkok Patana, we are keen to ensure that children are exposed to these skills as early as possible, so that computational thinking can become a natural part of their skillset that they use in a wide range of situations. In Years 1 and 2, we use iPads to give students a sense of a simple algorithm. This comes naturally to most children, because it is presented in the format of a game. We are also very pleased to have robotic kits, which enable children to learn in the physical world and see exactly what their algorithms can do and the effects that their actions can have. This also reduces the frustration children have when a program does not
Bangkok Patana Magazine
I like how every lesson we always do a fun and exciting project that takes us about three weeks and then when we finish we do something just as fun. My favorites so far were Scratch and Sketchup. – Palida Leenabanchong (6C)
I like using Scratch. I have never done coding before and it turned out to be extremely fun. – Natabhorn (Plume Plume) Kashemsri Na Ayudhaya (6C)
I like coding the most in ICT. I loved Scratch the most it was fun making games. – Praccho Muna-McQuay (6O)
work, because most of the time when a robot FAILS it crashes into something and from this they begin to understand that they have learnt a way NOT to solve the problem. In Years 5 and 6 we have introduced more complex programming and children have been learning to make platform games. As Arnav Baliga (5I) explains, “I have enjoyed learning coding because it is a fun way to make an object do what you want.” The fact that they get
to make a real game is a big motivator and Parker Toman (5I) concludes, “I’ve always wanted to do it but I was never able to before now.” Rather than having the teacher talk at the front of the classroom for large chunks of the lesson or worse still expect the student to follow the instructions by rote, we use Screencasts. This has enabled a much higher degree of differentiation, because students who understand can quickly become highly creative, whilst those who
need more help can replay the videos step by step. What might have been a fifteen minute presentation on the carpet, is often compressed down to two minutes of input in a video. As Kit Stevens (7M) said when he completed Year 6, “I like the freedom it gives us. It also makes computing and coding really fun and I’ve learned a lot this year.” In fact the teaching was considered so innovative that Karen Brennan, an Assistant Professor of Education at Harvard University, and her educational team have asked us to share our pedagogy for an upcoming publication. To celebrate our children’s learning, we created the Scratch Day Oscars in which the students saw their learning displayed in a truly cinematic experience, cheered on by all of their friends and shared with family near and far via the Patana News. This year, we have new robotics kits to use in class and in our coding clubs. We also plan to share the joy of coding further by organising the very first FOBISIA Coding event, which will bring together the very best schools in Asia and will culminate in a truly international awards ceremony! TERM 1/2014
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How Can Online Technology Enhance Student Voice and Participation? James Penstone
Cross Campus Principal
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topic that is of enormous significance to our school is that of encouraging student voice and student participation. I have written briefly about this in the Patana News (Volume 17, Issue 11). The school has placed a lot of importance in our students playing an active part in supporting the wider community, contributing to the decision-making concerning the future direction of the school and influencing how their own learning unfolds by taking a greater degree of ownership. Indeed, one of our strategic objectives in our whole school development plan this year is: To promote a caring, communityminded student body through active participation and decision making within school life. We are now starting to move beyond simply having representation of student views, which we as staff consider separately in our planning and evaluation, towards much more active student participation in the forums where decisions are made and when changes are enacted. As this begins to develop further, we move towards the situation where students are able to coconstruct their education and the future of their school. In so doing, our students will begin to take on vital leadership and ownership of their school. We still have a lot that we can do to move towards this vision, but judging by feedback when I presented to over 300 UK-based educators earlier this term, we already have much to be proud of. Something of parallel interest here is the question of how our students might use online technologies to help develop their voice and participation. We are now seeing a steadily increase of students doing this 22
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since we introduced Firefly, the school’s virtual learning environment. There are three good examples of the ways in which students are using technology, and Firefly in particular, whilst actively contributing to the direction of their school. 1) Community Action There are many examples across the whole school in which students are highlighting the impressive work they are doing to support the community, whether that be inside the school or outside. A great example is the Community Action Team (CAT) Clubs in Secondary School. These clubs have each developed webpages dedicated to their cause and activities. Within such an incredibly big
school, one of the most important ways that we can efficiently communicate to the whole community is through webpages like these, so the challenge now is for them to gain an authentic and responsive audience. I think it is very important that we as educators and parents take the time to leave comments in response to the work which our students do. At the same time, it is important for the students to promote their online spaces and in some cases complement these with other online channels such as the social media pages they have set up. 2) Student Councils We have student councils across the whole school, beginning in Year 3. These
Bangkok Patana Magazine
have always been valuable for hearing our students’ opinions, views, concerns and general feedback. The challenge has been for their voice to reach as wide an audience as possible, especially those who are able to respond to their voice. Interestingly, our student councils are interacting using online spaces more often, so that their conversations and planning can continue beyond the meetings themselves. In Year 5 recently, our students were planning an assembly on the very important theme of anti-bullying. To do so, they contributed their ideas using a piece of online software called Padlet in which they can each leave feedback. This was embedded into the Year 5 Student Council blog, which serves as an online space for the students to share their discussions with their peers. I attended their resulting assembly in mid-November and was thoroughly impressed to see the students taking a leading role and using the same technology within the assembly itself. Add to this the very thoughtful videos
which they had prepared and shared on the blog, and the stage was set for some meaningful follow-up by the whole Year group. Similarly, the newly formed Year 9 Junior Delegates group also delivered an excellent assembly on the same theme of antibullying to the whole of Key Stage 3. In the run-up to this, they included an online poll to ask students the extent to which they perceive bullying to take place in school. If our students are able to engage with a topic such as bullying in both group discussions and online forums, then we start to develop an openness about this issue which should go a long way to helping students collectively address it. 3) Students Driving Their Own Learning This is one area where we should expect to see big gains over the coming years in terms of students more fully participating in, and leading, the direction of their education. Students are able to use online
Ideally, students would develop their own online portfolio in early Key Stage 2 and would carry them through their school lives. They could be shared with key teachers as well as their peers and families.
technology to help reflect on how they learn and identify ways forwards to improve. Discussions are already underway to develop some form of portfolio, managed using Firefly, in which students would be able to collate examples of their learning and reflect on what these examples mean for how their learning is developing. I expect in coming years that this will very readily complement the student-led reflections which are clearly evidenced in 3-Way Conferences in the Primary School. Ideally, students would develop their own online portfolio in early Key Stage 2 and would carry them through their school lives. They could be shared with key teachers as well as their peers and families. The closest we have to this currently taking place is in Year 7 as part of their Learning to Learn course. Here, “e-portfolios” have been developed by all Year 7 students as a space for them to reflect on their learning, and to identify how these examples relate to the IB learner profile. As examples like these increase in coming years, our students will become more and more equipped to actively steer their education alongside their teachers and other adult mentors. This is one of the most exciting possibilities afforded to us by placing our community at the forefront of technology-supported learning. TERM 1/2014
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A decade of the Bangkok Patana Annual Fund Emma Goligher
Development, Alumni and Marketing Manager
T
his year we are celebrating ten years of the Bangkok Patana Annual Fund. In 2004 parents wanted to know how they could contribute towards purchasing specialist items of Arts and Sports equipment, and the Annual Fund was born. Over the last decade donations to the fund have made a real difference to the educational journey of all our students, whatever age they are or however long they attend the school. The table below highlights the donations made over its lifecycle and the items bought to date. As you can see 2013/14 was the most successful to date, with over 80 people making donations to the Fund. And it is participation which is the real key to the success of this fundraising initiative. The figures below illustrate how gifts of any size can make a real difference to the School – quite simply, every donation helps. This year we would love to beat last year’s total and continue to enrich the educational experiences of all our students, from Nursery through to Senior Studies, by funding projects and resources over and above those covered by the school fees. If you would like to donate or require further information please contact Emma Goligher at emgo@patana.ac.th, or please go to www. patana.ac.th/annualfund. Thank you for a decade of generous support for the Annual Fund and here’s to the next decade of participation! Academic Year
Total Annual Fund Donations (THB)
2005/06
333,974
Music stands, PA system, technical cutter, B&W enlarger
2006/07
358,850
Wireless microphone, fitness equipment for school gym
2007/08
608,780
Music stands, drama masks, stage blocks, darkroom equipment
2008/09
487,389
Drum stands, gymnastics apparatus
2009/10
427,924
Solar power panels, Primary garden landscaping, Outdoor classroom equipment and plants, sundial
2010/11
488,500
Solar power equipment, Foundation Stage garden landscaping,
2011/12
439,600
Primary play tables, pool table and other Youth Club equipment, finger post signage, weather station and boat for outdoor classroom
2012/13
397,750
Digital signage, 3D printer, fast flow water dispensers, Year 5/6 climbing net
2013/14
647,471
New play equipment for the Year 1/2 playground
2014/15
?
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Items Bought
Donate and be part of the history of the Annual Fund
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Beyond Bangkok Patana:
Community Initiatives of the Foundation Board Cheryl Rego
Communications Coordinator
B
angkok Patana School is overseen by the Foundation Board comprising up to 16 members and its appointed officers. Besides the operation of the school, the Foundation Board is active in the local community. The registered charitable objectives of the Foundation Board are to promote child and youth education, sport and cultural exchange, to contribute to the disadvantaged and general public through activities and to coordinate with other organisations which have similar objectives. “We are really proud to work with hundreds of charities and local community organisations every year through relationships at a local level,” says Kulvadee (Dee) Siribhadra, Director of the Foundation Board Office, as she explains how the work of the Foundation Board goes beyond Bangkok Patana School. Khun Dee says the Foundation strives to “…make a meaningful and positive contribution to the individuals, families, businesses and communities within our marketplace. We serve on boards, work with neighbourhood groups and donate thousands of hours of volunteer time to numerous civic and non-profit organisations.” The charitable work of the Foundation Board is three fold: it provides expertise to local organisations, it manages the donation of used assets from Bangkok Patana School and it helps to raise funds. As Bangkok Patana is a large school, it is important to foster good relationships. One way the Foundation Board does this is through its hands-on participation in local organisations. For instance, Khun Dee is the current Chairperson of the Lasalle Road Committee, she represents the Foundation Board as an advisor to the Bangna Police Committee and as a member on the committees of schools in the Bangna area. The Foundation Board undertakes activities
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such as trying to improve traffic flow on Lasalle Road, planting trees along the road and working with the community to keep the area safe and crime rates low. In their community work, the Board’s major objective is to support under-privileged children. To this end, the Board works with local schools in Bangna to lend expertise, help raise funds and develop their physical structures. Khun Dee is often at local schools presenting awards and raising awareness of Thai culture and traditions such as Loy Krathong and Mother’s
Day offerings. Although there are many schools who benefit from the attention of the Foundation Board, Pong Ploy Novice School in Bangna has a particularly long relationship with Bangkok Patana School. It is home to children from all over Thailand who have learning difficulties and/or whose parents cannot afford to send them to school. Bangkok Patana began supporting the school about nine years ago. Khun Dee says that Bangkok Patana’s work with Pong Ploy Novice School is particularly
”We are really proud to work with hundreds of charities and local community organisations every year through relationships at a local level...”
Bangkok Patana Magazine
satisfying because it combines the support of Buddhism and under-privileged children. The Foundation Board also works to keep young people away from addictive substances and illegal activities. Its support of the Bangna Youth Centre and various charitable organisations means that children are being provided with knowledge and awareness about the risks of taking drugs. The Youth Centre also gets support to promote and run activities that support young adults from making socially incorrect choices. The Foundation Board is a supporter of the Ror Dor programme. Formally known as ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corp.), Ror Dor is pursued by most male
Thai Secondary students in Years 11, 12 and 13 at Bangkok Patana. ROTC acts as a backup and reserve force for the Thai Military, which they can call upon in times
of war and other crisis. The ROTC training takes three years, including studying military drills on 10 Saturdays per year, for eight hours each Saturday and three to five-day field trips in Kanchanaburi. The school’s Security and Community Liaison Manager, Pirayos (Tong) Wongthongsuk, often helps with Foundation Board community initiatives and in particular, is an excellent resource to the Ror Dor programme. Besides donations of used office furniture and computers, the Foundation Board also consults with the ROTC to work out the best ways in which international school Thai students can participate in the Ror Dor programme. Donations of fixed assets from Bangkok Patana School are welcomed by local and government organisations. When the school has fixed assets that have depreciated and have no book value such as computers, projectors or office furniture, they are donated to local schools and government organisations such as the Immigration office, the Labour Department, courts, police stations and local schools. Khun Dee and her assistant, Siriluk (Chun-li) Kunakornvichaya ensure the needs are genuine and often visit the organisations to see how the items have been put to good use. Annually, the Foundation Board participates in and promotes a Kathin, which is a substantial donation to a temple in need. The Board does this together with (mostly) Thai parents by choosing a temple in a rural area where there is a scarcity of resources. This year, a kathin was made to Wat Tamrong Sawat in Nakhon Sawan. This temple is difficult to access because it is at the top of the hill and the steps leading to it are in disrepair. In addition, due to a lack of a natural water source, all water must be carried up the stairs. A group of about 60 business staff travelled to the temple in October to observe the kathin. The community initiatives of the Foundation Board allow people to understand Bangkok Patana School not only as a prominent educational institution in Thailand, but also as one that plays a supportive and nurturing role in its community. “This community spirit and involvement embodies the very core of our corporate citizenship philosophy,” said Khun Dee. TERM 1/2014
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Alumni Profile:
Purnima Ruanglebutr, Class of 2005 Current location: Melbourne, Australia/Bangkok, Thailand Favourite memories of Bangkok Patana School: I attended Bangkok Patana my entire schooling life, from K2 to Year 13. Some unforgettable memories include Residential Visits, International Day, Loy Krathong, Christmas assemblies, the noodle stall, Tiger Spirit Days, Harouna and the Sea of Stories (a drama production in Secondary School), Fun Day, Core magazine, hanging out at the Senior Studies block with friends and not being able to open the envelope with my IB results due to nervousness, until Mr. Lawrence, our Head of Year, kindly did the deed for me! Graduation was an emotional
time – it was a day I was both looking forward to and a day that I dreaded since I began high school; I never wanted to leave. I cherished every second of my time at Bangkok Patana. What was it like returning to Bangkok Patana for a visit after so many years? Nostalgic, surprising and magical. I visited for the first time after 10 years. From the moment I stepped into the school’s car park and walked past the school buses that used to take me to and from school every day, I felt like a child at back at home. There was an immediate sense of comfort and belonging – the feeling of never having left and of wanting to return. Seeing the school as an adult made me feel utterly privileged to have had a childhood spent in a perfect wonderland. I felt thankful to my parents who had made the best decision for me to be at Bangkok Patana. Memories from my first days at school in Kindergarten flashed before me – carpet time with my teacher, Mr McDonald, winning my first medal at swimming gala in Year 8, playing tag in the middle school hard court, looking forward to library days in primary school, and singing in assemblies. When I walked through the Secondary School, I was astounded by the make-over. A place so close to my heart had undergone such positive change, yet, the school still retained its original and traditional glory. I was still able to picture myself there as I walked along the same footpaths I did a million times before. The best part of my visit was getting to meet my former teachers who have always inspired me and were my role models in many different ways: Ms Keri Keelan, my Year 2 teacher; and Mr Robertson, my Year 12 and Year 13 teacher. Ms Keri had fostered a love of writing and learning in me since Year 2, a passion that I pursued in my career. We were ecstatic to see one another. Likewise, catching up with Mr Robertson was delightful. I also met other familiar faces that have kept the school running for decades – the maids, security guards and librarians – some of these individuals were there since my time in Primary School. I truly admire them for safeguarding the school and students. What have you been doing since you left Bangkok Patana? After graduation, I went to the University of Melbourne for a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Honours) with double majors in Visual Art and English. After having been on the Dean’s List during my undergraduate studies, I received a scholarship towards pursuing a Master of Teaching (Secondary – Visual
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Bangkok Patana Magazine
Art, English, ESL) at the University of Melbourne, which I completed in 2011. During my degree, I taught in Secondary Schools and was also the Activities Officer and Editor of the Melbourne Photography Society. In 2012, I completed a Master of Art Administration at the University of New South Wales. In 2010, I began working as a Research Assistant at the University of Melbourne’s Artistic and Creative and Education department, on a project titled the ‘Teacher as Art-maker Project’. This project is an international first in Visual Art Education, providing longitudinal data on teacher’s participation in art production, perceptions of quality of teaching, and expectations of retention in the profession.
Graduation was an emotional time – it was a day I was both looking forward to and a day that I dreaded since I began high school; I never wanted to leave. I cherished every second of my time at Bangkok Patana.
This spurred my interest in academia, which had seen me take up the position of Editorial Assistant of the Journal of Artistic and Creative Education, published by the University of Melbourne. During this time, I was appointed Lecturer in the Arts Education department where I taught subjects in the Master of Teaching (Secondary) program, which comprised of students training to become Secondary School art teachers. My zest for the arts was further fostered when I worked as an Education officer for the Biennale of Sydney, the Ian Potter Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Victoria. While working in these positions, I also presented my research and pedagogical techniques in English and Art subject association conferences in Australia and Norway that linked to curriculum. My research has been published in journals including: English Australia; Australian Art Education; Canadian Review of Art Education; Article – Art Education Victoria, and my arts related writing has appeared in The Melbourne Review, Indian link magazine, Expat Weekend Magazine, and my exhibitions have been reviewed in Australian newspapers and the ABC radio. Can you tell us a little bit about your current employment/ activities? I am currently an independent curator, writer, educator, arts manager and researcher into art and museum education. I am co-researcher and lecturer within Melbourne Graduate School TERM 1/2014
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of Education’s Department of Artistic and Creative Education, where I administer the ‘Teacher as Artmaker Project’ and lecture the Master of Education subject ‘Teaching and Artistic Practice’. I am also working as an English Language/Art educator at Cambridge International College, Melbourne. Alongside this, I continually exhibit my own art in galleries internationally. I also have my own label, Purnima Creations, under which I operate numerous services for professionals in the creative industry, including publishing, marketing, editing, art critiques, curatorial and events. My first edited book, Inspiration Wild, was published in October 2014, by the Wildlife Art Museum of Australia. My second edited book, Gallery and Museum Education: Purpose, Practice and Pedagogy, was published in November 2014 by the Journal of Artistic and Creative Education. At present, I am writing a series of student and teacher textbooks as part of a series titled Inspired English, to be published by Macmillan in 2015, for use by students in Years 7-10 English and IB English around the globe. What do you enjoy doing when you are not working? During my free time, I look forward to visiting exhibitions and spending time on my own art practice, photography and creative writing, which I find very therapeutic. I also take any opportunity to travel to widen my horizons. In my summer holidays this year, I participated in a two-week master class in Venice, where I learnt about Venetian art, crafts and politics. 30
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Class of 2005 Reunion Plans The year 2015 marks the 10-year anniversary of the Class of 2005. I will be organising a curated exhibition as a reunion for the class 2005. This exhibition will be held at Bangkok Patana School in August 2015. The idea behind this exhibition is to encourage 2005 alumni and teachers to submit memorabilia (photos, objects etc.) and/or artworks (painting, sculpture, collage, drawing, photography) in any medium that reminisces upon their time at Bangkok Patana. We will also be putting together an exhibition catalogue with full-colour images and texts from the artists that will accompany the show. I very much look forward to seeing the Class of 2005 reunited in the place where our journeys all began, and to express their sentiments with visual and verbal texts. If you would like to participate in this exhibition please contact alumni@patana.ac.th. If you would like to contact Purnima: Facebook: facebook.com/PurnimaCreations; Twitter: @purnimacreations; Website: www.purnimacreations.com
Keep up to date with news from fellow alumni and Bangkok Patana School: Log into our alumni website at http:://alumni.patana.ac.th
Bangkok Patana Magazine
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Alumni Profile:
Claire Findlater (née Younger), Soi Navin Current Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Family: I have two brothers who also went to Bangkok Patana. Paul started school in Infant 1, and Marcus, who is two years older than me, spent one year at Patana in S1. Favourite memories of Bangkok Patana School: I started at Bangkok Patana in J4 in 1978 in Mrs Sananikorn’s class and left after S2. I have so many great memories. Soi Navin campus had less facilities that the new campus (which looks stunning by the way) but to me, compared to school in rainy Glasgow, it was like landing in heaven. I enjoyed every second of it: learning Thai, art projects like designing a wall mural for the Kindergarten classroom block; Loy Krathong and soaking each other at Songkran! I also loved the drama club after school and took part in a few plays like Charlie and the Chocolate factory and another one where I played a very bad tempered queen. Learning was fun, creative and always friendly and inclusive. We appreciated each other’s cultural differences and we worked, helped and played well together. World leaders could learn a thing or two from Bangkok Patana kids! What have you been doing since you left Bangkok Patana? After S2, I reluctantly went to boarding school in Edinburgh and then Switzerland in my final year. I graduated with a Masters degree in Japanese from the University of Edinburgh, but also studied Mandarin for two years and spent a year in both Xian and Tokyo. Memorably, our small group of Edinburgh University students shared a dorm with American, Japanese and North Korean students in Xian and were there during the student prodemocracy uprising in 1989 – an experience we’ll never forget. Later, I completed a postgraduate degree in Publishing and Journalism training and had some really challenging but wonderful experiences. I started up and ran a publishing department for a
Singaporean publisher in Jakarta and in 1998 began working in Jordan (I’d recently met my archaeologist husband-to-be!) editing a newspaper, copywriting for a design agency and managing a social development project for an NGO. George and I returned to Scotland and married in 2000, and I began working at a contract publishing agency, writing and producing magazines for banks and public sector organisations. In 2003 I went freelance and I have been working for myself ever since. Can you tell us a little bit about your current employment/ activities? I still write articles for creative agencies’ clients and help businesses directly with marketing strategy and copywriting. But the most satisfying work I do is help individuals get in touch with their strengths and learn to promote themselves effectively. Through this work I’ve discovered that people are – without exception – more talented, resourceful and capable than they realise but rarely know how to communicate their unique qualities effectively. Helping people do that and watching them flourish as a result is what lights me up. What do you enjoy doing when you are not working? I’m mad about skiing. I learned when I was 17 and it’s the only sport I’ve ever been any good at. Bangkok Patana Art and Drama class clearly gave me an appetite for large scale art projects. Sometimes it gets a little out of hand…if you consider turning your house into an Egyptian tomb or a spaceship for parties out of hand! Thanks to social media in the past few years 12 of my former classmates have managed to reconnect. We’re quite an eclectic bunch, but I think if you asked any of us, we’d all agree that our time at Bangkok Patana was special, and some of us hope to reunite in 2016.
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Bangkok Patana Magazine
Season 1 Round up Mike Balo
Assistant Principal Extra-curricular Activities and Sports
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e have had a super start to the year. Over 400 students tried out for 33 teams in our competitive and selective sports’ programmes. It always amazes me the support we receive from the Bangkok Patana community and how keen they are to participate. Season 1 got off to a great start with all coaches and students demonstrating an enthusiasm for sport. We had 28 teams playing competitive sport in addition to our second tier teams and pre-season training. To kick off the season, the Varsity teams attended an invitational tournament at NIST and our Under 15 and Under 17 teams participated in a Friendship Tournament at Shrewsbury. All teams gained valuable experience which will help them throughout the season. Most notable results are: Varsity Boys’ and Girls’ Football – 2nd, Junior Varsity Girls’ Football – 1st and Under 15 Boys’ Basketball – 2nd. One new initiative this year was the addition of second teams in volleyball, football and basketball. This has been a big hit with over 60 students given the opportunity to play. The second initiative has been the introduction of pre-season training. This season we had over 65 students participating in pre-season football on Wednesday and Friday and over 30 students in pre-season basketball on Tuesday and Thursday. This will definitely give our teams an advantage in Season 2. A community initiative that is being
led by our Head Tennis Coach, Dan Ahl, is Cardio Tennis for parents twice a week. We started with a great turnout and are expecting even more players as the word gets out. Well done to our Tennis Coaching team. In SEASAC, we performed well
BISAC Seasonal Champions Cross Country Team
Under 11 Boys, Under 11 Girls, Under 13 Girls, Under 15 Girls
Cross Country Individual
Will Ahl, James Law-Whiting, Marilou Turner, Sri Hollema
Basketball
Under 11 Girls, Under 13 Girls, Under 15 Boys
Tennis Team
Under 13 Girls
Tennis Individual
Under 13: Savannah Olds
Football
Varsity Boys, Varsity Girls
in our respective Division 1 SEASAC Championships. We hosted the Volleyball Championships where our Boys’ and Girls’ teams finished in fourth place overall. The Boys lost to Canadian School Hong Kong and the Girls lost to RIS for the bronze medal. In Football, our Boys’ and Girls’ teams finished fourth overall as well. They performed well with our girls winning four of their seven matches. In Golf, our Boys’ team placed fourth our Girls just missed out on trophies against a very strong opposition. We hosted the FOBISIA Gymnastics Championships, with over 460 gymnasts representing five different countries and 12 different schools and clubs. This was the biggest gymnastics meet that Bangkok Patana has ever hosted. For the Bangkok TERM 1/2014
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BISAC Second Place Finishers Under 11 Boys’ Basketball Under 15 Girls’ Touch JV Girls’ Football JV Boys’ Football BISAC Third Place Finishers Under 13 Boys’ Basketball Under 15 Girls’ Basketball Under 15 Boys’ Rugby Other BISAC Tournament Results JV Boys Volleyball
4th
Under 13 Boys Tennis
5th
Varsity Boys Volleyball
5th
Varsity Girls Volleyball
6th
JV Girls Volleyball
9th
Patana team, notable performances came from Grace Sintavanarong in Level 2, Jessica Bastin, Amelia Golden, Kaitlyn
Dibbayawan, Plume Plume Kashemsri Na Ayudhaya in Level 3, Amy Teigen in Level 5 and Password Thepkanjana in Level 6 who all took medals for the Girls. Gabriel Hustrulid in Level 1, Tee Janvatanavit in Level 2, and both the Level 3 and 4 teams all took a number of medals for the Boys. In Swimming, the TigerSharks were excited to welcome two Olympians, Kim Vandenberg and Aaron Piersol, who trained students during a four-day technique camp over half term. It was also a momentuous term for the TigerSharks as they won the annual ISB SwimFest, for the first time in 10 years. The win was a real team effort from the 150 TigerSharks who participated. Under 11 Sport has also been thriving in the Primary School. The students have been playing basketball on Monday and football on Thursday. We have an amazing four teams in Boys’ Basketball and three Girls’ teams for our Monday ECA (Extracurricular Activity). Our teams have been improving all the time. At press time, coaches and players were busy preparing our Under 15 FOBISIA
team for the games at Tanglin Trust in Singapore in late November. Also coming up after press time were the FOBISIA Tennis Championships in Jakarta and the Feeding Frenzy Swim Gala with over 600 swimmers, which we host. Preparation for these events has been on top of the regular training for sports teams. The students have been great, showing superb commitment. I would like to thank the staff and students for putting in very long days. Our selective sports programmes got off to a great Season 1. The Tennis programme under Coach Daniel Ahl has over 250 participants; Swimming under Coach Cindy Adair-Bolakoso has over 400 and our Gymnastics programme under Coach Nicola McCrae has over 300 participants throughout the week. All three coaches have worked hard to make their programmes the best in Bangkok through strong coaching and mentorship of the students. A massive thank you to our 58 coaches for their time and effort they have put forth to prepare our teams for their championship tournaments.
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