Our mission is to ensure that students of different nationalities grow to their full potential as independent learners in a caring British international community.
Patana
NEWS
Friday 6th December 2020
Volume 23 Issue 15
www.patana.ac.th
RESIDENTIALS, RESILIENCE AND MAKING MEMORIES By Carol Battram, Primary Assistant Principal
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Also in this issue...
WFP Food Donation/Primary Students Win in Robotics Competition/Christmas Spirit Day 6/12/2020
Bangkok Patana School News
Bangkok Patana is a not-for-profit IB World School accredited by CIS
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Residentials, Resilience and Making Memories
Carol Battram, Primary Assistant Principal, Learning and Welfare
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e aren’t born knowing how to collaborate, and yet I see this essential life-skill in action every time I walk through my local park. Runners and walkers, taking corners at very different speeds, somehow weave safely around each other. Competing takraw players team up to mop up puddles on the court. Cats and humans demonstrate respect for each other’s space! Our Residential programme provides everyone with opportunities to collaborate, and also to demonstrate kindness, cooperation, respect and yes, tolerance. Collaboration, even when peppered with disagreements, can help make new experiences exciting and enjoyable rather than a source of frustration and worry. In last week’s Patana News, Lorna Conroy wrote about her own experiences as a student attending Residential. I was struck by how readily she could summon up fond memories of peeling potatoes and waking up with the ice having made its way inside the tent. The joy! I have my own vivid memories of a Year 8 Residential, and whilst I can’t remember a single one of planned activities, the name of a teacher or even the geographical location, I can still recall the happy hours spent perfecting synchronised dance moves, via cassette player, to ‘Giving Up, Giving In’ by the Three Degrees. If anyone needs a late seventies flashback in their life, here’s the link. I can also recollect, with a horror undiminished since 1979, the wobbly undercooked eggs served up for breakfast each day. We can’t predict which memories will stay with us, but they seem to stick fast when the associated experience is new or particularly intense. That first Residential memory is still joyful and empowering. The second held me back from eating boiled eggs for decades. During last week’s KS2 Residential Presentation, I shared a few practical tips to get children ready for their Residential. Some were linked directly to safeguarding, such as teaching your child to put some pants on before opening the door, whilst others addressed practical skills such as sharing responsibility for the room key. I also shared some common parental concerns.
When we take students on their first Residential, it can be hard to know who is the more nervously excited, the children or the parents. We are asking parents to trust us with the welfare of their child and this can be an enormous milestone for the whole family. I am always proud of our Patana parents, especially our ‘first timers’, when they manage to wave their child off with an encouraging smile.
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Of course, we want every student to arrive back home with funny stories and marvellous memories that will stick with them for years to come but, fair warning, they may also arrive home with less happy tales to tell. For some, home-sickness may have been hard to overcome. They felt happy during the day, busily engaged and surrounded by friends but, as bedtime got ever closer, they instead started to feel anxious and upset. For others, a falling out with friends may be all they can think about. Unkind or unfair things were said - and it all comes spilling out once they get home. By the time they get to share this with you, all that they may remember is the emotional impact. Timelines and even names can and do get muddled between the incident and the retelling, but they remember how they felt. It then falls on the adults to help them balance a negative experience alongside their many positive recollections so that this is does not become the dominant memory of their time away. How we respond, how carefully we listen, and how we help them think and talk about the experience, may make the difference between a memory that empowers, and one that holds them back. For an extreme example of an adventure gone wrong, we need only think back to the nerve-shredding rescue from the Tham Luang caves. During their days trapped underground, they were able to sustain each other with love, courage and camaraderie. How the boys, their coach, and their many rescuers, responded to each new challenge, helped turn what could have been a horrific and damaging memory into something much more complex and even, for some, a source of pride. Some children bounce back from setbacks very quickly. Some don’t. Some will never experience even a moment’s worry about being away from home whilst others dread their departure day. If you know that your child may experience anxiety as we get closer to Residentials, please talk with the class teacher. Oftentimes, we can make some small accommodation that will help reduce their worries and make their Residential a true highlight of the year.
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Robotics Competition Nets First for Bangkok Patana Elementary Team
Max Hopwood, Primary ICT Leader of Learning
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our students from the VEX IQ Robotics ECA attended our first inter-school competition event at St Andrews International School (High School) recently. This VEX IQ Scrimmage event was a prequal to the National VEX IQ competition scheduled for 23rd January 2021. Each student took on key roles with Joaquin, 7S (Chief Designer and Driver), Edward, 6S (Driver & Chief Engineer), Theo 6T (Chief Programmer, Researcher and Driver) and Oscar 7C (Chief Driver, Scout and Team Trouble Shooter).
called Darkside’s, programme and design. The day was split into three separate challenges, two on the Skills Arena, firstly involving remote driving to collect points and secondly a completely autonomous movement round, following the teams bespoke control script. The Main Arena was host to the collaboration challenge where two teams work together to collect maximum points. The Bangkok Patana team and Darkside performed admirably throughout their five Main Arena qualifiers and in the Skills Arena too, and so qualified for the finals in 8th place, also as This year the international competition is based on the highest Elementary team on the day. They then had the Rise Above game elements and rules. The Bangkok a good final bout and finished 3rd overall, winning the Patana team consistently scored well in all elements and Elementary category at our first attempt! were high on the leader boards throughout the day. The event was split into Elementary and High School so, as We are already entered into the January VEX IQ Naa Year 6 and Year 7 combined team, we were among tional event and will be looking to enter a second robot to the youngest competitors and were constantly punching increase our chances and give further opportunities to our above our collective weight! budding robot engineers. If you are keen to get involved, please sign up for the VEX IQ Robotics ECA in block 3 I was very proud of the boys who all showed great de- and 4 later in the year and you could be in the team next termination, teamwork and problem-solving skills having year! to think on their feet to innovate and improve their robot,
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Winner of the Most Eco-Friendly Stall at International Day Ari Kim, Alison Chang, Ayesha Sachdev, Tarini Chowla and Ethan White, on behalf of the Student Environmental Committee
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lthough COVID-19 limited how environmentally friendly the food stalls could be this year, many stalls still did exceptionally well in maintaining their environmentally friendly displays and reduction in single-use plastics. Many thanks to the PTG and parents, the students loved the food and appreciated the hard work and effort that went into preparing the food and beautiful displays. This year, there were 26 countries represented, with Canada, Mexico and Sweden as new additions. The competition for the “Most Eco-Friendly Stall” was judged on five criteria: limited use of plastics (cutlery, cups, wrapping, etc.), use of reusable containers to transport food (reusable plastic boxes instead of tin foil and plastic wrap), use of natural materials for decoration, use of locally sourced ingredients and extra measures taken to be environmentally friendly. It was a very close competition and after much deliberation, the winners are as follows: In 1st place - Returning champions Malaysia, who used plant decorations and created their recycled bottle-cap flags which were not only visually stunning but contributed to the promotion of upcycling materials. The tables in the
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stall presented displays made out of natural and biodegradable materials such as bamboo and banana leaves, which also represented Malaysia’s beautiful natural culture. Malaysia’s stall also featured delicious homemade food - which many students and staff found enjoyable. In 2nd place - France, who contributed to the environment by decorating their eye-catching stall with repurposed primary uniforms. Instead of using plastic packaging, they displayed their delicious and authentic food on home trays and boards. Tied for 3rd place - Thailand and the USA. Thailand utilised fabric and bamboo decorations and USA used hay and corn decorations as well as biodegradable cups and spoons. Congratulations again to the winners and thank you again to all the parents and staff involved for all their efforts to showcase their countries’ diversity and culture in their own unique and eco-friendly way. We look forward to next year’s International Day and friendly (but fierce!) competition for the most eco-friendly stall.
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Varsity Boys Take 3rd in Basketball Invitational William Ahl, 12A
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he Boys’ Varsity Basketball team took part in an ISB invitational event; the tournament was a good way for the boys to start the season after just one week of training. With eight teams taking part, we were split into two pools of four and although we lost our first match to Shrewsbury we bounced back with wins against ICS and
ASB to make the semifinals. Although we lost our semifinal to NIST, we were competitive throughout and followed this up with an 11 point win against Shrewsbury to finish 3rd. To be able to play five matches so early in the season was invaluable and we will be looking to work hard in practice to keep the momentum going.
Boys’ Football Gain Valuable Experience in 7-Aside Matches
Justin Jempson, Cross Campus Assistant Head Football Coach
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he Boys’ Under 9, Under 10 and Under 11 Football teams gained match experience in a child-friendly, 7-aside competition. The boys learned to come together and play as a team in the games. The competition saw the boys play in the 7v7 mini-league over six Sundays in October and November.
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Bangkok Patana Hosts FOBISIA Gymnastics
Will Preston, Cross Campus Head Gymnastics Coach
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ecently, Bangkok Patana hosted 322 students from seven international schools for the FOBISIA Gymnastics competition. This amazing celebration of gymnastics by FOBISIA (The Federation of British International Schools in Asia) directly corresponds to the school’s mission of ensuring that students of different nationalities grow to their full potential as independent learners in a caring British international community.
An event of this size could not be possible without the collaboration of all the different departments working together. Big thank you to the Sports and Activities Department, Marketing Department, IT Department, Buildings and Grounds Department, the coaches from the Gymnastics Academy and lastly, the event would not be possible without the love and support of all the parents from all the schools.
We are proud to be members of Bangkok Patana and The gymnastics skills on display were truly dazzling and awe-inspiring. The routines performed took months and Proud to be Tigers! months of practicing and refining. Every team from every We look forward to hosting FOBISIA Gymnastics 2021. school performed exceptionally well. The team spirit and sportsmanship throughout the weekend was exemplary Go Tigers! with schools cheering each other on.
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Bangkok Patana School News
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Tennis Round-up
Daniel Ahl, Cross Campus Head Tennis Coach
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he Varsity Tennis squad recently took part in the ISB Girls’ event, Aim and Raichah finishing 3rd whilst in the Invitational doubles event which was part of the Fri- Boys’ event, Stefan and Tuna also finished 3rd. day Night Under the Lights Festival. Mark Nielsen and The Varsity Girls’ team had a good start to tennis season Amery Chen were in top form, winning the event for the in friendly matches with NIST and ISB. Both matches saw third consecutive year. plenty of opportunities to play both singles and doubles There were also good results from the Under 15 and experiment with tactical situations we have been Invitational doubles event with Pin and Pam winning the working on in practice.
Varsity Captain Attains ITF World Ranks Daniel Ahl, Cross Campus Head Tennis Coach
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arsity Tennis Captain Mark Nielsen reached the quarterfinals of the ITF World Ranking event in Bangkok this week. After defeating teammate Rainer Schestak in the qualifying rounds, he then won two rounds of the main draw before losing 7-6 in the final set in a titanic battle with the Thai number 6, ranked 485 in the Junior World rankings. As a result, Mark has achieved his first ranking and will enter the International Tennis Federation rankings at about 2,100. As well as being an excellent achievement in its own right, it will also open up opportunities for tennis scholarships to the US and put him onto the radar with UK University coaches.
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Virtual Dance Competition Results Vallary Lokre, Cross Campus Head Dance Coach
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t the beginning of this academic year, the Dance Academy sent out invitations to schools in Thailand as well as across South East Asia to participate in our first ever Virtual Dance Competition. We wanted to provide an opportunity to dancers, many of whom were still living under strict lockdowns and continuing with online learning as well as to students here in Thailand to be able to experience the joy and thrill of participating in a dance competition from the confines of their lockdown/COVID realities. We were so pleased to have over nine different schools, 218 dancers in 54 different teams in participate in the FOBISIA backed event. The link to the results can be
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found here. We had many of our own students participate in the competition and following are the names of our students who placed in the top three in many different categories. Naoki Kitabatake and Mizuki Tanaka - First place Junior Duo/Trio Mizuki Tanaka - First place Mini Solo Kulchad (Sheen) Thianthai - First place Junior Solo Ana Grace Bolakoso - Second in World Dance Solo.
Bangkok Patana School News
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Karting Thai National Championships Maarten Vliegen, Patana Parent
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angkok Patana karters showed strong performances in the back-to-back race weekend competing in the last rounds of the Kart Championship of Thailand on Saturday and the Rok Cup Thailand on Sunday.
KART CHAMPIONSHIP OF THAILAND Year 9 student Nandhavud (Jem) Bhirombhakdi out-classed the competition finishing first in every session. He was not only first overall and first in the Rok GP engine class, he also won the Junior Thai Kart Championship 2020. This is the most prestigious karting trophy from His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Also a great day for Year 8 student Charyanath (Charya) Seneviratne who finished the Junior Rookie class in P4 and was third in the X30 engine class. Year 7 student Taiyo Vliegen kept the track audience busy all day. He started strong with a P1 in qualifying and finished the day in second position after great battles. In the Mini Kart Championship 2020 he finishes in third position. ROK CUP THAILAND After an intense season, Jem crowned himself as the Rok Cup Thailand 2020 Junior Rok GP Champion. Truly the cherry on the cake after becoming the Thai Junior Champion on Saturday. Charya who was competing in the Junior Rok GP was challenged with learning to drive with a Junior Rok GP engine for the first time. He will work hard in the off season to achieve better results in the 2021 Rok Cup Championship. Taiyo had an awesome day and finished this strange season with a win in the Mini Rok class. This result secured him the 1st runner-up position in the 2020 Rok Cup championship. What an awesome weekend - Well done boys! Give them a deserved high 5 when you see them at school. Be sure to check out the new BPS Motorsport Facebook page!
Remember the Three Ws! Wash Your Hands
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Bangkok Patana School News
Wear a Mask
Watch your Distance
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Are You Ready for Christmas Spirit Day? A
s there won’t be our famed Christmas Assembly on the final day of term this year due to COVID-9 restrictions, instead there will be a non-uniform Christmas Spirit Day. This will be a non-donation day. Students, get out your Christmas jumper, winter woollies or just wear red and green in the spirit of the holidays. Here’s hoping the weather stays kind to us that day! The canteens will be serving some Christmas themed food that day and if you keep your eyes peeled you just might see Santa with a mask on!
School Shop Closed Over Holidays The School Shop will be closed from 21st December 2020 through 4th January 2021. It will reopen on 5th January 2021. The Post Office will be closed from 20th December 2020 through 7th January 2021. It will reopen on 8th January, 2021.
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the m o r f t es The lat
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Choosing the Right Language Pathway for your Child Mariela Bianciotti Sennecke, Key Stage 2 Leader of Learning, World Languages
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ast week, more than ninety parents from Nursery to Students with a Thai passport, and registered with AdYear 6 attended the “Languages at Patana” Presenta- missions as Thai, are required by law to study Thai A, Thai tion in the Primary Hall. There was a large turnout of highly for native speakers, and they will learn Thai during MFL engaged parents. lessons. EAL students in Key Stage 2 study additional English classes as their MFL and they will join the MFL proMs Surapee (Kru Gai) Sorajjakool, Head of Thai Pro- gramme as soon as they exit the EAL programme. gramme, Ms Rosarin (Kru Rosie) Wattanapat, Leader of Learning Primary Thai, Mrs Ondine Ullman, Primary Home When choosing a language for their child, parents are Language Coordinator and Leader of Learning Language usually worried about making the wrong language choice. Acquisition: EAL, Mrs Virginie Turner, Secondary Home However, one must bear in mind that learning any foreign Language Coordinator: HOLA; Mrs Celine Courenq, language provides a set of skills that will make any future Head of Faculty, World Languages and I gave an over- language learning experience less difficult. Being aware view of the three Language Pathways available for stu- of this advantage will prevent any unnecessary stress bedents from an early age to Senior Studies as well as the cause there is never a “wrong” language decision. main changes for the 2020/21 academic year. As a follow-up to the Parents’ Presentation and in prepaBeginning in August 2021, the language carousel that ration for choosing another language in Year 7- called was being offered in preparation to select an MFL1 will MFL2, Year 6 students joined Language Tasters offered no longer be available. Instead, the current Year 2 stu- by the Primary language teachers. During their MFL lesdents will choose their language and will begin studying son, Year 6 students selected two new languages to help this language from the beginning of Year 3. This additional them make a decision before submitting their MFL2 final year of studying their chosen language will provide stu- choice on 8th December. The language options available dents with more time to develop and consolidate their lan- for MFL2 are French, Mandarin, Spanish and Thai B. guage skills. Language choice is an important decision in preparaTherefore, in January 2021(Term 2) of this academic tion for the IB (International Baccalaureate Programme in year, Year 2 students will need to select a language to Years 12 and 13). For those parents who could not atstart in Year 3 and students in Year 3, who are currently tend this event, the presentation is available on the Parent’s part of the language carousel, will need to select a lan- Gateway and are welcome to ask for advice by making guage to start in Year 4. The language options available an appointment with the relevant Head of (Home) Lanfor their MFL1 are French, Mandarin and Spanish. guage.
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Air Quality: What Small Steps Can I Take?
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s we leave behind heavy monsoon mornings, it’s only natural to look forward to those cool, clear mornings with bright, blue skies. Only, in the past few years the skies around Bangkok have often been anything but clear. It’s the time of the year when many people have multiple air quality apps on their phones and we spend countless minutes comparing readings on each app, debating with our peers what data is the most accurate and on whose records we can place the blame for dirty air. WHAT SMALL STEPS CAN WE TAKE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE? Last week in Patana News we included information about idling cars. In Bangkok, traffic is a major cause of air pollution. If we choose to ride in our personal vehicles, keeping them well maintained can also reduce the emissions that cause air pollution. These are the parts of your car that help reduce pollution: • The catalytic converter oxidises volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide (CO) and reduces nitrogen oxide (NOx). • The oxygen sensor ensures the best mix of fuel and oxygen. An imbalance increases your emissions. By the way, when the oxygen sensor isn’t working properly your car uses more gasoline. Replacing a worn oxygen sensor with a new one may boost gas mileage by 10 – 15%. • The exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system returns part of the exhaust gas to the combustion chamber. This lowers N0x emissions and improves gas mileage. • The air injection pump pushes air into the exhaust manifold where it burns off VOCs and CO. • The positive crankcase ventilation valve redirects vapours into the intake manifold reducing VOC emissions. • If your engine misfires, it can very quickly damage the catalyst. • Keeping your tyres properly inflated improves gas mileage, reducing emissions due to less fuel burnt. Of course, the best way to reduce vehicle emissions is to consider walking or using public transport!
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CAT CORNER
Stopping Hunger One Box at a Time Allan Kirk and Amaan Aliani, 11Z orld Food Project (WFP), a CAT club dedicated to helping those in need and raising awareness about world hunger, recently delivered 150 boxes full of food to the Nong Mai community in Khlong Toei Saturday 28th November as part of an annual Christmas Food Drive. Each box was filled with rice, tuna, vegetable oil, oyster sauce, fish sauce, glass noodles and UHT milk, which were donated by Secondary students. This year, the donations went to families with a focus on helping to ease the problems they may face due to the global pandemic. Although it was not possible to play games with the children or personally deliver the boxes, it was nice to see the locals get involved and help unload the boxes. The food drive allowed us to be more aware of the difficulties experienced by people less fortunate than ourselves in these tough times and it was a great way of understanding the impacts that COVID-19 has had on communities such as the one in Khlong Toei. Thank you so much to everyone who donated and we hope to continue this for many years to come!
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What’s New in the Library?
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Ho Ho Ho! Christmas has Arrived at the PTG Tiger Shop A
re you wondering what to buy your family and friends for Christmas? There is something for everyone at the Tiger Shop; there are a range of new products on offer from golf sets to recycled glass Items, and plenty of Tiger and House Merch to choose from. There are lots of newly introduced products such as Patana leggings, House bucket hats and House socks so come down before the end of term to buy some gifts for the holiday season!
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PINK DAY - BREAST CANCER AWARENESS
Cancure CAT club n 29th October the whole of Secondary took part in wearing pink to raise awareness for breast cancer. With that goal, to increase awareness within our local community, our CAT club - Cancure - worked alongside the PTG and the SILC to organise a day of breast cancer awareness and an opportunity to fundraise for the Queen Sirikit for Breast Cancer Foundation. We held a very successful bake sale at lunch, and we would like to thank everyone who helped out.
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eas of interest in this field, as the presentation ended with a Q&A session. Some interesting questions included how to distinguish hormonal and non-hormonal cancer, healthy eating and ways to prevent cancer, as well as the impact of genetics on breast cancer.
Demonstrated by statistics showing that the chances of surviving breast cancer increase by 98 percent with early detection, we strongly believe that funding the check-ups held by the Queen Sirikit Centre will make a big differSenior students also had the opportunity to listen to an ence to the lives of many underprivileged women. The insightful presentation delivered by Dr Shinawatt Visutdi- funds received from Pink Day will go on to support and phat of Samitivej Hospital on breast cancer, including the ensure that unprivileged women in Bangkok have access history, self-examination methods and risks of breast can- and education to get tested and treated regardless of their cer. Dr Kris Chatamra, the founder of the Queen Sirikit for gender, age, background, financial situation and location. Breast Cancer Centre, known for his modern approach Overall, it was a great event and we hope to do the same to cancer treatment, also talked to the students through a next year! live zoom call. We had the chance to expand on our ar“It was very helpful as I am considering a “It was very educational and it was nice to path in medicine, and it made me aware of the see a lot of people supporting the cause by potential risks associated with breast cancer.” wearing pink.” Aditi Badde, 12T Estelle Kim, 12G “Pink day was very fun. It is always fun to “I found Pink Day very meaningful! We got to wear dress up, and the bake sale has great food; pink whilst helping raise money for charity and the cookies were to die for.” Janelle Lourdes supporting Cancure. The baked goods were also De La Cruz, 12T delicious!” Lisa Zhang, 7R “The presentations on breast cancer were educational and shed light on how common this type of cancer is amongst women. As a student who aims to pursue a career related to medicine, this was an amazing opportunity to delve further into the current state of medical treatment, particularly in the field of oncology.” Yunnan Dumnernchanvanich, 13C
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ARTS COUNCIL IB Helps in Tackling Challenges of Music Composition Raphael Ayrle, 13B
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aving studied IB Music for the past two years, I have been able to develop tremendously as an artist and creative thinker. Specifically, the composition portion of the course has been the most rewarding as it has allowed me to explore what it means to be creative in new ways. Composing music has catalysed my curiosity in finding the perfect balance between subjectivity and objectivity. Creating music for the IB has forced me to work towards satisfying the criteria, whilst still maintaining the objective of the piece, whether that is to convey a certain theme of emotion, or to describe a certain memory from the past.
which can be difficult. Not knowing why certain instruments were selected, or certain dissonances and harmonies were written, can make the music unexplainable. And that is the greatest challenge. Having to justify a choice with terminology when in truth, the choice was made out of emotion, in the absence of logical thinking.
However, doing the IB has helped me overcome the challenge as I have become increasingly aware of my decision-making process. Being forced to justify every musical anomaly and irregularity has broadened my musical options when composing, as I no longer rely on emotion A big challenge throughout the process of composition to create music. With the guidance of Ms MacRitchie, I has been to explain my musical choices using musical ter- have found better ways to combine the creative and raminology. I find it difficult to justify my choices at times, as tional sides of composition and I believe it will benefit me I often tend to write out of emotion, instead of calculation, in my understanding of my own actions creatively.
Email Eva Sophonpanich to book or visit the website for details.
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Inspired by Pop Art Midori Ishibashi 12C
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uring IGCSE, I studied photography and doing this art course has helped me learn new skills like composition and different techniques. With the skills I have learned, I am able to use it now, during Visual Arts IB. This was a challenge for me as I had no experience in fine art and transitioning from a digital form of art to fine art was a big step. I did not have the skills that my classmates had, which made me question if visual arts was a course I really wanted to take. Although I had these thoughts I am glad that I stuck to my first choice and committed to trying to improve my skills. The art piece I have chosen was inspired by Andy Warhol, specifically his Marilyn Monroe painting. I found that pop art was the style of art which would help ease the transition from photography to fine art. The man that you are looking at is a photo taken by me in GCSE. It was taken at Chatuchak market and I found the man's face to be very expressive and I chose to paint him because I wanted to
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shock people when looking at the painting. I have learnt a lot of techniques and learnt from my mistakes during my first time painting my piece. Now that I have learnt from my past experiences I can use them in my future artworks and produce even better works of art. One thing I thought I did well on this piece was that I managed to keep the Pop Art style and the painting also almost looks like it was done digitally which was what I was trying to convey. A tip I would give for students that are not sure if they should take Art would be to decide on what you are passionate about. If producing Art is the case, even if you have no experience in it, I would strongly recommend you to do so. Yes it may be a little terrifying if you have no experience, but you will learn a lot along the way with guidance and by the end of the course you will be able to produce amazing artworks. The progress you will see from the start to the end will be one of the biggest achievements and it would really please you in the future!
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STUDENTS SPEAK Manipulation by Advertising Praewa Taylor, 11B
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he purpose of advertising is obviously to inform you about a product and to justify why you should choose to buy one product over another of similar standard. So, how do companies present advertisements in ways that persuade us effectively?
Another obvious way in which advertising manipulates us is through our emotions. It is commonly known that humans are strongly affected by emotional influences which leaves us vulnerable to manipulation. Advertising uses meta-communication (a form of secondary communication used to convey underlying messages that are not states explicitly) to stimulate our emotions. The most frequent methods of this are music, setting, plot or characters. These forms of meta-communication influence our subconscious into believing a product is good or better than what it actually is as we find it difficult to differentiate facts from fiction.
Advertisements commonly pop up when you are watching the television or reading a magazine. This is because you tend to be in a passive mindset during these pastimes and are not prepared to think. Advertisements feed off this vulnerability and offer products with information and graphics aimed to justify the great quality of the product which we instinctively accept due to our lack of attentive Being aware of these methods of persuasion and mathought even when the justification is unreasonable. nipulation will allow your subconscious to be less vulnerable to idealised visions. Remember if an advert stimulates A study by Ellen Langer and colleagues on the respons- an emotional response, it is an attempt to compel you to es of students in a university library to whether someone purchase the product regardless of the quality or usefulelse could jump ahead of them in the photocopying line ness so you should always consider the factual qualities shows that students were more reluctant to allow one to of a product before making a purchase rather than basing jump ahead when a justification was not given. Howev- your decision off of an advert. er, it also revealed that students complied just as readily when given a “placebo� justification.
Contribute your article for publication in the magazine and in the Patana News! scientia@patana. ac.th
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The Untold Story of COVID-19 Kamolnisa (Gao) Kamalanavin, 11L
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OVID-19. The infectious disease that has killed more than one million people and caused major economic recession around the globe. Until recently, there's been no functional vaccine developed, and the numbers of coronavirus cases have been increasing daily, with a current total of around 60 million globally confirmed cases. This virus, which originated in Wuhan China, has spread across the world at an unpredicted rate. COVID-19 has a zoonotic nature: the virus can transfer between humans and animals (in this case, the virus likely originated from bats). I’m certain that all these negative statistics have been thrown at you during this pandemic. However, this pandemic may actually be a catalyst for societal development. We have experienced the inconveniences and obstacles caused by COVID-19. Such sudden and drastic changes to the ‘everyday norm’ can be intimidating, especially when we are under academic pressure. Events like this don't occur often but when it does, it becomes a part of us. It helps us better prepare and adapt when new situations arise. CHANGING ENVIRONMENT Have you noticed that the sky is ‘bluer’? Time Magazine stated that during lockdown, carbon emissions were reduced by seven percent due to the lack of pollution from transportation and industrial structures. Some COVID-19 restrictions only allow people to travel small distances, which encourages them to use eco-friendly means of transport such as walking or cycling. The illustrations below compare the density of nitrogen dioxide in China before and during the Pandemic. The amount of this toxic gas has decreased dramatically, as shown by the absence of dark coloring in the illustrations of 2020. Many other countries have experienced a decrease in carbon emissions as well. According to BBC News, New York has experienced a decrease of ten percent while Paris’ emissions decreased by 72 percent. This temporary im-
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provement proves the potential of humanity to control our carbon emissions. Developing this could help us achieve our long-term goals of reducing greenhouse gases at a consistent rate to improve climate change. CHANGING EDUCATION Secondly, COVID-19 has raised awareness and improved the quality of online education. Have you ever used Microsoft Teams before the pandemic? Although Microsoft Teams was created in 2017, I’m positive that most of us have never even heard of this platform until recently. The graph below shows a dramatic five-fold increase in the usage of Teams during the pandemic. Many schools, including ours, have turned to such online platforms to smoothly transition from physically attending classes, and continuing studies at home. Features of Teams include platforms for sharing learning resources, class video calls, and directly connected to Office 365; such as Word, One-Note, etc. The pandemic acts like an experiment to determine the effectiveness of online education: it has debunked that learning face-to-face is the only way to ‘properly’ be educated. The development of technology has provided us with platforms that we can conveniently use to communicate and collaborate like we would in a classroom. Online education is still used today- even without lockdown regulations- proving that the Covid-19 pandemic increased our awareness of the digital platforms that can be easily used to support our learning. This development could also have large implications for LEDCs, making education easily accessible to all. The COVID-19 pandemic was a major turning point in the final months of 2019 - no one knew that our lives would have become different. From wearing masks 24/7 to constantly sanitising our hands, we have adapted into the ‘new normal’, and it will remain this way until a vaccine will be created. Read the rest of this article on Scientia here.
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#170: Screenshots Using Lightshot I
must take hundreds of screenshots every day. I know there are built in ways to do it for Mac and Windows, but sometimes I need to upload the cloud and get a link to the image to paste in a comment box. That’s where Lightshot comes in handy. You can download the app (free for Mac and Windows) or instal as an extension in your Chrome browser. Watch this short video on how to use Lightshot.
Thanks to the regulars at the PTG Tech tips last Tuesday. We explored how we use Apple Classroom the Guided Access on our school iPads. At the next event in January, we will be exploring the virtual reality devices we use at Patana. Have a relaxing weekend. Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Campus Curriculum Technology Integration
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UNI COUNSELORS’ CORNER In the Spotlight... Bond University, Australia
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pending your uni years surrounded by great beaches and sunny weather sounds ideal. Bond University is located in Gold Coast in Australia and is Australia’s first private, not-forprofit university. It offers a low student to teacher ratio and a high number of international students, 47 percent of students are from overseas. The university operates four academic faculties; the Faculties of Health Science and Medicine and Society and Design, along with Bond Business School and the Faculty of Law. Despite the relatively small number of faculties, the university has a wide academic portfolio covering numerous different subject areas. Other campus facilities at Bond University include the Bond Institute of Health and Sport, a teaching and training facility located 4 km from the Bond University main campus. It is composed of clinical skills rooms, simulation spaces and specialised teaching rooms for allied health programs and research including occupational therapy, physiotherapy and nutrition and dietetics. Despite its relative youth, established in 1989, it boasts Olympians and Para-Olympians as alumni as well as former CEO of Virgin Group David Baxby.
University Visits UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE
COUNTRY
LOCATION
University at Albany, SUNY
USA
Trent University
Canada
University of Bristol
UK
Trinity College Dublin
Ireland
2nd Floor Senior Studies 2nd Floor Senior Studies 2nd Floor Senior Studies 2nd Floor Senior Studies
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1.12.2020
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21.1.2021
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26.1.2021
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Desert Island Discs With Katie Sloane, Head of English Faculty
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his column follows in the style of the famed BBC podcast which features a celebrity every week – here we feature our own Bangkok Patana celebrities! What eight songs, one luxury item and one book would you take with you if you were stuck on a desert island? Today Katie Sloane, Head of English Faculty, is stuck on a desert island. MS SLOANE, IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND WHAT EIGHT PIECES OF MUSIC WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? The Truth - Handsome Boy Modeling School feat. Roisin Murphy Nancy Boy - Placebo Sweet Jane - Velvet Underground Big Exit - PJ Harvey Little Red Wagon - Audra Mae and the Almighty Sound Dry the Rain - Beta Band Scorpio Rising - Death in Vegas
Listen to Ms Sloane’s playlist here
California Soul - Marlena Shaw PICK ONE LUXURY ITEM YOU WOULD WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU. THIS ITEM MUST BE INANIMATE AND OF NO USE IN ESCAPING THE ISLAND OR ALLOWING COMMUNICATION FROM OUTSIDE. A Piano WHICH ONE BOOK WOULD YOU WANT TO HAVE WITH YOU? The Library of Piano Classics 2 Catch the real Desert Island Discs on BBC. Now that you are stuck at home, what are you listening to? Have a list of your own? Let us know! Contact SHKN with your favourites.
Check the calendar! Monday 7th December is not a school holiday! 2020/21 CALENDAR
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For daily updates, snapshots and news on life at school you can find us here...
643 Lasalle Road (Sukhumvit 105) Bangna Tai, Bangna, Bangkok 10260 THAILAND Tel: +66 (0) 2785 2200 Fax: +66 (0) 2785 2399 www.patana.ac.th Email: reception@patana.ac.th 30
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