Patana News Volume 26 Issue 3

Matt Seddon

Home: NavigatiNg multiple Worlds as a global CitizeN

Matt Seddon, Secondary Principal

Aswe step into this new academic year together, I have been really inspired by our recent ‘Summer Selfie Competition’ which was showcased at the recent whole school assembly. This competition, brought immense joy and offered a glimpse into the wonderful lives of our students and their families. I was really taken by the tapestry of destinations our students ventured to over the summer, from the rustic landscapes of Europe and the exuberant shores of Africa to the far corners of Thailand, the bustling cities of North America, the islands of Fiji and beyond. These photos told stories of ‘home’ that was scattered across all the continents, but all connected by a thread—Bangkok Patana School.

ANSWERING A GLOBAL CALL

This notion of global citizenship ties in seamlessly with the World Economic Forum’s recent call for fostering a global citizen mindset. As the world grapples with social inequality, climate change, and the aftermath of a global pandemic, the need for international cooperation has never been more critical. Civic responsibility and global thinking aren’t just lofty ideals; they’re essential tools for social progress and economic recovery. They empower us to approach challenges not as isolated issues affecting ‘someone else,’ but as common problems requiring collective solutions.

MULTIPLE HOMES, ONE WORLD

I know that our students enjoyed the opportunity to spend quality time together at ‘home’ this summer, before returning to another home—Bangkok Patana School. This duality is not just geographical but also emotional and intellectual. Our students don’t just belong to a family or a city; they have a special place in our wonderful and rich world. It’s not just a claim; it’s a way of life here at Patana. We see it every day in how our students navigate linguistic barriers, understand cultural nuances, and empathise with global issues. They are, in every sense, true global citizens.

A ROADMAP TO GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

So how can we cultivate this mindset? A recent blog post in the World Economic Forum suggests six ways to start thinking like global citizens, and I couldn’t agree more. Here are some of my reflections on how we approach these points at Patana.

1. Community-led and Oriented: Here at Patana, the community isn’t a tag line or a buzz word; it’s the reason that this school exists. The more we work together, the more we grow together, and the richer the experience for all involved.

2. Relationship-based: Whether it’s peer-to-peer, student-to-teacher, or school-to-parent positive relationships and strong bonds form the core of our learning environment, fostering not just academic excellence but also socio-emotional growth.

3. International Perspective: Encouraging an international viewpoint doesn’t just mean understanding world politics; it means recognising and celebrating the common threads that bind us, regardless of nationality or culture.

4. Digitally Enabling: We are always looking to embed the best use of technology within our curriculum –but isn’t it amazing that this technology is a real enabler, making global classrooms and international collaboration a daily reality for the Patana family.

5. Inclusive: An inclusive mindset is non-negotiable. I believe that inclusiveness is binary. We are either inclusive or we are not. In everything we do, we strive for an environment where everyone feels they belong.

6. Shared Responsibility: The burden of making the school a better place doesn’t fall on any one individual. As part of a collective, every small action adds up to create significant change for us all. The same is true of this world that we live in.

I invite you to consider what these points mean to you, and to perhaps discuss them with your children at an appropriate level, incorporate them into dinner-table conversations, or even debate them with friends. These points will all mean different things to us all, and that’s great!

As I look forward to the year ahead, I’m filled with hope. A hope that as we delve deeper into the school year, our community will continue to epitomise what it means to be a global citizen, firmly rooted in our values of Well-being, Learning and Global Citizenship.

Thank you for choosing the Patana family to be home.

Wishing you all a fruitful and enlightening academic year ahead.

graCie’s SpaniSH Summer

Gracie Minchin, 12R

Overthe summer, I spent three weeks in Spain enrolled in a Spanish immersion course called Hola. My course took place in a small town called Illescas which was about a 30-minute drive from Madrid, and while I was there, I stayed with a host family. My host family were incredible. They had lived their entire lives in Illescas and had agreed to take me in so I could improve my Spanish and learn more about Spanish culture. My host sister, Irene, was 17 years old, and we would often meet up with her friends in the evenings. I especially enjoyed going on walks with them and sometimes it was a bit challenging because they didn’t speak a lot of English, but it really helped me improve my everyday Spanish. We played many games together, including Cluedo, which I lost at, Dobble and Uno, which by the end of my trip had become very competitive games.

we could buy gifts to take back home, and we ate a lot of ice cream. In Madrid we had a tour of Palacio Real and it was incredible seeing the number of rooms in the building and the number of chairs around the main dining table - 144! We then had the option to go to either the Prado Museum or the Bernabéu Stadium, and I chose the latter, though I was kind of disappointed because the stadium was under construction which meant that you could only go into the trophy room, and there wasn’t even a pitch for us to see. It was awesome though seeing the sheer size of the stadium, and it seemed loud when about 10 kids were there, so I can’t imagine what it would be like to witness a full stadium.

During the week, we did Spanish classes from 9am-2pm from Monday to Wednesday, where we would learn with the other students doing the immersion. There were so many of us in total, ranging from 11 to 17 years, and yet everyone made really strong friendships. In the evenings, we went to a local sports facility where we would play either Pádel, pickle ball or tennis, and then to escape the heat we would usually end up in the community pool with our host siblings and often their friends.

Every Thursday, we did school trips to nearby cities and towns. Over the course of my time in Spain we visited Toledo, Madrid, and lastly Segovia. I especially loved Segovia because of how green it was, and I remember saying to my friends, ‘this is nothing like this is Bangkok’, and it really wasn’t. Everything in Segovia was made of stone and at one point we even sat on the side of the road because there were just no cars, and it felt so odd to me because that was something I hadn’t experienced in a long time. In Toledo, we did a tour of the old town and learnt that a lot of the buildings are derelict and abandoned because nowadays it isn’t very practical to live in areas with such narrow roads that you can’t drive easily on, which means that then you are forced to lug groceries up steep roads to your house. Lastly in Toledo, we visited the Toledo Cathedral and then we got some free time when, you can imagine, we went looking for all of the souvenir shops so

On Fridays, we participated in a sports day with around 200 local Spanish kids, where we would play games with them, and were forced to use Spanish to communicate. The first week, my friends and I snuck away and into the pool because we were quite intimidated by all the kids - sounds silly I know, but when they got out the slip and slide, we were having so much fun that we forgot to feel overwhelmed. We were flying off the end and being showered by water and bubbles being thrown at us. By the second week, our teachers had organised some games for us to participate in, and we ended up in zorbing balls doing races with some of the Spanish kids. By lunch time (well when I consider lunch time - 12pm), we were all exhausted and could not wait for the little shop to open so we could get rejuvenate ourselves with lots of sugar, usually in the form of ice cream and sweets. On my last day, we got put into groups with the Spanish kids and we did a rotation where we played Pádel, tennis, basketball, hockey, and football, and it all got very competitive. As this was my last day with my friends, there were a lot of tears and throughout the day everyone avoided the subject of leaving until the last possible moment.

I had a wonderful time in Spain, and this is definitely an experience I will never forget, one because of the friends I made, and two because of the memories I made this summer. I had never been to Spain before, and now I feel like I have another family. I would love to go back again someday, and I’m really holding out until my host family makes it out to Bangkok, when I will hopefully be able to translate for my parents.

patana ParticiPates!

Achievements from Our Community

Success at Inter-School Equestrian Championships

Welldone to all four students who took part in the DPE Inter-school Equestrian Championship 2023 at Thai Polo Equestrian Club, Pattaya, with a total of 223 students from 89 schools participating in the competition.

The four students representing Bangkok Patana School were:

Gor-Bua Puttisombut, Year 11: Dressage Preliminary Team (8-18 Years old) : 2nd Place (with Alpha) and Dressage Novice Individual (16-18 Years old) : 3rd Place

Lila O’Neal, Year 8: Jumping Individual 90 cm (13-15 Years old)

Maethus Khuptawinthu, Year 6: Dressage Preliminary Team (8-18 Years old): 2nd Place (with Gor-Bua), Dressage Novice Individual (up to 12 years old) : 2nd Place and Jumping Individual 70 cm (up to 12 years old): 2nd Place

Thanom Byloo Wacharaput, Year 6: Jumping Individual 70 cm (up to 12 years old)

Great to see Bangkok Patana represented so immaculately in a new sport! #gotigers

PTG: Country Reps Needed

The PTG is still looking for Country Reps! If you are interested in volunteering as the Country Rep for any of the below listed countries, please reach out to: ptgvicechair@patana.ac.th

Armenia

Burkina Faso

Colombia

Costa Rica

Croatia

Denmark

Estonia

Iceland

Laos

Luxembourg

Maldives

Mexico

Mongolia

Norway

Peru

Romania

Saint Lucia

South Africa

Sri Lanka

INTERVIEW: YERIN KANG, YEAR 13

1. What is one of your fondest or most favourite reading memories?

One of my cherished memories is from my childhood days. While my other friends have memories of their parents scolding them for reading late into the night, lost in their fictional worlds and refusing to sleep, I have a slightly different fond memory. My parents allowed me to read throughout the day, and each day I would read, creating a stack of books. It was amazing, sitting in the corner of the living room alone, fully engrossed in the stories of the books. I felt satisfied and proud as the stack of books grew taller, and I felt refreshed when I had to reach for new books to continue the adventure. This was my favourite spot in my house during my childhood days.

2. Which fictional character would you most like / least like to meet in real life and why?

I would love to meet Percy Jackson. He’s my favourite fictional character from my childhood. I always yearned for the superpowers he possessed, and I want to ask him about the thrilling, mind-bending battles and adventures he had to endure!

On the other hand, I would least like to meet Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. I encountered him in the book Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. He’s one of the most spine-chilling murderers I’ve ever come across, with his intense emotions yet calm actions driven by his obsession with scents. I would never want to encounter someone so intelligent yet chilling like him in real life.

3. What does the theme ‘Escapism and Adventure’ mean to you? Do you have any book suggestions for this theme?

Confronting challenges. The final year of the IB has been- and continues to be- the greatest challenge I’ve faced so far. It’s not just about the study load but also the stress that accompanies the realization of how unprepared you feel as you slowly step into the adult world. Personally, meeting challenges doesn’t always entail solving problems and achieving desired outcomes, as this may not always be feasible in reality. Even when circumstances don’t drastically change, it’s more about how rays of hope and resilience shine through our lives- from my friends, teachers and family, to my music, hobbies and favourite artists.

I would like to recommend Khaled Hosseini’s books (such as The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And The Mountains Echoed). Despite presenting the worst-case scenarios of children’s cries, bloodshed, and the devastating realities of war, these books also radiate hope, love, and care. The stories showcase care, resilience, and love that truly shine in the darkest settings. Each of his books struck me with the realization that there will always be failures and compromises between our efforts and reality; regardless, we should always try to hold onto the values above.

FS AND KEY STAGE 1 RECOMMENDATIONS: Elsie Dale, 2W and Evelyn Dale, 2W

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Ariel is curious about life on land and wants to be a human. But she also loves being a mermaid and doesn’t want to disappoint her father (King Titan), who wants her to stay only in the sea. She follows her heart when she meets Prince Eric and falls in love with him. Ariel loses her voice due to a spell cast on her from her evil Aunt Ursula. With help from her sea friends, Sebastian and Flounder, she finds a way to overcome the spell and live as a human and keep her connection to the ocean and her father.

Dave by Sue Hendra. Dave is a cat who gets stuck in the cat flap. His friends from the garden gather together to try and find ways to get him out. They try tickling him out, scaring him out and then they have a great idea to feed him so many beans that he blasts his way out of the cat flap. A very funny and entertaining story that is fun to read, again and again.

The Smart Cookie by Jory John and Pete Oswald. Cookie goes to school with their pastry friends. They are shy in class and feel like they are not as good as all the others. Cookie feels afraid to speak out in case the answer is wrong and spends lots of their day feeling worried. Their teacher (Ms Biscotti) sets a new challenge and Cookie discovers that they have strengths that they didn’t know they had. Cookie grows in confidence and starts to get braver, when they realise that not all learners are the same, and everyone is an individual.

KEY STAGE 2 BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS: Nancy Tonkin, 7C

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Born and raised in India, little spoiled Mary Lenox has had to move to England, because of a cholera epidemic. Leaving all the people she knows, Mary has to adapt to a new way of life. She is sent to her uncle’s house, whom she has never met. In England, often left alone by her uncle, Mary does not like it one bit - until she discovers a secret garden. Will Mary find out about its mystery? Will she tell people, or will it be her own secret? As Mary faces the challenge of adapting to a new place, she discovers secrets, makes friends and ultimately, changes her personality.

Your monthly round up of reading recommendations. This month’s theme… Meeting Challenges

Curious if we have any of these books available in our libraries? Search online here, or contact our library staff here

Fanshi (Forex) Zhang, 7C and Seyeon Park, 7C

The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything by Michio Kaku. This book is a popular science read, which explains how the laws of Physics apply to our universe. The book walks you through the story of developments in Physics, starting from Newton’s Theory of Gravity, to String Theory. It highlights the very basic principles of nature which binds all of these discoveries together. Readers can meet the challenge of accessing, unlocking and understanding some of the deepest mysteries in Science. This engaging and fascinating read is recommended for Year 5-6 students, who know the basics of Physics.

Sirianong (Plearn) Devakula Na Ayudhya, 7C

Warrior Cats by Erin Hunter. This fantastic series tells stories about felines who encounter mysteries, prophecies and adventures. Along the way, the cats have to face many obstacles, challenges, and enemies. Together, the clans of furry warriors have to do whatever they can to claim their rightful territory back. Don’t hesitate to start the first book in the series: Warriors Into The Wild

KEY STAGE 3

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

Tracey Barton, Teacher Librarian

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul II by Jack Canfield and Marc Hansen. Teens share their personal stories and life lessons with you in these 101 stories about growing up, meeting challenges, and learning from life. You are not alone. Teens share their stories with you. The teenage years are tough, and when bad things happen, the challenges can be overwhelming. Faced with illness, loss of loved ones, divorces, or other upheavals, the obstacles to happiness can seem insurmountable. But these 101 stories describe the toughest teenage challenges and how other teens overcame them. This collection will encourage, comfort, and inspire teens, showing that, as tough as things can get, they are not alone.

The Outsiders by SE Hinton. This book is about two weeks in the life of a 14-year-old boy. The novel tells the story of Ponyboy Curtis and his struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes that he is an outsider. According to Ponyboy, there are two kinds of people in the world: greasers and socs. A soc (short for “social”) has money and can get away with just about anything. It’s a story about greasers versus socs. Ponyboy is a greaser and proud of it. Hi world is about to change forever and pain feels the same whether you are a greaser or a soc.

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed. Amal’s most audacious dream in life is to become a teacher, but her hopes are dashed when she unintentionally insults a member of the Khan family, the rulers over her Pakistani village. As penance, Amal is made to give up her hopes of an education and better life to become a servant in the Khan family’s household. This book is about courage and standing up for what you believe is right and overcoming fear.

KEY STAGE 4 AND 5 BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

Ross Corker, Secondary Curriculum Leader, Art

An Olive Grove in Ends by Moses McKenzie. The captivating story of Sayon Hughes, a young man of Jamaican heritage, growing up in the ‘ends’ of Bristol, UK. Driven by his love for his childhood sweetheart, Sayon tries to overcome complex challenges and escape to pursue his dreams. Follow the narrator’s struggles and conflicts with his environment, religion and family, as circumstances beyond his control lead to life changing decisions, affecting him and people around him, forever. The author’s vivid depictions of the tight knit communities in areas of Bristol bring to life a city which I called home for 15 years, and are really heart-warming.

A Promised Land by Barack Obama. A fascinating presidential memoir which charts the journey of Obama’s life: from the island of Hawaii to law school in Chicago, to his shift into politics and ultimately, to the White House. This book is full of thought-provoking reflections and tells of how Obama faced huge social and political challenges. His story is testament to his strength of character and ability to connect with people; his strong and enduring values have enabled him to triumph.

Ikigai by Francesc Miralles and Hector Garcia. This book delves into the Japanese ‘Secret to a Long and Happy life’. The concept and theory guides readers to find themselves through discovering their true passions in life. Research and evidence is drawn from communities around the world with the highest life expectancies - in particular the Japanese island of Okinawa. ‘Ikigai’ gives practical and actionable advice, which helps to equip you with the tools and strategies needed to overcome everyday challenges and promote lifelong mental and physical wellbeing.

Happy Reading!

Solo Festival October 2023

DATE Saturday 28th October 2023

TIME: 9:00am-1pm (time-slots – 910am, 10-11am, 11am-12pm, 12pm-1pm)

CLOSING DATE: Monday 9th October 2023

More details and application form

HaBitat art Competition

(Foundation Stage - Year 6)

Submit your entry to the Primary Art Room by Monday 18th September. Please include your name and class on the front of your artwork. All entries will be displayed and one from each Year Group will be selected to win a prize!

it Helpdesk for pareNts

IT Department

Since early September, students and staff at school have been using a new system to solve their school-related IT problems. Our new IT Helpdesk provides a more streamlined and efficient support experience. The Helpdesk can be used by parents to solve problems they may have with school-related systems; problems accessing Firefly, the Parents’ Gateway, etc.

The new Helpdesk allows us to track communications between the user and the IT Department. Certain issues can also be auto-routed to the specialist in that area, thereby providing quicker support.

The Helpdesk can be accessed from the Parents’ Gateway under the Helpdesk tab (see image below) or by clicking on this link: BPS-HelpDesk-for-parent (patana.ac.th)

We understand that change can sometimes be challenging, and we are committed to providing you with the necessary assistance and guidance throughout this transition. Should you have any questions, concerns, or need further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out to our IT support team helpdesk@patana.ac.th

immigratioN bureau visit

Our Government Liaison Department was glad to welcome a visit from the Immigration Bureau earlier this week on Tuesday 29th August.

Government Liaison Department

#252: What Parents need to KnoW about sharing Photos online

One of the more heartwarming, life-affirming aspects of social media is being able to share special moments in our children’s lives with family and friends: from the first day at school or blowing out birthday cake candles to smiling holiday selfies and dress-up days. Is there, however, such a thing as too much sharing – and can it actually put children in danger?

With potential risks such as accidentally displaying identifying details (images showing where a child lives or what school they go to, for example) and photos being seen and saved by strangers, perhaps we need to take a little more caution over what we post and where we post it. This guide runs through some safety considerations when sharing images.

Have a great weekend.

Brian Taylor Assistant Principal, Technology for Learning