NEWS Patana

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

Week 15 - Full of Opportunities! P. 2

Letter from the Cross Campus Principal

As we close week 15 of this aca-demic year, there is no doubt that Bangkok Patana School is ‘full steam ahead’. We should be very proud as a school community for the sheer range and depth of opportunities that we build into a very rich learn-ing programme right across the school. This requires an untold de-gree of behind-the-scenes planning and energy, but this is energy well invested especially when we see the very positive impacts on our stu-dents and their families. Our calen-dar is bursting with activities and events. A cursory review of recent events should serve to remind us just how much our rich programme can help each of our students to de-velop happy and healthy lives, devel-op a love of learning and be able to identify their potential.

We promote healthy and active life-styles and team partic-ipation in sports. The last two weeks have seen great fun and par-ticipation in the Key Stage 2 Sports Days and our an-nual House Athletics Day for Sec-ondary was a resound-

ing success on Wednesday. Over this and last weekend, friendship tourna-ments against other schools contin-ue for sports such as basketball, ten-nis, touch and rugby.

We encourage adventure and chal-lenge beyond the school.

Since Mr Mills’ last article re-porting on the Secondary Residen-tials, we have also run two success-

ful International Award trips to Hong Kong (walking) and Ko Samet (kayaking). Meanwhile, col-leagues are busy planning ahead for the Primary Resi-dentials, which will start in January, just over three school weeks’ time.

We nurture passion in the Arts. Many readers will have delighted

in the Primary production of Aladdin this week, which was such a colour-ful and vibrant musical involving a good many students from upper Key Stage 2. Our Senior Drama students have recently enjoyed a specialist workshop by guest Marco Luly, our Year 9 students have visited an art museum and IGCSE and IB Art Stu-dents have worked with ‘artist-in-residence’ Ulrich Gottlieb.

We invite parents into the school to understand our programme and how it is intended to benefit their children.

Last Tuesday, some of you will have learned about how the Founda-tion Stage allows some of our young-est students to develop their early writing skills. Also on Tuesday last week there was a huge turnout for a thorough explanation of reporting and assessment in Key Stage 3. This week, presenting to Primary parents, Mr Taylor explored some of the diffi-cult dynamics facing families today as their children immerse them-selves in increasingly sophisticated online technologies, a theme he will visit later in the year with Secondary parents. On Thursday, Year 11 stu-dents and parents were introduced to option pathways at IB (International Baccalaureate) as they prepare to make some important decisions for the next phase of their

education. We celebrate important events on the Thai calendar.

Last week Mr Smith wrote of the wonderful Loy Krathong activities prepared by the Thai teams and their colleagues. Today the whole school came together for one of four annual whole school assemblies. We honored the 88th birthday of His Majesty the King, which served to remind us of His Majesty’s many achievements while celebrating as-pects of Thai culture within his king-dom.

In actual fact, the events men-tioned above are but a very small sample of everything that has hap-pened in the last week or so. The good news is that the calendar doesn’t get any lighter after the long weekend. We are looking forward to many more celebrations, gatherings and activities to support our stu-dents, families and staff. Meanwhile, not showing on the calendar, there will be countless engaging learning opportunities taking place within lessons, break times and after school activities. It is important that we give collective thanks go to all the people who work so incredibly hard to make Bangkok Patana such a vibrant, op-portunity-packed place to learn in. James Penstone Cross Campus Principal

By Lucy Thompson, 9G and Vibhuti Vijay, 9L

The Junior Delegates are a group of Year 9 students whose aim is to make our school a better place for every student in Key Stage 3. We come together every week on Wednesday to dis-cuss issues, plan assemblies and talk about upcoming events. We represent Key Stage 3, and this gives the younger years an op-portunity to voice their ideas and opinion.

So far this year, we have been involved in helping settle in our new Key Stage 3 students on In-duction Day in August, when we ran some icebreakers and con-ducted tours around the school. We spoke to the whole Second-ary School at the start-of-year assembly and we explained our role here in the Bangkok Patana community. We also planned a Key Stage 3 assembly based around the theme of ‘Rumours and Gossip’. As a team, we decid-ed that those would be extremely relevant topics to people our age

and younger and we tried to send positive messages about these issues with our interactive assem-bly. Also, we helped our Head of Year and other teachers with the Residential, such as hosting the Quiz Night.

The Junior Delegates encourage students to approach them about issues, conflicts or suggestions we can use to make continued improvements to the school. We really appreciate any suggestions we get, and we do talk about

them in our regular meetings. We are currently planning another assembly in Term 2 as well as tak-ing on the task of organising the next Key Stage 3 dance with Ms Perriam (Senior Teacher for Key Stage 3). By having assemblies on topics that our students can re-late to, we hope to help them gain a positive and informative outcome. We hope to keep work-ing together to make a positive change to life in Key Stage 3.

Year 9 students visited the wonderful Museum of Contem-porary Art (MOCA) on Thursday 28th and Friday 29th November. The students had a fantastic day and were able to see a wide vari-ety of artwork and many stu-dents discovered new favourite pieces. Students will now com-plete follow-up Art lessons con-sidering the work they encoun-tered and how it can influence their own project work.

By Helen Thew, Assistant Principal Student Welfare

With such a large school, it is often difficult to run one event that in-volves absolutely everyone. House Athletics is one of the few that comes close to doing this as students will be involved either participating or cheering their fellow House mates. To increase participation even fur-ther, alternative events to the stand-ard track and field events were run once more and it was great to see students competing just as keenly in these.

One of the nicest aspects of this type of event is the opportunity it gives students to have a chance to perform a leadership role. Each House has Year Leaders per Year group as well as two House Captains from Year 12. It is the role of these students to pull everyone together, encourage participation, ensure stu-dents turn up for the right events (at the right time!) and to lead rousing choruses of cheers as events are run, jumped or thrown. I’d like to offer a big thank you to these students for their unending enthusiasm, commit-ment and determination because it is they who make days like House Ath-letics the success that we have come to expect.

Every point gained was equally im-portant but some students per-formed exceptionally on the day and are now the overall record holders for their event. The names below represent the students who achieved a school record during this year’s House Athletics. Year 7: Melanie Marcar - 200m Harry Clark - 400m and 800m Lanta Girls' Relay Team Anna Meller and Melanie Marcar - High Jump Prompt Sudlabha - Javelin Year 9: Alissa Welser - 100m Dan Axtell - 200m Moniqa Nielsen - 300m and Shot Put

Kenji Miyauchi - 400m Phuket Girls' Relay Team Jade Martin - High Jump Kris Dante - Javelin Year 11: Laura Worthington - 300m, 800m and High Jump Sri Hollema - 800m Alex Lacrosse - 400m, Long Jump and High Jump Henry Theerathada - High Jump Samui Girls' Relay Team Seniors: Christian Salce - 800m Lanta Girls' Relay Team Ton Kiangsiri - Discus

: “It was pleasing to

see the tremendous House Spirit within the Lanta Lions from the elite sports men and women setting new school records to those filling in for absent colleagues and those who enthusiastically took part in the alter-native events and did not stop com-peting until the final whistle was blown. The organisation by the Year Leaders was fantastic to ensure that every lane was filled and students were at their events on time, and even the Lanta Staff were involved, maintaining their 100% record in the 4x100m teachers relay. Congratula-tions to all Lanta competitors and a big thank you to Mrs Bebbington and all the PE staff and helpers for organ-ising a wonderful competition.” Thoughts from Chang House by Mr Myers:

“As House Athletics arrived, the Chang team worked tirelessly to en-

sure that athletes were prepared to compete in all events. On days like these it’s great to see participation and enjoy-

ment from so many students and Chang House have really embraced this. The Chang teamwork was really on display with great wins in the Tug of War competition, which involved students across all Year groups work-ing together. This year’s amazing efforts and achievements saw Chang finished a well-deserved second place. Watch out Lanta, we’ll catch you next year! The Year Leaders and House Captains deserve a big well done and thank you for organising and running House Athletics for Chang this year!” Thoughts from Phuket House by Mr Read:

“House Athletics was a fantastic day with lots of trials, tribulations, excitement and success-es for Phuket. There were some outstanding individual feats, includ-ing triple record breaker Moniqa Nielsen, but what was most impressive was the team work and house ethos through-out. The Year Leaders and House Captains led the way, cheering on and organising everyone within Phu-ket. This team spirit translated to the relay teams at the end of the day. Phuket closed the gap and almost caught Chang in second place due to the fantastic teamwork shown in the relays. Overall, everyone that partici-pated in Phuket did so in the right spirit, whether they finished first or last and it was a great day had by all. Maybe next year our name will be on the cup!” Thoughts from Samui House by Mr Hume:

“This year, like the bak-ing December sun on House Athletics Day, was a scorcher with many

...continued on page 5

blistering performances! The Samui Dragons looked red-hot and were splendidly marshalled by the House Captains and Year Leaders - well done team! Your effort meant that the majority of our lanes were filled race after race with happy smiling Samui faces! In the track and field events, a flight of Dragons blazed a trail and the following were all too hot to handle: Niamh, Emiko, Laura, Serri, Reesha, Laura, Kristine, Beryl, James, Ben. A special mention to this year’s brightest Dragon goes to the blistering Laura ‘Worthers’ Worthing-ton as she burned up four new school records! Down in the alternative

events, much fun was had by ALL! Unfortunately, despite the dedication from the House Captains and the Year Leaders, at the end of the day the final Samui scores did not reach the same highs as the temperature! Thank you to all Dragons for Roooar-ing on your fellow competitors and despite not winning, I think that the

Samui House spirit will forever burn brightly! Dread the Red! Go Samui!”

When the last relay race was com-pleted and all the points were added together the final race points and

valuable House Points were as fol-lows:

In order to celebrate their success Mr Wadsworth will announce shortly a “Lanta Day” and all Lanta students and staff will be treated to a free non-uniform yellow day.

Overall House Points:

At the beginning of the House Ath-letics day all staff and students joined in a minute’s silence to commemo-rate our ex-colleague and teacher, Joanna McArthur, or as we all called her - Mrs Mac. In the afternoon as-sembly, a special award in memory of Mrs Mac was announced (see details below).

House Athletics would not happen without a lot of people pulling to-

gether and so I would like to thank:

The most excellent PE Depart-ment, especially Ms Bebbington, for their professionalism in organising and running not only what happened on Tuesday, but also the Discus and High Jump events held prior to the actual event.

The “backroom staff” – house-keeping staff, technicians, grounds staff and the Sports and Activities Department – for ensuring every-thing was in the right place at the right time and without whose help the event would not have been possi-ble

Those with leadership roles in the House System – House Leaders, House Captains and Year Leaders – for their Trojan-like work ethic before and during events.

Every single participant who ena-bled their House to earn those valua-ble points – yes even if it was just one extra point.

With the House Swimming, House Quiz and the House Music and Dra-ma festival still to come – the House system does ensure that it is not only the athletic stars that get the oppor-tunity to shine and the overall House shield is still all to play for. Finally, please do continue to support our recycling efforts by bringing in as much paper, card and glass as you can to the recycling bins near the Secondary noodle stall. The money raised not only scores points for the House but also helps support the ed-ucation of the children of our six-day staff.

This award acknowledges a sig-nificant contribution to House Ath-letics. It is awarded to one boy and one girl in any of the four Houses for fulfilling the criteria below: Takes part in a House Athletics

event with passion, determination and contributes a significant num-ber of points for their house;

Exhibits a strong work ethic to perform to their best;

Is an inspirational role model for fellow students. Consistently demonstrates a positive attitude and an enthusiastic approach;

Has outstanding levels of sports-manship. Is humble in victory and gracious in defeat. Is supportive

of fellow athletes and their en-deavours. Values the contribu-tions that everyone makes to their respected house. The winners of the Joanna McAr-

thur Award will be presented in our End of Term 1 Awards Assem-bly on 18th December 2015.

Place

House Race Points

House Points

1st Lanta 1,509 200

2nd Chang 1,299 150

3rd Phuket 1,275 100

4th Samui 1,178 50

Place House Points

1st Lanta 500

3rd Chang 435

2nd Phuket 385

4th Samui 280

Continued from page 4...

THE ROAR Produced by the Athletics Council

Rugby

U15 Boys - 2nd

Touch

U15 Girls - Champi-

ons

Football

JV Girls - Champi-

ons

JV Boys - 6th place

www.facebook.com/bpssports

Athlete of the week: Patricia Hall

For coming third overall at SEASAC Golf

Year: 10 What did you enjoy most about golf? Playing with other competitors from different schools. Who is your sporting idol? Usain Bolt What is your sporting quote? “I failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed” – Michael Jordan What was your favorite memory on SEASAC golf? Shooting my personal best (85) How long have you played golf and what made you start? I have been playing golf for two years competitively. My dad and mom influenced me to play golf ever since I was very young. Do you play any other sports besides golf? I play many other sports but football, volleyball and softball are my top three.

BIG UPCOMING EVENTS

NIST TOURNAMENT

December 4th – 5th

FEEDING FRENZY @ BPS

December 11th – 13th

BPS INVITATIONAL

December 13th

If you have the chance, go and sup-

port your friends!

Upcoming Fixtures…

Tuesday 8th December

Basketball Varsity Boys’ HOME

Basketball Varsity Girls’ Away

Football U15 Girls’ HOME

Tennis U18 Boys’ HOME

Tennis U18 Girls’ HOME

Wednesday 9th December

Touch Varsity Girls’ HOME

Saturday 12th December

Basketball Varsity Boys’ HOME

Basketball Varsity Girls’ HOME

Rugby Sevens Varsity HOME

Touch Varsity HOME

Other Sports websites to visit:

Tiger Sports

http://community.patana.ac.th/tiger-sports-

teams

Tiger Tweets

https://twitter.com/BPSSPORTS?

ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Patana Tennis

https://www.facebook.com/patana.tennis?

fref=ts

Sport Team Opposition Venue

Basketball Boys-Varsity NIST Invitational Away

Basketball Girls-Varsity NIST Invitational Away

By Genevieve Ahl, Services Manager

Feeding Frenzy All swimmers attending Feeding

Frenzy on Friday 11th December will have their bus home cancelled. If siblings will be staying to watch, please ensure their bus is cancelled in advance by emailing transport@patana.ac.th.

Language on the School Bus Please help to remind your child/

ren that the School Transport Ser-vice is an extension of the school day and the same rules apply on the journey home. Students must not use bad or inappropriate language on the school bus. We expect stu-dents to show respect and courtesy at all times whilst using the Transport Service. Please report any students who do not abide by this rule to the Transport Department, who will inform the appropriate teacher/tutor/senior staff to follow up.

Bike for Dad Bike for Dad on Friday 11th De-

cember will cause disruption to some of our routes in the afternoon. Morning routes will be as normal. Parents will be contacted if their child's bus cannot drop off at its nor-mal location and an alternative will be provided where you will need to arrange for an adult to collect the child. If you do not plan to use the school bus service on this afternoon, please contact Transport well in ad-vance to help with route planning. Students in Years 10 and above can

use the BTS shuttle bus service, but please book in advance and cancel your normal bus home in advance.

Advance Booking Can parents who would like to join

the school bus in the morning please help the Transport Department by booking in advance? (One to two days in advance is preferable.) We get a lot of phone calls in the morn-ing and many could be avoided by advance planning. If your query is relating to an afternoon cancellation or advance notice about a change, please avoid calling the office be-tween 6.00am – 7.30am to keep the lines open for more urgent phone calls realting to illness, cancellations or bus monitor queries. Email is best if it is not urgent.

7-Eleven Students should not be going to 7-

Eleven, True Coffee or other off-campus businesses prior to going to the bus parking area. This causes unnecessary delays to bus depar-tures. Students should plan in ad-vance if they would like a snack for the return journey. Students will be reported to their Head of Year if they are delaying the bus and thus being inconsiderate to other bus users.

The Bike for Dad event to be held on Friday 11th December will cause some disruption to transport around Bangkok. Please plan ahead if you will use your own private transport on this day. Be be aware that there are likely to be delays for those School Transport users who live near the areas on the route. The route can be viewed here. Individual Transport users will be contacted if an alternative drop off point is required on this afternoon.

Advance Notice to Avoid Areas of Restricted Roads

Please note: The School Shop will be closed from

Monday 21 December 2015 and will reopen on Monday

4th January 2016.

Upcoming University Visits

University/College Representative Location Date / Time University of South Florida, Tampa Maggie Brackenridge 2nd Floor, Senior Studies 8th Dec, 12.15pm

Minerva Schools at KGI 2nd Floor, Senior Studies 0th Dec, 12.15pm

On display at Neilson Hays Library

195 Surawong Raod, Bangkok

From December 1, 2015 to January 11, 2016

Opening Reception on

December 17, 2015, 7:00pm

Open Tuesday to Sunday 9:30am to 5:00pm

(closed Monday)

www.neilsonhayslibrary.com

www.facebook.com/GeistWinyan

The weekly canteen menu is available here.

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

for up-to-date information on school events.

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