One of my first jobs at the start of each academic year is to organise our first whole-school assembly. I am always a little nervous about it. Bringing students and staff from across Bangkok Patana together is a big undertaking and, with this year marking our 70th anniversary, there was a lot to celebrate.
Fortunately, last Friday I had some excellent help. Our Year 6 MCs, Tam A and Rishika, were fabulous, alongside guest performers from across the school. We also heard from alumna Tania Bunya Ananta, interviewed by Mr Ian MacDonald and Tian from Year 2. Together, we travelled back to Patana’s beginnings in the 1950s and considered just how much has changed between then and now.
It really is quite something to think about 70 years in the life of a school. The world our first Patana students knew was very different from the one our students are growing up in today. Fashion, hairstyles, technology, travel, music, communication and, of course, education itself have changed enormously. Schools have changed too and continue to do so.
But looking back does not always have to mean looking back 70 years. Sometimes, even a few years is enough to see how much has changed.
In Primary, we have a wonderful example of this. Back in 2022, we introduced a new Creative Arts team and began developing Drama within the Primary School. We wanted Drama to have a stronger place within our curriculum and to give more children the opportunity to perform, create and collaborate through a large-scale Year 6 musical. Since then, our Year 6 students have taken to the stage in Madagascar Jr., Aladdin Jr. and, most recently, Matilda Jr., with each production building on the last.
And this brings me to some news that we have not yet shared with our wider Patana community! In June, Matilda Jr. was named Best International Primary School Production at the National School Theatre Awards. It was wonderful recognition of how far our Drama programme has come in a relatively short time and, most importantly, of the talent, commitment and hard work of the students and staff involved.
As we begin this academic year, there are further changes in Primary School some small and some more significant.
We have welcomed new teachers and leaders, following a careful recruitment process and two weeks of induction before our students returned. Over the past year, we have also done considerable work to articulate what high-quality teaching and learning looks like at Patana, what it means to be a Patana Educator and how colleagues develop their practice over time. For our new staff, their first year is a period of Establishing: getting to know our students and community, understanding our approaches and building confidence in their practice at Patana.
We have also looked carefully at the structure of our school day: curriculum time, the alignment of lessons and breaks across year groups, and how children move around our large campus. The day now has greater consistency across Primary School, with clearer curriculum allocations and dedicated time for transitions. Movement between classrooms, PE, Music, Drama, Languages and other learning spaces is built into the timetable and supported by teachers, helping children arrive ready to learn while developing greater independence over time.
Our curriculum continues to develop too. This year, we are introducing a new approach to early reading from Foundation Stage 2 through Key Stage 1, alongside new assessment points including the Phonics Screening Check in Year 1, the Multiplication Tables Check in Year 4 and Progress Tests in English and Maths at the end of Year 6. These will help us understand more about our students’ learning and respond to what they need.
While there is plenty that is new, the heart of Primary remains very much the same. We want our children to be happy, to feel that they belong and to come to school each day ready to learn, play, explore and enjoy being together. Safe, Curious and Kind captures much of what we hope for them: children who look after themselves and one another, ask questions, embrace new experiences and contribute positively.
Perhaps that is the balance we are always trying to find. Looking back to the 1950s last week was a reminder of just how much can change, and our youngest children will see plenty more change during their own journey through Patana. As a school, we need to keep learning and developing too, while holding firmly to the things that matter most: our students and the community we create around them.
