Welcome back to the year ahead at BIS and a special welcome to all our new families

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to the year ahead at BIS and a special welcome to all our new families. I hope you have had a  great summer. It was lovely to greet the students as they returned on Wednesday in new uniforms, with smiles on their faces and they all seem to have settled well. 

Summer at BIS is a time to make sure improvements are carried out and this holiday was no exception. We are always aiming to improve health and safety on the campus and I am very pleased to announce that the two playgrounds in the Early Years Centre have been resurfaced with spongy tiles. Not only are the play areas much safer, the colourful markings encourage imaginative play which is so important in the Foundation Stage.

Other improvements include new canteen provision. Epicure, a company which provides lunches in a number of international schools in Thailand and Cambodia, is now taking care of our school canteen provision. Lowered serving counters, the addition of healthy, hygienic salad and fruit serving areas and an adapted menu offering Asian, Western and Vegetarian options daily are some of the improvements. Epicure are very keen to engage with parents if there are any concerns about the food offered. We will also be offering the chance for parents to come in and sample food served, further details will follow.

I would like to share the good news received, just before our students returned to school. The BIS exam results for IGCSEs and A levels are credit worthy and our students should feel very proud. The very positive A’ level results have seen our students being accepted at top American Universities including Stanford University and Ivy League university, Columbia; UK universities recognised as being in the top 24: University of Leeds and University College London; a top Japanese University, Waseda; Ecole Hoteliere, Lausanne (a leading hotel and catering college); Universita Bocconi (a high ranking business university, Italy); Yale-NUS College, Singapore and the University of the Arts in London. 18 out of 21 students were accepted by their first or second choice. Congratulations to our secondary students!

Our campus has also hosted the Hue Help, Swimming for Safety project over the summer. At BIS we are always looking to develop community links especially when it also helps such a good cause and it was a pleasure to be able to offer our facilities. It was also an honour to have the UK Ambassador, HIS Excellency Giles Lever, speak at the closing ceremony last Monday 21st August 2017. Drowning is the biggest cause of death in children aged 1 to 19 years, here in Hanoi. Mrs. Gill Lever, the programme coordinator, really is making a difference; local teachers from the Long Bien schools were trained and successfully awarded the IFSTA certification then continued to teach children from local schools how to stay safe in water. The project is funded by the Hanoi International Women’s Club and receives support from the Long Bien DOET.

It’s been an exciting end to the week as music filled the auditorium to set the scene for our annual House Allocation, Harry Potter style. The sorting hat sprang into action and selected a house for our new students and staff. We are all looking forward to a positive year ahead.

Ms Sue Hill, Principal