Being Ambitious and Taking Charge

Being Ambitious and Taking Charge A team of 6, Year 7 students: Quynh Anh, Noah, Kanta, Bao Linh, Tuong Anh and Ky Lam entered the World Scholar’s Cup, the first round of which was held last weekend. The team were very successful and are now through to the second round in Kuala Lumpur which will be held W/C June 18th.

A team of 6, Year 7 students: Quynh Anh, Noah, Kanta, Bao Linh, Tuong Anh and Ky Lam entered the World Scholar’s Cup, the first round of which was held last weekend. The team were very successful and are now through to the second round in Kuala Lumpur which will be held W/C June 18th.

Dear Parents,

This week has been great confirmation of how our ambitious students are truly becoming global citizens who can take action. Taking Action is one of our Global Citizen strands which is defined as:

We contribute to local and global communities, understanding the importance of creating a positive impact in these communities.

A project, initiated by the Secondary School Council with involvement from Year 10, is about to reach fruition tomorrow. The Student Council were keen to make life a little better for children living in a local orphanage so they arranged for a collection of good quality toys and clothes. The response has been great and I would like to thank all those who have contributed. The SOS Orphanage Village has been one of our community partners for a number of years and tomorrow approximately 30 students and 16 members of staff will take all the donations and spend the morning with the children. Students have prepared some fun activities and will take charge of a morning’s programme of sports and games. I look forward to joining the group tomorrow.

I also received a lovely email mid-week from Mrs Gill Lever, who was responding to students in Year 9. After researching a very serious issue, a group of 4 students wished to raise awareness of the dangers of drowning here in Hanoi. They wrote to Water Safety Vietnam, an NGO and outlined their proposal. This was than forwarded to Hue Help who operate here in Hanoi. I look forward to seeing the project unfold as the students hope to raise money to support the delivery of swimming lessons for local children. They also wish to arrange a speaker to raise awareness of dangers around water with students here at BIS Hanoi.

World Scholar’s Cup

In addition to the two projects above, I would also like to celebrate a further event which demonstrates just how ambitious our students are!  A team of 6, Year 7 students: Quynh Anh, Noah, Kanta, Bao Linh, Tuong Anh and Ky Lam entered the World Scholar’s Cup, the first round of which was held last weekend. The team were very successful and are now through to the second round in Kuala Lumpur which will be held W/C June 18th. I must also congratulate two other students who also took part in other teams: Quynh Anh (Year 7B) and Phuoc Dung (Year 4I). They have both been super successful and are also through to the next round. Please read below to find out more about the competition from the competitors themselves:

Collaborative writing - Quynh Anh

One of the main events was the collaborative writing. Each team had 25 minutes to plan and research about the questions or statements that were given, one of the questions was: What is something that should be illegal in school? After that 25 minutes, we had 45 minutes to write an essay persuading the reader about our view on that topic, the key was to focus on the structure of the essay and giving examples. When the 45 minutes were over, we had 15 minutes to share our work and to read our teammate’s work but we were not allowed to use any devices during that time. On the planning sheet, we were allowed to make notes and draw alpaca sketches which is superfun.

Scholar’s Bowl - Bao Linh

The Scholar’s Bowl was the hardest for our teams. Before starting, we had a balance challenge where scholars had to balance an alpaca on their heads while trying to do things like high fiving someone or making the alpacas kiss. Each delegation picked one representative to go onto the stage and compete (we picked Lam, he didn’t win). The winner wins a Jerry. After that we moved on to the Scholar’s Bowl. Each of the teams got a clicker (which was their 4th teammate), so they could submit their answers. The Scholar’s Bowl had 5 rounds, each one harder than the one before. The questions were based on the subjects and themes of this year. It was very hard for my team, but we managed to survive through all 5 rounds.

Scholar’s Challenge -  Noah

The scholar’s challenge was probably the hardest thing in the competition. It was pretty much just a multiple choice quiz that covered all the subjects, but the difference was that you can select more than one answer, you got less points the more answers you selected. We had to answer 60 questions in an hour, with no help from our team. This was what made this the hardest thing in the competition. Even though my team found this incredibly difficult, we still managed to come in second place out of all the teams.

Team Debate - Kanta

In our teams of three, we went to a room with another team. Then, the judge gave us a statement that we debated. We had 15 minutes to research and prepare our argument. After that, each speaker spoke once in turn. The maximum amount of time you could speak was 4 minutes. They made their point and rebuke to show why they disagree with the opponent’s points. When the judge announces that you have won, you become very happy, which feels great. Because it’s quite hard, the amount of happiness you get is a lot.

Alpacas - Lam

The mascot for the WSC is the alpaca, however, it wasn’t always like this. In the dark ages of the WSC, back in 2006 they only had really small regional rounds and no alpaca. There was a vote for the mascot of the WSC and it came down to the penguin, the emu, and the alpaca. The alpaca won. There are now different alpacas:

Reggie - The smallest alpaca (Which everyone in the BIS teams has)

Jerry - Bigger ones that are very fluffy (Which everyone in the BIS team will get)

Jerry 2.4 - There was only one, his rainbow back got ripped - R.I.P Jerry 2.4

Skittles - Like jerry 2.4 but no back injury and he's a cotton candy colour

Mini Skittles - Only given in the Tournament of Champions. Not everyone in the ToC can get it.

Scholar’s Show – Tuong Anh

One the 2nd day, after all the most stressful and terrifying events were over, we had a special treat - The Scholar’s Show. The Scholar’s Show is similar to the Talent Show that we have at BIS. Scholars have the chance to sign up to perform on stage in front of everyone else. We got to see many acts, including duets, solo singers, orchestras, dancing and martial arts. As the World Scholar’s Cup is more about encouraging people to try new things and learn than winning everything, there were no winners for the Scholar’s Show. In the end, everyone who participated was a winner… of an alpaca.

Congratulations to all the students who have shown so many characteristics of our Aide Memoire. We can’t wait to hear about your adventures in the next round.

Ms Sue Hill, Principal