Secondary School Update (21 April 2023)

It also reminded us of how important it is to have a sense of belonging and connection to one's school. The COVID-19 years showed us that separation and isolation are unhealthy and unwelcome. This current group of Year 13s in particular has had to navigate some dark moments during their time at BIS Hanoi and has shown through that experience enormous courage, positivity, and resilience.

I know that my colleagues will support me in saying how much we will miss this group of Year 13s. They are full of creativity and good humour. The leadership of the group, in terms of the four head students and their prefects, has been outstanding.

Yesterday, we expressed our gratitude to them and gave them an opportunity to express their gratitude towards us. We also farewelled them on their journey towards final examinations, further tertiary education, and beyond.

However, the farewell is not a goodbye. We look forward to a long collaboration as alumni. These students will be part of BIS Hanoi forever. I look forward to saying more to them about their contribution and officially awarding their diplomas at the end-of-year graduation on 27th May at Sheraton hotel.

Chris Newman 

Head of Secondary

Key Dates  

• April 28th: Staff Professional Development day – no lessons for students 
• April 28th: IB Exams and IGCSE Exams begin 
• April 28th - May 3rd: National Holiday 

Pastoral Update

Since my last pastoral update on what’s been happening in year 10, we have all experienced a really positive end to term 2, which culminated in receiving our 2nd and penultimate reports from our teachers. The reports show how much effort we are putting into our class and homework and give us an indication of where we need to improve, from our ability to reflect, act on feedback, or be braver and more courageous with our willingness to make mistakes, which is all part of the learning process.

Term 3 has started really strongly, and during our most recent well-being lessons, we have been analysing these reports to help us better understand not only what our strongest and least confident subjects are, but also the possible reasons behind this and what we can do about it. We have looked at, and will continue to look at the understanding behind what ‘Effective effort’ looks like and how this can merge with performance effort in the run-up to next month’s checkpoints. At the end of May, we will all be doing our first set of checkpoints in exam-based conditions, which is great practice for the real exams in 12–14 months and will give a very strong indication of how strong we are but also where we can improve. Over the next few well-being lessons, we will also be looking at the links between performance and stress levels, coping mechanisms to deal with stress and anxiety, and some of our tutor reps will be doing a revision showcase, highlighting how they best revise and providing support to their peers!

Term 3 promises to be a very positive environment for us. Not only do we have our checkpoint exams, but we also have an exciting possible opportunity to work with a local non-profit school for children with hearing impairments, and behind the scenes, our tutor reps are creating a schedule of how we can best collaborate with them. Much more to come, so stay tuned, and thank you as always for the support as we enter the final few weeks before becoming Year 11 students! 

Mr. Wright

Head of Year 10

Learning Showcase

English – Reading in KS3 

As part of our overall push to help students develop positive reading habits, this term all students have been given a reading tracker. In English, students' homework is to spend 20 minutes reading fiction or non-fiction each day. On their reading tracker, students can record what they have read each day, and we are asking parents to sign the tracker to confirm that students have been doing this reading at home each day. Please help us by checking that your children have been doing their reading each day and signing off their trackers.

Having good reading skills is one of the most important skills students need to develop during their time in school. It is essential for students to have good reading skills to be successful in all their subjects. Students are required to interact with a range of texts in all their subjects; in order to be able to understand the content of the subjects, it is essential for them to have the skills to understand and interpret a wide range of texts.

Physical Education  

As a new term starts, so does another set of PE activities, and this half-term we are focusing on what motivates our year seven students through a variety of activities.  Mrs. Taylor’s group has started to learn about a relatively new game, the fastest-growing sport in America, called pickleball. Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket or paddle sport where two or four players hit a hollow plastic ball over a low tennis-looking net using solid-faced paddles like table tennis. Opponents on either side of the net hit the ball back and forth until one side commits a rule infraction.

Our Year 7s are exploring the game, its equipment, the new rules and regulations, and the specific skills needed through game play, challenging themselves with different opponents and partners to get a better understanding of the game. It has been great seeing their enthusiasm, growth mindset, and motivation.