Ms Deirdre Grimshaw: Weekly Update 24/08/18

It is my very great pleasure to put pen to paper for my first weekly update as Head Teacher of the Junior Campus. I am delighted to lead an excellent group of teachers, teaching assistants and support staff in providing the best quality education for your children.

For many, I am a familiar face having been the Deputy Headteacher here at BIS HCMC for the last 4 years. I am excited to build on all that been achieved to date, in particular all the campus improvements when Simon Higham was at the helm.

Our new staff have settled in extremely well and were very excited along with all the returning teachers to welcome back the students to school on Wednesday. It was wonderful to see the campus come alive and see the smiling faces of our students once more.  It was also lovely to see so many new and returning parents at the PTG Coffee Morning on Thursday. My thanks to the PTG for all that they have done already in supporting our new families to BIS.

Although the children have not been on site during the holidays, the campus has been a hive of activity with dozens of contractors flooding the site to continue with our phased campus improvement plan. This summer we had 14 classrooms renovated creating brand new and exciting learning environments for our students.  Our new library is almost finished and we are excited to open it to students next Wednesday.  We have a brand new Nurse’s clinic and a Dreams Lab which will allow our students to fully explore and use the range of technology tools that we now have available. Dreams really will come true. Our Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) has been transformed into a Black Box Theatre and in between there have been lots of tweaks and improvements across the site. We are a work in progress and we look forward to more campus improvements in the coming months and during holiday periods this year. Look out for a post next week all about the recent campus developments along with some great photos.

Please continue to scroll down for some more information about upcoming school and PTG events.

Parent Information Evening

On Wednesday 29^th August we will have our Parent Information Evening at the Junior Campus. This is an opportunity for you to meet the teachers here at school and hear all about the year group that your child is in.  We will begin in the gym with a short presentation and introductions to all the staff. Following this, parents will attend a classroom presentation by their class teacher, or as a group of 2 classes in some instances. This presentation will include details on the routines of the year group, expectations of the students, communication and a short overview of the curriculum. It is an extremely valuable evening which will give you the overview you need for the year ahead.

It begins at 5pm in the gym. We look forward to seeing you there.

Nord Anglia Games Trials

Ms Lindsey, from our PE department, sent a letter this week about our upcoming trials for the Nord Anglia (NAE) Games being held in Cambodia. This is another great opportunity for our students in Year 5 and 6 to compete against other NAE schools. Trials begin next week for Years 5 and 6 students and we look forward to seeing many of them there on Monday and Tuesday after school. If for any reason you did not receive the letter from Ms Lindsey, please email her directly: lindsey.shuttleworth@bisvietnam.com

Contact Details for School

If you have any reason to contact the school, please find below a list of contact details for the various people you may need. I have included the Early Years and Infant Campus details for your reference.

Job Vacancy

Part Time Primary Chinese Teacher (equivalent to 2 days per week)

We are looking to recruit someone with a strong desire to work for a growing organisation who has an affinity with and an interest in teaching Chinese to primary children.

The person appointed will work at the Junior campus, must hold a full degree, qualified teaching certificate and have previous teaching experience within either Primary or Secondary education.

If you are interested please forward a letter of application and full CV which must include a recent professional photograph and the contact details of two referees, one of whom must be your current employer to bis.recruitment@bisvietnam.com by Friday 7^th September.

Welcome Message from the BIS PTG!

The Parent Teacher Group (PTG) is made up of all parents and teachers in this school. Throughout the year, we organise school events for parents, teachers and children.

These events are an opportunity to create a new social network.

The mission of the Parent Teacher Group (PTG) at the Primary Campuses is to positively impact the lives of all our children and families. The PTG maintains a close working relationship between parents, staff and children and it is our goal to enhance and strengthen these relationships by encouraging the growth of the community spirit within our school.

The PTG does this by providing social events, fun activities and fundraising events throughout the school year. Some past favourites are the Parent/Teacher Social Night, School Discos, Family Fun Event, Global Café, Spring Fair and Bake Sales.

Volunteering in the PTG is a great way to start to integrate with the existing school population. Parent involvement in school life is an important factor in a child’s success.

Please consider joining one of our event committees, sign up to be a class parent or sign up to sell tickets to some of the events. When we have bigger events like the Spring Fair and Family Picnic, we will need more volunteers to man stalls, sell drinks and organise the day.

We need parent participation and volunteers in order to be able to run school-wide events. Volunteering your time will help you settle in quickly as you start to understand the mechanics of how each event is run, and also how the school system works.

If you want to stay informed about what is happening in school – always read the Friday Weekly Update sent by the Head Teachers.

Please contact us with your questions at bisvnptgap1@gmail.com.

Lily, Dawa, Ruchika and Eng Wan

Join the PTG Social Night - 20th September

For more details visit our Facebook page.

Support our Upcycle Uniform Group

Please see a short note from the Upcycle Uniform Group about supporting their efforts in the coming weeks; (Please note the venue change)

At the beginning of the school year, sorting all the uniforms is a lot of work. For this reason, we would like to invite you to help with this task. As you know; many hands make light work! We will be in Rooms 206 and 208, top floor of the main building at the back of the school on Saturday 25^th August and Saturday 1^st of September from 9:00 to 16:00. The team is happy with any time on one or both of those days you can offer to help, or if you are only curious to hear more about the One-More Projects just drop in for a chat. We Look forward to meeting you! onemorereused@gmail.com

Urgent Help Needed to Run Saturday Football

We are in urgent need of help to keep Saturday Morning Football (SMF) going.  It is a parent-led activity for year 2-6 BIS children each Saturday during school term time.

Current schedule 

8:00-9:00am       Boys and Girls Y4-6 

9:00-10:00am     Boys and Girls Y2-3

Place: Junior campus, outside football fields

Parents do not need to be professional coaches/player, you just need to have a love for football and enjoy working with the children.  For further information please contact    bisvnptgap1@gmail.com.

Please take note of some upcoming important dates for the diary:

• Monday 27^th August 2018 | 5pm | Term 1 Club Sign Up Opens
• Monday 27 th August 2018  | PTG Newcomers Bus Tour
• Wednesday 29^th August 2018 | 5pm – 7pm | Parent Information Evenings
• Friday 31^st August 2018 | 12 noon | Term 1 Club Sign Up closes
• Monday 3rd September 2018 | Public Holiday School closed
• Tuesday 4^th September 2018 | 8.15am | Settling In Workshop for Parents
• Tuesday 11^th September 2018 | 3pm – 5.30pm | Parents’ Evening (pastoral) – class teachers
• Thursday 20th September 2018 | 7pm - 10pm | PTG Social Night 
• Friday 21st September 2018 | Moon Festival Celebration at Juniors
• Monday 24th September 2018 | Clubs begin

Managing our Traffic Together

We would like to remind all parents about our Drivers Code of Conduct and once more ask for your assistance and cooperation in helping to make the BIS traffic flow with ease between the campuses and in the general vicinity of the school. Using the Code of Conduct, with key information in both English and Vietnamese, we aim to further educate our drivers to make better choices when they enter the areas around our school campuses and within the Thao Dien area as a whole.

Click here for the BIS Drivers Code of Conduct in both English and Vietnamese.

Safeguarding at school – it’s everyone’s responsibility

If, during your visit to school, you have any reason to be concerned about the safety of a young person, please contact the Designated Safeguarding Person.

Please note that CCTV cameras are in operation at all times across the campus.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Ms Deirdre Grimshaw, Head Teacher, Junior Campus