Ms Deirdre Grimshaw: Weekly Update 26/03/2021

This week we heard that we can have parents back on site for some of our events and we are delighted.

A school community is made up of students, teachers AND parents and we look forward to welcoming you to some of the upcoming events in the school such as assemblies, recitals and a long overdue PTG Coffee Morning, particularly for some of our newer parents. There is still a huge amount happening across the school and this week’s update is full of news from events on the campus and virtually including our amazing success as a school at the Virtual FOBISIA Maths Event. Scroll down to read more.

*BIS Mission Statement and Values in Action

Last week we told you about our new revised Mission Statement and Values in Action. This has been a combined effort of many, and we are extremely happy to share the final and published version with you now.  More details of the journey we took to this point can be found by clicking on this article.  Each section of the Values in Action is also shared in more detail via the links there.

April Parent Teacher Student Conferences (PTSCs)

As we approach the end of Term 2, teachers will be reflecting on the progress made by the children that they teach.  In most cases the children are making good or excellent progress and we are confident that by the end of the Term 3, they will have attained the levels, in each subject, where we would like them to be. If we have any concerns, over the next few weeks, our class teachers and specialist teachers will be contacting you to invite you to a meeting to discuss these concerns and identify ways forward.  

Of course, if anyone wishes to discuss their child’s progress or would like to meet the teacher to talk about any issue of concern, you can contact the teacher directly via email or Seesaw and make an appointment to see them.

BYOD Webinar for Parents in Year 3 and Year 4

As previously communicated, from the start of the 2021-2022 academic year, all Year 4 (those currently in Year 3) and Year 5 pupils (those currently in Year 4) will be entering the ‘Bring Your Own iPad’ programme. On Monday 29th March, we will be sending a video to parents with further information about the ‘Bring Your Own iPad’ programme. This video will give you information about: • How we use iPads in the classroom

• Why we have chosen iPads to support children’s creativity and reflective skills

• How iPads will support children in becoming good digital citizens

• The ‘Bring Your Own Laptop’ programme at the Secondary Campus.

Then, on Wednesday 31st March at 4 pm, we will host a question and answer live webinar via Zoom about the iPad programme. You can sign up for the Q&A webinar and submit any questions that you have by completing the form here. 

We will try to answer all submitted questions, and we will provide a recording of the session if you cannot make it to the live webinar.

FOBISIA Virtual Primary Maths Competition

At this time of the year, some of most able Mathematicians would be jetting off to the FOBISIA Primary Maths Competition.  This of course, is not possible at the moment, but, we were delighted to take part in the Virtual Competition that took place last week.  Students across Juniors participated in the initial rounds and we were delighted that so many made it to the final. With only 20 places in the final, we had a whopping 6 entrants from Year 6 qualify.  Find out more about their success in this article by Mr Andy James and Mr John Handscombe, Maths Leaders.

Nord Anglia South East Asia STEAM Festival - Mission Control

Next week on Monday and Tuesday we will have 8 of our Year 6, 7 and 8 students taking part in the annual Nord Anglia South East Asia STEAM Festival - Mission Control. Students have been selected based on their creativity, scientific thinking, problem solving skills and their ability to share what they have been investigating and discovered - these are all skills that they will need to complete the challenges they will face next week.

This year the festival will take on a new twist, as we are unable to travel between counties and several of our schools are still in a virtual or hybrid teaching model, so the festival will be held virtually. There will be 10 schools and 100 students participating in a range of challenges focused on communication between Earth and Mars, the life of an astronaut and the STEAM skills that are needed to support space exploration. Keep your eyes open for updates of what our students are creating on the school social media platforms.

Continuing Professional Learning – Our drive to make teaching and learning even better at BIS HCMC

As part of our drive in the Primary School here at BIS HCMC to ensure that we are the best school possible for our students, we take great pride in the lengths our staff go to in developing themselves professionally. There has been a lot going on in recent months.  Click here to read this article by Mr Chris, Deputy Headteacher to find out more about what our teachers have been up to.

IPC Across the Campus

 It’s always lovely to visit different year groups and see some of the wonderful learning environments and talk to children and teachers about what they have been getting up to in their IPC topics. There has been a huge amount going on. Read more, in this lovely article, by Ms Ellie Chick, IPC Leader.

Year 6 Science – Taking it to the next level

The Science unit for this term has centered around the human body and its many systems. In particular, Year 6 has focussed on the cardiovascular system. This can be a difficult subject to grasp as mammals are complex animals and many factors can affect how each system operates.

Year 6 was lucky to have a visit from Ms Smith, a secondary anatomy and biology teacher, who demonstrated how the heart and lungs work by showing the students a heart and lung dissection. As you can imagine, this caused much excitement and was particularly interesting to the students - especially when they were given the opportunity to touch and observe  a heart and lung up close!

We will end the unit of work by conducting some experiments over at the secondary school. We will look at how the cardiovascular system reacts to the stress of different levels of intensity of exercise. I am sure the children will learn lots from this practical experience and enjoy the next stage of our learning.

Mike Martin, Year 6 Leader.

Your child’s Health and Wellbeing

As teachers, parents often ask us for advice on how they can best support their children. In the current climate, this is even more important in terms of their health and wellbeing. Ms Shaheena Pall has penned an excellent article with some top tips to help you as parents better support your children.  Please access the article here.

Year 5 EAL Global Citizens

Students at BIS learn to understand and celebrate other cultures, and Year 5 EAL have done exactly that in their recent English learning, particularly during the fiction unit on ‘Journey Stories’. Impressive work by all, click here to read more in this article by Mr Josh Dale, Year 5 EAL Teacher.

Primary Parent Teacher Coffee Morning

"It has been a long time since our parent community could socialise at school, so the PTG are thrilled to invite you to a Parent Coffee morning at EYIC on Thursday 8^th April. It will be the perfect chance to welcome new families who joined earlier this year, and of course connect with familiar faces!  

During the coffee morning the PTG would like take a few minutes to update on some changes, share some ideas for next year and hopefully inspire new volunteers to support us in building an even stronger BIS community!

So whether you just want to socialise, or you’d like to learn a little more about the PTG, there will be plenty of refreshments and yummy treats to enjoy! It will require a sign up and this will be shared with you early next week.

Health and Safety

COVID Procedures at the Junior Campus

Key points to remember are:

• If your child is sick with a cough, temperature or cold, please keep them off school. Please notify Ms Nhi  Nhi.Mai@bisvietnam.com  028 3744 4551 in the office and their class teacher of their absence.
• Temperature checks on arrival. Students coming to school with a temperature above 37.8 degrees celsius will be checked twice more and if their temperature is still high, parents will be asked to take them home.
• Masks must be worn at all times, except in classrooms.  All children should have their own mask and a spare, preferably labelled with their name. If you would prefer that your child continues to wear a mask in the classroom, we are very happy to accommodate this.
• Year 3 and 4 Students to enter through Gate A
• Year 5 and 6 Students to enter through Gate B
• Bus children to enter via Gate C
• All parents must wear a mask on site and will only be allowed to come on site at the end of the day to pick up children from the designated areas, (small field Year 3 - 5 and basketball court, Year 6). All parents should enter through Gate A and exit through Gate B.
• Parents must have an appointment if they need to come on site at any other time.  Please email or call Ms Nhi. Nhi.Mai@bisvietnam.com  028 3744 4551

31/03/21                              BYO IPAD Webinar for parents

02/04/21                              Closing Date for Global Art Competition

03/04/21                              Community Football Tournament (Year 5 & 6)

08/04/21                              Primary PTG Coffee Morning.

09/04/21                              JC Recitals for Music Students

15/04/21                              Science Day at Primary

22/3/21- End of Term     Invitational PTSCs. Teachers will be in touch with new families and/or other families to arrange meetings if needed.

16/04/21                              Term 2 ends @ 11.30am

And Finally,

We have a huge amount of lost property with no names.  Hats, bottles, swimming clothes.  Please can you ensure all items are clearly labelled. We cannot return items with no names.  Thank you for your support.

Have a safe and relaxing weekend,