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A week with the parents! It was wonderful to see so many parents at our Primary Leadership Coffee Morning but additionally, it was fantastic to see such a great turn out for our Primary Parent Teacher Student Conferences.
The purpose of having our Parent Teacher Student Conferences early in the school year is to involve parents from the earliest point in their child’s education. At this time, when we are virtual, this is even more important. Parents know their children more than any teacher does. The skills parents and teachers have, have a common purpose: to support the continuous learning of the children. This is the very foundation of a strong partnership!
It is important to ensure that clear and honest communication between teachers and parents is established. The meetings this week were an important part of this and we encourage all parents to continue to work with the classroom teachers and communicate with them should you need support, guidance or have any questions. Thanks to all the parents that have already had their meetings, if you have not yet scheduled an appointment to meet your child’s classroom teacher, we encourage you to contact them directly and arrange one as soon as possible.
Additionally, we hosted the first Primary Parent Leadership Coffee Morning this week. Focusing on Feedback, Mr Tom White, Year 2 Leader, talked through the various strategies and tools teachers and students use to give feedback and to act on the feedback, particularly during this virtual school period. We also discussed the school priorities for the year including the Health and Wellbeing of staff students and parents and we hope to update you with some more information in the coming weeks.
A huge “Thank You” to all the children and parents who are getting so excited and involved with all the tasks and challenges we are teaching you! Over the past month, we have given the Primary Campus an Olympic theme; getting the students to learn the history of the Games; techniques and rules of athletic events; train with real Olympic athletes; plan a circuit training routine; and create their own awesome pictogram videos just as we saw in the opening ceremony.
At the EY&I Campus, our students have been going GUGA in PE! Get Up and Get Active. They’ve been busting out their moves as Olympic athletes; jumping, ducking, and diving away from rocket ships and dinosaurs; and last week saw them as swashbuckling pirates dodging cannonballs, digging for treasure, and climbing the rigging! We have seen some outstanding and very creative work, and are so impressed that family members are joining in the fun and learning too!
Mr Simon Grimshaw, Primary PE Leader
We are very sorry to announce that the FOBISIA Primary Young Musician of the Year competition has been delayed. We hope that moving the competition to later in the school year will allow us to hold live performances, or to arrange a high-quality system for a virtual competition. New dates have not yet been decided but will be announced with plenty of time to prepare so keep practising!
Ms Katherine Gale, Music Teacher
Next week, Ms Sophie Tighzer, our Primary MFL Leader will host a coffee morning webinar for parents of students in Year 5 and Year 6. Ms Sophie will go through how MFL is taught in these year groups, the importance of practising the language and how you, as parents, can support your child at home. An email with details of the webinar was sent to all parents today and also shared on Seesaw. We look forward to seeing many parents at the webinar.
It gives us great pleasure to inform you of the opening for the Virtual Co-Curricular Activities (VCCA) programme from next Monday, the 13th of September at 2:40pm. Especially during the challenging times that teaching and learning have encountered over the past months in Ho Chi Minh City, it is vital that we offer our children opportunities to enrich their development outside of their regular classroom environment, as well the prospects that students will have for further social interactions with others of a similar age in a range of settings.
Over the next five weeks, almost 400 students will be involved in any of 38 free VCCAs or 16 paid clubs provided by a wide range of external experts – what an incredible opportunity! It is vital that you refer back often to your email in order to find the details of upcoming VCCA news. This will include a Google Meet link to the VCCA session itself, in addition to an outline of what resources are needed for the session. Please be reminded that for our students taking part, expectations for online etiquette and behaviour are exactly the same in these sessions, as they are in regular class calls. It promises to be an incredible opportunity, and I hope your child is/children are as excited as us for the prospects of a fun five weeks. If you missed this first block of VCCAs, then make sure you look out for details of the upcoming Block Two offerings at the end of September. Enjoy the experience, everyone!
Mr Chris McKelvie, Deputy Headteacher
We have accepted the challenge and we would like to invite you to do so too!
On the week beginning 20th September we will participate in the Blue Dragon Marathon Walk 2021, an international event which will see us going the distance to raise funds for our community partner Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation.
BIS HCMC has entered three teams, one for each campus, and we are looking forward to having the entire BIS community join us in helping vulnerable Vietnamese youth break out of poverty!
For more than 15 years Blue Dragon Children’s foundation has been providing holistic care for those in need, whether a rural child who has found themselves alone on the streets of Hanoi searching for work, or a young woman who has been trafficked into China as a bride.
Please be on the lookout for more information on how to accept the challenge, which we will be sharing shortly.
Tracey Brownrigg, BIS Community Service Project Manager
Each week we will introduce some of the new teachers that have joined our team this year! This week we will learn more about Ms Bell Frolchenko who has joined the Year 5 team and Ms Amy Howard who has joined the Music Department. A warm BIS welcome to both!
Where have you moved to BIS from?
I moved here from Shanghai, China with my husband Mr Matt McGee who teaches in the secondary school.
Why did you move to BIS?
We moved here because we've always wanted to live in Vietnam and have had many friends work at BIS before.
What has been the best experience for you since arriving in Vietnam?
How friendly all the staff are at BIS and at the IBIS hotel!
Tell us one fun fact about yourself (hobbies, interests, talents, etc.)
I love to cycle early in the morning and lift weights!
Where have you moved to BIS from?
Whitstable in Kent, England. I worked at a special needs school in Ramsgate.
Why did you move to BIS?
The school is fantastic, and so is Vietnam!
What has been the best experience for you since arriving in Vietnam?
How supportive people from the school have been, so warm and welcoming, and caring too.
Tell us one fun fact about yourself (hobbies, interests, talents, etc.)
I love swimming in the sea all year round, even when it's freezing cold and snowing.
It was wonderful to see many parents joining us for the Primary Leadership Coffee Morning. At this event we presented our core team as well as updated everyone about roles and responsibilities of Class and Country Reps and upcoming events of Term 1.
The key role of class rep this year will be to form a WhatsApp group for their class and build a class community to support the parents. The class rep will not be collecting any class funds and the PTG will help with Teacher’s Day gifts, Christmas, and Tet. While we are currently away from home, we hope that each class group and class rep will give a sense of comfort for the new parents as well as the existing parents. Many parents have signed to be a class rep but we are still looking for volunteers for the classes listed below.
F1- B I S V
F2- B I V H
F3- I S V N H
Y1-B I V C
Y2- B I S V N H
Y3- S V N H C M
Y4- V C M
Y5-B S N C M
Y6-B I S
To volunteer, click here.
The key responsibilities of the country rep would be to help the new parents in settling into life at BIS and Vietnam. For International week they will coordinate their team to set up a stall to represent their country’s culture and food during Global Café. This will be a two-day event. You need not hold a passport to represent a country. If you or your child has a strong bond with a particular country and you would like to showcase its culture and food to the BIS students, please click here and sign up. If you can’t find the country name on the list, please do not hesitate to contact us.
This month PTG team is planning a workshop related to the upcoming Moon Festival. If you would like to be part of this workshop or have ideas to share, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our email is primaryptgbis@gmail.com
Enjoy your weekend and hope to see more sign ups.
Thank you,
Gayatri Shankar Primary PTG Coordinator
13/09/21 Virtual Co-Curricular Activities: Block 1 Begins
15/09/21 MFL Coffee Morning for Year 5 and Year 6 Parents
21/09/21 Moon Festival Celebrations
29/09/21 EAL Webinar for EAL Parents
15/10/21 Virtual Co-Curricular Activities: Block 1 Ends
16/10/21- Half-term break
25/10/21 School Begins after the Half Term Break
A reminder that our Virtual Co Curricular programme starts next week. We are delighted that we can offer these clubs and activities for the students and we hope that all will enjoy trying new skills, getting to know new teachers and students and perhaps finding an aptitude for something they have never done before!
Have a safe and restful weekend.
Deirdre Grimshaw
Headteacher of Junior Campus
The weekly update from Dee Grimshaw, Headteacher of the Junior Campus, highlighting some of the events that have taken place this week.