Primary Weekly Update 26/01/2022

Primary Weekly Update 26/01/2022 As we approach the Tet Holiday, we would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our families a safe and peaceful holiday. Mr Anthony’s video message yesterday reflected on the past two years, but more importantly stressed moving forward and all of the staff at the Early Years and Infant and Junior Campuses are very excited at the thought of welcoming all of our amazing families back to campus on Monday 14th February.

As we approach the Tet Holiday, we would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our families a safe and peaceful holiday. Mr Anthony’s video message yesterday reflected on the past two years, but more importantly stressed moving forward and all of the staff at the Early Years and Infant and Junior Campuses are very excited at the thought of welcoming all of our amazing families back to campus on Monday 14th February.

At this time, we would also like to thank you, the parents, for your continued support during this difficult 10 months, indeed these last 2 years.  We have said it many times before that the strength of our school lies in the community, the coming together of parents, students and staff and those last two years have proved this time and again.  Beyond the 14th February, we are not sure what the future will hold, but we are ready. 

We are confident in the Health and Safety measures we have in place, the procedures for all aspects of the school day to ensure that the children are as safe as we can make it. We will be reviewing all aspects of our return to school with parents in our Back to School Webinar.  This will take place on Friday 11th February at 11am. We strongly encourage all parents to attend this webinar to ensure you are fully up to date with the expectations for all to ensure a safe return for school.

In order to help us address any concerns or questions at the webinar, please fill in this form so we can have the questions in advance and tailor the webinar to meet the needs of all parents and the BIS community.

BIS Primary Return to School Webinar – Questions in advance

This week we celebrated Tet with some lovely activities in the SPLAT Bags for EY&I and within Vietnamese Culture lessons at the Junior Campus. We  enjoyed two wonderful assemblies prepared by our Vietnamese staff.  Even remotely, it was very special to be able to celebrate this important Tet holiday with everyone. 

Additionally we would like to offer sincere thanks to all that supported our annual BIS Tet Collection this year.  Please read on to find out more about this year’s collection across the three campuses.

BIS TET GIFT COLLECTION

Tết is a very special holiday for the Vietnamese people. It is a time to celebrate the Lunar New Year together with family and friends. At BIS, we aim to make this holiday as joyful as possible for our community partners through the annual Tet Gift Collection.

Each year has been a tremendous success and this year is no exception. As always, we were overwhelmed by the collective efforts of BIS students, parents and teachers in working to collect necessities for this Tet Gift Collection.

Every campus had been allocated a different selection of goods to donate. At the Early Years campus, we received school supplies including colouring pencils, pens, pencils and notebooks. Meanwhile, the Primary campus had been assigned health and sanitation products such as soap, toothbrushes, toothpastes, hand sanitizers, shampoo and women’s hygiene products. Lastly, the Secondary campus was asked to collect donations of food  including instant noodles, fish sauce, condensed milk, oil, rice, and sugar.

The ground floor of the third building in the Secondary campus was decorated with all these donated items, drawing the eyes of all students and teachers as they passed through the area.

The BIS Community Committee would like to again thank everyone who donated to the Tet Gift Collection for you have contributed to brightening up the holiday for our community partners, which is much needed considering the challenges faced by all last year.

On behalf of the BIS Community Committee, Chúc Mừng Năm Mới!

VinaCapital Foundation's Heartbeat Vietnam Program

We are a group of Year 12 students, and we would like to introduce you to our IBDP CAS Project in collaboration with VinaCapital Foundation's Heartbeat Vietnam program.

Since 2006, Heartbeat Vietnam has funded life-saving heart surgeries for more than 8,900 children, providing them with pre-treatment and post-operative care which includes nutritional support, travel fees, health check-ups, as well as scholarships to help them remain in school.

In Vietnam alone, approximately 16,000 children are born with congenital heart defects every year, ranging from milder conditions to more serious ones which prove to be fatal. Without surgery or intervention, these children will have a poor quality of life along with inadequate mental and physical development.

We hope to raise awareness about this problem in Vietnam and collectively raise money to help Heartbeat Vietnam save the lives of more children with these conditions in this country. For every 28 million VND, or 1200 USD, Heartbeat Vietnam will be able to provide a life-saving heart operation for a child.

We will be taking donations via bank transfer using the following details:

Beneficiary's name: The VinaCapital Foundation

Beneficiary's account number: 007 100 478 0103 (VND)

Bank name: Vietcombank - HCMC Branch

Bank address: 8 Nguyen Hue St., Ben Nghe, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Swift code: BFTVVNVX007

Transfer Note: Heartbeat BIS - [Name] - [Phone number]

Donations of any amount would be greatly appreciated and will help us achieve our goal: to save the life of at least one child.

We would like to invite you to visit our recently launched Instagram page (@heartbeatbishcmc) to find out more about this project.

 Thank you for your support.

Sean Sia 12C

Parent Satisfaction Survey

Your feedback is so essential for whole school matters.  Our strategic plan is not fixed; one thing the pandemic has taught us is the importance of agility in school leadership.  We have had to adjust our priorities according to the current circumstances. Moving forward, we need your feedback to help us to adjust our priorities for the ‘new normal’.

Please take a moment to complete the survey as we work together to make BIS an even better place for our children to learn.

Here is the link:

2021- 2022 Parent Satisfaction Survey

 

Dates for Your Diary

27/01 - 13/02/22             Tet Holiday

14/02/22                            Term 2.2 Begins

01/03/22                             Book Day at BIS

24/03/22 - 30/03/22       EY&I School photos

Term Dates 2022-2023

And Finally…

Along with welcoming the students back to school, we are also excited to host our first Virtual PTG Coffee Morning for 2022.  With items to share such as information on International Week, updates on class and country reps as well as the opportunity for parents to meet and reconnect, it promises to be a lovely morning.  Please pencil in Wednesday 23rd February in your diaries at 9am.  We will send a reminder nearer the time.

Wishing all of our families a wonderful Tet break, to those travelling stay safe and to those returning to Vietnam in the coming weeks, we look forward to welcoming you ‘home’.

Kindest regards,

Ian Battersby & Dee Grimshaw
Primary Headteachers