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A busy week with Barracuda Trials, Young Musician auditions, Parent Information Evenings, Entry Points for IPC units and lots more!
In our first full week back on campus it has been a busy time for all. School is much more than a classroom and we are thrilled to once again be busy with so many rich learning opportunities for the children.
The children have been impressing us with their enthusiasm for learning and their willingness to get involved in lots of classroom activities and trying out for various teams and music events. You can read more about these by scrolling down.
We were absolutely delighted with the number of parents that attended the Parents Information Evening on Thursday. It was wonderful to see so many parents actively engaging with school and their children’s learning. We hope you found the evening valuable and we look forward to continuing our partnership with you in your child’s education journey. If you were unable to attend, please find a copy of the presentation from the Primary Leadership Team below.
Junior Campus Parents Information Evening
Copies of class presentations will be shared in Learning Letters or via Seesaw.
For families that have recently joined us, we hope that your child has begun to settle into our school and is beginning to feel more confident in their new surroundings.
Transition to a new school and in some cases, country can be challenging and there will be a period of adjustment for all.
To support parents and families through this process, we would like to invite you to attend a ‘Settling in Workshop’ next Wednesday 31st August 2022 at 8.30am. It will take place in the Sports Hall at the Early Years and Infant Campus.
The purpose of the workshop is to:
Please can we ask you to complete this short form to let us know if you will be attending the workshop. We look forward to seeing you next Wednesday 31st August at the workshop.
Our Year 5 Mission To Mars topic was launched this week with our very own BIS astronaut training day. Our 'NASA instructors' observed a range of skills in our trainee astronauts including teamwork, problem solving, physical fitness and coordination.
The programme was packed with activities including: building a space shelter while wearing space gloves, completing a fitness and orientation assessment, building and testing space rockets and even meeting a few aliens! It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to collaborate with their peers and teachers from across the year group and they coped brilliantly with the challenges presented. It is safe to say that all of the trainee astronauts made it through to the next round of selection!
Jude Handscombe, Head of Year 5
Whilst starting at a new school is an exciting experience, we can all remember the feeling of ‘first day nerves’. Thankfully for the new students here at BIS Primary, the Young Interpreters have been close at hand to help and support them as they begin their learning journey at BIS.
Every class from Year 1 to Year 6 has at least one Young Interpreter – a student who has been chosen because they demonstrate excellent characteristics such as Care, Respect and Integrity. These dedicated students completed their training before the end of the last academic year, learning how to be a supportive ‘buddy’ for their new peers.
At the Junior Campus, the Young Interpreters from Years 4 to 6 even came to school a day early – to welcome new families for the Orientation Morning on Tuesday 15th August. They were waiting at the gate sporting beaming smiles and shiny purple sashes as new children arrived at BIS for the first time, and later they took their new classmates on tours in order to familiarise them with the campus and establish new friendships along the way. The Young Interpreters showed great independence and maturity by taking on their responsibilities in such a positive manner, and before long the new students were chatting away and feeling more ‘at home’ in their new surroundings.
Over the past 8 days, Young Interpreters across both the Infant and Junior campuses have been fantastic in helping new children to settle in to their new routines and make friends. We would like to say a big ‘thank you’ for all their hard work.
Josh, Paul, Luke, Rob & Sasha, EAL Department
With over 65 students signing up to be a part of the badminton squad trials, I knew that it was not going to be an easy decision to select the BIS JNRs badminton squad. A team is usually a group of 6 students and so that meant just 12 would be selected to be a part of the squad. All the students that came showed determination and promise. Well done to those above that we selected. For those that were not selected there will still be opportunities to play badminton at lunch times. Good luck to the 2022-2023 Badminton Squad. Soon the SISAC competitions will begin and so we will be training hard!
Mike Martin, Head of Year 6
Wow! What a week it has been for swimming. We have had over 350 children from across all three campuses trialling for the Barracudas Swim Squads this week. All of the students demonstrated commitment, dedication and passion in their trials, and we were blown away by the standard of swimming. The effort that the students put into their races was admirable, with many students arriving at school at 5.45am to be prepared for their trial. A big thank you to family members for supporting your children with this. It has been a very difficult decision for us choosing just 30 swimmers to be part of each squad.
Please check Schools Buddy to find out if your child has been successful in making a squad. All the details regarding the days and times of training will be detailed there.
If you were not successful this time, please do not be disheartened, keep swimming and practising as you will be able to trial again at the beginning of Term 2.
Congratulations and a big well done to all involved.
Sophie Roberts, Head of Aquatics
We are delighted to say that the number of students auditioning for BIS Young Musicians has been overwhelming! In fact, so many people have signed up that we have had to open extra audition times in order to hear everyone. Any student who has signed up but not yet auditioned, should come to the music rooms on Monday, August 29th at lunch time.
Well done to everyone who has auditioned. We will announce the students who have been selected for the Semi-Finals on Wednesday, August 31st.
The 'Bring Your Own iPad' programme is up and running in Year 4, 5 and 6. We will be hosting a coffee morning on Wednesday 7th September to give details about this programme and offer support to families. In the meantime, please check the BYO-iPad site here for information about the programme including the apps required by children in each year group.
If you have any questions about the 'Bring Your Own iPad' programme, this is a great workshop to attend.
If you have not completed the ‘updated medical information’ Google Form that was shared by BIS HCMC on the 1st of August, you will have received an email yesterday (Thursday) urging you to do so as soon as possible. This information is vital, especially in the event of an emergency. Your swift completion of this task is much appreciated and thank you to those families who have done so already.
Kind regards, Mr. Chris.
Whilst as a school and a country we are in a much better place than this time last year, Covid-19 continues to be a disruption. Right around the world, we have seen 3rd and 4th Covid waves appear, and Vietnam is no different. To keep our entire community safe, we urge that you watch for any symptoms with your children, and conduct a Rapid Antigen Test if you have any concerns for their health. If a positive result is confirmed, please inform Mr Chris (Christopher.McKelvie@bisvietnam.com ) as soon as possible. Even if negative, we ask that if children have any any Cold/Flu/Covid Symptoms, that they remain off school until symptom free.
If a positive case is recorded, your child will remain at home until such a time a negative result from a medical facility is returned to Mr Chris (email above), and to Nurse Shena (Shena.Nojor@bisvietnam.com). Symptoms are generally mild, and your child should be able to return to school within a week. Household/close contacts are able to return to school immediately if negative, but we urge
If at any time you have a concern at home with the health of your child, you are more than welcome to reach out to the Health and Safety Leads of either campus (EYIC Ms Sarah Curran Sarah.Curran@bisvietnam.com and JC Mr Chris McKelvie Christopher.Mckelvie@bisvietnam.com.
Sarah Curran and Chris McKelvie, Deputy Headteachers
Happy Friday! We hope the children are starting to feel more settled after their first full week in school. At last week's whole school ‘Welcome / Welcome Back’ coffee morning the PTG from both Primary and Secondary absolutely loved being able to connect with so many parents across the school. It was such a great turn out and so much to talk about that the last parents didn’t leave until the canteen staff needed to set the tables for lunch!
So, after such a successful turn out, we are really looking forward to hosting our own PTG Coffee Morning, for Primary parents. It will be a great opportunity for lots more chatting, and a chance for us to share specific information about what the Primary PTG team do and different ways parents can get involved (if you want!)
We will share more about ….
- the Primary PTG – who we are and what we do
- what events are happening over the next few months and how to get involved (if you wish!)
- the Class Parent & Country reps, why they are important and how they can support you
- Our ‘soon to be launched’ Dads club!
- Upcycling Uniform initiative
….and lots more…
These next couple of weeks, our focus is on promoting and recruiting the Primary PTG Class Parent Reps. They are an important part of our school community, helping the core PTG team connect with a greater number of parents, on a more personal level. Each Class Rep helps to connect parents within their child’s class, welcome new families to the class community, and support the PTG by sharing and promoting key messages about what we are going and what support we need. Those of you able to attend the Primary Parent Information evenings this week will have learnt more about the Class Parent Rep role. If you were unable to attend you can learn more here. If you are inspired to volunteer, please sign up here.
For any Class reps who have signed up, or if you are interested but would like more information, or to meet other class reps, then we invite you to our Class Rep Information meeting on Thursday 8th Sept @ EYIC Small Hall (3rd Floor).
Would you like the opportunity to share some of the things you love about your home country with our BIS community during our infamous international week? Are you passionate about a place you have lived? Would you be willing to offer support to other families arriving from your home country? If yes, then volunteering as Country Rep is another wonderful way to support the PTG and parents in our BIS community.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Providing support to new families joining from your country.
2. Lead your Country group during the International Week (Start of Term 2)
PLEASE NOTE: To take on this role, you do not need to have a passport of the country that you would like to represent. As long as you or your child/children have some connection to that country.
Please review the available slots here and click on the button next to your country to sign up.
As always, for more information about the PTG, to connect with us and ask questions, or if you would like to support as a volunteer, please email us directly on primaryptgbis@gmail.com
We look forward to meeting you all soon.
Pamela, on behalf of the Primary PTG Team
Wednesday 31st August 2022 Settling In Workshop for new BIS families
Thursday 1st September Vietnam Public Holiday - School closed
Friday 2nd September Vietnam Public Holiday - School closed
Wednesday 7th September 2022 Parent Teacher Student Conferences
Thursday 8th September 2022 Parent Teacher Student Conferences
Friday 9th September 2022 Moon Festival at the Junior Campus
Monday 19th September 2022 Term 1 Clubs begin
A reminder that next week is a short week and there will be no school for children on Thursday 1st or Friday 2nd September due to Vietnam public holidays.
Wishing all of our BIS community a wonderful weekend.
Deirdre Grimshaw, Headteacher of Junior Campus