Mr Ian Battersby - Weekly Update 16th September 2022

‘Mathematics is not about numbers, equations, computations, or algorithms: it is about understanding.’ - William Paul Thurston.

Education is not about simply teaching knowledge!  At BIS, our aim is provide children with ability to think critically and develop the reasoning skills to be able to solve problems independently.

We know from talking to universities and employers that the key qualities that they are looking for are those based around the ability to reason and apply thinking into different situations and problems. This week, our maths leaders held two coffee mornings (one at each of the primary campuses) to explain how we go about developing these qualities that set apart BIS students when they move on to further education and the work place.

Maths Workshop

It was fantastic to welcome so many parents to our Maths Coffee mornings at EY&I and Juniors this week. After such long periods of Covid restrictions it was great to be able to share with you how we approach teaching Maths at BIS.

Maths will always be a core area of the curriculum for our children. Traditionally the focus has been to help improve our written methods and ensure we know our times tables. Whilst of course these are areas we are keen to further develop, more recently our focus has been on encouraging problem solving.

If we want our children to be amazing mathematicians, first we need to teach them how to be great problem solvers. This has definitely been our overarching message over the two sessions this week and it was wonderful to be able to share that with so many of you. Thank you to everyone for fully embracing the tasks set. For us it was fantastic to hear similar discussions amongst the parents that we would hear from the children in our classes. As we said earlier in the week, ‘mathematics is a strange language’ but one that is so important for our children to learn and develop. The beauty is it’s all around us and we can find examples to share with our children at anytime.

If you were unable to attend, or would like to look at the presentation again, please click on the link below:

EY&I Maths Coffee Morning - 13.09.22

Mr Rob & Mr Andy

Maths Leaders

World CleanUp Day 2022

We are delighted to invite everyone to take part in the much-awaited World CleanUp Day which will be taking place at the BIS Early Years and Infant Campus on Saturday 17^th September 2022.
The clean-up will be managed in small teams with a staged leaving time:

• Group A will meet by 8.45am to leave at 9.00am
• Group B will meet at 9.15am to leave at 9.30am
• Group C will meet at 9.45am to leave at 10.00am

Please sign up here to join in the fun and to help make our community a cleaner environment. Everyone who participates will also earn house points!

In addition to the clean up, there will be a number of stalls selling environmentally friendly goods, including our Upcycled Uniform stall. As well as items made from old uniform, there will also be a ‘Uniform Swap’.  We often get unused uniform returned to us, so bring along your old uniform and you may be able to swap it for items of new uniform.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

BIS Car Park

From Monday 19th September the location of the car park is moving to the other side of the road (please see the map below).  We are leasing the land for the car park, so all BIS parents are welcome to use it, and there is no need for the car parking vouchers.

We ask that all drivers follow the car park rules and, the guards instructions at all times.  Please remember they are working to keep the children safe and the traffic flowing.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Community Choir

We are delighted to be able to resume rehearsals with our fantastic community choir next week.  The community choir is open to all adult members of the BIS community who enjoy singing.

Rehearsals will take place on Thursday mornings 7.00am - 7.40am in the Secondary Theatre OR Friday afternoons in the Junior Campus multi-purpose room 13.15-14.15.

All are welcome, whatever your singing level.

Parents should register attendance in advance on here.

Ian Alexander

Director of Music

Pokemon Cards

As many of you will be aware, children are really enjoying bringing in Pokemon Cards into school. There is a lot of research including some from the Australian & New Zealand Mental Health Association that children benefit from the social interaction of playing with cards,  alleviates stress and helps the mind.

It is for these reasons that we do not ban children from bringing cards into school. However, there are some rules they need to follow:-

1. It is the child’s responsibility to look after them and we encourage special ones to stay at home.
2. No swapping of cards.
3. Cards can only be played at break time and lunchtime.

If rules are broken:

1. The first time children will hand their cards to the class teacher for the rest of the day.
2. The second time children will hand their cards to the class teacher and they will be given back at the end of the week.
3. The third time children will be asked to stop bringing in their cards.

Sarah Curran

Deputy Head

Fundinotots - Our Parent, Baby and Toddler Programme

Do you know about our Fundinotots programme? Open to all parents and their children aged 0 to 36 months, it’s the ideal way to connect with the BIS community, enjoy time in a stimulating environment with your little one and make friendships and connections with parents of children of a similar age.  To find out more about the programme or to organise a visit, contact Sarah Bonner.  Sarah.Bonner@bisvietnam.com

Co-Curricula Activities

Our Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) programme starts on Monday 19th September. Pick up lines will be in their different activities and not their classes. Please share the table below with the adult picking up so they know the line.

19/09/22                                 CCAs Term 1 start

21/09                                      Phonics Workshop and Coffee morning. Please click to sign up.

06/10/22                                 PTG Bus Tour

PTG

The last week has been full of celebration and also sadness for many. We wish to congratulate the children that performed so courageously and in style in Moon Festival. Additionally, the passing of The Queen is a time to reflect on the great service, dedication and inspiration that she presented to millions across the globe.

Dates to remember

●        Clean Up Day 17^th September 2022

●        Bake sale  25^th October 2022

●        Family Fun Evening 5^th November

●        Teachers´ Day 21^st November 2022

Class representative update

We would like to thank all the Class Reps who joined Thursday´s information briefing.  Now all parents who have volunteered as Class Rep have received the presentation slides and the class parent contact details from the office. If you have not already heard from your class parent rep, they will be in touch with you  very soon!

If you do not know who is your class parent rep, please ask your teachers. However there are still 16 classes without a class representative listed below.

 EYIC

Junior

If you would like a reminder about what the Class parent rep does, watch the short video here

If you are inspired to volunteer, please sign up here.

Country representative update

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.

●        When there are new students arriving at the school from your country, they will be introduced to you.

●        Support new families to introduce them to other families and provide any guidance that they may need setting into both the school environment and the local community .

2. Lead your Country group during the International Week (Term 3) 

●        Coordinating a food stall at the Global Cafe

●        Coordinating any country specific performances

There are still countries without a representative listed below.

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 below and click on the button next to your country to sign up.

Country Rep 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, Petra and Timea, on behalf of the Primary PTG Team

And Finally…

In assembly each week, we focus on different characteristics of the aide memoire. From this week we are focusing on ‘Care’ and ‘Sa Rang’, our friend who helps us to think about Care.  Ms Maria introduced our theme and then we spent some time reflecting on people who spend their lives caring for others; in this case we were looking at Queen Elizabeth II who over her 70 year reign supported over 600 charities and organisations.  Ms Maria asked the children to think about those who cared for us, and we spent a minute in silence remembering the Queen and those special to us.  Ms Amy brought our assembly to a close by playing a section of ‘The Last Post’ on the saxophone. 

The Year 1 and 2 children were very respectful as this was taking place.  Perhaps you would like to follow up at home over the weekend, as some children may have questions about death, and the references that were made to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral that will be taking place on Monday. 

Have a peaceful weekend,

Ian Battersby

Headteacher