Weekly Updates on 23/08/2024

Dear Parents

It is so great to be back and see all the students back in school. A very warm welcome to all the new families that have joined us this year.

I am delighted to say that this year we had the highest ever retention of existing families in the history of the school. 90% of families have chosen to stay with us which is the best ever result. I would like to personally thank you for continuing to put your trust in our school it means a lot to all of us. Thank you.

I would like to say a very special warm welcome to Mrs Claire Slowther who has started as the new Head of Secondary and join me to send congratulations to Mr James McMeekin for his new position: Deputy Head of Primary. Also, I would like to say welcome to Mrs Trang Hoang who has also joined the SLT team this year as Assistant Head of Primary. Trang will bring the Vietnamese perspective to the SLT meetings that I value enormously. I am certain that this will have a significant impact on our work to support our BVIS community to make BVIS the best it can be for everyone. I know you will join me in welcoming them to their new roles and supporting them in the weeks to come as they settle into the senior leadership team.

I am also delighted to announce that we had our best ever A Level results this year. Our Year 13 students excelled and our A*-B grades increased by more than 20%. Our results are now significantly above the UK averages for A Levels. Over 100 subject grades were at the highest grades A*-B. Well done and congratulations everyone.

At IGCSE BVIS Hanoi yet again excelled and we almost matched the record breaking results of last year. An incredible 185 subject grades were at the highest A*-A grade and an equally impressive 319 subjects grades were at A*-B level. This is a phenomenal achievement. Well done to all our IGCSE students.

Following feedback from parents we have been reviewing our homework/home-learning polices across the school and I hope you will be pleased with the new focus and direction in this important area for you as parents.

Yet again we have much planned for you this academic year. There are lots of information session, coffee mornings, presentations and much more for you to engage in during the year. It promises to be another busy but exciting year ahead.

I wish you all a very relaxing weekend ahead.

Eager to play with new and old friends

The children settled back into the Early Years Centre with enthusiasm and excitement. A few initial tears along the way as expected, but the nerves and trepidation were soon replaced with beautiful smiles and happy faces, eager to play with both new and old friends.

Happy laughter

The Year 1 children have spent their first week at school getting to know their teachers, making new friends, and learning about the classroom and school rules. It's great to see the excited faces of the children as they come into the classroom and their happy laughter when they take part in activities with the teacher and their classmates.

Eager to enter the classroom

In their first week back at school, the Year 2 students have been busy getting to know each other and making new friends and learning about the classroom and school rules. It's heartening to see the children's eager expressions as they enter the classroom, and their joyful laughter when participating in activities with their teacher and peers. We love to see many children showed teachers their engagement with writing diaries at home. Well-done Year 2!

Getting to know the rules and routines

Year 3 have spent time getting to know the rules and routines of their new classrooms. The students have been thinking of ways that they can be ready, be respectful and be caring at school this year.

In addition to this, Year 3 students have been busy with their IPC Entry Point activities. Our topic this term is ‘Rainforests’, so children have been using different materials and mediums to create rainforest inspired artwork.

Well-Being Activities

Year 4 students get ready by participating in various Well-Being activities in the morning such as: retelling their weekend experiences, practicing exercises, learning to sing a song, expressing gratitude, and giving compliments to friends.

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Learning to work together

In their first week, Year 5 have been learning to work together. On the first day back, they played benchball and learned about working as a team. They have also worked in groups to create stories and learn about endangered animals.

Be ready, Be respectful, Be Caring

Year 6 students spent the first few days learning about the expectations of being in Year 6, as well as sharing and discussing the school rules – be ready, be respectful, be caring. The children looked at ways we could do this in our classrooms and around the school. They also spent time getting to know their teacher and showed that they could be confident communicators by sharing about themselves in front of the class.

Secondary Weekly Update 23/8/24

We have had a busy first week back at school. On a personal level, I have absolutely loved my first week as Head of secondary here at BVIS. I have been so impressed with the kindness, manners and friendliness of our students. They have made me feel very welcome.

Welcome to our Year 7 Students

Our year 7 students have made a fantastic start to their secondary education at BVIS. They spent 3 days working a on a EcoPark challenge, designing a theme park with a focus on sustainability. The students worked in groups to develop teamwork, communication and collaboration whilst enhancing their digital skills. They also reflected upon the school values and awarded ‘shout outs’ to their new classmates in recognition of them displaying school values (Integrity, Respect, Caring, Enquiry, Reflection and Perseverance). On Monday afternoon, we welcomed parents into school to watch their children confidently present their ideas. We were all so impressed with their ideas, creativity, research skills and public speaking.

A busy summer!

Two of our school values are enquiry and perseverance. The Year 11 First Language English and English Literature really demonstrated these by completing some incredible homework and revision over the summer break, even using the notes app on their phone to complete work when they were not at home, and doing literature work on the subway! Their commitment to producing high quality responses and engaging with challenging content is admirable and means that they are starting Year 11 very well prepared. Some students annotated poetry from memory

Others completed timed analytical responses:

All students made notes on, and answered questions using videos from university lecturers about literature and colonialism.

The English department are really proud of the start that they are making to Year 11, and they should be proud of themselves too!

Years 8 – 13, Welcome back

Across the school, all students have been settling into their new timetables and meeting their teachers for session 24/25. In the photos below, some year 10 students were having fun with some introductory games.

Welcome back from the PE Department

The first week back is always an exciting time in the PE department as it brings a fresh start for students to showcase their skills and values in our Season 1 trials. For KS3 this means Basketball and for KS4/5 Volleyball.

With a record turnout for KS3 Girls this year, it was amazing to have so many enthusiastic young ladies trying out for the team - the future is bright for our female Dragons. We also had 30 KS3 Boys attend their trial, which is always a fiercely, but fairly, contested team to get in to.

A strong KS4 & KS5 cohort for the Boys and Girls saw an excellent trial session for the Volleyball, with some familiar faces returning, as well as some fresh talent from our new Year 10 students.

Aside from the HAC teams, we will turn our attention to the U15 FOBISIA squad trials on Thursday & Friday, where we look for even more sporting excellence from our Y9 & Y10 students.

We look forward to all of our teams representing the BVIS Dragons with pride and distinction.

Congratulations

Well done to the following students who took part in the Mathematics Junior Olympiad at the end of last year. This is the follow-up competition to UKMT Junior.

Year 8:

• Minh Quan Tran
• HaeRin Do
• SoYul Jin
• Ngoc Bao Anh Nguyen
• NaEun Kang

Year 9:

• Yechan Lee
• Gia Huy Tran
• Cong Quoc Khai Tran
• Le Quynh Anh Tran
• Gia Phuc Tran

A special mention goes to QUANG DUNG PHAM who gained a Certificate of Merit. Well done Quang Dung. That's amazing!

Primary

Secondary

We wish you all a very relaxing weekend!

Senior Leadership Team from BVIS Hanoi