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Mr. Simon Higham, Principal
Dear Parents
Waking up to the news that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away this week came with great sadness, especially to our BVIS community who have direct links with the United Kingdom.
A small area of condolence has been set up within our school library to celebrate the life and leadership of the Queen, whilst also allowing both students and staff an opportunity to add their words of reflection and condolence. Thank you to all our community who have offered words of support and kindness to both myself and our British BVIS staff.
Should you wish to leave your own personal message, please access the link that will take you to the UK Government’s official Book of Condolence.
Since the beginning of this academic year, it has been extremely pleasing to see the increased engagement and connection between our school and the wider community.
With a high attendance for our numerous workshops and seminars, including almost 100 parents attending last week’s Principal’s Afternoon Tea, I trust that you are becoming more aware of not only what your child is learning in school but also how we can help you to support this learning too.
This week and next, our first parent/teacher meetings will take place in primary and Options Evenings for Year 11 and Year 9 students are also scheduled. It is our expectation that we have 100% attendance for all of these meetings to ensure that positive relationships are built with you and your child’s class/subject teachers at this very early stage in the academic year.
This weekend, please find time to ask these 3 questions with your child(ren):
Learning how to be a friend involves body language, emotional intelligence, and conversational skills. But learning these skills may not come easily to all children and — as every parent knows — will be accompanied by many different emotions.
Access this post from our school website to find out more about how you can support young (and older) children to make friends at school.
As part of our ongoing introduction to new members of our teaching staff, this week we are pleased to welcome Mr Ashley Sutton, primary teacher.
Please take time to read through Mr Ashley’s answers and reflections to get to know him better.
1. What were your first impressions of BVIS?
My first impressions of BVIS were that it is a friendly and engaging school where people work hard and work hard to make time for each other.
2. As a BVIS teacher, what are your professional priorities in this first year at school?
My priorities in this first year are to build positive relationships with the children, parents and staff; observe and learn from how my colleagues to help me improve as a teacher and to initiate a team of Eco-warriors led by primary children.
3. What 3 things are you looking forward to doing whilst working and living in Vietnam?
Teaching the fantastic children at BVIS; learning from the incredible teachers at BVIS and improving my Vietnamese language skills.
Have you set aside some time to look through the Parent Essentials section on our school website?
Here you can find access to the monthly student menus, how to order new uniform and our EYFS, Primary and Secondary Handbooks together with secondary options booklets.
As well as being a Nord Anglia Education School, we are also a proud member of FOBISIA – the Federation of British International Schools in Asia.
To access the FOBISIA School Newsletter for September 2022, click on the links below for both the English and Vietnamese versions:
Should you wish to enquire about your child using our school bus service, please use one of the contacts below.
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Thank you for your continued support of our BVIS community and have a great weekend ahead.
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Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary
Year 4 had a wonderful afternoon last week taking part in the very first Lien Ket Entry Point of the year. They got into roles and became explorers of different habitats – the ocean, forest, desert and Antarctica. The children participated in competitions, art activities, singing and quizzes. The event was full of excitement and the children visibly built enthusiasm about what they will be learning this term.
We believe that this unit of Lien Ket, ‘Adventurers and Explorers’, will inspire the children to be more curious about how the world is mapped and become young explorers themselves.
Last week, the Year 6 students participated in a thrilling entry point to kick off their Lien Ket topic on the ‘Ancient Greeks.’ The children spent most of the day exploring what life was like for civilians during Ancient Greek times. The activities they completed included:
The children thoroughly enjoyed the array of activities on offer which stimulated their minds helping them get into character. This entry point created lots of fantastic discussions throughout the day and led the children to ask some inquisitive questions to further their learning.
This week was the first of a series of coffee mornings for parents on supporting children with their phonics learning. The series began with phonics for F3, Year 1 and Year 2 parents led by Mr Max, our Lower Primary Coordinator, and Ms Ha, our Vietnamese Literacy Leader.
Parents were shown how children learn phonic sounds and how they can support their children further at home. Over the next two weeks, Mr Max and Ms Ha will continue to share useful information about the teaching of phonics and reading, delivering part two of the phonics workshop series for Years 1 and 2 parents and in the final week, focusing on reading for Years 1, 2 and 3 parents.
Please continue to join the valuable parent workshops that our expert teachers and leaders deliver to support children to make the best progress in their learning. Excellent and informed parental support will always positively benefit children’s learning. Look out for future dates for your diary in the upcoming events section below. Thank you for your valuable support.
I am pleased to announce that Season 1 of the clubs programme began this week. The primary club programme offers a range of extra-curricular activities for students to enjoy and engage in. Our club teachers have been impressed with the enthusiasm that students have shown as they participated in their first week of clubs.
Thank you to all families who registered their children for clubs this season. Experiencing new hobbies and previous favourite activities is an important part of student life at BVIS, which supports and promotes the development of a holistic approach to learning. I look forward to seeing the outcomes and achievements over the next 4 weeks of Season 1.
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Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary
This week saw an initiative put forward by one of our student leaders come to fruition. On Monday the 12th of September the school allowed its first ever “No backpack day”.
This day was in alignment with the No Backpack Organisation which aims to raise awareness of students around the world who sadly cannot afford basic school supplies. You can find out more about this initiative here.
A big thank you from the whole school goes to our student leaders who put forward this idea.
This year’s school production is now fully underway! After an intense audition process the new cast of ‘Blood Brothers’ has been announced and rehearsals have started in earnest. We’re already excited to put together the first live show in recent times telling the story of two brothers separated at birth, reunited in later years and events unravelling with a tragic ending.
Look out for more updates of our progress over the coming weeks and put the dates of 7th, 8th and 9th December into your calendar to come and see the show for yourself and see the strength of the creative arts across BVIS.
This week saw the start of extra-curricular clubs running in secondary. The programme offers a wide range of different extra-curricular activities for students to take part in. All our teachers have been impressed with the students’ attitude and enthusiasm during this first week, as this is the first opportunity we have had to offer ECAs for quite some time due to issues caused by COVID 19.
ECAs are an integral part of student life at BVIS, which fosters the development of a holistic approach to learning. I am certain that our students will enjoy the experiences we have an offer for them and see the value in learning outside of the classroom.
On Thursday evening, the school welcomed parents and students from Y11 to discuss their option choices for next academic year. These choices are very important as they lay the foundations of knowledge for further, more in-depth study at university. In many cases the discussions focused on what careers students would like to enter after the successful completion of their first degree.
The event was very well attended by both students and parents who enjoyed discussing in detail the wide range of subjects that BVIS offers as part of our A level programme of study.
Congratulations to Hien (Annie) in 9B who is this week’s champion. This is especially pleasing as Annie had said to me a few weeks ago that she was determined to be a Secondary Champion and she has worked so hard to achieve this! Well done Annie!
The health, safety and wellbeing of our students remains the number one priority at BVIS HCMC.
Should you have a concern for the welfare of any child in our school, please refer to our Safeguarding poster below:
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