Weekly Highlights 23/09/2022

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents

Welcome to the latest edition of this week’s Highlights, that gives you an insight into the events that have been happening across BVIS this week, celebrates student success and acts as a reminder for future events across the school.

It’s Good To Be Me

On Wednesday this week, we welcomed 3 important guests to our Main Hall to talk to our KS3 students (Years 7, 8 and 9) about their journey through life and the career path that they have chosen to take. Our thanks to Mrs Trang Tran, Doctor and Head of Department for Infection Control at the ENT Hospital HCMC, Mr Cong Le, Paralympic gold medalist and Mr Toby Bate, our own Secondary Headteacher.

The purpose of this event was to inform and inspire our students, and this was most certainly achieved. We hope that the next Doctor, Olympic gold medalist or Headteacher of the future has just started planning their own career pathway. Please look out for more of these inspirational events in Term 2. If you think you can inspire our students in their future careers or can suggest anyone you think who can, please do not hesitate to contact Ms Thao (Events Manager) at: thao.nguyen3@bvisvietnam.com. We’d love to hear from you!

BVIS Host Council of International Schools

In just over one month's time, we will welcome colleagues from CIS (Council of International Schools) to come into school as part of a reaccreditation visit which takes place every 5 years. Over the last 24 months, we have been undertaking a period of self-study, to produce a report that allows the school to reflect upon what we do, how we do it and the level of impact that these actions have on overall learning. This has now been submitted to CIS and will be used to guide the visiting team when they are in school from Monday 31st October to Friday 4th November.

As an important attribute of our Aide Memoire, ‘reflection’ allows us to celebrate what we already do well and helps to support our motivation for continuous development and improvement. As always, I will ensure that you are kept informed and updated on how the visit goes.

This weekend, I challenge you to reflect together as a family. Take time out to speak with your child(ren) and ask both yourself and him/her the following questions:

1. What has been your greatest achievement in life so far, and why?
2. What else do you want to achieve and how are you going to achieve it?
3. What do you know this week, that you didn’t know last week and how are you going to use this new skill or knowledge?
4. How can you learn more effectively next week and what 3 things can you do to make it happen?

Remember to always build reflection into your own daily routine when talking to your child(ren). As Aristotle said, ‘Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom’.

Welcome to BVIS

As part of our ongoing introduction to new members of our teaching staff, this week we are pleased to welcome Mr Jac Isaac, our new Year 4 Teacher.

1. What were your first impressions of BVIS?  

My first impressions of BVIS were that the whole school was a close-knit group, staff were all so

welcoming and engaging and helpful to each other 

2. As a BVIS teacher, what are your professional priorities in this first year at school?  

My professional priorities are to engage with the school and wider community, observe and

interact with other teachers to learn from and conversate about teaching and to continue to

implement strategies that will benefit the pupils. 

3. What 3 things are you looking forward to doing whilst working and living in Vietnam?

Travelling, learning some of the language and getting to know the cultures of Vietnam, eating all

the delicious foods.  

Contact us

On behalf of everyone across our BVIS community, I wish you a very enjoyable weekend ahead.

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

“Finer Diners”

The first “Finer Diners” of the year enjoyed their lunch on the very special lunch table set up for fine dining. Students who are observed making the right choices and following the rules at lunchtime are chosen to be entered into the “Golden Book”. Then, once a week, one student from each primary year group is selected to join the table for fine dining along with a friend of their choice. The students dine at the table with Ms Mary, Mr Darragh and a special guest each week. They enjoy sharing what they have been doing that day and are treated to a healthy and tasty sorbet dessert.

Congratulations to our very first Finer Diners in the primary years at BVIS. They were the first to be observed being excellent role models at lunch, eating vegetables and fruit, being polite and respectful and clearing away carefully when they had finished.

Young Musician of the Year – Semi-Finals

This week the 10 semi-finalists performed their chosen musical piece to the panel of judges in the semi-final round of this year’s Young Musician of the Year competition, a citywide competition. All primary students, plus the parents of the semi-finalists, were privileged to experience the talent of our young musicians during this special assembly. The judges had a difficult decision to make after hearing the students sing and play their practiced pieces, selecting five of the musicians to go through to the final round. 

The Young Musician of the Year final round of this prestigious event will be held at ABC International School this year on Tuesday 4th October.

Phonics Coffee Morning – Part Two

Learning continued for parents this week as they joined Ms Ha and Mr Max once again to further their understanding of the teaching and learning of phonics at BVIS.

Phonics forms the heart of reading and writing in both languages for our students. It is extremely beneficial for the adults, who listen to children read at home, to grasp the concept of phonics and be confident in pronouncing the phonics sounds. This series of workshops aim to do just this for parents. Thank you to those who have joined both workshops.

We welcome all parents of Year 1 to 3 students to join the last workshop in the series on Thursday 29th September at 08:30am. The workshop will focus on using and applying phonics in reading.

Upcoming Events

1. 29/09/22 @ 08:30am: Phonics and Reading coffee morning Workshop 3 (open to Years 1 to 3

parents)

2. 11/10/22 @ 08:30am: Positive Parenting Workshop – Wearing your Listening and Supportive Hat

for Upper Primary year groups (Y4-Y6)

3. 14/10/22: Season 1 clubs end

4. 14/10/22: School ends for the Half-Term Holiday

5. 17/10/22-21/10/22: Half Term Holiday, School Closed

6. 24/10/22: School resumes

7. 26/10/22 @ 08:30am: Positive Parenting Workshop – Wearing your Listening and Supportive Hat

for Lower Primary year groups (Y1-Y3)

Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary

Dear Parents and carers

When we look back at the “normal” weeks we have as a school, they really are incredibly full, and action packed. This past “normal” week has included a planned evacuation (that was very successful), House football competitions, visiting guest speakers coming into school, the first live lunch music performances and subject options evenings. This obviously doesn’t include all the extra-curricular activities or sports fixtures that we run.

It is sometimes easy to forget that for many other schools around the world, a BVIS normal week might be considered as one of the busiest weeks in their whole calendar. BVIS truly is a special place and one that is continually improved by us all working together, parents, staff and students.

Year 11 Options Event

Last week, our Year 11 students began the process of choosing their A Level options for Years 12 and 13 with a lively and informative event hosted in our Main Hall. Individual subjects (we can now offer up to 17 different A level options, depending on demand) manned stalls (assisted by our knowledgeable Key Stage 5 students) to offer Year 11s and their parents detailed information about the courses we offer, and how they might fit in with different university and career paths.

Mr Curran, our Head of Safeguarding, Welfare and Guidance, and Ms Dung, our University and Careers Guidance Counsellor, gave this advice for making great choices:

1. If you know what you want to study at university, check the entry requirements in the country you

want to study in.

2. If you are not sure, keep your options open by choosing at least two facilitating subjects (the

more ‘traditional’ subjects).

3. Make sure your IGCSE results are good enough for what you want to do (students who get at least

a ‘B’ at IGCSE tend to do better at the same subject at AS and A Level than students who get

lower IGCSE grades).

4. Choose subjects that reflect your strengths and interests. Good results come from choosing a

subject you’re passionate about, as well as good teaching.

5. Be clear in your own mind why you want to study a subject. Check all the facts!

6. Finally, definitely do not choose an A Level because your friend has chosen it: remember, this is

your future you’re building, not theirs!

BVIS Secondary Champion(s) of the Week

It is with great pleasure to announce that we have our first ever double Champion week! Two students could not be separated at the top of the table so a massive congratulations to both Jake and to Nga– both in 11S – who are this week’s joint Champions!

BVIS Secondary Tutor Group Champions

With both Jake and Nga as Champions of the week, there could be only one tutor group winning the Tutor Group of the Week award this week and that is 11S with a massive 180 points. I believe that 180 points is the record for this academic year so far and this is now the score to beat! Well done 11S!

Sowing Seeds of Knowledge at BVIS

The students of the Horticulture Club began constructing the BVIS Global Garden this week. They learnt about repotting small plants, creating ample drainage, urban and vertical gardening, and how to use different tools safely.

It was great fun handling the soil, recycling old pots into new planters, and some students even opted to take a small plant home to care for and to help their knowledge blossom. Ms. Mumby-Cole commented on how proud she was to see a green space growing at BVIS and that she is excited to see the project come into full bloom.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

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: