Weekly Highlights 23/06/2023

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents

The theme of my Highlights this week is reflection and in light of this, I have been thinking about what my own personal highlights of this academic year have been. 

Although I encounter special ‘moments in time’ every day within my role as Principal of BVIS, I have identified my top 5 Highlights of this academic year that have made me both proud and thankful for being part of our school community:

Number 5:

Gen Z Livestream

In February, we brought together BVIS students, parents and alumni to discuss what Generation Z needs to thrive in the future.

Transforming our library into a TV studio set and ‘going live’ across the wider community, allowed us to understand and learn more about how this new generation will transform the workplace of the future with their focus upon creativity, boldness and of course, being tech savvy.

Number 4 :

Parent satisfaction survey 2022/23

Receiving your feedback is always important to us and year on year, this helps us to further develop our whole school strategic development planning.

Following a newly designed survey this year, we had an overall response rate of 50% with student ‘happiness’ and ‘safety’ rated highly across the survey in EYFS, Primary and Secondary.

It was extremely pleasing to find that more parents than ever before would highly recommend our school to others.

Number 3:

CIS Reaccreditation

Following 2 years of preparation, self-reflection and self study, BVIS was granted full International reaccreditation by both CIS (Council for International Schools) and WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) for the next 5 years.

The final report stated:

‘BVIS has a clear identity as a bilingual (Vietnamese and English) school providing an outstanding education with a strong commitment to community well-being through a global and Vietnamese perspective.’

‘The school’s positive culture and atmosphere is a major strength. Relationships between students and between students and staff are respectful, open, and honest. This welcoming and warm culture embraces those joining the school either as a student or staff member easing their induction into the school. The caring nature of the community was a feature mentioned by students, professional staff, support staff, and parents.’

Number 2:

Shortlisted in the top 10 for the world’s best school's awards

It is always great for the quality of our BVIS innovative education to be recognised by others outside of our school community.

For the first time, a school in Vietnam has been shortlisted as a top 10 school for innovation in the World’s Best School awards – what an incredible achievement, celebrating the hard work, dedication and expertise of our teachers.

Number 1:

Being back in school and operating a full school year

Back in August 2022, we were proud to invite parents back into school once again to see our summer campus updates.

It was a delight to have everyone in our community back in school, face to face after a long period of online learning due to the global pandemic.

Parent Essentials - Reminder

Over the holiday period, remember to use the ‘Parent Essentials’ section of our school website to access key information in preparation for the start of the next academic year.

Click here to access: calendars, parent handbooks, lunch menus and how to order school uniform. 

Contact Us

For all enquiries regarding your child’s BVIS education, use the contact details below:

On behalf of everyone at BVIS, I thank you for your continued support of our school and wish you all a very safe and prosperous summer break.

For those parents whose children are attending this year’s Summer School, I look forward to seeing you on Monday 26^th June.

For all other existing and perspective parents, we look forward to welcoming you back to school on Thursday 17^th August and sharing with you the many campus updates that will take place during the summer holiday.

Take care everyone – keep engaging and connecting with us!

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

Swimming Galas

In this last week of the year, the regular primary PE and Swimming lessons were exchanged for an exciting and competitive swimming gala for each year group.  The purpose of this event was twofold; firstly, it provides an opportunity for students to apply their swim development over the year in games and races and secondly, it is a fun way to celebrate the year’s success.  The students had a splashing time with their peers and teachers!  Well done to all involved and thank you to our PE and Swim teachers for making the event such a memorable one.

Y6 Celebration

On Tuesday evening, our Y6 students and families came together to celebrate the years they have spent learning, developing and progressing in primary.  There were many awards presented to the students recognising their efforts, achievements and holistic development now that they have reached the finish line of primary.  It was heart warming to see how as a collaborative group of students, they have grown together and have supported one another to be their best selves.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish our outgoing Y6 students a successful onward journey into secondary.  Congratulations on completing your primary years!

Exit Points

This week and last saw Y1 and Y3 celebrate their learning within their Lien Ket topic through an ‘Exit Point’.  Y3 have been busy learning all about chocolate this term – the processes and science involved, the sustainability of local chocolatiers and the ideas behind marketing such a product.  For their exit point, students designed games and quizzes with homemade chocolates as prizes for their parents to experience.  The event gave students the opportunity to apply their learning in an authentic context.  

Year 1 had a very special ‘Teddy Bear's Picnic Exit Point’!  Parents and families were invited to join their children in 6 different activities related to their 'We are what we eat' Lien Ket topic.  The activities included reading with their teddy bears, a healthy eating quiz, making fruit kebabs and much more!  

Both events were a huge success; it was lovely for so many parents to join us to see what our Y3 and Y1 students have been learning this term in their Lien Ket topics – thank you for joining us. 

Transition Day

On Thursday all students had the opportunity to meet their new teachers and explore their new classrooms during our ‘Transition Day’.  The purpose of this event is for students to begin to familiarise themselves with the changes ahead and have a taste of what it will be like in their next year group.  This experience helps students to prepare for when they arrive back to school in August, having already met their new teachers and learned about their new route into their classroom from the school gate.  

Over the summer holiday, please talk to your child about the changes ahead and their experiences of the transition day – use the photographs of their new teachers that were sent via email last week to support your conversations.  

Moving up a year group provides students with the next challenge in their learning, raising expectations both academically and personally for each student.  

Together, we must continue to develop independent and resilient learners as they face the new challenges ahead.  These are elements that can be discussed with children to help them understand the changes.

Upcoming Events

• 16/08/23 @ 08:30am – Orientation Morning for all students and families who are new to BVIS
  
  
• 17/08/23 @ 08:25am – Term 1 of academic year 2023/24 commences

Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary

Secondary Introduction and Year 6 Celebration 

As announced in earlier Highlights, transition week ended successfully last Friday with lots of joyful learning moments and experiences for not only our Primary but also the Senior students. The younger students shared that they had never been aware that they had to move after each lesson before and how they enjoyed break-time at the Sunken Garden.  

Furthermore, they also expressed how excited they were to look forward to Secondary life, which is a promising sign that they will settle well into Secondary. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who supported these activities in school as well as the parents who always take the chance to support the children from home.  

Lastly, following this successful week of transition activities, we had a short parent introduction to Secondary on 20^th of June before the Year 6 Celebration event. During this meeting we provided more details about Secondary life and expectations. Thank you for joining us on this day and should you have further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at secondaryreception@bvisvietnam.com  

BVIS 2023 EUREKA! Science Week 

BVIS's annual Science Week was a huge success, with students from all year groups getting involved in a wide range of activities. 

One of the highlights was the scaled-up model of the human body, which students could climb through. This gave them a unique opportunity to see the heart and arteries up close. 

Another highlight was the gravity visualisation, which used masses, cloth and balls of varying sizes to show how gravity works. This was a great way to understand a complex concept in a fun and interactive way. 

The much-anticipated Battle Royale between Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Psychology was also a lot of fun for all involved. Each had to come up with a way to prove once and for all their subject is the ultimate science. In the end, Physics won by propelling a water container across the theatre floor! 

There were also a wide range of classroom activities, including DNA extraction, forensic fingerprinting and experiments with non-Newtonian fluids.  

Overall, BVIS's 2023 EUREKA! Science Week was a great success. It was a fun and informative way for students to learn more about science. 

Head’s Breakfast Winners 

The following students were invited to breakfast on Monday due to their commitment to their studies and also the contributions they have made to their House over the year. 

From Hanoi - Gia Han (Michelle) 10V & Vy Khanh (Kandice) 9V 

From Hue - Yen Minh (Olivia) 9I & Minh Triet (Vincent) 10I 

From Dalat - Hoang Nhan (Nicky) - 10B & Duy Khang (Ben) - 9B 

From Saigon - Toan Hy (Kyle) (9S) & Viet Thanh (VT) (11S) 

From Sixth Form - Ba Thanh (Rony) 12S and Phuong Nghi (Ivy) 12H  

Student Champion of the Year 

Congratulations to Thao Linh – 12H – who is this year’s Student Champion of the Year as the student who gained more housepoints than any other! An incredible effort! 

Champion Tutor Group of the Year 

The Champion Tutor Group of 2022-23 is 9V who gained 3196 housepoints this year which is an amazing total and more than any other tutor group over the course of the entire school year! Well done to you all and to your tutor Ms Le Couilliard! 

First News Champions for the whole year are... 

Congratulations to 9I and 8I who won their respective Year groups.

The individual champions in each Year group for First News are below: 

Well done to Ngoc Nguyen from 7S who is the overall champion. 

Bedrock champions for each year group are... 

Nam Phu from Year 11 was the overall Bedrock Champion for the whole year! 

Global Campus Champion of the Year 

This year’s Global Campus Champion is Vu Minh (Gab) from 10B! Congratulations to Gab for all his hard work and continual commitment to the Global Campus. 

Overall House Competition Champions 

And so, after a year of hard work and dedication to your housepoint collection, the winners of the Secondary housepoint competition are Saigon! 

Well done to all of you who gained housepoints this year and helped to make the competition a very close run thing!

Upcoming Events  

• 23^rd June 11:30 am: Term 3 ends 
  
  
• 16^th August: new Families Induction Day 
  
  
• 17^th August Term 1 2023/24 begins