Weekly Highlights 25/08/2023

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents

I trust that you and your family have settled well into our new school year and have thoroughly enjoyed a packed first full week of learning at BVIS.

It has been our pleasure to meet and greet you at the gate for both drop off and pick up and we thank you for your support in getting your chid(ren) to and from school on time and looking extremely smart in their new uniform. 

This weekend, I encourage you all to ask your son or daughter the following questions:

1. What do you know now, that you didn’t know at the start of the week?
2. What are your favourite 3 questions that you have asked your teacher(s) this week?
3. What are you going to do differently next week, compared to what you did this week?

As always, I’d love to hear back from you about what answers you received. Please feel free to share them with me via my PA, Ms Jacy Nguyen: jacy.nguyen@bvisvietnam.com

You’re all Invited!

On Wednesday this week, you will have received an invitation from me to join us for our first Principal’s Afternoon Tea event of the new academic year.

• Date: Wednesday 6^th September 
• Time : 2.00pm – 3.00pm
• Where: Main Hall  

I will be leading this event and the topics covered will be:

• School updates since we last met 
• Refreshing our school’s Mission, Vision and Values
• Future topics to cover for the next Principal’s Afternoon Tea event
• ‘Friends of BVIS’ – updates, proposed events and next steps to support the establishment of a more formal parent group within school 

If you would like to join us on Wednesday 6^th September, please click on this link to register.

Refreshments will be available and I look forward to seeing you there.

Introducing our Amazing New Teachers

Mrs Anastasia Harris 

• Bachelor of Science in Sociology, University of Bristol, UK
• Professional Graduate Diploma in Education PGDE (in Primary Education), University of Strathclyde, UK
• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), Department for Education, UK

Anastasia obtained a degree from the University of Bristol before gaining her PGDE from the University of Strathclyde. She lived and taught in Scotland for two years before moving back to England where she taught at an independent school in Gloucestershire. 

Outside of teaching, Anastasia is a keen equestrian and loves to cook and travel.

NAE-UNICEF Summit

Each year, 2 students from each school across our Nord Anglia Education family have the opportunity to attend the NAE-UNICEF Summit, held in New York City. I would like to personally congratulate Apple and Sie, who represented BVIS HCMC with pride and diligence across the 100 strong 2023 cohort.

Please take time to read the account below, written by Quynh Lam (Apple) in 13I:

Attending the NAE UNICEF Summit gave me the opportunity to meet numerous people from more than 65 countries around the world. 

We gathered together and had discussions about our countries' as well as schools' strengths and weaknesses on developing a sustainable environment. Moreover, I attended workshops to gain a deeper understanding about the 17 SDGs and how to apply it to my current school. 

Lastly, NAE UNICEF Summit is an amazing place for students to come together and share about their cultures.

BVIS Graduates Thrive in International University Thanks to our International A Level Curriculum

This summer, Ms Dung Mai, College and University Guidance Counsellor, embarked on a journey to Australia, exploring Monash University (ranked 5^th in Australia and 42^nd globally). 

Read more in this article from our school website about her visit and connection with our BVIS Alumni, who are thriving in their new overseas study environments.

Mission, Vision and Values (part 2)

Last week, I introduced you to our newly updated school Mission and this week, as promised, I wanted to share with you our school’s updated vision for the future – what we want to achieve and ultimately, how we plan to achieve this. 
 
Being able to deliver an outstanding international bilingual education for every BVIS child, that provides a learning experience like no other, our vision for all students is:

‘We thrive together, using the global reach of Nord Anglia Education, to shape a generation of creative and resilient global citizens who retain a Vietnamese perspective. Our whole community embraces our values, enabling us to create a generation that will change our world for the better.   

Ultimately, we believe that our BVIS community is changing our world for the better and we are all part of this important journey that lies ahead.

In next week’s Highlights, I will introduce you to our school’s Values – both what they are and what they mean. This includes our own BVIS definitions of ‘Global Citizenship’ and ‘Vietnamese Perspective’. 

Should you wish to contact your child’s Class Teacher(s) or Form Tutor directly, we encourage communication to be written in the language you most feel confident to use. 

On behalf of everyone at BVIS, we wish you a safe, happy and family orientated weekend ahead. See you for more on Monday!

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

BVIS Upper Primary Writing Competition 

We welcome students in Year 4, 5 and 6 to enter the Aide Memoire writing competition that will close for entries on Friday 8^th September. Students are invited to write a story in either English or Vietnamese about the animals that are linked to our school values.  Each class has the choice of two values to write about, these are detailed below.  Students are required to explain how and why the animal was chosen to represent the value they choose.

• B: Enquiry – Gibbon or, Global Citizenship – Crane
• V: Care – Elephant or, Integrity – Sao La
• I: Reflection – Owl or, Vietnamese Perspective – Water Buffalo
• S: Perseverance – Turtle or, Respect – Tiger

The competition has two rounds with the top 5 stories being judged by a panel of teachers and announced on 22^nd September.  Following this round, students will have the opportunity to read and vote for their favourite story.  Votes will be tallied, and the winners will be announced during bilingual month in October.

Please encourage the Year 4, 5 or 6 children to have a go at writing a story and submit their entry.

Meet the Teachers Evening

On Thursday evening families and teachers gathered at school for the annual Primary Meet the Teachers evening.  Thank you to our community members who attended the evening to learn about what to expect from the year ahead for their children. Teachers shared the unique features of each year group set up and the experiences planned for the year. 

Primary Parents’ Evening Meetings

The next opportunity for parents to meet their class teachers is the one-to-one parent consultations in the second and third week of September. Emails will be sent to parents next week explaining how to book an individual time to meet with the class teachers – please look out for this.  We must aim for 100% attendance at these meetings as they allow the “team around the child” (parents and teachers) to support learning and progress in order to ensure that every child’s learning has no limits. We look forward to sharing with parents how the children have settled into their new year group and sharing more about their targets for the year.

Class Dojo Connection

Home school connection is at the heart of successful learning and progress for children.  One tool that we use to ensure that communication between home and school is smooth and clear is ClassDojo.  Parents and teachers can communicate individually through the chat message function; a group message between two parents and the two class teachers can also be created in the messenger function.

In addition, on a Friday class teachers will post the learning planned for the following week.  This is a great way to connect with your child’s learning each week – view the learning overviews with your child and discuss their experiences from the week completed and discuss the learning planned for the following week.
 
As the year gets underway and your child settles into their new year group, if there are any questions that you have, then please connect with your child’s class teachers through ClassDojo to discuss these.

Drop off and Pick up Procedures

I would like to remind our community of the drop off and pick up procedures at school.
 
Traffic flows around the school clockwise.  When parking, for motorbikes please use Gate A for parent parking and for cars, there is plenty of space to park around the school however, please do not park in front of the gates. 
 
In the mornings all students are dropped off at Gate E.  All primary children should arrive between 8:00am and 8:25am. Supervision begins at 8 o’clock.  School starts at 8:25am.  We ask EYFS parents to escort their children to their classroom balcony.
 
At the end of the day, the foyer doors will be opened at 3:05pm.  All adults are asked to follow the 1-way system to collect their children.  Older children will be at your youngest child’s classroom, unless otherwise communicated by your child’s class teacher, so there is no need for you to travel to multiple classrooms to pick up.

Late pick up of children is from the Primary Canteen, using the foyer staircase. Children who are collected late, must be signed for by a parent. Persistent late pick-ups will result in reminder emails from the Headteacher about pick up times.

Upcoming Parent Events

There are several upcoming coffee mornings and parent workshops that we invite primary parents to join.  These events are planned to equip parents with the knowledge, skills and understanding of their child’s development in a variety of areas such as, parenting, reading, technology and maths.  I recommend adding the dates to your diary and make the time to attend.  Learning from the educators of your child will impact positively on their progress, development and choices for their future.

1. 05/09/23 @ 08:30am: EYFS Parent Coffee Morning – Technology in EYFS (open to F1 to F3 parents)
   
   
2. 05 and 07/09/22: Parents’ Evening Meetings for B and I classes  
   
   
3. 06/09/23 @ 14:00: Principal’s Afternoon Tea (open to all parents)
   
   
4. 07/09/23 @ 08:30am: Primary Parent Coffee Morning – Technology in the primary years (open to Years 1 to 6 parents)
   
   
5. 12 and 14/09/23: Parents’ Evening Meetings for V and S classes  
   
   
6. 14/09/23 @ 08:30am: Phonics coffee morning Workshop 1 (open to F3, Year 1 and 2 parents)
   
   
7. 21/09/23 @ 08:30am: Phonics coffee morning Workshop 2 (open to Year 1 to 2 parents)
   
   
8. 28/09/23 @ 08:30am: Phonics and Reading coffee morning Workshop 3 (open to Year 1 to 3 parents)
   
   
9. 10/10/23 @ 08:30am: Positive Parenting Workshop – Wearing your Firm for Upper Primary year groups (open to Year 4 to Year 6)

Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary

Welcome

The school opened for students last week marking the start of the academic year 23-24.  
 
Just like last year, there were lots of happy faces returning to lessons this week and some very happy Year 12 and Year 13 students when exam results were released. More on this below.
 
The students at BVIS never cease to amaze me, and the fact that many of our student leaders gave up a day of their summer holiday to support our new students on induction day was truly inspiring. 

Examination Results 2023

It gives me great pleasure in my first weekly highlights to be able to discuss the excellent examination results that the school achieved in 2023.

Our students are truly exceptional, as the results below show, and they should be congratulated on their excellent performances. 

IGCSEs

• 65% of all our grades were A* - B.  
• 83% of all our grades were A*- C
• 9% students achieved A*-A in all subjects
• 77% students achieved 5 or more A*- C (including Mathematics & English) 
  

AS levels

• 65% of all grades were A - B 
• 80% of all grades were A - C
• 96% of all grades were A – E

A levels

• 31% of grades at A Level were A*-A 
• 45% of grades at A Level were A*-B 
• 70% of grades at A Level were A*-C 
• 96% of grades at A Level were A*-E

However, these raw numbers don’t show us the full picture, with many students achieving over their target grades and rightfully being ecstatic with their results. There a numerous success stories within these numbers and with almost a third of our students going off to a university ranked in the top 50 in the world, it really shows us all what great students we have.
 
Well done to all our students who took examinations in 2023.

Mama Mia – School Production

Following up from last year’s amazing show “Blood Brothers”, this year BVIS will be presenting “Mama Mia” as our main secondary school production.
 
“Mamma Mia” takes place on a small Greek island, where Sophie dreams of a perfect wedding — one which includes her father giving her away. The problem? Sophie doesn’t know who he is! Her mother Donna, the former lead singer of the 1970s pop group Donna and the Dynamos, refuses to talk about the past, so Sophie decides to take matters into her own hands. Told through the legendary music of ABBA, Mamma Mia! has become a worldwide sensation and is now coming to BVIS!

The show will take place on 6^th, 7^th and 8^th of December in the BVIS main hall.

As soon as tickets become available, please arrange to purchase them promptly to avoid disappointment.

Staff Treasure Hunt House Event

It is traditional at the beginning of the year to start the House Competition off before the students even arrive in school for the first day.
 
This is done through a staff teambuilding event where all teaching staff take part in a treasure hunt race around District 2. Here are the results:
 
1^st – Hanoi
2^nd – Hue
3^rd – Saigon
4^th – Dalat

Well done to the teachers of Hanoi for putting their house at the top of the leaderboard already!

Secondary Meet the Tutor Event

On Wednesday evening families and teachers gathered at school for the annual Secondary Meet the Tutors event.  Thank you to our community members who attended the evening to learn about what to expect from the year ahead and have some important discussions with their child’s tutor.

If you have any further questions that were not answered on the evening, please do engage and connect with the school via secondaryreception@bvisvietnam.com

Housepoint totals

Even though we are only just over a week into the new school year the House competition is already up and running. Will last year’s champions Saigon be able to defend their title? Will Hue be able to go one better this year or will Dalat and Hanoi be reinvigorated after the summer break?
 
These are the current standings.

Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award

I am delighted to let you know that this year we are relaunching The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award at BVIS.  The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is the World’s leading youth achievement award and it is delivered in over 130 countries around the globe. 
 
The D of E International Award is non-competitive and open to all young people – it's about setting personal challenges and pushing personal boundaries. There are three levels of D of E programme which, when successfully completed, lead to a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.

Through their D of E International Award, students will make friends and memories and build traits like confidence, resilience and self-esteem, which can benefit mental health. They’ll gain skills and attributes for work and life, like problem-solving, team-working and self-motivation – and they’ll achieve an Award that’s recognised by top employers and can help them stand out when applying for university or jobs.

There will be an ECA running on Thursday afternoon which students can join to gain further support in their preparation for the International Award.

This year the Bronze Award will be available to students in Year 10 & 12.  Further information will be sent out to parents of students in these year groups in the near future.

Upcoming Events

1. 11^th Sep, 23: Clubs (Block 1A) starts
   
   
2. 14^th Sep, 23: Year 11 Options Evening at 16:00
   
   
3. 20^th Sep, 23: Year 7 Coffee Morning at 8:00am
   
   
4. 21^st Sep, 23: Year 9 Options Evening at 16:00
   
   
5. 3^rd Oct, 23: Year 11 parents’ evening at 15:30
   
   
6. 10^th Oct, 23: Year 9 parents’ evening at 15:30

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: