Weekly Highlights 08/09/2023

 

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents

Welcome to this week’s Highlights following a shorter school week due to the recent public holidays.

Since our return to school on Tuesday, I have had many conversations with students, staff and parents who mentioned how it takes time to get back into a weekly routine again after a short holiday period. For example, did last Tuesday ‘feel like’ Monday to you?

If it did, this feeling is perfectly normal and is due to our human need for a solid routine. Establishing and developing effective routines in life for yourself and your child(ren) is extremely important and in my view, often underestimated.

The UK mental health charity, ‘Mind’ wrote, ‘Building a routine you can stick to in daily life may not sound important, but for some people routine is what helps to keep them grounded.’

Over the weekend, I encourage you to take time and reflect upon what effective routines you have at home with your children. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What is your own morning and evening routine with your children and is it effective?
• Regardless of their age, does my son/daughter have a bedtime routine that allows them to both sleep well at night and wake well in the morning so that they are ready to learn?
• Do I need to change/refine any aspect of my own personal routine or that of my child(ren) and if so, how can I make it sustainable?

Remember, having a clear routine can help support both you and your family to improve overall wellbeing, motivation and learning.

Introducing our Amazing New Teachers

Mr. Benjamin Adam Jordan 

• Bachelor of Science in Product Design, Bangor University, UK 
  
  
• Postgraduate Certificate in Education, University of Chester, UK 

Ben has been a Design Technology and Engineering teacher since 2019. Originally from Anglesey in North Wales he worked as a Design Engineer and CAD designer in industry for a number of years before deciding to change careers and pursue teaching. He worked in a secondary school in Carlisle for three years before moving to Ho Chi Minh.  

In his free time, he enjoys playing rugby, going to the gym and hiking. 

Parent Essentials

All of our newly updated lunch menus for September can be found in the Parent Essentials section on our school website.

Please talk with your child(ren) about what lunch choices are the best for them each week.

Additionally, thank you to all parents who attended this week’s Principal’s Afternoon Tea event – it was great to see you there. Access to the full presentation (and all other future workshops and seminars) can be found here, also in the Parent Essentials section.

School Toilets – Reminder

Please be reminded that we have x2 types of toilets available for use within school – ones that are designated for student use only and ones for adult use only.

In line with our Safeguarding policy and procedures, adults must only use the toilets that are designated for adult usage.

As always, I thank you for your continued support in keeping our children and the BVIS community safe.

Contact Us

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. 

Parents may also find it useful to contact their child’s class teacher(s) or form tutor directly for all individual queries about their academic work/social and emotional wellbeing in school.  Individual contact details can be found in the Parents’ Handbooks or via our Primary/Secondary Receptionists.  

 

On behalf of everyone in school, I wish you a very peaceful and family orientated weekend ahead. See you again on Monday for more great learning opportunities!

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

Lien Ket Entry Points

As students begin the first topic of the new academic year, they are inspired and motivated to want to learn more through a specially planned event by their teachers called an Entry Point.  This event usually involves a number of practical activities which leave students inquisitive to find out more.  By the end of the event the students, with their teachers, will have created a list of things they already know about the topic, things that they think they know about the topic, and they will pose questions of things they would like to find out throughout the topic.  This is a great way to record the progress and development of the knowledge, skills and understanding in the subjects covered within Lien Ket.  The subjects taught through Lien Ket in a thematic approach are:

• Geography
• History
• Art
• Design and Technology

 

Over the next couple of weeks, I encourage families to talk to their children about the Entry Point to their new topic.  This will help children to build their enquiry skills and develop an interest in finding out more at home and school about their topic.  

Technology Coffee Mornings

On Tuesday and Thursday this week we hosted two important workshops to guide parents in setting up the technology that students need for their learning this academic year.  Our first was for parents with children in EYFS and the second was for Years 1 to 6.  

At BVIS, students in Years 3 to 6 are required to use an iPad for their learning both in school and at home.  This educational strategy is formed around the principle of a seamless transition for student learning with many pioneering resources now being online.  In addition, the strategy focuses on the mission “Create Your Future” ensuring as educators, we guide and support students to build good habits and structure when using technology.  This will ensure students make consciously healthy decisions; an example of this is the amount of time they spend on screens.

Thank you to all parents who attended the workshops; your support towards learning technologies for your child will help to ensure they have access to premium learning resources both at home and school.

If you would like further support in setting up your child’s iPad, then please contact Primary Reception by telephone at, 028 3758 0709 or email at, primaryreception@bvisvietnam.com. Our in-school experts will provide you with the help you need.

Welcome Back Fundinotots!

 

It was a joy to welcome our final group of children back after the summer holiday this week.  On Tuesday and Thursday morning, new and existing children joined together to learn through active playful activities.  Each session being 2 hours in length provides these youngest learners with the practical activities and social interaction needed to explore and make connections in their learning. Not only do children benefit from the outstanding provision in a Fundinotots session but also the parents and carers who join have the opportunity to share their experiences of their little ones and seek advice from our EYFS expert educational consultants, the teachers.

If you are interested in trialling a session for you and your child, then please contact Ms Huyen at huyen.le@bvisvietnam.com or telephone 028 3758 8033.  Ms Huyen is happy to support new children and their families in settling into our friendly and welcoming BVIS community.

Upcoming Events

1. 12 and 14/09/23: Parents’ Evening Meetings for V and S classes  
   
   
2. 14/09/23 @ 08:30am: Phonics coffee morning Workshop 1 (open to F3, Year 1 and 2 parents)
   
   
3. 21/09/23 @ 08:30am: Phonics coffee morning Workshop 2 (open to Year 1 to 2 parents)
   
   
4. 28/09/23 @ 08:30am: Phonics and Reading coffee morning Workshop 3 (open to Year 1 to 3 parents)
   
   
5. 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

Year 11 Options Eve

On Thursday 14^th September at 16:00, we will hold our annual Year 11 Options evening - an event for Year 11 students considering the subjects they would like to study in Year 12 and 13. During the evening, you and your son/daughter will have the opportunity to talk to teachers from all subject areas to find out more information about what their course offers and be given advice about which subjects might be most appropriate for future study.

We look forward to welcoming you all in the Main Hall.

Extra-Curricular Activities (ECAs)

Block 1 extra -curricular activities (ECAs) will start on Monday 11^th September for Secondary students. The specific timeline for this Block 1 is as below for your reference:

• Block 1A: 11^th September, 2023 – 27^th October, 2023 (6 wks) – which is inclusive of one week break from 16^th to 20^th of October.

• Block 1B: 6^th November, 2023 – 8^th December, 2023 (5 wks)

Kindly note that Secondary students will have the same ECAs for both Block 1A and 1B based on their choices at the start of the year.

For further queries regarding Secondary ECAs, please contact Ms Tran – tran.n@bvisvietnam.com for assistance.

Hue House Update

Hue students in Year 10 were recently learning about the environment in their PSHE lessons and tasked with ranking the carbon footprint of certain foods.

Many students were very surprised that cheese was 2^nd highest in the list and 15 times worse than vegetables! Please find the correct answers below!

We all need to think about the carbon footprint of our food choices and be mindful that some food choices can be worse for the environment.

Champion Student of the Week

A huge congratulations goes to Thao Linh (13H) who scored more housepoints than anyone else this week. Well done Thao Linh!

Champion Tutor Group of the Week

This week’s champion tutor group is 9B! Well done to everyone in the form who collectively earned more housepoints than all other tutor groups. This makes it two weeks in a row for 9B! Can anyone beat them next week?

Instrumental lessons

At BVIS, we offer our students the opportunity to take a range of instrumental music lessons. 

Registration for Term 1 lessons is now open, please sign up using the Microsoft Form. These lessons will run from Monday 11^th September to Friday 1^st December with a specialist teacher from the Auftdart School of Music and Performing Arts. The cost of a 30-minute lesson is 450,000 VND.

Your child is invited to learn one of the following instruments on offer:

• Guitar
• Ukulele (recommended for younger learners)
• Piano
• Singing
• Drums (on a kit drum)
• Violin

House Point Update

Hanoi have managed to maintain their lead since the start of the school year but Dalat are closing in fast. Will Hue manage to get out of 4th place? Will Hanoi hold off Dalat’s challenge for the lead?

Upcoming Events

1. 11^th Sep, 23: Clubs (Block 1A) starts
   
   
2. 14^th Sep, 23: Year 11 Options Evening at 16:00
   
   
3. 15^th Sep, 23: Supporting your child with KS3 (Year 7,8,9) Mathematics
   
   
4. 20^th Sep, 23: Year 7 Coffee Morning at 8:00am
   
   
5. 21^st Sep, 23: Year 9 Options Evening at 16:00
   
   
6. 26^th  Sep - 12th Oct, 23: House Football Competition
   
   
7. 28^th Sep, 23: UGC Coffee Morning
   
   
8. 3^rd Oct, 23: Year 11 parents’ evening at 15:30
   
   
9. 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: