As mentioned in last week’s Highlights, myself and 7 other members of the BVIS HCMC team recently travelled to Hanoi to attend this year’s Regional Teaching and Learning Conference. The event was organised by colleagues in our sister schools of BIS Hanoi and BVIS Hanoi and was based upon the topic of Innovation – as always, it was a resounding success.
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Over the 2 days, we attended a variety of workshops (there were over 70 in total to choose from) on topics that included: AI, long term memory enhancement, how to support multilingual learning within a classroom and creating a neurodiverse classroom environment (to name just 4).
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We also had the opportunity to listen to a keynote speech delivered by Dr Elise Ecoff (Chief Educational Officer for NAE), who discussed the work of Justin Reich from MIT. With the theme of the conference being ‘Innovate’ he writes in his book “Iterate: The Secret to Innovation in Schools, “Innovate at all levels of the school ecosystem by continually experimenting with new approaches and making changes based on the results, over and over again.” This is what we will continue to focus upon at BVIS, across all areas of our school.
Bringing people together is vital in making and maintaining positive, professional relationships and this further supports us to develop a global connectedness that is part of our school’s strategic plan and NAE’s Educational Strategy.
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We are already looking forward to the next conference held at our NAE school, Amman Academy in Jordan.
Tuition Fees - 2024-25
Via email on Monday 18th March, you will receive information regarding next academic year’s tuition fees. Please take time to carefully read through the information.
Additionally, please note that in order to help support us with school planning for the next academic year, we will be sending a re-enrolment form to all parents during the middle of this month. I would like to thank you in advance for assisting us in the completion of this form.
For the small amount of families that will be leaving BVIS at the end of this academic year, a reminder that the deadline for submitting the Withdrawal Form within the 90-day notice period is Thursday 28th March 2024.
As always, please do not hesitate to come and talk with either myself of your child’s Headteacher about any planned withdrawal.
Parent Satisfaction Survey
Over the weekend, I received all the data relating to our most recent Parent Satisfaction Survey. I would like to thank each and every parent who took time to give us your feedback – it really does matter to us and helps to support our ongoing strategic planning.
Within the next 2 weeks, I will be writing to all of our community to share both the feedback we have received and the next step actions that we have planned from our latest survey.
Contact us
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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 across our BVIS team, I wish you a great weekend ahead.
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Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary
Y4 Residential Reflections
A wonderful time was had by Year 4 last week on their first residential away from school. Many memories were created and skills developed through the experience. The activities that they participated in were designed for students to build independence, resilience and confidence. Reflections from the students and teachers highlight this learning; I am pleased to share with you some of these here in the Weekly Highlights.
- “I thought the trip was very awesome because it can help us to feel independent because we are far from home.” (Ana)
- “I enjoyed it because I don’t often do activities with my friends, and I got to go to the beach with my friends. I liked the trip because I got to sleepover with my friends.” (Mi)
- “My favourite part of the trip was the sandcastle activity and I liked having my own room with my friends. I liked sitting and eating with my friends too.” (Michael)
- “The Year 4 students had their very first experience of a trip away from family, enjoying exciting games on the beach with their teachers and friends, witnessing entertaining performances by their peers at the Talent Show. Through this, they learned independence, discipline, sharing, caring, and helping each other throughout the journey. It was truly a memorable experience!” (Ms Xuan)
Y6 prepare for Madagui
Year 6 have been making final preparations for their residential trip to Madagui next week. There was a sense of excitement and anticipation for the valuable experiences that await them in the forest as they talked through the residential expectations and recapped on the packing list to make sure they were all ready for the adventure ahead.
With the carefully thought through schedule set for our Year 6 students, they are sure to enjoy every moment and create fond memories of their final residential in their primary years. I look forward to bringing you their reflections once they have returned.
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Reading is Magic!
What a wonderful week it has been celebrating the many fiction and non-fiction books available to us. This week the community celebrated book week with World Book Day falling on Thursday 7th March this year. The week started with a variety of magical book characters visiting the primary assembly. The characters inspired the audience to think creatively and to write exciting and innovative stories. On Monday and Tuesday, La Thanh Ha a Vietnamese poet, visited BVIS to share her wealth of knowledge in writing imaginatively to take the reader on an enjoyable journey from start to end. Ms Ha read poems and delivered workshops to students which left them inspired and engaged to become authors of their own poems and stories.
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The theme of book week this year was ‘Reading is Magic’, and included many further exciting activities. Some of these highlights were a mobile library at playtimes, time to ‘Drop Everything and Read’, story time with Senior Leaders and dress-up day as magical characters.
Reading in both Vietnamese and English is of high importance to developing bilingualism. Book week is all about encouraging students to love reading and invest their time daily in reading, alternating between the languages that they are developing. This is the one habit that I impress upon all families to build into their daily routine; listening to your child reading aloud, reading to your child and quiet reading are all aspects of this valuable habit to build.
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Upcoming Events
- 25/03/24 – International Week in Primary
- 06/04/24 – Block 2 Club break
- 08/04/24 – Green Week
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Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary
The Importance of Historical Fiction
You may wonder what the charm and relevance of historical fiction is in the modern era. Part of the answer, I am convinced, lies in the ongoing battle to overcome traumas from the past: reconciling with past transgressions, accepting the past's enduring influence, and understanding the legacies of sexism, imperialism, homophobia, and other issues.
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Historical fiction enables readers to delve into the inner interiors and psyche of the past while filling in historical gaps and exposing history's human side, in contrast to biography and history, which are limited by the available facts. With good writing and craftsmanship, a single piece can communicate the societal, economical, and political circumstances of the era alongside the emotional human experience, exploring the interaction of the out of body and the psyche.
The above was written by Cindy, one of our Year 12 students and is actually part of a much longer piece on the topic. This is one more example of how amazingly insightful, articulate and hardworking our BVIS students are. Well done Cindy!
An Update from our Computer Science & Design Technology Department
Last week our Year 7 students took part in a Global Campus challenge to share secret messages across the globe using the Caesar Cipher. This activity introduced our students to the concept of encryption and the importance of keeping data secure within Computer Science. There were various designs with different levels of difficulty. BVIS students will now be swapping and sharing their messages with our partner schools across the Nord Anglia family, trying to find out key facts and decipher their secret codes.
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Mathematics Workshop
On Monday 4th March, BVIS had the pleasure of hosting Mike Eden and Graham Barnes from the University of Waterloo, Canada.
Mike is a lecturer in the Mathematics Faculty, and he came and delivered a workshop to our Year 10 students. This workshop allowed students to think critically and to challenge themselves in the way they address Mathematical Problems. This was a wonderful experience for our students, and I’m sure they enjoyed this as much as our teachers did!
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Students Embrace Creativity in Design and Technology Workshops
In the bustling hub of our Design and Technology workshops, dedicated Year 11 students have transformed the space into a hive of innovation. From 7 am until 5 pm on most days, these enthusiastic learners are immersed in their coursework projects, seizing the opportunity to independently tackle real-world challenges. Guided by the comprehensive design cycle, students navigate the stages of designing, modeling, and testing their inventive ideas. Our state-of-the-art 21st-century facilities have witnessed remarkable creations, from sustainable solutions to cutting-edge prototypes. The workshops resonate with the hum of creativity as students passionately bring their visions to life, shaping the future through their ingenuity.
Below is a sample of the projects being designed and made by our Year 11 students.
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Intermediate UKMT Challenge (Year 9 and Year 10)
The results are back from the UK Maths Challenge!
In Year 10 the below students achieved a Gold award:
Duc Thinh, 10V
Anh Kiet, 10I
Tri Thong, 10I
Jiwon, 10V
Minh Khoa, 10B
In Year 9, Jayden was the only student to win a Gold award and in Year 10 Duc Thinh was the highest in the school. An incredible achievement from both Jayden and Elvis!
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First News Champions
This week's First News Champions are:
Year 10 – Betty Le
Year 9 – Nguyen Chi Hieu
Year 8 – Nguyen Ngoc Nguyen
Year 7 – Gabii Tran
A special congratulations to Nguyen Ngoc Nguyen who was the champion across the whole school!
Bedrock Champions
This week’s bedrock champions are:
Year 12 – Jolie Nguyen
Year 11 – Aki Vo
Year 10 – Sam Dang
Year 9 – Grace Do
Year 8 – Anna Quach and Kosuke Yamamura
Year 7 – Mraz Le
Congratulations to all the above students who came up on top in their respective Year groups. A special well done to Mraz who once again achieved the highest Bedrock points total across the whole of secondary!
Sparx Maths Champions
Students earn XP by completing tasks in their Sparx Homework
Compulsory Tasks earn 60-80XP
XP Boost Tasks earn 120-150XP
Target Tasks earn 120-150XP
Independent Learning Tasks earn 100XP
Students reach a new Sparx Level every 10000XP
Top XP earners this week are:
| Year |
Name |
Form/Class |
| 7 |
Alice Nguyen |
7V |
| 8 |
Anna Quach |
8zMat2 |
| 9 |
Angelia Nguyen |
9zMat1 |
| 10 |
AK Tran |
10zMat1 |
| 11 |
Kayla Mai |
11zMat1 |
Champion of the Week
This week’s champion student is:
Leo 7S! Well done to Leo!
Champion Tutor Group
This week's Champion tutor group is...
A huge well done again to everyone in 7S who worked together to achieve more housepoints than any other tutor group last week.
Upcoming Events
- 12th March: Year 12 Parents Evening
- 14th March: Pi Day
- 18th – 22nd March: Physics Week
- 26th March: Year 9 Parents Evening
- 6th April: Block 2 ECAs end
- 6th May: Block 2 ECAs resume
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:
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