Weekly Highlights 17/05/2024

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents 

Welcome to this week’s Highlights and thanks again for taking time to read and learn about the many successes that have occurred this week, across our BVIS school community. 

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure in welcoming all our young finalists and audience to this year’s Primary Speech and Poetry Competition – and what an evening it was! 

My sincere congratulations to all students that took part across all stages of the competition and to the winners below: 

Y1 & Y2 Poetry Recital: 

Vietnamese - Lily Y1 

English - Anissa Y1 

Y3 & Y4 Poetry Recital: 

Vietnamese - Joe Y4 

English - Tue Minh Y4 

Y5 & Y6 Speech: 

Vietnamese - Ken Y6 

English - Minh Tri Y6 

For more information about the event, please see Ms Mary’s Highlights in the Primary section. 

The Return of the BVIS Bulldogs 

As mentioned in last week’s Highlights, a huge congratulations to our successful U11 FOBISIA squad who returned to school last Friday after the Friendly Games in Bangkok, held at Pattana Sports Resort. 

Throughout the 3 days our Bulldogs competed in athletic and swimming events as well as taking part in a teeball and football tournament. They had an excellent week of sport with successful outcomes that resulted in both medals and a team trophy.  

Read more about their week of competition in this post from our school website. 

Phuc Thien to attend MIT STEAM Event in Boston

 
Congratulations to Phuc Thien, Year 9, for being offered an exclusive opportunity to attend the NAE-MIT STEAM event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

A selection of Nord Anglia students visits MIT every year to immerse the children in STEAM learning. They meet prominent MIT scientists, build and experiment in workshops, and learn about new discoveries that will shape their future. 

Read more about Phuc Thien’s success in this post and read more here about our unique collaborations.  

FOBISIA Safeguarding Conference Arrives at BVIS HCMC

Taking place from 16th to 18th May 2024, the FOBISIA Safeguarding and Pastoral Care Conference, hosted by the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA), was held at our school this week.   

Find out more about the conference in this post from our school website. 

Parent Essentials

During this academic year, we have offered a wide variety of workshops for parents across EYFS, Primary, Secondary and our Whole School. We always try to ensure these are accessible to everyone, however we do acknowledge that due to work and family commitments, sometimes parents are unable to attend. 

In order to further support you, please take time this weekend to visit the ‘Parent Essentials’ section of our school website. You can find the link in just 2 clicks: 

1. Select the 3 lines on the right-hand side of our Homepage 

2. Click on the ‘Parent essentials’ link 

Within this section, there are many useful resources that I encourage you to look through. In particular, open the ‘Useful Parent Seminars’ section, that gives you access to all presentations from the many workshops that have taken place this year.  

This allows you to refresh and reflect upon your learning if you attended a workshop or find out more if you were unable to be there. 

We hope you find this useful.  

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.  

I would like to personally wish you all a very safe and family orientated weekend ahead.

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

Speech and Poetry Competition 2024

This week our primary departments for English and Vietnamese as additional languages hosted the final of the Speech and Poetry Competition. It was a wonderful celebration that showcased the talent of our BVIS primary students. The competition started in March when Year 1 to 4 students were encouraged to enter by performing a poem of their choice from a selection of recommended poems and Year 5 and 6 students were encouraged to write a speech that focused on the UNICEF Sustainable Development Goal 3, “Health and Wellbeing”. Students were judged on many elements of public speaking and presenting such as intonation, expression, rhythm, pace and gestures. Additionally, the speeches were judged on elements such as structure, reasoning and vocabulary.  The competition was strong between students highlighting the proficiency developed by our primary students in the field of presenting, debating and articulation.  During the evening, musicians from the primary years also treated the audience by performing their chosen pieces on the piano, guitar and xylophone. 

Following the final presentation of poetry and speeches, the six Judges from across primary and secondary deliberated and chose a winner for each category.  Congratulations to all finalists, and a special congratulations to the winners of this year’s BVIS Speech and Poetry Competition. 

Year 3 visit Marou Maison

As part of the Lien Ket topic, ‘Chocolate’, the Year 3 teachers organised a day trip to Maison Marou.  Students were shown how the motto of ‘Bean to Bar’ drives everything that is done at the chocolate factory, ensuring their processes reduce their carbon footprint. From working with local Vietnamese cacao farmers to using every part of the cacao pod to support the environment, students understood the authenticity of ‘Bean to Bar’.   

As well as learning about and observing the process of making chocolate, the students had a chance to taste chocolate made from cacao grown in several different regions of southern Vietnam, including coconut chocolate from Ben Tre. They were taught the correct way to taste chocolate, which involves leaving it to melt on your tongue for ten seconds before chewing. Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. 

Products of Green Week!

On Monday, our primary community had the opportunity to purchase the Limloop products, which they had provided the raw materials for during Green Week.  The initiative started with inviting our community to donate clean and untorn plastic bags for this innovative upcycling project to pass to our Community Partner, Limloop. Limloop then cut the bags into strips and spun these onto bobbins to create a material that can be weaved to make sustainable bags. 

Limloop’s mission, “Providing customers with sustainable bags through plastic recycling and creating jobs for people with disabilities”, compliments the view of how our BVIS service learning projects should make a difference to the wider community and support those in need.  Limloop as an organisation is an excellent example for our students to see how people can make a difference to the environment and society. 

Thank you to all families who supported this initiative by providing the raw material and then purchasing the products resulting from the process. If you did not get chance to visit the sale, you can view and purchase the products through Limloop’s website here: https://limloop.com/product/ 

Upcoming Events

1. 22/05/24 - Positive Parenting Workshop: Wearing your playful hat for Upper Primary parents (Years 4-6)
2. 24/05/24 - STEAM month launch
3. 24/05/24 -14:00 – Year 3 Project Curiosity Showcase
4. 28/05/24 -14:00 – Year 2 Project Curiosity Showcase
5. 29/05/24 - Positive Parenting Workshop: Wearing your playful hat for Lower Primary parent (Years 1-3)
6. 30/05/24 -14:00 – Year 1 Project Curiosity Showcase
7. 09/06/24 - Clubs Block 2 ends
8. 24/06/24 - Transition day for primary
9. 25/06/24 -16:00 – Year 6 Celebration
10. 26/06/24 -11:30 – Term 3 Ends  

Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary

ChatGPT-4o

You will remember that a few months ago I sent you a guidance sheet which summarised how to better support your child’s use of AI to enhance their learning. In the talk I gave at the Principal’s Afternoon Tea I also advised how our understanding and utilisation of AI would likely change as AI also adapted and improved. Open AI, the developers of ChatGPT have recently released an updated version of their AI named ChatGPT-4o. Rather than my thoughts on it, I decided to ask ChatGPT-4o to write to you to explain its latest updates:

Dear Parents, 

I am excited to announce the latest updates to Chat-GPT-4o, designed to boost your child's learning experience. With improved language comprehension and an up-to-date knowledge base, the AI provides accurate, relevant responses across subjects. Enhanced interactivity allows for real-time doubt clarification, making learning more engaging. The AI now offers robust support in essay writing, math problem-solving, and coding. New interactive tutorials and step-by-step guides help students understand complex concepts. Improved personalization tailors responses to individual learning styles, making Chat-GPT-4o a more effective educational tool.

As in the past, I encourage you to ask your child about what they are using AI for and how it is helping to enhance their learning, not to replace it.

The world is changing, and it is important that we guide our children (and ourselves) to effectively use the new tools that are available to enhance all our learning.

Pastoral Update

Our ECA programme recommenced last week and it is wonderful to see so much energy and variety around school with clubs starting up again. 

Extracurricular activities (ECAs) are more than just a way to fill free time after school. They're an essential part of a well-rounded education, offering a range of benefits that extend far beyond the classroom.   

• University and Career preparation: Participation in ECAs demonstrates initiative, commitment, and a well-rounded personality – all attractive qualities for universities and future employers.  
• Explore Passions & Develop Skills: ECAs provide a platform to explore interests beyond academics, fostering hidden talents and igniting new passions. Whether it's music, chess, or leading community projects, these activities allow students to learn new skills and refine existing ones in a supportive environment. 
• Boost Confidence & Teamwork Skills: Working collaboratively on projects, competitions, or performances builds teamwork, communication, and leadership abilities. Overcoming challenges and achieving goals within an ECA fosters self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment. 
• Belonging & Community: ECAs connect students with like-minded peers who share similar interests. This sense of belonging and community fosters friendships and creates a supportive network outside the classroom 

If your child hasn’t yet joined an ECA but would like to, they can register at Ms. Tran’s office at any time during the ECA season. 

An Update from PE & Sport  

BVIS students have made an excellent start to new activities this term including climbing, water polo and orienteering.  

The lessons for this term are an exciting opportunity for students to learn new skills and develop life skills that they can use outside of PE. For example, orienteering and climbing provide students a chance to practice their problem-solving skills. Water polo is an alternative sport that requires teamwork and physical fitness. Students have worked hard to embrace these activities and we hope to build their resilience this term as they face some challenging PE tasks.  

In other PE and Sport news U13/U15 Badminton squads are playing their final fixtures ahead of the district final games and we are extremely proud of their hard work and commitment this season. This year BVIS has seen a huge increase in the number of students involved in competitive sport. For the first time there are A and B squads for U13 and U15 Badminton. Good luck Bulldogs in the last games of the season!

House Sways

Champion of the Week 

Minh Khang (Leo) – 7S! Congratulations and well done to Leo. 

Champion Tutor Group

This week’s Champion tutor group is 7I. Well done to everyone in the tutor group who worked together to achieve more house points than anyone else last week. 

House point update

Hue are still out in front, but Dalat are chasing them down. Who will be the overall house point winner at the end of the year? 

Upcoming Events

1. 7th June: Secondary Clubs end
   
2. 10th June: Science Week
   
3. 12th June: Y12 students return to normal lessons
   
4. 18th – 21st June: Year 4,5,6 Transition Experience to Secondary
   
5. 19th June: Sports Awards Evening
   
6. 26th June: Last day of term, school finishes at 11:30am

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: