Weekly Highlights 23/08/2024

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents 

Following my email to all parents on Monday evening, I would like to firstly say thank you to all our BVIS community for your words of support and strength over what has been an emotional and challenging week for us all.

In school we have, and will continue to, focus upon care, compassion and support. Over the week, we have refocused assembly times, tutor periods and staff meetings whilst also provided additional counselling provision for those who need to talk.

Our school community remains strong and determined to move forward, stronger, together.

As mentioned in my initial email, if you would like guidance on how to support your children during this challenging period, I encourage you to speak to our school staff. Your first point of contact should be your child’s class teacher/tutor. Should you wish to arrange a meeting with another member of our school staff, please use the contact details below:

As always, individual contact details can be found in the Parent's Handbooks

Over the weekend, please take time to talk with your child(ren). No matter how young or old they are, give them a hug and tell them that you love them, unconditionally.

Meet the Teachers/Meet the Tutors

Thank you to all parents who attended this week’s Meet the Teacher event in Primary and Meet the Tutor event in Secondary. 

Evenings such as these are organised with the aim to allow parents to engage and connect with our school and your child’s learning.

If you were unable to attend, please feel free to contact your child’s class teacher / tutor to arrange an alternative time to meet, catch up and find out further ways in which you can help support us and your child(ren’s) educational opportunities at BVIS.

Welcome to our New Teachers

As mentioned in last week’s Highlights, I would like to start introducing you to our new teachers who have joined our school at the start of this academic year. 

We are delighted to welcome Ms. Lyn Stanley, Secondary Deputy Headteacher.

“After five years living in Ho Chi Minh City with my family, I am very happy to call this wonderful city my home and looking forward to joining the BVIS community,” shared Ms. Stanley. 

Professional Qualifications: 

Bachelor of Science in Biology, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne (2005) 
Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of Durham (2008) 

Ms. Stanley teaching journey began in the United Kingdom, specialising in Additional Educational Needs (AEN). She often worked with students who faced emotional and behavioural challenges. After three successful years in the UK, she transitioned to international education and had the opportunity to join Nord Anglia Education in Prague, Czech Republic. This position marked the beginning of her 14-year international teaching career, which included leadership roles in Shanghai (Dulwich College), Melbourne, and Former Assistant Headteacher at BIS HCMC. 

Ms. Stanley is a member of the Chartered College of Teaching and an experienced examiner with international examination boards. She is also currently completing a Master's degree in International Education at King’s College London. 

Welcome to our BVIS community Ms Stanley!

Reminders

In order to help you arrange your busy schedules, please take note of 2 important, forthcoming events:

Principal’s Afternoon Tea

• Wednesday 11th September
• 2.00pm - 3.00pm
• Main Hall / Primary Canteen

Come together and share some traditional tea and cakes at this termly event. Here, you can meet, engage and connect with other BVIS parents and listen to an overview of the school developments since we last met.

The focus of this first event will be to introduce you to our new, STEAM/DT learning spaces, the updated Primary Canteen and for parents to sample food that your children eat during the week. Look out for the invitation email that will be sent your Inbox next week.

School Photographs

This year, we will be using ‘Picture Day’ to take our school photographs which will be available for you to purchase.

We have decided to use this school photography company due to their excellent reputation across the city with other premium international schools coupled with the reliable customer service they can offer in both English and Vietnamese.

School photographs will be taken from:

Monday 11th to Friday 15th November 2024.

More details will be sent to you nearer the time, however I thought it useful to confirm these dates as soon as possible so that you can ensure your child is in school, ready for their important school photographs.

Thank you for taking time to read through the Highlights – as always, this is much appreciated.

On behalf of everyone across BVIS, I wish you a safe and happy weekend ahead. Look after yourselves and each other.

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

‘Meet the Teachers’ Evening

On Wednesday and Thursday evenings 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. 

School Procedures

As the academic year starts, I would like to remind our community of the drop off and pick up procedures at school.  

Traffic

Please follow the clockwise one way traffic flow system around school when you drop off and pick up your child(ren). 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.  

If arriving early, please do not wait on the road as this creates congestion for all other road users. Instead we ask that you park on the side of a road away from the school and walk together with your child to Gate E.

Start of the day

School starts at 08:25 for all EYFS and Primary year groups. For EYFS children, classrooms open from 08:15. Please wait in the playground or foyer with EYFS children if arriving before this time and escort your child(ren) to their classroom balcony once the doors are open.  

Years 1 to 6 children can arrive from 08.00 when the school gate opens. Students are not permitted on school grounds without an adult before this time. If arriving before this time, you are welcome to visit the Sunken Garden for breakfast with your child while you wait for the playground to open for all children at 8am. 

End of the day

At the end of the day, Gate E opens for adults at 15:00, the foyer doors then open at 15:05 for parents to go to classrooms and meet their child(ren).

If you have more than one child in Years 1 to 6, they will all be in the youngest sibling’s classroom, so you do not need to pick up at multiple classrooms within these year groups. Please note, older students are not permitted to meet parents in the EYFS classrooms (F1, F2, F3) for pick up so to minimise congestion in the youngest year groups. 

Late pick up is from the primary canteen, using the foyer staircase. Late children must be signed for by a parent.

Lastly, please ensure that you are on time to drop off and collect your child(ren) so that school can operate effectively. 

Upcoming Events

There are several upcoming parent workshops that we invite primary parents to join. I recommend adding the dates to your diary and make the time to attend.  The time you spend learning from the educators of your child will impact positively on their progress, development and choices for their future.

1. 04 & 05/09/24: Parents’ Evening Meetings for B and I classes 
2. 06/09/23 - 13:45: Parent Workshop – Learning Technologies in Primary (open to Year 1 to Year 6 parents)
   
3. 10 & 12/09/24: Parents’ Evening Meetings for V and S classes  
   
4. 11/09/24 - 14:00: Principal’s Afternoon Tea (open to all families)
   
5. 19/09/24 - 08:30am: Phonics Workshop 1 (open to F3, Year 1 and Year 2 families)
   
6. 26/09/24 - 08:30am: Phonics Workshop 2 (open to F3, Year 1 and Year 2 families)
   
7. 01/10/24 - 08:30am: Parent Workshop: Helping at Home for EYFS Primary Parents (open to F1, F2 & F3 families)
   
8. 03/10/24 - 08:30am: Phonics and Reading Workshop 3 (open to Year 1 to 3 families)

Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary

Incredible examination results and more

It is with great pride that I write to you this year about our external examination results. Every one of our Year 13 students achieved the grades required to enter their primary university offer, which is fantastic news. What this means is that 1 out of every 2 BVIS graduates from last year will be attending a top 50 world ranked university next year. With 1 out of every 2 grades at A level being either an A or an A*.

Numbers and statistics only ever reveal some of the picture however, and the Year 13 students not only achieved exceptionally highly academically, but they also made a real difference to the school and have left a legacy that will be further built upon. Their work on wellbeing and developing student leadership will be further expanded this year, as well as the numerous events that they helped run for other students. 

The new student council and student house leaders are in position and are ready to help the school develop further with a focus on “belonging”, embracing the values of equity, diversity and inclusion.

I am excited to see not only how well our new Year 13 will do academically, but also to see how they help us move the school forward together and the legacy that they will leave to be built upon.

If you want to read more detail about our full examination results, please click here.

Meet the Tutor

On Wednesday evening we welcomed all parents to our first event of the year which gave everyone the chance to meet their child’s tutor and to find out some further information about the school and different lines of communication.

This was our most successful and largest Meet the tutor event ever with over 400 parents attending. To see so many parents, both new and existing coming to find out more about the school really was fantastic and gave everyone a real opportunity to engage and connect at the start of the school year.

Amazing Race

As part of our induction process for new teachers and continuing members of staff we run an amazing race across D7 where staff members have to work together to complete different tasks. This year's winning staff team was Dalat!

Congratulations to everyone in the House and the staff who have helped earn Dalat some extra Housepoints at the start of the year.

House Sways

Housepoints update

As the year progresses your child will earn Housepoints that contribute to their overall House totals. 

At the end of the year the House with the most points is declared the winner of the House competition. In 2022-23 the winner was Saigon and last year the winning house was Hue. 

There will be a regular slot in the weekly highlights to display the leaderboard, this will sometimes be with the totals and at other times the totals will be hidden, especially towards the end of the term.

Here are the final standings from last academic year:

Good luck to all the Houses this year!

Upcoming Events