Weekly Highlights 15/11/2024

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents

Welcome to another edition of the Weekly Highlights and thank you again for engaging and connecting with us.

This week’s theme in my section of the Highlights is based around kindness. The ancient Greek writer, Aesop stated, ‘No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted’.

Over the past week, I have observed how kind and considerate our BVIS community is, across many varied events and activities and this has inspired me to share my thoughts and reflections.

During our recent City Championships, I have noticed how our students, from our youngest to oldest competitors, have played hard, with grit and determination, however they have never failed to congratulate each other and their competitors in both victory and defeat. They have played beyond their abilities but always fairly and with pride and respect – well done to everyone for what has been achieved, both in terms of the success they have experienced and the amount of kindness towards others they have displayed.

This week, I had the privilege of meeting the Friends of BVIS who gave their time and efforts in making appreciation cards for our teachers and TAs. Seeing the joy that such an activity brings to parents through giving their thanks through kindness, really touched me – thank you all for your support and I look forward to welcoming even more parents into school and supporting FoBVIS initiatives such as these.

Throughout another busy week, I have regularly seen our teachers and TAs giving additional care and support to all those that have required it – going the extra mile, showing genuine kindness, care and compassion to ensure that every learner at BVIS achieves to the best of their abilities in a school environment that is both safe and happy.

Next week, we celebrate Teachers Day on 20th November, which is our way to say the 2 words that mean the most to our teachers and teaching assistants – those words are simply ‘thank you’.

Over the coming weekend, please take with your child(ren) to reflect upon this week’s theme and ask yourselves the following questions:

1. How have you most recently experienced the kindness from others?
2. How have you shown kindness towards yourself and others this week?
3. How did it make you feel when you received an act of kindness.
4. Why do you think you felt this way?
5. What words of kindness will you choose for your teachers and teaching assistants next Wednesday?

As Aesop stated, kindness is never wasted. It is something that takes a small amount of time but has a large amount of positive impact. Be kind to yourself and one another this weekend..........and always.

FOBISIA Leaders Conference 2024

This weekend, myself and 5 other senior BVIS colleagues – Ms Rebecca, Mr Bate, Mr Duff, Ms Khuyen and Mr Every will be attending the Conference, with this year's theme being: 'Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders: Nurturing Sustainable Communities in Education'.

Next week, I will be sharing our reflections with you as we no doubt return to school on Monday refreshed, eneregised and full of new and exciting thoughts and ideas.

School Photographs 

I am pleased to report that we have experienced a very successful week of photographs with Picture Day this week.

All class and individual photos have been taken so please look out for details on how you can purchase images of your child(ren) and their class/Form. 

Again, payment can be made by most debit and credit cards for local and international payments, made directly on ‘Picture Day’ website or by bank transfer.

Direct contact details for Picture Day are: 

• Email: hello@pictureday.asia 
• Hotline: 0243 717 3588 (Monday-Friday, 09:00-12:30 & 13:30-16:30). 

Support is available in English and Vietnamese for your convenience.

Welcome to our new teacher

Mr. Arun Joseph - Secondary Business & Economics Teacher

Qualifications
- Bachelor of Commerce, Bharathidasan University (2011)
- Master of Arts,  Loyola College, Chennai, India  (2013 –2015) 
- Master of Commerce at Annamalai University (2019)
- Bachelor of Education (2023)

Arun Kumar Mudiyappan Joseph is a qualified teacher with years of teaching experience in Secondary Schools. He completed his Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Commerce, Master of Arts and Bachelor of Education from well-reputed universities and continues to pursue many college-level courses online on Mathematics, Economics and Business. 

He has been teaching Business Studies, Accounting, Economics and Mathematics for the last six years. For the last four years of his career, he taught Business Studies, Business Management and Accounting to A-level students in International schools. He is incredibly passionate about teaching and reads a lot about current trends in education. He helps students unlock their potential to ace their tests and inspires them to be responsible global citizens.

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 Parent's Handbooks or via our Primary/Secondary Receptionists.   

Have a great weekend ahead and I hope that you find kindness in all that you do!

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

Lower Primary Design Technology and STEAM Workshop

On Monday, we welcomed many Lower Primary parents to our newly refurbished and extended Secondary DT and STEAM classrooms for the first in our series of DT and STEAM workshops. Led by Mr. Chandler, Mr. Chris, and Ms. Khuyen, these workshops are designed to help parents understand what DT and STEAM looks like for their child at BVIS, while also providing hands-on opportunities to experience the design cycle through mini projects. There was a buzz of excitement in the DT room as parents worked in teams to design, test, and improve houses for the BVIS Little Pigs. They also persevered in learning how to effectively sketch designs and discovered what DT entails for each year group in Lower Primary.

The session ended with a special homework assignment for the parents: to design ideas for the upcoming BVIS Christmas Fayre. In two weeks, we’ll have a follow-up session where parents will return to present their homework and create their decorations using computer designing software and then laser cutters. 

We will run a DT and STEAM Workshop for Upper Primary parents in Term 2, so keep an eye out for upcoming announcements!

Stay, Play and Learn Together – World Nursery Rhyme Week

On Thursday and Friday afternoon this week, our F1, F2, and F3 classrooms were alive with excitement as families joined us for the second in our series of Stay, Play and Learn Together (SPLAT) events. This SPLAT was connected to World Nursery Rhyme Week, which our EYFS classes celebrated. Each class selected a nursery rhyme, learned, practiced, and performed it for their classmates and families. Families also engaged in various learning activities, focusing on enhancing their child’s creative skills. It was fantastic to see adults helping their children engage in open-ended creative activities, following their child’s ideas and encouraging them to express their own creativity. From creating sensory galaxy bottles in F1 to pirate telescopes in F3, all the children loved having their families as play partners.

Final City Championship Event of Term 1

This week, the BVIS Bulldogs competed in the last of the city-wide championships with other international schools. Our U11 Girls B Team travelled to BIS HCMC to participate in the final football City Championship. The girls have trained hard all term in their squads after school, preparing for this tournament. Competing with pride, our U11 Girls B team earned a spot in the semi-finals.

This marks the last competitive game for our football teams this term. Congratulations to all our dedicated participants who represented BVIS with integrity and commitment and skill over the past two weeks! A huge thanks to our coaches and PE teachers for their support, training, and guidance for all our squads at the City Championships. We look forward to the next round of City Championships in different sports next term. Go Bulldogs!  

Upcoming Events

1. 25/11/24: Parent Workshop: Lower Primary Design and Technology and STEAM Part 2
   
2. 29/11/24: Year 1 Starts Christmas at BVIS!  Ticket only event for Year 1 families
   
3. 03/12/24: EYFS Helping at home Parent Workshop: Routines, boundaries, and challenging behaviour
   
4. 06/12/24: Year 2 Production – Year 2 families invited
   
5. 14/12/24: Christmas Fair – ticketed event
6. 18/12/24: Term 1 ends at 11:30 am
   
7. 08/01/25: Term 2 starts

Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary

Chess Competition

Throughout the week commencing Monday 4th November, BVIS saw a thrilling showdown in the school interhouse chess competition, with Saigon, Dalat, Hue, and Hanoi houses battling it out in the Main Hall. The week was full of exciting clashes between the houses, including the epic showdown between the Yamamura brothers! 

Special recognition goes to James in Year 12, and Jimmy in Year 11 who planned and organised the event, ensuring everything ran smoothly. Each house showed impressive strategy and teamwork, with nail-biting matches that kept everyone on edge. Congratulations to Hanoi house for being the overall winners and congratulations to all players for their hard work and dedication

Computer Science Bebras Challenge

Over the past week, Secondary students took part in the annual Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge. This took place online during their Computer Science lessons and involved solving various puzzles and problems. This is a world-wide competition with students from over 30 countries taking part. Well done to all who attempted the challenge. We should have the results back in roughly 3-weeks' time.

BVIS goes BLUE for World Children’s Day

World Children’s Day, first established in 1954 by the United Nations, is celebrated annually on November 20th. This significant day promotes international togetherness, raises awareness of children’s rights, and highlights the importance of improving children’s welfare worldwide.

To honour its importance, BVISHCMC will join the global “Wear Blue” initiative on Wednesday November 20th. Students are encouraged to wear bright blue clothing, symbolizing support for children’s rights and universal access to education, healthcare, and protection.

As part of the celebration, students are also invited to donate a suggested 20,000 VND to support the Ho Chi Minh City Children’s Welfare Association, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of vulnerable children. The association provides essential services such as education, healthcare support, nutritional programs, and shelter for children in need, ensuring they have opportunities for a brighter future.

University Guidance Counselling Weekly Update

This week’s update to the University Ambassador Sway highlights essential timelines and key dates for students to consider and prepare in order not to miss specific deadlines. It is important to remember that preparing and applying to universities is a long-term process that requires significant effort from students, along with support from family members and counsellors. 

Last week, representatives from Hong Kong University and the University of California – Riverside visited BVIS HCMC to provide students with an overview of the academic experience at their institutions and to offer guidance on the application process. Acknowledging the potential challenges students may encounter, counsellors and representatives have collaborated diligently to ensure that each student is well-equipped to make informed decisions regarding their educational choices.

House Sways

The links below display the House Sways, which are put together by our House student leaders. As the term progresses different posts and updates will be added displaying the relevant news for each of the Houses. 

Dalat - Dalat House News 
Hanoi - Hanoi House News  
Hue - Hue House News 
Saigon - Saigon House News 

Sparx Maths Champions 

The Sparx Maths Weekly Champion is the student who is the top XP earner in each year group. 
 
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 

Huge congratulations go to our Top XP earners this week, who are:

Bedrock Champions  

This week’s bedrock champions are:  

Year 7 - Nham Gia Hung  
Year 8 - Le Hong Minh Quang
Year 9 - Kosuke Yamamura
Year 10 - Mai Kim Ngan 
Year 11 - Ngo Khanh Ngoc   
Year 12 - Ngo Cam Phung

Congratulations to all the above students who came up on top in their respective Year groups. A special well done to Mraz (Le Hong Minh Quang) who achieved the highest Bedrock points total across the whole of Secondary! 

Champion of the week

This week’s champion is...

Champion Tutor Group

This week's Champion tutor group is...

Congratulations to 789v/Hanoi3 well done again!

Housepoint Totals

It’s a complete change this week as every house has moved position. Hanoi go from 1st to 4th in a huge turn around!