Weekly Highlights 06/12/2024

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents

It is again our pleasure to share this week’s Highlights with you, with our aim to further strengthen the engagement and connection between home and school, as we celebrate the many successes that have occurred this week, across the whole school.

Parent Satisfaction Survey

Thank you to every parent who has taken time to complete this year’s Parent satisfaction Survey. As I write, we are currently at a 44% Response rate which today has unlocked a special treat for our students and staff. Can you guess what it is?

Your feedback will allow us to reflect further on what we are doing well and how we can further improve into the future and I will be sharing all of the key findings and next steps with everyone in Term 2.

Let’s Reflect

As we have now entered December and with it the many Christmas events and celebrations , I encourage you to stop, think and reflect for just a moment..........

Reflection is one of our core values within the school’s Aid Memoire. Effective reflection allows us to take stock of where we currently are, to assess what we have achieved and allows us to focus upon our next steps for learning. Furthermore, reflection gives us the ability to think differently, to challenge ourselves better but most importantly in my opinion, it allows us time to celebrate all of our achievements, increasing our self-confidence and overall wellbeing.

As the English poet and philosopher, Samuel Coleridge stated:

“There is one art of which people should be masters – the art of reflection.”

This week at our Senior Leadership meeting, I asked everyone around the table to reflect upon what their biggest highlight of the term had been so far this year. Here is what they said:

- Ms Mary: 
The effective changes that have been made in primary with her new leadership structure. This has led to even better care and support from the primary students and teachers.

- Mr Bate 
How the new leadership structure in Secondary has ensured even better outcomes for both students and teachers.

- Mr Every: 
Our best ever examination results at A Level

- Mr Darragh: 
The professional learning opportunities for everybody in primary and how this has positively impacted learning and teaching.

- Ms Stanley :  
Settling into a new role, at a great school and feeling part of something very special.

- Ms Cuc:
Increased collaboration across our admin teams, generating a feeling of support and positive challenge.

- Ms Thao: 
Taking on many new and exciting projects to push the boundaries of innovation and collaboration. 

- Mr Simon: 
The ever-growing reputation of our school, with more and more people outside of our community, understanding the high quality of education that BVIS offers to our students and wider BVIS community.

This weekend, I encourage you to take time and reflect with your family and friends. Ask yourselves the following questions:

1. What has been your highlight of the year so far at BVIS?
2. What are you looking forward to achieving before the end of this term?
3. What are you hoping to further achieve before the end of the academic year?

As always, I would love to hear about your responses.

Congratulations and Well Done!

A huge congratulations to all of our Year 2 students for an incredible performance of ‘Ralph the Reindeer’ this week. Read more about their success in Ms Mary’s section below.

Equally, well done to the cast and production team of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, this year’s Secondary production. Through their hard work, dedication and efforts, they all entertained huge audiences across all 3 performances. Again, please read more in Mr Bate’s section of the Highlights below.

Well done to all of our Hammerheads for competing in last weekend’s City Swimming Championships as BVIS put up a strong team performance.

In particular, I would like to single out 2 of our swimmers who achieved incredible, individual results:

• Quyen Chi won a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the 3 events that she took part in
• Jun Ann who won 3rd place in the 50m backstroke

Finally this week, I want to celebrate Ms Mary’s success in the recent Iron Man 70.3 in Phu Quoc where she was placed 2nd overall in her age category – well done Ms Mary, we’re very proud of your achievements!

Welcome to our new teachers

Ms. Anh Nguyen - Whole School Librarian 

Qualifications
- Bachelor of Library and Information Science (2012)
- Master of Library and Information Science (2024)

Ngoc Anh holds a Master's degree in Library and Information Science. She has diverse experience working at bilingual and international schools such as BVIS Hanoi, and most recently ISPH Hanoi. Before this, she served as a book editor at a book company. As a teacher librarian, she is steadfast in her commitment to cultivating students' passion for reading, honing their resource assessment skills, and aiding them in achieving greater academic success.

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.   

Wishing you all a very reflective weekend ahead.

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

Parent Workshop: EYFS Helping at Home Part 3

The third workshop of the series ‘Helping your EYFS Children at Home’ was held this Tuesday with over 30 families joining Ms Rebeca, Ms Jacinth and Ms Khuyen to dig deep into the concept of routines, boundaries and managing challenging behaviour in children. The workshop reflected on the importance of routines in children’s lives and establishing boundaries that are in place for their safety and management of expectations. Parents had the opportunity to share their experiences of setting boundaries and helping their children follow these. Success stories were celebrated which provided ideas for parents to trial in their homes. Sharing this good practice helps our children to develop patience, remain calm in a variety of contexts and understand what is expected of them.

Thank you to all families who joined us for this valuable time together. I hope that within the workshop you took away some great ideas to nurture your child’s personal, social and emotional development. Your child’s class teachers are always here to help, please just ask.  

If you were unable to attend and would like to talk about the workshop content, then please contact Ms Rebecca or Ms Jacinth who will happily talk through the recommended strategies to use at home to support your child in their learning and progression.

Year 2 Star in ‘Ralph the Reindeer’

A huge well done to our amazing Year 2 students for their wonderful performance of, ‘Ralph the Reindeer’!

Energetic dancers, confident narrators, enthusiastic elves and expert reindeer brought the magic of Christmas to life in an exciting performance on Friday. Ralph the Reindeer’s courage to save Christmas Eve had the audience captivated throughout. The show ended with a magical rendition of, ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’. The show was a true festive treat for us all.  

Well done and thank you to the Year 2 students and teaching team.

Year 4 Entry Point to Learning 

This week, Year 4 students enjoyed an enriching visit to Happy Farm, sparking curiosity for their new Lien Ket topic, "What's on the Menu?"  Happy Farm provided a range of educational and hands-on activities that deepened the students' understanding of food sources and farming practices.  The whole experience set the stage for their upcoming lessons.

Highlights of the trip included planting and learning about the cultivation process, discovering common Vietnamese herbs and their culinary use and experiencing a day in the life of a farmer. Such interactive and practical learning experiences immerse students in their studies, helping them retain the knowledge, skills and understanding being taught.

Thank you to the Year 4 team for organising this valuable day trip for the students. 

Upcoming Events

1. 13/12/24: Clubs Block 1B end
   
2. 14/12/24: Christmas Fayre – ticketed event
   
3. 18/12/24: Term 1 ends at 11:30 am
   
4. 08/01/25: Term 2 starts

Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary

Future Leaders Finish 3rd in Regional Competition

Three Year 13 students competed in the prestigious ESSEC case competition alongside 1500 participants from across Asia.

Andy, Jane and Phuong Anh attended online workshops and worked together over two months to develop a marketing strategy for water filters that can be used to appeal to Gen Z customers in Indonesia.

Once they had the perfect pitch the team presented to the judges and finished in 3rd place taking away a prize worth 500 Singaporean Dollars.

The Business and Economics department are all very proud of the team; becoming the second team to take away prizes in international competitions so far this year!

Little Shop of Horrors

BVIS Secondary proudly presented the performance of Little Shop of Horrors. This was presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorised performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 

The three show performances, with two matinees and the final evening performance today, have been widely supported by our whole school community. Special thanks to:

• Props and set - created by our wonderful Art team under the guidance of Mr Marshall and Ms Wyatt with help from our many talented students, including Year 12 Art students looking at set design. 
  
• Marketing and Media – led by Mr De Lisle with the support of a creative media team, including pop-up selfie booths and sticker merchandise.
  
• Show support crew – several teachers and students supporting rehearsals and performances both front of house and backstage.
  
• The Facilities and Maintenance Teams – building of the amazing Audrey Two puppets (with help from Mr Marshall) and for continuous support.
  
• Parents and carers – for help in learning lines, dance routines and songs at home!
  
• Sound and Lighting – supported by Mr Dung and the AVA team.
  
• Catering – via Black Cat.
  
• Music and Band – directed by Mr Agafonov with a select group of fabulous musicians who play in every scene!
  
• Extra dedicated support – a special shout out to Ms Aldersley for choregraphing some of the dances and providing so much extra support throughout.

Obviously, our biggest thanks go to the students in the cast, the musicians of the band and the fabulous tech crew. This includes the talented main roles capturing the essence of a man-eating plant and the characters he eats along the way, including a crazed dentist and the workers of Mushnik and Sons’ Flower Shop. A fantastic experience for all – congratulations.

Well done to everyone and remember, ‘don’t feed the plants’! 

IGCSE Awards Event

Next week we host our first ever IGCSE Awards event to celebrate the amazing performances that our current Y12 students achieved in their final examinations last year.

We will be issuing the official IGCSE grade certificates, the special award-winning certificates issued by Cambridge for exceptional performance and also some internal BVIS awards. The event is officially for parents of current Y12 students who completed Y11 at BVIS, but if other parents wish to attend to celebrate then please do feel free to attend.

The event will run from 3:30pm - 5:00pm next Tuesday, 10th December.

Please click here to confirm your attendance so that we can prepare our best to welcome all.

Saigon Intermediate Logic Competition

On Saturday 23rd November, ten Year 9 students and two Year 10 students took part in the intermediate logic competition at SSIS. It was a great competition, with some very tough questions!

Students were able to test their Logic and Mathematical skills against their peers from across the city. 

Special mention to Nguyen, Khac Nguyen Anh (Tony) who came third in the individual round – a wonderful achievement. 

Sports Day is Coming!

Please help to remind your son/daughter that Secondary Sports Day will take place next Wednesday, 11th December from 8:30am – 1:00pm. 

This year our event will once again be hosted at District 8 Stadium. The event will include a variety of traditional athletic sporting events and team events allowing all students to take part and support their house in a friendly competitive environment.  

For the last two years Hue have won the sports day, will there be a different winner this year? 

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 Duong Duc Anh
Year 8 Le Hong Minh Quang
Year 9 Nguyen Phuc Khanh
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 who achieved the highest Bedrock points total across the whole of Secondary! 

Champion of the week

This week’s champion is...

Congratulations and well-done to Nhu!

Champion Tutor Group

This week's Champion tutor group is...

Congratulations to 789v/Hanoi3, well done!

Housepoint Totals

The Housepoint totals will now be hidden until the final assembly of the term.

Upcoming Events