All the staff have been so impressed with how the children in F1 have returned this week. They have adjusted and settled so quickly, and made themselves very busy with all the activities in the F1 area.
As the weeks pass by, at the Early Years and Infant Campus, we see more and more of the activities taking place that we would usually expect. We miss our Fundinotot families and are excited about the prospect of them returning in August.
It has been over a week now that our children in F2 and F3 have been back in school. The children’s thirst for learning has been wonderful to see, highlighted in these two posts from the staff in F2 and F3:
A big welcome back to F3 children and families
However, I am acutely aware that for our Year 1 and Year 2 children there are only 3 weeks left of school for this academic year, so we are busy with the end of year activities.
As I mentioned previously, the classes in Year 2 and F2 will not be mixed this year. For F1 children who are moving to F2, and for all F3 and Year 1 children, the class mixing process has begun. On Wednesday, those children brought home a class mixing slip, and parents will have received an email explaining the process. There are many factors involved in mixing the classes, and once again I would ask that if there are any issues that you wish your child’s teacher to be aware of, you notify them by Monday 8th June. This is also the deadline for returning the ‘friendship slips’.
In order to make it easy for children to move to the next year group, teachers plan a programme which involves activities and a lot of discussion so that the children are prepared, and the teachers are ready when the new term starts. This is particularly important for children in F3 and Year 2.
For F3 children, they have completed the Early Years Foundation Stage and are moving on to a different curriculum based heavily upon the National Curriculum for England and Wales. For our Year 2 children, it is the same curriculum but, of course, they will be moving to the Junior Campus. Normally, we would host coffee mornings to provide more information about transition, but due to the current restrictions, we are unable to do this, this year. Instead we will be hosting two webinars where presentations will be given by the Year Group Leaders and there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Emails will be sent to parents in F3 and Year 2 with the details, but I would ask that you put the following dates in your diaries:
F3 to Year 1 Webinar - Tuesday 16th June at 1pm
Year 2 to Year 3 Webinar - Monday 15th June at 9am
Borne out of an idea put forward by Ms Suzannah Breen, one of our Year 4 teachers, our students across all three campuses have come together to say a collective ‘Thank You/ Cảm ơn’ to all our front line workers both at school and in our community.
A beautiful mural was also created as a collaboration between junior and secondary students. Located at the International Walkway on the Junior Campus, it is an International ‘Cảm ơn’ to the many frontline workers across the globe that have supported our international community. Co-ordinated by Ms Tracey Brownrigg, it truly is a wonderful way to honour and thank the many that have worked, and continue to work tirelessly in the fight against Covid 19.
The children at the Early Years and Infant campus are creating wonderful thank you cards and posters to distribute to our guards, maintenance teams and cleaners. Next week, our Mini-Council will present these as an appreciation for the wonderful care and hard work that has been undertaken to keep our campuses, safe, clean and ready to welcome students in these challenging times.
Sincere thanks must go to Ms Suzannah from the Junior campus and Ms Tracey for all their hard work on this project.
We know that this summer, most of us will remain in Vietnam. Keeping our children busy and active will be a priority for many of us. Below you will find details of our Paid Summer Program for students at BIS. Run by our Co-Curricular providers, we are pleased that they will have the opportunity to recoup some of their income due to the cancellation of Term 2 and Term 3 activities. Details are linked below and you will also have received a letter today. BIS are providing all facilities free of charge to our providers for their clubs.
The British International School HCMC is delighted to announce a special super-sized Summer Holiday Camp with a wide range of activities for our students to enjoy over the summer holidays. This proves to be the most action packed and exciting programme offered to date and will be held for five weeks in July. We have well known and loved staff from our very own BIS teaching and TA teams, as well as external providers from our paid CCA programme, to teach activities and sports that will keep children happy and busy this summer.
Spaces will be limited and we anticipate a high demand so please look through the programme carefully and plan the sessions you would like your children to take part in. Sign up will be on a first come first served basis. Please see an overview of the activities on offer here and use the following link SummerHolidayCamp to print the reply sheets needed to secure your child’s place. Please follow the special instructions carefully for safe sign up from Monday 8 June.
Have a wonderfully active and safe summer holiday from everybody at BIS HCMC!
If any parents would like to visit the Uniform Shop, you are very welcome, however we need to register all visitors to the campus and to limit the number of visitors to at one time. If any parents would like to visit the Secondary Campus, please contact sc@bisvietnam.com (Katie) or Nguyen.Huynh@bisvietnam.com (Nguyen) at Secondary Reception who will very happily help to make an appointment.
Due to the registration process please allow an extra few minutes to complete the entry process. This includes temperature check, sanitise hands and Health Declaration form.
08/06/20 – Sign Up for BIS Paid Summer Program begins @ JC Canteen 8.30am
11/06/20 - PTG Women’s Wellness Morning at Yoga Vietnam
15/06/20 - Year 2 to Year 3 Transition Webinar @ 9am
16/06/20 – Moving On Workshop for leaving families @ Black Box Theatre 8.15am
16/06/20 - F3 to Year 1 Transition Webinar @ 1pm
17/06/20 - Headteachers’ Coffee Morning @ 8am in the EY&IC Small Sports Hall
19/06/20 – Wellbeing Day at both primary campuses
19/06/20 – End of Year Reports available to Parents iSAMS with new classes
23/06/20 – Class Swap Day - Children will meet their new teachers
26/06/20 – Term ends
29/06/20 – Paid Summer Program begins for Y1 children and above.
29/06/20 - Additional Learning Time for F1, F2 and F3 begins
10/07/20 - Additional Learning Time for F1, F2 and F3 ends
13/07/20 - Paid Summer Program begins for F2 & F3 children.
Masks must be worn to and from school and whenever the children leave the classroom, and safer distancing needs to be practised by everyone in accordance with government guidelines. Children will need to bring their own named mask and carry a spare in their bags.
If your child has any symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat, breathing difficulties) that could possibly be linked to Covid 19, keep them at home.
We thank you for following our new routines for morning drop off and afternoon collection of the children. We are aware that families with children in different year groups are having to wait longer to collect their children in the afternoon, however we must keep to our procedures to ensure every child is safely collected by their correct adult. We thank you for your understanding with this decision.
When it is raining at drop off time, children are permitted to go straight to their classrooms and will be supervised by their teachers. In the afternoon, please wait under the shading of the main playground for shelter and remember to bring an umbrella. We will dismiss from the parent hall as usual in the rain. If, however, there is lightning, we will wait to start dismissal once the lightning has passed. Parents will be permitted to wait under the Parents’ Hall for safety.
Please take note of the school’s policy regarding photographs. Photographs shared privately through our online journal, Seesaw, must be kept for personal viewing only; they must not be shared publicly on social media. Any photos taken in school on personal devices must be of your own children only and must not have other parents’ children in the photograph. All photos taken of your children at school must not be shared publicly on social media or between non-family members such as, other parents in the school. By following these guidelines, we ensure our BIS safeguarding policy is adhered to and that our children are kept safe. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
As in all major cities petty crime does occur, as a reminder to all of us please always take care of your personal belongings, especially when walking between campuses and across roads.
Thank you,
Ms Mary
On Wednesday 17th June, we will have a Primary Headteachers’ Coffee Morning at the Early Years and Infant Campus. Due to social distancing and stricter regulations with regards to parents on campus, we will have limited spaces and will need to know who is coming in advance. We will send a sign up letter early next week. The Coffee Morning will focus on a review of the year, staffing (departing and new staff arriving) and some updates from our PTG Committee. We hope you can make it.
On Tuesday 16th June, we will host a ‘Moving on Workshop’ for our families leaving BIS. With members of the leadership team, admissions department and counselling team, it is aimed at supporting those transitioning from our school. We hope you can make it. If you would like to attend, please email Huong.Tran1@bisvietnam.com and register as we will need to know who is on site for this workshop.
Our secondary PTG committee would like to invite all mums to special Women’s Wellness Morning. Details on the flyer below, it’s a lovely way to connect with others with wellbeing at the core.
As well as welcoming the children back and ensuring that new routines are well established in the school, our teachers have been busy writing end of year reports for each child. These reports will only be available through the iSAMS app, so please check that the app is working on your device. If you have any problems, please contact the office.
Have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend,
Ian Battersby
Head of the Early Years and Infant Campus
101 Thao Dien Street,
Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Junior Campus
225 Nguyen Van Huong Street,
Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Secondary Campus
246 Nguyen Van Huong Street,
Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
