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Mr. Simon Higham, Principal
Dear Parents
It is our pleasure to bring you this Week’s Highlights and we thank you for taking time to engage and connect with them.
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Parent Satisfaction Survey 2023-24
On Tuesday this week, I shared a summary of the results from this year’s parent Satisfaction Survey with all our community.
On an annual basis, this survey is sent out to all parents whose child(ren) attend a Nord Anglia Education school in order to achieve 3 main goals:
- To find out what you as parents think we are doing well
- To find out what you think we need to do better
- To help support the strategic planning of our school, using your feedback.
I am extremely proud of the following results which represent an overview of responses from the survey that were rated ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’.
(The parentages in brackets show the result from last year’s survey for comparison.)
- 95% of families think that their child feels safe at school (94%)
- 93% of families think that their child is happy at school (91%)
- 93% of families think that the school promotes healthy lifestyles to their child (91%)
- 92% of families think that the school provides a stimulating learning environment (92%)
- 91% of families think that their child receives a quality education from the school (89%)
- 90% of families think that their children are making good progress at school (87%)
- 90% of families think that their child’s teacher has a good relationship with their child (89%)
Above all, it again extremely pleasing that well over 90% of parents think that their child(ren) is/are safe, happy, healthy, receiving a quality education, making good progress and has/have a good relationship with their teacher at BVIS.
From your feedback and linked to our Strategic Plan, we have prioritised the following areas for improvement. We plan to further develop:
- more opportunities to improve parental awareness of and participation in our Nord Anglia Education programmes such as: Global Campus, Global Expeditions, Juilliard Performing Arts and UNICEF
We aim to promote Global Campus more across the school by introducing more school wide challenges linked to our House system and empowering student leaders to support both organisation and delivery of these tasks.
Ask you child(ren) to show you what Global Campus is and how you can help support it at home.
- our residential experiences, offering a wider range of options and costs
We are already planning new and exciting residential experiences. This has already begun as for the first time in June, we have partnered with our NAE school in Houston – Village – to take a group of our secondary scientists to visit NASA and undertake real life astronaut training. What an amazing opportunity this will be!
If your child(ren) have attended a residential trip this year, ask them what their 3 highlights were.
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- our Primary classroom design, additional teaching spaces and canteen area
- our STEAM provision with more practical learning spaces
- our toilet facilities for both students and adults.
This Easter and Summer holiday, we have planned for further campus development to take place, including substantial investment and upgrades to our Primary Canteen, Secondary STEAM/DT facilities, Primary classrooms and student/staff toilets.
Talk with your child(ren) about what new/updated learning spaces and resources they have seen in the last few years. Ask them, ‘How has this helped to you learn more effectively?’
Our BVIS team will continue to use your feedback to help support us in continuing to deliver an outstanding education that enables all students to feel safe, happy and challenged in their learning and that BVIS continues to grow and develop within the very best premium quality environment.
Making decisions about university and future careers: When is the right time?
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We are often asked when the ‘right time’ is for conversations at-home or in school to be had around making decisions for the future. Rather than recommend a specific time in which these decisions need to be made, we suggest instead that all our parents keep in mind three key milestones in the secondary calendar and how decisions at each of these stages help to open up potential future pathways and opportunities.
Bulldog Spirit
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Both last week and this, I have had the pleasure of watching our sporting teams – the BVIS Bulldogs – play passionately and with pride across a range of sports.
It is very pleasing to witness the drive and determination of our teams and most importantly, how to win well.
If your son/daughter is taking part in one of sports fixtures at school, please feel free to come along and support both them and our team.
I look forward to watching more games this term and witnessing that BVIS Bulldog spirit!
Welcome Back Year 6 and Well Done F3
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Our Year 6 students returned to school this week after their residential adventure to Madagui. Congratulations to everyone on another very successful (and tiring) trip. From what I hear, the zip line was a clear highlight!
This week, our F3 children have also been on their travels and visited the outdoor activity park, Tinkerplay.
Read more about both these enrichments to learning in Ms Mary’s Primary section below.
Battle of the Bands
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Bringing two lively rock songs, our very own BVIS band, ‘The Bittersweet’, consisting of members Ha My, Phuong Nhi, Tina, Kha Vy, Sophia, and Minh Hy, gave their all on the Battle of the Bands stage at the Saigon South International School.
Taking part in a very strong field, they managed to win and were crowned HCMC Battle of the Band winners.
Read more about their incredible success in this post.
Congratulations – we are very proud of what you have achieved.
FOBISIA Business Meeting
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On Friday, I attended the bi-annual FOBISIA business meeting that was hosted in HCMC by our sister school, BIS.
Almost 100 schools attended from across Asia.
To find out more information about FOBISIA and how our membership benefits your child(ren),
please click here.
Contact Us
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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.
On behalf of everyone across our BVIS team, I wish you a very relaxing and family orientated weekend.
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Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary
Reflections from Y6
Year 6 arrived back with so many stories to share about their experiences last week in Madagui. Upon their return, students were encouraged to reflect on what they had learned, their most memorable activity and what they would like to experience again. At school, we see the importance of taking time to reflect and consider what worked well and what could be even better next time. This is a skill that we teach students to ensure they know how to reach optimum learning techniques and continue to make exceptional progress. I am pleased to share with you some of the students’ and teachers’ reflections here in the weekly highlights.
- “My favourite activity was the zip lining. This activity enabled me to conquer my fear of heights and also the views were amazing.” – Kevin
- “I really enjoyed the kayaking because it was adventurous and exciting. Also, when it was such a sunny day, it was nice to swim in the cold water of the lake.” – Ha An
- “My favourite activity in Madagui was rock climbing. It was an opportunity to challenge myself because the walls were really high. I was so proud of myself when I made it to the top.” – Cherry
- “This was my first residential trip with BVIS and I was so impressed with how the students represented our school. They showed perseverance on a daily basis to complete the physical activities and they also showed respect and care for their fellow students by supporting each other throughout the day. A particular highlight for me was the BVIS talent show in which our students sang, danced and rapped in front of an incredibly supportive audience of fellow students.” – Mr Ben, Year 6 Leader
Huge thanks go towards the teams of teachers and TAs who have chaperoned our upper primary students throughout the three recent residential trips and a special thanks to our trip leaders, Mr Ben Hulbert for Y6, Ms Suong Nguyen for Y5 and Ms Yen Tran for Y4. Congratulations to all our Year 4-6 students who embraced every experience with enthusiasm and ambition.
F3 visit Tinkerplay
On Tuesday our F3 students set off on an adventure to challenge themselves with the physical activities available at the outdoor activity park, Tinkerplay. Following last week’s Sports Day, the students were prepared and ready for the strength, determination and perseverance they would need to achieve the challenges that the wooden adventure playground provides at Tinkerplay. With a rooftop trim trail to test their balancing skills and a large-scale building block construction area, the students tested their gross motor skills to balance, construct and climb with control and coordination. Using their communication skills, the children also worked in teams to solve problems and take turns. F3 had an adventurous time! The F3 teachers were very proud of the courage and resilience that the students demonstrated during the trip.
International Week is coming!
In primary, we are ready for International Week to begin. From Monday 25th to Friday 29th March, students will participate in learning activities aimed at developing and celebrating their Global Citizenship. Each year group will learn about two different countries in both English and Vietnamese lessons, exploring the culture, traditions, history, geography, language and cuisine. They will also go beyond to begin to understand the deeper levels of the cultural iceberg within these countries. Additionally, throughout that week, EYFS and Primary students will be served snacks from countries across the globe including China, Italy, Colombia, India and Egypt.
The week will conclude with an International Week assembly where students will share what they have learned about the countries studied. On the final day of the week, there will also be a special European-themed menu served for lunch, including signature dishes from European countries such as potato lentil chicken soup, spaghetti meatballs and fish and chips.
At BVIS two of our important values are Global Citizenship and Vietnamese Perspective. Themed weeks like International Week help to deepen students’ understanding of the experiences and perspectives of others enabling them to compare these with their own and, as a result, promoting a rich and empathetic BVIS community.
Upcoming Events
- 25/03/24 – International Week in Primary
- 06/04/24 – Block 2 Club break
- 08/04/24 – Green Week
- 15/4/24 – Dress up day for Green Week
- 17/4/24 @11:30am – Term 2 Ends
- 02/05/24 @08:25am – Term 3 Begins
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Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary
World Book Day
World Book Day in Secondary was a week-long celebration of historical literature, both factual and fiction. Students engaged in specialist lessons, a treasure hunt, quizzes, a reflective assembly, and even archery. The week focused on the importance of learning from our history, and how literature is an important part of this process. Our own story and the stories of others help shape who we are and who we will be.
Some BVIS students went above and beyond during the week and were rewarded for their efforts. These include Teppi in 10B who won the title of “Best in Archery” and Khanh Quan who engaged in every activity offered and was awarded the title of “Most Engaged Student”.
All in all, the students had a great time but also reflected on the importance of texts set in the past.
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Creative Arts Gala
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Student Council Community Committee
This week has been both busy and successful for the Community Committee - having to host our last bake sale of the school year! Celebrating Pi-day and also, giving students a chance to spread kindness to their friends through the delivery service we offered. It was great to see smiles from everyone when they received their unexpected packages. Either way, we’d like to thank the BVIS community and Black Cat Catering for supporting our sales throughout this year, we couldn’t have done it without you. The total profit for this Bake Sale was 5,320,000VND. As always, all profits will go towards charity, and we will be updating you all via the Highlights how this will be spent across our community partnerships.
House Sways
Each of our Houses has now set up a House news channel using the Microsoft Sway application. These more informal pages are designed to inform any reader of upcoming house related events and give some feedback on events that have taken place. Please take time to look through links with your child(ren) to show your support for their house! The links to these pages are below:
Dalat -
Dalat House News
Hanoi -
Hanoi House News
Hue -
Hue House News
Saigon -
Saigon House News
Pi Day
Mathematicians across the world recognise March 14th – 3.14 as Pi day.
This is an annual opportunity for Maths enthusiasts to recite Pi and to eat Pie – and at BVIS we did just that!
Last Thursday, students celebrated Pi Day with some exciting Maths Relay competitions.
Winners of each competition were unsurprisingly awarded a pie.
As well as winners earning Pies, our Community Committee also sold Pies for Pi day to raise money for Charity.
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The Maths department are also creating BVπS – a display where all students are asked to ‘make their mark’. Every colour is a different digit of Pi, and we intend on expanding this display as our school community grows.
First News Champions
This week's First News Champions are:
Year 10 – Nguyen Thanh An
Year 9 – Max Nguyen
Year 8 – Nguyen Thao Vi
Year 7 – Nguyen Hoang Khoi
A special congratulations to Thanh An who was the champion across the whole school!
Bedrock Champions
This week’s bedrock champions are:
Year 12 – Tran Bao Duy
Year 11 – Aki Vo
Year 10 – Riley Nguyen
Year 9 – Nguyen Ngan Giang
Year 8 – Anna Huynh
Year 7 – Mraz Le
Congratulations to all the above students who came up on top in their respective year groups. A special well done to Mraz who once again achieved the highest Bedrock points total across the whole of Secondary!
Sparx Maths Champions
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
Top XP earners this week are:
| Year |
Name |
Form/Class |
| 7 |
Alice Nguyen |
7V |
| 8 |
Anna Quach |
8zMat2 |
| 9 |
Peter Nguyen |
9zMat1 |
| 10 |
Hoang Bao Chau Nguyen |
10zMat2y |
| 11 |
XP Pham |
11zMat4 |
Champion of the Week
This week’s champion student is:
Well done to Tony (8S)!
Champion Tutor Group
This week's Champion tutor group is...
A huge well done again to everyone in 8S who worked together to achieve more housepoints than any other tutor group last week.
Housepoint Update
Saigon stay in the lead, although Hue are slowly catching them up. It isn’t over for Dalat or Hanoi either as there are still a lot of Housepoints to play for before the end of this term.
Upcoming Events
- 26th March: Year 9 Parents Evening
- 28th March: Creative Arts Gala
- 6th April: Block 2 Club break
- 10th April: Principal’s Afternoon Tea
- 17th April: Term 2 ends at 11:30am
- 2nd May: Term 3 starts
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:
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