Mr Nicholas West Weekly Update 18th September

Following on from my previous article on Jennifer Taylor, I have great pleasure introducing Mr. Declan Barney, one of our Year 6 teachers. 

Mr. Barney has joined us after many years teaching in the UK, although teaching was not his first job. He has had a wide range of jobs including a kitchen assistant, trust supervisor and accounts administrator before he decided to train as a teacher after which he also worked as an educational consultant. His most recent post was in a small village school where community is extremely important. This is a quality that he brings with him and he already understands the importance of families in Vietnamese culture and has quickly become part of our family here at BVIS Hanoi.

Similar to Ms. Taylor, Mr. Barney’s desire to become a teacher was driven by wanting to help children improve and he stated ‘I wanted to become a teacher because it is such a joy to help young people develop as individuals and reach their full potential. I aim to help children grow into global citizens with the skills required to contribute and succeed in their world.’ Great sentiments indeed.

Mr. Barney chose Hanoi as a place to live because the traditional aspects of the city appealed to him. He had read about how progressive the city was, but also about how it manages to maintain its strong cultural identity and its traditional lifestyles. He now loves exploring his home area of Truc Bach, the city and beyond. His most recent trip was to explore the mountains of Ba Vi and enjoy his favourite Bún Bò Nam Bộ! Mr. Barney has started to learn Vietnamese and he aspires to become a confident practitioner so he can communicate with our children and families not just in English. He also enjoys a variety of sports including the very popular sports of badminton and football and he also likes to play guitar, recently purchasing a handmade Vietnamese guitar which we hope he will share with the children during a future assembly.

When asked to name an interesting fact we may not know, Mr. Barney showed that he can jump over his arms when his hands are locked together, as if like a skipping rope. Have a go, it is not easy!

It is wonderful to gain all these new skills, talents and passions when new staff and children join the school and it is wonderful to see them develop now we are completing our second whole full week of the year. Have a great weekend and make sure the children get plenty of rest; we have much learning ahead.

Mr Nicholas West – Head of Primary