What do LeBron James, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Yuri Gagarin have in common?

What do LeBron James, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Yuri Gagarin have in common? I often ask myself the question, “What do LeBron James, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Yuri Gagarin have in common?” The simple answer to that complicated thought is that each one of them, if they had been at British International School Hanoi during the last 24 hours, would have been simply amazed by what they saw.

I often ask myself the question,  “What do LeBron James, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Yuri Gagarin have in common?” The simple answer to that complicated thought is that each one of them, if they had been at British International School Hanoi during the last 24 hours, would have been simply amazed by what they saw.

On Thursday afternoon, British International School Hanoi hosted the Hanoi Athletic Conference (HAC)  Upper Primary Basketball competition. Teams from UNIS, Concordia, HIS, Olympia and BIS competed. The four basketball courts  used were just alive with quality dunks, dribbles, rebounds, half-court defence half-court offense - it was just relentless, positive  basketball. Indeed, it would have made LeBron  look again at his own skill set in order to further improve his own game. It was a wonderful occasion, with BIS teams being very successful throughout the afternoon but in the end it was the enjoyment gained by all the children that stood out. Thank you to our wonderful PE staff for their organisation of the event  and to the other four schools for their participation.

Following the basketball on Thursday evening, a Gala Showcase was held in the Auditorium where the musical talent of our IGCSE and IB Music students was on display. It was a truly stunning event which finished with Ana Clara (Y10) and Thien Khang (Y13) singing a duet from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Phantom of the Opera’. He would have been mesmerised by this rendition of his song but, as a composer, he would have been equally impressed with all the performances during the 90 minute showcase. What talent we saw last night from our older students and they were a credit to the school. A special thank you to our Performing Arts and technical support staff for their outstanding guidance.

Finally, Yuri Gagarin, the first human being in space, would have been just as much at home in the Year five classrooms and corridors on Friday morning as he would have been in his Sputnick 2 space capsule back in 1957. Year 5 hosted an activity morning in their areas displaying what they have learnt about Space. I was treated to some wonderful presentations as I was shown around by several ‘guides’ and I know that the parents who attended had the same positive experience that I had. Congratulations to all Year 5 students and staff for showing and displaying their wonderful work on Space.

What a 24 hours we have had at British International School Hanoi and if LeBron, Andrew and Yuri (if he were still alive) had been here, they probably would not have wanted to leave, such was the quality of learning and performance on display.

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend.

Anthony Rowlands, Principal