Mr Simon Higham: Weekly Update 21/04/2017

We would like to welcome all of our BIS HCMC Community back to school, following what we hope has been a restful and family orientated holiday.

On Thursday, you should have received information regarding a change of leadership for BIS, HCMC from the next academic year. The letter from Mr Shaun Williams, outlining this change is copied below:

Dear parents,

I am writing to inform you that Tim Deyes has decided to step down from his role as the Principal of BIS on 30 June 2017, due to personal reasons. On behalf of everyone at Nord Anglia Education, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tim for all his hard work over the last 14 months in ensuring the school’s continued reputation as the best school in Ho Chi Minh City.

Tim has only been with the school for a short time, but he has been able to bring 25 years of international education and leadership experience to the role and make a difference in that short time. His belief that ‘everything counts and everything matters’ has been evident in delivering excellence in education at the school. Please find attached a letter which he would like to share with you.

We have appointed Anthony Rowlands to the position of Principal to replace Tim. Anthony is currently the Principal of another Nord Anglia Education school, BIS Hanoi. Anthony held senior leadership positions in three FOBISIA schools before becoming the founding Principal of his current school in 2012. He is an extremely experienced educator and school leader and is ideally positioned to build on BIS HCMC’s successes to date and ensure it remains a leading school in the South East Asia region. Anthony will work with Tim and the excellent senior leadership team to ensure a smooth transition.

These are indeed unfortunate circumstances, but I am sure you will join me in wishing Tim the very best with his future plans. If you have any questions, please contact me on shaun.williams@nordanglia.com

Yours faithfully,

Shaun Williams

Regional Managing Director, Southeast Asia. Nord Anglia Education

On behalf of all of us at An Phu Primary Campus, we would like to wish Mr Deyes and his family all the very best for the future and also take this opportunity to wish Mr Rowlands every success for the next academic year and beyond.

Class Mixing

We have already begun our preparations for the next academic year and on Monday, you will receive a letter via your Inbox which outlines our procedure to formulate new classes for the next academic year.

This letter will also inform you of which year groups will be mixed and which will transition as full classes.

Please note that these decisions are based upon extensive observations regarding social, emotional and academic needs that have taken place in classes and discussed in year groups over the last 2 terms.

Instrumental Lessons at An Phu Primary

Term 3 Instrumental Lessons will start again on Monday 8 May. If you would like your child to begin having lessons, please complete the online form by accessing the link below:

https://goo.gl/forms/gj4Nfz5YwyJvL3EB3

Ms Frances Amos, Music Teacher and Instrumental Leader (francesamos@bisvietnam.com)

Baker Books

On Thursday this week, your child was given a Baker Book Club catalogue to bring home. If you would like to purchase some high quality books from this club, please refer to the information below – it’s as easy as 1,2,3!

Order & Pay Online

1. Visit http://parentpay.bakerbooks.co.uk/clubs/INTVIE1 by Wednesday 26th April, 2017.

2. Select the books that you’d like to order and add them to your basket.

3. At “Checkout” your order will be charged to your card in the currency shown, the books will be added to the school Parent Pay order and you will receive an email confirming the order and payment.

Translated help sheets in Vietnamese and Korean on how to order and pay online, can be accessed through this link.

The closing date for ordering books from the Baker Books catalogue is Wednesday 26th April, 2017.

Milepost 3 Speech Competition 2017

The famous German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche said, 'All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with, and then I can turn the world upside down'. Following an extensive Year 5 and Year 6 English unit of writing based upon researching famous orators and what language makes great speeches, 15 finalists took to the stage on Thursday evening to take part in the Milepost 3 Speech Competition. Read about our finalists and winners in this post. An amazing evening was had by all!

Year 3 Community Service

Over the last few months, Year 3 have been learning with our community school, Giong Ong To and have thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to work with different people and to experience a snapshot of the lives of others. Read more about their giant art project in this post by Mr Jonathan Philips, Year 3 Teacher and Assistant Milepost Leader.

BIS Proudly Welcomes Nicole Jeong

Today, we welcomed an accomplished Juilliard violinist, Nicole Jeong, to our school.  This is one of the many benefits of The Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts Programme where our students and teachers are provided with a unique opportunity to engage with Juilliard alumni and Juilliard-affiliated artists. Read her biography and how she has been inspiring our children in this post by Ms Fiona Nichols, Director of Admissions and Marketing.

BVIS Summer School 2017

Building upon the success of Summer School over the last few years, The British Vietnamese International School (BVIS) – a sister school of BIS - is pleased to offer a Summer School starting from 26th June until 14th July. The programme has been designed to cater for the diverse needs of our new and existing students ages 2-14. It has also been structured around four aspects: Academic, Skills Development, English Literacy and Health Education and Sport. For more information regarding the course, please click here.

To register for the course, please download the Application Form from here, together with a 4*6 photograph of the student and send to BVIS Admission Office, or email us at summerschool@bvisvietnam.com.

If you have any enquiries regarding our Summer School, please call (08) 37580717 – 888/411/216, or email to summerschool@bvisvietnam.com.

We offer a 10% discount to those who register and pay by 28th April 2017. Places are limited, please contact us now if your children would like to join!

Kính gửi Quý phụ huynh

Tiếp nối thành công của chương trình Hè trong những năm qua, Trường Quốc tế BVIS – cùng hệ thống với Trường BIS - tiếp tục tổ chức Khóa học Hè từ 26 tháng 6 đến 14 tháng 7 tại trường.  Khóa học được thiết kế để phục vụ các nhu cầu đa dạng của học sinh mới và học sinh của Trường từ 2 đến 14 tuổi, với nội dung xoay quanh 4 lĩnh vực: Học thuật, Phát triển Kỹ năng, Đọc hiểu tiếng Anh và Giáo dục Sức khỏe và Thể thao. Để biết thêm thông tin chi tiết về khóa học, Quý phụ huynh vui lòng nhấn vào đây.

Để đăng ký cho khóa học, Quý phụ huynh vui lòng tải đơn đăng ký tại đây, kèm theo một tấm hình 4*6 của học sinh và gởi về Phòng Tuyển Sinh trường Quốc tế BVIS, hoặc e-mail summerschool@bvisvietnam.com.

Mọi thắc mắc về Khóa học Hè, Quý phụ huynh có thể gọi điện thoại đến số (08) 37580717 – 888/411/216, hoặc gửi e-mail về summerschool@bvisvietnam.com.

Đặc biệt, Trường dành riêng ưu đãi 10% học phí cho các em đăng ký và đóng tiền đến hết ngày 28 tháng 4 năm 2017. Vì số lượng chỗ có hạn nên nếu có ý định, Quý phụ huynh vui lòng liên hệ với Nhà trường ngay hôm nay!

www.bvisvietnam.com

Staying Safe

If, during your visit to school, you have any reason to be concerned about the safety of a young person, please contact the Designated Safeguarding Person (Ms Dee Grimshaw) or the Head teacher (Mr Simon Higham)

Parents and Visitors’ Code of Conduct

Our school has a strong commitment to ensuring that we provide a safe environment for all of our students. We expect that all visitors support us by following the code of conduct outlined below:

On entry to our school, you must:

• not take photographs or videos of any child without the permission of the Headteacher
• only use the designated adult toilets whilst on campus and under no circumstances enter the children’s toilets or changing room areas
• not be alone with any child
• not touch any child or invade their own, personal space
• not take any contact details from any child

Please note that CCTV cameras are in operation at all times across the campus.

PTG Update

Parent Liaison Volunteer, Ms Ying bisvnptgap1@gmail.com

The PTG Annual General Meeting (AP Primary and Secondary) will be held on Wednesday 26 April from 8am at the APP Multi-purpose room (top floor, above canteen). The current PTG Coordinator and Treasurer will be reporting on the activities we have undertaken this year. We will be giving an update on 

- PTG events organised this school year

- Funds generated from PTG events

- Expenses from PTG events

- How the funds generated have been spent on different community groups or been earmarked to be spent on the different community groups  

All parents and teachers are cordially invited to attend our AGM next week. Tea, coffee and refreshments will be served. 

PTG Events for Term 3

• 26^th April – PTG AGM
• 15^th June – PTG Disco

Key Upcoming Dates for your Diary

April

• Sunday 23^rd: Community Football Tournament
• Monday 24^th: Class Mixing letters out to all parents
• Thursday 27^th: Primary Production (6.00pm, AP2 Auditorium)

May

• Monday 1^st and Tuesday 2^nd: Public Holiday
• Monday 8^th: Term 3 Clubs begin
• Wednesday 17^th: Headteacher’s Coffee Morning (8.15am)
• w/b 22^nd and w/b 29^th: Year 6 Residential trip to Malaysia

For all of the dates in this year’s academic calendar, please click here to take you to the front page of the ‘News and Insights’ section of our school website.

And Finally………

Question: What do Community Football, Student Mindfulness and a Speech Competition all have in common?

Answer: When writing this Update, these were the last 3 Tweets @BISHCMC on Twitter

With over 1,000 followers and 1,500 ‘likes’, the official BIS, HCMC Twitter page is the place to visit to find out what is happening across our school, read about the most relevant educational issues and comment upon your thoughts and ideas.

Follow us!

Mr Simon Higham

Head Teacher, An Phu Primary Campus