Mr Simon Higham: Weekly Update 28/04/2017

Lewis Carroll wrote, ‘Sometimes, I’ve believed as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast’.

Following extensive hard work and commitment in their extra-curricular club time and recent rehearsals, our Production Club ensured that what once may have seemed impossible, became a reality on Thursday evening.

I would like to congratulate all of the cast and all members of staff who made this event a truly memorable one – well done everyone!

This week at An Phu Primary, it was great to see our F3 children experiencing what it would be like to be a xich lo driver as part of their Vietnamese Culture and Language lessons. A lot of great first hand learning took place and the children had super fun along the way.

Also this week, our Year 6 children have been incredibly busy working with their community partner partners, Huynh Van Ngoi school. HVN is a large Primary school located behind AP2 with the focus for the project being an educational exchange with students taking part in HVN’s Vietnamese Moral lesson at HVN and physics experiments at BIS HCMC.  Again, another opportunity for our children to work, communicate and learn together with others – an essential life skill.

Finally, well done to Ms Georgina’s class for a very entertaining and educational assembly on Monday, giving an insight into the life and times of William Shakespeare.

I hope that you enjoy looking through this week’s Update and this week, please take time to reflect upon the many diverse and unique learning opportunities that your child is experiencing both inside and outside of the BIS HCMC classroom.

Announcement – New BIS HCMC Early Years and Infant Campus

Currently, an exciting new phase of development for our school is taking place.  A purpose-designed Infant Campus is currently under construction in District 2. This new facility will cater for children from Fundinotots through to Year 2.  On completion, our An Phu and Tu Xuong Primary campuses will amalgamate, which will afford an enhanced learning environment for all our Primary students and teachers and will boast many significant environmentally friendly features and creative learning spaces.

This will also mean that all three of our BIS HCMC campuses will be conveniently based in District 2. The new building is planned to open in January 2018.  We will continue to keep you updated with all related progress and as always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further details at this time.

When Julliard Came to Play

On Friday 21 April, we were fortunate enough to be visited by the Juilliard Alumni Violinist Nicole Jeong. We had a fantastic day of music making and her playing was outstanding. Read more about the reactions and feedback from the students that she worked with Nicole in this post by Mr Ian Alexander, Director of Music

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)

Year 2

This week, our Year 2 children have explored different habitats around the school, looking at a variety of different plants and animals. Read more about their learning and browse through the photos in this post by Ms Nicole McKelvie, Year 2 Class Teacher

Community Service – Term 2, Hummingbird Award Winner

At the end of each term, the Hummingbird Award is given out to one child who has shown great empathy, commitment and leadership within our well established Community Service learning programme. 11 children were nominated for the Term 2 award but of course, there could only be one winner. Read about who the nominees and eventual winner was in this post by Ms Samantha Baker, EAL Teacher and Community Service Leader.

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)

With the impending wet season on our doorstep, please can you take time to discuss the following Driver’s Code of Conduct with your own driver so that we can continue to improve the traffic flow outside of school at peak times:

In order to keep our children safe on the roads outside BIS HCMC, both before and after school, please can you spend a few minutes of your time discussing the following points with your drivers.

• Never stop on or near to a pedestrian crossing – in order to ensure that our families can cross the road safely, please instruct your driver to park as far away from the main gates as possible to avoid congestion. Try walking a short distance to keep cars down to a minimum.

• No cars should be parked for long periods of time outside of school – ask your driver to meet you at a convenient location away from the school gates and please ask them to never double park as this stops the flow of traffic at peak times.

• Never U Turn along the stretch of road outside both AP1 and AP2 – tell your driver to drive away from school and if they have to U Turn, please do so on the wider, less congested roads. Try the route past AP1 along Nguyen Van Huong, as an alternative way to get home – it may take a few extra minutes driving but it will save the time you spend in traffic.

• Ask your driver to show respect to our guards and follow their instructions – they are there to keep you all safe and have a difficult job when drivers ignore their instructions.

• Explain to your driver that their actions reflect upon your family – ask them to respect all of our school community to make our school the very best that it can be.

We all have our part to play – thank you.

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 AP1 and AP2 Annual General Meeting was held on Wednesday 26 April 2017. The PTG coordinator gave a report of this year’s events while the Treasurer reported on our financial status. Here is a summary from our AP1 PTG Coordinator.

We ran 15 events this school year and it involved a minimum of 105 parents. Many more teachers and parents helped out during the school fair days, discos and other events. The positions of PTG Volunteer Coordinator and Treasurer are now vacant. It has been an engaging and interesting experience as PTG Coordinator. I learnt a lot of useful skills this year!  Please do not hesitate to approach me for more information if you are interested in contributing your time for a good cause.

A big thank you to everyone who helped to sell tickets, baked or bought cakes, and came for a chat at any of our events. A personal big THANKS to all Events Committee members, Country Reps and Class Reps this year. Our school community is all the better for your commitment and kind contribution. Finally, we are grateful for the support of Mr Simon, Ms Dee and all our teachers at AP1.

If you would like to read the full PTG report presented at our AGM, please access it here.

Ying McKenzie, 2016/2017 PTG Volunteer Coordinator

PTG Events for Term 3

• 15^th June – PTG Disco

Key Upcoming Dates for your Diary

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
• Thursday 25^th – Sunday 28^th: FOBISIA Games

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………

As a primary head teacher, I am often asked by parents about their child’s future education in terms of examinations, further education and careers. No matter what the age of your child, in the blink of an eye, they will quickly become fully independent and even more forward thinking young adults whilst within our school environment.

Read more about how you can help your child prepare now for their entry into a US University by reading this post by our University Welfare and Guidance Team.

I wish you a very relaxing and enjoyable extended weekend. I look forward to seeing you again on Wednesday 3^rd May.

Mr Simon Higham, Head Teacher, An Phu Primary Campus