Secondary School Update (09 June 2023)

Weekly update from Head of Secondary

Dear Parents,

At our school, we believe in creating a safe and welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and respected. We are committed to the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion, which relate to our motto of "global citizens learning together".

During the course of this week, we focused our attention on our moral values of integrity, care, and respect, by raising awareness about the global pride movement.

Pride awareness is about the current and historical challenges faced by the LGTBQ+ community and demonstrates to us that not everyone around the world receives the same rights, respect, and opportunities as others.

Last year, we developed a set of statements that talk about our commitment to the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion:

Equity: At BIS we aim to ensure fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for everyone while also attempting to identify and remove the barriers that prevent full participation by some. As an international school, we understand that equity requires self-reflection and the promotion of justice. We also understand that treating everyone the same is not the same as giving them the same opportunity. We therefore need equity to create a fair and personalized community.

Diversity: As an international school, one of our most important responsibilities is to respect all the ways that people are different. We understand that what we have most in common are our differences. As well as nationality, diversity includes race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, gender identity, religion, language, age, marital status, veteran status, mental ability, physical ability, people with learning needs, and physical disabilities. We are a school where different perspectives are voiced, encouraged, and respected. This is important for diminishing discrimination and developing belongingness.

Inclusion: At BIS we will continue to build a diverse and welcoming community where every person belongs and is invited to participate. As an environment that strives to be inclusive, we will continue to review our processes to ensure they are supportive, respectful, and collaborative. We also seek to celebrate identity and appreciate the different skills and talents a diverse school offers. An inclusive environment endeavors to remove all barriers, discrimination, and intolerance.

Secondary School Update (09 June 2023) | BIS Hanoi - Secondary School Update

As you can see, we continue to embody our values and foster a sense of belonging for all students.

I hope this week is a memorable and meaningful moment for students.

Chris Newman

Head of Secondary

Key Dates

June 12th-14th: Year 11 Trip
June 13th: Years 7-9 Party
June 15th-16th: IB Headstart Days
June 23rd: Final Day of School, students leave at 12:35pm

Secondary Learning Showcase

BIS Debate Year Review: Igniting minds, Empowering voices: A Year in Review with Our Secondary Debate Club

Led by Gia Khanh (Year 10), Ngoc Anh (Year 12), and Thanh Mai (Year 12), our Secondary Debate CCA concluded with inspiring achievements at grand tournaments, alongside various lectures, training sessions, and fierce discussions.

This term, we have hosted knowledge sessions on the Criminal Justice System and Social movements and on developing skills, namely rebuttals, argument construction, and weighing. Our debate discussions vary from feminism and international relations to more general topics such as family and relationships.

This year, our students attended one of the most prestigious national tournaments in Vietnam: the National Vietnam British Parliamentary Tournament. Proudly,we became semi-finalists (Tuong Vy and Gia Khanh) and quarterfinalists (Ngoc Anh and Thanh Mai) after five tiring, matter-heavy rounds of debate against the top debaters in the country.

It was the first time Tuong Vy had been to a tournament, and she remarked upon her new experience: "It was a series of fake-it-until-you-make-it using constructive arguments to combat the holes that other teams have pointed out. It’s definitely a fun and hard mixed debate with a ratio of 2:3.

Most recently, there was the Hanoi Debate Tournament that took place in late May on the outskirts of Hanoi. Notwithstanding the summer heat, all the year 10 students, Minh Duc, Nhat Ha, Cam Tu, Tuong Vy, and Ngoc Linh, absolutely conquered themselves. They came with little expectation to win, but at the end, they reaped 3 wins out of the 5 total rounds in which they participated. Given the short training due to the overlap with the exam week, this achievement was truly worthy of applause.

Even in the global landscape, BIS Hanoi proudly came 2nd in a line-up of 20 schools in Nord Anglia Online Debate Matches, as participated by Thanh Mai, Ngoc Anh, Gia Khanh and Quang Trung. Earlier, it was also our first time to participate as an institution in an international tournament, called Asian Online Debating Championship (AODC). In a mere two-week period leading up to the competition, the four students, Duc Anh (Y10), Cam Tu (Y10), The Phuc (Y10) and Tuong Vy (Y10), underwent more than 10 additional training sessions prepared by Gia Khanh, but it was only in the tournament that their true resilience and determination to excel shone bright.

Indeed, Cam Tu left a very heart-warming reflection: "For HDT, it was surely an experience of a lifetime I would never get in my life again. Even during our 3rd win, we were still very surprised to receive that result from the judge. The debating community is very competitive but also inclusive and supporting. From this tournament, this only deepens my love for debating and ensuring my presence in future competitions". Term 3 concluded with competitions and passionate discussions, yet we look forward to an even more inspiring year of eloquent intellectual battles and thought-provoking discourse.

Ms. Embling

ISHMUN Ho Chi Minh City

Over the weekend, nine Year 10 students attended a Model United Nations (MUN) conference at the International School Ho Chi Minh City. This was our first MUN conference outside of Hanoi since before the pandemic, so our students were tremendously excited to travel and make new connections in another city.

Our students joined committees such as the United States Senate, European Union, and Historical Crisis on the topic of the Suez Canal Crisis. All delegates performed extremely well, despite it being their first MUN conference for many! Delegates debated some tricky topics, such as gun control in the USA and democratic backsliding in Europe, and totally threw themselves into the spirit of constructive debate in order to solve global issues.

In the evenings, students were able to experience some more of Ho Chi Minh City, visiting malls, doing a bit of shopping, and visiting the famous Nguyen Hue walking street. We saw the beautiful City Hall and Opera House and had drinks at the Café Apartments.

On the final day, we participated in a plenary session with an unseen topic that we had one hour to research and come up with a position on. Our nine delegates worked together to represent Mexico, lobbying other school delegations for support. This was something we hadn’t seen before at previous conferences, so it provided us with some interesting experience and insight!

We were particularly proud to have two award winners on the US Senate committee. Gyujin Kang was awarded an Honourable Mention and Ngoc Linh Nguyen won Best Delegate at only her 2nd MUN conference ever.

Gyujin said: "It was a wonderful experience. The best thing about this conference was that filibustering was allowed in our committee; this is when you talk for a long time to prevent a bill from passing. I tried it, but I was stopped by the motion another senator made. However, I am proud of myself for trying and for submitting many speeches and amendments. Recognized for these efforts, to my credit, I was awarded an "Honourable Mention". I learned a lot of valuable information about the United States. The people I met there motivated me, and they were so nice to me. This was my 4th MUN conference this year, and I put everything I learned into practice, so clearly it paid off!"

Ngoc Linh said about her achievement: "It is absolutely my honour to have a chance to visit the school of ISHCMC, join ISHMUN, and achieve the Best Delegate certificate for the US Senate. I want to give BISMUN a big thank you for setting such an excellent example for me to undertake the foundation of a conference. I’ve met a lot of wonderful and admirable people within the committee, and I’m grateful for their company for the 3 days. Thank you, senators, chairs, ISHMUN leadership team, Thuc Anh and Ms Cooper!"

BIS Swim Team vie at the UNIS Swim Gala

Last Saturday, on June 3rd, as many as 40 primary and secondary students representing BIS Hanoi competed at a swimming gala at the United Nations International School (UNIS Hanoi). The sport event, held by UNIS, drew over 300 students from different international schools in the Hanoi Activities Conference (HAC) group, namely British Vietnamese International School (BVIS), Reigate Grammar School Vietnam, Hanoi International School (HIS), UNIS Hanoi, and BIS Hanoi.

Our students competed in various events and showed strength, fierceness, determination, and sportsmanship. For some, this was the first time they had attended a swim meet. However, overcoming the initial nervousness, they performed exceptionally well and finished strong, like true professional swimmers. There were a lot of heat winners and improved records.

Noticeably, several students fantastically bagged home medals for being among the top three swimmers in their events. For example, Runa Hagiwara (Year 11) won one gold and two silvers; Simon Labelle (Year 10) – one gold, Jeong Changwook (Year 7) – two golds and one silver; and Ella Herrmann (Year 3) - one bronze.

For team relays, it was the team effort that brought the 11–12-aged boy team bronze in the 4x50m medley relay and the 4x50m freestyle relay events. Meanwhile, our team of four primary boys under 8 performed excellently and were proud of their bronze in the 4x25m medley relay and silver in the 4x25m freestyle relay events.

BIS Swim Team

Overall, BIS Hanoi finished in third place in the Boys 11-12 and the 8–under categories and runners-up in the Girls 11-12 and the 8–under categories.

It was such a fruitful day for both swimmers and coaches. Congratulations to all BIS Hanoi swimmers who took part in the gala. Finally, we would like to thank all the parents and staff who came to cheer and support us. You made a great contribution to BIS success on the day!

PE Team

Secondary School News