Mr Ian Battersby: Weekly Update 22/1/2021

Mr Ian Battersby: Weekly Update 22/1/2021 The health and safety of the children is at the heart of all we do at BIS. Because we have effective systems in place, we can look forward to fabulous events like our upcoming International Week.

Within BIS, the highest priority is the health and safety of the children.  We have systems and processes in place that ensure the children in our care are well looked after, and that risks to their health are minimized.  There are many aspects to health and safety in school, ranging from the drop-off of children in the morning to the monitoring of air quality, from regular maintenance of the play equipment to ensuring the highest hygiene standards in the kitchen. 

Each week, checks are carried out and inspections of the facilities are made by Ms Huong, our campus facility and Ms Sarah who is responsible for health and safety at the Early Years and Infant Campus. In addition to our internal checks, we also engage external auditors to ensure that the findings that we have regarding health and safety are accurate. Local Vietnamese auditors come in regularly to inspect our kitchens to make sure that the health and safety standards there are in line with government regulations. Furthermore, this week we welcomed Nord Anglia Education auditors who came to go through all our procedures relating to everything from external visits to inventories of medicines in the nurse’s room.

I'm very pleased to report that the auditors were completely satisfied with all our procedures. However, ensuring the health and safety of our children is everyone’s responsibility, and if you do have a concern, please do not hesitate to contact Ms Sarah or Ms Huong.

International Week

Without doubt one of the highlights of the year, for all of the BIS community is International Week. This morning’s assembly was a fabulous introduction as parents from India and Latin America performed two dances, followed by a special ‘mask changing’ dance from China. It was just a taste of what is to come and I am certain that this year is going to be another wonderful occasion.

More photos can be found here

Due to the restrictions in place because of COVID-19, International Week will be slightly different to previous years. There will still be all the opportunities for the children to enjoy including the ‘Global Café’ and the ‘International Experience’, but unfortunately we are not able to invite our parent body to enjoy the international parades. Instead we will be live streaming these parades for family and friends both within Vietnam and in home countries to enjoy.

The international parades will be taking place on Thursday 28th January. For children in F1, F2 and F3, the parade will start at 8:45am, and for the children in Years 1 and 2, the parade will be at 10:30am. As Always, all children are invited to dress in their country’s national dress, sporting kits or costumes that represent their culture. 

Please check your child’s Seesaw page to find out which day they will be attending the Global Café. Your child will need to bring with them a container and a fork, spoon or chopsticks to enjoy the food. We will not be providing single use plastic plates in line with our Plastic Pledge 2020.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning children will go to the Sports Hall (on the 3rd floor) for an ‘international experience’. If you would like to volunteer some time and supervise one of the activities please contact Ms Sarah (sarah.curran@bisvietnam.com).

My sincere thanks in advance to Lily and all the PTG for their hard work and to Mr Chris and Ms Sarah for all their organisation in creating what promises to be another memorable week for all our BIS Community. A parent guide has been created which will be updated during the week with links for the different parades. You can access the guide here:

 BIS Parent Guide to International Week

Reading At Home Webinar

‘How do I best support my child at home?’  I get asked this question a lot.  Whilst children are in primary school, the answer is simple...read with your child! Our English leaders will be hosting a reading webinar for parents this Monday to guide you on how to help your children at home with their reading.  All details are on the post above and have also been sent to you via Seesaw. We hope many of you will tune in to the webinar.

Parent Satisfaction Survey: What do you think about BIS?

We are constantly looking for ways to improve our school and your feedback is vital to this process. Our annual parent satisfaction survey helps us better understand how we are performing in key areas, including what we are doing well and any opportunities for improvement, and we use these results to inform our strategy. Therefore, the more parents we hear from, the more confident we can be that our action plans respond to your views and allows us to continue providing the best possible educational experience for your child.

The 2020-21 Parent Satisfaction Survey is now live and will remain open until Friday 31^st January 2021.

We are once again aiming for a good response rate and need your help to do so. Please follow the link that has been emailed to you. If you can not find the link please email the office (van.pho@bisvietnam.com).

BIS HCMC School Photos

All this week, the staff from Picture Day have been busily taking photographs of the children, both individual and as a class.  Next week they will move on to the Secondary Campus, and when their work is done, we will be informing you after Tet how you can order photos of your child.

Co-curricular Activities (CCA)

Today you will receive an email on your child’s CCA choices. All children will have been selected for 1 free club. If you would like to choose any additional paid clubs please email Ms Van van.pho@bisvietnam.com

The time to make CCA payments is from Monday 25th to Friday 29th January. If payment is not completed during this time, the place will be offered to another child. The favoured option for payment is by BANK TRANSFER, which is quick and easy to set up with online banking. If using the bank transfer option, please state the student's name, class, and CCA choice in the ‘Reference’ section of the online transfer so the payment is matched with the correct CCA choice. If you do not give these details, your payment may not be recognised and your child’s club may be lost to another child. Online payments may be made immediately upon receipt of this email, up until 4pm on Friday 29th January.

If online banking is not possible, then payments can be made through Ms Nhu, the EYI Campus Cashier on the days listed above using cash or Vietnamese issued Credit/Debit cards. Please be aware that we are not able to have parents enter the school building, so in order to process cash or credit card payments, parents will need to do this at the end of the day 2.35pm - 3.10pm on the table by the Sports Pitch.

Please note, unless BIS cancel the programme, all paid activity payments are non-refundable; once committed, children must persevere with their club choice.

25 – 29 /01/21                  International Week at Primary

26 & 27/01/21                   Global Café

28/01/21                             Parade of Nations Children come to school in their national/colours dress

1^st – 5^th/02/21                  Tet Celebrations

04/02/21                             Children come to school in their Ao Dai

8/02/21                                School closed for Tet Holiday.

22/2/21                                School reopens for children

Absence

If for any reason your child is absent from school, we ask for you to inform the class teacher and email reception eyic.reception@bisvietnam.com. You can also inform the receptionists via telephone from 7:30am on the morning of absence.  If your child usually takes the school bus, we would also ask for you to also inform Ms Trang, our bus manager, via email at Trang.Pham@bisvietnam.com 

When calling reception please use the telephone number: 

•            Early Years and Infants (EY&I) – 028 3636 0055

BIS HCMC Community Choir

On Thursday 21^st and Friday 22^nd the BIS HCMC Community Choir will resume rehearsals.  BIS HCMC Community Choir are a group of singers made up from parents and staff from the British International School, HCMC. We regularly rehearse each Thursday (7.00- 7.45am) in the Secondary Theatre and Friday (1.15 - 2.15pm) in the Junior Campus multi-purpose room, and aim to perform each term.  Anyone is welcome, whatever your experience of singing.

More information can be found on our choir website here or contact Ian.alexander@bisvietnam.com for further information.

PTG

Without the support of the PTG, International Week would not be the successful community event that it is.  In addition, there are a number of other events that are loved by the children where we need your help.  Find out more in this week’s PTG Update:

Primary PTG Update: 22/01/2021

For more information about the PTG, to connect with us personally, or if you would like to  support as a volunteer, please email us directly on  primaryptgbis@gmail.com

Thank you for your continued support! 

Primary PTG Coordinators

And Finally…

With International Week and Tet coming up over the next fortnight, moments will be created that the children will remember for the rest of their lives. After that we will all be needing a rest.  I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that due to COVID-19 we have reorganised the calendar for this year. Originally, the first day back after the Tet holiday was going to be a ‘teacher only’ day, however to ensure that we do not lose any teaching days, school will be reopening on Monday 22nd February for all the children.

Wishing you a restful and relaxing weekend,