Mr Sean O'Neill: Weekly Update 02/04/2021
This week’s update showcases the leadership of BIS students across so many different fields. Whether designing learning for our community partners in our Science Labs, hosting a Global Issues Network Conference, launching ethical business start-ups as part of Saigon Challenge, participating in the NAE Global STEAM Challenge or driving our upcoming student led Mental Health Awareness Week- our students put their values into action to make change.
Dear Parents,
This week’s update showcases the leadership of BIS students across so many different fields. Whether designing learning for our community partners in our Science Labs, hosting a Global Issues Network Conference, launching ethical business start-ups as part of Saigon Challenge, participating in the NAE Global STEAM Challenge or driving our upcoming student led Mental Health Awareness Week- our students put their values into action to make change.
It has been wonderful to see our students’ positive engagement in activities that challenge them to grow as leaders, to forge relationships, and give a sense of meaning and accomplishment in making a difference. My congratulations to all our students featured in this week’s update.
This week has also seen us welcome our colleagues from the International Baccalaureate Organisation as part of our 5 year Evaluation Visit. The visit is an opportunity for the IBO to see the implementation of the IB Diploma Programme here at BIS Ho Chi Minh City, connecting with teachers, students and parents. Whilst the formal report is not issued until later in the academic year, during the feedback session to the school leadership, the evaluation team shared with us some of their key findings.
The evaluation team was struck by the positive culture that underpins all we do in school and runs through our community - this was particularly supported by how our students, parents, and teachers could all speak with the same confidence and pride about the education we provide. They could see that our ethos aligns with the IB Mission, not just in a static document, but in the way we interact with each other and the values we promote in our students.
The team were impressed by our team of hardworking, committed and knowledgeable teachers and highlighted the range and quality of Teaching & Learning strategies seen in all the classrooms they visited, particularly noting the confident way our students can articulate their learning.
The areas for development for us as a school community match the areas included in our Strategic Plan - continuing to broaden and deepen our provision and enhance our learning environments.
We always learn from evaluation visitors who offer insight into who we are, and what we do. This week we have received a reaffirmation of what we know about BIS - we are a strong community and we do things well.
My thanks to all parents who contributed to the evaluation - your insights formed an invaluable part of the process.
Lastly, I would like to extend a warm invitation to our upcoming Headteacher’s Coffee Morning and Parent Workshop on Tuesday 6th April from 8:30am-10:30am. The morning will include the next in our series of workshops into how you can support your child’s study, as well as an opportunity for me to share Campus Updates, and hear your views. Due to current restrictions, places at the Coffee Morning are limited. Please see details of how to confirm your attendance below.
My best wishes to you all for a wonderful weekend
Sean O’Neill
Saigon Enterprise Challenge Final 2021
Yesterday evening, the final of this year's Saigon Enterprise Challenge took place in the Theatre, the culmination of nearly seven months of hard work and perseverance. The six finalist enterprises were reviewed by three young entrepreneurs from the Saigon business world; Angelica Pothos, Brand Manager for the Reverie Saigon, Javier Ballve, founder of Hustle Vietnam and Ricardo Glencasa, founder of Genderfunk Vietnam.
Every team shone on the evening and every student who participated rose to all the challenges they faced over the seven month duration of the competition. However, as is often the case in the business world, there had to be a winner. After much deliberation, the judges reached their conclusions and overall the night belonged to ‘Plant Box’ who won four awards including ‘Best Company Overall.’
The full list of winners:
- Plant Box: Environmental & Ethical Award
- Plant Box: Most Innovative Product Award
- Plant Box: Best Marketing Strategy Award
- Phanes: Best Stall Award
- Epilogue: Best Business report Award
- Oasis: Best Presentation Award
- Plant Box: Best Overall Team Award
With such a strong collection of teams and innovative business ideas, we definitely want to share the results with you. Look out for a more complete review of our teams and their ideas next week.
BIS Host the Global Issues Network (GIN) Conference 2021
It was our pleasure to be able to host the Global Issues Network (GIN) Saigon Conference 2021 at BIS last weekend. The theme chosen for this year’s conference was “Propulsion” and the BIS GIN admin team worked extremely hard to organise the first-ever virtual GIN conference with over 100 participants from international schools all over HCMC.
Find out more from our BIS Council members Bao Tran Nguyen, Bach Lam, and Jenny Nguyen about the GIN Saigon Conference 2021.
ShoeString Science
This week there was an extra buzz within the Science department as we welcomed our Community Partner, Trần Quốc Toản Secondary Government School, onsite to visit, and learn from, our Year 9 students.
Find out more about the Creativity, Communication and Critical thinking skills shown by this enthusiastic young group of learners during their Year 9 Shoestring Science lessons.
NAE STEAM Festival
A wonderful example of embracing a contest and learning from failure was provided during the recent NAE South East Asia STEAM Festival which BIS HCMC hosted. Seeing our eight students from across KS2 and KS3 tackling the puzzles and activities as part of the NAE Steam Challenge was a joy to watch and an exercise in perseverance and resilience for all taking part. Over 2 days, our students worked brilliantly together; listening, questioning but most importantly working collaboratively to solve the many challenges they were presented with.
My sincere thanks to Mr Luke Dyer, Whole School Steam Coordinator for putting this competition together for all NAE schools in South East Asia. A mammoth task, with countless hours spent making it work for over 100 children from all our NAE schools. A huge achievement Mr Luke, something to be extremely proud of.
BIS Students lead Mental Health Awareness Week
Mental health has long been a taboo that led students to believe that mental health issues are unacceptable and should be kept hidden. At BIS we value student wellbeing and recognise that mental health is tremendously important for students to flourish, especially now more than ever. With this in mind, we are proud to introduce the BIS Mental Health Awareness Week. From the 5th to the 9th of April, the week will be packed with activities to raise awareness and encourage discussions about student mental health. We hope that this event will provide a meaningful opportunity for students to find out about mental health and its importance so that the topic can be approached more openly without stigma
Our students are launching the BIS Mental Health Awareness Week next week! The week will be packed with activities to raise awareness and encourage discussions about student mental health.
You can find out the full schedule of the activities at bit.ly/2021mentalhealth. Students can show their support for mental health awareness by wearing a green ribbon and taking part in lunchtime activities throughout next week!
Special thanks to Louise and Mai Thao in Year 12 who made the poster!
Year 11 Wellbeing Carousel - Session 3
This week saw our Year 11 students enjoy the third of their series of four rotational activities designed to contribute to positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment and health (PERMAH).
With a variety of activities encouraging students to jump, stretch and dance, there has been plenty of movement involved. Students share their thoughts on the Year 11 Wellbeing Carousel.
Headteacher's Coffee Morning & Parent Workshop - Tuesday 6th April 2021
We are delighted to invite you to the Headteacher’s Coffee Morning from 8:30am-10:30am on Tuesday 6th April. This will feature the third in a series of workshops focusing on how you can support your child’s study at home. This session, entitled “The Importance of Forgetting”, considers evidence-informed strategies you can use at home to help your child balance their study time in a way that both supports their wellbeing and improves academic outcomes.
Mr O’Neill will also share a Campus Update and there will be an opportunity for a general Q&A and a chance to connect with parents and teachers
As limited spaces are available, please complete the form to confirm your attendance.
We look forward to welcoming you on the 6th April 2021.
IBDP Visual Arts Exhibition 2021
Five of our IBDP Visual Arts students have been working studiously for the last two years to share a personal message through art. In a couple of short weeks Abby, Alejandro, Linh, DaHyun and Sagarika will take part in their IBDP Visual Arts Exhibition. We look forward to inviting close family and friends to the event and sharing the exhibition with our wider community. We will share more information soon.
Event details
Date: Wednesday 7th & Thursday 8th April
Time: 5pm
Location: Nha Tien, 204B Nguyen Van Huong Street, Thao Dien
Register your interest via the Facebook Event BIS HCMC IB Visual Arts Exhibition 2021
CUG Webinar Series 2021: North American Applications
This week the webinar will cover information for students and parents of students applying to UK universities. We will look briefly at the UCAS application system and how to have an effective ‘application strategy’. We will also discuss applications to Oxford and Cambridge or ‘Oxbridge’, and what makes studying at one of these two universities different to other UK universities. We will look at what we at BIS HCMC do to assist our Oxbridge applicants, but more importantly what they should be doing themselves to have a chance of acceptance at these prestigious institutions.
Finally we will look at the Russell Group, which is a group of the 24 most prestigious universities in the UK. We will try to dispel some myths and to help students understand what it means and doesn’t mean if an institution is in this group. This will lead back into the ‘application strategy’ when applying to the UK.
To sign up for this webinar please follow the link here.
April 8th UK – UCAS, Oxbridge and the Russell Group – what parents need to know
April 15th Beyond the US and North America – other destinations
Further information and registration for these webinars can be found at the BIS CUG Website, along with recording of yesterday’s Introduction to CUG at BIS, CUG Webinar Series 2.
For those who may have missed yesterday’s webinar, about North American Applications, or who would like to hear it again. You can find the session link and password here.
Simon Finnigan - Senior University Guidance Counsellor
Secondary Production 2021 - Bonnie & Clyde
Final preparations are underway for the electrifying tale of Bonnie & Clyde, two lovers who would go on to be world renowned for their adventures, crime and passion for each other. We are excited for you to see all the hard work that has been put into this show on April 13-15th and truly feel when this is all over the world will remember us.
Event Details
Date: Tuesday 13th to Thursday 15th April
Time: 6.30pm
Location: Secondary Auditorium
Tickets: 50,000vnd. On sale at Secondary Campus Reception from Monday 5th April.
Due to licensing conditions, this will not be a live streamed performance.
To visit the campus, you can make an appointment with our Reception team via sc@bisvietnam.com.
PTG Coffee & Cake Morning - Thursday 13th May
The PTG and Community Service department are looking forward to this chance for the BIS community to come together, eat tasty home-made cakes and help support Thuy’s Dream Foundation. More information will be shared soon.
Event Details
Date: Thursday 13th May
Time: 8.30 to 10.30am
Location: Early Years and Infant Campus Gym
For more information please contact our PTG representatives; Gayatri (Primary) - primaryptgbis@gmail.com or Mel (Secondary) - bisptgap2@gmail.com
Tuesday 6th April Parent Workshop & Head Teacher’s Coffee Morning, 8:30am, Secondary Auditorium
Wednesday 7th & Thursday 8th April: IBDP Visual Arts Exhibition 2021, Nha Tien Restaurant
Thursday 8th April: Year 8 Parent Teacher Student Conferences, online.
Tuesday 13th to Thursday 15th April: Secondary Production: Bonnie & Clyde, Secondary Auditorium, 6.30pm
Friday 16th April: Term 2 Ends
Travel Declaration Form
We continue to follow our procedures and policies in response to Covid 19. We are obligated by the Vietnamese authorities to keep updated with the travel activities of the BIS community. Therefore can I remind you that if you or family members travel outside of HCMC at any time over the next few weeks to please send us an updated health declaration form that you can find here. If you have any questions related to health and safety please do not hesitate to contact gareth.wills@bisvietnam.com
Revised Term Dates 2020-21 Academic Year
Please note that revised Term Dates for this year will mean that the term ends at 11:30am on Friday 16th April; students will be returning to school on Monday 26th April.
Here is the link on our website.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Kind regards,
Sean O’Neill
Head Teacher, Secondary Campus
