It has been very sad to hear the overnight news that Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland has passed away at the age of 96. Over the next week or so we will look at ways in which BIS HCMC can pay our respects to, and celebrate the life of, someone who has been a wonderful servant to the United Kingdom. The Queen has ruled for longer than any other monarch in British history whilst becoming a much loved and respected figure across the globe. Our condolences go to her family who were, thankfully, gathered around her at the Balmoral Estate in Scotland.
On her 21st birthday, in a speech broadcast on the radio from Cape Town in South Africa, the Queen (then Princess Elizabeth) dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth when she stated, “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service” and she certainly did that with an immense amount of dignity and great energy.
Rest in Peace Your Majesty.
Celebrating the culture and festivals of our host country, Vietnam, is one of the highlights of being part of an international school community. Today we all joined together to celebrate Tet Trung Thu or the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is also often referred to as simply Moon Festival. Children, parents and teachers looked so colourful in their ao dais - it was a marvellous occasion!
The children have been celebrating Moon Festival in many different ways. In our Vietnamese culture lessons, the children have been retelling the story of Cuoi who floated up to the moon on a magical banyan tree. I am sure if you look carefully at the full moon you can see him sitting under his tree.
It was wonderful to have all the children from F3 to Year 6 together on the school field (and parents with younger children watching from the bleachers) to enjoy a tradition central to Moon Festival - the Lion Dance. There was an amazing atmosphere as the beat of the drums raised everyone’s excitement levels and the dancers performed with such skill. Education has many different aspects and moments like these stay with the children forever.
The tradition in Vietnam, is that children parade with lanterns to show Cuoi the way back to Earth. At the Early Years and Infant Campus, Cuoi had two opportunities to return. In the morning, the F2 and F3 children paraded around the hall holding their lanterns high. They were followed in the afternoon by the Year 1 and 2 children who have done a wonderful job in creating their lanterns at home. In both assemblies, we were treated to some beautiful Moon Festival dancing and enjoyed the children singing the Moon Festival song.
Today was a very special day for F1 as it was the first time we joined in with a special event at school! We celebrated Moon Festival together by wearing Vietnamese clothes, tasting moon cake and parading with the lanterns we had made in class. We also had great fun dancing to a Moon Festival song and greeted each other by saying “Trung Thu Vui Ve!”, which means “Happy Moon Festival!”. The teachers were all very proud with how the children joined in these activities and tried something new.
Ms Clare
Year 2 were excited to dive into their new IPC learning unit Water, Water Everywhere! Each IPC unit is broken down into sections as part of the Learning Process, which forms the optimal pathway for learning. For our Geographers, Historians and International learners, we hook the children in with an exciting and thought-provoking Entry Point to introduce them to the learning ahead. We then build on this learning through a Knowledge Harvest for teachers to explore children’s existing knowledge before creating engaging Research and Recording opportunities.
To help develop our children into Global Citizens, this IPC unit focuses on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goals 6 and 12, although we will also explore the organic links with 14 later in the term. Therefore, our Entry Point was an immersive role play experience, fetching their own water and discovering how much water they use every day. The children carried buckets of water to meet their family’s needs and realised how difficult it was in the process! This helped us to discuss and appreciate our easy access to running water and explore ways to use the water we do have responsibly.
During our IPC Reflection time, one of our students summarised: ‘Carrying lots of water is very hard work. Next time, when I finish washing my hands, I will turn off the tap quickly to save water.’ Well done to our Year 2 eco-warriors for persevering and furthering their international mindedness!
Kirstie Stockley
Year 2 teacher & IPC Lead
Introducing Percy
We are very lucky that we have a special member of our team this year. Percy is a trained therapy dog, he has been visiting schools in England for the last four years. The school children have really enjoyed meeting Percy and the adults especially love him! This year he has come to live in Vietnam with Ms Clare. Percy will sometimes visit BIS HCMC with Ms Clare and will be working alongside the Learning Support team.
There are a few things Percy would like the children to know:
Percy is a friendly, calm, well behaved Golden Retriever.
Percy will only ever visit children who want to meet him.
If you are nervous, you do not need to worry, Percy will always be on a lead and with an adult in charge. Percy will not come near you if you do not want him to.
Percy loves to be stroked, he loves to be brushed and he really loves to be given treats!
If you have any questions, or want to let us know that your child has an allergy to dogs, please contact the Learning Support Team: Sarah.Battersby@bisvietnam.com
We are delighted to invite everyone to take part in the much-awaited World CleanUp Day which will be taking place at the BIS Early Years and Infant Campus on Saturday 17th September 2022.
The clean-up will be managed in small teams with a staged leaving time:
Please sign up here to join in the fun and to help make our community a cleaner environment. Everyone who participates will also earn house points!
We look forward to seeing you all there!
We are delighted to be able to resume rehearsals with our fantastic community choir next week. The community choir is open to all adult members of the BIS community who enjoy singing.
Rehearsals will take place on Thursday mornings 7.00am - 7.40am in the Secondary Theatre OR Friday afternoons in the Junior Campus multi-purpose room 13.15-14.15.
All are welcome, whatever your singing level.
Parents should register attendance in advance on here.
Ian Alexander
Director of Music
Do you know about our Fundinotots programme? Open to all parents and their children aged 0 to 36 months, it’s the ideal way to connect with the BIS community, enjoy time in a stimulating environment with your little one and make friendships and connections with parents of children of a similar age. To find out more about the programme or to organise a visit, contact Sarah Bonner. Sarah.Bonner@bisvietnam.com
If you were allocated a paid Co-Curricular Activity (CCA) then payment is due today. Any problem please email Ms Minh in reception (Minh.Vu@bisvietnam.com). If payment is not received today then your child’s place will be given to a child on the waiting list.
13/09/22 Maths Coffee Morning EY&I
17/09/22 World Cleanup Day
19/09/22 CCAs Term 1 start
21/09/22 Phonics Coffee Morning - EYIC
22/09/22 Young Musician BIS Showcase
28/09/22 EAL Parent Coffee Morning - JC
19th September - Term 1 Clubs Begin
A decree has been issued that makes the wearing of masks in Vietnam ‘to be encouraged’ rather than ‘ to be expected’. In relation to this and through advice from local authorities we are making the wearing of masks at BIS optional as we do feel, in many school situations, it is beneficial to learning for students and staff not to be wearing masks. Therefore, it is now parental choice whether their child needs to wear a mask. If your child/ren wearing a mask at school is your preference then please make your child/ren aware of your expectations.
The optional wearing of masks at BIS will be implemented from Monday, 12th September 2022 onwards.
Sarah Curran
Deputy Head
We have enjoyed another lovely week connecting with parents at two different PTG led events.
Earlier in the week, we hosted our first primary parents PTG coffee morning of the year. There was a wonderful turn out of primary parents who met to enjoy a coffee, the infamous curry puffs, and learn more about the PTG. Specially how parents can connect with others in the BIS community and what events we have planned for Term 1. For those who were unable to attend in person you can view the information shared here
We have had a wonderful response to our request for Class parent rep volunteers, with 39 out of 64 classes now having rep volunteers. Nearly all of those volunteers were able to attend yesterday’s information session to learn more about the role.
Class reps are such an important part of our school community, helping the core PTG team connect with a greater number of parents, on a more personal level and there are still 15 classes without a class rep, listed below.
|
1I |
Bethan Trenerry |
|
1V |
Nicola Milburn |
|
1N |
Hannah Doughty |
|
2I |
Aisling Yataki |
|
3S |
Elaine Gillan |
|
4V |
Jules Bye |
|
4H |
Peter Dulborough |
|
4C |
Tom Birbeck |
|
4M |
Hollie Roach |
|
5I |
Andy James |
|
5N |
Gillian Wishart |
|
5C |
Michael Sullivan |
|
6B |
Mike Martin |
|
6S |
Ellie Chick |
If you would like a reminder about what the Class parent rep does, watch the short video here (put a link to the video- as per last week)
If you are inspired to volunteer, please sign up here
Would you like the opportunity to share some of the things you love about your home country with our BIS community during our infamous international week? Are you passionate about a place you have lived? Would you be willing to offer support to other families arriving from your home country? If yes, then volunteering as Country Rep is another wonderful way to support the PTG and parents in our BIS community.
Key Responsibilities:
1. Providing support to new families joining from your country.
2. Lead your Country group during the International Week (Start of Term 2)
PLEASE NOTE: To take on this role, you do not need to have a passport of the country that you would like to represent. As long as you or your child/children have some connection to that country.
Please review the available slots below and click on the button next to your country to sign up.
As always, for more information about the PTG, to connect with us and ask questions, or if you would like to support as a volunteer, please email us directly on PrimaryPTGBIS@gmail.com
We look forward to meeting you all soon
Pamela, on behalf of the Primary PTG Team
101 Thao Dien Street,
Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Junior Campus
225 Nguyen Van Huong Street,
Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Secondary Campus
246 Nguyen Van Huong Street,
Thao Dien Ward, Thu Duc City,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
