Weekly Highlights 30/09/2022

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents, 

Thank you once again for taking time to read through the latest edition of the Weekly Highlights. As always, the time you take to engage and connect with us is very much appreciated.  

Stronger Together 

This week, I write to you from the Nord Anglia Education SLT Conference in Villars, Switzerland. This is the first time in 3 years that I have been able to attend the event and it is always both a pleasure and a privilege to represent BVIS as part of our global network of schools. 

Being able to connect with fellow Principals from across the world allows our school to further develop global connectivity, sustained partnerships and confirms the strength of our Nord Anglia Education family that has over 80 premium schools, spanning more than 30 countries. 

Read about the most recent school to join NAE here. 

This year’s conference has a series of sessions led by prominent figures in education, working forums and sessions designed to challenge our thinking to further develop and improve the quality of education that we offer to all of our students. I look forward to discussing my reflections and sharing my updates with our teaching team when I return to school later next week.  

This weekend, please take time to ask your child(ren) the following questions: 

1. What 3 new things do you know this week, that you didn’t know last week? 
   
   
2. What was your favourite question that the teacher asked you this week? 
   
   
3. What was the best question you asked the teacher and what was their response? 

In addition, ask your child(ren) to choose one moment from their learning this week and get them to explain what they were taught as if they were the teacher – ask them to fully explain their learning to you as it will help support their overall understanding. 

Tips for Applying to Study Abroad 

Following the current Year 11 and Year 9 Options Evenings that have recently taken place, I thought it would be useful to share our tips for applying to study abroad. 

Academic grades are the key part of any application and our teachers help to support all students develop good study habits to make these grades the best they can be.  

However, with lots of students offering the same good grades it is also important that students can show something more, so that their application stands out. Read more about our top tips in this post from our school website. 

Go Bulldogs! 

It has been extremely pleasing to see the return of fixtures to our weekly calendar and the excitement that this brings to all the students who represent our school across a variety of sports and subject areas. Like our school’s sporting mascot, the British Bulldog, our BVIS teams are strong, determined, playfair and always give 100%.

Look out for match reports in both the Highlights and on our social media channels. As always, we’re very proud of everyone’s efforts and achievements and celebrate all outcomes whether our teams win, lose or draw (of course, we always play to win though!). 

Welcome to BVIS  

As part of our ongoing introduction to new members of our teaching staff, this week we are pleased to welcome  Mrs Frances Amos, our Head of Creative Arts.

1. What were your first impressions of BVIS?  
   
   My first impressions of BVIS are overwhelmingly positive. I’ve been fortunate to see the growth of this fabulous community from afar and I’m excited to now be a part of the BVIS family. The staff and students are all so welcoming and supportive and eager to share their love for this fabulous school. 
   
   
2. As a BVIS teacher, what are your professional priorities in this first year at school?  
   
   As a BVIS teacher, I’m keen to re-establish the fantastic extra-curricular Arts programmes that have unfortunately been impacted by the Covid pandemic. To build upon the work done previously and to re-integrate the Arts back into the very fabric of the school. To combine curriculum learning with extra-curricular opportunities, providing a clear pathway of progression and opportunity for all students interested in developing their creativity. 
   
   
3. What 3 things are you looking forward to doing whilst working and living in Vietnam?  
   
   I have already lived and worked in Vietnam for 10 years so I’m already aware of how fabulous the country and culture are. I’m looking forward to now sharing this with my own young daughters and to focus on learning with a Vietnamese perspective as part of the BVIS community. 

Contact Us 

Should you require any help, support or advice, please do not hesitate to contact us using the information below: 

I look forward to seeing you all again very soon and wish you all a fantastic weekend ahead. 

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

Lower Primary Music Assembly 

This week our lower primary students had their first music assembly led by Ms Heather.  The special assembly began with a performance on the piano from one of our Young Musicians of the Year semi-finalists.  Children then enjoyed listening to an ensemble by selected Year 2 and Year 3 students who played percussion instruments whilst the audience joined in by singing the lyrics.  In the final section of the assembly, Ms Heather introduced our new primary BVIS song.  The song, written by Ms Heather, unites our Vietnamese Perspective with Global Citizenship and emphasises the importance of our values at BVIS – integrity, respect, care, perseverance, enquiry and reflection. 

We look forward to singing the complete version of our special primary BVIS song during our whole primary celebration assembly for Bilingual month at the end of October. 

Under 11 Boys Football BVIS vs SSIS   

• Full-Time Score: 1 - 1  

• Goal scorer: Hai Dang 

In the first Under 11 Boys football fixture of the season, BVIS took on SSIS at their home stadium, kicking off at 4pm.  The energetic and talented squad of 21 boys had been preparing for two weeks and set up in a counter-attacking system that led to a plentiful amount of goalscoring opportunities for the home team and through resolute defending, limited SSIS to a handful of chances on goal.  

Unfortunately for the home team, SSIS took the lead in the first half after a speculative shot on goal. BVIS proceeded to bombard the SSIS goal for the remainder of the first .half and throughout the second half.  BVIS were finally rewarded when Hai Dang stuck out a leg to guide the ball past the SSIS goalkeeper; a goal celebrated by the jubilant bumper crowd inside the BVIS home stadium.  There were further chances for the hosts to clinch a victory, however the SSIS goalkeeper thwarted their efforts. 

The Under 11 Boys and Girls Football Teams travelled to ABCIS this Tuesday and played the next fixture of the season.  Check out next week’s highlights for the summary of these games. 

Go Bulldogs! 

Coach James McAloon 

RSFA 

Bilingual Learning Month is here! 

Every October at BVIS, we celebrate “Bilingual Learning Month” every October.  It is a chance for us to celebrate how awesome it is that we are able to learn in a TRUE bilingual school and reflect on the many benefits of being able to speak more than one language.  

This month we will learn and perform our new BVIS bilingual song written and composed just for us by our brilliant music teacher, Ms Heather, with help from our fantastic VAL team, Ms Yen and Ms Tam.  

Throughout the month, there will be bilingual games on the playground at lunchtime every Monday and Friday.  Students can participate in other Bilingual Month House competitions like tongue twisters, family challenges and voting on the best bilingual poems written by our teachers and staff.  It will be a fun month of bilingual celebrations and there will be prizes for top participants and family challenge winners! 

Keep updated with our activities and announcements through Class Dojo and BVIS social media so you don’t miss out on anything! 

Phonics Coffee Morning – Part Three 

This week saw the final workshop in the series of phonics coffee mornings for parents.  Feedback from parents has been positive, affirming that increased parental understanding of how their child learns to read is incredibly valuable in supporting their progress when practising at home. 

Thank you to all parents who attended these workshops.  Engaging and connecting with school through parent workshops such as these helps to encourage and guide children to try their best and follow the school’s mission for every single child to “Create your future”. 

Upcoming Events 

1. 04/10/22 @ 18:00: Young Musician of the Year Final (invitation only)
   
   
2. 11/10/22 @ 08:30: Positive Parenting Workshop – Wearing your Listening and Supportive Hat for Upper Primary year groups (Y4-Y6) 
   
   
3. 14/10/22: Season 1 clubs end 
   
   
4. 14/10/22: School ends for the Half-Term Holiday 
   
   
5. 17/10/22-21/10/22: Half Term Holiday, School Closed 
   
   
6. 24/10/22: School resumes 
   
   
7. 26/10/22 @ 08:30: Positive Parenting Workshop – Wearing your Listening and Supportive Hat for Lower Primary year groups (Y1-Y3) 

Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary

Year 7 Parent Coffee Morning 

This Wednesday morning the school welcomed the Year 7 parents into school to enjoy a face-to-face assembly with all students from Years 7 to 11. As part of the morning, parents received a short presentation from Senior staff about how they can help their children settle into Secondary and got the chance to discuss their issues one on one. 

Thank you to all of the parents who took the time to come into school on Wednesday morning and connect with our teaching staff. It’s events like these that really strengthen our community ties. 

Science Update 

Classes in Years 6, 7, 12 and 13 have taken part in this year's STEM box challenge 2022. 

We have had 6 classes and around 80 students completing the following tasks: 

1. Strawberry DNA extraction 
   
   
2. Overflowing surface tension 
   
   
3. Measuring the size of the sun 
   
   
4. Minty fresh reaction time 
   
   
5. Homemade CO2 extinguisher 
   
   
6. Water testing 

We have sent in our completed video entries to the Australian National University and they have all been put together in a YouTube video that can be viewed by clicking on the link below:

Whole-school spirit shown by Year 7 & 8 students 

During our first House Football event of the year, one house was unfortunately short of a few players for their match. A number of students put their friendly rivalries to one side and offered to help the other house and play for their side. 

Whilst we always encourage friendly competition between students in different houses, we would like to praise the sportsmanship shown by a number of boys from Dalat house on this occasion. We may compete against each other regularly, but this kind act reinforced the belief that we are one big team! 

Student Council Update 

Last week, the Wellbeing committee of the Student Council had their first ever meeting after the member recruitment process. The purpose of this meeting was to build a connection between members and establish a Wellbeing Plan for the 2022-2023 academic year.  

Although everyone was shy at first, the group communicated better after the 1st meeting. As a result, the members expressed their opinions more comfortably in the 2nd meeting. Moreover, the members also got to hear other people’s opinions and carry out discussions to come up with the best ideas for upcoming events. 

Many new activities such as mental health tip podcasts, affirmation posters and emotional boards will be launched in the near future. Most importantly, all the activities were surrounded by one aim: to improve the mental health of all BVIS students, which is also the reason why the Wellbeing committee has been created. The Wellbeing team is very excited to bring out these amazing activities and events to our school community! 

Linh and Julia – Chairs of the Wellbeing committee 

BVIS Secondary Champion of the Week 

A huge well done to Dan (Vio) in 8B who is this week’s Champion, after receiving 16 housepoints in just 4 school days! A really amazing effort! Well done Vio! 

BVIS Secondary Champion Tutor Group of the Week 

A fantastic all-round effort from 8B this week has seen them stretch far out in front of all the other tutor groups. With the efforts of Vio (Champion of the Week) , they managed to gain 151 housepoints in just 4 school days which again is an incredible amount!  

Well done 8B! 

Safeguarding and Child Protection

The health, safety and wellbeing of our students remains the number one priority at BVIS HCMC.

Should you have a concern for the welfare of any child in our school, please refer to our Safeguarding poster below: