Weekly Highlights 07/10/2022

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents 

I am pleased to now be back in school and working alongside our amazing BVIS students and staff again after returning from the annual Nord Anglia Education conference in Switzerland. 

Create Your Future 

This year, the conference looked back and reflected upon the challenges our schools have faced within the last 2 years and then focused on how we now take the educational opportunities for students and professional development of teachers to the next levels into the future. 

Spending time thinking, debating and discussing with fellow Principals from 80 other Nord Anglia Schools across the world, not only allows us to share ideas, dreams and aspirations for the future of BVIS but it also shows the strength and depth of our school’s family. 

At BVIS, we remain firmly focused upon delivering an educational experience that could not be matched at any other school with the priorities placed upon 4 main areas: 

• Academic Outcomes: Empowering our students to achieve better Academic Outcomes than they could in any other school 
  
  
• Global Connectiveness: Enabling our globally connected family of students to collaborate with other, without limits 
  
  
• Wellbeing, Resilience and Purpose: Nurturing wellbeing, resilience & purpose in every member of our global family 
  
  
• Creativity: Fostering creativity through incomparable learning experiences in and out of school 

These areas of focus align with our very own BVIS Aide Memoire which reflects our individual school mission, vision and values. 

As a parent of our school and as we continue to move forward together, I encourage you all to reflect upon these 2 questions below: 

1. What can you do to further engage and connect with the BVIS community? 
   
   
2. What questions are you going to ask your child’s class teacher/form tutor when you next connect with them, to further your understanding of their learning journey? 

As always, I would personally like to hear your reflections and ideas which can be shared with me via the following email: 

Ms Jacy - jacy.nguyen@bvisvietnam.com

BVIS Alumni Success - Young Star Ads 2022 

Across the world, our BVIS alumni continue to develop their own inspiring stories. 

We are incredibly proud to share this article by Nguyen Khac Hai Linh, a graduate of the class of 2020 who has recently become the first Vietnamese student to win a medal in the Young Stars AD Competition 2022.   

Hai Linh is currently studying at the Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), majoring in Communication & Design.  

A huge congratulation to him on this tremendous individual achievement. 

Welcome to BVIS 

As part of our ongoing introduction to new members of our teaching staff, this week we are pleased to welcome Ms Hannah Le Couilliard, our new Secondary English teacher. 

1. What were your first impressions of BVIS?  
   
   The school site itself is fantastic. It seems we have everything we could possibly ever want. In fact, sometimes there are two of everything you could want! 
   
   The staff have done everything possible to make me feel welcome and to make sure I am settling. It’s been very organised and clear. 
   
   
2. As a BVIS teacher, what are your professional priorities in this first year at school?  
   
   I very much feel that I need to make sure the students get a great deal from me. They are receptive to learning so I want to make sure I am stretching and challenging them to be aiming for the highest. They deserve the best. 
   
   
3. What 3 things are you looking forward to doing whilst working and living in Vietnam?  
   

• Learning lots myself. Both in a professional capacity but also learning about the incredible culture and history here. 
  
  
• Eating way too much pho- it's delicious! 
  
  
• Working in such a supportive environment. So far, I haven’t had the ‘Sunday scaries’ because I genuinely really wanted to come to work on Monday morning. 

Contact Us 

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

Have a great weekend ahead and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and reflections.

Take care, stay safe and continue to engage and connect with us.

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

Project Curiosity 

Our Upper Primary students have been working hard at home with their families to research and prepare for a presentation on a topic of their choice.  Students have chosen a variety of interesting and exciting topics such as NASA, swimming and the key features of countries.  

For the past three weeks tasks have been set to support the students’ organisation of their research project to ensure they follow the timeline and meet the presentation deadline after the half-term holiday.  What has been most rewarding and encouraging to see is how many families have engaged collaboratively over the project, guiding their children to deepen their understanding and discuss interesting topics. 

As we approach the final stages of the project, I would like to thank all parents for their involvement with their children’s interests and learning.  This experience is so valuable for both child and parent; building a healthy discussion around a topic that your child selects, empowers them and supports the development of their self-esteem.   

Presentations will be held after the holidays during the week beginning 24th October.  Please look out on your ClassDojo class page for the date and time of your child’s presentation. 

Under 11 Girls Football ABCIS vs BVIS 

• Full-Time Score:  0-4 

• Goal Scorer: Cherry 

In the first U11 Girls football fixture of the season, BVIS played away at ABCIS. The squad had been recruiting players and preparing for two weeks and were nervously awaiting their first game. They took a few minutes to settle into the competitive environment, but players Cherry and Thanh Ha encouraged the team to be confident. Shortly into the first half, Captain Cherry scored a goal and an increase in confidence was clear amongst the team. The defence worked hard to shut down ABCIS and passed the ball to attackers, Thanh Ha and Cherry, who worked extremely well together for the remainder of the game. 

Although ABCIS had a few opportunities, BVIS managed to prevent any goals from being scored and Cherry went on to score a further 3 goals. The game was a great learning experience for both teams with some players taking part in their first ever fixture.   

Overall, the U11 squads from both schools gained a great experience and the victory was celebrated by the BVIS Bulldogs! The squad are excitingly awaiting their next fixture! 

Ms Lucy Kent 

Head of PE 

Under 11 Boys Football ABCIS v BVIS 

• Full-Time Score: 3 - 0

• Most Valuable Player: Dinh Bao 

In the second Under 11 Boys football fixture of the season, BVIS took on ABCIS away at the ABCIS stadium, kicking off at 4:30pm. The weather was wet and windy which resulted in half the game being played indoors.  The 14-strong travelling squad set about their task and showed their improvement in all areas of the field. Once again set up in a counter-attacking system, opportunities to score were created often with the crossbar being hit twice and the side post once.  

Unfortunately for BVIS, ABCIS took an early lead after a corner which was not fully cleared away from danger, credit to the ABCIS player for a clinical finish to the top left corner. For the rest of the game, the action remained close with both teams having opportunities to score. A decisive moment in the game came when Kevin struck a fantastic free kick that hit the underside of the crossbar, but was deemed to not have crossed the line, this would have tied the game at 1-1.  

ABCIS did notch up 2 more goals to make the score line look far more comfortable than was the reality. The Under 11 Boys and Girls teams will host SIS on Tuesday 25th October in their next fixture of the season.  

Go Bulldogs! 

Coach James McAloon 

RSFA 

Young Musician of the Year Final

On Tuesday our two BVIS finalists joined all other finalists from BIS, Renaissance and ABCIS to perform in the final round of this year’s Young Musician of the Year.  The evening was a musical delight with a range of pieces performed by extremely talented musicians.  The panel of judges was formed from the secondary music departments across our four schools.  

Collectively the judges have many years of experience in music education and performing as musicians themselves.  The task upon them was not easy; all young musicians performed exceptionally well and all had their own unique expertise.   

We are thrilled to support Phu on the Guitar and Davis on the Piano as our BVIS finalists and congratulate them for reaching the final round of Young Musician of the Year, 2022.  They performed with confidence, demonstrating their musical talent to the large audience of families, friends and teachers from the four different schools. 

Well done to all of the finalists and for every one of our BVIS musicians that took part in the heats and semi final. 

Photo from ABC International School 

Upcoming Events 

1. 11/10/22 @ 08:30: Positive Parenting Workshop – Wearing your Listening and Supportive Hat for Upper Primary year groups (Y4-Y6) 
   
   
2. 14/10/22: Season 1 clubs end 
   
   
3. 14/10/22: School ends for the Half-Term Holiday 
   
   
4. 17/10/22-21/10/22: Half Term Holiday, School Closed 
   
   
5. 24/10/22: School resumes 
   
   
6. 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

Community update 

Each Thursday our BVIS students are proud to welcome students from the Binh Chanh Inclusive Education Centre (formally known as Rang Dong School) to our school to take part in student led activities. This was a great opportunity for all our BVIS students to display their leadership skills by organising activities and mixing with other students from the local community.  

After an icebreaker of boardgames Ly, Eli and Linh from Years 12 and 13 led the session to have groups create cereal box aquariums. We look forward to welcoming the students to school each week and helping them develop further. 

Year 11 Parents’ Evening 

Last Tuesday saw the first parents’ evening of the year that was focused on our Year 11 students. The parental and student attendance to the evening was very high and this really displayed the commitment that our community has towards working together to achieve the best possible academic outcomes for our students. 

The conversations around the room were meaningful and focused on allowing each individual student to develop more fully towards their potential. With the mock exams now not far away, these discussions were key in setting out pathways of progress for our IGCSE students. 

Student Council highlight 

Starting October off with a bang is the BVIS Biology Week, run by Mr Every and the Science Department. aligned with the Royal Society of Biology. 

This is a unique opportunity that allows students to nurture their curiosity and love for science, as well as exploring many exciting activities, including a battery collecting program, Bug Talk, a Rat dissection session, and much, much more! 

Among them, one of our personal favorites was “Skype a Scientist” - where students had a chance to meet Sahin Navqi, a researcher and postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. Mr Navqui talked about his studies regarding the genes involved in the formation of the human face and brain, and how the difference in these genes creates phenotypic variations as seen in people across the globe. 

Overall, this week was amazingly fun and educational! Well done to the Science Department for an excellent Science Week and to all our student scientists who have continued to push the boundaries of their own learning! 

BVIS Secondary Champion of the Week 

Another 8B Champion this week as Lan Anh collected 24 housepoints ! A massive well-done to you Lan Anh! 

Will we see a student from a different tutor group step up and take the crown next week?! 

BVIS Secondary Tutor Group of the Week 

For the second week running, the champion tutor group is none other than 8B. They are collecting so many housepoints it's going to be very hard for any other tutor group to catch them! Good luck to you all next week. 

FOBISIA CODEBREAKING CHALLENGE 

On the 28th and 29th of September, students in KS2 and KS3 (Years 3 – 9) took part in the FOBISIA Codebreaking Challenge. There is a close link between Mathematics and Code Breaking. The skills that make good mathematicians - problem solving, logical thought and perseverance - are the same skills that make great code breakers.  

76 schools took part in this challenge with over 10,000 participants.  

The Challenge Organiser said: 

"It was fantastic to see thousands of talented mathematicians from across Asia coming together to test their code breaking skills.  Many thanks to all the teachers who worked hard in organising their school’s participation and who gave their students a chance to see some real-life applications of mathematics outside the classroom.  Who knows, maybe some of these students will go on to work in encryption and decryption as a future career.  Well done to all who took part!” 

The challenge consisted of four levels of difficulty. 62 students at BVIS completed Level 1 and 23 students completed Level 2. I would like to congratulate all students at BVIS for their participation, with particular reference to Minh Khang (Leo) in 6I who was the only student in KS2 to complete Level 3 and Tuan Anh (Alex) in 9S who was the only participant at BVIS to complete Level 4. Both students went above and beyond to challenge themselves and their codebreaking skills and should be very proud of themselves. 

Well done to all!!! 

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: