Weekly Highlights 30/05/2025

Weekly Highlights is a weekly newsletter sent by the BVIS Leadership Team to parents, providing updates on notable news and activities at the school. The newsletter consists of three main sections: updates from the Principal, Head of Primary, and Head of Secondary.

Dear Parents,

Thank you again for taking time to engage and connect with us though the Weekly Highlights. As always, we appreciate your support for our school. Please help us encourage as many parents as possible to read this important piece of home/school communication each week by asking them, ‘Have you read the Highlights? 

Nearly 2 months ago, I wrote to our BVIS community with the following message:

‘As will have heard in the news, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar causing entire buildings to collapse, key infrastructure to be severely damaged, and communications cut off in many areas. This was followed by a powerful 6.4 magnitude aftershock, that created even more destruction. The earthquake was felt in neighbouring countries, including Vietnam. Currently, as I write, the estimated number of people who have lost their lives could run into many thousands.’



I would like to share some recent information I received from Mrs Alison Fox, Principal at the British School Yangon on behalf of her school community:

Dear NAE Family,

On behalf of the entire British School Yangon (BSY), I wanted to thank you for the incredible support we received following the recent earthquake in Myanmar. Your kind messages of support and solidarity as well as the generous donations have meant the world to us.

Thanks to the NAE/UNICEF Earthquake Appeal, nearly $100,000 USD has been raised so far, alongside an additional $100,000 USD was donated by Nord Anglia Education. This remarkable total is already making a real impact—providing emergency shelter, clean water, healthcare, safe spaces for children, and support for rebuilding efforts.

Your generosity is helping families begin to recover and giving children hope and stability during this difficult time.
There is still time to donate via the appeal page: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/naeyanmarappeal

I hope you enjoy this short and genuine video message of thanks from our staff and students who wanted to express their gratitude:

From all of us at BSY—thank you!

  
Gandhi wrote:
‘The future depends on what you do today.’



Over the weekend, I encourage you to ask yourself and your child(ren) the following questions:

1. What does the above quote mean to you?
2. How have you shown compassion to others this year?
3. How have others shown compassion to yourself?
4. What changes are you making now to ensure that you can experience the best future possible?

Thank you for your help and support in creating a better future for those who our less fortunate than ourselves.

Contact Us

Should you wish to contact your child’s Class Teacher(s) or Form Tutor directly, we encourage communication to be written in the language you most feel confident to use. 

Parents may also find it useful to contact their child’s class teacher(s) or form tutor directly for all individual queries about their academic work/social and emotional wellbeing in school.  Individual contact details can be found in the Parent's Handbooks or via our Primary/Secondary Receptionists. 

On behalf of us all at BVIS and across our wider school community, I wish you a peaceful and compassionate weekend ahead.

Celebrating Children’s Day

On Friday this week, we took time to celebrate Children’s Day.  Teachers planned fun activities for the children to do with their friends to show how special children are and how important this day of celebration is to our community.  Children’s Day in Vietnam is celebrated annually on 1st June and is also known as International Children's Day.  It is a really important day dedicated to recognising and appreciating children.

 
This special day reminds us all about how crucial it is to keep children healthy and safe and to uphold their rights.  Children are our future, so it is essential that adults guide and help them prepare for what is ahead, while also making sure they get to enjoy their childhood to the fullest.  Across Vietnam, families and communities will mark the day this Sunday 1st June with lots of fun activities and gifts, creating moments filled with laughter and joy for children everywhere.  The special activities arranged in school were a wonderful way of showing how much we value all our students.  Happy Children’s Day, to all of our BVIS students!
 

Project Curiosity in Lower Primary

As we approach the end of the year, our lower primary students were given a home learning task to research a chosen topic with their families and create a showcase piece to share with peers and their families.  This event, called “Project Curiosity”, is an opportunity to celebrate the learning and development students have made throughout the academic year.  This week, the year groups hosted the showcase events where students proudly shared their created posters, PowerPoint presentations, quizzes, 3D models and artwork.
 
Thank you to all families for your encouragement and support at home to ensure your child was ready to present their learning, and thank you for attending the final event.
 

Collaboration with Raffles and AIH 

On Tuesday, we had the privilege to welcome Dr Thao, specialising in hormones, and Dr Uyen, specialising in skin, from the American International Hospital to deliver a workshop to parents called “Navigating Puberty with your Children”.  The workshop included sharing advice on helping teenagers grow up with confidence, together with some valuable skincare and hygiene tips for this age group.  Dr Thao also shared information about puberty, keeping in mind the changes that happen in hormones as teenagers grow and develop.
 
The information shared was valuable to parents, providing guidance and advice to support children at home as they move through their teenage years.  Thank you to all families who attended the workshop.  Special thanks go to our collaborative partners, American International Hospital (AIH) and Raffles Clinic, and of course, to Dr Thao and Dr Uyen for their guidance.  
 

Saigon Maths Competition

On Wednesday, our secondary maths department hosted an interschool maths competition for upper primary and secondary students.  The day was filled with mathematical challenges that teams from each school completed with the aim of earning as many points as possible to achieve the winning title.  The selected students from upper primary showed incredible mathematical knowledge, skills and understanding, and in addition to this, fantastic collaborative skills as they solved each task.  Well done to all students who were involved in this special event, and thank you to our BVIS maths teachers for arranging such a great experience for our talented mathematicians.
 

Upcoming events

Reflections

During this week’s secondary staff meeting, the leadership team presented on two key areas of focus. Firstly, we reflected on the achievements of Term 2, with particular emphasis on the successes of our students. Secondly, we shared some of the planned future developments of the school.

Incoming improvements include significant upgrades to our main hall and surrounding facilities, alongside exciting digital developments. These include the introduction of a parent portal and the integration of Virtual Reality headsets, which we aim to utilise in the next academic year to further enrich our students’ learning experiences.

As many of you know, Term 3 is relatively shorter in length due to the structure of our academic year at BVIS. I encourage you, as we did during our staff reflection, to take a moment to consider all that has been accomplished over the past term or year. Looking ahead, what plans might you put in place—as a family or in support of your child’s progress—to make the most of the remainder of this term and prepare for a successful start to the next academic year?

An Update from Our Humanities Department

This week in History, students engaged with the difficult but vital topic of the Holocaust. They explored the gradual escalation of antisemitic persecution in Nazi Germany and examined the systemic nature of this atrocity. As part of developing empathy and historical understanding, students watched a testimony from a Holocaust survivor who endured an attack by an Einsatzgruppen death squad. This powerful account helped bring a human perspective to the horrors of the Holocaust.

Students then worked with historical sources to deepen their understanding of the inhumane conditions in Nazi concentration camps. Through this activity, they not only strengthened their ability to interpret and analyse evidence but also reflected deeply on the human experiences behind the facts—considering the voices, suffering, and resilience of victims.

This lesson supported not only students’ historical knowledge, but also their moral and emotional development, encouraging thoughtful reflection on the consequences of hatred, prejudice, and totalitarianism. In a time when antisemitism is, sadly, on the rise in many parts of the world, this learning is more important than ever in helping young people recognise prejudice and stand up against hatred in all its forms.

An Update from Our Pastoral Team

Last week, the BVIS Global Campus Debate Team proudly participated in Week 3 of the Nord Anglia Education Global Campus Debates, showcasing their talent on a truly international stage. In a fantastic show of enthusiasm and preparation, BVIS entered a remarkable four teams, debating against fellow NAE schools from Dubai, China, and Cambodia.
Our students embraced the British Parliamentary format with skill and confidence. Their arguments were eloquent, their ideas thoughtful, and their delivery emotive; a powerful combination that earned them praise from judges and peers alike.

We are thrilled to share that BVIS achieved first place in two debates, a reflection of the hard work, teamwork, and passion each student brought to the competition. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and look forward to representing BVIS again in next year’s Global Campus Debates.

House Sways 

The links below display the House Sways, which are put together by our House student leaders. As the term progresses different posts and updates will be added displaying the relevant news for each of the Houses. 

• Dalat - Dalat House News 
  

• Hanoi - Hanoi House News  
  

• Hue - Hue House News 
  

• Saigon - Saigon House News

• University Newsletter - University ambassadors News 

Sparx Maths Champions 

The Sparx Maths Weekly Champion is the student who is the top XP earner in each year group. 

Students earn XP by completing tasks in their Sparx Homework 

• Compulsory Tasks earn 60-80XP 
  

• XP Boost Tasks earn 120-150XP 
  

• Target Tasks earn 120-150XP 
  

• Independent Learning Tasks earn 100XP

Students reach a new Sparx Level every 10000XP

Top XP earners this Term are:

Bedrock Champions  

This week’s bedrock champions are:  

Year 7 - Bui Nha Uyen                                 
Year 8 - Le Hong Minh Quang Mraz  
Year 9 - Chung Quang Huy 
Year 10 - Hua The Hy                     
Year 11 - Do Nhat Minh Anh
Year 12 - Tran Gia My   

Congratulations to all the above students who came up on top in their respective Year groups. A special well done to Mraz who achieved the highest Bedrock points total across the whole of the secondary school this week! 

Champion of the week!

This week’s champion is...

Kha Vy - 13S

Congratulations and well-done to Kha Vy!

Champion Tutor Group of the week!

This week’s Champion tutor group is

Congratulations to 789v/hanoi3. Well done!

Housepoint Totals

Congratulations to Saigon house, who have accelerated up into first place!

Upcoming Events

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: