Weekly Highlights 29/08/2025

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,

It was a pleasure to see so many parents join us on Tuesday evening for our Secondary Meet the Tutor evening. As Mr Bate pointed out, students succeed when teachers, parents and students are working together, pulling in the same direction and listening to one another.  If you were unable to attend on Tuesday, we do encourage you to connect with your child’s form tutor and build those strong relationships that will support the success of your children. 

Over the week, students in primary have been learning about student leadership opportunities. Student leadership at all levels is hugely important, giving a voice to the students and supporting them to shape and be part of decision making in the school. 

Our secondary students are also active across the school with many leading on school wide projects for the betterment of their peers and wider community. 

We strongly encourage all students to take advantage of the many and varied choices available to them at BVIS, not just through student leadership but also through the Arts, Sports, our extensive ECA programme and collaborations with Nord Anglia Education and FOBISIA. 

Meet Our New Teachers

Continuing with our theme of meeting new teachers, this week, I would like to introduce 2 members of our PE Department. Jasmine and Ariana are working across the whole school, teaching PE. Both have settled in extremely well and are now navigating their way round the school with ease! 

Ms Jasmine Kettler 

Jasmine brings over a decade of international teaching experience to BVIS, with leadership roles including Head of PE and Sport, Head of Primary PE, and CCA Coordinator. She has worked across a variety of curricula and school settings in the USA, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the UAE. Jasmine spent five years at ISPU in Penang, Malaysia, where she led numerous FOBISIA sports teams and developed a strong reputation for fostering student growth through sport.

Ms Ariana Williams

Prior to joining BVIS, Ariana has taught Health and PE at secondary schools in New Zealand and London. Outside of teaching, she enjoys maintaining an active lifestyle through running, CrossFit, and hiking.

Welcome Back Coffee Morning

This morning, it was lovely to welcome so many parents to our Welcome Back Coffee Morning.  

Thank you for taking the time to join us and get to know the leadership and of course, other parents.  We hope to continue with these informal gatherings and provide more opportunities for social interactions amongst our BVIS Community.

Please do continue to read on to find out more about what has been happening across primary and secondary. 

Wishing everyone a restful long weekend. We look forward to seeing you all when school resumes next Wednesday.

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 Parents’ Handbooks or via our Primary/Secondary Receptionists. 

Wishing you all a lovely weekend ahead full of care and kindness to others.

Parents Evening Sign Up

Mental Maths World Cup (Online)!

Our children have taken part in the Mental Maths world cup and we have had 31 students get to the Grand Finale Round. This is a competition where over 8000 students from 59 countries have taken part. Well done to all out students who have competed.

Swimming

Please remember that swimming is an expected part of the curriculum just as English or Maths and that all children are expected to take part and develop those important skills that could save their lives. Swimming promotes wellbeing and fitness and helps support learning in academic areas.

Help for Parents: Our Super IT Team can support with installing Parental Controls on Students Devices!

To ensure all children are using their iPads safely and for learning purposes, we are here to support parents in setting up parental controls on their child’s device. This support is open for parents of Year 3 – 6 students. If you need assistance, please see the support details below and book a slot with our IT team.

Parental Control Setup Support

Bus Gate Reminder

For entering the school campus, Primary Students should enter through Gate E. Only children using the bus should be entering or leaving through Gate C. Thank you for your understanding.

New Lanyards

Clubs (Extra Curricular Activities)

Thank you to all who have signed up for the programme. Information has been shared this week about the programme dates and the finalisation of clubs and choices. Clubs are due to commence the week beginning Monday 8th September so please ensure you know what clubs have been selected and pick up arrangements for those clubs and days. If you need help, please reach out to Ms Mai, the Primary PA (mai.nguyen2@bvisvietnam.com).

Upcoming Events

Computer Science

At BVIS, we’re always looking for ways to enhance learning experiences for our students and prepare them for the future. That’s why we’re excited to be part of a Nord Anglia Digital Labs project, which allows us to explore cutting-edge technology and see how it can transform teaching and learning across our school.

Recently, we received a full set of Meta Quest 3S headsets, opening the door to immersive, interactive, and engaging learning experiences that go beyond the classroom walls. While virtual reality (VR) in education is not new, the latest generation of headsets provides a more seamless and powerful platform - one that offers new possibilities for collaboration, creativity, and subject-specific exploration.

We are beginning this journey with our Sixth Form students, who will be the first to pilot VR-enhanced learning. From exploring complex scientific concepts in 3D to stepping into historical settings or experiencing real-world simulations, VR gives students a perspective that textbooks simply can’t provide. Beyond subject content, it also helps them develop future-ready skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and digital literacy. We can’t wait to see where this journey takes us, and more importantly, where it takes our students.

Design and Technology at BVIS – Real-World Creativity in Action

At BVIS, Design and Technology celebrates creativity, innovation, and the ability to solve real-world problems. Our students learn to think like designers: identifying needs, exploring possibilities, and developing solutions that combine functionality with imagination.

Much of this work is inspired by graphical products and displays. From packaging and posters to menus and 3D promotional stands, these examples help students understand how design communicates ideas and influences the way we experience the world.

We are also fortunate to have received donations of posters and 3D displays from CGV, as well as restaurant menus, stands, and leaflet holders. Instead of being thrown away, these materials now have a second life in our workshop — inspiring lessons and giving students tangible insight into professional design.

Alongside these, students themselves have created posters, displays, and promotional products for BVIS events, showcasing how classroom learning translates into practical, eye-catching design work.

student's 3D model 1

student's 3D model 2 

Looking ahead, we remain committed to strengthening links with the wider world. By reusing and repurposing marketing materials that might otherwise be discarded, we not only promote sustainability but also give our students access to the rich variety of design around us.

If you or your organisation has any displays, promotional materials, or graphical products that could be reused in our workshop, we would be delighted to hear from you.
 
Please contact Mr Chandler via James.Chandler@bvisvietnam.com if you would like to get involved or have any further questions.

Pastoral Update

This year at BVIS, we are very excited to introduce the role of Deputy Pastoral Leader to further strengthen the support we offer our students. With these new positions in place, we can be more proactive in promoting wellbeing, more responsive when challenges arise, and more consistent in the care each student receives. Over the next four weeks we will be introducing the Deputy Pastoral Leaders for each house, and first, an exclusive interview with the Deputy Pastoral Leader for Hue House, Mr. Ben Jordan!



1) What are you most looking forward to in your new role as Deputy Pastoral Leader?

Becoming more involved with what we can do around the school outside of lesson time, integrating activities for EVERY student to enjoy and partake in!

2) How do you hope to support our students both inside and outside the classroom?

Within the classroom it's very important to understand our students and their specific needs, so opening up communication between myself, the teachers and the students about how they best intake and retain information will help support them. This applies for outside the classroom too! Communication is key and engaging in conversation to build relationships is the foundation to every students' progress!

3) If you could give one piece of advice to students to help them succeed at BVIS, what would it be?

Never stop asking questions! It will build your confidence and help erase any nervousness or anxieties you're carrying.

4) What values do you think are most important for young people to carry with them?

Respect and resilience. Treat others how you would like to be treated, kindness is infectious! If something is difficult-good! It means you're learning, it doesn't mean you should give up and seek the answer immediately.

5) Can you share one interesting fact about yourself that students might not know?

I went to a Welsh secondary school, where we would be told off by the teachers if we spoke English!!

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 week are: 

Bedrock Champions

This week’s bedrock champions are:  
Year 9     Dang Khanh Ha (April)              713 points
Year 8     Bui Nha Uyen                              478 points
Year 7     Nguyen Ngoc Gia Linh              190 points
Year 10    Kosuke Yamamura                     188 points
Year 11     Nguyen Hoang Tue Tran           110 points

Congratulations to all the above students who came up on top in their respective Year groups. A special well done to April 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...

Congratulations and well-done to Justin!

Champion Tutor Group of the week!

This week’s Champion tutor group is 

Congratulations to 10S. Well done!

Housepoint Totals

Upcoming events

Child Protection

The health, safety and wellbeing of our students remain 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: