Meet the Teacher #1: Holly Carmichael shares her pure joy in teaching

Meet the Teacher #1: Holly Carmichael shares her pure joy in teaching This is the “Meet the Teacher” series in which BIS Hanoi teachers share about their passion and commitment for teaching. Let’s meet our first teacher of the series: Ms. Holly Carmichael and explore her interesting story at BIS Hanoi as well as get to know her more as a person.

This is the “Meet the Teacher” series in which BIS Hanoi teachers share about their passion and commitment for teaching. Let’s meet our first teacher of the series: Ms. Holly Carmichael and explore her interesting story at BIS Hanoi as well as get to know her more as a person.

Growing up in London and after spending almost 9 years teaching in the city, Holly felt it was time to explore a new culture and environment. “During 2018-2019, I took a career break from work and in this period, I spent 5 months travelling in Vietnam. With its spectacular landscapes, fascinating history, incredible people, and epic food, I immediately knew that Vietnam was a place I wanted to begin my international teaching career in”, she said.

She then searched for a school that had a clear ethos that resonated with her own beliefs, “So, I applied for the position of Primary Class Teacher at BIS, Hanoi and here I am!”. Holly is currently teaching Year 2 and holding the position of Phase One Leader. In her role as a Phase One Leader, she is responsible for leading staff in Year 1 and 2. She is also the first point of contact and provide pastoral care for staff, parents and children in her phase.

Talking about what inspired her to join BIS Hanoi, Holly shared that she was keen to find a school based in Hanoi due to her love for the vibrant and hospitable city. She also added: “I was immediately drawn to BIS Hanoi because of its core values of integrity, respect and care and its high expectations for what the children can achieve”. And at that moment, she knew that BIS was the right school for her international teaching career.

From the first day teaching at BIS, Holly always update and apply new teaching methods to ensure learning is engaging and relevant to her students. The school follows the International Primary Curriculum, which is a thematic and creative curriculum, with a clear process of leaning and specific goals for every subject. “In August 2020, we worked in our year group teams to review and update the unit themes, ensuring that they were engaging for our students at BIS”, she shared. “Each IPC unit starts with an Entry Point, which is an exciting introduction to the learning that will follow. My Year 2 class thoroughly enjoyed their Pirate themed day to immerse themselves in their new topic!”.

As a teacher, what inspires Holly every day is to see the students love coming to school and progress each day. When we asked her “What teaching moment at BIS fills you with pride?”, she replied without hesitation: “It would have to be the journey that the students take from the beginning of a topic to the end. At the beginning of a topic, they often have lots of questions and are very curious. Throughout the topic, they are immersed in vocabulary, texts, Art, Music, as well as Geography and History skills that tie together and culminate in our end of topic Exit Point”. She then added with joy: “It fills me with pride to see the students articulately explaining and teaching other students and parents all they have learnt. It is a time for celebration of their growing independence and allows the teachers to observe how they have progressed in their knowledge and understanding”.

After chatting with her, we discovered a new side of Holly, she is not only a passionate teacher but also a very interesting person outside the school. When Holly isn’t working, she enjoys running, cycling and socialising with her friends. Let’s find out more about her and some facts might surprise you!

What in your opinion makes a ‘good day’ at BIS Hanoi?

A good day for me always starts with a hot americano at the Joma cafe in school. To continue, a good day for me is a productive and fun day with my Year 2 class, where we complete a range of activities from Reading, Writing and some creative Topic activities. I know it has been a good day when the children are leaving school with a smile on their face and feeling happy with their achievements from the day. Spending time with my team also is a highlight of my day and seeing them achieve their goals.

If you could be a student in another BIS teacher’s class for one day? Who would you pick and why?

If I were to be a student in another BIS teacher’s class for one day, I would choose to participate in one of Ms Bevan’s dance lessons! I am inspired by how within a 4-week block of teaching a primary class, she can not only develop their love for dance, but she can produce high quality dances where all students are engaged and feel confident in their abilities.  

What would your last meal be?

My favourite food when I want comforting is pizza! I would order a delicious half and half pizza from Pizza 4ps. On one half I would get a creamy burrata. On the other half, I would get a classic pepperoni.

What would the students be surprised to find out about you?

During the Summer of July 2020, I cycled on my trusty Triban bicycle a whopping 2168km from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh. This included scaling the challenging Hai Van Pass!

Born and raised in London, Holly’s childhood was surrounded with beautiful landmarks, such as the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. Therefore, with the question: “If you could take the students on a field trip to anywhere in the world, where would you take them?”, Holly chose London in the blink of an eye. “I would like to take my class to visit where I am from in England, as I tell them lots about where I grew up, my family, my own childhood and my experience of school. It would be lovely to make this real for them and for them to gain an understanding of a different culture. As I am from London, it would be great opportunity to show them some famous landmarks, I’m sure they will love them!”.