Working and living in Royal City, it is impossible to notice that we are in a time of great importance and celebration for the population of Vietnam. Many reunions are enjoyed as we delight in the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. The noise and decorations, moon-cake sellers and endless parties are a joy to watch. However, I would argue that the best celebrations have been held within the walls of BVIS and anyone who attended them would be in total agreement.
On Friday 29th September, our huge sports hall was completely full with nearly 400 children and almost a further 400 parents and family members. Every child proudly wore their ao dai and amazingly so did a large part of our audience. Korean families, children and parents, also dressed for the occasion in their traditional costumes and we were all together as one colourful family. That is the best way to describe it, one big colourful family joined for one purpose. It is what being internationally-minded means in our school: a mix of colours, nationalities, tastes and traditions but definitely with a strong Vietnamese perspective. The production choreographed by Ms Phuong Pham and Ms Diep Pham was amazing. Dance, story and song were passionately performed or told. I just stood back and reminisced on the five moon festivals the school has now hosted - from the small number of Primary and Secondary staff and students together in September 2013 to now over 800 people enjoying our performances in 2017. What a transformation! Thank you to everyone who contributed and to all of the families who attended – truly magical.
On Wednesday 4th October, the actual date of the Moon Festival, it was the turn of our Early Years department to wow and entertain their audience. Again, it was extremely well attended and the amount of energy the staff in EYFS have just shows their commitment to creating the best learning environment for your children. Learning should be fun, in fact, it has to be fun, so our brains are engaged in a more positive way. This is how our youngest children learn and develop. They have structured learning they can experience and enjoy, just as we witnessed on Wednesday morning. Thank you to everyone for their huge effort and to our Vietnamese colleagues who teach us all so much.
I hope you all have a great weekend after what has been a truly memorable week.
Mr Nicholas West