I hope that you all had a wonderful summer. The holiday ended on another high this year with the release of the IGCSE and A Level exam results.
As you know this was a special year with our first ever cohort of A Level students graduating from BVIS, and they did themselves proud. 53% of all grades were A*-B at A Level, which is magnificent for such a rigorous set of exams. This means that all of our graduating students have been able to get to their university of choice, and we wish them all the very best for this new chapter of their lives.
Once again our IGCSE results were also excellent, with 92% of all grades being A*-C and our 3 years rolling average of A*-A grades is now 47%. My congratulations to all of our students who received results this summer and my thanks to all the staff that helped prepare them.
We have had a marvellous first week back. I am very pleased to welcome all of our new staff, all of whom have settled in very quickly and our new Assistant Heads - Kaye Maciver (Teaching and learning) and Gus McKie (Pastoral) have made an immediate impact.
We started the term by welcoming all of our new students and parents to BVIS Secondary. We then had a lovely first day of school in which the day was devoted to team building activities to try and encourage all of our students to get to know each other and form friendships.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings of this week, we also welcomed our parents for the Key Stage Information evenings. In these sessions, led by Graeme Jones, Key Stage 3 Coordinator; Ioan Morgan, Key Stage 4 Coordinator; and Chris Dale, Key Stage 5 Coordinator, all the parents had the chance to meet with their child’s tutor. Each tutor has also sent an email introducing themselves and the work that they do, along with their contact details, to all parents today. I do hope that you feel able to contact them if you have any questions or concerns. My thanks to all of the parents and staff for their contributions on these evenings.
On a more mundane level, we have introduced a ‘no bag around school’ policy this year. Each student must now put their bags in their locker and take out only what they need for the next two lessons. It has been a great success so far, reducing the weight that the students carry on their backs and reducing congestion in the corridors. This has meant that having a lock on their locker has become more important than ever, so that their belongings, including their iPads or laptops, remain safe during break and lunch times. Please do ensure that your daughter or son has a lock.
On Friday of this week, we celebrated Vietnam National Day in assembly. We heard from our Vietnamese teachers about the origins of the day and why it is still so important to take pride in our flag, anthem and country. To all of you, I hope you have a lovely National Day weekend, and I look forward to seeing the students back at school next Tuesday.
