

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal
Welcome back to the Weekly Highlights, following another very busy week at BVIS. I have had the privilege to visit many classrooms this week and witnessed engaged, happy and challenged students with creative and motivated teachers. Both were focused upon one thing – learning.
As Principal, I am passionate that our school offers the very best opportunities for learning for everyone to ensure that there is no limit to what one can learn every day. With your support as parents, we can ensure that all students achieve their very best and they are ambitious in all that they do. But what does it mean to be ambitious and how are our teachers ensuring that they lead by example in being ambitious themselves?

What does it mean to be ambitious?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the definition of being ambitious is:
‘Having or showing a strong desire and determination to succeed’.
Within our school, we always encourage our students to be the best that they can be, incorporating the attributes of enquiry, perseverance and reflection from our Aide Memoir into their approach to learning.
The Nord Anglia Education website states, ‘there is no limit to what our students can achieve. So we encourage them to be ambitious. To reach for their dreams. To step outside their comfort zones and try something new. We ignite their curiosity. Being ambitious inspires our students. It urges them to stretch themselves that little bit further. To be relentlessly optimistic.
It further adds, ‘ambition can take them (students) anywhere. It’s transformational. It’s what makes the extraordinary possible. But it’s only the spark. It takes passion, determination and commitment to make it a reality. It takes creativity and innovation. It takes resilience and courage. It takes confidence. This is the Nord Anglia Approach’.

How are we being ambitious?
I truly believe that all of our teachers constantly push the boundaries of learning and teaching, every day. Our teachers enjoy the challenge of trying something different and they are not afraid to be creative and take risks as our BVIS environment helps to support and encourage this.

However, sometimes, our teachers go the extra mile to challenge themselves and be ambitious. This week, Ms Rosy, Primary Headteacher has travelled to New York to take part in a very special choral event in Carnegie Hall. A link to the event can be found here.
Ms Rosy is not a trained singer and has never performed in such an event of this scale before. She has been a member of the ICO (International Choir & Orchestra of HCMC) for 11 years and wanted to simply push the boundaries of her own learning by trying something new. As she said to me before her journey, ‘If you work hard and try your best, anything is possible…!’

This is what being ambitious truly represents and on behalf of everyone within the BVIS community, we would like to wish her well and we look forward to hearing about her adventure when she returns early next week.
Look out for more information about Ms Rosy’s journey in our future Weekly Highlights.
This weekend, talk as a family about your ambitions. Discuss what your goals are and how you can help each other to reach for them. Don’t forget to dream big though – the sky is definitely not the limit!

BVIS smoothie and juice café now open for business
Our outdoor café is now open at BVIS in the outside area next to the secondary foyer.
During its first week of operation, I am pleased to be able to share with you that no single use plastic has been used and no extra sugar has been added to any drinks. This makes it not only environmentally friendly but also a very healthy option too.

Please note that all secondary students will be able to access this service, together with primary students who are accompanied by an adult.
Students are encouraged to bring their own bottles/cups for the drinks and no single use plastic items will be used.
Menu:
- Juice and Smoothies from VND25,000 – VND35,000
- Fresh fruit from VND20,000
Remember to bring your own reusable bottle to claim your discount!
Be ambitious and try a drink next week!


Ms Rosy Clark, Head of Primary
The Primary Student Council have been working hard again to make us all healthier and this week launched part 3 of their ‘Healthy Living Campaign’. Following their successful ‘Rainbow Eaters’ and ‘Eyes Bigger Than Belly’ competitions, which got us eating more vegetables and reducing the amount of food we waste, they have now launched their new exercise challenge.