Weekly Highlights 21/06/2019

Weekly Highlights 21/06/2019 The enrichment of learning at BVIS have continued this week across the whole school with students engaged and challenged to think differently in a variety of events.

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your continued support as we move into the final week of Term 3 and this academic year. The enrichment of learning at BVIS have continued this week across the whole school with students engaged and challenged to think differently in a variety of events.

Transition Day – Year 6 to Year 7

On Tuesday this week, our Year 6 students took part in a transition day that allowed them to fully experience what life in Year 7 will bring next year. There was great excitement, motivation and positivity as the students look to say farewell to their primary years and embrace all that the secondary phase will bring.

Our warmest congratulations to all of the Year 6’s and my personal thanks to all of the parents that supported in attending the Transition presentation and our secondary teachers that helped to make this such an enriching experience – bring on Year 7!

SEA Dance collaboration

This year, we have begun to embed dance into our curriculum and through the use of our specilaised dance teacher, Ms Danielle and our collaboration with Juilliard, these factors have not only raised the standard of dance performances, it has allowed our children to express themselves through the power of this medium.

We have also been collaborating with other NAE schools across our South east Asia region and we would like to share with you some of their amazing work:

Uniform - Collection Information

As mentioned in last week’s Highlights, from Monday 5th August to Tuesday 20th August, your child’s new uniform for the forthcoming academic year will be able to be collected from the Uniform Shop between the following times:

• 8.00am – 12.00pm
• 1.00pm – 3.30pm

Please note that I will be sending reminders to all parents via email and hard copy letter to help ensure that the collection details are both understood and followed.

Updated Swipe Cards – 2019/20

As part of our ongoing commitment to the safeguarding of all our students, and in line with school procedure, we regularly replace all swipe cards to ensure that the details on the front of each card are up to date. All new swipe cards will be available for collection from the Uniform Shop at the same time as when you collect your child’s new uniform.

In order for new cards to be issued, old cards must be handed back to school so that for security reasons, we can control the number of cards in circulation.

Once collected, the new swipe cards can be used immediately. All old swipe cards will be deactivated from 21st August; therefore they will not be able to be used to gain access to the school site from the beginning of Term 1.

A newly updated lanyard and plastic wallet will also be issued with each swipe card. From the beginning of the new academic year, it is expected that all parents wear their lanyard and swipe card when entering the school. This will allow us to visually identify designated parents who are on site, by means of the blue lanyard.

As part of our commitment to the safety of everyone within our BVIS community, I would like to remind you of the following people who you can contact if you have a concern about the welfare of any child within our school.

Ms Rosy Clark, Head of Primary

Opportunities for parental engagement in Primary at the end of the year

As the end of the academic year is fast approaching, we feel this is a particularly important time for BVIS families. There are inevitably mixed feelings as the children come to the end of one year and anticipate the next in their learning journey, but here are some ways you can support your children and engage with school at this time:

Attend our end of year events

Actually there are many events to choose from at this time of the year! We are always grateful when busy, hardworking parents take the time to pop into school even if it just for a short time to support their child at a particular event.

This week we saw a fantastic turnout of family members at our annual swim galas. The children had such a fun time at these events and showed their growing confidence and swimming skills to everyone watching and cheering them on.

A huge number of parents attended our final ‘Exit Point’ in the Main Hall this week too when Year 1 shared some of their learning about their Lien Ket topic of ‘Food’.

Upcoming events for you to attend are:

• (For Early Years parents) Monday 24^th June – Information meeting about the start of the new academic year at 17:00 in the ELC
• (For Year 6 families) Tuesday 25^th June – Year 6 Graduation at 18:00 in the Main Hall. Smart dress please!
• (For everyone) Friday 28^th June – our annual End of Year Celebration with the whole school in attendance begins at 08:30 in the Main Hall. You are most welcome to attend this look back at the year.

Encourage your child to be excited about next year!

This week the children have been told about next year’s classes (please refer to the email you have received about this). The F3 – Y5 classes spent their “transfer hour” on Friday in their new classrooms with their teachers for next year. Where new teachers are joining the school, the children were able to read a letter from their new teacher and see a photo of them.

In the meantime, Year 6 had a wonderful day on Tuesday experiencing a ‘taster day’ in the Secondary school.

Discuss your child’s end of year report with them

This week we have sent home the end of year reports with your child’s effort and progress grades and a short written overview. Please celebrate your child’s achievements with them but also do talk to them about the areas identified for further improvement.

Share the 2019 yearbook with your child

Next week you will receive the annual yearbook. It’s a lovely memento of the year to browse through with your child and enjoy those special memories of the academic year 2018-19.

Mr Jack Rudin, Head of Secondary

Pyjama Day!

On Wednesday 19^th June the Student Community Leaders organised a Pyjama Day for the Secondary School students and staff. The aim of the day was to raise money for the Green Bamboo Shelter to go towards painting and decorating a new bedroom for them. It was great to see lots of students and staff dressed up in pyjamas and all for great cause. In total over 8 million VND was raised which will be used next week to buy beds, blankets and pillows for boys at the shelter. A huge thank you to everyone who participated and donated!

Dodgeball Competition

This week BVIS hosted its annual Dodgeball competition which saw students and staff compete for the ultimate trophy prize! The event was a great success which saw everyone getting involved and enjoying some competitive games of dodgeball. On top of that lots of money was raised to help build a new Secondary school and help benefit of disadvantaged young people in Tanzania.

Congratulations to the Year 10 team and Secondary Teachers team for winning the staff and 6^th form competition. Thank you to the Student Council, PE Dept and Year 9 Tanzania students for organising such a fantastic event. Let’s see if the reigning Secondary Teachers’ team can be defeated next year!

Whole School Music Concert

We’ve had an extremely busy week in the Music department this week, starting with our fantastic Whole-School Concert on Thursday and Live Lunch on Friday. The Whole-School Concert involved lots of fantastic performances from our musicians and dancers both in Primary and Secondary. This included our Middle-School Band, Primary Dance Club, fantastic Choirs and Ukulele Club. We then had the final Live Lunch of the year on Friday which was another jam-packed event. Lots of talented students from Year 7 – 13 took to the stage to show off their skills to the excited audience. Well done to everyone involved in performances this week!

Have a great weekend ahead and we look forward to seeing you all again on Monday for the final week of this academic year.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at: Simon.Higham@bvisvietnam.com to give feedback on our Weekly Highlights and how it can be further improved in the future.