Ms Sue Hill: Weekly Update 29/09/17

Dear Parents,

Community Services are a very important part of our curriculum and are offered both within our school day and as optional extra-curricular activities. Through community service projects we hope to provide opportunities for students to develop respect for others who may be different from themselves, learn how to care for our environment and animals and to learn more about local communities outside the BIS.

Extending our BIS Community

Caring for animals took on a whole new focus at BIS when ten very lucky hens arrived to take up residence in the BIS Coop. Students cross the school have been visiting with their class teachers and Mr. Kevin to learn more about how to care for hens in their new free range enclosure. Links with our curriculum have also been made as Secondary students used French to describe the environment and our new friends; in English, students are creating hen poems and Year 5 made easy links with their topic on birds. Read Mr. Kevin’s report for more details.

ECAs started this week and it was lovely to see so many of our students participating in clubs which have a community focus. A club focused on the environment, the Gardening ECA, has once again been a popular choice. Students are busy planting vegetables which should be ready for the International Fair on November 18^th and were excited to see that the banana trees, planted last year, now have flowers on. I look forward to tasting the first BIS bananas soon as the last crop of sweet corn was delicious!

We welcomed back our friends from Hy Vong this week as Year 6 continued a link with the local school for children who are deaf and disabled. Excitement both from our own students and our Hy Vong friends was very clear to see as the children engaged in games and energetic activities led by Year 6.

Projects outside the BIS

Our residential trips for secondary all take place in one week, week commencing 23^rd Oct and this year they all have a community element. Some projects are about working in the environment whilst others involve links with people. All Year 7 children will be going to Lavielu; Year 8 are going to help protect the environment by clearing up the beach area in Cat Ba; Year 9 are running a house competition with Year 12 to collect warm clothes for children in Sapa and Mai Chau; and Year 10 have a link with a school for deaf children in Dalat where they will learn sign language and enjoy fun activities together.

International Projects

Once again BIS will offer the chance for students to travel to Tanzania to link with other Nord Anglia students. This is an international community project which involves improving the environment for local people in need and local schools.

Today, I am flying to Switzerland to meet up with another of our Nord Anglia Education communities to attend the annual Principal’s Conference. Attending the conference will be the Principals of our 46 schools in addition to Nord Anglia regional teams of leaders. I will be away from school until Wednesday afternoon however Mr. Webb and Mrs. Carroll will be here to lead the campus in my absence.

Ms Sue Hill, Principal