Mr Simon Higham: Weekly Update 24/03/2017

There has been a tremendous amount of varied events taking place across An Phu Primary Campus this week and a great deal of communication and information has been coming into your Inboxes.

Well done to everyone who took part in our Health Day celebrations today. Being healthy in both our body and mind is extremely important to our overall wellbeing. Look out for all of the pictures from today’s event in next week’s Update.

Although we are very aware to not unnecessarily overload and bombard you with letters and information regarding future events, we also feel that it is important for you as parents to engage and connect with the many things that are happening to ensure outstanding learning is taking place.

We would like to reinforce 4 very important pieces of communication that you have received this week:

Parents’ Meetings – This letter was sent to you last Friday (17^th March) and explains all of the details for next week’s parents’ meetings (Tuesday 28^th and Wednesday 29^th March).

Parent Survey – A letter from Mr Tim Deyes (BIS, HCMC Principal), sent out on Tuesday (21^st March) that gives details of the recent parent satisfaction survey that was completed last month.

Progress Update Report – Sent on Tuesday (21^st March), this outlines the Progress Update report that you will be able to access online on Monday (27^th March). A link that will allow you to access the report, in preparation for parents’ meetings, will be sent to you next week.

Term 3 Extra Curricular Club sign up – This letter was sent to you on Wednesday (22nd March), outlining the Term 3 Club sign up procedure and key dates for your diary.

Thank you for taking time to read these important letters – please look out for all information that comes into your Inbox.

On Wednesday this week, in excess of 80 parents attended the EYFS Phonics Workshop. My thanks to all of those who attended and learned more about how we encourage our children to develop their emergent and more refined reading skills and to Ms Gurvinder and Ms Anna for leading this effective session.

I hope that you enjoy reading through the many posts that showcase the energy and vibrancy of our school.

Milepost 2 EAL

Year 3 EAL students have been learning how to use direct speech in their writing whilst Year 4 EAL students having been working energetically and collaboratively during Term 2. Read more about their successes in this post by Ms Natasha Fitzgerald, Ms Pauline Tran and Mr Charles Reazer, EAL Teachers.

Talk 4 Write (T4W) in EYFS (F1, F2 and F3)

We have been amazed to see how our children’s confidence has developed through learning to tell stories with actions, acting out the stories and making up our own versions. Read and see more about how our Talk 4 Write programme is being used with our very youngest children in school in this post by Ms Gurvinder Paul, F3 Teacher.

F2 Visit The LadyBug Farm

All of our F2 children had a wonderful time at Ladybug Farm this week. Find out more about their visit in this post by Ms Sarah Curran, Assistant Headteacher.

Global Campus Special Report

The Global Campus has been humming with activity in January and February. From the MIT STEAM Challenge to the Virtual Choir, students have put their creative minds to use, working in teams to solve problems and make music. Read this post by our Central Team at Nord Anglia Education for more details.

FOBISIA Maths Competition

This year, the FOBISIA Maths competition was more competitive than ever, with thirty-three international schools taking part from as far away as South Korea and India. In this post by Mr Andy James, Year 5 Teacher and Mathematics Leader, read about how out ‘fantastic 4’, managed to do something that no BIS, HCMC team has ever done before.

A Message From Our Music Department

I hope you enjoyed the whole school spring spectacular concert ‘Whatever the Weather’.

As you will be aware, we hired professionals to film the concert. DVDs of the concert will be available to purchase from the cashier for a charge of 50,000VND.

Please order directly with the payment to your campus cashier. The deadline for this is Wednesday 29th March.

DVDs will be distributed through each campus Music teacher when they are ready.

Mr Ian Alexander, Director of Music

Year 6 Visit Huynh Van Ngoi School (HVN)

As part of our extensive Community Service programme at BIS, HCMC each Year 6 class will visit HVN school and experience a session about local culture (for example the concept of ‘peace’). We then reciprocate and host the HVN class for a session linked with our current Science unit on ‘Forces’. Read more about what our children have learned through this experience, in this post by Mr Greg Wilde, Year 6 Class Teacher & Assistant MP3 Leader.

Community Swim Meet

On Tuesday, over 90 swimmers from BIS HCMC and 35 from Luong The Vinh School joined together to take part in an annual swim meet. All of the swimmers showed brilliant effort and amazing performances all round. Read more about this swim meet in this post by Mr Triet Pham, Assistant Swimming Coach.

MP3 Speech Competition 2017

You are all invited to a great evening of quality speeches, delivered by our MilePost 3 children. One of the academic highlights of the year, the event takes place in the AP2 theatre. See the poster below and we look forward to seeing you there.

Team Ink

We are team Ink, a group of Year 12 students from AP2 . 'Ink' is taking part in the annual Saigon business competition and we are delighted to have the chance to sell our trendy notebooks in APP next Tuesday 28^th March from 2:20pm .

We will sell 4 different A5 notebooks designs: pizza, heart, name tag and marble. Each notebook has a ring binder, 80 pages with front and back hard covers.

The price for one notebook is 100,000 VND.

The money raised from your contribution in our sale will be donated to BIS HCMC community partners such as orphanages and cancer wards.

We are looking forward to your support.

Thank you

Team Ink

BIS HCMC Holiday Sports Camps

The deadline for registering your child(ren) for this year’s bumper edition of the BIS Holiday Sports Camp this Easter break (3-7 April and 10-14 April) is quickly approaching. This programme is our most action packed one to date. We have Richard Soriano, Vinh Nguyen, Chau Le Manh Bao, SSA and FOX all offering their services in our widest range of sports yet.

Activities at APP campus include:

• Richard Soriano – Basketball, Multi Skills and T-Ball
• Mr Vinh - Swimming
• SSA – Football, Basketball and Skills Factory
• FOX – Football

To register, simply print and sign the relevant reply slips sent to your Inbox via email and return, along with the correct fee, to the cashier of your school to reserve a place – limited space is now available.

Please see the poster below for accurate times, prices and locations.

Fundinotots

Fundinotots is our thriving Baby and Toddler group that take places every morning from Monday – Friday. To find out more about Fundinotots and how to enrol your child who is 0 – 36 months old, please do not hesitate to contact Ms Hanh in the APP Admissions Office.

We now have a nanny session every Friday morning!

BVIS Summer School 2017

Continuing to the success of Summer School over the last few years, The British Vietnamese International School (BVIS) – a sister school of BIS - is pleased to offer a Summer School starting from 26^th June until 14^th July. The programme has been designed to cater for the diverse needs of our new and existing students ages 2-14. It has also been structured around four aspects: Academic, Skills Development, English Literacy and Health Education and Sport. For more information regarding the course, please click here.

To register for the course, please download the Application Form from here, together with a 4*6 photograph of the student and send to BVIS Admission Office, or email us at summerschool@bvisvietnam.com.

If you have any enquiries regarding our Summer School, please call (08) 37580717 – 888/411/216, or email to summerschool@bvisvietnam.com.

Especially, we offer 10% discount to those who register and pay by 28^th April 2017. Places are limited, please contact us now if your children would like to join!

Kính gửi Quý phụ huynh/ Dear Parents,

Tiếp nối thành công của chương trình Hè trong những năm qua, Trường Quốc tế BVIS – cùng hệ thống với Trường BIS - tiếp tục tổ chức Khóa học Hè từ 26 tháng 6 đến 14 tháng 7 tại trường.  Khóa học được thiết kế để phục vụ các nhu cầu đa dạng của học sinh mới và học sinh của Trường từ 2 đến 14 tuổi, với nội dung xoay quanh 4 lĩnh vực: Học thuật, Phát triển Kỹ năng, Đọc hiểu tiếng Anh và Giáo dục Sức khỏe và Thể thao. Để biết thêm thông tin chi tiết về khóa học, Quý phụ huynh vui lòng nhấn vào đây.

Để đăng ký cho khóa học, Quý phụ huynh vui lòng tải đơn đăng ký tại đây, kèm theo một tấm hình 4*6 của học sinh và gởi về Phòng Tuyển Sinh trường Quốc tế BVIS, hoặc e-mail summerschool@bvisvietnam.com.

Mọi thắc mắc về Khóa học Hè, Quý phụ huynh có thể gọi điện thoại đến số (08) 37580717 – 888/411/216, hoặc gửi e-mail về summerschool@bvisvietnam.com.

Đặc biệt, Trường dành riêng ưu đãi 10% học phí cho các em đăng ký và đóng tiền đến hết ngày 28 tháng 4 năm 2017. Vì số lượng chỗ có hạn nên nếu có ý định, Quý phụ huynh vui lòng liên hệ với Nhà trường ngay hôm nay!

British Vietnamese International School, Ho Chi Minh City

44-46 Street 1, Binh Hung

Binh Chanh, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Phone: +84837580709 – 888/411/216

www.bvisvietnam.com

Staying Safe

I would like to remind all parents that when entering the school site, swipe cards must be worn at all times. The reason for this is for us to identify all adults who are on site. Those with blue lanyards are parents/carers, whilst those with red lanyards are visitors.

If you require a blue lanyard, these are available from the main office.

As always, we would like to thank you all for your support in keeping our school environment safe.

If, during your visit to school, you have any reason to be concerned about the safety of a young person, please contact the Designated Safeguarding Person (Ms Dee Grimshaw) or the Head teacher (Mr Simon Higham)

Please note that CCTV cameras are in operation at all times across the campus.

PTG Update

Parent Liaison Volunteer, Ms Ying bisvnptgap1@gmail.com

PTG Events for Term 2

• 26^th March – Spring Fair

PTG Events for Term 3

• 26^th April – PTG AGM
• 15^th June – PTG Disco

Key Upcoming Dates for your Diary

March

• Monday 27^th: - Progress Update Report Out To Parents – Online access only. A link will be sent to all parents on Monday 27^th March so that you can access from home.
• Tuesday 28^th and Wednesday 29^th: - Parent Meetings (academic focus)
• Friday 31^st – Final day of Term 1. School closes at 11.30am

April

• Monday 17^th: Welcome back! First day of Term 3

For all of the dates in this year’s academic calendar, please click here to take you to the front page of the ‘News and Insights’ section of our school website.

And Finally………

Good luck to all of our young musicians who are taking part in this weekend’s FOBISIA Primary Music Festival in Hong Kong. We look forward to hearing about this fantastic experience in next week’s Update.

Look out for posts on this event and all of the others that are happening around our school on the BIS HCMC FaceBook page. If you like them, ‘like it’.

I wish you all a very peaceful weekend ahead and thank you for your continued support.

Mr Simon Higham, Head Teacher, An Phu Primary Campus