Mr Simon Higham: Weekly Update 09/06/2017

Although we are quickly heading towards the end of another very learning focused and creative term, the wide range of enrichment opportunities both inside and outside of our classrooms continues.

Thank you to all parents who attended this week’s Amalgamation Meeting at Tu Xuong Primary Campus on Tuesday evening and An Phu Primary Campus on Wednesday evening.

The purpose of the meetings was 3 fold:

• To present the most up to date information with regards to the development of the new Early Years and Infant Campus and the future development of the current APP site
• To highlight where all information about these developments can be found on the school website
• To give the opportunity ask any questions relating to the planned amalgamation

If you were unable to attend the meeting, the full presentation can be found here.

An overview of all our school developments can be found on our website, under the ‘Our School’ and ‘Facilities’ tabs.

Read more about our new Early Years and Infant Campus and watch the new 3D flythrough by following this link.

Find out about all of the new developments planned for the current APP site, will become the BIS HCMC, Junior Campus from January 2108 in this link.

We would like to remind all parents that this week is the final week of our Term 3 clubs.

We have already started preparing for our new and exciting Term 1 Extra-Curricular Club Programme. Look out for more details at the beginning of the next academic year and start discussing with your child(ren) now about what different activities they would like to try next year.

Finally, use this link to read more about our vision for even more creative and innovative learning spaces within a sustainable environment and how this will continue to develop the learning opportunities for all our students, thus maintaining the highest academic and pastoral standards that we can provide.

As the largest school in HCMC, we don’t just say we are an impressive school, we prove, design and build it.

Congratulations to all children who took part in our wonderful Summer Concert, entitled “Now That’s What I Call Music!’ on Thursday evening. Through a great deal of hard work, practice and patience, once again the standard of music was incredibly high with choirs, orchestra, music ensembles and our Junior School of Rock playing their part in another memorable evening.

Well done to our Year 4 EAL children and all the members of 4V for both of their excellent parent assemblies this week. I very much enjoyed listening to how articulate and confident all children were, in front of large audiences of both children and parents. Well done to everyone involved for their hard work – learning is fun and these performances reinforced this important message this week.

Open Classrooms - Reminder

We would like to invite you all to our ‘Open Classroom’ event on Tuesday 13^th June from 7.30am to 8.30am.

The purpose of this event is to allow your child(ren) to celebrate the varied learning opportunities that have taken place this year, and share these with you in their own classroom. It is an opportunity for your children to take the lead in their own learning, guiding you through their favourite work in their books and also talking you through the displays within the classrooms.

After 8.30am, the children will return to their timetables for the rest of the day.

We sincerely hope that you can come and support your children and allowing them to showcase their own learning that has taken place across the year.

Open Swimming Sessions

Over the last week, parents of F2, Year 1 and Year 2 were invited pool side to watch their children take part in their regular swimming lesson. The water confidence and swimming technique shown by all children at this time of the year is always pleasing and most of this comes down to the hard work and dedication shown by our swimming teachers and assistants, not to mention the children themselves.

Thank you to all those parents who took the opportunity to take part in this initiative.

BIS Annual Inter House Aquathlon

On Saturday 3rd June a mixture of students, parents and teachers took part in the annual BIS Aquathlon. For the first time ever, the race was an Inter House event and all four houses were represented in hot and testing conditions.

Congratulations to everyone who braved an early Saturday morning start and took part – well done!

Focus – Performance - Refocus

Last week, Mary McAloon, Deputy Headteacher from BIS Tu Xoung Primary Campus, took part in the Challenge Championships in Samorin, Slovakia.

In the first of a three part article charting her journey through this elite event, read about how Ms Mary deals with her focus and preparation for the event. In the second instalment, she looks specifically at the performance zone and how she achieved her goal of being a true triathlete.

Education is all about inspiration and these articles are designed to inform and inspire the next generation of athletes at BIS HCMC. Also from the picture above, competing (and beating) with the Olympian Alistar Browlee also served as an additional incentive to get to the finish line.

Look out for part 3 of these posts coming soon to the News and Insights section.

Spanish Fair 2017 – Mi Casa Es Su Casa

This week our Year 6 Spanish class were in charge of preparing and running the Spanish fair. They chose two countries from the 21 that have Spanish as their official language: Mexico and Spain.

Year 5 and Year 6 Netball Tournament - APP

On Wednesday 7^th June, children from Year 5 and 6 took part in an inter school friendly netball tournament that was hosted at AP1.

Saigon Primary Mathematics Competition

RSFA Performance Programme

Rising Stars Football Academy (RSFA) will be starting an exciting new paid ECA next year to be held on the BIS HCMC Field. Come along for a free taster session next week to see if it is for you.

BIS HCMC Summer Holiday Programes

These camps will take place on Mon 26 – Fri 30 June and Mon 14 – Fri 18 Aug and include activities such as swimming, football, t-ball, basketball, volleyball, multi skills, skills factory, cooking and art. These clubs will be run by highly qualified staff from BIS, Saigon Sports Academy, Fox Football, Jchef Saigon and Vin Space.

If you would like to enrol your child into one or more of the camps, please refer to the email you have received this morning and return the reply slips to the cashier of your school, along with payment, before Friday 16^th June. Any further questions please email: philiphusband@bisvietnam.com.

BIS HCMC Night Of The Arts - Tuesday 13th June from 18:30 – 20:00

BIS Night of the Arts is the first event of its kind at AP2. The Music, Drama, Art and DT departments will be opening their doors to parents, students and teachers to see a variety of open rehearsals, performances and exhibitions, including F1 in Schools. 

Toothpaste Collection – Thank You and Update

Alois Luong (Year 10) and Jeremie Luong (Year 12) in conjunction with our Community Services department organised a toothpaste collection last month, and they asked the BIS Community for help.

Staying 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.

In order to keep our children safe on the roads outside BIS, both before and after school, and keep the traffic flowing down Nguyen Van Huong Street, please can you ensure that you:

• Never stop on or near to a pedestrian crossing – in order to ensure that our families can cross the road safely, please instruct your driver to park as far away from the main gates as possible to avoid congestion. Try walking a short distance to keep cars down to a minimum.
• No cars should be parked for long periods of time outside of school – ask your driver to meet you at a convenient location away from the school gates and please ask them to never double park as this stops the flow of traffic at peak times.

Have you ever considered visiting the Terrace Café, located outside of the Canteen at An Phu Primary? Open from 7.15am – 9.00am and 2.00pm – 4.00pm and serving healthy refreshments it’s an ideal way of beating the congestion in a relaxed and spacious environment. Try it next week – it could make a difference!

PTG Update

Parent Liaison Volunteer, Ms Ying bisvnptgap1@gmail.com

Term 3 Disco

Tickets on sale next week!

Key Upcoming Dates for your Diary

June

• Monday 12^th: F3 to Y1 Transition Meeting (3.00pm in Rm 104)
• Tuesday 13^th: Open Classroom Event (7.30am – 8.30am)
• Wednesday 14^th: Year 6 Transition Day at AP2 (8.30am – 12.30pm)

• Wednesday 14^th: Year 6 Parents Information Evening at AP2 (6.00pm-7.00pm)  

• Friday 16^th: End of Year Report link sent to all parents
• Friday 16^th: Final class lists out to parents
• Wednesday 21^st: Class Swap Day (8.15am – 9.30am) All children meet their new teacher and TA for next year.
• Friday 23^rd: Term 3 ends (11.30am pick up)

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………

Ask Our Alumi

Calling BIS HCMC Alumni! If you are in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday 19th June please join our current students for an informal discussion about your experiences of life after IB. Share your insights and help our students to make the right decisions about their future. 

We wish you a very peaceful and relaxing weekend ahead.

Mr Simon Higham, Head Teacher, An Phu Primary Campus