Ms Deirdre Grimshaw: Weekly Update 30/11/18

Our thanks to you all for your kind understanding regarding the closure of our school on Monday. The health and safety of our school community is always the priority and we are pleased that you as parents support this.  Our sincere thanks must also go to the amazing guards who worked on Sunday and Monday to keep our campus safe and secure during the flooding.

We hope that all of our school community stayed safe and were not too adversely affected by the floods.

Today we were delighted to present 4 community partners with funds for their various projects with money that had been raised during Enterprise Day.  Our Community Partners came to our assembly to receive their cheques and tell the children a little about the work they do.

We also welcomed Mike Gatting, OBE to our assembly. Mike Gatting, former England Cricket Captain, ran some great workshops for our students today.  Look out for a post all about this next week.  Today he talked to the children about the RESPECT in sport and how important it is both on and off the sports field.

Next week we have our Vietnamese Parent Teacher Conferences, our PTG school discos for Year 3 and 4 and Year 5 and 6 and our Behaviour Workshop for parents. Please see dates for the diary below for more details of all these events or check Learning Letters.

This Sunday sees the end of our Club Programme for Term 1. We hope that your children have enjoyed their activities.  The Term 2 and 3 Club Booklet will open for parents in January and the club programme will begin the week after Tet.

Some clubs will continue to run this week for make-up sessions– each club provider will let you know if this is the case.

Tet Collection Begins

Our annual Tet Collection begins on Monday.  This school wide project invites parents and students to ‘give back’ by donating various items to our Tet Collection.  At the Junior Campus, we will be collecting Rice.  Please leave any donations of rice (new and sealed bags only please) at the Tet Tree collection point at the top of the stairs near Gate A.  We thank you in advance for your generosity and support of our Annual Tet Collection.

Year 6 Fairgrounds in Action

Year 6 students have been learning in action.  Having visited Dam Sem Park, they are now using their knowledge and skills to create their own fairground rides.  Check out this post by Ms Debs to see what has been happening in Year 6 here.

SISAC Swimming City Championships 2018

The BIS Barracudas recently participated in the SISAC City Championships. SISAC Pool A was conducted on Tuesday 20th November and SISAC Pool B on Wednesday 21st November. Over the two Championships, 38 students consisting of both Junior and Secondary Campus students from the BIS Barracudas participated in the SISAC City Championships. Find out our amazing swimmers did by clicking on this link.

Nord Anglia Education Global Campus Photographer of the Year

This year, students were asked to submit their best photo on the theme of “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions” and explain in 50 words why the photograph was taken and how it fits the geographical theme.  We are delighted that some of the BIS entries have been shortlisted and will therefore appear in the NAE calendar next year.  Click on this link to view the winning entries as well as some  of the other fantastic entries and runners up from BIS.

BIS Winter Sports Programme

BIS are delighted to announce another action packed Winter Holiday Sports Programme during this year's Christmas holidays. Camps will run for the full first week before Christmas and the final two week days before school starts in January. The camp this holiday includes sports and activities such as Skills Factory, Basketball, Football and Swimming. Providers working with the school this year include BIS’ own PE and Swimming staff, RSFA and SSA coaches. 

Please click here to access the 'Winter Holiday Camp 18-19 Overview' for the full list of activities and prices for all three campuses. If you would like to sign up for a camp, please print off the relevant letter and reply slip and pay at the cashier of your school before WEDNESDAY 12 DECEMBER. Please stick to this deadline so that relevant organisation can be made with providers. 

Learning Skills Challenge: Week 12

With the rain and wind sweeping through Ho Chi Minh City at the beginning of the week it was fantastic to see so many students take on last week's learning skills challenge. Are you ready to take on the challenge once more? Please click here for more details.

Christmas BISzaar 2018

Our Parent Teacher Group (PTG) are busy organising our annual Christmas BISzaar to be held on Saturday 8th December 2018 at the BIS Secondary Campus. 

Raffle tickets are now on sale from each campus reception. Register your interest in the Christmas BISzaar 2018 Facebook event to stay up to date with the latest prizes!

Primary Christmas Concert

‘A December to Remember’ is the theme of this year’s Primary Concert that will take place on the 11th of December at 6pm here at the Junior Campus. We have no doubt that it will also be a concert to remember and we look forward to welcoming you all to watch and I’m sure join in with a song or two!

PTG Update

The latest news from our primary PTG including final figures from the community service donations from PTG 2017-2018.

Primary PTG Update: 14/12/18

Please take note of some upcoming important dates for the diary. Some are hyperlinked for more information:

Sunday                 2^nd December                    Clubs Finish

Tuesday               4^th December                    Vietnamese Lessons PTSCs  3 – 6pm @ Junior Campus

Thursday             6^th December                    Behaviour Workshop for Parents 8.30am @ Gym, Junior Campus

Thursday             6^th December                    PTG Disco @ Juniors Y3&4 2.45pm –3.45pm, Y5&6 4pm – 5pm

Friday                   7^th December                     School Reports to parents

Saturday              8^th December                     Christmas BISzaar 9am – 1pm @Secondary

Tuesday               11^th December                 ‘December to Remember’ Christmas Concert 6pm small field

Friday                   14^th December                  School Holidays. School finishes at 11.30am.   

School Identification Badges

With so much happening across the three campuses, we see an increase in parents and visitors on site and as such we need to be more vigilant about campus security both during the school day and at weekends.  We would like to remind all parents that school identification badges must be worn, even on the weekends when attending school activities.  If not, you will be asked for some form of identity and asked to wear a visitor’s badge.

If you are sending a nanny or driver, please ensure they have the school identity lanyard or some form of identity card. We thank you for your cooperation in keeping our students and school site safe and secure.

Managing our Traffic Together

For more information about how we can work together to improve traffic around our campuses, please access this post.

Stay Vigilant

As in all major cities petty crime does occur, as a reminder to all of us please always take care of your personal belongings, especially when walking across roads and along the pavements.

Safeguarding at school – it’s everyone’s responsibility

Photographs

It is every parent’s wish to capture memorable moments on camera of their child at school either performing in an assembly, on their birthday or simply playing with their friends on the playground before the start of the school day.  Any photos that are taken by parents on personal devices must be kept private.  They must not be shared publicly on social media or between non-family members such as other parents in the school.  By following these guidelines, we ensure our BIS safeguarding policy is adhered to and that our children are kept safe. 

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

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.

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

Finally,

We wish all our athletes from Year 5 and 6 competing in the Nord Anglia Games the very best of luck! They left this morning for Northbridge School in Cambodia where they will compete against other Nord Anglia schools in the region.  We know they will do BIS proud both on and off the playing fields.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Ms Deirdre Grimshaw, Head Teacher of Junior Campus