Ms Deirdre Grimshaw: Weekly Update 11/10/2019

This afternoon in Assembly Ms Mary spoke to all the children about our Helmets for Heroes Campaign.  Launching now, we are asking students, teachers and parents to make a committed effort to wear helmets on bikes and motorbikes at ALL times. Without going into statistics, everyone will be aware of the dangers of not wearing a helmet and yet we continually see children and parents arriving at school without the proper protection for their heads. Please ride safe so you can ride again. Further on in this update, there are details of the competition for students to design a Helmet Safety poster.  Please take time this weekend to talk about the importance of wearing a helmet.  Ask your children what they heard and learned in the assembly today and most importantly if you haven’t already; ensure your child has a proper, well-fitted helmet for their bicycles and motorbikes.  Our children are precious and as parents it is our job to keep them safe. Thank you for working with us.

Enterprise Day

On Thursday we are looking forward to Enterprise Day and seeing the culmination of the hard work of the classes in their quest to run a successful business. Poster are appearing on walls and products are lining up in classrooms. We also invite you to allow your child to bring in a maximum of 100,000VND to spend during the morning, preferably in small denominations. Before spending any of their money, the children will be encouraged to visit as many stalls as possible. This will enable them to gain a valuable and contextual experience of the value of money and will also assist their developing understanding of managing a personal budget.

Please note that as the children have designed their wares to attract customers of primary school age, only children will be participating in the event as customers. Parents are very welcome to observe, but will be asked to resist the temptation to purchase. We hope you are able to join us and please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions relating to the event.

Children are welcome to wear their house t-shirt on the day.

Young Musicians

The semifinals have taken place and we are all set for a gripping Young Musician final next week with students from BIS, BVIS and ABC International Schools all taking part. I am very much looking forward to this concert and would encourage you all to attend. It takes place on Tuesday, October 15th at 6pm in the secondary theatre on the 6^th floor.

Open Morning at BIS Junior Campus for prospective parents

Next Tuesday October 15^th, we will have an Open Morning here at the Junior Campus. This is aimed not at current parents, but at families that may be interested in joining BIS. If you do know of families and friends, they can sign up here. Please note that places are limited for the open morning.

Developing Reasoning Skills in Maths

This year our focus is on ‘Reasoning in Maths’ and our teachers and students have been trying out new strategies and ideas in Maths lessons.  We will have a week of training in November for staff and students from ‘NRICH Maths’ based in the UK but our classes have already begun! Find out how this has worked in Year 4 so far this year by clicking on this link.

Hitting the High Notes with Lin Marsh

This week we have been extremely lucky to have renowned Singing Leader from the UK, Lin Marsh working with students, teachers and parents. Click on this link to find out what they have been working on and to see some wonderful clips of the children and parents in action.

Julliard Dance at BIS

Our Julliard Dance programme has launched at BIS. BIS staff recently attended a workshop to support their delivery of these exciting lessons and we look forward to seeing it in action across the school soon. Click on this link to find out more.

Geography Photography Competition

This year we are proud to announce a wonderful Geography photography competition for our students.  Linked with UNICEF, the theme is on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Please find out more by clicking on this link.

SSIS Swim Meet Success

At this recent swim meet our swimmers had the opportunity to compete, improve PBs and create some new school records! Click on this link to read the full article and find out how well are swimmers did!

Barracudas Swimming Coach

The BIS Barracudas are very pleased to welcome Khoi Tran to the coaching team. Khoi is an enthusiastic swimmer and coach. He has represented Vietnam at Nationals and was the captain of the HCMC Swimming Team.

Khoi enjoys backstroke and individual medley events. He competed at the SEA Games in 2013, 2015 and 2017, where he received 5 silver medals and 3 bronze medals. Khoi also competed in the Asean Tournament where he won 4 gold medals. He holds National records for the 200m Individual Medley, 400m Individual Medley, 50m Backstroke, 100m Backstroke and 200m Backstroke.

Khoi will be coaching the Junior Blue, Junior White, Junior Red and Senior Squads. He will also be assisting with the F3 Swimming Lessons. We look forward to working with Khoi as part of the swimming team at BIS.

New Staff Profiles

We would like to introduce a few more staff to you this week that have joined our school.  Do read on!

Ms Kathryn Payne

Hello everyone! My name is Kathryn and I am teaching in Year 6! Before joining BIS and moving halfway across the world, I’d never actually visited South East Asia before. My first impression has been very positive and I have loved seeing how friendly and welcoming everybody is - it has made settling into life in Ho Chi Minh a lot easier. I am really enjoying life in Vietnam - I love the country, the people, but most importantly the food! 

I am originally from Doncaster in England and I grew up with two sisters and a brother. For a very long time, I was the youngest in the family, until my 3 little nephews came along and caused havoc everywhere! They are probably the main reason that I didn’t leave Doncaster sooner and I love receiving updates on how they are getting on at school and nursery. Although I miss them very much, I love living in Ho Chi Minh and experiencing a new culture - it has really opened my eyes to what the world has to offer and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to teach here. My class welcomed me to the school with big smiles and fantastic personalities and they always laugh at my terrible jokes! 

Thank you to everyone who has made my first few months in Vietnam so enjoyable and to everyone who has made me feel welcome.

Mr Oliver Bone

Xin Chào to all who are reading this, and first of all let me say a huge thank you to the whole BIS community for making me feel so welcome. From colleagues, to parents, to pupils, the welcome has been both warm and genuine. BIS is my fourth international posting and even in the short time I have been here I can feel what a truly exceptional school BIS really is. I have been wowed by both the talents and drive of the students in 6V and am excited about what lies ahead for us this year. Prior to moving to Saigon, I have been fortunate enough to teach in international schools in Shanghai, Seoul and Bangkok and whilst I have visited Saigon previously, it feels great to finally live here, surrounded by a wide range of ever-changing sights, sounds and smells.

Outside of teaching, I am a passionate supporter of Manchester United, an enthusiastic traveller and keen discoverer of new music wherever I can find it. Whilst living in Asia does sometimes feel like a long way from home, being surrounded by so many welcoming and friendly people makes it really quite easy to cope. Nonetheless, I am still excited to be travelling back to the UK over the Christmas break to see friends and family, and also to finally meet my newborn nephew who was born just last week! Thank you for taking the time to read this and for the warm welcome, if you do happen to see me around the school, please stop me to say hello!

PTG Book Club

The PTG is very excited to commence a book club for parents to participate in. This is a fantastic opportunity to get to know about books across different genres and be able to interact and share ideas amongst our international population. We have our first meeting planned this Tuesday 15th October at 11am in the Curve.

Huma, mother to two high spirited boys at BIS moved to Vietnam from Pakistan in May 2018 hoping to make it a home for her little family. Her transition from having a full-time Human Resource career to a happy stay-at-home mum has made her re-discover her childhood passion for reading. This, coupled with her desire to grow her global family, makes her very excited to take up this task. She is looking forward to exchanging books and views with all who would like to join her on this journey.

Parents from both the primary and Secondary campus of BIS HCMC are welcome to join this club.

Please write to our book club co-ordinator Huma Jaudat at huma.jaudat@gmail.com if you are interested to be a part of it.

October Holiday Sports Camps

During the upcoming holiday, there are a number of sporting opportunities available for Junior Campus children. If you would like your child to attend one of these activities, please click on the link below for more details: 

October Holiday Sports Camp

Health and safety Updates

Helmet Heroes

This Friday in our primary assemblies the children were introduced to our Helmet Heroes campaign that is due to begin after half term.  We believe that everyone who rides a motorbike must wear a helmet irrespective of their age.  Helmet Heroes is a plea to all families to be responsible and purchase a helmet that fits and meets the ECE 22.06 standard (Economic Commission for Europe).  Children are invited to design a poster for our campaign to be handed to Ms Mary or Mr Chris by Friday 1^st November.  Six winners will receive 10 house points each!  The winning posters will be displayed around the campus to remind our community to wear a helmet every time they ride a motorbike. 

Ms Mary and Mr Chris

Photographs

Please take note of the school’s policy regarding photographs.  Photographs shared privately through our online journal, Seesaw, must be kept for personal viewing only; they must not be shared publically on social media.  Any photos taken in school on personal devices must be of your own children only and must not have other parents’ children in the photograph.  All photos taken of your children at school 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.

Collecting Children Safely

Keeping our children safe is extremely important.  From Monday 7th October, we will ask all students, teachers and parents to walk along the corridors when visiting the school between 2pm and 3pm instead of walking across the main playground which will allow us to get the buses on site carefully and the children on the buses in a safe manner. Thank you for your kind support.

 Gate C Exit and Entry

If you are a parent that uses Gate C to enter or exit from school or who has a nanny or driver that takes your children that way, please can we remind you that you need to use the footbridge if you want to cross the road. We do not have guards on duty there to help people cross and with a lot of traffic coming around that corner quite quickly, we must keep the area clear. Please can you heed the requests from staff when they ask you to use the bridge to cross. Thank you for your support.

PTG Weekly Update

What a lovely Pot Luck lunch yesterday for our Primary parents.  Thanks to all who came and shared delicious food. It was wonderful to see our community come together. Find out more in the weekly PTG post found here. 

Managing our Traffic Together

We would like to remind all parents about our Drivers Code of Conduct and once more ask for your assistance and cooperation in helping to make the BIS traffic flow with ease between the campuses and in the general vicinity of the school. Using the Code of Conduct, with key information in both English and Vietnamese, we aim to further educate our drivers to make better choices when they enter the areas around our school campuses and within the Thao Dien area as a whole.

Please take time to talk to you drivers about the this and ensure that it is visible in your car at all times. This will serve as a reminder about our expectations for all drivers when they are bringing our children to school in the morning and picking them up at the end of the day.

Safeguarding at school – it’s everyone’s responsibility

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.

And finally,

Please take note of some upcoming important dates for the diary. 

• Tuesday 15^th October                                     9am – 11am       Open Morning at Juniors for Prospective parents
• Tuesday 15^th October                                     5.30pm                 Young Musician Final @ Theatre
• Wednesday 16^th October                             8.30am                 International Week Prep Meeting
• Thursday 17^th October                                   All Day                  Business and Enterprise Day @ Small Field
• Friday 18^th October                                         8.30am                 EAL Presentations for parents   
• Friday 18^th October                                         2.30pm                 School closes for Half term
• Monday 28^th October                                                                     School reopens after half term
• Friday 1^st November                                                                      Desford Brass Band Visit
• Tuesday 5^th November                                  3pm – 6pm         Specialist PTSCs
• Wednesday 6^th November                           3pm – 6pm         Specialist PTSCs
• Monday 11^th November                               8.30am                 Year 6 Sports Day @big field
• Tuesday 12^th November                               8.30am                 Year 5 Sports Day @big field
• Wednesday 13^th November                        8.30am                 Year 4 Sports Day @big field
• Thursday 14^th November                             8.30am                 Year 3 Sports Day @big field
• Saturday 16^th November                              4pm – 7pm         Family Fun Evening @ Juniors                                   

Thank you for your continued support of our students and school. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. Just one more week to go before the half term holidays. 

Ms Deirdre Grimshaw, Headteacher of Junior Campus