Mr Carl Mincher: Weekly Update 07/06/2019

08 June 2019

Sean O'Neill (58 posts) Head Teacher, Secondary Campus View Profile

Dear parents,

From the BIS Grand Prix to Fold n’ Fly and a special PTG Quiz our week has been characterised by events that have enabled students of all ages to collaborate and learn, even compete with one another.

It was a great pleasure to welcome parents of our new Year 7 students to the campus on Wednesday and also to offer an especially warm welcome to those parents who will be joining BIS for the first time as Year 7 parents in August. Our Night of the Arts was a tremendous showcase of performance and creativity and was a further highlight of another memorable week.

Overview of the week’s activities

Graduation 2019 in images

BIS - Graduation 2019 in images

I am delighted to share with you the images from our recent Graduation Ceremony.

The Ceremony and our evening celebration were a wonderful send off for our Class of 2019 and the chance to reminisce on the day will no doubt be a joy for all the families who were involved.

Year 6 Transition Day

What a tremendous day our ‘new Year 7’ brought to the Secondary Campus on Wednesday. This transition day was a great success as our students arrived with great curiosity and energy eager to learn more about their next chapter as they move to secondary in August. They were a wonderful addition to our campus for the day as they took on the challenge of their first secondary timetable experience. In their new classes they showed themselves more than capable of making this big step in August and this bodes very well for the year ahead.

A huge well done to our new Year 7...we’re all looking forward to welcoming you back soon.

They left us full of energy and excited to start their secondary school journey with us in August.

Y7 Transition Buddies

A really warm welcome was extended to our new Year 7 by the outgoing Year 7 who used their recent experiences of life and learning on the Secondary Campus to show our Year 6 visitors the ropes. They did an excellent job and I want to extend a huge vote of thanks to them here.

The full team was:

7B Iris Vu/Yule Park

7I Seo Yun Park/ Aaryan Raghunathan

7S Louis Le/ Risa Ezuka

7H Winnie Shooter/Tim Nguyen

7C Keira Cran/Evan Ong

7V Tammy Bui Nguyen/Duc Nguyen

7N Linh Dan Do/Oscar Daumas-Snowball

Fold n’ Fly

The age old pastime of folding paper airplanes and competing for flight duration or distance came to life on Wednesday lunchtime but with a smart technological twist.

Mr Chandler, our STEAM coordinator, along with the DT team had designed and built ingenious airplane launchers that brought a new sense of awe to flight.

Hundreds of designs were launched and tested. The excitement of the paper airplane has not been lost it seems as our Year 6 students, secondary students and their teachers all joined in this traditional fun.

Thanks to Mr Chandler for putting this event on.

BIS Grand Prix

On Friday we welcomed schools from the Nord Anglia SEA Region and HCMC to join us for the second F1 in Schools BIS Grand Prix.

The day was opened with a presentation from our F1 team, Nam Phong, who are preparing to compete in the World Finals next term in Abu Dhabi.

The school teams competed throughout the day designing their vehicles for racing and ensuring that their team branding and marketing were strong too. The final results will be posted shortly.

The day was a great success and certainly met its aim of developing the STEAM thinking and making skills of all the students involved.

We were so pleased that our F1 in Schools team were joined at the event by so many of their sponsors included Ms Vu Thi Quynh Phuong from Mercedes (pictured above), Everest Education, Milo, Scivi Travel and Sunlife.

The F1 in Schools Team Lead, Mr Greg Roberts said of the event, “The BIS Grand Prix celebrated all things STEAM and it connected schools from different communities and countries through the F1 in schools programme. The fun and friendly competition in the event gave the students such delight as they watched their own designed race car speed down the track in under one second. I would like to thank all the students, teachers and staff who made this possible.”

The final answer was ‘Yellow’ - A Quiz to remember fondly…

Our PTG supported quizzes are always great fun.

Students love the challenge of the brain teasers in teams that for some have been a regular for several years. This week’s quiz attracted an even wider range of students - there were special pizzas and extra special cupcakes too, but why? From Year 6 to our new Year 13 and even alumni joined the quiz to be a part of what was Ms Claire Easter’s final quiz at BIS, a historical event indeed when you consider that she has been the quizmaster for a decade. She has been the energy and some would say devious and mischievous mind behind questions that have really contorted our brains for those years and always in an atmosphere of great fun.

After the traditional team prizes were awarded we ended the quiz with a celebration of Ms Easter’s quizzing history at BIS and shared our appreciation and thanks for all those amazing times.

Students presented her with quiz related mementos and a ‘Quizmaster of the Decade’ trophy.

Ms Easter from all of us - we will miss your quizzes so much, thank you!

The Next Question is - who will step into those shoes and be the next BIS Quizmaster?

BIS Night of the Arts

The BIS Night of the Arts was back by popular demand pon Wednesday evening!

Dedicated to showcasing our Design, Visual and Performing Arts Departments we enjoyed a wonderful evening observing lesson demonstrations, open rehearsals and live performances from our students. From The Great Gatsby to ensembles, from Life Drawing lessons to Design workshops the whole event was extremely well attended and enjoyed by all.

My thanks to all department teams involved and particularly Anne-Marie Astley, Drama Teacher, for her incredible organisation in putting the whole event together.

The next opportunity for parents to join us will be next Wednesday 12th June for our Head Teacher’s Coffee Morning (8:30am in the Study Room). Please join us for the morning to hear about what’s happening in school and plans for the future.

Year 5 Secondary Science Circus

Ever wonder what our teachers get up to when students are on study leave or on expeditions? Let’s just say the learning never stops. From Year 5’s Secondary Science Circus to the Year 6 Transition Day this week, our teachers have been busy sharing their love of Science, Maths, DT and other subjects with the younger students from our Junior Campus. I hope that they are all excited about the day when it will be their turn to cross the bridge to be a full-time Secondary Campus student.

Khoa and Luna Lovegood

Khoa is a year 7 student who has persevered so positively with his English studies this year and so Mr Redmond, English teacher and Assistant Head of Year 7, made a special presentation in recognition of this in class recently.

Luna Lovegood is a character from the Harry Potter stories who is known for her open mind and imagination, “she is likely to believe 10 impossible things before breakfast”, and has a strong belief in all creatures. Khoa couldn’t believe what happened next...

Be involved

Join the BIS Team - Job Vacancy

Examinations Officer (Part Time)

We are looking to recruit our next Exams Officer. BIS students are well known for their all-round education and high academic outcomes and they deserve the best of conditions in which to demonstrate their abilities.

The successful applicant will work at the BIS HCMC Secondary Campus and will ensure the provision of an excellent examinations service for our students. The Examinations Officer role requires highly developed skills of organisation and communication as well as an appreciation of student needs.

We are seeking someone who can demonstrate exceptional administrative skills and a proven ability to consistently deliver high quality outcomes to strict deadlines.

This position is offered as a part-time contract with variable commitment during the year. The pattern of work will be shaped according to the demands of the role and total 114 days annually.

If you are interested in this position with us please forward a letter of application and full CV which must include a recent professional photograph and the contact details of two referees, one of whom must be your current employer to bis.recruitment@bisvietnam.com by Wednesday 12th June.

BIS Triathlon - Saturday 8th June

For the first time ever BIS are holding our very own Triathlon. We are hoping to give all members of our community a fun and challenging morning.

Event Details

Date: Saturday 8th June

Time: 6.45am to 10.30am

Location: BIS and Nguyen Van Huong Street

Head Teachers Coffee Morning and PTG Catch-up

Key items to be discussed in the meeting will encompass some of the developments in preparation for next academic year including; the summer facilities improvement programme, improvements to Parent Communications systems through iSAMS and the 2019-2020 Wellbeing Curriculum.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday 12th June

Time: 8.30am to 9.30am

Location: Secondary Campus Study Room

This event will be followed by the opportunity to join the PTG catch up meeting and to tour the campus.

BIS Sports Awards Evening - Friday 14th June

The second annual BIS Sports Awards will be taking place on the evening of Friday 14 June at the Novotel Diamond Ballroom. Players of the season awards for each team, players of the year award for each sport, special guests, great food and partying with even better friends is to be looked forward to in this celebratory event.

Event Details

Date: Friday 14th June

Location: Novotel Diamond Ballroom

We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible to congratulate each other on a highly successful year in sport.