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BISbuzz Issue 09 | 1

BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HO CHI MINH CITY| SECONDARY CAMPUS

OCTOBER 17 2014 | ISSUE 09

IN THIS ISSUE

From the Head Teacher 02

Y12 and Y13 students develop their leadership skills 06

Sport News 08

Community Services 10

PTG Lost Property 11

From The BIStro & Underground 12

October

20th ‐ 24th Half term holiday

29th Oct & 5th Nov Year 11 ‐ CIE IGCSE Maths Exam

29th Monologue Compe on

November

1st ABRSM Theory Exam

5th—9th Seoul Model United Na ons conference

6th—9th Phuket 7's Football

UPCOMING EVENTS


From The Head Teacher

InternationalDay2014–Amessagetostudents

This week, on Friday, The Bri sh Interna onal School in Ho Chi Minh City celebrates its annual Interna‐

onal Day. Many interna onal schools have an interna onal day and many fall into the trap of false inter‐

na onalism – the “f’s”: food, fes vals, fashion, fund‐raising and flags. Are we any different? I think we

are. Let’s start here, with our mission statement that is in all the classrooms.

The Bri sh Interna onal School is a caring and mul cultural community that enables all individuals to re-

alise their academic and personal poten al in a dynamic and challenging learning environment which val-

ues enquiry, perseverance and reflec on. At the Bri sh Interna onal School we act with integrity and treat

one another with respect, learning together as responsible global ci zens.

Of all these phrases and values, it’s the one at the top that has most to do with Interna onal Day: “Global

Ci zens”. Our mission statement in itself isn’t very helpful in describing what global ci zenship actually is.

The IB Organisa on is a li le more helpful. At BIS, we are guided by the IB view of what educa on is for,

what schools are for. Here’s what the IBO says:

“… caring young people who help to create a be er and more peaceful worldthrough intercultural under‐

standing and respect.

“… encourage students across the world to become ac ve, compassionate and lifelong learners who un-

derstand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.”

With this, some aspects of global ci zenship start to come into focus. Global ci zenship is about caring

young people; we can’t have global ci zens in a school without caring young people. It’s also about the

world and about making it be er.

When we say “the world”, we aren’t referring to the lump of

rock that we live on; we are referring to the other people we

share it with. So, Interna onal Day is about Global Ci zenship.

Global ci zenship must be about the world and its people. Let’s

take a closer look.


We live on a rather crowded planet and a rather busy planet. And we share this planet with an astound‐

ing diversity of other life. Life of quite extraordinary beauty and variety.

But we’re not very good at sharing ….

And we’re not looking a er it very well.

This is the globe that we are ci zens of. It looks like we aren’t doing a

very good job.

At least we can be nice to each other. Can’t we?

This is Syria. The country has suffered from civil war for four years. The coun‐

try is split between government troops belonging to Syrian President Bashar

al‐Assad, moderate opposi on groups, Islamists, vigilantes and criminal

gangs. More than 100,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict and

around nine million have fled their homes.

The humanitarian situa on in Syria grows more desperate by the day. 6.5 million people in Syria need im‐

mediate humanitarian aid.

This is South Sudan, the world’s youngest na on.

For over 10 years various ethnic groups have been figh ng in the Darfur re‐

gion against government forces. Hundreds of thousands of people have died

in the figh ng and millions have been forced to flee their homes. Displaced

families face starva on and disease in the coming months if violence keeps

them from returning home to plant their crops. Almost a quarter of a million

children will be severely malnourished by the end of the year, and up to 50,000 children may die.

This is the Democra c Republic of Congo.

Years of armed conflict have displaced nearly 3 million people. Nearly 7 mil‐

lion need assistance now. 60,000 refugees have been forced into the north‐

west. Violence in the southeast has displaced nearly half a million people in

recent months. The DRC ranks last out of 186 countries on the Human Devel‐


This is our globe.

This is the globe we are ci zens of. This is the globe I am a ci zen of. And every day,

I am op mis c, every day, I have hope, every day I am confident that beauty, diver‐

sity and harmony will prevail. Why is this?

No, I do not get my hope from cute animal pictures like this posted to my Facebook News Feed. Not com‐

pletely, anyway. Although they are mildly irrita ng, they remind me of the strength of the human spirit.

Despite all that is wrong in the world, people have a sense of humour and the wish to share the humour

with others, and make each other feel good. They remind me that there is plenty of good news in the

world, if you care to look …

New data shows that energy efficiency efforts in 18 advanced countries through be er technology saved

more energy over the last ten years than the en re United States or China consumed in 2011.

In August, Philips launched an LED lamp that uses just half the energy of tradi onal fluorescents. These

lamps are glass‐free and contain no mercury making them infinitely safer and healthier.

Last week, the five biggest palm oil growers in the world launched and signed the Sustainable Palm Oil

Manifesto with a temporary ban against deforesta on and a pledge to conserve high carbon tropical for‐

ests and peat areas, which are home to endangered species, like orang utans, elephants and gers.

Medical advances are helping us lead longer, healthier lives. Last month, a 12 year old boy in china with

cancer of the spine, was given a replacement vertebrae in his neck, which was made on a 3D printer.

The Ebola outbreak has killed around 4000 people. But a vaccine is now ready for full human trials.

Quadraplegics, people who have lost the use of their arms and legs through injury, are finding new hope

through a new drug being used to treat spinal injuries.

And just outside Paris, a mosque, a synagogue and a church are being built, side by side, as a symbol of

interfaith harmony.

I also get pictures like this in my Facebook news:

I am hopeful and op mis c because of the people I work with every day. The young people of BIS, the

young people of this planet. You are unfailingly idealis c, you have express righteous indigna on about

the wrongs of the world, and with you, the world is in good hands. Hands like yours, and hands like these:


This is Malala Yousafzai. She is 17 years old, the same as year 12s, and Malala is at

school. She is from Pakistan. At the age of 11, the same as those in year 7, Malala

lived in Pakistan. At the age of 11, she started a blog about her life in Pakistan. Her

part of Pakistan was under Taliban rule at the me.

The Taliban believe that women and girls have no right to educa on, should not be

seen in public, should not take part in sport, or listen to or play music, or use com‐

puters. The Taliban in Pakistan had banned educa on for girls and closed down schools. People who diso‐

beyed are s ll beaten, or killed.

Malala blogged about this and she blogged in support of rights to educa on and rights for girls. The Tali‐

ban were not happy.

On the a ernoon of 9 October 2012, two years ago, Malala got on board her school bus in the northwest

Pakistani district of Swat. A gunman asked for her by name, pointed a gun at her and fired three shots.

One bullet hit the le side of her head, travelled under her skin through the length of her face, and then

went into her shoulder.

She survived, and is back at school, this me in England. She con nues to campaign, despite the con n‐

ued threat of assassina on.

Last week she became the youngest ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against the

suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to educa on.

So, what happens on Friday? Interna onal day. A day of flags, food, fashion shows, fund raising. All the Fs

of false interna onalism. A cynical view. I’m not as cynical as that. I have a reason not to be cynical and a

reason to be hopeful.

Our interna onal day is a celebra on of how you are every day.

Our interna onal day is a celebra on of your global ci zenship.

And you deserve that celebra on.

I am confident that the news you will create for the world will be good news.

This Friday, have, in your hearts and in your minds, the spirit of Malala Yousafzai, the spirit of child rights,

women’s rights, educa on and true global ci zenship.

Richard Dyer Head Teacher Secondary


Y12 and Y13 students develop their leadership skills The Key Skills for Leadership course is an a erschool club held every Wednesday a ernoon by Ms Bin‐

nington, Mrs Holmyard and Mr O’Neill. Twenty ambi ous IB students are currently enrolled in the course,

which is accredited by the Chartered Management Ins tute, from doe‐eyed Year 12s to experienced Year

13s, including Prefects. Through doing the course, we hope to develop and exemplify the a ributes of the

IB Learner Profile as well as improve our leadership and teamwork skills.

The first session of the course was held on 17th September. Students sat in groups of 4 and made a list of

the quali es that make a good leader. Each group then envisioned what kind of leader a person would be

if they had, or were lacking, a combina on of two of the characteris cs (see Fig. 1). For example, a person

who is knowledgeable but has low empathy may be narcissis c and self‐absorbed, whilst a person who is

not knowledgeable but has high empathy may be too gullible to be a good leader.

Figure 1: Quali es of a good leader ac vity.

This ac vity conveyed the importance of being Balanced, which is one of the a ributes of the IB Learner

Profile. Too li le of a characteris c such as empathy would make someone a hard and unfeeling leader,

even if they had strengths in other areas; therefore, good leaders must have a balanced distribu on of

characteris cs and mul ple strengths.

In the next session, we began by reading a text about teamwork. Individually, each student underlined a

phrase that stood out as important to them. One person in each group read their phrase aloud and every‐

one else in the group took turns to comment on the phrase and offer their thoughts about why it was an

important statement. The purpose of this ac vity was to ensure we had a focussed conversa on and real‐

ly listened to others. This helped us to become more Open Minded, another a ribute of the IB Learner

Profile, because we had to be cri cally aware of our own personal viewpoint and try to understand other

people’s perspec ves. This skill is important for IB students as we must understand that there are differ‐

ent ways of viewing the same issue. As a leader, it is cri cal that one understands the principles and be‐

liefs of others to be able to respond to different situa ons and adapt accordingly.

Students then par cipated in an ac vity called “Lost at Sea” which demonstrated the power of collec ve

intelligence. The scenario was that a group of people were on a sinking boat and had to rank items in or‐

der of their importance for survival. We completed the ac vity individually and as a group, and then our

choices were compared to the recommenda ons of survival experts. We found that most individuals were

more likely to survive when in a group. This reflected the findings of a study on collec ve intelligence car‐

ried out by Woolley et al. (2010) at MIT which found that:


There was no correla on between the average intelligence of group members and the collec ve intel‐ligence of the group;

Groups with greater collec ve intelligence took turns and made equitable contribu ons; No one person dominated in the most successful groups; People that scored highly in social sensi vity raised the collec ve intelligence of a group; Women made groups smarter because they tended to have higher levels of social sensi vity and

therefore developed posi ve rela onships within a group.

Social sensi vity links to the IB Learner Profile a ribute of being Caring. Successful leaders must be able to empathise with their team not only to communicate effec vely, but also to create a posi ve atmos‐phere for dynamic and produc ve teamwork.

Last week, we were introduced to the 7 norms of collabora on as tool for becoming be er Communica‐tors, another a ribute of the IB Learner Profile. We learnt, for example, that by paraphrasing and leaning towards the speaker, one can show a en veness. To put these skills into prac ce, we did a role play in which the listener tried to use the 7 norms of collabora on and an observer gave them feedback about how effec vely they did so. This ac vity gave us the opportunity to reflect upon our own level of social sensi vity and how we can improve group dynamics through our approach to communica on with oth‐ers.

The students all agree that the leadership course has so far been very produc ve and rewarding. Not only does it improve our ability to lead and to work within a team, it also provokes a deeper understanding of the IB Learner Profile, which is invaluable towards our success as IB Learners and future leaders. Many of the course par cipants have already taken on posi ons of responsibility in school commi ees in order to u lise and further develop their leadership skills. We look forward to par cipa ng in the future ac vi es of this club with great gusto!

By Hok Yin Kong, Hikaru Ho a and Susie Choi


Sport News U19 Boys 2014 Volleyball Championship On the 9th October 2014, the U19 BIS boys’ volleyball team par cipated in the U19 Volleyball Champion‐ships, hosted here at BIS, involving SSIS, TIS and ISHCMC. BIS played their best against every team and it was a great opportunity for the team to compete and gain more experience from other schools. Most im‐portant of all, every single members of the team put in 100% effort and displayed a posi ve a tude to‐wards every game and other players. Even though, the whole team did not manage to win the champi‐oninship, we all s ll keep our heads up because we all know that “Every winner was once a beginner”! We will keep on training and preparing for next year’s 2015 Volleyball Championships. Work hard! Play hard!

Hoang Nguyen (U19 Team Captain) U19 Girls Volleyball City Champs

The U19 Girls’ Volleyball team took part in the annual City Championships on Thursday 9th October. With 3 other very skilled and experienced schools par cipa ng, the compe on proved fierce. BIS have been compe ng against some extremely strong sides this season and the City Championships proved no differ‐ent.

Their first game saw them take on Taipei Interna onal School. Having lost to this side in their first game of the season, the girls were keen to walk away with a win. A er losing the first set, the girls put in a solid team performance and came out figh ng in the second to take the match to a deciding third set. Unfortu‐nately for us, TIS proved too strong this me and with some very consistent play and solid defence they took the set 15‐8.

SSIS were our next opponents, the tournament favourites. A er the disappointment from the first round the girls were more determined and mo vated than ever and the first set saw them play some of their very best volleyball. Some fantas c individual defensive performances from Roos Kruimer and Hannah Schmi kept us in some tough points and great a acking play from Angela Villamil and Maya Subba saw us take the set right to the wire. SSIS kept their composure and managed to come from behind to take the set 25‐23 and eventually went on to claim the match.

A disappointed BIS side were unable to repeat their performance against another strong ISHCMC team, losing in straight sets. This put us in a playoff for 3rd and 4th place against our first opponents TIS. Despite being exhausted a er some extremely close and gruelling matches the girls really tested the TIS side. Coming from a set down, they managed to break through the solid defensive side and take the match to a deciding third set. Unfortunately, the girls were unable seal the win and narrowly lost in the final set 11‐15.

A well‐contended and enjoyable tournament with excep onal individual performances from all our stu‐dents. Commisera ons girls but a superb team effort, well done. U13 FOBISIA Games Details rela ng to the U13 FOBISIA Games were emailed to parents this week: Date: 10th – 14th March 2015 Loca on: Taipei Interna onal School Age: U13 on 1st August 2014 Deadline to return reply slip: Friday 31st October 2014 Phil Drake Director of Sport/Ac vi es & Trips Coordinator


Community Services Eco‐CommitteeMeeting On Friday 10th October, a group of various like‐minded people convened

in an unlit, non air‐condi oned study room to have the first mee ng of the

year for the AP2 Eco‐Commi ee.

The event was hosted by our chairperson, Keegan Chua who was in turn

supported by Mr Durrant and myself. In a endance were students from all

year groups with a par cularly strong presence from Year 10 and the mem‐

bers of Greenr, in addi on to teaching assistants, facili es management, catering & senior management—special

thanks go to our new parent representa ves Ms Brink and Ms Ka an who were made very welcome.

A brief overview was given, firstly focusing on our main achievements to date—gaining the Silver Award towards

the end of the last school year—then to provide an understanding as to what was needed to progress in our quest

for the Green Flag Award. Proceeded by lively discussions around our ac on plan and by weighing up which envi‐

ronmental topics would be best tackled—the challenges facing the campus and our students in terms of Energy

(consump on), Waste, Li er and their global implica ons along with some more radical thinking. Ideas regarding

what ac on could be taken, who would be responsible, what had been done before, the monitoring and evalua on

of any data collected and how we communicate to students, parents and our surrounding community were also

covered in detail.

We will meet twice a term, whilst the members of Greenr meet weekly and are tasked to work through our Ac on

Plan, the Year 7 students will be involved later in the term through their ILS program—but one promise is that we

will keep you all well informed of our progress.

Ian Wilson Community Service Projects

What do you do with old batteries?

Good ques on! With every portable electronic device using ba eries of some sort, we know they don’t last forever. They power your calculators, remote controls for your AC, TV, music player, children's toys, mobile phones, laptops and much more, but what do you do when they finally stop working?

Answer: Bring them into school As part of our commitment to protec ng the environment, each campus in BIS strives to reuse, recycle and reduce our waste wherever possible. Whether it is paper, card, plas c drinks bo les or even ba eries, we would like you at home to think before disposing of it with your regular waste. We understand that it isn’t that easy finding recy‐cling points around the city so we have taken the ini a ve. Each campus has a specific ba ery recycling point—their loca ons are: AP1 Reception AP2 Under Croft TX Reception We accept all household ba eries—AA, AAA cells, rechargeable, bu on type and mobile phone ba eries The reason (the small print): Ba eries that are thrown out with regular waste usually end up in land fill sites or some mes even burned. Over a period of me they can leak heavy metals (such as lead or mercury) and corrosive acids which pollute our rivers, lakes and groundwater, contamina ng the environments of many living things. The good news is that recycled materials contained in old ba eries can actually be re‐used by various industries.


This year’s 1st Lost Property event was held on 15th October, during lunchtime…

PTG Lost Property


From the Underground & BIStro

Menu 3 (27 October)

From the Underground & BIStro

DAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

MAIN COURSE CHOOSE 1

Chicken Carbonara OR

Roast Pork, Rice

Pasta Bolognese-Pork OR

Sweet & Sour Fish, Rice

Battered Fish & Chips OR

Nasi Lemak (Chicken & Egg)

Chili Con Carne - Beef, Rice OR

Won Ton Noodle Soup

VEGETABLES Bok Choy & Carrot

Salad Long Bean, Carrot

Salad

Morning Glory, Carrot Salad

Choy sum & Carrot Salad

SOUP Choy sum Spinach & Melon Tomato & Tofu Soup Mixed Vegetable

DESSERT Mixed Fruit Mixed Fruit Mixed Fruit Mixed Fruit

VEGETARIAN

Braised Tofu & Beans, Rice

Choy sum Soup Mixed Fruit

Veggie Pasta Chickpeas Salad

Mixed Fruit

Vegetarian Chili Con Carne, Rice Tomato & Tofu

Soup Mixed Fruit

Tofu Noodle Soup

Choy sum & Carrot

Mixed Fruit

DELI BAR OPTION

Baguette & Wrap Fill it with a variety of choices including ham, chicken, cheese, tuna mayonnaise, beef, baked bean,

mixed bean, bolognese sauce

SNACK MENU

Swiss Roll Crème Puff Fruit Cup

Chocolate Mud Donut

Fruit Cup

Curry Puff Samosa

Fruit Cup

Muffin Sponge Cake

Fruit Cup

FRIDAY

Honey Lime Chicken, Sautéed Potato

OR Beef Rendang, Rice

Broccoli & Carrot Salad

Watercress

Mixed Fruit

Aloo Tikki Burger Mixed Beans Salad

Mixed Fruit

Curry Puff Samosa

Fruit Cup

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