BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HANOI

NEWSLETTERFEBRUARY 13 2015| ISSUE 21

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UPCOMING EVENTS

16th - 27th Tet Holiday – School closes

2nd All students back to school5th – 6th Year 4 Ba Vi Expedition Trip5th IGCSE Music Showcase9th – 13th International Week10th Year 8 Parents Evening12th IB Information Morning13th Mufti Day14th Maths Olympiad14th - 15th Bronze DoEIA Practice16th - 20th Science Week20th Primary School Council to visit SOS Children’s Village Year 11 Full Reports Distributed

IN THIS ISSUE

From Mr. Anthony RowlandsFrom Mr. Christopher ShortFrom Mrs. Karen HanrattyPrimary Road Safety WeekYear 3 Tet FairF1/2 & F3 Flower Garden TripYear 2 Visit to Hanoi City

0203

04-0506070808

Whole School Tet Assembly Tet FestivalContacts

09-1011-12

13

MARCH

Our fundraising was a wonderful achievement by everyone involved and, hopefully, we can bring some comfort and happiness over the Tet period to people who are less fortunate than ourselves.

This morning we held our Whole School Tet Assembly which was attended by all our students from F1 to Year 12 and organised by our excellent Vietnamese staff. It was an exciting, colourful and enjoyable event showcasing some wonderful performances by our students. It was also very pleasing to see so many parents in attendance to celebrate Tet with us.

I will be in Vietnam for the whole Tet period; the first week in Hanoi and the second week in Da Nang. Therefore, I will be able to fully appreciate the Tet celebrations in this fascinating country.

I would like to wish you all a wonderful Tet holiday with a Chuc Mung Nam Moi and Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

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From Mr Anthony Rowlands - Principal of BIS Hanoi

The Year of Goat is nearly upon us as we approach a significant time of year for Vietnamese people. Over the last couple of weeks there has definitely been a Tet feel around the school. Last Saturday, our Tet festival was a great success with large numbers of the school community enjoying all the

entertainment and activities on offer. What was really satisfying was the fundraising that we did on the day to support our school charities when we organised the following activities:

• An art auction where BIS students’ artwork was sold and this raised 73,500,000VND

• A PTG Stall selling food and drinks and this raised 16,050,000VND

• A Student Council stall selling items that were donated by the school community and this raised 5,806,000VND

The charities we currently support are: • School on The Boat • Thinh Dai Pagoda • Sympa Meals • Tam Dao Bear Sanctuary• RICE scholarship programme• SOS Children’s Village Mai Dich

As I approach my third Tet in Vietnam I realise how much I have learnt over the last three years. I have a far better understanding of the preparation for and the celebration of Tet and once again our Tet Fair and Tet Assembly helped all our staff and students enjoy this important festival in Vietnam. Staff

and students experiencing their first Tet really enjoyed the opportunity to see how the event is celebrated in our host country.

We launched a campaign last Friday on speaking English in the classroom. The reasons for this are threefold. It ensures that all students are involved in discussions which is increasingly important as we have more students from different nationalities in the classroom. Students talking in English also allows the teacher to pick up more easily on misunderstandings and misconceptions. Finally it allows students to practise the terminology they will use in the

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From Mr Christopher Short - Head of Secondary

assessments and examinations. The Student Council have reviewed the guidelines we have created and like that we still value a student’s native language and they support the need to be more inclusive around the school.

This week has been Road Safety Week. This is the second such week we have run in the brief history of the school which shows how important we think the topic is. Vietnam’s road system is rapidly allowing for faster travel and this makes it even more imperative that all members of the BIS community take basic road safety precautions such as wearing a seatbelt, wearing a certified helmet and ensuring your bicycle/motorbike/car is properly maintained. As the

to Newton’s Laws of Motion”. Thank you to Mr Westropp for leading this important week in Secondary.I wish all families an enjoyable and safe Tet.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

KS3 FOOTBALL WITH CONCORDIA

This week saw the last of our Primary parents’ workshops for this term. “Learning Insights” have taken place for each year group, with a special focus particularly relevant to the teaching and learning currently taking place in that year group. Parents had an opportunity to hear about that aspect of the curriculum and to try some activities out for themselves, before being invited into class to observe a lesson taking place. I was very pleased with the number of parents who attended each session and particularly pleased with the feedback that I received from parents. A comment that was repeated several times was along the lines of “I had no idea that children were working at this kind of level!” Parents also commented that the workshops would help them to better understand and support

children’s learning at home.

Next term we will be holding “Shared Learning” meetings, when parents will be invited into school again, this time to spend time with their child and his/her teachers individually. They will have the opportunity to look at the work children have been doing in school and to discuss what is going well as well as future steps for improvement.

This week is Road Safety Week as you will read about later on in this newsletter. I have observed children involved in a range of learning activities about different aspects of road safety, including poster making, debating the wearing of seatbelts, filming road safety promotion videos, taking part in the road sign competition and much more.

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From Mrs Karen Hanratty - Head of Primary

The understanding and celebration of Tet has also figured largely in lessons this week, from making Tet cards and peach blossom branches, to rehearsing performances for today’s Tet assembly and creating Tet artwork. This is all on top of the children’s ongoing learning in English, mathematics and science. What a busy place BIS Hanoi is!

I should like to wish you and your families a wonderful Tet holiday.

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The children of the Primary School Council have been busy over the past few weeks sorting and counting the shoe boxes donated for the children of the RICE Scholarship programme. It is with great delight that they announce that 88 boxes have been collected from the Early Years & Primary School. We would like to say a very big “Thank you!” to all children and parents who supported this appeal. Your support has been appreciated by the Primary School Council and will be very much welcomed by the children in the north of Vietnam who will benefit from these wonderful Tet gifts.

SHOE BOX APPEAL

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This week has been Road Safety Week. The children have researched different issues that affect the safety of people on the roads of Vietnam. Like for example, you are 23% more likely to be in an accident if you use your phone and drive. The Primary school have been busy displaying this information by making posters, taking part in road sign quizzes and even creating an advert about

an element of road safety. Whilst making the advert, many children felt the issue that most affected road safety for Vietnamese people was wearing helmets when travelling on a motorcycle. Did you know that helmet use reduces the risk of motorcycle injuries by 69% and motorcycle fatalities by 42%? As well as this, children have also been looking at how to cross the road safely. We have been aiming to get the children to remember the key terms, ‘Look, Listen and Live’. To cap the week off, the Primary school had a disco, with the theme of ‘Be Bright, Be Seen’. The Disco was designed to raise the importance of being seen by vehicles at night, by using lights, reflectors, glow sticks and wearing bright clothes. The competition winners for the poster competition were Tri Anh from class 2B and Nguyen Phuong from class 6B. This has been a fantastic week, with important messages that the children will remember.

PRIMARY ROAD SAFETY WEEK

Mr. Samuel WilcoxKS2 Coordinator

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Over the last few weeks children in Year 3 have been busy young business men and women. Through their ‘Young Enterprise’ project they worked in teams to design, create, manufacture, package, advertise and market a range of products that they thought would be attractive to other children in Primary. They then organized a sale of their goods on Thursday this week during break and lunchtime, selling their products to children and staff. Through their efforts they raised an amazing 1.999.000 VND which they have decided to donate to the Tam Dao Bear Sanctuary when they go there to visit next term.

YEAR 3 TET FAIR

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YEAR 2 VISIT TO HANOI CITY

F1/2 & F3 Flower Garden Visit

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Whole School Tet Assembly

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BIS HANOI TET FESTIVAL 2015

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Good communication is important to us and we would like to ensure that you have the correct contact information in order for you to call the school:

School Number: 04 3946 0435

Extention number:

Receptionist: 0(For all general enquiries)

Principal’s Office: 208principaloffice@bishanoi.com(If you wish to contact the School Principal)

Business Manager’s Office: 109thaonguyen@bishanoi.com

Primary Office: 220primaryoffice@bishanoi.com(For all enquiries regarding the Primary Section)

Secondary Office: 215secondaryoffice@bishanoi.com(For all enquiries regarding the Secondary Section)

Admission Department: 222/122/555/777/888bishanoi@bishanoi.comdessydelevaux@bishanoi.com (Admission Manager)jinnyjung@bishanoi.com (Korean Liaison Officer)hatruong@bishanoi.comtrambui@bishanoi.com

Marketing Department: 189huyennguyenngoc@bishanoi.com(For all enquiries regarding Marketing)

Finance Department: 202(For all enquiries regarding school fees)

Medical Room: 117/303linhdieu@bishanoi.com (Main school)liennguyen@bishanoi.com (Early Years Building)(For all enquiries regarding Medical Issues)

Uniform Shop: 221tamle@bishanoi.comnhungpham@bishanoi.com(For all enquiries regarding School Uniform)

School Buses: 218nganguyenthithuy@bishanoi.com(For all requiries regarding School Buses)