March 2015 | The AIS Messenger 1

Australian International School | Issue no.19 www.aisvietnam.com

Xi Campus (Kindergarten) 190 Nguyen Van Huong StreetThao Dien Ward | District 2 | HCMCt: +84 8 3519 2727 | f: +84 8 3744 6961

Thao Dien Campus (Kindergarten & Primary School)APSC Compound 36 Thao Dien Road | District 2 | HCMCt: +84 8 3744 6960 | f: +84 8 3744 6961

Thu Thiem Campus (Kindergarten, Primary, Middle & Senior School) 264 Mai Chi Tho (East-West Highway) An Phu Ward | District 2 | HCMCt: +84 8 3742 4040 | f: +84 8 3740 7361

The AIS

Message from Executive Principal

essenger

CounCil of international SChoolS, CiS

We are pleased to inform you that AIS have been accepted for accreditation with the Council of International Schools (CIS). This is a global standard of excellence. We will be inspected at the beginning of the new academic year.

110 univerSity plaCeS offered

I am happy to update you on the progress our students are making in securing a university place for next year.

Currently 51 students are applying for university. They have applied for over 170 university places of which 110 places have been offered so far – an outstanding result.

KidZone at thu thiem

Kidzone has been offered at our Sports Centre (in Thao Dien) for some years. We have now introduced Kidzone at Thu Thiem campus. Kidzone runs from 4.00pm to 6.pm, Monday to Friday. Students can study and take part in activities. See Mr Zuko or the PE Department for further information. You can also access the programme at myAis (from the school website).

StudieS anxiety

This generation of 2015 school students finds itself in territory where no man or woman has gone before, in that they have access to considerably more knowledge, information and communications which increases the complexity of their lives.

that can bring earlier career entrance – but for many young people career choice remains uncertain for years. My point is that young people face increasing communications complexities as they have immediate access to more knowledge that may bring increasing power struggles with their friends, families and acquaintances; this

doesn’t make their lives easier. Parents of today’s school children do always walk a tightrope of providing support, a minimal amount of guidance (the child needs to find their own way), and the keys to unlocking the motivation that their child needs.

It is apparent that the key ingredients to maximising academic outcomes are effective organisation and planning ahead in using available time; and study effort. Ability is a third factor that can assist better results but many very able people underachieve when they do not use their time well and they are not motivated to produce their best efforts. A child who places themselves under enormous study stress can be assisted by having a longer term view of the many possibilities and options that are available to them. But it is no easy path that parents or their children walk in trying to establish a child’s place in the world of work and academic status. As a parent, I feel for all our families as we continue with life’s struggles for our identities and our place in this connected world.

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Whilst Francis Bacon is attributed with the phrase, “Knowledge is power,” knowledge also brings anxiety and stresses which only that individual can know and feel. In my experience it may be our highest achieving students who know the most and they can be affected by anxieties from this knowledge and understanding. The phrase ‘blissful ignorance’ may lie at the other end of the spectrum from those whose aim is the highest.

Our staff have years of expertise in working with seniors whose examination and assessment marks are of immense personal importance to those young men and women in their studies and it is never easy for anyone dealing with these stresses.

It may be in some ways that university entrance is increasingly competitive, however, I would argue that access to university courses has never been easier. Even to gain a place in the highest status courses there are multiple pathways. This week Melbourne University came to speak to our students and to interview candidates. They are ranked #33 in the world and #3 in the world for graduate employment. It is wonderful that they want our students and they want the IB Diploma.

It is very rare for a sixteen or seventeen year old to know what they want to do in their world of work for the rest of their lives. Melbourne and the other top universities we work with to place our students want the wide field of pre university study that the IB Diploma offers. Undergraduate course entry to university may open a new world of possibilities that allow a student to better understand themselves. The main advantage in achieving a maximised result in school studies is to save time

The AIS Messenger | March 20152

SeCondary SChool

This time of year the Secondary school focus often shifts more towards our older students. All those involved in external examinations this May and June sat for ‘Mock examinations’ at the start of the month. Year 11 and 13 students and parents attended parent conferences on Wednesday.

Mid-semester report cards will be issued for students in years 7-10 and 12 on Managebac on Thursday 2nd April 2015. Parent conferences will take place on Wednesday 8th April from 2:50 – 6:00pm. Conferences will be booked online as usual. Details will come out with the report cards. Note, students must attend conferences with their parents.

Earlier this month we held our annual Open Day. This provided non-AIS families with the opportunity to see our school, teachers and staff in action first hand. I spoke to the majority of those visiting and their responses were unanimously positive. My thanks to the students who came in to celebrate what we do with our visitors.

Message from the Deputy Executive Principal

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Two weeks ago I attended the Vietnam Tech conference her in the city. Technology is one of those areas that is moving incredibly fast and it is our responsibility as educators to respond to this progress. We have already begun our technology planning for the short and longer term. More details on this in the coming months.

Next week we host our annual school production. This year it is a musical adaptation of Alice (in Wonderland). I encourage everyone to come along, enjoy the evening and support the students and staff who have worked so hard to bring the show to life.

This time of year can be a challenging one for students. They have been at school for two thirds of the year and so it is easy for a sense of comfort, possibly complacency to set in. I would ask that parents continue to support us by ensuring their children come to school on time, in uniform and fully prepared to learn.

Alice inWonderland

AIS School Production 2015 • Place: AIS AuditoriumShow Times: Friday, 3 April and Saturday, 4 April 2015 | 6-7.30pm

Mad Hatter - Elspeth Green (9GN)Alice - Nguyen Thai Nhu Quynh (7GN)

Internationalism

Having been an international educator for over 24 years, there have been many aspects of international education that have been positive and some not so positive. The least favourable aspect for all of us is how transient the international school population is. I have made many great friends over the years but only to say goodbye after 2 or 3 years and expecting never to see these people again. Thankfully through the social media such as Facebook, I am now able to catch up with friends and rekindle old friendships. I even managed to meet colleagues that I worked with 20 years ago in Thailand (yes, we are still working and very much alive).

On that recent reunion it made me think how small the world has become. I remember my father telling me about his cousin who left Ireland to live in Boston in 1942 but never returned and no one managed the trip to Boston to visit. How different it would be today with the ease of travel as well as my old friend Facebook. I wonder how many of our children will keep in touch when it is time to move on.

Other positive aspects of living overseas are the opportunity to learn about other cultures and gain some understanding about different ways of life. My family and I certainly benefited from our time in the Middle East and living in a completely different culture to our home country.

In the Primary School, opportunities to share experiences between students, parents and teachers are a critical element in developing a sense of international mindedness. This begins with each student’s ability to develop a better sense of identity. We encourage all members of our community to share their personal histories as well as their cultural identities. In gaining an appreciation of themselves, the students are then exposed to other cultures, making use of our diverse

student population. With this in mind, cross-cultural celebrations are encouraged throughout the Primary School. We invite students, their families and friends to lead these events. If you would like to be involved in ‘celebrating cultures’ please let us know. This year we had great fun experiencing our host country of Vietnam by celebrating Moon Festival and the TET Fair. We also learned a lot about Australia when we celebrated Australia Day. One of my favourites was listening to children sing Ireland’s Call on Saint Patrick’s Day (go raibh maith agat) and made an old Irishman very happy.

As you know, we hold International Day once a year, in which parent participation is essential. This could be a great opportunity to share the beauties of your culture with all of us. If you are keen to get involved please let us know and we will put you in touch with the right people.

Hopefully you will be able to come to school on International Day and share in our very rich diversity and internationalism.

Message from the Principal of Kindergarten & Primary

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The AIS Messenger | March 20154

TEACHER FEATURE

“If music be the food of love…” (Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet) then you might expect Jacqui Gaynor to be really fat, or starry-eyed, as she

devours music with a passion. But she burns a lot of carbs as head of music at AIS - teaching classes, organising shows (like the recent “Once Upon a Time”) and directing musicals (like the upcoming “Alice in Wonderland”) – perhaps explaining why she is, in fact, very lithe. And her steely focus on getting kids to appreciate music keeps her feet planted firmly on the ground.

Jacqui moved around a lot in her early years. Born in Waimate, a small town in the south island of New Zealand not far from Dunedin, she moved to Sydney when she was 7, and then back to Dunedin when she was 12. It was around this time that Jacqui started taking piano and violin lessons. Her music classes at school were “boring” and she had to study music at a local convent for her final school years.

Jacqui undertook a Bachelor of Music Composition and Performance in Dunedin and Christchurch, which focused on classical music, but her attention was drawn to modern music, such as The Eagles, and Fleetwood Mac. After graduation, Jacqui started teaching music at Blue Mountain College, in West Otago, often taking the school choir on tour. In her spare time, Jacqui wrote and acted in musicals.

She also played the piano and sang and, deciding she wanted to do more performance work, Jacqui moved to Sydney in 1981. Over the next 10 years, she toured around Australia, the US, Europe and Japan. Tired of life on the road, Jacqui returned to Sydney in 1990, and competed in the Gold Guitars country music competition – losing narrowly to Keith Urban!

Comfy back in Australia, living on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Jacqui decided she wanted to get back into teaching, but focusing on primary aged kids. “I wanted to get them into music while they were still young and

impressionable”, she explains. In her 20 years living on the Gold Coast, Jacqui did a Graduate Diploma in Primary Education at Griffith University, taught music at several primary schools, and had a few kids. She has five, now aged 15 to 36! Her eldest teaches high school drama; the second runs music events; the third is a professional musical theatre actor; the fourth is studying engineering and management; and the fifth is a junior tennis champion. And all of them play multiple musical instruments, like their mother.

Catching the travel bug again, Jacqui moved to Ho Chi Minh City in 2010 to teach music at AIS. Having mostly worked in Australia, the US and America, she had not been planning a move to Asia, but immediately felt welcome and at home in Saigon, especially at AIS. “The kids here love music, and they are so responsive”, she says. “I feed off their energy”.

Now in her fourth year at AIS, Jacqui had 45 Year 6 kids playing the guitar in the recent “Once Upon a Time” concert, and she is planning something spectacular for “Alice in Wonderland” in April. “The kids are going to blow the audience’s socks off ”.

Never content with the status quo, Jacqui has all sorts of ideas for expanding the music programme even further at AIS, with talk of a school orchestra and choir.

Her approach to teaching music is simple: “As a performer I needed to wow the crowd within the first few bars. So too as a teacher, I try to grab the kids’ attention, to “win” them, right at the start.” As a natural extrovert, Jacqui seems to have no difficulty in doing this.

By Jacqui Gaynor

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When asked: why study music? Jacqui responds with a question: why breathe? Music may be the food of love, but it is also the stuff of life. “I can’t imagine life without music. Children need to be exposed to it at a young age, and encouraged to continue with it throughout life. Music expands the mind and relaxes the soul”.

March 2015 | The AIS Messenger 5

Student SucceSS

Congratulations to VAN Duy Bao, a Year 11 student, who recently took part in the first

Young Makers Challenge (YMC) where hundreds of high school students were to imagine, design, and prototype engineering projects using Intel’s Galileo board, which requires hardware and software skills. After three months going through the Challenge’s key phases, Bao’s team won 1st place for their invention of “Scoutbot”, a remote-controlled car controlled via a smartphone app. through bluetooth or Wifi. In a clever user-interface mod, you can tilt the phone and control where the car goes using your phone’s accelerometer. And it’s equipped with temperature and environmental sensors to help rescue teams virtually by going into environments unsafe for humans.

Bao went on to further achieve 6 medals in the 2015 World Scholar’s Cup (SWC), held at International School Ho Chi Minh City. The SWC is an academic and social competition that encourages participants to demonstrate skills such as team debate, collaborative writing, fast-paced problem solving and critical thinking. Bao walked away with the title of Top Scorer at AIS and received an invitation to the Global Round in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (http://www.scholarscup.org/).

His achievement does not stop there! In the recent IGCSE Mock examinations, Bao achieved A Stars in Maths, Chemistry and Economics and A’s for English Literature and Global Perspectives. It would not be a surprise for Bao to go on achieving similar, if not better, results in the final IGCSE exams in May 2015.

Bao attributes his academic success to having self-belief and setting high goals. Bao is a student who seeks challenges and does not shy away from problems. Instead, he lunges forth to any new challenges and opportunities with an open mind and the confidence to achieve. He is one of the students at AIS whose achievements we are proud to recognise and celebrate.

Well done on a fantastic year Bao and we wish you go on to accomplishing your dreams.

This is our first ‘student success’ entry and we hope to use this column to focus on and celebrate our students’ achievements.

The AIS Messenger | March 20156

Open Day guides

Over 30 students were selected to be Student Guides for the Open Day on Saturday 14 March 2015. They

were selected from the various student leadership groups (SRC, Prefects, House Captains, etc.). All guides attended a series of training sessions with Mr Storer prior to the Open Day.

Parents who were taken around the campuses by student guides were very impressed with the caliber of our students, who spoke with confidence and enthusiasm.

We would like to use this opportunity to thank our wonderful student guides who did a marvelous job of representing the School during the Open Day.

AIS Football fever By Thomas Percasky

We are well into the football season with our Under 11 boys and girls’ teams competing

against schools from around the city. They have had some great results including last Wednesday’s win over BIS.

The Under 19 teams have also been selected and have played 2 matches.

Congratulations to Sam Green who was named the boys’ captain and to Haley Waller who was named the girls’ captain.

Notable performances included last weeks’ victory for our girls’ team over BIS: 4-2.

All AIS football teams will now complete their seasons and look towards the city championships in the months to come.

March 2015 | The AIS Messenger 7

ALICE the Musical is

nearly here! By Jacqui gaynor, Music

Coordinator

Don't miss out on seeing the AIS version of the age-

old Lewis Carroll story all about 'The Adventures of Alice in

Wonderland'!

Tickets are available at Thu Thiem, Cherry Blossom and

Lotus Campus admin/reception offices; 100,000VND per adult and

50,000VND per child.

The Premiere is Friday April 3 starting at 6pm at the Thu Thiem

Campus auditorium with a 2nd show on Saturday April 4.

Arrive early for tea and cookies with the Mad Hatter at the Tea Party table or, some themed chocolates with the Caterpillar or, a photo opportunity

with members of the cast

The cast, band, stage, props, costume and make-up crews are made up of AIS Middle and High school

students with the 65-strong Chorus made up from years 4, 5 & 6 singers

from both Thao Dien and Thu Thiem Campuses.

Don't miss out on a truly entertaining evening; buy your

tickets now.

We’re here to help

At AIS, we constantly strive to deliver exceptional customer service. Should you have any

concerns, comments or queries and you are not sure who to go to, please drop by the Reception, where one of us will be more than happy to assist.

We are all here to ensure that you and your child have a pleasant schooling experience.

Red Jungle FowlNot just your ordinary chook

By Tim Flakelar at Amano’i

AIS has many good friends in the community, including one as far away as Nha Trang! Amano’i, part

of the Amanresorts, makes its debut in Vietnam with an uber-luxury, contemporary beachside resort. It is a tranquil retreat situated on a beautiful white-sand beach overlooking spectacular Vinh Hy Bay. In this issue of the newsletter, Amano’i brings us some interesting insight about the habitat in the area.

The Nui Chua National Park in Vietnam is home to the ancestral species of the domestic chicken. The Red Jungle Fowl (gallus gallus) is a wild chicken believed to have originated in Asia over 5000 years ago, with a number of sub-species inhabiting large areas spanning China, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. Here at Amano’i, just bordering the Nui Chua National Park, the Red Jungle Fowl has made a home for itself in the large expanse of bushland that Amano’i covers.

Of the five subspecies discovered, the Cochin-Chinese Red Jungle Fowl can be found in parts of Vietnam and spreads from China to Thailand.

The cock’s call may sound similar to the

domesticated chicken but in fact it has a more distinctive and higher pitch than its descendants.

They forage on the forest floor for seeds, fruits and insects using their strong feet and beak to peck at their prey. If threatened, the Red Jungle Fowl simply flies up into the high treetops to stay safe from predators.

The Red Jungle Fowl is a common bird species however there are concerns of threat from hybridization. By mating with domestic chickens and other species of chicken the Red Jungle Fowl’s heritage is slowly dissipating and soon could be threatened with extinction.

So why are we telling you about the Red Jungle Fowl? Well, because Amano’i is a great place for the kids to let loose and relax after a hard term. Home to hundreds of other bird species as well as the Red Jungle Fowl, Amanoi is, and I quote from a guest, “Heaven on Earth”. The peaceful serenity and tranquil setting is like no place on earth. So why wait? Come and immerse yourself in nature, breath in the fresh, clean air and see if you can spot the Red Jungle Fowl... we’re just a short flight away.

www.amanresorts.com/Amanoi

The AIS Messenger | March 20158

TET FAIR 2015

By nguyen Pham On behalf of the Tet Committee

Staying connected as a community is an important component of all our lives. At

the Australian International School, it is important not only that we keep children, parents and staff connected as a community, but also that we give them learning opportunities and skills that help them to actually create community.

Our TET FAIR on Thursday 12 February 2015 was one of these learning opportunities where we learnt together about Vietnamese customs and cultures and created community for many in our adopted home of Vietnam.

The Year of Goat was welcomed in at Thu Thiem Campus at our Tet Fair with a big bang, with drums being thumped to a traditional Tet beat. The children from AIS Primary then presented the lively songs of Ngày Tết Quê Em (Tet In My Country), Mùa Xuân ơi (Spring) and Hallelujah.

Following the fantastic performances, the students had lots of fun playing Vietnamese traditional games at many colourful stalls including making play dough models on a stick (tò he), walking on Kieu Bridge, sack race, dart game, throwing balls on a board game, picking lucky envelopes from a Hoa Đào tree after answering Tet questions, calligraphy and many more. The children also enjoyed the taste of Vietnamese traditional foods for Tet which were supported by Vietnamese parents.

Together with our Vietnamese families and friends, people from all over the world had the opportunity to share and enjoy experiences that our wonderful school provides.

On behalf of the school, we would like to wish all of you a happy and successful year 2015.

Chúc mừng năm mới!

Book WeekBy Charlotte Record

Children's Book Week is all about celebrating the joy of reading and the pleasure of

curling up with a good book and escaping to a different world. It is also a great time to promote the importance of reading and for children to develop a love of books.

We enjoyed a fabulous Book Week through the theme ‘Connect to Reading.’

There were many highlights to the week, including:

• Eachclassdidanamazingjobofdecorating their classroom door as a book cover. Classes enjoyed a gallery walk to see The Rainbow Bear, The Paper Bag Princess, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Day the Crayons Quit, Splat the Cat and many more.

• SeniorKindergartenweredelighted when Snow White came to read a story to them at their outdoor picnic.

• LotusandXIsharedtheirloveof bedtime stories by coming to school in their Pyjamas. They brought their teddies and even got a mug of hot chocolate!

• WealllookedforwardtoDEARtime when we could Drop EverythingAndRead.

• WritingandArtconnectedtoour favourite books, authors, and illustrators.

• Teachersbroughttheirfavouritebooks to hide behind, leaving the children guessing what they like to read.

• Thechildrenhadanopportunityto buy books at the Book Fair organised by Fahasa.

• Allclassesenjoyedsometimereading with their buddies.

• Weweredelightedtowelcomeparents to the classrooms to read in their mother tongue. We listened to some great stories inItalian,German,KoreanandVietnamese.

What better way to end the week than a book parade with staff and children dressed up as their favourite bookcharacters.Itwasgreattoseeeveryone entering into the spirit of the week. Thank you for spreading the joys of reading!

9March 2015 | The AIS Messenger

The AIS Messenger | March 201510

www.aisvietnam.com/summerschool

PROGRAMME 201515 June - 17 July

Monday to Friday 8.30am to 2.30pm

For students aged 3 to 18 years