Ap2 news 17th april updated

1. BISbuzz Issue 30 | 1
BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HO CHI MINH CITY| SECONDARY CAMPUS
APRIL 17 | ISSUE 30
IN THIS ISSUE
From the Head Teacher 02
PTG Annual General Mee ng 03
Year 10 Interna onal Award Dalat Trip 04
Geography Photo Compe on 05
Year 8 Green Day Vietnam Energy Compe on 08
Community Service 09
Sixth Form Debate Champions 14
Sport News 15
Summer Camp 2015 ‐ College Champi et Switzerland 18
From The BIStro & Underground 19
April
20th April ‐ 3rd May Holiday
May
4th First Pupil Day of Term 3
4th IB Exams start
5th IGCSE Exams start
7th Year 6 Transi on Day
11th Ac vi es start
UPCOMING EVENTS

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From The Head TeacherFrom The Head Teacher
A certain kind of BIS magic was created over the past three evenings here in the school auditorium. As a result, Chi y Chi y Bang
Bang will be in our hearts and minds for weeks, months and, for many of us, years to come. The songs are certainly in my mind.
They actually took root in my mind when I first saw the film, based on Ian Fleming’s book, when I was a child. I remember going to
see the film at the cinema with my family and I really did believe a car could fly. At about the same me, I saw some of the early
James Bond films. James Bond was another of Ian Fleming’s crea ons of course, and in the films that followed, cars also flew.
Back to Chi y. A very special kind of magic was woven and we are all very grateful for the hard work, the dedica on and the
teamwork that went into the shows. Taking part, of course, creates memories for those who were involved. Anything that involves
significant challenge and teamwork creates memories. Those memories will last a life me. Teamwork can make your dream work –
I think I heard that somewhere.
Chi y Chi y Bang Bang is such a good show for us at BIS. There are parallels in the story and characters with us here at BIS, and
some important differences. It’s a celebra on of childhood, of course. Caractactus Po s is a crackpot inventor, and allows his
children to run free, skip school and go wherever their imagina ons take them. He listens to them, he joins in with their stories and
fantasies. Imagina on and discovery, for Caractactus, is what life is all about, and he wants his children to have every opportunity
to imagine and discover. I am confident that you all, in your lessons and in your trips, have plenty of opportunity to imagine and
discover. And I am sure that you see a li le bit of Caractacus Po s in your teachers.
For his own part, Caractacus dreams up new inven ons and tries to put them together. But they don’t work. His sweets don’t
come out well – they have holes in them through him not ge ng the temperature of the sugar mixture right. If he gone to BIS as a
child, and paid a en on to his chemistry lessons, he might have been able to fix this.
His hair cu ng machine is ingenious. It doesn’t work properly, of course. Had he taken DT at BIS, he would have evaluated and
developed his design, and been able to fix it and re‐make it. Caractacus Po s, however, prefers to rely on luck. Inquiry, yes,
perseverance, yes, dogged perseverance, but not a lot of reflec on. And his marke ng? And his financial management? It is
absolutely clear that he didn’t do business studies at school. Or economics.
The Po s family members are very keen on teamwork. At BIS, we are also keen on teamwork, for some tasks. I am sure you have
had opportuni es this term to work in teams. I hope also, that you have been able to develop your role as a team member and as a
leader in some teams. Teamwork in the Po s family is admirable, but more about safety in numbers. If we all run at the bad guys
together, we’ll outnumber them and be able to e them up with a rope. At BIS, we approach teamwork a li le more systema cally.
We do it through sports, music, drama, group projects, on trips and expedi ons, though leadership development programmes,
business and enterprise challenges and so on.
If Jeremy and Gemima Po s had BIS to go to, I bet they wouldn’t have skipped school and spent their days playing in a scrap yard.
Chi y Chi y Bang Bang is a perfect show for BIS. There’s imagina on, discovery, inven on, teamwork, inquiry, perseverance,
several of which are in our mission statement. And, of course, a real celebra on of childhood and the rights of young people (the
right not to be caught by the child catcher in par cular). We offer all of this at BIS. I believe we offer much more. That’s because
Chi y Chi y Bang Bang is a fantasy, of course, just like the Ian Fleming’s other character, James Bond. Bond is more of a maverick
assassin than a true portrayal of modern espionage. Caractactus Po s is, as his name suggests, a crackpot rather than a systema c,
scien fic inventor and a business‐minded, skilled entrepreneur.
At BIS we offer the rigour of academic endeavour. We offer the right to pursue the development of your intellect as well as your
imagina on. In fact, we offer the development of your intellect in order to turn your imagina on and your dreams into reality. The
team work to make your dream work.
You are fortunate to be in a school where academic progress is valued and supported and nurtured alongside all the other
marvellous things that go on. So that when you make your hair‐cu ng machine or your toot sweets, you won’t have to rely on
happy accidents or pure luck to be successful. Thanks to the opportuni es provided by BIS, thanks to the people around you, and
thanks to your hard work, dedica on, perseverance, you will be successful by design.
Thank you all for a fabulous term. Everyone in this room contributes every day to making this school the wonderful community it
is.
Our best wishes go the Year 13s, Year 11s and some of the Year 10s about to emrack on IGCSE and IB Diploma exams. Unlike Carac‐
tacus Po s, they shouldn’t have to rely on luck – they know what they need to do. They know that successful people don’t succeed
by accident. Successful people work hard, and succeed on purpose. They are successful by design.
To everyone in the BIS community, have a good break. Take care, and come back refreshed and ready for more BIS magic in term 3.
Richard Dyer
Head Teacher, Secondary

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PTG Annual General Meeting
The AP2 PTG Annual General Mee ng was held, jointly with AP1, on Wednesday April 15th
.
We took the opportunity to review the numerous events PTG organized all through this
year and express our gra tude to the people who worked hard to make these events
successful. There were 23 a endees for the mee ng. The new PTG commi ee is looking
forward to another successful year ahead.

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Year 10 International Award Dalat Trip
The Year 10 Interna onal Award group showed fantas c effort and commitment to complete a challeng‐
ing expedi on in Dalat last weekend. Day one was a hike through rolling hills and pine forest with some
naviga on challenges and a rainstorm in the a ernoon which soaked us through. In the evening we dried
off by the camp fire and shared some scary stories. Luckily the weather was fine on the second day for our
challenging ascent of Lang Bian mountain and the group reached the top in good me. Carrying all their
own camping equipment and supplies meant that good teamwork was crucial to the students’ success.
They deserve great credit for their posi ve a tude and determina on to complete a difficult trek!
Alex Essery
Chemistry Teacher & Interna onal Award Coordinator

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Geography Photo Competition

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As Green Day lunch me was in full swing, seven groups of Year 8 students represen ng their respec ve
forms gathered in the AP2 theatre ready to deliver their views on the best energy source for Vietnam. The
whole of Year 8 ini ally took part in the research and presenta on‐based project in their Geography
lessons and within each class a group was chosen by their peers. It was thus apt that the best
presenta ons from each class were delivered in front of the Year group on Green Day. The presenta ons
were all fantas c and delivered with a confidence and maturity ahead of their years. A wide range of
different perspec ves and approaches to the ques on, ‘What is the best energy source for Vietnam?’
were explored ranging from solar energy to shale gas and geothermal to hydroelectric.
The students were judged on their knowledge and understanding, persuasiveness, clarity and quality of
their resources as they were during the ini al round. However, for the special Green Day Event, a group of
Year 12 Higher Level IB Geography students became the judges and asked some very challenging
ques ons which had the audience, let alone the presenters, quaking in their boots. The Year 8 students
delivering the presenta ons took most of the tough ques ons in their stride and all groups should be
proud of their performance. A truly remarkable group of students who took the opportunity to become
role‐models to their peers on Green Day. As the judges deliberated into the late a ernoon, eventually a
winner was decided, to be announced in assembly on Friday. Well done to all of Year 8 for taking part in
this project and a special congratula ons to those who presented on this memorable Green Day.
Ben Durrant
Head of Lower Secondary & Year 7
Year 8 Green Day Vietnam Energy Competition

9. BISbuzz Issue 30 | 9
Community Service
Thursday 16th
April saw approximately
100 Staff, Students and Parents walk to
school.
The walk to school sends a message that preserving the
environment requires everyone to collec vely do their
part in any way possible and hopefully choose more en‐
vironmentally friendly ways to travel.
Thank you to everyone who joined and supported us on the walk.
Kevin Halpin
Community Service Officer
Green DayGreen DayGreen Day

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Supporting Green Day
Non Uniform – Wear BLUE or GREEN
It’s not just our students suppor ng Green Day.
Well done to all the staff at BIS. You looked great in blue
and green.
Kevin Halpin
Community Service Officer

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Growing Minds
This term in Growing Minds, we have done lots of fun and educa onal ac vi es with the students from
Binh Tho school. Those things we have done with them such as gardening, drawing on pebbles, drama,
ICT and pain ng chairs helped them to grow their minds. The ECA was not only beneficial to the students.
We actually improved BIS school's appearance especially by plan ng rice and flowers, pain ng pebbles
and chairs and cleaning the school garden near BISTRO. Next term Growing Minds is going to change the
name and focus more on gardening, so we hope more people will join and feel the nature!
Samantha Kim 8I
Growing Minds has been a wonderful experience. We have a great group of people in the club, everyone
is very nice and helpful. Each week we plan crea ve ac vi es to do with the children from Binh Tho
school, such as gardening, art, drama, ICT and DT. These children are very fun and wild, it is fun to play
with them. In me the children grew to be our friends, helping us to improve our leadership. Growing
Minds is a great club and I will cherish my memories from that club.
Viviena Nguyen 8I

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Year 10 Host a party for Mai Tam House of Hope
Our Year 10 Students devised a
number of fun ac vi es for the
children from Mai Tam House of Hope.
Many of the children are suffering from HIV or AIDS and the orphanage
offers them the support and treatment that they may not otherwise
received.

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A big thank you also to the PTG who helped our
students by organising refreshments for the Party.
Father Joseph and the children had a fabulous
me.
Kevin Halpin
Community Service Officer

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Sixth Form Debate Champions
A er two terms of gruelling intellectual and oratory combat, the Sixth Form Debate Compe on reached
its climax last week with the Grand Final held In the Theatre.
The Debate Compe on has comprised a series of 15 debates between each Sixth Form Tutor Group on a
range of global and local issues. Our students have wrestled with such issues as the balance between
na onal security and human rights, gender equality, the best methods of achieving social change and the
impact of culture on childhood.
Two form groups, 12/13O and 12/13V, had successfully seen off the compe on and so met in the Grand
Final on 9th
April. The mo on debated was one of par cular relevance to the students at this me of year,
“Examina ons should be scrapped from the educa on system”.
Once again the debate was of high quality with the students responding well under scru ny from the
opposi on, members of the audience and the Senior Leadership Team. The whole Sixth Form student
body voted on who had presented the winning argument, eventually crowning Miss Sargent’s Form
Group 12/13O the winners.
Congratula ons to Miss Sargent and all members of 12/3O on a great performance, and to Mrs Dolan and
12/13V for being such for being such worthy runners up.
Sean O’Neill
Assistant Headteacher
Members of 12/13O & Miss Sargent with the inaugural Sixth Form Debates Trophy

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Sport News
AP2 Inter House Swimming Gala 2015
On Wednesday the 15th
April, AP2 held its annual Inter House Swimming Gala. The team spirit was fantas‐
c and students were thoroughly suppor ve of one and other throughout the event. As well as the com‐
bined team results, there were also some excep onal individual performances, with new school records
set by the following students:
Girls: Cielo Miguel (1), Jasmine Gebbie (1), Lim Zhuo Jun (4), Angela Villamil (4).
Boys: Sean Truong (1), Bean Pham (1), Jun Won Hwang (2), Alois Luong (3), Jeremie Luong (4).
Well done to all those who par cipated and congratula ons to Hanoi for winning the overall compe on.
Gary Willis
Head of Physical Educa on
Hanoi 1st
325
Hue 2nd
303
Dalat 3rd
295
Saigon 4th
260

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U19 GIRLS FOOTBALL CITY CHAMPIONSHIPS
On the 9th
April our Senior Girls football team set out
for the final tournament hosted by SSIS. Our team
had a rocky start this season, ge ng used to playing
in unity in a compe ve manner and therefore were
all feeling anxious for the upcoming matches, but
with a will to prove our strength as a team and a
school a er some excrucia ng defeats in the prelim‐
inary matches. When we got our schedule, we real‐
ized that our fight would be difficult but that only
pushed us harder to try our best. Over half our team
will be leaving at the end of this year, including our
esteemed coach Ms. Crawley, so we knew we had to
fight for this one.
Our first match was our hardest, against the infamous SSIS, our toughest compe tors. Despite the blister‐
ing heat, we held our own amazingly against their strong offense, but unfortunately let in an early shot in
the first half, and all our subsequent shots weren’t going in so we were behind for the majority of the
match. We tried our hardest throughout, but SSIS scored again in the last few minutes of the match, leav‐
ing us to lose 0‐2. We were slightly disappointed with the loss, but in our preliminary match we lost 6‐2,
so we were all pleased with our improvement. This matched showed just how much our team grew, and
proved to the other teams that BIS was not a force to be reckoned with.
Immediately a erwards we took on AIS. Although we knew our toughest game was over, we also knew
we couldn’t let our guard drop – the tournament wasn’t going to be an easy one. We fought hard and
ended up on top in our AIS match, scoring in the first half and ending with a win of 1‐0.
Our third consecu ve match followed this and we threw ourselves into this game against ABC and spent
the majority of our match in their half, we scored twice in the first half and once more in the second half
to win 3‐0.
Finally, a er a match long interval, we went into our final game against ISHCMC. We entered our match
and immediately held the upper hand, spending almost the en rety of the first half in their half shoo ng.
Despite many a empted shots, we ended the half 0‐0. This pa ern con nued into the second half and we
had to end the match on penal es. We knew by this point that so far, ISHCMC had beaten every other
school apart from SSIS – the same as us. That meant that by default, whoever won this match, won 2nd
place in the tournament. Tensions were high, as we started taking our shots, unfortunately ISHCMC man‐
aged to win the match and secured 2nd
place. Our team was disappointed, but we spent our last matches
together as a unified team, and we lived out our matches to the fullest.
Gabby Cullen
U19 BOYS FOOTBALL – CHAMPIONS OF SISAC 2015!

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SISAC GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2015
On Wednesday 15th
April BIS hosted the annual SISAC Gymnas cs Championships. There was a li le add‐
ed pressure this year as the girls were reigning champions. We also had a larger team this year and wel‐
comed new members into the fold in Angela Thorsteinson, Josephine Swinckels and Natasha Ledger. I was
par cularly pleased to see some of our IB students join the team and Holly Ledger, Tuna Nguyen, Carola
Di Bella all in Year 12 and Alex Ivanova in Year 13 all led by example. Unfortunately at the eleventh hour
Carola was unable to compete and luckily for our team Gabby Cullen stepped up and completed our
troupe of 12! We also lost Maeva Arnaud to injury and look forward to her returning again next year.
Gymnas cs is a difficult sport and requires many hours of training to master the most basic skills. It is
o en said it is a sport where you train 80% of the me just to compete 20%! The girls competed across all
levels of compe on from Level 1 to the Op onal Advanced level. In almost all categories the AP2 team
had a clean sweep winning 1st
, 2nd
, 3rd
in Levels 1+2, 1st
+ 3rd
in Level 3 and 1st
+ 2nd
in the Op onal Level.
The girls retained the tle of Secondary SISAC Champions and this year working with the AP1 team we are
also the Overall SISAC Team Champions.
Congratula ons to the BIS teams in AP1+2…let’s make it three in a row next year!
Aidan Crowley
College & University Guidance Counsellor
AP2 SISAC Gymnas cs Champions
Phil Drake
Director of Sport/Ac vi es & Trips Coordinator
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Op onal
Josephine Swinckels Emily Nicholls Kaitlyn Bledsoe Alyssa Streitberg
Angela Thorsteinson Carla Avril Bourgoin Holly Ledger Holly Ledger
Gabby Cullen Alex Ivanova Tuna Nguyen Brigi e Watson
Carola Di Bella [Injured]
Maeva Arnaud [Injured]

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http://www.challengecamp.ch/

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From the Underground & BIStro
Menu 3 (4 May)
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
VEGETA-
BLES
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
Curry Puff
Samosa
Fruit Cup
Chocolate Mud Cake
Swiss Roll
Fruit Cup
Curry Puff
Samosa
Fruit Cup
Banana/Carrot
Muffin
Sponge Cake
Fruit Cup
FRIDAY
Honey Lime Chicken,
Sautéed Potato
OR
Beef Rendang, Rice
Broccoli & Carrot
Salad
Watercress
Mixed Fruit
Dhal
Broccoli & Carrot
Mixed Fruit
Donut
Cream Puff
Fruit Cup