1. BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HANOI
NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER 28 2014| ISSUE 13
IN THIS ISSUE
From Mr. Anthony Rowlands
From Mr. Christopher Short
From Mrs. Karen Hanratty
Science Competition
Focus of the week: Year 5
Ben Heason visits BIS Hanoi
Open Day
HIWC Charity Bazaar
Year 6 Trip: Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
EYC Production
Winter Concert
Fundinotots Programme
Lunch Menu
Contacts
02
03
04
05
06-07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Issue 13 | 1
UPCOMING EVENTS
2nd
KS3 Boys Football vs KISH
Primary Parents Evening
3rd
Y3B to visit Ho Chi Minh Museum
Y12 Parents Evening
4th
Primary Parents Evening
KS3 Boys and Girls Football vs UNIS
KS4/5 Girls Basketball vs Concordia
5th
Y3I to visit Ho Chi Minh Museum
Y10 Interhouse Science Competition
6th
KS4/5 Basketball Tournament @UNIS
8th
Visit by Mr David Devine – Canadian Ambassador
KS4/5 Boys Basketball vs KISH
KS3 Girls Football vs HIS
9th
Y4B to visit Vietclimb climbing wall
Y11 Parents Evening
10th
Whole school Winter Concert
KS4/5 Boys Basketball vs HIS
11th
BVIS vs BIS Science Competition
KS3 Boys & Girls Football vs BVIS
12th
Y4I to visit Vietclimb climbing wall
EYC Winter show
DECEMBER
2. Issue 13 | 2
From Mr Anthony Rowlands - Principal of BIS Hanoi
Much has been written about the
worldwide expansion of British style
International Schools in recent years.
Various well-known UK Independent
schools, such as Harrow, Dulwich and
Marlborough, are opening International
branches in different countries around
the world. At BIS Hanoi we are part of the
BIS Vietnam Group of Schools which has been in
existence since 1998 and has a very impressive reputation
in the International schools community. There is no doubt
that British education is highly regarded worldwide. Many
believe that a British education can be the best
preparation not only for British Universities but also for
North American Universities.
The United States has some of the best universities in
the world. However, among developed nations, the US
also has some of the poorest average results in
standardised tests for high school students. Indeed,
there are many schools in the US that now offer the
same Cambridge IGCSE Programme that we offer at BIS
Hanoi. Additionally, British style International Schools
have opened in many of the major US cities. While
recruiters from top US universities value IGCSE and A
Level highly, they also consider the IB Diploma
Programme as the “gold standard” for secondary
school graduates. With BIS Hanoi being an IBDP
Candidate school, aiming to offer the diploma in 2016,
and our sister school, BVIS Hanoi, offering A Levels, the
BIS Vietnam Group is well placed in Hanoi to offer both
these excellent pre-university programmes.
We had two wonderful days to start this week. On
Monday we had an excellent visit from Ben Heason who
spoke to various Year Groups throughout the day. We
were delighted to welcome some students from BVIS
Hanoi to join us for the afternoon sessions with Ben. On
Tuesday, over 100 parents spent time in classrooms
experiencing how the school operates on a day to day
basis and observing how their children learn. So many
parents commented on how refreshing it was for them
that the school was willing to ‘open’ itself for their
benefit.
A final thank you from me for the support of the school
community at the Annual HIWC Charity Bazaar which
was held last Sunday. Our staff and students worked
hard throughout the day on our two stalls and it was
heartening to see so many parents visit us.
Have a wonderful weekend.
3. I’m not sure there has ever been a
normal week in the history of BIS
Hanoi, certainly this week is no
exception. Inspired by our visiting
speaker on Monday, Ben Heason, the
vast majority of both of our Year 12
classes set off for Mau Chau for their
practise International Award Silver
Award expedition. Mau Chau isn’t quite the Angel Falls
but they are putting Ben’s wise words into action before
the week is out. I know they will come back on Monday
invigorated by their challenging weekend and ready for
their qualifying expedition in the new year.
We are very proud of the place the International Award
plays in our curriculum. We have had three staff away
this week doing further training on this important
programme to allow us to expand next year to be the
first school in northern Vietnam to offer the prestigious
Gold Award. As Mr Airdrie said in a recent Parents
Meeting; one employer is quoted as saying “I always
interview people with the Bronze International Award,
offer a job to people with Silver and create a job for
people with Gold”.
Issue 13 | 3
From Mr Christopher Short - Head of Secondary
It was BIS' turn to host the perennial BIS/BVIS Science
competition this week. The competition was keenly
contested by some very eager young scientists, well
done to BIS Hanoi for their victory on this occasion.
Many thanks to Ms Orchard for organising this event
with Ms Shelley of BVIS Hanoi.
Year 12 will start their university applications early next
year. For many destinations they will need an IELTS
certificate. It seems odd for good universities to ask this
from students with great IGCSE and A Level results but
it is often a visa requirement as well. Year 12 will take
this test next term. We have partnered with the British
Council but students will take the test at school. They,
obviously, don’t need to be taught English but they will
get some test preparation from British Council trainers
to ensure they receive the very best score of which they
are capable. We are in the process of finalising a similar
arrangement for the SAT assessments needed by US
universities.
The Year 12 AS biologists have been working on producing stop motion animations. The project
involved showing the process of mitosis (the process of cell division for the non-biologists amongst
you!), through a continuous sequence of still images. Combining a range of apps and programs to
create a sequence of hundreds of photos, the result has been some wonderful productions that have
not only served to educate our own BIS biologists, but have been uploaded onto youtube to help as a
learning aid to people around the world. If you'd like to see their work then follow the links below:
https://docs.google.com/a/bishanoi.com/file/d/0B2gHlyXD_pJqelMtNmYwOHFBWnM/edit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWOf3z3s9fg&feature=youtube_gdata
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHUkOuFLvFs&list=UUq8RZLjTDquUUtyj-yXFjjg
STOP MOTION
Mr Edward Westropp
Science Teacher
4. It has certainly been an exciting week
at BIS Hanoi. On Monday we enjoyed
the visit of Ben Heason, world
renowned rock climber. He
mesmerized children with his account
of his adventures climbing in
seemingly impossible situations and
locations. Year 4 were particularly
enthralled and later this term will be trying to put into
practice some of the things they learnt as they close
their topic on ‘Adventurers and Explorers’ with a visit to
a climbing wall. Tuesday saw our annual Open Day and
it was a great pleasure to see so many parents enjoying
a range of lessons alongside their children.
Today parents of Primary students received their child’s
interim school report. These reports provide grades for
children’s effort and achievement in 8 subject areas, as
well as outlining targets for further improvement and
advice on ways in which parents can support their child
at home. Foundation Stage reports contained comments
Issue 13 | 4
From Mrs Karen Hanratty - Head of Primary
FINE DINING
on children’s attainment and progress in the 7
development and curriculum areas, as well as next
steps that children need to take to further their progress.
We are looking forward to welcoming parents to Parent
Teacher Consultations next Tuesday and Thursday.
These meetings give parents an opportunity to sit with
their child’s teachers to discuss the reports in detail.
Arguably school reports are the most important
communications that take place between school and
home, and face to face communication is essential to
ensure that the messages in the report are fully
understood. As well as class teachers, parents will be
able to meet with the teachers of Vietnamese, PE, music,
ICT, EAL and learning support. We look forward to
seeing you all then.
6. It has been a fantastic start to life in Year 5 this year.
Some of the highlights include The Red River Trip,
Myths & Legends Day, creating a mythical creature and
the brilliant big books that we made during Book Week.
For most of Book Week the two classes, 5B and 5I,
worked together to make their own mythical story.
They became real life authors in English and
Vietnamese and they illustrated their writing with
beautiful art work.
Year 5 had a ‘Dressing Up Day’ to start our Myths &
Legends topic, which was great fun. We came dressed
as a character from any well-known myth or legend.
Linh Nhi, in 5B, said about Myths & Legends day, “It
was FUN! I wish we could have another day like this!”
Another activity linked to the topic of Myths & Legends
was making a mythical creature. Here are some of the
amazing creatures and some thoughts from the
children.
Recently Year 5 visited Chu Dong Tu Temple at The Red
River, which was a fantastic real life learning
experience. The day was full of different, fun activities
and even the food was a hit!
Tung Lam: “We had some fresh bananas, yummy cakes
and fabulous sandwiches.”
Issue 13 | 6
YEAR 5
Focus of the week
Duc Minh: “We can use different materials and we can
help each other.”
Gia Phuc: “It was my favourite thing because I could
be creative doing work while also having a lot of fun.”
Mr Tom Adams
Year 5 Teacher
Ms Sally Tong
Year 5 Teacher
Ms Phuong Tran
Year 5 Vietnamese
Language Teacher
7. Issue 13 | 7
Year 5 children started the new school year with a range of interesting Vietnamese studies activities: Ao Dai
designing, Moon Cake baking in the ‘Moon Festival’ week and an investigation into Vietnamese history on
the Red River trip.
Year 5 designed their own Ao Dai costumes from creative and unique ideas and showcased them in front of
the whole school.
‘Could I take home these moon cakes to give them to mum and dad?’, Year 5 children excitedly asked.
The children showed excellent team work on the Red River trip: ‘I think we could find a clue from the brass
bell.’ ‘Where has our team decided to go?’…the children enthusiastically asked among themselves.
11. Issue 13 | 11
Year 6 Trip
Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
12. We would like to invite parents
to the EYFS/KS1 Production
To the
Crystal Caves!
Please RSVP to the Primary Office
Email: primaryoffice@bishanoi.com or phone 04 3946 0435 Ext: 220
Friday 12th
December 2014 at 1.00 pm
Auditorium, BIS Hanoi
15. Issue 13 | 15
BIS HANOI MENU
Week Beginning 1st December
Monday
1st
Dec 2nd
Dec 3rd
Dec 4th
Dec 5th
Dec
Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
From Year 3 to Year 12 : All meals come with a salad or salad bar choice along and 2 choices of vegetables, rice, Vietnamese soup.
From Year 7 to Year 12: We have introduced our NEW Sandwich bar with assorted cheeses, fresh tuna, egg salad, roast meats and
other daily specials on our homemade bread, dark rye, whole wheat, oatmeal, french bread, Vietnamese rolls, raisin bread and
other fresh baked bread every day.
Morning
snack
Morning
snack
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Afternoon
snack
EYFSPRIMARYSECONDARY
Steam roll with
pork cake
Nutella sandwich
Chicken curry
samosa
Rice soup Sausage roll
Juice Milk Juice Juice Soya milknành
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit
Fried American
chicken
Fried egg with
ground pork
Hue noodle soup Fried crispy pork
Spaghetti
bolognaise
Egg sushi roll Raisin cookie Jam sandwich Mango cake
Juice Milk Juice Smoothie Fruit
Steam roll with
pork cake
Nutella sandwich
Chicken curry
samosa
Rice soup Sausage roll
Juice Milk Juice Juice Soya milk
Fried American
chicken
Maccaroni and
cheese
Hue noodle soup
rice
Caramel pork
German sausage
with mashed
potatoes
Fried egg with
ground pork
Roast chicken
with BBQ sauce
Fried crispy pork
Chicken
quesadillas
Fried American
chicken
Korean beef stew
(v) Fried tofu in
tomato sauce rice
Spaghetti
bolognaise/
German sausage
with mashed
potatoes
Maccaroni and
cheese
Hue noodle soup
Fried crispy
pork/
Caramel pork/
(v) Vegetarian
potato curry
Fried egg with
ground pork
Roast chicken
with BBQ sauce
Sticky rice with
steamed chicken
(v) Cheese and
corn quesadillas
16. Issue 13 | 16
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: 208
principaloffice@bishanoi.com
(If you wish to contact the School Principal)
Business Manager’s Office: 109
thaonguyen@bishanoi.com
Primary Office: 220
primaryoffice@bishanoi.com
(For all enquiries regarding the Primary Section)
Secondary Office: 215
secondaryoffice@bishanoi.com
(For all enquiries regarding the Secondary Section)
Admission Department: 222/122/555/777/888
bishanoi@bishanoi.com
dessydelevaux@bishanoi.com (Admission Manager)
jinnyjung@bishanoi.com (Korean Liaison Officer)
hatruong@bishanoi.com
trambui@bishanoi.com
Marketing Department: 189
huyennguyenngoc@bishanoi.com
(For all enquiries regarding Marketing)
Finance Department: 202
(For all enquiries regarding school fees)
Medical Room: 117/303
linhdieu@bishanoi.com (Main school)
liennguyen@bishanoi.com (Early Years Building)
(For all enquiries regarding Medical Issues)
Uniform Shop: 221
tamle@bishanoi.com
duyennguyenthi@bishanoi.com
nhungpham@bishanoi.com
(For all enquiries regarding School Uniform)
School Buses: 218
nganguyenthithuy@bishanoi.com
(For all requiries regarding School Buses)
