The newsletter from the British International School in Hanoi provides updates on various school events from the past week. It discusses (1) students volunteering their time to host underprivileged children from a local charity and participating in a hiking trip for the Duke of Edinburgh award, (2) upcoming academic and sporting events, and (3) fundraising efforts for charity including growing mustaches for Movember and collecting donated shoeboxes.

1. BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HANOI
NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 5 2014| ISSUE 14
IN THIS ISSUE
From Mr. Anthony Rowlands
From Mr. Christopher Short
From Mrs. Karen Hanratty
Rice Scholarship Shoe box Donation
Movember
Silver DoE International Award
Year 2 visit to Alfresco Restaurant
Year 10 Inter House Science Competition
EYC Production
Winter Concert
Fundinotots Programme
Lunch Menu
Contacts
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
Issue 14 | 1
UPCOMING EVENTS
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 Christmas Concert
17th
F1/2 to visit the farm
19th
Whole School Assembly
Secondary House Sports
Year 9 Interim Reports distributed
Term 1 ends at 12.25pm
20th
Dec – 2nd Jan: Christmas Holiday
7th
All students back to school for Term 2.
DECEMBER
JANUARY

2. Issue 14 | 2
From Mr Anthony Rowlands - Principal of BIS Hanoi
It makes me a very happy Principal
when I observe BIS students stepping
outside their comfort zone in order to:
• Provide service to others
• Physically challenge themselves in
situations that they may not have
experienced before
I observed both of the above, not during the school day,
but last Saturday. Firstly, we hosted, at school, a group of
disadvantaged children from the School on a Boat
Community Project. These are children who do not get the
same opportunities that we generally receive in our lives.
The school bus went to collect the children and brought
them to BIS Hanoi and during the day they had the
opportunity to play games in the sports hall, swim in our
swimming pool, enjoy a pizza lunch in our dining hall and
watch a movie in our theatre. Throughout this time, these
children were accompanied by our students who
supported, encouraged and cared for them. Our students
showed patience, compassion and perseverance in what
was, occasionally, an unfamiliar and challenging situation
for them. Our students really did give a marvellous
account of themselves throughout the day and were ably
supported by some of our BIS teachers. I would like to
thank Mr. Westropp, Ms. Gerona, Mr. Wilcox and Mr.
Adams for all their great support on Saturday. In particular,
I would like to thank Ms. Marsden who organised the
whole event. Our students and staff provided a great
service to these underprivileged children and gave them a
very memorable day.
Later, just as the School on the Boat children were
departing on our school bus, another big bus pulled up at
the school’s main entrance. It was our returning Year 11
and Year 12 DoE Silver International Award students who
had been hiking and camping in Mai Chau for three days
and two nights. They looked tired but satisfied, knowing
that they had, indeed, challenged themselves in a
physically demanding environment. They had hiked
amongst the hills of Mai Chau carrying all their equipment
during the day and in the evening, they set up camp and
cooked their own food. For this whole period they had
been self-sufficient, ensuring that they looked after
themselves and each other in this challenging situation. I
am sure they all slept well on Saturday night; tired but
proud of their achievements. Once again I am grateful to
our teachers - Mr. Airdrie, Mr. Dunwell, Ms. Stevenson and
Ms. Wild for their efforts in supporting our DoE Silver
International Award students on this trip.
As can quite clearly be seen, BIS Hanoi is not only
concerned about academic achievement but also ensuring
that our students become better people who can be proud
of their own efforts and achievements as well as those of
others.
Have a wonderful weekend.

3. I enjoyed meeting again with so many
parents at our Year 12 Parents Evening
this week. This is a crucial stage for our
A Level students as they prepare for
their mock examinations and it was
very useful to speak to parents about
their child’s progress and roles we all
play in the lead up to the actual AS
examinations in May.
Last Saturday we hosted a visiting group from the
School on the Boat charity who support children living
along the Red river. A group of staff and students
volunteered their time to let the children have an
Issue 14 | 3
From Mr Christopher Short - Head of Secondary
exciting morning using some of our sporting facilities.
The visit was organised by our Charity and Community
Club coordinated by Ms Katrina Marsden and I am
grateful to her and her team for giving up valuable time
on a weekend.
As I’ve mentioned before, one of the most enjoyable
parts of my job is to spend time in classrooms. It is
brilliant to see the myriad of activities taking place to
enable students to learn in an engaging and therefore
effective manner. My favourite sight this week was a
teacher I found inspecting our Van Der Graaf Machine to
see if he could turn it into a giant capacitor to show his
Year 12 class!
“School on a Boat” Visit

4. It has been a pleasure this week to
welcome so many parents to school for
the Term 1 Parent Teacher
Consultations. These meetings are a
vital part of our reporting and
communication procedures, giving
both teachers and parents an
opportunity to discuss ways in which
we can work together to support children’s learning and
development. After all, when it comes to children’s
education we are all on the same side, working to
secure the best possible learning outcomes for each
and every child.
Which led me to thinking….. This week I watched again
a favourite movie of mine, now 25 years old – ‘Dead
Poets Society’ starring the late, great Robin Williams. It
is a story of a new English teacher, John Keating, who
joins an all-boys school that is known for its ancient
Issue 14 | 4
From Mrs Karen Hanratty - Head of Primary
FINE DINING
traditions and high standards. He uses unorthodox
methods to reach out to his students, and gives them
new and exciting learning experiences, bringing their
lessons to life and opening their minds. This is what I
see happening every day at BIS, lessons that engage
children’s minds and imaginations, that broaden their
horizons and challenge their thinking. There is a
wonderful quotation from the film, “Carpe diem, seize
the day, make your lives extraordinary.” That is what
we want for every one of our children.

5. Issue 14 | 5
The first step is to find a shoe box. Ask mum, dad,grandma or anyone else you can to keep a shoe
box for you.
The PSC want to collect as many shoe box gifts as
they can for the children on the RICE scholarship
programme, and they need your help. We will
give the gifts at Tet.
PRIMARY SHOE BOX APPEAL
FOR �RICE SCHOLARSHIP CHILDREN
Start collecting shoe boxes NOW!
On 9th October the Primary School Council joined the Secondary Charity and Community Committee to meet
representatives from the RICE Scholarship Programme. They heard about this organisation which supports students
who have difficult home circumstances to attend school, giving them things they need to continue their studies – food,
money, warm clothing and shoes, amongst other things.
The Primary School Council members were touched and interested in this project. They decided to donate all the
money collected during Book Week and for the Halloween Mufti Day to the RICE Scholarship programme. On Friday
28th November, some representatives from RICE attended the KS2 assembly where the PSC members presented them
with a donation of 8, 500,000VND on behalf of the Primary School. This is enough to provide scholarships for 10
children.
As well as this donation, the Primary School Council would like to start a Shoe Box Appeal. Children in Primary will
be encouraged to find a shoe box, decorate it and then buy some small gifts to put inside (for example, toothbrush,
toothpaste, soap, items of stationary, warm socks, gloves or scarves, small toys, etc.). All the gift boxes will then be
given to children linked with the RICE Scholarship programme in time for the Tet holiday. Tet is a time for all to
celebrate the New Year. Through this Shoe Box Appeal, we hope that the Primary school children in BIS will be able
to share their joy and happiness with others.
Rice Scholarship
Shoe box Donation

6. Issue 14 | 6
You may have seen or heard about strange
facial pieces growing on some male teaching
staff this November at BIS Hanoi. In fact, it
wasn’t for November – it was actually for
Movember. The ‘BIS Mobros’ have been
raising awareness and funds for Men’s
Health; particularly male cancers and mental
health issues. These are issues that receive a
level of publicity that reflect neither the
incidence of men suffering from these
debilitating diseases nor the severity of the
illnesses themselves. The team, consisting of
Mr. Toner, Mr. Short, Mr. Wolstenholme, Mr.
Westropp, Mr. Wild and Mr. Dunwell, has
been proudly showing off their ‘Mos’ around
school.
Movember started in Australia in 2003, but soon became a charity which has seen men across the world growing
moustaches to raise awareness of Men’s Health. The rules were simple: Start on Movember 1st clean shaven and
let the ‘mo’ grow throughout the month; you can see the progress we have made in the images below.
Secondary students have been getting into the spirit of the event with their encouraging and competitive
comments, debating on which moustache was the best – a very tough decision! They were also granted honorary
mobro and mosista membership in exchange for a small donation and rewarded with a sticker to promote the
event and show their support!
Students raised almost 2million VND which will be donated to SympaMeals, a local charity that provides cancer
patients with money for meals during their hospital stay. In addition, the BIS Mobros have been asking for
donations from their family/friends back home and updating them regularly via Facebook. In total, almost £400
($600) had been raised and will go towards the Movember Foundation.
MOVEMBER

7. Issue 14 | 7
SILVER DoE
INTERNATIONAL AWARD

8. Issue 14 | 8
YEAR 2 VISIT TO ALFRESCO RESTAURANT

9. Issue 14 | 9
YEAR 10 INTER HOUSE SCIENCE COMPETITION

10. 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

11. Wednesday 10th December at 1:15pm
Auditorium - BIS Hanoi
Concert 2014

13. Issue 14 | 13
BIS HANOI MENU
Week Beginning 8th December
Monday
8th
Dec 9th
Dec 10th
Dec 11th
Dec 12th
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
Rice soup Nutella sandwich
American
doughnut
Corn and chicken
soup
Milk Juice Milk Soya milk Juice
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit
Chicken noodle
Braised pork and
tofu
Ground beef in
tomato sauce
Chicken
fries
Minced pork
wrapped quail
egg
Egg sushi roll
Potato and beef
samosa
Yogurt Oatmeal cookie
Juice Juice Fruit Juice Fruit
Rice soup Nutella sandwich
American
doughnut
Corn and chicken
soup
Milk Juice Milk Soya milk Juice
Fried chicken in
Pan seared pork
Chicken
fries
Minced pork
wrapped quail
egg
Chicken noodle
Braised pork and
tofu
Ground beef in
tomato sauce with pineapple
Chicken
hamburger
Grilled BBQ pork
Fried chicken leg
Pan seared pork
Chicken
fries
Cashew tofu
Eggplant
lasagna
Braised pork and
tofu
Sauteed
vegetable and
tofu noodle
with pineapple
Minced pork
wrapped quail
egg
Chicken noodle
Steamed roll with
pork cake
Moroccan chiken
rice pilaf noodle
Chicken
hamburger

14. Issue 14 | 14
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)