1. BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HANOI
NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 12 2014| ISSUE 15
IN THIS ISSUE
From Mr. Anthony Rowlands
From Mr. Christopher Short
From Mrs. Karen Hanratty
Year 11 IGCSE Geography: Field Trip Hanoi 2014
EYC Production
Winter Concert
BBGV Christmas Event
Year 3 Visits the Ho Chi Minh Museum
Fundinotots Programme
Lunch Menu
Contacts
02
03
04
05
06 - 08
09 -11
12
13
14
15
16
Issue 15 | 1
UPCOMING EVENTS
15th
BIS Girls U11 Football vs Girls U14
17th
F1/2 to visit the farm
18th
BIS Girls Under 11 vs BVIS RC
19th
Secondary House Sports
Whole School Assembly
Year 9 Interim Reports distributed
Term 1 ends at 12.25pm
20th
Dec – 6th
Jan: Christmas Holiday
7th
All students back to school for Term 2.
8th
KS3 Football vs Wellspring
12th
-16th
Secondary Mock Exam Week
Year 8 Information Morning
13th
Year 6 Learning Insights Parents Information
Session
Year 9 Parents Evening and Options Information
14th
KS3 Boys Football vs SIS
15th
F1/2 Learning Insights Parents Information Session
16th
KS3 Boys & Girls Football vs Concordia
DECEMBER
JANUARY
2. Issue 15 | 2
From Mr Anthony Rowlands - Principal of BIS Hanoi
There are many ingredients needed to
ensure that a school is an active, happy
and positive establishment. Three such
ingredients - learning, sport and music -
have been particularly evident recently
at BIS Hanoi.
Recording achievement in learning is a
very important ingredient of school life and I am
pleased to see that many student reports have now
been issued, or will soon be issued, by the school.
These reports highlight what our students have learnt
and achieved during the first term of the academic year.
They all record a student’s strengths and level of effort
whilst also highlighting areas where a student needs to
show improvement. Additionally, parents have
attended Parent/Teacher Consultation Evenings to
discuss their child’s progress in more detail. These
reports and meetings are vital communication
pathways between parents and teachers. This written
and verbal communication will ensure that students
receive consistent home/school feedback that will lead
to further progress in each child’s future development.
Around this time two years ago, I stated that we had
reached a milestone at the school as we had played our
first competitive sporting fixture – a football match
against Hanoi International School. We now have
regular fixtures against all the major International
schools in Hanoi and in many different sports.
Additionally, this year we have competed in our first
overseas football tournament. On Tuesday of this week
it was an absolute pleasure to watch our KS3 girls play
football against HIS and they gave a very good account of
themselves. The final result, a 1-1 draw, was a fair result
for both teams. As shown in that particular football game,
the importance of sport as a key ingredient of school life
cannot be underestimated as it develops great friendship
bonds, a keener sense of belonging to the school and key
team building skills.
Our final vital ingredient for a happy school environment
is music. This element continues to grow stronger and
stronger. Last Friday our school choir and band once again
played at the BBGV Christmas celebration and they
represented the school with pride during their magnificent
performance. This week we hosted a wonderful “Winter
Concert” in the school auditorium with over a hundred of
our students performing. It was an outstanding event
showcasing the developing musical talent of our students.
In addition to this, today, our youngest students performed
“To the Crystal Caves”. Our Foundation and KS1 students
were charming and all performed with such confidence
and enthusiasm.
What a great way to end a week and, with three such
strong ingredients at BIS, the recipe of an active, happy
and positive school is constantly developing.
I do hope that you have a wonderful weekend.
CANADIAN AMBASSADOR VISITS BIS HANOI
3. Two weeks ago 10S gave an
enthusiastic, creative and informative
assembly on how Christmas is
celebrated here in Vietnam and
elsewhere. I know our overseas staff
found it fascinating to see how the
students saw a festival that is huge in
our home countries but less so in Asia.
Our own version of Christmas celebrations have
continued in school this week with the Winter Concert
on Wednesday. As usual we had an incredible standard
of musical talent and my thanks go to all students who
participated and Ms Woolgar and the music department
for organising the event. Some students also supported
the EYC children on Thursday as they prepared for their
Christmas Concert.
Issue 15 | 3
From Mr Christopher Short - Head of Secondary
I have had conversations with some parents this week
about the balance between academic pursuits and
involvement in the wide range of other activities we also
offer. This is perhaps focused at this time of year as we
have a lot of assessment going on as we get nearer to the
end of term. I feel quite strongly that students should
learn to balance their classroom and non-classroom
based activities and should not sacrifice either one as
being less important. Students heading to competitive
universities will need to demonstrate that on top of
excellent grades they also have a wide range of skills
and experience and can become rounded members of
the university community. I also think that the ability to
work around events such as tests, rather than
withdrawing from everything in the run up to them, is
an important skill for our students to master. This
reflects what they need to do in their future work lives.
4. This week has seen two wonderful
celebrations of music, drama and
culture in school. On Wednesday it
was very pleasing to listen to the
Winter Music Concert. The concert
featured children from across the
school sharing their accomplishments
on a range of instruments. It was
wonderful to see how many children took part – 34
Primary children in total. Some of them played
individual items, some in duets or small groups and 7 of
our children played in the growing BIS Hanoi Orchestra.
I was pleased to see that many new children have taken
up an instrument this year, but also to see how much
improved the children who have been learning their
instrument for some time now are. Without exception
the children played confidently – quite a feat in front of
an audience of over 600 people.
Issue 15 | 4
From Mrs Karen Hanratty - Head of Primary
FINE DINING
Today we had the delights of the Early Years Centre
concert. It was simply wonderful to see our small
people performing as they did this afternoon. The
acting, singing and dancing were all superb, colourful
and lively, and really gave everyone who attended a
warm, happy feeling inside. My congratulations and
thanks go to the entire EYC team who have put so much
effort into this over the last few weeks, but even more so
to our children who were such shining stars this
afternoon. You will be able to read a fuller account of
the show later in this newsletter.
5. Issue 15 | 5
Last week the Geography Department took the IGCSE students out into Hanoi
to investigate the quality of the environment at various locations around the
city. They were the first students at BIS to use the School’s hi-tech Labdisc
Dataloggers and iPads outside of school to bring to life what they have been
studying in class. This research will be used by the students to complete the
coursework component of their IGCSE and also, equally important, it gave
the students an opportunity to take learning out of the classroom.
Geography plays an important role in taking the strengths from other
academic subjects and applying their principles to real life situations. For
example; the students will be using Maths to manipulate data and to identify
trends and outliers to assist their analysis; applying Scientific theory and
practical skills when collecting the data from around the city; linking in
Business Studies concepts into deciding about the location for where to
collect the data by comparing different land-uses at different locations; and
by using sophisticated ICT software to handle and display their data to a high
standard. A subject as versatile as Geography is a highly sought-after
qualification in the global
job-market, as the skills that
students develop, as well as the knowledge they learn in A-Level and
IB, link perfectly with other popular academic subjects when
applying to universities.
The students were impeccably behaved, considerate to the residents
of Hanoi throughout the trip and really enjoyed themselves as well.
Working with such inspiring students across all the Key Stages, is
motivating me to offer more trips in the future. All Geography
Department updates can be found in the link to the Departmental
Blog at http://bishngeography.blogspot.com. Watch this space!
Year 11 IGCSE Geography
BOLD
INQUISITIVE
STUDENTS
PICK GEOGRAPHY
FIELD TRIP HANOI 2014
6. Issue 15 | 6
The EYC children have been working
extremely hard over the past couple of
months to prepare for the production
and I am sure you will agree the show
was a huge success. The props the
children made really helped to set the
scene and the stage looked truly
amazing.
Foundation 1, 2 and 3 replicated “Fairytale” land and
everybody enjoyed their singing and dancing. F3 looked
particularly impressive playing their musical
instruments and the F1/2 children all remembered the
actions to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Year 1 were in
“Traditional Tale” land and put on a very impressive
dance routine. They all sang extremely well with the live
guitar. Year 2 were part of “Disney Film Land” and once
again a very slick performance from everybody
involved. They all performed the choreographed dance
routines with enthusiasm.
EYC PRODUCTION
To the
Crystal Caves!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff
who were involved in the production – as you can
imagine a show like this involves a lot of hard work and
dedication. I would also like to thank all the parents who
helped out by practising the songs, dances and lines
with their children and also for providing such fantastic
costumes.
But most of the praise rightly goes to the children who
sang, danced and practised over and over in order to
delight us all with their magnificent performance. I hope
that you all have a wonderful and happy winter holiday
which is filled with happiness and joy.
Ms Kate Fitzpatrick
Year 1 Teacher
13. Issue 15 | 13
YEAR 3 VISITS THE HO CHI MINH MUSEUM
14.
15. Issue 15 | 15
BIS HANOI MENU
Week Beginning 15th December
Monday
15th
Dec 16th
Dec 17th
Dec 18th
Dec 19th
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 with
chicken
Banana cake
American
doughnut
Rice soup
Lemon juice
French fries
Hawaiian pizza
Fruit
Juice Milk Juice Juice
Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit
Braised pork
Grilled BBQ
chicken rice
Fried mince pork
Fresh tofu Egg sushi roll Oatmeal cookie Caramel
Fruit Juice Soya milk Fruit
Rice soup with
chicken
Banana cake
American
doughnut
Rice soup
Lemon juice
French fries
Hawaiian pizza
Fruit
Juice Milk Juice Juice
Braised pork
with daikon
Grilled chicken
leg with pepper
sauce
rice
Stauteed chicken
with lemon
grass,bell pepper
Fried tofu in
tomato sauce
Pork caramel
with egg
Sauteed pork
with rice
Fried mince pork
Noodle from the
central
Beef Moussaka
Rice noodle with
crab and beef
soup
Maccaroni with
meat sauce French fries
Assorted pizza
Steam roll with
pork cake
Fruit
Roasted
vegetable
calzone
Grilled chicken
leg with pepper
sauce
Fried soy cake
with sweet and
sour sauce
Stauteed chicken
with lemon
grass,bell pepper
Braised pork
with daikon
Pork caramel
with egg
Sauteed pork
with rice
Fried mince pork
BRUNCH
BRUNCH
BRUNCH
16. Issue 15 | 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)
