The newsletter provides information about upcoming events at the British International School in Hanoi. It includes: - A list of events in February and March including the Tet holiday, music showcases, science week and parent evenings. - Messages from the Principal and Head of Secondary discussing the recent Tet festival fundraising that raised over 95 million VND for charities and emphasizing the importance of speaking English in classrooms. - An update from the Head of Primary on the recent parents' workshops and road safety week activities for students. - Reports on the primary school council shoe box appeal for disadvantaged children, the year 3 Tet fair, a year 2 class trip and the whole school Tet assembly.

1. BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HANOI
NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY 13 2015| ISSUE 21
Issue 21 | 1
UPCOMING EVENTS
16th
- 27th
Tet Holiday – School closes
2nd
All students back to school
5th
– 6th
Year 4 Ba Vi Expedition Trip
5th
IGCSE Music Showcase
9th
– 13th
International Week
10th Year 8 Parents Evening
12th IB Information Morning
13th Mufti Day
14th Maths Olympiad
14th
- 15th
Bronze DoEIA Practice
16th
- 20th
Science Week
20th
Primary School Council to visit SOS
Children’s Village
Year 11 Full Reports Distributed
IN THIS ISSUE
From Mr. Anthony Rowlands
From Mr. Christopher Short
From Mrs. Karen Hanratty
Primary Road Safety Week
Year 3 Tet Fair
F1/2 & F3 Flower Garden Trip
Year 2 Visit to Hanoi City
02
03
04-05
06
07
08
08
Whole School Tet Assembly
Tet Festival
Contacts
09-10
11-12
13
MARCH

2. Our fundraising was a wonderful achievement by
everyone involved and, hopefully, we can bring some
comfort and happiness over the Tet period to people
who are less fortunate than ourselves.
This morning we held our Whole School Tet Assembly
which was attended by all our students from F1 to Year
12 and organised by our excellent Vietnamese staff. It
was an exciting, colourful and enjoyable event
showcasing some wonderful performances by our
students. It was also very pleasing to see so many
parents in attendance to celebrate Tet with us.
I will be in Vietnam for the whole Tet period; the first
week in Hanoi and the second week in Da Nang.
Therefore, I will be able to fully appreciate the Tet
celebrations in this fascinating country.
I would like to wish you all a wonderful Tet holiday with
a Chuc Mung Nam Moi and Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!
Issue 21 | 2
From Mr Anthony Rowlands - Principal of BIS Hanoi
The Year of Goat is nearly upon us as
we approach a significant time of year
for Vietnamese people. Over the last
couple of weeks there has definitely
been a Tet feel around the school. Last
Saturday, our Tet festival was a great
success with large numbers of the
school community enjoying all the
entertainment and activities on offer. What was really
satisfying was the fundraising that we did on the day to
support our school charities when we organised the
following activities:
• An art auction where BIS students’ artwork was sold
and this raised 73,500,000VND
• A PTG Stall selling food and drinks and this raised
16,050,000VND
• A Student Council stall selling items that were
donated by the school community and this raised
5,806,000VND
The charities we currently support are:
• School on The Boat
• Thinh Dai Pagoda
• Sympa Meals
• Tam Dao Bear Sanctuary
• RICE scholarship programme
• SOS Children’s Village Mai Dich

3. As I approach my third Tet in Vietnam I
realise how much I have learnt over
the last three years. I have a far better
understanding of the preparation for
and the celebration of Tet and once
again our Tet Fair and Tet Assembly
helped all our staff and students enjoy
this important festival in Vietnam. Staff
and students experiencing their first Tet really enjoyed
the opportunity to see how the event is celebrated in
our host country.
We launched a campaign last Friday on speaking
English in the classroom. The reasons for this are
threefold. It ensures that all students are involved in
discussions which is increasingly important as we have
more students from different nationalities in the
classroom. Students talking in English also allows the
teacher to pick up more easily on misunderstandings
and misconceptions. Finally it allows students to
practise the terminology they will use in the
Issue 21 | 3
From Mr Christopher Short - Head of Secondary
assessments and examinations. The Student Council
have reviewed the guidelines we have created and like
that we still value a student’s native language and they
support the need to be more inclusive around the
school.
This week has been Road Safety Week. This is the
second such week we have run in the brief history of
the school which shows how important we think the
topic is. Vietnam’s road system is rapidly allowing for
faster travel and this makes it even more imperative that
all members of the BIS community take basic road
safety precautions such as wearing a seatbelt, wearing a
certified helmet and ensuring your
bicycle/motorbike/car is properly maintained. As the
to Newton’s Laws of Motion”. Thank you to Mr
Westropp for leading this important week in Secondary.
I wish all families an enjoyable and safe Tet.
Chuc Mung Nam Moi!
KS3 FOOTBALL WITH CONCORDIA

4. This week saw the last of our Primary parents’ workshops for this term. “Learning Insights” have
taken place for each year group, with a special focus particularly relevant to the teaching and learning
currently taking place in that year group. Parents had an opportunity to hear about that aspect of the
curriculum and to try some activities out for themselves, before being invited into class to observe a
lesson taking place. I was very pleased with the number of parents who attended each session and
particularly pleased with the feedback that I received from parents. A comment that was repeated
several times was along the lines of “I had no idea that children were working at this kind of level!”
Parents also commented that the workshops would help them to better understand and support
children’s learning at home.
Next term we will be holding “Shared Learning” meetings, when parents will be invited into school again, this time to
spend time with their child and his/her teachers individually. They will have the opportunity to look at the work
children have been doing in school and to discuss what is going well as well as future steps for improvement.
This week is Road Safety Week as you will read about later on in this newsletter. I have observed children involved in
a range of learning activities about different aspects of road safety, including poster making, debating the wearing of
seatbelts, filming road safety promotion videos, taking part in the road sign competition and much more.
Issue 21 | 4
From Mrs Karen Hanratty - Head of Primary

5. The understanding and celebration of Tet has also figured largely in lessons this week, from making Tet cards and
peach blossom branches, to rehearsing performances for today’s Tet assembly and creating Tet artwork. This is all on
top of the children’s ongoing learning in English, mathematics and science. What a busy place BIS Hanoi is!
I should like to wish you and your families a wonderful Tet holiday.
Issue 21 | 5
The children of the Primary School Council
have been busy over the past few weeks
sorting and counting the shoe boxes
donated for the children of the RICE
Scholarship programme. It is with great
delight that they announce that 88 boxes
have been collected from the Early Years &
Primary School. We would like to say a
very big “Thank you!” to all children and
parents who supported this appeal. Your
support has been appreciated by the
Primary School Council and will be very
much welcomed by the children in the
north of Vietnam who will benefit from
these wonderful Tet gifts.
SHOE BOX APPEAL

6. Issue 21| 6
This week has been Road Safety Week. The
children have researched different issues
that affect the safety of people on the roads
of Vietnam. Like for example, you are 23%
more likely to be in an accident if you use
your phone and drive. The Primary school
have been busy displaying this information
by making posters, taking part in road sign
quizzes and even creating an advert about
an element of road safety. Whilst making the advert, many
children felt the issue that most affected road safety for
Vietnamese people was wearing helmets when travelling on a motorcycle. Did
you know that helmet use reduces the risk of motorcycle injuries by 69% and
motorcycle fatalities by 42%? As well as this, children have also been looking
at how to cross the road safely. We have been aiming to get the children to
remember the key terms, ‘Look, Listen and Live’. To cap the week off, the
Primary school had a disco, with the theme of ‘Be Bright, Be Seen’. The Disco
was designed to raise the importance of being seen by vehicles at night, by
using lights, reflectors, glow sticks and wearing bright clothes. The
competition winners for the poster competition were Tri Anh from class 2B and
Nguyen Phuong from class 6B. This has been a fantastic week, with important
messages that the children will remember.
PRIMARY ROAD SAFETY WEEK
Mr. Samuel Wilcox
KS2 Coordinator

7. Issue 21 | 7
Over the last few weeks children in Year 3 have been
busy young business men and women. Through
their ‘Young Enterprise’ project they worked in teams
to design, create, manufacture, package, advertise
and market a range of products that they thought
would be attractive to other children in Primary.
They then organized a sale of their goods on
Thursday this week during break and lunchtime,
selling their products to children and staff. Through
their efforts they raised an amazing 1.999.000 VND
which they have decided to donate to the Tam Dao
Bear Sanctuary when they go there to visit next term.
YEAR 3 TET FAIR

8. Issue 21 | 8
YEAR 2 VISIT TO HANOI CITY
F1/2 & F3 Flower Garden Visit

9. Issue 21 | 9
Whole School Tet Assembly

10. Issue 21 | 10

11. Issue 21 | 11
BIS HANOI TET FESTIVAL 2015

12. Issue 21 | 12

13. Issue 21 | 13
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
nhungpham@bishanoi.com
(For all enquiries regarding School Uniform)
School Buses: 218
nganguyenthithuy@bishanoi.com
(For all requiries regarding School Buses)