1. W/C 15/9 EYFS Parents’ Meetings
Monday 22/9 Clubs Begin
Wednesday 24/9 MP1 Coffee Morning
Sunday 28/9 BBGV Fun Run
BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HO CHI MINH CITY
12 SEPTEMBER 2014 | ISSUE 3
Dates for your diary
IN THIS ISSUE
From Head of Campus 2
Moon Festival 3
Examination and Test Results 2014 4
Community Services 5
Music Department + Korean Parents Coffee Morning 6
Dates of Term 1 + Finer Dinners 7
PE Department + Holiday Programme 8
BBGV Fun Run 9
BBGV Fun Run Photo Contest + Cricket Club 10
BIS Saturday Football Programme 11
September
TU XUONG PRIMARY
Newsletter
Contact information
43-45 Tu Xuong St, District 3, HCMC
Tel: (848) 3932 0210
Fax: (848) 3932 0770
E-mail:
suehill@bisvietnam.com
Newsletter Issue 3|1
2. From Head Teacher - Ms. Sue Hill
Dear Parents,
What a wonderful, colourful week we have had, celebrating the Moon Festival!
On Thursday, the children in the Foundation Stage enjoyed a variety of activities and, the
best thing about the celebration…mums and dads were their too! Banging the Vietnamese
drum, trying out the dragon dancing, face painting, eating moon cakes and making moon
cakes were just some of the many exciting things to do. And, of course, all the children
looked amazing in their ao dais.
Today, the Year 1 to 6 children paraded with their lanterns. Congratulations to all the
winners of the lantern competition and to Theresa, Andrew and Khoi for leading us very
confidently through the assembly today. Thank you to all the teaching assistants who
made the celebrations so amazing and for the super displays.
On Wednesday evening, we held our Parents Information Evening. Thank you to all those who attended and
battled through both the rain and traffic jams to attend; I hope you all learned something new about the school
and enjoyed meeting your child’s class teacher and specialist teachers. This year, the TX campus has produced
an information booklet for each milepost. This contains a lot of ways we can work in partnership to optimise your
child’s learning. If you were unable to attend the information evening, and have not received your copy of the
information booklet, please contact your child’s class teacher. Two further booklets are being produced, for
English and Maths. These are full of activities you can do at home and will be available soon.
Our assembly next week will be a special event to vote for our new house captains. All children are requested to
wear their house t-shirts to school on Friday.
Newsletter Issue 3|2
This year, EYFS’s Moon Festival celebrations were different to those in previous years. On Thursday, parents
were invited to join us for lots of different activities including dragon dancing, face painting, lantern making and
of course tasting moon cake! Did you catch our moon fairy who was making a special guest appearance? It
was a more relaxed event for the children and it was great to see a sea of happy, smiling children trying
different activities alongside their parents and carers. The highlight for many of the teachers and TAs was
watching our children take control of the drums and do the dragon dance! Thank you to our wonderful EYFS
TAs for organising this wonderful event and also to you, our wonderful parents who joined us. Happy Moon
Festival to you all!
Ms Gurvinder
EYFS Leader
4. Examination and Test Results 2014
The British International School is delighted to announce that its students have achieved another set of
outstanding examination and test results this year. Yet again this has been the best ever set of external
examination results for the school in any one year.
Key Stage 2 Test Results for Year 6 – Students aged 11 years old
The National Curriculum for England requires schools to award a National Curriculum Level in Reading,
Writing, Mathematics and Science to all Year 6 students. Year 6 marks the end of primary school education in
the British system. These Teacher Assessed Levels are based on class work throughout the year as well as
specific tasks and tests taken at the end of the school year.
We are proud to see that our students are performing well above expectations and averages for England.
IGCSE Results for Year 11 – Students aged 16 years old
The University of Cambridge IGCSE certificate is common currency in international education, with schools in
more than 100 countries worldwide using the examinations. Grades A* to C are commonly regarded as good
pass grades.
One measure of how well a school is doing is the percentage of all examination entries that are either A* or A.
The UK average for this is 23% and a very good independent school or international school would be above
60%. We were very pleased with a total of 64.9% of all examinations at the school being either A* or A.
Many of our students passed 11 IGCSE subjects, 25% were awarded at least 7 A* and our top achieving
student was awarded 11A* grades and 1A grade.
IB Diploma Programme Results for Year 13 – Students aged 18 years old
The IB Diploma is recognised as a rigorous academic qualification accepted by universities around the world
as one of the best preparations available anywhere for a degree course. An IB Diploma is awarded to students
who score 24 points or more out of a maximum of 45 points.
The school’s average points’ score was our highest ever at 35.3 against a world average of 29.8. This is the
seventh year in succession that BIS has been well above the world average points score, with our top two
students scoring an exceptionally high 43 points each.
These results compare very favourably with the top international schools around the world as well as the best
grammar schools and independent schools in the UK. We are delighted that so many of these students have
gone to top universities of their choice in the UK, USA and other countries. A full list of university destinations
can be seen on our website. Please follow this link: http://www.bisvietnam.com/index.php/
university_destinations_2014-49.htm
Congratulations are due to all of the students and their teachers for achieving such success. They have all
worked so hard and the results are fully deserved. We continue to set extremely high standards at the school
and year on year everyone rises to the challenge. Well done to parents as well for their continued support in
making BIS the truly great school that it is.
You can download a full set of Key Stage 2 Test Results, IGCSE Examination Results and IBDP Examination
Results from the school website. Please follow this link: http://www.bisvietnam.com/index.php/
examination_results_2014-48.htm
Shaun Williams
CEO & Principal
Examination and Test Results 2014
Newsletter Issue 3|4
5. A big “Hello” from the Community Projects Team
In BIS we believe it is an important part of our children’s learning and development to work with a range of
different groups across our community.
In support of this, every year group has a partnership with a different community group such as a local school,
orphanage or animal support group. Regular meetings with these partners develops children’s caring, respect,
enquiry, reflection and perseverance, these partnerships allow children to learn together on their journey to
becoming a global citizen.
During the year, TX will work with the following partners during curriculum activities:
EYFS ARC (Animal Rescue and Care)
Y1 Binh Trieu School
Y2 Tran Khanh Du School
Y3 Thien Phuoc Home for Disabled Children
Y4 Poussieres de Vie School
Y5 EAST (Endangered Asian Species Trust)
Y6 Poussieres de Vie School
Before that, next Tuesday our teachers will have the opportunity to meet with some of our community partners.
Over 130 children from Poussieres de Vie School, Tran Khanh Du School, and TX Center (who will visit us for
a community club). Teachers will work with small groups of children for an hour of activity and fun.
Year 6 Vietnamese children will help with translation in the classrooms between partners and teachers. This is
an exciting opportunity for them to practise both meeting and working with new children, and supporting their
teachers.
Ms. Heather
Community Services
Newsletter Issue 3|5
6. Music Department
Newsletter Issue 3|6
Korean Parents Coffee Morning
안녕하세요?
BIS그룹에서 일을 시작한 한국인 직원 정승임 입니다. 제 이메일은
bettychong@bisvietnam.com입니다. 학교 관련 궁금하신 사항은 이곳으로 이메일 주
시면 답변을 드리도록 하겠습니다. 보내실때 아이의 영문이름과 학년 반을 정확히
기재해주시기 바랍니다.
9월 17일 오전 8시 투송캠퍼스 Multi purpose Room에서 한국부모님들을 모시고 간
담회를 가질 예정입니다.
많은 참석바랍니다.
Ms Betty
Thank you to all the children and parents who have sent in requests for musical instrument lessons. There are
still a few spaces left for clarinet, saxophone and cello. If you would like your child to begin learning one of
these amazing instruments in school, please email me as soon as possible at
robbiemackinnon@bisvietnam.com. Lessons will cost 374,000 VND per 40 minute lesson.
Please remember to check the TX music blog to find out more about music this week!
www.xmusic2014-2015.blogspot.com
Mr. Robbie
7. Finer Diners:
Well-done to Ingrid, Dolly, Max, Aston, Nghi Van and Alex. Ms Estelle, Ms Thanh and Ms Sue enjoyed dining
with you.
Dates of Term 1
Newsletter Issue 3|7
Finer Diners
Date Year Group/s Event
15/9 All Club allocation available on CHQ
22/9 All Term 1 Clubs begin
24/9 MP1 Coffee Morning—Blogs
28/9 All BBGV Fun Run
29/9—30/9 All We Love Books!
8/10 Y1 –6 Musical Coffee Morning
w/c 20/10 All Half Term Holiday
6/11-9/11 Y4-6 Phuket Football Competition
14/11 All Interim Reports to parents
27/11 Y1-Y6 Parents’ Evening
29/11 EYFS Parents Teddy Bears’ Picnic
7/12 All Clubs Finish
11/12 MP2 MP2 Production (Evening)
12/12-15/12 Y4-Y6 Bangkok Feeding Frenzy Swim Meet
17/12 EYFS Christmas Concert
18/12 Y1-Y6 Christmas Concert (Evening)
19/12 All Term 1 finishes @ 11.30am
8. Newsletter Issue 3|8
PE Department
Holiday Programme
The U11 Boys and Girls Basketball team played a match against TD AIS on Wednesday 10th September.
The boy’s team consisted of Khoa Tran, Andrew Vu, Rishi Ahuja, Andy Dang, Anh Vu Dang, Tyler Nguyen,
Gia Vinh Nguyen, Yoo Min Park, David Nghiem and Pana Duong.
At first the TX squad were a little hesitant however after the first five minutes they gained confidence and
gained possession of the play. There were some great plays from the boys. Tyler and Gia Vinh continually
rebounded and gained possession of the ball. It was an extremely close game in the second half with Khoa
making some superb rebounds and Andrew Vu running the plays. However, the overall result was TD AIS 14
and TX 10 points. The player of the match goes to Yoo Min for his support play and spatial awareness.
The girl’s team played shortly after. The team consisted of Kelly Tran, Susu Le, Jamie Donnelly, Hannah Bui,
Jeanette Vo, Minh Nguyen, Yu Gyeong Kang.
The girls started strong and dominated from the onset of the game. In the first half, Hannah made some
superb rebounds which enabled Jeanette to run the plays. In the second half TD AIS came out fighting
however Yu Gyeong regained possession by making some great steals. The end result was 6-2 to TX. Player
of the match goes to Jeanette Vo for her fast breaks and use of spatial awareness.
Well done to all the TX players. The effort that was put in on court was amazing!
Ms. Charlotte
10. BBGV Fun Run
New!!
Parent ran - Saturday Cricket Club
“ We are looking for parent volunteers, passionate about cricket, to coach our new team”
Saturdays starting: 22nd
September until 6th
December 2014
Location and time : BIS TX Sports Hall, 12pm-1pm
Fees : 300 000 VND
Welcome back BIS TX parents. I hope you had a great summer. We want to develop our TX parent
community; our first step will be to start a cricket club run by volunteer parents. Why cricket and not football?
Well, as you may know, An Phu primary parents run a football club on Saturdays. As this club is open to TX
students as well, we decided to try something different. Cricket is a popular Commonwealth sport which
means it is played by a lot of people! It is a fun game. What we need to start is the commitment of at least 3
or 4 parents (dads or mums), who will coach a team of 11 players. A certified coach will be helping at the
beginning to give tips on how to coach. The idea behind this club is also to share a cultural aspect as well
and to develop links between TX families. That club will be a perfect moment to socialize, don’t just drop your
child but stay and meet new people. So, if you are passionate about cricket and want to be part of this,
please send me an email at anne.salapete@gmail.com .
Thank you.
Anne S.
Cricket Club
Newsletter Issue 3|10