The newsletter provides information on upcoming events at the British International School - Ho Chi Minh City's Tu Xuong Primary campus including a football competition, parent-teacher meetings, international celebration days, and Christmas concerts. It also highlights the school's third place finish in a recent swim meet and encourages families to participate in language learning activities and energy saving initiatives throughout November.

1. 6/11 - 9/11 Phuket Football Competition for Y4 - Y6
14/11 Interim Reports to Parents
19/11 - 21/11 International Celebration
27/11 Parents’ Evening for Y1 - Y6
29/11 Parents Teddy Bears’ Picnic
BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HO CHI MINH CITY
7 NOVEMBER 2014 | ISSUE 10
Dates for your diary
IN THIS ISSUE
From the Deputy Head of Campus 2
Community Services + EYFS Parent-Teacher Group 3
Paid Dance Classes for Term 2 4
MFL Department + PE Department 5
Dates of Term 1 + Finer Diners 6
November
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 10|1

2. From the Deputy Head Teacher - Mr. Ian Battersby
Hallo, Guten Tag,
The sound of children speaking German has been heard all over TX this week, and none
more so than in assembly this morning. It is common to hear many languages around TX
and if you would like to read this part of the newsletter in Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese or
whichever is your home language please go to my blog by clicking here (http://
ianbattersby.blogspot.com/2014/11/newletter-article.html) and using the translate tool. Last
week, Frau Jane introduced us to this term‟s „Language in Focus‟ and then put a video on
the EAL blog (http://txeal.blogspot.com/) with words and phrases for us to learn. This morn-
ing, teams of teachers and pupils were quizzed on their knowledge of German – it was
very clear that everyone had made an effort to learn some of the language.
So, why do we have a „Language in Focus‟? Firstly, „Internationalism‟ is a theme running through this half of
term. We want our children to value and respect other cultures, and the „Language in Focus‟ is one way to bring
a new culture to their experience. Our „International Celebration‟ will be happening on Wednesday 19th
to Friday
21st
November; if you have not yet volunteered to help out, there are sign-up sheets in the foyer. Secondly, it
raises the profile of our Modern Foreign Language (MFL) programme. Not only is knowing a second (or third)
language a great skill to have, but the process of learning a second language is known to have a huge positive
impact on the brain (http://www.bbc.com/news/health-17892521). Our Milepost 2 and Milepost 3 children are
currently engaged in a „Language Perfect‟ MFL competition, so please encourage your child to take part this
weekend. Thirdly, our „Language in Focus‟ helps us to develop empathy with those children who arrive at TX
with little or no English. I have found myself in situations where nobody speaks English; it can be quite
overwhelming when it is so hard to communicate with those around you.
In addition to „Language in Focus‟, in assembly this morning we were celebrating the achievement of our
swimmers who took part in the AP1 Swim Meet last Saturday. There were 6 schools represented, all of which
competed as combined primary and secondary schools, all that is except TX, who did an amazing job in being
awarded third place overall without support from secondary pupils. There were many notable performances, but
a special mention to Quynh Anh (Year 3), Andrew (Year 5) and Jeanette (Year 6) who were awarded first prize
in their age group. Congratulations to all our competitors, and a special thank you to Ms Charlie and Mr Chau
for all their hard work in making this happen, and to all the parents who came along to support this event.
Newsletter Issue 10|2

3. EYFS Parent-Teacher Group
„F1 to F3 parents are encouraged to join in the EYFS Parent-Teacher Group. This is a good opportunity to
share your ideas and work alongside teachers to organise activities for our EYFS children. Kindly see or email
me at gracemaling@bisvietnam.com if you are keen to join.
Thank you. „
Ms Grace
Community Services
November is Energy Month for the TX
Community
Yes … TX is taking part in Eco-School‟s
Energy Month, and throughout November
we will be taking extra-special care to
make sure that we switch everything off
to save energy. Saving energy is not
something that should only be done at
school however. As Global Citizens, we
all need to be aware that using too much
electricity and fuel has an international
impact, and we need to spread this
message far and wide … so let‟s make
sure that parents, grandparents, friends
and relatives, wherever they are in the
world, all know about the TX energy
month.
Ms. Heather

4. Paid Dance Classes for Term 2
Dear Parents,
Please see attached dance programmes that will be offered by the Dancenter next term.
Be aware that these programmes are also open to students from other schools. These programmes will not
appear on our Activities schedules (CHQ) as their sign up dates are between 1-13th
December.
Contact the Dancenter and make payments directly to secure a place for your son or daughter. Please also
quote BIS HCMC when making this booking.
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards
Mr Phil Drake
Director of Sport/Activities & Trip Coordinator
British International School, Ho Chi Minh City
246 Nguyen Van Huong, District 2, HCMC, Vietnam
Phone: +84 (0)8 3744 2335
Fax: +84 (0)8 3744 2334
Mobile: +84 (0)9 06 965218
Email: PhilipDrake@bisvietnam.com
Website: www.bisvietnam.com
Part of the BIS Group of Schools
Newsletter Issue 10|4

5. MFL Department
Bonjour, Hola, Ni Hao!
Children from Y3 to Y6 at TX are enrolled in a Language
Perfect Online competition from November 3rd
to 13th
.
They are competing against other schools from all over
the world with the chance for their language skills to be
recognised at an international level!
I am asking for your cooperation at home to allow your
children to spend some time competing. It can be done
on the Language Perfect website or by downloading the
app for i-Pads or Android devices “Language Perfect”.
Login details have been passed to your children, either
through their language teacher (MP3), or through a note
in their diary (MP2).
Let your children join in the
team effort, learn, and have
fun!
Ms. Sophie
Newsletter Issue 10|5
BIS Invitational Swim Meet- Saturday 1st
November
The BIS Invitational Swim Meet was held at AP1 on Saturday 1st
November. Twenty nine TX students took
part from years 3-6. All students took part in a minimum of four individual events and a relay. The students
enjoyed the day immensely and TX took home a range of 1st
-3rd
place ribbons. Well done to TX swimmers;
Quynh An Tran, Andrew Vu and Jeanette Vo for receiving top individual point scorers (100 points) in their age
category.
Finally, congratulations to the TX squad for competing and achieving an overall third place in the competition.
Without the hard work and dedication of the squad during training this would not have been possible. Well
Done the TX Squad!
December Holiday Programme Information
All information regarding the December holiday programme has been emailed to you. If you would like any
more information please contact emmawestman@bisvietnam.com or philipdrake@bisvietnam.com
Ms. Charlotte
PE Department

6. Newsletter Issue 10|6
Finer Diners
Well done to Iris, Mathilde and Dang Nguyen (Year 3), and Khang, Chi Nghia and Soo A (Year 4).
Dates of Term 1
Date Year Group/s Event
6/11-9/11 Y4-6 Phuket Football Competition
14/11 All Interim Reports to parents
19/11-21/11 All International Celebration
27/11 Y1-Y6 Parents’ Evening
29/11 EYFS Parents Teddy Bears’ Picnic
3/12 Y3 TX visits Thien Phuoc
3/12 Y6 Y6 to PDV
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