Weekly Highlights 05/04/2024

Mr. Simon Higham, Principal

Dear Parents

Welcome to the latest edition of the Weekly Highlights.

On a regular basis, I make time in my schedule to browse through the many articles and posts that are published on our school website. I encourage you all to take a moment to reflect upon how often you as a parent, use our website to learn more about our wider BVIS community, the teachers that work here, the curriculum that is delivered and to find useful tools to help you understand how our school operates so that you can further support your child(ren) in their educational journey with us.

Below, I have highlighted just 2 of the many news articles that can be found from the Homepage by clicking on the 3 lines (see below):


 
Then, simply select the ‘News’ link from the menu:

How to build confidence: creating an environment that nurtures and inspires

“Your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude.” Michelle Obama

Research shows that confident children are much more likely to succeed academically. They’re also more likely to be happy and motivated, cope better with challenges, and bounce-back from adversity.

This is why we’re committed to building self-confidence in your children.

In a supportive environment, we encourage students to pursue their passions, believe in their own unique abilities, and develop a strong sense of self. This will give them the self-belief they need to flourish personally, emotionally, and socially – and go on to achieve fantastic academic results.

To find out more, take time to read through this article from our school website to help you answer the following questions:

• What is confidence?
• How does a supportive environment help support confidence to blossom?
• How we build confidence at school
• How you can build confidence in your child

How to develop lifelong reading habits

Reading has astonishing benefits for children. 

From a young age, it provides comfort and reassurance, confidence and security, joy and fun. As a child grows, reading expands their vocabulary, develops communication and language skills, and feeds imaginations. Reading is also a passport to a thousand adventures, sparking passions that last a lifetime and enriching a young person’s understanding of the world.

Read more about how you can develop great reading habits for you child(ren) both in school and at home in this post from our school website.

Parent Essentials

For all essential information relating to your child at school, also take time to look through the ‘Parent Essentials’ link on our Homepage.

Again, click on the 3 lines on our Homepage to find the menu:


 
and then select the 'Parent Essentials’ link:



Here, you can find our academic calendars, parent handbooks, lunch menus and you can even access the presentations from our many parent workshops.



If you have any questions or feedback relating to our school website or simply want to ask how to access a school prepared resource, please do not hesitate to contact us directly. 

No question is ever too big or small!

Should you wish to contact your child’s Class Teacher(s) or Form Tutor directly, we encourage communication to be written in the language you most feel confident to use. 

Parents may also find it useful to contact their child’s class teacher(s) or form tutor directly for all individual queries about their academic work/social and emotional wellbeing in school.  Individual contact details can be found in the Parents' Handbooks or via our Primary/Secondary Receptionists.  

I trust you find today’s Highlights interesting and useful and wish each member of our BVIS community a happy and family-oriented weekend ahead.

Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary

It is known that our mental health is as important to take care of as our physical health.  That said, there are still many developments that society needs to make for the strategies and activities that support positive mental health to become the norm in people’s lives.  For this reason, in primary this week we focused on raising awareness of mental health, what it is, why it is important to us and how we can help our minds to be healthy and feel good.  The week started with a whole primary assembly where the audience became active to wake their bodies and minds up.  Teachers then demonstrated some of the different emotions that a person can feel in one day and the importance of being able to independently manage these emotions.  The assembly then concluded with practising some calming techniques to help focus on the present and regulate to not become overwhelmed with any particular feeling.
 
As the week progressed, students had the opportunity to try out new activities during registration and lunchtimes to help with their mental health and wellbeing.  Activities such as yoga, connecting with others and mindfulness colouring were all strategies that were shared as useful techniques for maintaining inner balance.  Families were also encouraged to get involved in raising awareness of the importance of mental health and wellbeing by participating in a family challenge and sharing this with school.  Students who participated in these challenges were rewarded with extra ClassDojo points.  Thank you to all the families who took part.  I encourage you to add one additional activity like this into your weekly schedule as a new healthy habit for you all at home.

Year 2 visit Vietopia

Upcoming Events

1. 06/04/24 – Block 2 Club break
   
   
2. 08/04/24 – Green Week 
   
   
3. 10/4/24 – Principal’s Afternoon Tea
   
   
4. 15/4/24 – Dress up day for Green Week 
   
   
5. 17/4/24 @11:30am – Term 2 Ends 
   
   
6. 02/05/24 @08:25am – Term 3 Begins 
   
   
7. 06/05/24 – Block 2 Club resume

Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary   

BVIS’s Big Bamboo Growing Competition

This week, the Horticulture Club launched their latest green themed challenge – a form time Bamboo Growing Competition.

Each BVIS form group has chosen a bamboo cutting in a recycled plastic bottle, which they will now have to propagate and regrow.

In Term 3, their efforts will be judged in 4 categories: health, growth, shape and the creativity of their plant’s presentation. 

Growing and caring for plants not only teaches students about greener living, sustainability and responsibility, but it also supports students’ mental health and wellbeing. The Horticulture club is excited to see which Forms embrace their new leafy friends!

Update from the Business & Economics Faculty

Update from the Science Faculty

Chemistry Olympiad

The 2024 Chemistry Olympiad results are back!
 
The UK Chemistry Olympiad, run by the Royal Society of Chemistry, is a tough challenge. However, our BVIS students don't just participate—they win medals.

3 Silvers
2 Bronzes
1 Participation award

The difficulty of the UK Chemistry Olympiad, organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry, can be compared to a variety of academic challenges and exams across different disciplines. It can be likened to prestigious academic exams such as the SAT Subject Tests or Advanced Placement (AP) exams, which assess students' mastery of specific subjects at an advanced level. Overall, the UK Chemistry Olympiad stands out as a demanding academic challenge that showcases students' intellectual abilities and aptitude in chemistry.

Well done to all our medal winners: Rony Ba Thanh Truong, Julia Chau Anh Do, Minh Nhat Huynh, Tom Phuc Khang Tran and Que Anh Chung.

Live Lunch - April

If you want your child to perform in this April’s Live Lunch, please ask them to contact Mrs Amos (frances.amos@bvisvietnam.com) so that they have the opportunity to perform for the whole school.

First News Champions 

This week's First News Champions are: 

Year 9 – Tran Duc Tai                                             
Year 8 – Nguyen Ngoc Nguyen
Year 7 – Nguyen Hoang Bao   

A special congratulations to Nguyen Hoang Bao who was the champion across the whole school!

Bedrock Champions

This week’s bedrock champions are:                                   

Year 12 – Tran Bao Duy 
Year 11 – Aki Vo                                  
Year 10 – Jay Hua     
Year 9 – Max Nguyen                                      
Year 8 – Lee HaMi         
Year 7 – Mraz Le                    
                        
Congratulations to all the above students who came up on top in their respective year groups. A special well done to Mraz who once again achieved the highest Bedrock points total across the whole of Secondary!

Sparx Maths Champions

Students earn XP by completing tasks in their Sparx Homework
 
Compulsory Tasks earn 60-80XP
XP Boost Tasks earn 120-150XP
Target Tasks earn 120-150XP
Independent Learning Tasks earn 100XP
 
Students reach a new Sparx Level every 10000XP

Top XP earners this week are:

Year Group	Name	Class
7	Hoang Bao Nguyen	7I
8	Anna Quach	8zMat2
9	Peter Nguyen	9zMat1
10	Emma Nguyen	10zMat2y

Champion of the Week

This week’s champion student is:

 

 

Well done to Gab (11B)!

 

Champion Tutor Group

This week's Champion tutor group is...

 

 

A huge well done again to everyone in 11B who worked together to achieve more housepoints than any other tutor group last week.

 

Housepoint Update

As we move into the final few weeks of term the Housepoint totals will now be hidden until the final assembly before Easter when the term 2 champions will be announced.

Upcoming Events

1. 6th April: Block 2 Club break
   
   
2. 10th April: Principal’s Afternoon Tea
   
   
3. 11th April: University Guidance Seminar
   
   
4. 12th April: Live Lunch event
   
   
5. 15th April: KS3 Poetry Slam
   
   
6. 17th April @ 11:30am: Term 2 ends 
   
   
7. 2nd May: Term 3 starts
   
   
8. 6th May: Block 2 Club resume
   
   
9. 8th May: Puberty Seminar

Child Protection

The health, safety and wellbeing of our students remains the number one priority at BVIS HCMC.

Should you have a concern for the welfare of any child in our school, please refer to our Safeguarding poster below: