Mr. Simon Higham, Principal
As we come to the end of what has been an extremely busy and successful Term 1, I want to again challenge your thinking and encourage you to reflect.
Over the holiday period, take time to talk with your child(ren) and work through the following questions together:
This festive time of year is a time to celebrate together as a family, thinking about the year that has passed and the the next year ahead. I hope that you find the questions useful and thought provoking.
I would like to thank all of our BVIS community for their hard work and efforts this term. To our teachers and non-teaching BVIS staff, our parents and of course our incredible children – thank you for making our school such a special place to be part of.
Thank you to the small number of families who will be moving on from BVIS at the end of this term – we wish you all the very best in your future adventures and please stay in touch with us.
Additionally, I would also like to welcome all of the new families who begin their journeys with us at the beginning of Term 2- we're very pleased to have you part of our school community.
On behalf of everyone at BVIS, we wish you a very peaceful Christmas holiday period and a very happy and prosperous 2024.
We all look forward to seeing you again in school on Wednesday 10th January.
Mrs Mary McAloon, Head of Primary
This week there were a number of exit points to celebrate a great term of learning – an exciting and rewarding way to end Term 1.
Year 6's exit point was called the 'The Great, The Bold and The Brave'. The students showcased a variety of activities, displays and performances linked to the civilisations of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. The showcase was a demonstration of what the children have learned during Term 1 and a reflection of how hard they have worked.
Year 5 celebrated their ‘Climate Control’ exit point in the main hall. Parents were invited to participate in various games, performances, and activities that students had prepared. There were some valuable messages shared with families as to how we can improve our choices to support our earth and the environment.
The Year 4 students’ topic was all about ‘Explorers and Adventurers’. Parents had an opportunity to complete some history and geography tasks led by the students for example, they drew a timeline of the main events in their life and they used a compass to follow directions and navigate their way to the treasure.
Year 2 focused on ‘Transport’ and spent time sharing their learning and achievements in their classrooms with their families. The students felt a real accomplishment being able to demonstrate to their parents what they have been spending their time on at school this term.
The EYFS children invited families into their classrooms to listen to the Christmas songs they have been practising and enjoy some festive cookies and hot chocolate together to celebrate the Christmas season.
Thank you to all families who attended the recent exit points, the students and teachers appreciate your time and support.
On Thursday this week, all students spent time celebrating Christmas together. They had party games to play and primary students had an extra special Golden Time at the end of the day. Our Student Council arranged for all students to dress in their chosen Christmas outfit, including the colours of Christmas, which painted a magical picture of the festive season across the whole of primary. At lunchtime, students were treated to a traditional Christmas dinner as part of the international-themed menu and, during the morning’s class parties, Father Christmas even came to visit BVIS! Father Christmas wished us all a very Merry Christmas filled with fun, laughter and joy!
I would like to wish all our families at BVIS a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
This week the whole of Upper Primary came together in their house teams – Dalat, Hanoi, Hue and Saigon – to compete in the annual Sports Day led by our PE department. The excitement filled the air as the students and teaching team embarked on the buses to make their way to the Sports Stadium set up ready for the fun-filled morning ahead. With activities like sprint shuttles, javelin launch and frisbee challenge, the students were prepared to build up their house points to work towards being named the Champion House of the Year for the Upper Primary Sports Day. The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and made memories to keep forever.
Thank you to our whole school PE department for planning and preparing such an exciting sporting day. The PE teachers and teaching assistants’ hard work and dedication towards inspiring our students to pick up sport as a hobby and for some, strive to become an expert sportsperson in a field of choice, is very much appreciated and valued.
Congratulations to our winning house: Saigon!
Mr Toby Bate, Head of Secondary
The Housepoints are all counted, the sports day has been run, Mama Mia has sold out and finished and the Christmas fun day is done. The first term of 2023-24 is now over, but it has been brilliant, with so much going on for the students to get involved with.
As we briefly look ahead to Term 2, there are mocks exams and residential trips on the horizon for students in different year groups; but for at least some of the coming holiday, do relax and enjoy some down time. We are a very busy school populated by amazing students and dedicated passionate teachers and staff members, enjoy the time off together and we look forward to seeing you in January, refreshed and ready to learn.
At the end of the term each Head of House selects students from KS3 and KS4 who they feel have contributed significantly to the House over the course of the term.
To conclude Term 1, the Wellbeing Committee has launched its first official event of the year: Asian Heritage Week! The week features activities for students and teachers, including a film screening of the Vietnamese film “Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass” and an Asian Martial Arts talk show hosted by Year 12 member Lewis featuring our very own teacher-athletes.
Finally, to finish off the week, the Wellbeing Committee also hosted workshops on traditional games and arts from various Asian cultures, providing students with an opportunity to relax after end-of-term exams and learn about various traditions across the Asian continent.
After this event’s success, the Well-Being Committee has become even more motivated to make our upcoming projects even more successful than the last. We will continue working hard to continue our goal of enriching the school community.
Annie and Cindy
Co-Chairs of the Well-Being Committee
This Tuesday saw the Secondary Sports Day take place at the District 8 stadium. The events set up included traditional track and field events as well as the “Tug of War”.
Once again it was an incredibly close-run event with all the houses being separated by only a few points at the end of the day.
But there could only be one winner and this time it was....
The full results were:
Congratulations to Mr. Cooper and all the students in Hue, but especially to the Student Leaders who helped their whole House through each and every event. Well done to Jimmy, Anh Khue and the rest of the Hue student leaders!
The top XP earners in each year group since the start of term are:
Year | Name | Form/Class |
7 | Alice Nguyen |
8 | Anna Quach | 8zMat2 |
9 | Angelia Nguyen | 9zMat1 |
10 | Hoang Bao Chau Nguyen | 10zMat2y |
11 | Kensuke Yamamura | 11zMat2x |
Congratulations to all the winners!
This term’s bedrock champions are:
Year 12 - Tran Nam Phu
Year 11 - Kensuke Yamamura
Year 10 - Shunsuke Yamamura
Year 9 - Grace Do
Year 8 - Kosuke Yamamura
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 achieved the highest Bedrock points across the whole of Secondary.
This week’s champion student is...
Tam An (Zen) – 7I! Well done to Zen!
This week's Champion tutor group is...
A huge well done to everyone in 7I who worked together to achieve more housepoints than any other tutor group last week.
This term’s champion student is...
Gia Han (Susie) – 7V! Well done, Susie!
The results are in for the end of term 1....
Congratulations to Hue who have come out on top, but there is still a long way to go to be the overall winner at the end of the year.
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: