BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HANOI

NEWSLETTERJANUARY 16 2015| ISSUE 17

IN THIS ISSUE

From Mr. Anthony RowlandsFrom Mr. Christopher ShortFrom Mrs. Karen HanrattyPhysical Development in F3Secondary English and EAL Fundinotots ProgrammeLunch MenuContacts

0203040506070809

Issue 17 | 1

UPCOMING EVENTS

19th ECAs start KS4/5 Boys & Girls Basketball vs UNIS KS3 Girls Football vs HIS20th KS2 House Sports KS3 Boys Football vs St Paul21st KS4/5 Boys Basketball vs Wellspring KS4/5 Girls Basketball vs HIS22nd- 24th Silver DoEIA Qualifying Expedition - Dalat22nd Y5 Learning Insights Parents’ Information session24th KS3 Boys & Girls Football tournament at UNIS26th KS1 House Sports KS4/5 Boys Basketball vs Wellspring 27th - 30th Y8 Expedition - Mai Chau27th Y4 Learning Insights Parents’ Information Session KS4/5 Boys Basketball vs St Paul29th Y1 Learning Insights Parents Information Session30th Y11 & Y12 Mock Results issued

JANUARY

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From Mr Anthony Rowlands - Principal of BIS Hanoi

It has certainly been a busy start to Term 2. On the 5th and 6th January, the teaching staff experienced some excellent Professional Development led by Mr. David Grewer from ‘Educational Consultancy Limited’ in the UK. He led some engaging sessions during the two days on the subject of

“Coaching for Excellent Learning’’. On the 7th January we were visited by a team of 5 people from DOET who reviewed school documentation and visited Vietnamese lessons. On Thursday 8th January and Friday 9th January 2015, the British International School, Hanoi welcomed Dr. Graham Ranger - Director of School Support and Evaluation from the Council of International Schools (CIS). The purpose of the visit was to provide an external verification of the quality of education provided by the school. In order to achieve CIS membership status the school was first required to conduct a self-evaluation against a set of quality standards which covered all aspects of the school’s operations. The visitor was then able to seek evidence at the school which supported the school’s report.

BIS Hanoi was subsequently delighted to be officially informed that the school has been awarded CIS membership status with immediate effect. The feedback received contained the following observations and commendations:

A strong commitment to developing global citizenship, exemplified by the school’s mission and values;

High quality faculty, support staff and leadership, driven by its commitment to the students and their needs;

A commitment to international education and the international community of Hanoi, coupled with respect and appreciation of Vietnamese culture and language;

The strengths of the BIS group, its strategic vision, commitment to high standards and continuous improvement;

The high class facility, well-suited to the needs of the community;

A very sensitive and ethically strong management of the process of change from BVIS to BIS, early in the school’s life;

The overall ‘feel’ of the teaching and learning, gained by ‘walk-throughs’ and facilitated by the easy viewing into classrooms is of well-structured, engaging teaching and learning, with students motivated, challenged and ably supported by skillful teaching;

The school is committed to continuous improvement and has a desire to engage in the CIS evaluation/accreditation process as a means of doing so. There is a commitment to excellence, which includes undertaking the process to lead to international accreditation.

For further information about the Council of International Schools please visit www.cois.org.

This week is just as busy as the first week with our older students in Year 11 and Year 12 experiencing “Mock Examinations” in preparation for IGCSE and A Level examinations that will occur later this academic year. Therefore, these students are entering a very important period of their school lives. In Primary this week we have seen two year groups hold their “Learning Insights” sessions with parents. I was extremely pleased to see large numbers of parents in both the Year 6 and F1/2 sessions with parents being very positive about what they experienced.

It just remains for me to wish you all a most pleasant weekend.

Our first newsletter of 2015 and we’re already half way through the month after a busy 8 days at school. Week 1 was no gentle ease back into work with some excellent but intense training for staff plus DOET and CIS visits. We were also very excited to inaugurate our new Student Kitchen. Cooking is a very

popular part of our ECA programme and we now have a dedicated room to expand our provision for ECA and class use over the coming years.

Yesterday was an important day in the UK university calendar as it was the deadline for university applications. Many US universities have 1 January as their deadline so this time next year most our Year 12 students will have finished and submitted their applications. It is often said that university choice is the last decision a parent makes for their child and the first decision a child makes for themselves. To assist both

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From Mr Christopher Short - Head of Secondary

students and parents Mr Byrne and Mr Wolstenholme will be inaugurating our Careers Room. This room will host information on universities around the world and be a place where students can research career options and meet visiting university representatives.

Mock exams have taken place all week. We run them using the same systems and regulations we will have to use in May so students get a real feel for what they will need to do in their actual IGCSE and A Level examinations. There were some nervous faces on Monday morning but we know the process really helps so in 4 months they can just focus on exam preparation and not worry about the mechanics of how the exam cycle works.

Ms Marsden and I accompanied a selection of Key Stage 3 Student Council representatives to Sympa Meals to donate some money we raised for them and discuss ways of further working together.

SECONDARY MOCK EXAMS

There was a real buzz in the school last Wednesday morning as we welcomed children back into school after the Christmas break. I was pleased to see so many happy, eager faces as children arrived to start the day. One boy, quite spontaneously, said to me “Mrs. Hanratty, it is so great to be back at

school!” What a wonderful validation to hear!

At the end of last week, as you will have read, we had our CIS membership visit. Dr. Ranger spent two days in discussion with staff, children and parents, and visited many lessons. His feedback at the end of the two days was another great endorsement of the school. He spoke particularly highly about the teaching and learning he had seen taking place: active and engaging lessons which were appropriately differentiated to meet the needs of all children; skilled, creative teachers who know how to draw the best out of the children and children who are responsive, respectful and socially aware. We have many positives on which to continue to build and are in a good position to move forward on our journey of growth and improvement.

Over the next few weeks we will be holding a series of workshops for parents which will focus on one specific aspect of the curriculum, sharing information about what is taught and how, followed by a practical lesson with the class based on the content of the workshop. There will be a workshop for each year group, focusing

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From Mrs Karen Hanratty - Head of Primary

FINE DINING

on a specific aspect of the curriculum or learning and teaching. Topics such as ‘Developing Hand Eye Coordination’, ‘Bringing Learning to Life’ and ‘Developing Conceptual Understanding in Mathematics’ will be covered. We do hope that in the coming weeks as many parents as possible will be able to attend these informative sessions.

Children develop quickly in F3, both their fine and gross motor skills change rapidly at this age. We should keep them physically engaged and challenged both at home and school.

A wide range of physical activities are prepared in shared areas to aid gross motor development. We do

yoga and dancing in the soft-play room, water play in the splash pool, sports in our multi-purpose room and running and climbing games in the outdoor play area. We also make use of other spaces like the Secondary and Primary fields to provide a different learning experience.

Fine motor skills are developed when doing creative and mark-making activities, messy play, and construction.

It is important to provide opportunities for children to be active in ways that interest them and match their abilities. When they feel successful, they will feel confident to challenge themselves further in any task.

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Physical Development in F3

Ms Isabell GeronaF3 Teacher

Ms Nguyen Nguyet ThuF3 Teacher

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One of the English and the EAL departments’ aims is to develop students’ academic English skills so that they can flourish in all the subjects that they study both here at BIS and beyond. (A reminder on the difference between academic English and social English is below.) One of

the best ways for students to improve their academic English ability is through additional reading at home. Not only can students broaden their knowledge of literary works, they can also improve their vocabulary and reading comprehension. Furthermore, increased reading at home in conjunction with English and EAL lessons can help make students better academic writers. We also hope to encourage reading for pleasure as this is an invaluable life-long skill.

With this in mind, the English and EAL departments are pleased to inform parents of the acquisition of a broad range of graded readers. As a result, students can find an ample number of titles which correspond to their current English level (see CEF levels below). These readers can be found in and checked out from the library.

CEF Scales

In order to determine the English language level of each BIS secondary student, the Common European Framework (CEF) is used. The Common European Framework is composed of six levels. They are as follow:

• C2 = Advanced/Mastery• C1 = Advanced• B2 = Upper-Intermediate• B1 = Intermediate• A2 = Pre-Intermediate• A1 = Elementary

Academic versus Social English

Unlike social English, which can take from two to four years to achieve proficiency, the challenges in regards to the acquisition of academic English are significantly more difficult. In fact, it could take an elementary levelled student as many as eleven years to reach an acceptable academic level of English. The reason for this is the fact that academic English is context reduced. In other words, students must be able to understand cognitively challenging concepts which are often abstract and lacking in non-verbal clues

Secondary English & EAL

Mr Shawn GallagherSecondary EAL Subject

Leader

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BIS HANOI MENUWeek Beginning 19th January

Monday19th Jan 20th Jan 21st Jan 22nd Jan 23rd Jan

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

From Year 3 to Year 12 : All meals come with a salad or salad bar choice along and 2 choices of vegetables, rice, Vietnamese soup.

From Year 7 to Year 12: We have introduced our NEW Sandwich bar with assorted cheeses, fresh tuna, egg salad, roast meats and other daily specials on our homemade bread, dark rye, whole wheat, oatmeal, french bread, Vietnamese rolls, raisin bread and other fresh baked bread every day.

Morning snack

Morning snack

Lunch

Lunch

Lunch

Afternoon snack

EYFS

PRIM

ARY

SEC

ON

DA

RY

Rice soup with chicken

American doughnut

Steam roll with pork cake

Rice soup Sausage roll

Juice Milk Juice Juice Soya milk

Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit Fruit

Fried American chicken

Korean beef stewRoast pork with

rice riceCaramel pork

Fresh tofuPotato and

chicken somasoJam sandwich Caramel Raisin cookie

Fruit Juice Milk Fruit Juice

Rice soup with chicken

American doughnut

Steam roll with pork cake

Rice soup Sausage roll

Juice Milk Juice Juice Soya milk

Fried American chicken

Korean beef stew Roast pork with

rice riceChicken Cordon

Blue

Fried tofu in sweet and sour

sauce

Sauteed pork with rice

Roast chicken with BBQ sauce

Fried crispy pork Caramel pork

Fried chicken leg Grilled BBQ pork Pan seared pork

Rice noodle with crab and beef

soup

Moroccan chiken rice pilaf

(v) Potato samosawith pineapple

(v) Sauteed vegetable and

tofu noodle

Braised pork and tofu

Minced pork wrapped quail

egg

Steamed roll with pork cake

Chicken noodleRoast chicken

with oyster sauce and chip(v) Cheese and corn quesadillas

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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: 208principaloffice@bishanoi.com(If you wish to contact the School Principal)

Business Manager’s Office: 109thaonguyen@bishanoi.com

Primary Office: 220primaryoffice@bishanoi.com(For all enquiries regarding the Primary Section)

Secondary Office: 215secondaryoffice@bishanoi.com(For all enquiries regarding the Secondary Section)

Admission Department: 222/122/555/777/888bishanoi@bishanoi.comdessydelevaux@bishanoi.com (Admission Manager)jinnyjung@bishanoi.com (Korean Liaison Officer)hatruong@bishanoi.comtrambui@bishanoi.com

Marketing Department: 189huyennguyenngoc@bishanoi.com(For all enquiries regarding Marketing)

Finance Department: 202(For all enquiries regarding school fees)

Medical Room: 117/303linhdieu@bishanoi.com (Main school)liennguyen@bishanoi.com (Early Years Building)(For all enquiries regarding Medical Issues)

Uniform Shop: 221tamle@bishanoi.comnhungpham@bishanoi.com(For all enquiries regarding School Uniform)

School Buses: 218nganguyenthithuy@bishanoi.com(For all requiries regarding School Buses)