BISbuzz Issue 33 | 1

BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HO CHI MINH CITY| SECONDARY CAMPUS

MAY 22 | ISSUE 33

IN THIS ISSUE

May

25th—29th Year 10 & 12 Exam Week

25th—29th KS3 Assessment Week

26th IBDP Visual Arts Exhibition Opening

30th Graduation Ceremony, 11.30am

June

3rd—4th Year 10&12 Literature Show

6th BIS Aquathlon, 7am

UPCOMING EVENTS

From the Head Teacher 02

IB Visual Arts Exhibition 03

Guidance at BIS 04

Community Service 07

Sport News 08

PTG 10

Quiz Night 11

From The BIStro & Underground 12

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 2

From The Head Teacher From The Head Teacher

Identification Cards and Campus Access - AP2 Our enhanced security arrangements have been in action for two weeks now. I ouwl like to thank all parents and visitors for their cooperation. With the cards worn around neck on the red and blue lanyards, adults on site are now much more easily identified as parents or legitimate visitors. As a reminder, any parent without a valid school parent card and all visitors needs to follow the procedure outlined below: 1. A form of photo identification card (e.g. driver’s license or ID card) will be requested from you by the

guard. 2. The ID will be exchanged for a visitor badge with a red lanyard. 3. Each visitor will be required to sign in and complete all sections in the visitors book. 4. On leaving the campus, each visitor must sign out and exchange the visitor badge for their photo ID. In addition all parents and visitors on campus are expected to wear their parent card or visitor badge around their necks using the lanyards provided.

Nepal - VND22,032,700 and rising Our student led campaign to support Nepal following the devastating earthquakes started in earnest this week. By Friday morning, a total of VND22,032,700 had been raised. The fundraising will continue next week. The money will be transferred to the British School, Kathmandu, to be used in their rebuilding projects. This message from Chris Phillips at the school describes how. At the moment we are working with our current charities because we can be assured that money pledged to our care will result in every single penny being spent on projects that TBS children and students can help them with and see develop over time.

We will be directing our efforts to helping school rebuilding projects for our Dhading project schools, Bungamati DSA school (hearing and sight impaired children) and the Disabled New Life centre. The buildings have been devastated and they served large communities of people who needed them desperately. These projects will benefit children, are related to education, and we know they will give long term benefit to the children and people of Nepal.

In the short term we are trying to get supplies and temporary shelter to these projects as many of the people are staying outside. We know for certain that one of the schools in Dhading has been completely destroyed.

For more information on the projects we work with and for continued updates go to http://www.tbskathmandu.org/extra-curricular/community-service-charitable-work/ The best way for you to assist at the moment is to donate to the cause, which will go towards immediately supporting the projects and for the future rebuilding of earthquake proof buildings. For information on how to donate please go to the following link: http://www.tbskathmandu.org/extra-curricular/community-service-charitable-work/how-you-can-help/

Richard Dyer Head Teacher, Secondary

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 3

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 4

Guidance at BIS

It’s been a busy time in guidance over the past couple of weeks. On the 5th and 6th of May we hosted Korea University and New York University Abu Dhabi.

The visit of Korea University marked the third visit of Korea’s elite universities this year. It was a pleasure to host Mr. Kim and Mr Seo who were generous with their time before and after the presentation. During the counsellor meeting we were able to discuss how student applications are evaluated as well as student profile and life at Korea University. The event was again very well supported by our community and I would like to extend my thanks to all the parents and students who attended and engaged with the KU representatives.

Following our visit to Saadiyat Island last March, NYU Abu Dhabi returned to visit BIS on Wednesday 6th May. NYUAD is an incredibly selective and supportive university. Ms Loh presented to an engaged student audience who gave up their lunch period to attend. The students posed some excellent questions which revolved around choice of major, type of community in NYUAD and importantly what activities students engage in beyond their academic curriculum. We look forward to welcoming NYUAD back to BIS in the autumn.

THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA NORTHERN CAMPUS TOUR

I was privileged last week to attend the University of California Northern Campuses of Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz. The tour was incredibly intense and along with the other 45 counsellors we covered over 600 miles of Northern California visiting the four campuses.

Starting in UC Davis the campus is expansive and incredibly well equipped. Known for its programmes in environmental studies, botany, animal science, viticulture, agricultural sciences, biological sciences, engineering and studio art Davis is very much a city on a campus. The neighbouring city of Davis is welcoming to students but the community is firmly based on and around campus. The academic programmes are of high quality and there is a full extracurricular life available to all students. The bicycle is the vehicle of choice on and off campus…there are literally thousands!

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 5

After Davis we travelled to UC Merced. This trip gave me an insight into the vastness of the State of California. Having travelled 2.5 hours from San Francisco to get to Davis it was almost three hours to get to Merced. Merced is the newest of the UC campuses and is located in a somewhat rural area. However, being the newest has its benefits. The architecture and building design are futuristic. The university makes the most of its location and there are solar panels located throughout the campus as well water tanks which heat and cool the entire campus. Sciences are particularly strong in Merced along with social sciences and humanities and, due to its size, students are able to engage in undergraduate research opportunities on a regular basis.

From Merced we travelled to UC Berkeley. I was particularly looking forward to this campus as our very own Uyen Chau is currently finishing her second year. Berkeley was an interesting visit from a number of perspectives. Firstly, we got to sit in on an application case study session where we read three applications for 2015. We got a first-hand insight to the changes in admissions priorities for this year and onwards. Not only has Berkeley been the most selective college of the UCs but it is looking to become even more so. The student panel comprised of international and domestic students who shared their experiences of the last four years. All students were about to graduate and were able to shed light on the competitiveness in Berkeley as well as their extracurricular life. One component of their experience that all students shared was the high workload and how at some point they had all been humbled by others around them. Whilst Berkeley has strength across all disciplines it is particularly known for engineering, architecture, business, theoretical physics, molecular and cell biology, political science and English.

I managed to meet up with Uyen who was, in fact, sitting her statistics examination that night. She shared her thoughts on her first two years at Berkeley and despite the challenge of new classes she felt thoroughly prepared. I’m also looking forward to Uyen returning to BIS next week.

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 6

The last campus to visit was UC Santa Cruz. UCSC is set in a forested area and has a beautiful outdoor feel. UCSC is renowned for its programmes in marine sciences, biology, psychology and linguistics. As part of the visit I also attended the Long Marine lab where professors and students are working with marine life and local and federal government on significant environmental projects.

As well as taking part in an admissions panel, the career centre also gave a lecture and shared the top ten characteristics employers are seeking in graduates.

This was a very interesting session and it was also enlightening to hear the tools we use in guidance to aid students make decisions on academic and career progression are also used in the university setting. The college uses a personality profile similar to the Do What You Are programme BIS uses along with a Career Interest Profiler to help students identify aptitudes, a working Holland Code Index and preferred learning styles.

Ability to work in a team structure Ability to make decisions and solve problems

Ability to plan, organise and prioritise work Ability to verbally communicate

Ability to obtain and process information Ability to analyse quantitative data

Technical knowledge related to job Proficiency with computer software

Ability to create and/or edit reports Ability to influence others

The visit to the four campuses has been incredibly beneficial for us as a school. We are now up to date with admissions initiatives which include increasing enrolment for California residents which will have an impact on international applications. As a school we have an individual contact in each university who specifically reads international applications. We also have also shared our school profile and extended a personal invitation to each university to visit us in the autumn. I look forward to reporting on future visits and welcoming more and more institutions to BIS. Aidan Crowley College & University Guidance Counsellor

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 7

Year 12 – COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS – Review – Part 1 of 10 Over the course of this year we Year 12s have been divided into committees and tasked with the challenge to manage a community service project from start to finish. The first in our series of reports belongs to Loreto Committee 1 who worked with Loreto Kids Charity – bridging education gaps, lifting learners of our future. Loreto Committee No.1 We felt it was a great opportunity and privilege to make a real difference in our community as a team. As part of our project we carried out an awareness campaign. While BIS has always been a school partnered with community service projects, it was a completely different experience being directly involved in the planning and execution of a school wide campaign like this, as opposed to just donating to different charities.

Our community project with Loreto consisted of raising awareness through making posters and designing a website, as well as organising a fund raising event involving sponges thrown at Ms Bellaoui, Mr Roman, Mr Perera and Mr Durok. As enfoyable as the whole project was, it also taught us valuable teamwork and organisational skills and helped us get to know each other better.

When we think about the blood, sweat and tears invested into our project, the memories evoke much laughter, but also fear - because anyone would be fearful of the amount of paperwork we had to wade through. More overwhelming, though, is our sense of achievement and joy. Joy, because we have accomplished something that we all thought was near impossible at the start, with the IB workload loom-ing in the background, and because we have self-managed a project that will result in a disadvantaged child getting a scholarship and gaining an education, which will open the door to a higher standard of living.

Our project could not have succeeded without the PTG, our supervisors Ms Morris and Ms Deleporte, and of course, our community project partner, Loreto. This awareness campaign has brought us a lot of challenges, but even more joy, and we hope that an opportunity like this will arise again in the future. Tuna Nguyen

Two committees were partnered with Loreto. Through their fantastic campaigns and competitions they managed to raise awareness throughout the school and raise a total of 8,952,000vnd collectively to support projects focused on developing education of children within the Vietnamese provinces.

Community Service

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 8

Sport News

U14 Girls Volleyball Championships Last Thursday was a great experience for the team. For many of us who went to SSIS to compete in the

Volleyball City Championships, it was our first time and we were all proud of making it onto the team and

earning second place. Although we were a little disappointed not to win the competition we still really

enjoyed playing against the other schools. We are very proud of how hard the team has worked, and

how much we have improved over the year, despite bumping into each other at times. We have had a lot

of fun playing together, and hope the team next year can win the title.—Lena Chan Year 9

Dance Competition On Wednesday 6th May 15 students from AP2 travelled to RISS to participate in the annual dance show.

The students ranged from year 7 to year 12 and performed a variety of styles in five different groups. It

was a great afternoon and a fantastic opportunity for all the students to showcase their talents, as well as

enjoy watching students from other schools. Each student performed superbly, and it was great to see

such a diverse and talented group of dancers represent the school.

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 9

On Saturday 6th June AP2 will host its 8th annual Aquathlon. This year the Primary event will take place a week later on Saturday 13th June. Further information will be sent from the Primary Campus shortly.

An Aquathlon is a fun and fast-growing sport that combines both running and swimming.

The swimming will take place in the An Phu Secondary pool and the run will follow a safe route around An Phu, past the Primary School. The race briefing will take place at 6.45am and the first race will begin at 7.00am.

In both races, boys and girls will set off at the same time but they will not race against each other. The distances for each age group are: 11 - 13 years: 300m swim, 1.5 km run 14 - 17 years: 400m swim, 2.5 km run Parents/Staff: 400m swim, 4km run

Please note the ages for this event will be taken as of 1st August 2014 (the start of this academic year). Students may wish to enter individually or as part of a team (where one student does the swimming and the other the run). Please indicate this on the entry form. You will require a swimming costume, goggles, a hat if you wish, towel and suitable clothes/trainers to run in (including a t-shirt). A small snack and refreshment is also recommended for after the event. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me at PhilipDrake@bisvietnam.com.

Sports Holiday Programmes Please see the following Holiday Sports Programmes which will take place during the summer break at BIS HCMC. Registration can be made at each of the school campuses. End of year Camp

Start of year Camp

Date Sport Time Head Coach Age Prices (all in

VND) Location

29/6-3/7 Swimming 8.45am-1.45pm Mr Vinh F2 upwards Various prices (see

letter) AP1 Swimming

Pool

29/6-3/7 Skills factory -

mini soccer 8.15am-9.45am SSA Age 3 - 5 years 1,600,000 AP1 small field

29/6-3/7 Football 8 am-11 am SSA Year 3 upwards 2,200,000 Big field

29/6-3/7 Basketball 1pm-4pm SSA Year 3 upwards 2,200,000 AP2 Sportshall

Date Sport Time Head Coach Age Prices (all in

VND) Location

21/8-25/8 Swimming 8 am-1.45 pm Mr Vinh F2 upwards Various (see letters) AP1 pool

21/8-25/8 Skills factory -

mini soccer 8.15am-9.45am SSA Age 3 - 5 years 1,600,000 AP1 small field

21/8-25/8 Football 8 am-11 am SSA Year 3 upwards 2,200,000 Big field

21/8-25/8 Basketball 1pm-4pm SSA Year 3 upwards 2,200,000 AP2 Sportshall

21/8-25/8 T-ball/Softball 4pm-5.30pm Mr Richard Year 3 upwards 660,000 Big Field

Phil Drake Director of Sport

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 10

PTG

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 11

BISbuzz Issue 33 | 12

From the Underground & BIStro

Menu 3 (25 May)

From the Underground & BIStro

DAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY

MAIN COURSE

CHOOSE 1

Chicken Carbonara OR

Roast Pork, Rice

Pasta Bolognese-Pork OR

Sweet & Sour Fish, Rice

Battered Fish & Chips OR

Nasi Lemak (Chicken & Egg)

Chili Con Carne - Beef, Rice

OR Won Ton Noodle

Soup

VEGETA-BLES

Bok Choy & Carrot Salad

Long Bean, Carrot Salad

Morning Glory, Carrot Salad

Choy sum & Carrot Salad

SOUP Choy sum Spinach & Melon Tomato & Tofu Soup Mixed Vegetable

DESSERT Mixed Fruit

Mixed Fruit

Mixed Fruit

Mixed Fruit

VEGETARIAN

Braised Tofu & Beans, Rice

Choy sum Soup Mixed Fruit

Veggie Pasta Chickpeas Salad

Mixed Fruit

Vegetarian Chili Con Carne, Rice Tomato & Tofu

Soup Mixed Fruit

Tofu Noodle Soup

Choy sum & Carrot

Mixed Fruit

DELI BAR OPTION

Baguette & Wrap Fill it with a variety of choices including ham, chicken, cheese, tuna mayonnaise, beef, baked

bean, mixed bean, bolognese sauce

SNACK MENU

Curry Puff Samosa

Fruit Cup

Chocolate Mud Cake Swiss Roll Fruit Cup

Curry Puff Samosa

Fruit Cup

Banana/Carrot Muffin

Sponge Cake Fruit Cup

FRIDAY

Honey Lime Chicken, Sautéed Potato

OR Beef Rendang, Rice

Broccoli & Carrot Salad

Watercress

Mixed Fruit

Dhal Broccoli & Carrot

Mixed Fruit

Donut Cream Puff Fruit Cup