Esprit December Edition 2022-2023

THE LATEST EDITION OF THE BIS STUDENT MAGAZINE IS NOW AVAILABLE!

With a new team of editors, writers, and designers, our students continue to publish the BIS Student Magazine, NOVUS, in its Term 1 AY 2022-23 edition, maintaining high-quality writing, eye-catching designs, and demonstrating exceptional effort, and commitment.

Scan here to enjoy the magazine!

A PLACE TO BELONG

Lights, Sound & Colour: How BIS Hanoi Celebrated Moon Festival 2022

BIS Hanoi’s International Festival & Celebrating our Cultural Diversity

Connecting the Community During International Week

Remembrance Day Poppy Sales: Supporting those Affected by Conflicts Around the World

Our Secondary Choir in Full Voice during Term 1

‘Friends of BIS’: Join Our Thriving Parent Community

CREATE

YOUR FUTURE

IGCSE & IBDP Results: BIS Hanoi Students Continue to Achieve Outstanding Grades

Class of 2022 University Acceptances

How Continuous Professional Development Supports Teaching in Primary & Early Years

How we teach Phonics at BIS Hanoi

EXPERIENCE EXCELLENCE

STEAM: Exploring life itself through our collaboration with MIT

BIS Hanoi’s Collaboration with Juilliard Continues to Prosper

An Enriching First Term for all Students

How Our Students Took the Lead in Celebrating World Children’s Day

Student Wellbeing at BIS Hanoi: A Continually Evolving Process

Wellbeing in Primary: New Year, New Student Council, Fantastic New Initiatives!

An Update from our Secondary Student Leadership Team

Student Leadership in Primary: Congratulations to our new House Captains!

This year, 2022, is a particularly special one as we mark the 10th Anniversary of BIS Hanoi.

A PLACE TO BELONG

Welcome to the BIS Hanoi Esprit Magazine for Term 1, 2022/23. I am delighted to introduce this first hard copy production of our termly magazine for over a year.

In recent months, it has been truly wonderful to re-establish a full, in-person school provision here at BIS Hanoi. The global pandemic challenged us all in many ways and inevitably placed certain limitations on us. This year, with restrictions lifted, we have actively sought to create a wealth of in-person experiences for our whole school community – including students, parents and staff.

As you read through this magazine, you will learn more about the many varied opportunities which have been created and enjoyed in partnership with one-another.

This year, 2022, is a particularly special one as we mark the 10th Anniversary of BIS Hanoi.

Celebrations began in October at our International Festival, which saw an amazing turnout from the school community, as well as our local partners, as we came together to celebrate. This was followed by International Week, where we enjoyed a variety of activities including the impressive Flag Parade, Cultural Exchange and International Buffet.

Our parent community group Friends of BIS also enjoyed a great start to the year, with a range of activities, workshops and events taking place both on school campus and out in the community. As a school, we are also working hard to contribute to the projects of our local service partners, who are striving to make a difference to the lives of local people.

I hope that you enjoy browsing the articles in this publication, which I believe demonstrates that BIS Hanoi truly is A Place to Belong.

Richard Vaughan Principal

LIGHTS, SOUND & COLOUR: HOW BIS HANOI CELEBRATED MOON FESTIVAL 2022

In September, we were delighted to invite students, teachers and parents from across the BIS Hanoi community to celebrate Moon Festival 2022. After 2 years of learning as part of the Virtual School Experience, it was wonderful to come together in-person for this year’s festival.

Our Moon Festival activities provided an opportunity for Vietnamese and International students alike to remember the rich history and culture of Vietnam. Together we learnt how generations of Vietnamese families have used this day to give thanks to heaven and earth for the gifts of the bountiful autumn harvest.

All school year groups contributed to a vibrant cultural performance programme inspired by traditional Vietnamese values. We enjoyed singing from Year 13 and Year 10 students, as well as ethnic dances, drumming, drama performances and a procession of Moon Festival lights.

Finally, it was particularly special to see all BIS Hanoi staff and students - from Early Years right up to Year 13 - dressed in traditional Vietnamese Ao Dai in a particularly colourful celebration of Vietnamese culture.

Hai Nguyen Whole School Vietnamese Leader

Our Moon Festival activities provided an opportunity for Vietnamese and International students alike to remember the rich history and culture of Vietnam.

The British International School Hanoi recently hosted its International Festival 2022 at the school campus and attracted over 2,000 participants.

The annual festival is the school’s biggest event of the year, celebrating the school’s various nationalities and cultures. This year's event also commemorates BIS Hanoi's 10th anniversary, marking an important milestone for the school.

Mr. Richard Vaughan, Principal of British International School Hanoi, said: “It was an absolute pleasure to welcome such a large number of people of all ages from our school and the local community to join us for our International Festival and special 10th Anniversary celebration. Fabulous cultural performances in dance, drama and music were given, alongside various interactive activities for all ages, mixed with food and drink from around the globe. A great time had by all. Happy 10th Birthday BIS Hanoi!”

Families and visitors to the festival had the opportunity

to participate in lively cultural experience booths, taste delightful foods from different food stands, and watch performances imbued with cultural identities from various countries. All attendees were surrounded by a vibrant, colourful atmosphere.

This year, the festival's performance stage was packed with a variety of performances. More than 500 students from BIS Hanoi actively participated in setting up and giving performances on stage, each of which represented a different culture, such as a British folk dance, Samba drumming from Brazil, Bharatanatyam from India, etc.

At the end of the program, the school's senior leadership team, along with all of the guests, counted down and sang "Happy Birthday" together, to commemorate

the school's 10th anniversary of opening.

Another impressive highlight of the festival that draws a significant crowd is the cuisine area. All visitors had the opportunity to try out some outstanding dishes from various nations, including Korea, the Czech Republic, Vietnam, the United States, Mexico, Italy, etc. Families also had the chance to take part in a variety of entertaining activities that were arranged by the teachers and teaching assistants at the school.

The BIS Hanoi community partners including Blue Dragon Children Foundation, KOTO, and HopeBox as well as students who are doing fundraising activities also presented at the festival to raise awareness of their work.

CONNECTING THE COMMUNITY DURING INTERNATIONAL WEEK

After the wonderful International Festival on Saturday, October 8, we launched International Week with a fabulous ‘Parade of Nations’.

During the parade, all staff and students were invited to celebrate their country by dressing in traditional attire or wearing a costume that represented it. A total of 34 countries were represented by members of our school community - and it was great to see a vast range of creative costume ideas!

We had traditional Ao Dai from Vietnam and Hanboks

from South Korea, as well as cups of tea from the UK and a variety of other amusing costumes. A flag bearer from each country proudly waved their flag before commencing the parade around the school campus. Members of the Senior Leadership Team entertained us with fun facts about each country, while parents cheered everyone on. It was a great way to begin an exciting week celebrating all nationalities here at BIS Hanoi.

The Cultural Exchange was another fantastic event enjoyed by Primary school children as part of the International Week celebrations. Parents, staff, and embassies generously volunteered their time to set up stalls representing 10 different countries from across the world.

By visiting the stalls, the children enjoyed a range of activities and learned about each country's culture, including traditional clothing and celebrations. At the

Hong Kong stall, children enjoyed watching the art of calligraphy and tasting Hawker-style food. At the Brazilian stall, children viewed famous Brazilian landmarks and tasted some delicious chocolate. At the French stall, children were invited to paint in the style of Monet, and while visiting the United Kingdom’s stall, they sampled traditional afternoon tea and sandwiches.

The Ukrainian and Filipino embassies both displayed a range of interesting artifacts and stories from their respective countries, while the South African, Vietnamese, Irish and South Korean stalls wowed children

with traditional games, sweet treats and crafts.

Another popular International Week event was the International Buffet, where our Primary students had the opportunity to travel the world by tasting delicious traditional cuisines from Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Ukraine, Australia, France, Taiwan, Myanmar, Mexico, and the UK. We would like to say a huge thank-you to the parents, embassies, and staff at Joma

who made our Cultural Exchange and International Buffet possible. The children all had a wonderful experience!

Antonia Gill

Year 1 Teacher

Catherine Mullin

F3 Teacher

Aaron Watkins

Year 5 Teacher

& Jessica Cockell

Year 5 Teacher

REMEMBRANCE DAY POPPY SALES: SUPPORTING THOSE AFFECTED BY CONFLICTS AROUND THE WORLD

Remembrance Day is a memorial day which has been observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War. Every year on November 11th, Remembrance Day commemorates those members of the armed forces

who have died in wars and conflicts around the world.

The most well-known symbol associated with Remembrance Day is the Poppy, due to its prominence in the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ by Canadian physician

Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae.

As part of events to mark Remembrance Day at BIS Hanoi, during the week of 7th – 11th November our sixth form students sold poppies to raise money in support of those

affected by conflicts all over the world.

The money raised totalled over 7.8 million VND and was collected by Staff Sergeant Ian Andrews from the British Embassy to be given to the Royal British Legion.

We are very proud of our students, and we hope that they appreciated the opportunity to reflect in our Remembrance Assembly on 11th November.

Victoria Embling History Teacher CAS Coordinator

OUR SECONDARY CHOIR IN FULL VOICE DURING TERM 1

The BIS Hanoi Secondary Choir has had a fantastic start to the year, which has also seen the group grow to over 50 members of students and staff.

On October 8th, the choir excelled in their first performance of the year at the International Festival, before undertaking two special performances to mark Remembrance Day on November 11th.

The first Remembrance Day performance took place on the day itself at the Remembrance Assembly hosted by the school Humanities department. For the second performance, our choir travelled to Cua Bac Church in downtown Hanoi, where they took part in a service hosted by the British Embassy and Commonwealth missions in Hanoi.

To mark the return of these events after the pandemic, the choir performed the traditional American Shaker song ‘Simple Gifts’, which features lyrics centred around returning to a starting point, as well as the principles of simplicity and humility.

The second piece performed

at each event was a new composition by our choir director Mr. Scott, entitled ‘As the Stars’, which featured as its text the final stanza of Laurence Binyon’s poem ‘For the Fallen’. Mr. Scott was also busy on both occasions as a trumpet player, performing ‘The Last Post’ and ‘Reveille’ during the act of remembrance.

During their performance at the church, the choir was exceptional both in their representation of the school and their musicality. They delivered their best performance at precisely the right time, drawing comments of praise and delight from the dignitaries in attendance.

We wish to thank all the parents who attended these performances and gave their time to transport students to the event. We hope to see you again at our upcoming performances throughout this year!

Our Secondary Choir is also seeking new students to join us for the rest of the year. Our weekly rehearsals take place on Tuesday lunchtime and the choir extends a warm welcome to new members at whichever point in the school year they wish to join us.

Jonathan Scott  Music Teacher

‘FRIENDS OF BIS’ JOIN OUR THRIVING PARENT COMMUNITY

Our parent community group Friends of BIS embodies our promise that BIS Hanoi is A Place to Belong.

At BIS Hanoi, delivering the best possible care and education for students is our priority, but we also want to ensure that parents and families feel connected to the school and their child - beyond the simple fact that their child attends our school.

Our parent community group Friends of BIS embodies our promise that BIS Hanoi is A Place to Belong. The group aims to provide opportunities for parents to connect and make new friendships, as well as experience new things.

This term we have been pleased to be able to welcome parents old and new back onto school campus, as well as local venues in Hanoi, to enjoy a wide range of activities. Our Friends of BIS events have encompassed themes such as wellbeing, community service and cultural experiences.

The group discovered local cacao products and delicious recipes at

a Vietnamese Cacao & Chocolate workshop, explored the best-selling book ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ in parent book club, enjoyed Vietnamese lessons to help immerse themselves in local culture, and made traditional Vietnamese spring rolls and Filipino dishes in the special cooking classes in our student kitchen.

Parents are welcome to attend Friends of BIS events at any time - and with a raft of exciting activities planned for the rest of the school year, there’s no better time to join! In the coming weeks, we are looking forward to welcoming parents to join us for coffee mornings, more cooking classes, city trips and much more.

To find out more and join upcoming events, search for the ‘Friends of BIS Hanoi’ group on Facebook or scan this QR code to register.

Rebecca Carroll Head of Primary

CREATE YOUR FUTURE

We see ‘Create Your Future’ coming through strongly in the school's range of student leadership opportunities.

One of our core promises at BIS Hanoi is to ‘Create Your Future’ - to empower every member of our community to explore and discover their unique strengths, and to provide them with the skills they need to reach their goals.

Throughout this first term, it has been gratifying to see the different approaches and activities utilised to help us fulfil this promise.

A key aspect of ‘Create Your Future’ is the idea of personalised learning, which is where teaching is responsive to individual needs and centres on the individual learner. At BIS Hanoi, we see this most notably in the approach that our staff take to knowing our students, and how they develop powerful, professional relationships with them in order to be more flexible and responsive to each student’s individual needs.

Since COVID-19, we have seen significant advancements in information and communication technology, particularly in the educational learning space. These developments have enabled teachers to deliver personalised learning more effectively and utilise different platforms and applications to support learning for students.

We also see ‘Create Your Future’ coming through strongly in the school's range of student leadership opportunities. These opportunities exist in both the Primary and Secondary schools and offer students the chance to stretch and develop their skills and capabilities.

I hope you enjoy reading this magazine and learning about the fantastic achievements of our students in the areas of both academics and enrichment. You will also read about our outstanding university acceptance figures, which continue to improve year-on-year.

Although grades are crucial, the ultimate aim of our institution is to facilitate high quality, first choice and best fit university placements. We continue to strengthen our resources in this area - and we’re pleased to see this reflected in the outstanding outcomes detailed in this publication.

Chris Newman Head of Secondary

IGCSE & IBDP RESULTS: BIS HANOI STUDENTS CONTINUE TO ACHIEVE OUTSTANDING GRADES

The previous academic year was one of change and uncertainty, incorporating different methods of learning including virtual, face-to-face and even hybrid learning.

Despite these challenges, our Year 11 and Year 13 students demonstrated reflection, resilience and continued to adapt and thrive. In July and August, their perseverance was rewarded on their respective IGCSE and IBDP results days.

IBDP RESULTS

AVERAGE SCORE 35

We are delighted to share that the average IBDP point score for the class of 2022 was 35, 3 points above the world average of 32.

OVER 25%

of BIS Hanoi students received 40 points or more, with 4 students achieving top marks in all of their subjects.

2

PERFECT SCORER

Students Hoang Thu An and Park Chaeyeon achieved the perfect score of 45 points.

61%

of the graduating cohort were awarded the special distinction of a bilingual diploma for demonstrating proficiency in two or more languages.

students achieved a C grade or above.

58%

of BIS Hanoi students achieved an A grade or above

46%

A*-A

GRADE

Congratulations to students

Tran Bao Anh, Fujimoto Kanta, To Nguyen Thuc Anh, Vuong Kim Ngan and Yun Hyerin who achieved an A* or A grade in every single one of their subjects.

Monitoring and Recognising Excellence in Learning

We are incredibly proud of our Year 11 and Year 13 students’ achievements, which once again places BIS Hanoi students among the very best globally. Their determination, knowledge, skills and adaptability have been recognised with academic results well above global averages.

However, grades alone are not truly representative of the level of commitment, resilience and effort that each student had to apply in order to be academically successful. Behind each story is a student who has overcome mistakes, reflected on their approaches to learning, and found their own ‘recipe for success’ by understanding their optimum learning or ‘stretch’ zone.

At BIS Hanoi, we ask all students to ensure that they are demonstrating ‘effective effort’ within all aspects of their learning. The development of ‘effective effort’ leads to better understanding of ‘metacognition’which is the process of thinking about your thinking.

It is suggested that students that have an understanding of ‘metacognition’, and know how they learn and think best, accounts for an average of seven months of progression when compared with their peers (Quigley et al., 2018).

The following students achieved an effort level of 1 (Excellent) in every aspect of their learning in the previous academic year. This extraordinary accomplishment demonstrates their true commitment to learning and will contribute to their ongoing success as lifelong learners.

Year 13: Cho Hyejin, Cho Minseo, Hoang Thu An, Le Phuong Anh, Lee Suhjin, Nguyen Thi Hoang Lan, Nguyen Tue Minh, Park Chaewon, Sung Pooh Leum

Year 11: Do Ngoc Bao Linh, Fujimoto Kanta, Nguyen Le Quynh Anh, Tran Bao Anh, Vuong Kim Ngan, Yun Hyerin

In this academic year, we continue to monitor and assess the ‘effective effort’ levels of all students in Secondary. In the coming months, we are looking forward to seeing how our students take responsibility for developing their own learning - and we are excited to celebrate their commitment and achievements.

Stephanie Miller Deputy Head of Secondary Gemma Archer Assistant Head of Secondary (IB)

CLASS OF 2022 UNIVERSITY ACCEPTANCES

• Amsterdam University of Applied Science, Netherlands

• Boston University, USA

• Brunel University London, UK

• Cardiff University, UK

• Case Western Reserve University, USA

• Central Film School London, UK

• City, University of London, UK

• Cleveland State University, USA

• Columbia College Hollywood, USA

• Concordia University, Canada

• Coventry University, UK

• Deakin University, Australia

• DePaul University, USA

• Drexel University, USA

• Durham University, UK

• Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Canada

• Emory University, USA

• Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands

• Fraiser International College, Canada

• Indiana University Bloomington, USA

• Iowa State University, USA

• James Madison University, USA

• King’s College London, UK

• Korea University, Korea

• Macquarie University, Australia

• McMaster University, Canada

• Michigan State University, USA

• Monash University, Australia

• Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

• National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore

• NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands

• North Carolina State University, USA

• Northeastern University, USA

• Oxford Brookes University, UK

• Penn State University, USA

• Queen's University, Canada

• Regent's University London, UK

• RMIT University Vietnam, Vietnam

• Saint Louis University, USA

• San Diego State University, USA

• Simon Fraser University, Canada

• SOAS University of London, UK

• St John's University, USA

• Stony Brook University, USA

• Suffolk University, USA

• Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Korea

• Syracuse University, USA

• Temple University, USA

• The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong

• The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

• The University of Melbourne, Australia

• The University of Western Australia, Australia

• Tilburg University, Netherlands

• Toronto Metropolitan University (Ryerson University), Canada

• University at Buffalo--SUNY, USA

• University College London, UK

• University North South Wales, Australia

• University of Alberta, Canada

• University of Arizona, USA

• University of Birmingham, UK

• University of British Columbia, Canada

• University of British Columbia, Canada

• University of California, Berkeley, USA

• University of California, Irvine, USA

• University of California, Los Angeles, USA

• University of California, San Diego, USA

• University of Connecticut, USA

• University of Exeter, UK

• University of Georgia, USA

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

• University of Leeds, UK

• University of Liverpool, UK

• University of Manchester, UK

• University of Manchester, UK

• University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

• University of Newcastle, UK

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

• University of Nottingham, UK

• University of Reading, UK

• University of Rochester, USA

• University of Southampton, UK

• University of Southern California, USA

• University of Surrey, UK

• University of Sussex, UK

• University of Sydney, Australia

• University of Technology Sydney, Australia

• University of Toronto, Canada

• University of Victoria, Canada

• University of Warwick, UK

• University of Washington, USA

• University of Waterloo, Canada

• Western University of Western Ontario,  Canada

• Woodbury University, USA

• Yonsei University, Korea

Please note the below list does not include acceptances to universities that follow a different academic calendar and have not as of July 2022 started making their offers.

At BIS Hanoi, teachers are lifelong learners.

HOW CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SUPPORTS TEACHING IN PRIMARY & EARLY YEARS

Learning is a never-ending process; it doesn’t stop after earning a degree, or even upon starting a career. This is especially true for those teachers and professionals working in the domain of education.

To fulfil our promise of academic excellence in Early Years and Primary, BIS Hanoi has identified two key areas to drive the Continuous Professional Development of our staff in this academic year.

In Early Years, we have designed a bespoke training programme centred around

the theme of ‘Purposeful Provision’ in collaboration with an external company called Nursery Nook. We are working with an Early Years specialist, James Tunnell, to analyse our culture and the play diet of the children to ensure that our provision matches the needs of the children in our setting.

As a next step, we will dive deeper into child development and be introduced to the concept of schemas and how to identify these through play. We will also look at concepts such as affordance theory and the creativity spiral, as well

as an introduction to ‘loose parts play’ and exploring how open-ended resources can support creative learning.

In Primary, we are conscious that the majority of our students have the gift of being multilingual learners. Our aim is to equip our teachers with research-based strategies to enable them to bring out the best in these learners.

To achieve this, we have designed a bespoke programme centred on the BIS Statements of Excellence and Rosenshine’s principles of education. In three week cycles, teachers

discuss the science behind each statement in weekly meetings, share and learn new strategies, and implement them in their classrooms. At the end of each cycle, teachers reflect on the impact of those strategies on students’ learning - and move forward.

At BIS Hanoi, teachers are lifelong learners. They continually strive to identify the best ways to educate children and support them in creating their future.

Laurence Cabane   Deputy Head of Primary

HOW WE TEACH PHONICS AT BIS HANOI

What is phonics?

To become proficient at reading words, children need to develop an awareness of the sound structures of language (phonological awareness) and knowledge of how language is represented in writing (print knowledge).

Phonics helps students learn how to decode (translate written words into the sounds of spoken language) and then to blend (join sounds together to form a word). Over time, learners will begin to recognise words automatically after repeated encounters with them, and be

able to read with increasing fluency.

Decoding is the skill that is used to break down words into sounds for reading and spelling. There are many ways we can support children with this: by looking at pictures, sounding it out, chunking the word into smaller parts, going back and re-reading it, and playing games with new sounds and words. We can also reinforce understanding by using pictures from a book to help make sense of the word and asking questions such as: "What is the letter at the beginning?", “What letter

Phonics helps children learn how to read accurately and with fluency

is at the end?”, “What sounds do you hear?” or “What sounds can you see?”

After decoding, we move onto the skill of blending. This is where our young learners build words from sounds to help with reading. We teach and encourage children to join individual speech sounds (phonemes) together to make a word. Children will develop at their own pace with blending and may need practice to blend the word rather than decode the sounds.

Why is phonics important?

Phonics helps children learn how to read accurately and with fluency. Studies on children’s reading development have shown that the phonics approach is highly effective because it focuses on skills for breaking the code of written language.

Phonics is a well-defined plan that revisits all 44 sounds and the usual graphemes (2/3 letters that make one sound) in the English alphabet, as well as providing opportunities to teach, practice, and apply new sounds.

How can parents help their children with phonics?

Parents play a crucial role in fostering a child’s reading development. It helps if parents use the words that their child has learned at school in their daily conversations. It also helps if parents are able to read with their child, which reinforces knowledge of how to decode and blend words, and read with fluency. It is important to identify any difficulties a child has in understanding the letter-sound relationship - and to support them by having an adult read the sound, playing games, and writing it.

There are a number of resources and activities

that can be used to support reading at home:

• Phonics play: https://www. phonicsplay.co.uk

• Bug Club

• Big cat books

• Schedule consistent reading time each day

• Follow the text physically when reading (finger pointing under each word as it’s read, which supports a child on focusing on the correct place)

• Read books that are of interest to the child

• Read in their home language to develop a love for reading

Lucy Hayward

Year 1 Teacher English Leader KS1

As part of the Nord Anglia family of schools, BIS Hanoi benefits from amazing partnerships with global experts.

EXPERIENCE EXCELLENCE

As we come to the end of Term 1, it is incredible to reflect on the opportunities and experiences that our students have been able to access, enjoy and take part in over the last 4 months.

At BIS Hanoi, when we think about our students as ‘Experiencing Excellence’ it goes way beyond the classroom. Our holistic approach to learning means we want our students to not only enjoy academic success, but to grow and develop as global citizens with a desire to make a difference in our world. We are equipping our students with the skills they need for the future.

As part of the Nord Anglia family of schools, BIS Hanoi benefits from amazing partnerships with global experts. Over the next few pages you will learn more about how these partnerships provide unique opportunities for our students.

Mrs Somerville, our Head of Performing Arts, will share the

impact of the specialist music, dance and drama tutors from The Juilliard School, who support both our students and staff. Mr Stephen Labelle and Mr David Burke, our STEAM Teachers, will also share details of the exciting challenges our students get to take part in thanks to our collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Outside of academic pursuits, student leadership opportunities are woven into school life. I hope you enjoy learning more about our student leaders’ experiences in both the Primary and Secondary school, as well as their reflections on the developments they have led over this first term.

We are incredibly proud of the progress our students have made during this term and I hope you enjoy reading about their challenges, successes and achievements.

Rebecca Carroll Head of Primary

STEAM: EXPLORING LIFE ITSELF THROUGH OUR COLLABORATION WITH MIT

This academic year sees the return of BIS Hanoi’s collaboration with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), where students will enjoy more unique challenges set by professors and experts from MIT.

This year’s set of challenges are all related to ‘LIFE’. Contemplating LIFE leads to lots of big questions: What makes something alive? What about life on another planet? What exactly is a thought or feeling?

Our three MIT Experts are doing cutting-edge research

Students will be challenged to creatively tackle the concepts of DNA, to search for exoplanets in the ‘goldilocks zone’, and to design their own developmental psychology experiments.

exploring very different areas of life: from asymmetric cell division, to the intangible workings of the mind, to the possibility of other life in our universe. Students will be challenged to creatively tackle the concepts of DNA, to search for exoplanets in the ‘goldilocks zone’, and to design their own developmental psychology experiments.

STEAM in Secondary

In Secondary STEAM classes we have been exploring the 6 ‘R's of sustainability. We have been thinking about how we can reduce the amount of plastic we consume, and

how we can reuse as much of it as possible to prevent it from entering the energydependent recycling process.

Year 9 students have also been exploring simple circuitries in a fun project making Wobble Bots. The Wobble Bots will be put to the test in battles against each other later this term!

STEAM in Primary

In Primary, students have been working in teams to complete the first MIT challenge, ‘Cellfie Life!’, led by Dr. Yukito Yamashita.

The challenge focuses on the fact that, although all human cells are made up of the same materials and have the same set of instructions, our cells develop into vastly different types of cells. For example, gut cells are very different from brain cells, and skin cells, etc.

The challenge for each team was to use the same materials and set of instructions to make two very different prototypes. All teams were given paper, plasticine and pipe cleaners, alongside instructions on how to make two different prototypes from the same materials.

It was amazing to see the vastly different examples each group created. Using the same materials and instructions, our STEAM team’s efforts evolved into a wide range of different results – just like human cells.

David

Burke STEAM teacher Stephen Labelle Primary Computing & STEAM Teacher

BIS HANOI’S COLLABORATION WITH JUILLIARD CONTINUES TO PROSPER

The Performing Arts department welcomed two new Juilliard specialists to the team this year; Tania Hakkim has joined us as our new Drama specialist, while Ashley Brown has joined us to support the expanding Dance curriculum as we launch the BIS Diploma in Dance. Erin Wight has also returned as our Music specialist.

In Term 1, we hosted virtual Juilliard team visits that included collaborative planning sessions, goal setting meetings, and a hybrid dance workshop in which students explored creative dance through the Juilliard core work 'Kaash' by British-Bangladeshi choreographer Akram Khan. In Terms 2 and 3, we are looking forward to meeting the Juilliard team in person,

The core works of Juilliard Drama continue to be powerful tools for developing our students' sense of global citizenship.

which will see students participate in live workshops led by Juilliard, while teachers will benefit from professional development of the highest standards.

Drama has grown significantly this year, with Years 2-6 now receiving Juilliard workshops as part of their new Drama lessons. Mrs. Somerville and the team are working with Julliard specialist Tania Hakkim to create a new interdisciplinary unit called ‘The Modern Musical’. It is written in the style and approach of Juilliard Core Works, with framing questions and space for practical exploration before meaningful encounters with professional work.

Mrs. Macdonald is also collaborating with Tania Hakkim to develop the Interdisciplinary Core Work, ‘Ellis Island’, in which students explore culture and identity in

this thought-provoking piece depicting the experiences of migrants.

Elsewhere, in their World Theatre Traditions unit, IB theatre students gained a comprehensive understanding of theatre across space and time, which was enhanced by Compagnia Baccala's Juilliard workshops. Year 9 students are studying the Greek Chorus and the American Players' production of ‘Oedipus’, which Juilliard launched this year.

The core works of Juilliard Drama continue to be powerful tools for developing our students' sense of global citizenship.

Catherine Somerville  Whole School Head of Performing Arts

AN ENRICHING FIRST TERM FOR ALL STUDENTS

This first term has seen BIS Hanoi students of all ages taking part in a wide variety of enrichment activities.

House competitions are invaluable for building house unity and fostering relationships between students of different ages. The first house competitions of this year included a Spelling Bee for our Year 7 Spanish and French students (won by Hue), the ever-popular Sprint Maths (won by Hanoi), as well as competitions in PE and quizzes during assemblies. Secondary students have also voted for new House Captains for next year, who are excited to continue the work of their predecessors. Another memorable enrichment activity saw our Model United

Nations students attend a conference at the United Nations International School here in Hanoi. They learnt so much from it, including increased confidence, awareness of global issues, and diplomacy skills.

Thuc Anh in Year 12 said:  “To start with I felt like an ant surrounded by giants, but through working hard with other delegates I found my confidence and challenged myself to be involved. I used this learning experience to improve my public speaking and critical thinking skills.”

Elsewhere, BIS Hanoi students took part in two writing competitions. The FOBISIA Short Story Competition will also serve as our Key Stage 3

House Event in English, with the best submissions from each house being submitted to FOBISIA.

The Global Campus writing competition challenged students to start writing a story in English, but to end it in a language of their choice. Global Campus is an important tool which enables our students to work collaboratively with other Nord Anglia students from around the world, and we have set up a scheme to award House points for activities completed on Global Campus.

In the Global Goals CCA, students have been working hard to raise awareness of the UN Sustainable Development

Goals and the work of UNICEF. We have appointed two UNICEF Ambassadors, Gyujin and Da In in Year 10, who led the team in celebrating World Children’s Day on 18th November. They organised a non-uniform day to raise funds for charity, wearing blue, the colour of UNICEF, as well as a snack sale which was very popular.

Looking ahead, there will be many more exciting opportunities available to students, including upcoming house events in Computer Science, History and Performing Arts.

In March 2023, we are also going to host our first inperson Model United Nations conference to build on the

success of last year’s online conference. We are working hard behind the scenes to create an engaging event for all.

There truly is something for everyone here at BIS Hanoi!

Nia Cooper Mathematics Teacher

Global Campus is an important tool which enables our students to work collaboratively with other Nord Anglia students

World Children’s Day was first established in 1954 by the United Nations and is marked every November 20th by UNICEF.

It was established to create a better world for future generations by making children’s voices heard on issues such as climate change,

HOW OUR STUDENTS TOOK THE LEAD IN CELEBRATING WORLD CHILDREN’S DAY

education, mental health, racism and discrimination. On World Children's Day, the world listens to - and respects - children’s ideas, demands, thoughts and rights.

In Primary, our students participated in a variety of exciting activities to celebrate World Children's Day.   Year 6 students spent quality time in the Early Years Centre reading books to younger children in F1 to Year 1. Years 2-6 enjoyed an informative and inspiring World Children’s Day assembly led by our House Captains and Student Council. Children from across Primary enjoyed sharing their own thoughts on Children’s Rights and the UN Global Goals.

In Secondary, students marked World Children’s Day with a variety of activities planned by the Global Goals CCA.

The charity snack sale was enjoyed by all students, who were able to choose from a menu of foods carefully selected to cater to all (spicy, sour and fizzy products were avoided!). This included items made by students themselves, such as iced tea, popcorn and popcorn balls.   On the blue clothes nonuniform day, the school was filled with students dressed in blue (the colour of UNICEF). This sea of blue reminded us of a child’s rights

to care, health and safety, and perfectly represented the vibrancy of children. Students also enjoyed a whole-school World Children’s Day quiz, while informative social posts were posted on school social media.

Our World Children’s Day celebrations demonstrated that our students are truly global citizens - and these student-led activities raised approximately 8 million VND for charity. Students also developed their skills in marketing and communication by working closely with teachers and with one-another.

By the Members of the Global Goals CCA

STUDENT WELLBEING AT BIS HANOI: A CONTINUALLY EVOLVING PROCESS

Wellbeing at BIS Hanoi continues to move forward with the introduction of creative new wellbeing lessons, the BIS Hanoi Wellbeing Committee, and regular monitoring of our student body.

This term, our wellbeing lessons have had a more creative dimension; students are often seen outside the classroom engaging in fun and interesting collaborative tasks.

We have also started to explore ways of monitoring student wellbeing on a more regular basis, with the aim

of identifying early interventions to support students. We are currently using ‘Teams Reflect’, which allows a teacher to see how students are feeling at specific points in the term - for example prior to an exam, after a challenging lesson, or even first thing on Monday morning!

As the school continues to use this platform, we also hope to identify wider trends and offer our student body additional support at times in the academic year when they need it the most.

This term, the BIS Hanoi Wellbeing Committee also held its first meeting. The aim of the committee is to bring together the school community to identify how and what needs to be done to enhance wellbeing for students, staff and parents. We also have a very proactive Student Council, who act as the voice for all secondary students, while subcommittees (including Uniform and Food) actively work on proposals to take to the leadership team.

Children, students and families throughout our school community

Resources Challenges

Wellbeing

At BIS Hanoi, we strive for our whole school community to exprerience wellbeing.

For us, wellbeing is when we develop and use the psychological, social and phycical resources to meet the challenges we face.

We know that wellbeing positively impacts learning and is the foundation for our community to flourish.

will be faced with challenges at some stage. Referring back to our Wellbeing philosophy from the start of the year, we need to get the balance right for us all to be in the place we want to be in. To achieve this as one, we will need to continue to identify the right resources, but also to listen to and respect one another's needs.

Mr. Rob Taylor   Assistant Head of Secondary - Wellbeing

Psychological Social Physical

Psychological Social Physical

Students are often seen outside the classroom engaging in fun and interesting collaborative tasks.

WELLBEING IN PRIMARY: NEW YEAR, NEW STUDENT COUNCIL, FANTASTIC NEW INITIATIVES

Every child’s voice is important and fundamental in making positive change around the school.

This year our vision for PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic education) in Primary is to further develop student voice.

At BIS Hanoi, we want to empower our students to lead and provide opportunities for students to directly impact school life. We strongly believe that all children should feel valued, engaged in school events, and have the confidence to voice their own opinions.

This term, we relaunched the Student Council with a

special assembly in which last year’s Student Council shared a clear message: that every child’s voice is important and fundamental in making positive change around the school.

To apply to become a Student Council representative for their class, children were asked to prepare a speech or presentation outlining the skills they would bring to the role, such as: leadership, communication, collaboration, listening and respect. They also shared what inspired them to take

up this challenge, as well as their vision; identifying things they would like to change around the school. After class elections, the 19 successful candidates from Years 2-6 were announced in assembly.

Since being elected, our brilliant Student Council has been extremely busy! The team began by discussing which key areas of the school they would like to improve and reporting back to their classes. The whole of Primary then voted on which area the Student Council should focus on first, with the majority

choosing the playground.

In response to this, Student Council members shared a document with their classes to gather ideas about new equipment which might enrich the indoor and outdoor playground areas. The next steps for the Student Council team will be to decide which equipment to purchase and, later, to teach their peers how to look after it properly.

Members of the Student Council were also instrumental in organising our assembly for World

Children’s Day, as well as contributing to the first House Lunch of the year by setting up playground games for the children.

I am extremely proud of the achievements of the Student Council this term - and look forward to working with them throughout the rest of this year. They have big plans!

Aaron Watkins Year 5 Teacher

AN UPDATE FROM OUR SECONDARY STUDENT LEADERSHIP TEAM

At the start of each academic year, a new Secondary Leadership Team is elected, whose key responsibility is to represent student voices at BIS Hanoi. The team ensures that our students have an active role in shaping improvements to the school and they work hard to capture ideas, opinions and feedback from across the Secondary student body.

We invite you to read on to hear directly from our secondary student leaders about their experiences and achievements in their first term.

Council, delivering and adding to ideas and suggestions from each tutor group. We learned from the experience that students had very powerful voices that were influential in this school, and we became sure that we could achieve something in this academic year.

Hyeon

Chan and Seo Bin – Head of KS3

Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8, 9)

As the KS3 Heads, it was a great opportunity for us to represent students' voices. Our role was to provide a link between the student council and the KS3 tutor reps, including Years 7, 8, and 9.

During our meetings, we successfully connected the tutor reps with the Student

Key Stage 4 (Years 10, 11)

I’m Ngoc Linh Nguyen and it is my absolute honour to become the Head of KS4, representing Year 10. Despite the fact that it's only the beginning of the school year, being a member of the Student Council helps to reinforce my energy and mentality throughout each of our weekly meetings.

As a Year 10 representative, I found myself paying extra attention to people and what was going on in the year group, knowing that I needed to make the best use of my Student Voice. Plus, it provides you with that push and sense of responsibility that constantly encourages you to be supportive and a better person.   I really appreciate the trust and opportunity that the Year 10s have offered to me in this academic year. Once again, thank you.

Ngoc Linh – Head of KS4

Sixth Form (Years 12, 13)

After a period of disconnection due to COVID-19, the Sixth Form is eager to fully embrace school life and welcome the new opportunities presented to them.

The student leadership in particular is incredibly active, constantly finding innovative ways to make Sixth Form – and

by extension, the whole of Secondary –livelier and more fun. Even though there were some obstacles in the way, such as tests and academic pressures, we all collectively work together to deal with them, discuss them and overall establish good communication around the good and the bad. Next term, the leadership is looking forward to establishing connections; a crucial part of school life that COVID restricted.

Thuc Anh and Ngoc Linh – Sixth Form

STUDENT LEADERSHIP IN PRIMARY: CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW HOUSE CAPTAINS!

It has been an exciting term for Student Leadership in Primary, starting in September with the relaunch of the House Captain selection process for our eldest students.

At the start of the process, a job description was shared with students in Year 6 which outlined the key skills that are needed to be a House Captain. All applicants wrote letters explaining why they thought they were right for the job. They were then interviewed by the Secondary House Captains, Miss Goodwin and Miss Carmichael. The House Captain role is a special one that enables children to develop a host of leadership skills that will support their future endeavours.

Since being elected, these students have been working closely with Miss Goodwin to build relationships with each other and

the wider school community. During our House Maths competition, they offered encouragement to their houses and fed back to the adults about what was working well. They have also practised speaking clearly and confidently during the International Festival and weekly assemblies.

House Lunch, an event designed to help develop a sense of community across our four houses, took place on Thursday 11th November for Years 2-6 and Thursday 17th November for the EYC. All students enjoyed a different lunch structure, rotating through four different activities and spending time with peers from their house. The House Captains played an integral role in this event and made excellent decisions about how, why and when it should run. The event was enjoyed by students and teachers alike and will become a regular feature in the Primary calendar.

We are all looking forward to continuing to see how the House Captains progress in this role over the academic year.

Alice Goodwin  Year 4 Teacher Primary Enrichment Leader

Ashton

Drew Yuzuki

Bao Tran

Miri

Hyolim Bay

Hohyeon