12 December 2014 | ISSUE 15
Dates for your diary
IN THIS ISSUE
From: Page
Headteacher 2
MP1 Christmas Production 3
F3 Christmas Production 4
MP3 Speech Competition 5
Music Department 6
Community Service Department 7-8
PSHE - Getting on and Falling out 9
Student Council’s 10
Meet the AP1 Staff 11
Fundinotots - BIS Baby and Toddler Group 12
Lunch Menus 13-14
Contact information
225 Nguyen Van Huong St, District 2, HCMC
Tel: (848) 3744 4551
Fax: (848) 3744 4182
E-mail:
BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HO CHI MINH CITY
AN PHU PRIMARY
Newsletter
14th Community Football Tournament
15th CHQ Term 2 Sign up begins (5.00pm)
16th Christmas Carol Concert (6.00pm)
18th EYFS Skype with Santa
18th Pre FOBISIA Meeting (4.00pm Gym)
19th CHQ Term 2 Sign up ends (12.00pm)
19th Term 1 Ends - 11.30am
From The Headteacher - Mr Simon Higham
Issue 15/Page 2
Scan here to access the
‘AP1 Parent Blog’
AP1 Parent Blog http://ap1parentblog.blogspot.com/
Do you use social media to keep in touch with friends, family and the community?
Why not keep in touch with school events by „liking‟ or
„following‟ BIS on Facebook and Twitter.
Click on the link to the Social Media page
on the AP1 Primary Parent Blog to find out more.
Once again, it has been a very busy week at An Phu Primary Campus, with the focus up-
on challenging children‟s learning and allowing all pupils to gain experiences that they
will find hard to forget.
Thank you to all of the parents who attended the CHQ workshop, in preparation for the
Term 2 club sign up that begins on Monday 15th December. Please be reminded that the
new club booklet can be accessed here and all key dates and information are available on
the introductory letter that was sent to all parents at the end of last month.
Please note that Term 2 clubs will now be allocated randomly by CHQ and not
on a first come, first served basis as in previous sign ups. This allows all club
preferences to be made at any time during the sign up next week.
Well done to all of our F3 children for their sparkling performances in the production „The Snowman at Sunset‟,
and further congratulations to all of our Year 1 and Year 2 children for their fantastic performances in ‟Bertie‟s
Christmas Play‟ this week. For children of such a young age, it was a pleasure seeing their confidence on stage
and overall enjoyment of being part of such special events. More details of these productions can be found on
pages 3 and 4 in today's newsletter.
Congratulations also to the 11 Year 5 and Year 6 finalists that took part in the Milepost 3 Speech Contest on
Thursday. With topics ranging from „Homework‟ to „Minecraft‟, „Rhinos to „Gender Equality‟, the articulation of
these children was a delight to witness. I am certain that there was a future Churchill, Malala or Madela on
the stage that evening. More details of the Speech Contest and the winners can be found on Page 5.
I look forward to welcoming children from
our community partners to school this Sun-
day for the Community Football Tourna-
ment and the timing of this coincides with a
very significant event in history. BIS, in con-
junction with the British Consulate, are sup-
porting a project being run between the Eng-
lish Premier League, the UK Football Asso-
ciation and the British Council called
‘Football Remembers Week’. The aim of
this project is to engage football fans to pay
tribute to what took place in Flanders on
Christmas Day 1914. The Christmas Truce
was a spontaneous ceasefire between those
soldiers fighting on the Western Front in 1914. They met in „no man‟s land‟, buried their dead, sang carols and
exchanged gifts. Some even played football.
From 6-14 December, players at every level of football – from Premier League to primary schools, are invited to
play a match as part of „Football Remembers’ and to take part in a photo tribute. The Community Football
Tournament has been chosen to represent this tribute. We are very honoured to have Mr Douglas Barnes, HM
Consul General HCMC attend and present a plaque to BIS to commemorate the event.
For more information on this initiative please visit:
https://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/classroom-resources/football-remembers
Good luck to all of our swimmers that are representing BIS in the International „Feeding Frenzy‟ Swim meet in
Bangkok this weekend - I am looking forward to hearing about all of their achievements next week.
I hope that you enjoy reading through the many articles in this week‟s newsletter. Have a great weekend.
Issue 15/Page 3
MP1 Christmas Production - Bertie’s Christmas Play
The children of Milepost 1 put on a grand performance this holiday season in the stage production of “Bertie‟s
Christmas Play.” Bertie is a dinosaur whose only Christmas wish is to have a part in his school nativity play.
He is cheered on by his friends and family around the world, who chat with him via Skype from places like Ha-
waii, China, Egypt, and Norway. They send their support and encouragement to Bertie as he tries over and
over again to win a role in the show. But try as he might, Bertie just can‟t get it right.
Bertie the dinosaur auditions for such roles as an angel, a shepherd, a wise man, and even a sheep but each
time the part goes to someone else. Bertie perseveres, and finally, when he tries for the role of „star‟… he gets
the part!
Milepost 1 students showed off their singing and dancing skills in an impressive production that put everyone
in the holiday spirit! The festive show was enjoyed by parents, all BIS students, and the Year 1 and Year 2
Community Partners from Thien Phuc Home and Anh Minh School. Well done, boys and girls! You are all
stars!
Ms Samantha Baker
EAL Teacher & Community Service Leader
F3 Christmas Production - Snowman at Sunset The children in F3 put on a fantastic performance today in their Christmas production of a 'Snowman at Sun-
set'. They all looked fantastic in their costumes and sung their hearts out whilst remembering to do their ac-
tions at the same time! We all felt very festive at the end of it and I'm sure you did too. Thank you again for
coming to support your children.
Ms Louise Swift
F3 Teacher and Assistant Milepost Leader
Issue 15/Page 4
MP3 Speech Competition
Issue 15/Page 5
Last night saw the culmination of several weeks
work on writing and delivering speeches in Year 5
and 6. The 11 finalists competed against one
another in an unbelievably exciting finale. Every
child delivered their speeches confidently and the
amount of time spent on them was evident.
The judges had a very difficult job to choose the
winners. In the end Chaiti from 6N was awarded
first place, Matthew from 5V came second and Jung
Min from 6H came third (see right).
Well done to everyone in MP3 for researching,
writing and delivering your own speeches.
Ms Deborah Spencer
Y5 Teacher and Assistant Milepost Leader
Our finalists
Nitika Gupta (5I)
Rosie Battersby (5B)
Jung Min Oh (6H)
Gemma Handscombe (6S)
Nini Pham (5S)
Jonathan Brownrigg (6B)
Naomi Martin (6V)
Matthew Grimshaw (5V)
Sam Johnston (6I)
Haley Nguyen (5N)
Chaiti Maheshwari (6N)
Issue 15/Page 7
Community Service Department - Clubs
Sign-up for Extra Curricular Activities starts on Monday, and there are some very ex-
citing Community Service Clubs on offer for Term 2. These clubs are a great way to get
involved with the community through making new friends from local schools, trying
new activities, and sharing experiences with other children. You can even make an
impact on the environment!
Club
Day
Year Group
Teacher
Helping Hands with Thien Phuoc
Foster Home
Monday
Years 4-6
Ms Aoife
Ms Louise Short
Community Chess for Begin-
ners with Binh Trieu School
Monday
Years 4-6
Mr David
Community Lego Club with
Binh Trieu School
Monday
Years 2-6
Ms Andrea Dix
Working Together Playing To-
gether Learning Together with
Binh Trieu School
Monday
Years 2-6
Ms Louise Swift
Swimming with Binh Trieu
School
Monday
Years 1-2
Mr Vinh
Mr Triet
Creative Computing with Binh
Trieu School
Wednesday
Years 2-4
Mr Paul
Friendship Club with Binh Tho
School
Thursday
Years 1-3
Ms Melanie
Games Club with Mai Am Shelter
Thursday
Years 5-6
Ms Georgina
Ms Lisa
Keen to be Green with Binh Tho
School
Thursday
Years 4-6
Ms Rachel
Favourite Stories, Favourite
Crafts with Binh Tho School
Thursday
Years 1-3
Ms Samantha
Stretch and Relax with Binh
Tho School
Thursday
Years 4-6
Ms Sahita
Messy Art with Binh Tho School
Thursday
Years 2-4
Ms Charlie
See you there!
Ms Samantha Baker
EAL Teacher and Community Service Leader
Community Service Clubs for Term 2
Did you know that Community Service Clubs are in addition to your free club allocation? That means that
even after your allocation of free clubs, you can ADD a Community Service Club as a extra - every Community
Service Club is FREE!
Take a look at the clubs that are offered for your Year Group, and sign up on CHQ:
Getting on and Falling out
Issue 15/Page 9
Social and Emotional Aspects
of Learning (SEAL)
The theme for this half-term‟s work on developing
children‟s social, emotional and behavioural skills has been
‘Getting On and Falling Out’.
Over this half term, the children‟s learning has been
focused on developing the social skills of friendship, working
well with others, managing anger and
resolving conflict.
After the holidays the whole school theme will be
‘Going for Goals’
Family Talk Time
All families have times when they get along together and times
when they tend to fall out. Sometimes we find it hard to make
up or even talk about it. Here are some questions to talk about:
When are the times that you get along best?
When are the times that you fall out the most?
What can you do at the times you fall out most to make every-
one feel better?
(PSHE - Personal, Social, Health Education)
Ms Georgina Cochrane
Year 6 Teacher and PSHE Leader
Student Council - Term 1 Update
Issue 15/Page 10
Words from the Student Council
We have had SO much going on this term! Our first BIG event was Non-Teacher‟s day. We wanted to show our
appreciation to the cleaners, guards, canteen and maintenance staff. So the day after Teachers Day, the Stu-
dent Council organised our very first „CGCM‟ Day, which is short for, cleaners, guards, canteen and mainte-
nance. MP3 children designed special BIS cards that were especially created for the event. The Student Council
also served the staff their lunch and some „Chè‟, a Vietnamese treat to show our appreciation for all that they
do. The staff were overjoyed and putting a smile on someone‟s face really is priceless.
The next major event was our first
ever cross campus Student Council
meeting. The Student Councils from
AP1, BISV and TX campuses met at
TX to discuss and exchange ideas.
We first had some team building ac-
tivities. One of my favourites was the
toilet paper game! We then presented
what we had done at AP1 and had a
delicious lunch that included ba-
guettes, bananas and muffins. Over-
all, we had a great time!
Whilst these are just the big events,
we certainly worked hard over this
term. We made some small adjust-
ments to the lunch menus, such as
adding vegetables to the Deli Bar to
encourage healthy eating and adding
some large things to our lunch, such
as bringing back the pork burger.
We have many more ideas for the
upcoming terms. I can say, I thor-
oughly enjoy my job of being the Stu-
dent Council President!
Chaiti Maheshwari
6N Student and President of the Stu-
dent Council
Issue 15/Page 11
I'm a going back to England
this Christmas to spend the hol-
iday with my family. It has
been a whole year since I was
last there so I cannot wait to
see them all again! I am really
looking forward to being cold
and having to wear a coat, hat
and gloves when I leave the
house. It will also be amazing to
eat some of my mum‟s cooking
again!
Anna Coy
Assistant Mile Post One Leader
My family are going back to London for Christmas. I
cannot wait to show my baby daughter the Christ-
mas lights in Oxford Street and the Winter Wonder-
land in Hyde Park. The best part will be going to
Hamleys which is one of the biggest toy shops in the
world ! I am looking forward to eating mince pies
and drinking hot chocolate .
Graham Tait, Year 2 Teacher
Simon Higham
Head Teacher
It won‟t sound at all exciting to anyone else
but I will be flying back to England to spend
Christmas with my family and close friends.
I will be based at my Dad‟s in Staffordshire
but as usual, I will be rather nomadic during
my time there. My son has a new home
which I am excited to visit and my daughter
is getting married in July so she has a num-
ber of appointments and activities planned
for me, which will no doubt keep me busy. I
am treating myself to a few quiet days on the
beach in Cambodia before returning to Ho
Chi Minh City and school.
I am heading back home to England this Christ-
mas. I cannot wait to see all my friends and fami-
ly, but I am particularly excited to meet my
niece, Harriet, who is now 6 weeks old! I am also
looking forward to the frosty (most likely rainy)
weather, wrapping up warm and sitting by a fire.
We always go for a long walk on Christmas day
with all the family, including the dogs, which
helps to burn off some of the turkey and mince
pies!
Lara Wilkinson
PE Teacher
Here are some more snippits of what our teachers are up to for the holidays. It is lovely to hear the excite-
ment of everyone about their plans. Whoever said Christmas is just for children is sorely mistaken. Christ-
mas is definitely for the grown ups too! We hope that all the families from BIS have a wonderful Christmas
whether you are travelling or staying closer to home.
Deirdre Grimshaw
Deputy Headteacher
I love the spirit of Christmas and I‟m very much
looking forward to spending Christmas Day in Vi-
etnam with my family. Although I love to travel
and sample the delights of different countries and
cultures, I also like spending time here, in Ho Chi
Minh City. The turkey will be on the table, with all
the trimmings (brussel sprouts included) and I will
enjoy eating the Christmas pudding that we forgot
about last year!
Just after school finishes for the holiday, my family
and I will be setting off for a few days in Singapore,
to pick up those last minute treats. Maybe I‟ll see
some of you there! Merry Christmas!
Paula Phipps
Year 1 Teacher
Holiday Destinations - Where Are They Going?
Having moved house to D9 during the
Summer, we are really looking forward
to spending Christmas in our new home.
At 2 year old, my son Oliver is increas-
ingly aware of Christmas and has grow-
ing expectations that a man called
„Farmer Christmas‟ is going to be bring-
ing him lots of toy cars and trucks. The
sound of Jingle Bells from his bedroom
at 5am every morning has certainly re-
placed the need for an alarm clock!
Andy James
Year 5 Teacher
Fundinotots Programme
Issue 15/Page 12
Enrolments for Term 2 Fundinotots are now being received. For more information about our BIS Baby and
Toddler Group, please contact our Main Office. We‟re looking forward to meeting you very soon.
Sarah Bonner
Fundinotots Leader
Issue 15/Page 13
MENU FOR F1 - F2 MENU 1 (WEEK BEGINNING 15 DECEMBER)
DAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
MAIN
COURSE CHOOSE 1
Honey Lime Chicken, Sautéed
Potato OR
Braised Tofu with Pork, Rice
Cottage Pie-Beef OR
Chicken & Vegeta-ble Curry, Rice
Pasta with Pork Balls OR
Fish Teriyaki, Rice
Roast Pork, Mashed Potato
OR Chicken Noodle
Soup
Fish Goujons, Potato Wedges
OR Minced Beef & Vegeta-
ble Stew, Rice
VEGETA-
BLES
Choy sum & Car-
rots
Chinese Cabbage
& Carrots
Spinach
Long Beans &
Carrots
Morning Glory
SOUP
Spinach & Melon
Soup
Watercress
Mixed Vegeta-
ble
Spinach
Cabbage & Carrot
FOR VEG-ETARIAN
ONLY
Dhal
Spinach & Melon Soup
Vegetarian Cottage Pie
Chinese Cabbage & Carrots
Pasta Napoli-tana
Chickpeas Salad
Vegetarian Noo-dle Soup
Long Beans & Carrots
Tofu & Vegetable Stew, Rice
Cabbage & Carrot Soup
MENU FOR F3 - YEAR 2 MENU 1 (WEEK BEGINNING 15 DECEMBER)
DAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
MAIN COURSE
CHOOSE 1
Honey Lime Chicken, Sau-téed Potato
OR Braised Tofu
with Pork, Rice
Cottage Pie-Beef OR
Chicken & Vege-table Curry, Rice
Pasta with Pork Balls OR
Fish Teriyaki, Rice
Roast Pork, Mashed Potato
OR Chicken Noodle
Soup
Fish Goujons, Potato Wedges
OR Minced Beef &
Vegetable Stew, Rice
VEGETABLES
Choy sum &
Carrots
Chinese Cabbage
& Carrots
Spinach
Long Beans & Car-
rots
Morning Glory
SOUP
Spinach & Mel-
on
Watercress Mixed Vegetable Spinach Cabbage & Car-
rot
FOR VEGETARI-AN ONLY
Dhal
Spinach & Mel-on Soup
Vegetarian Cottage Pie
Chinese Cabbage & Carrots
Pasta Napolitana Chickpeas Salad
Vegetarian Noo-dle Soup
Long Bean & Car-rot
Tofu & Vegeta-ble Stew, Rice
Cabbage & Car-rot Soup
DELI BAR OPTION
Bun filled with Ham
& cheese Served with
Salad
Jacket Potato filled with Baked
Beans & Bacon Served with Salad
Bun filled with cheese
& egg Served with Salad
Jacket Potato filled with Bolo-
gnese Sauce Served with Salad
Bun filled with
Chicken & may-onnaise,
Served with Sal-ad
Fresh Fruits & Salad Bar are available daily
Issue 15/Page 14
MENU FOR YEAR 3 - YEAR 6 MENU 1 (WEEK BEGINNING 15 DECEMBER)
DAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY
MAIN COURSE
CHOOSE 1
Honey Lime Chick-en, Sautéed Potato
OR Braised Tofu with
Pork, Rice
Cottage Pie-Beef OR
Chicken & Vege-table Curry, Rice
Pasta with Pork Balls OR
Fish Teriyaki, Rice
Roast Pork, Mashed Potato
OR Chicken Noodle
Soup
Fish Goujons, Po-tato Wedges
OR Minced Beef &
Vegetable Stew, Rice
VEGETABLES
Choy sum & Car-rots
Chinese Cabbage & Carrots
Spinach Long Beans & Car-
rots
Morning Glory
SOUP
Spinach & Melon
Watercress
Mixed Vegetable
Spinach
Cabbage & Carrot
FOR VEGE-TARIAN ON-
LY
Dhal
Spinach & Melon Soup
Vegetarian Cottage Pie
Chinese Cabbage & Carrots
Pasta Napolitana Chickpeas Salad
Vegetarian Noo-dle Soup
Long Beans & Car-rots
Tofu & Vegetable Stew, Rice
Cabbage & Carrot Soup
DELI BAR OPTION
Baguette/Jacket Potato
fill with ham, chick-en, cheese, egg,
tuna mayonnaise, baked beans, peas & bolognese sauce Served with Salad
Bun/Jacket Potato filled with ham, chicken, cheese,
egg, tuna mayon-naise, baked
beans, peas & bo-lognese sauce
Served with Salad
Wrap/Jacket Pota-to
filled with bacon, ham, chicken, egg, cheese, tuna may-
onnaise, baked beans, peas & bo-
lognese sauce Served with Salad
Bun/Jacket Potato filled with ham, chicken, cheese,
egg, tuna mayon-naise, baked
beans, peas & bolognese
sauce Served with Salad
Baguette/Jacket Potato
filled with ham, chicken, cheese,
egg, tuna mayon-naise, baked
beans, peas & bolognese sauce
Served with Salad
Fresh Fruits & Salad Bar are available daily