BISbuzz Issue 23 | 1

BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL - HO CHI MINH CITY| SECONDARY CAMPUS

FEBRUARY 27 | ISSUE 23

IN THIS ISSUE

From the Head Teacher 02

Year 12 Trip - Philippines 03

Music 05

Community Service 06

PTG 07

From The BIStro & Underground 08

March

3rd Year 12 Parent Teacher Student Conference, 4pm

4th Interhouse Athletics Sports Day

4th 8th UNIS Model United Nations conference, Ha Noi

6th - 8th DoE International Award Bronze Training Expedition

7th ABRSM Theory Exam

7th Prefect Training Day

UPCOMING EVENTS

BISbuzz Issue 23 | 2

From The Head Teacher

Welcome back to all families and very best wishes for the Year of the Goat!

We have a typically busy seven weeks ahead until the Spring holiday so it’s best to start this week’s BIS-

buzz with a look ahead to some of the key events.

Reports and Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences (PTSCs)

27th February Year 7 Short Report

3rd March Year 12 PTSC

20th March Year 8 Full Report

27th March Year 10 Short Report

10th April Year 9 Full Report

Events and Trips

26th Feb – 1st Mar South East Asian Mathematics Contest in Hong Kong

7th March Prefect Training Day

6th-8th March DoE International Award Bronze Training Expedition

10th-14th March U13 FOBISIA Games in Taipei

13th March PTG Meeting

18th March PTG Lost Property Display

20th March PTG Quiz Night

20th-22nd March Saigon Model United Nations, hosted by BIS

1st April Whole School Spring Concert

4th-5th April DoE International Award Bronze Assessed Expedition

14th-16th April School Production – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

15th April PTG Annual General Meeting

15th April Inter-House Swimming Gala

17th April Last day of term. Study Leave starts for Years 11 and 13.

Richard Dyer

Head Teacher, Secondary

From The Head Teacher

BISbuzz Issue 23 | 3

Year 12 Trip - Philippines

For Trips Week 2015, 19 Year 12 students travelled to Puerto Galera in the Philippines to undertake a diving qualification. We returned with 17 newly qualified PADI Open Water Divers and 2 EFR and Rescue Divers. It was a week of hard work, studying and a bit of fun diving in between! The students even completed a debris dive, cleaning up rubbish from the reefs around Puerto Galera to continue their work for Project Aware. It was a great week and the students should all be very proud of what they have achieved. Ms Binnington, Trip Leader

The trip to the Philippines was extremely rewarding and everyone was successful in earning their Open Water Scuba Diving certificate, with 2 students even completing their Rescue Diver courses. It was an amazing personal experience because of the learning opportunity and beautiful scenery and coral. I will continue to advance my diving skills and consider this the best school trip ever. Tara Nichols, 12/13H

The trip was a wonderful experience! It gave me an opportunity to take on a new skill – diving - which expanded my view of the world around me, and I was luckily also given the chance to learn a few life lessons from my instructor throughout the course. I developed relations with my friends on the trip and will forever miss all the fun we had each evening. The children we visited on our last day were extremely sweet and welcoming; I would definitely love to visit them again. Finally, I would like to thank the teachers for organizing an amazing trip! Yu-Ling Lee, 12/13O

I scan the horizon from the resort pontoon. Out there, just 50 metres from me, a figure in diving gear thrashes her arms about, her face barely making it above the breaking waves. I take a deep breath. I briefly simulate the rescue in my mind as I put on my snorkel and fins. The figure is now still, perhaps unconscious. With a perfect giant stride, I plunge into the water ready for a rescue. This is one example of the scenarios Evita and I used in training for the PADI Rescue Diver Course. The course was undeniably demanding as we both needed to learn how to not only take care of ourselves whilst diving, but also to aid others, especially during dive emergencies such as diver unconsciousness underwater. At the end of the week, we received our well-earned Rescue Diver certificates, which was perfect closure to what was a fulfilling and exciting course. Hikaru Hotta, 12/13V

To breathe underwater: a truly breath-taking, unforgettable experience. It was an amazing feeling, to be completely submerged and weightless in the water, controlling my buoyancy. I learnt many skills about diving that I will never forget, but also many memories. From talking about elbow drops with Mr Gamwell and Edo, to making endless puns at everyone; the constant hash-tagging, and also the fun memories of all the board games we played. I especially loved visiting the school-children and teaching them about sharks. It was an incredible experience, which will forever be engraved in my mind. Hok-Yin Kong, 12/13S

Difficult and exhausting but worth it - our expedition from the very beginning was one that was arduous and filled with hurdles and hardships. Our adventure began with completing essential theory, our desperation to get in the water gave us the determination that we needed to complete it. The lessons that we learnt proved invaluable to us as our knowledge was put to the test through intensive pool sessions and demanding tasks that we had to complete under the ocean. However, we persevered and we obtained the feeling of satisfaction when we finally got handed our licenses. These pieces of paper were an indication of the beginning of our journey to explore the beauty that is the seven seas. Kisum Chan, 12/13O

I believe everyone was looking forward to the Philippines trip for a long time after talking to the Year 13's. It all started on the 24th of January. I was lucky to be able to finish the theory course online and complete the course quickly, along with 8 others, sparing us time for extra recreational dives. It was an amazing experience underwater, from getting to see turtles as long as me, controlling my buoyancy underwater and "trying" not to hit the seabed, and collecting a lot of underwater debris. The evenings consisted of playing board games, cards, talks about the early wrestling life and the elbow drops, and loads of fun. The visit to the school just added to our memories, as the kids were welcoming and friendly. The run to the lighthouse was tiring, but the gorgeous view overlooking the cliff and the ocean motivated us. This adventurous journey developed 19 students to persevere and endure through the obstacles, resulting in 17 of us becoming Open Water Divers and 2 students completing their Rescue Diver course. In addition I developed great bonds and friendships with all the students and the teachers. The trip was outstanding and terrific and incomparable to any other previous ones. I am delighted and grateful to be part of such an amazing journey and will miss the great times spend together with everyone in the evenings. Finally I would like to thank Ms Binnington, Mr Gamwell and Ms Horne for putting in all their time and effort in organizing such a remarkable trip. Sujash Shetty, 12/13T

BISbuzz Issue 23 | 4

BISbuzz Issue 23 | 5

Music

BISbuzz Issue 23 | 6

Community Service

KonTum was a unique experience. We were received with a warm welcome from the children of “Vinh Son 4” and we were also able to sleep in the villages of Kon Tum. As soon as we arrived at the orphanage, the children rushed towards us as if they had not seen us in a long time. We started the day with a simple game where they sang “Brush, Brush, Brush your teeth, Every Day!” while racing around a circle. While playing, the children had great big smiles that went up to their ears and they laughed and giggled. The next activity was more of a practical one. The children had to brush a giant tooth covered in dirt. At first, they didn’t understand what they had to do because of our lack of Vietnamese but as after a short while they understood and started to really enjoy this activity. Next, we gave out the toothbrushes. This was a very joyful and exciting moment as these children could finally have their own toothbrushes. We decided to write their names on the toothbrushes to avoid confusion. It was obvious from the look in the children’s eyes that it was a fabulous moment for them, like Christmas when they got a unique gift, an object that they would treasure for a long time. I was surprised when I saw the children put so much time and effort brushing their teeth for the first time. Some of them even brushed for 10 minutes nonstop! At that time, I realised that this operation really worked well but for it to be a real success, the children need to get into a habit to brush their teeth on a daily basis. For this, we can fortunately rely on the volunteers of Poussière de Vie who work in Kon Tum. This is only the beginning of a long project and we will hopefully be able to continue to support this project with your help. Leaving Vinh Son 4 was hard because we just started to know the children better. As our car left, they ran after it waving their hands to say good bye. We can’t wait to go back in the future to see if the children have made good use of their toothbrushes.

Happiness can be found in as simple things as sharing a smile. These children have very little, but they gave us so much.

Alois Luong 8S and Jeremie Luong 10N

KON TUM TOOTHBRUSH COLLECTION

BISbuzz Issue 23 | 7

PTG

BISbuzz Issue 23 | 8

From the Underground & BIStro

Menu 2 (2 March)

From the Underground & BIStro

DAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

MAIN COURSE CHOOSE 1

Beef Lasagne

OR

Seafood Fried Rice

Cheese Pizza

OR

Pork with Onion, Rice

Honey Baked

Chicken,

Sautéed Potato/Rice

OR

Pork Noodle Soup

(Nam Vang)

Ham Burger

OR

Szechuan Chicken,

Rice

Ham & Cheese Croquet

Monsieur &

Roast Potato

OR

Chicken Rice

VEGETABLES

Morning Glory &

Carrot

Salad

Chinese Cabbage &

Carrot

Salad

Long Beans & Carrot

Salad

Choy sum & Carrot

Salad

Bean Sprouts & Carrot

Salad

SOUP Spinach & Melon

Soup

Mixed Vegetable Soup

Spinach Watercress Tomato & Tofu Soup

DESSERT Mixed Fruit Mixed Fruit Mixed Fruit Mixed Fruit Mixed Fruit

VEGETARIAN

Vegetarian Lasagne

Chickepeas Salad

Mixed Fruit

Cheese Pizza

Mixed Vegetable Soup

Mixed Fruit

Tofu Noodle Soup

Long Beans & Carrot

Mixed Fruitit

Aloo Tikki Burger

Mixed Beans Salad

Mixed Fruit

Oriental Fried Rice

Tomato & Tofu Soup

Mixed Fru

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

Donut

Cream Puff

Fruit Cup