General information A-E

Air quality

BIS HCMC Air Quality References: 

To reduce confusion, at BIS HCMC we use only 3 colours to indicate AQI - Green, Yellow/Orange and Red. This poster explains how the six colours used by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and our school based AirVisual Device are represented here at BIS HCMC. Our visual traffic light system is  visible in a number of locations around each campus:  

Absence procedure

On the day of an absence:

Please inform the class teacher directly by email or inform the campus office, by phone or email (Ms My at M.Pham@bisvietnam.com for the Early Years and Infant Campus and Ms Ngoc N.Le@bisvietnam.com for the Junior Campus), that your child(ren) will not be attending school. A suitable reason must be given to the staff together with specific symptoms if your child(ren) are sick. If possible, it would be helpful to indicate how long you expect your child(ren) to be absent for.

If you do not contact the school regarding your child(ren)’s absence, the class teacher or office staff will contact you to establish a reason for the absence.

On returning from an absence:

All children must only return to school if they are fully well or have been deemed fit to return to school by a doctor. 

Children who return to school with a medical certificate from the doctor, should bring the certificate to the nurse and class teacher.  The school nurse may take a photocopy of the certificate for the child’s records.

Any child returning from illness but still showing clear symptoms will be immediately sent to the nurse (please refer to the ‘Communicable Diseases’ section for more details).

Keeping the school informed:

Wherever possible, medical and dental appointments should be made outside of school hours so as not to disrupt the children’s lessons. If this is not possible, please advise the school of any appointments made. 

Time away from regular classes is not recommended, but as a school, we understand that this is sometimes unavoidable. If extended holidays or time away from class outside of scheduled holidays is required, please contact the head of campus for permission. Please note, work will not be provided for this eventuality. 

Birthdays

We are happy for the children to bring in and share a cake with their classmates to celebrate their birthday providing arrangements have been made with the class teacher at least a few days in advance. Please note that the school will only share a cake; we will not share other food or distribute party bags to other children within the school. Cakes should contain no nuts or nut oils as we are a strictly a nut free school.  

In addition, we ask for parents to adhere to our BIS goal to limit the amount of plastic being used at school.  We recommend smaller cake items such as individual cup cakes.  We also realise that parents may wish to capture such a memorable moment on camera, however following our safeguarding policy, parents must consult the class teacher prior to any photographs being taken.  Any photographs that are taken by parents on personal devices must be kept private.  They must not be shared publicly on social media or between non-family members such as, other parents in the school. 

Bring Your Own iPad

At BIS, we strongly believe the iPad is an excellent tool for personalising learning and accessing contemporary resources to support Primary student learning through an engaging and familiar medium.

Children in Year 3 - Year 6 bring their own iPad to school each day. Please see the site here for more information.

British Schools Overseas (BSO)

As a British International School, we are very proud to of our commitment to organisational excellence as shown through our BSO inspections. BSO have put in place a voluntary inspection scheme for overseas schools. This ensures schools provide their pupils with the skills and qualifications they need to enter or re-enter the British education system. The scheme helps to inform parents about how the standards in these schools measure up against the standards that apply to independent schools in England. 

What BSO offers us as a school is a rigorous set of guiding principals on which to base our practice, in keeping with the latest education decisions directly out of the United Kingdom, and ensuring that we uphold these principals in order to provide our students with the very best of a British style education. It provides us with regular (3 yearly) quality assurance inspections which measure us against set criteria. If you have been with us for several years, you will have read of our incredibly impressive results in previous inspections against the highest of Government Standards.  

To remain accredited we must have an inspection every 3 years which shows our performance against these standards. Click the image below to access the most recent report.

Bullying

We are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our students so they can learn in a productive and secure atmosphere.

Bullying of any kind is unacceptable. If bullying does occur, all students know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively as outlined in our Anti-Bullying Policy.

We are a telling school. This means that anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected to tell an adult.

Who to tell in the first instance:

Class Teacher

Year Leader

Deputy Head Teachers - Ms Sarah Curran (EYIC) and Mr Chris McKelvie (JC)

Heads of Campus - Mr Ian Battersby (EYIC) and Ms Dee Grimshaw (JC)

Our zero tolerance to bullying is regularly re-enforced through the PSHE Curriculum and weekly assemblies. If you wish to know more details of our Anti-Bullying Policy, please see either the deputies or head teachers on each campus for a copy of the policy itself.

Buses

The school provides bus services to and from certain areas of HCMC according to demand. The buses are fitted with seat belts and all staff and students are required to wear them prior to the bus departing. There is an bus assistant on each bus who has a mobile telephone in case of an emergency. If you require further details about the school bus service, please contact the bus manager, Ms Trang at Trang.Pham@bisvietnam.com. 

Child Protection

Here at BIS HCMC we take child protection and safeguarding very seriously and it is our priority that all our children feel safe and secure at school.  Nord Anglia Education's ‘safeguarding’ practice follows UK's best practice, which ensures that all children are protected from harm. Each member of our staff, as well as external providers, have the necessary training and  continual updates to help identify safeguarding concerns, as well as providing criminal record checks proving they are allowed to work with children by law.

If you have any reason to be concerned about the safety of a young person, please contact the Designated Safeguarding Leader.  

Early Years and Infant Campus - Ms Sarah Curran at sarah.curran@bisvietnam.com

Junior Campus - Mr Chris McKelvie at christopher.mckelvie@bisvietnam.com 

Secondary Campus - Mr Gareth Wills at gareth.wills@bisvietnam.com 

Please be reminded that to ensure the safety and protection of all children on our campuses that, in line with our admissions agreement, the photographing or videoing of individual children other than your own is strictly forbidden. Please also be mindful of not adding whole group photos on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

For the full Child Protection and Safeguarding policy, please refer to the online policy here.

Class Organisation

The placement of a child in a specific class is normally dependent on date of birth. An interview/test to assess a child’s English competency is required for all non-native English speakers. There is a charge for this test.

All children are catered for by a differentiated curriculum. Activities are matched to the child’s abilities and all children are encouraged to meet challenges with confidence.

Each year group are allocated teaching assistants thus allowing children to receive individual attention when it is required.

Class mixing for following academic year

Depending on the dynamic of each year group , classes may or may not be mixed across a year group in preparation for the next year. If being mixed, teachers will use a range of criteria to ensure mixes are fair and equitable. In addition to friendship groupings, other factors such as English as an Additional Language, Learning Support, nationality, gender, academic ability and behaviour are all taken into consideration when balancing classes for the following year. New classes will be published to parents before the end of Term 3 and parents will be given the right to reply based on educational reasons. 

Classrooms

The classrooms at both campuses of BIS HCMC have been designed with pupil learning in mind and are organised so that children can work either independently or collaboratively as the need determines. Children are taught how to use classroom equipment safely.

No hazardous liquids are stored in the classrooms and all cleaning materials are stored in lockable areas that are out of bounds to children. 

No medicines are stored in the classroom except for asthma inhalers (with the knowledge of the teacher and the school nurse).

During school supervision hours, children are not allowed in the swimming pool area, playground areas, gym, ICT rooms, library or canteen unless accompanied by a supervising adult. 

Co-curricular Activities

The Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs) programme is divided up into 5 categories – Community, Arts, Technology, Sport and Language. All children are encouraged to choose clubs from different categories throughout the year to broaden their interests and skills. These activities are an integral part of the school programme. They extend the educational and recreational opportunities for all the children who take part in them. Most activities are held after the normal school day from 3.00pm-3.45pm (EYIC) and 2:40pm-3:40pm (JC); however, some may be organised before the start of the day and others during lunchtimes. 

Club selections are made electronically using School Buddy by clicking on that link, or via the whole school website, and information will be shared with parents prior to the sign-up period. Some clubs have a charge to cover costs – these form part of the paid clubs programme. 

For further information regarding clubs, following these links for either campus: Early Years and Infant Campus or Junior Campus

Community Service

BIS HCMC has a core commitment to the all-round (holistic) development of each child. Through a range of planned community service and fund raising activities the school will provide appropriate opportunities for the students to develop a respectful and caring sense of social responsibility towards other people and the environment on both a local and global scale.

What is a Community Service Activity?

A community service activity is an opportunity for our students to help others who may be less fortunate than themselves. Community service activities can be grouped into three tiers:

Service within the school – BIS HCMC plays an active role in supporting our local community partners. This may be done through off-site visits by our students, or hosting community partner schools here at the Early Years and Infants and Junior campuses (see below). We also offer a range of after school community clubs which students from BIS HCMC are able to sign up and support local partners after school hours.

Service within Vietnam - Given its location the school believes it has a particular responsibility to the local Vietnamese community and feels that this is where most effort should be directed through:

1. Fund raising

2. Direct interaction with the community eg visits to children’s homes

3. Local community use of school facilities

4. Involvement in specific and targeted long term, larger scale projects

5. Raising awareness of environmental and safety concerns

Service within the Nord Anglia Group and wider - the school supports the active engagement by all students in supporting regional community service projects organised by Nord Anglia Education, or other FOBISIA schools in the region. This takes place through our Global Classroom and in conjunction with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Complaint procedure

Complaints, of any nature, and by any member of the school community are taken very seriously and the processes involved in making a complaint are set out in the following policy. 

Why do we have a complaints policy?

The policy and procedure aims to reassure parents and others with an interest in the school that:

• any complaint against the school will be dealt with in a fair, open and responsive way, with the aim of achieving a speedy and satisfactory resolution; and

• the school recognises that a willingness to listen to questions and criticism and to respond positively, can lead to improvements in school practices and provision for pupils.

Who does this policy cover?

• Complainants may be anyone e.g. parents, guardians, grandparents, neighbours of the school or anyone with an interest in the work of the school. However, it is expected that it will be mainly parents or guardians who will make use of this procedure. The term ‘parent’ is therefore used throughout the procedure as a generic term, but the procedure also applies in relation to any other type of complainant.

• Complaints may be made by telephone, e-mail, in person or be written.

• A complaint is defined as a clear statement of dissatisfaction about any specified aspect of the school's work. This procedure deals with specified day-to-day complaints against the management and/or operation of the school.

What are the stages involved?

The policy outlines the two stages of complaint, informal and then formal, as well as follow up steps taken in each instance. For details, please refer to the following attached policy.

Council of International Schools (CIS)

BIS HCMC is a member of the Council of International Schools (CIS). Membership of CIS demonstrates our commitment to providing not only the best of British Education, but a global perspective for our students that is necessary in our increasingly globalised world.

As a leader in the field of school evaluation and accreditation worldwide, CIS provide a unique international accreditation with a focus on student learning and global citizenship. The quality and rigour of CIS International Accreditation is recognised by ministries, departments of education, and universities around the world as demonstration of a school’s commitment to high quality international education.

More than 530 CIS member schools have been granted accreditation, following a directed process that includes:

• rigorous evaluation against internationally-agreed standards,

• a blend of support and challenge focused on a school’s development, and

• a peer-based model that brings together international educators from across the world of CIS-accredited schools.

CIS International Accreditation has been further validated and is accepted by other countries and associations internationally as a mark of quality assurance. This includes the International Commission Advancing Independent School Accreditation (ICAISA) and the International Alliance for Accreditation in the United States of America, ONESQA in Thailand, the Victoria and Queensland State Departments of Education in Australia, the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) in the UK, the British Schools of the Middle East (BSME) and the Federation of British International Schools in Southeast Asia (FOBISIA). CIS International Accreditation is recognised throughout the United States, facilitating the acceptance of students’ transcripts with colleges and universities. Read more about our global recognition and collaborations with other agencies. 

One aspect of being a member of CIS that we hold above all others is the commitment to the Code of Ethics expected from the organisation. In short:

CODE OF ETHICS

The purpose of the CIS Code of Ethics is to describe the moral principles upon which CIS members are expected to base their conduct and professional practice. 

All CIS members are expected to:

• Fulfill the promises stated in their guiding statements, policies, contracts and promotional materials.

• Strive for excellence.

• Nurture a culture of care in which the education, safety and well-being of students and others are paramount.

• Comply with applicable laws and regulations.

• Respect the dignity and equality of all individuals, groups and cultures.

• Promote global citizenship.

Curriculum

Here at the BIS HCMC Primary, we consider ourselves to be a learning focused school and there is a strong emphasis on academic progress in conjunction with the development of the whole child. In Primary the aim is to provide the skills, knowledge and understanding for our students to become successful life-long learners.

At both the Early Years and Infant Campus (EYIC) and the Junior Campus (JC), the children follow the National Curriculum for England, which has been enhanced using the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) to provide an international dimension.

English, Maths and Science are regarded as core subjects and receive the largest time allocation from the class teacher. The class teachers also use IPC topics and themes to deliver History, Geography, Design Technology and Art. There is also a programme of personal, social and health education for the children.

MFL (French, Spanish, Mandarin), Music, ICT, Vietnamese Culture and PE are taught as discrete subjects by specialist teachers. Vietnamese language is available as an extra-curricular club and as a compulsory extra-curricular provision for all Vietnamese nationals.

Curriculum Map

For an all points view of the Primary Curriculum for the EYFS to the end of Year 6, our Curriculum Map is the one-stop shop. This document guides through the expectations of each year group, and also the vertical curriculum from subject areas. Age Related Expectations are also included under the subject area pages.

Primary Curriculum Map

Curriculum - Maths - How you can help

Children’s maths homework helps them to practise and consolidate their skills and knowledge, develop and extend their techniques and strategies as well as prepare them for their future learning.

 Year 1 and Year 2

• Show an interest in what s/he is doing with numbers and participate in puzzles and games.

• Encourage your child to talk about what s/he has been doing and what s/he is going to do next.

• Help him/her to use things around the home to support their mathematical understanding e.g. ordering cups by size, looking for shapes around the house or counting stairs.

• Praise his/her efforts to build up confidence. Rather than simply pointing out that an answer is wrong, you could say, “Can you check your answer using a different method?”

• Play mathematical games using software packages to develop skills.

Years 3, 4, 5, 6

• Show an interest in what s/he is doing.

• Provide him/her with games and software to help practise his/her sills.

• Encourage your child to discuss mathematical strategies for solving problems, helping to clarify the process needed.

• Help your child to learn his/her multiplication tables and show him/her how to apply these in different situations by asking questions.

• When appropriate, allow the use of a calculator or any other mathematical tool for checking answers.

• Point out the uses for maths in the world around us.

• Ask “real life” maths questions e.g. “How much change should I get….?” or “Can we make this recipe for 8 people instead of just 2?”

Please follow the link to further maths curriculum information here and the link to your child's specific year group information here.

Curriculum - Spelling - how you can help

Year 1 and Year 2

• Build your child’s confidence by offering lots of praise and encouragement. Rather than simply pointing out their mistakes you could say, “That sounds close. What makes the ‘sh’ sound?”

• Make the exercises into an enjoyable challenge, rather than a chore. Make it into a game e.g. cut the words up into individual letters or letter strings and ask your child to remake the words; write the word with a missing letter or letter string and ask your child to fill in the gap.

• Encourage your child to LOOK at the word and SAY it. COVER it and try to WRITE it. Finally CHECK to see if it is correct.

• Ask your child to write a word down as writing often helps imprint it on your child’s memory.

• Help your child to listen carefully to the pronunciation of a word stressing the beginning, middle and end sounds.

Years 3, 4, 5, 6

• Help him/her to practise the LOOK, SAY, COVER, WRITE, CHECK technique. This helps to develop a visual memory.

• Encourage your child to keep a spelling notebook of words s/he got wrong at school and to learn these using the same technique.

• Help your child recognise letter strings and patterns in words.

• Give him/her access to a dictionary and a thesaurus to check words.

• Praise your child’s efforts and success.

Please follow the link to further curriculum information here. 

digital citizenship

We take online safety very seriously here at BIS HCMC Primary and our goal is to develop 21st century citizens who are respectful, caring and consider integrity whilst online is as big a priority as it is in the physical world. The following is our definition of digital citizenship taken from our Technology Mission Statement: 

Digital Citizenship

Through integrity, caring and respect, moral characteristics will be developed both within the physical and digital environments, enabling all of our students to become true digital citizens within a global context. Individual research and collaboration will be developed both inside and outside of the school community. Each student will be encouraged to create digital content within a safe learning environment.

For the latest of our parent coffee morning workshops presentations, please refer to the following slide, along with two articles from our news and updates weekly blog.

Expectations and sanctions

Keeping Children Safe Online - DoE expectations UK

Digital Citizenship Workshop September 2023

Digital Citizenship article - News and Updates

Developing Digital Citizens article - News and Updates

Parent Advice - commonsense.org

Parent Advice - childnet.com

Digital Wellbeing for kids - childnet.com

Drivers

Whilst we understand the need to transport children safely to school, and that this sometimes involves a driver dropping your children at school in the morning and collecting of an evening, we also need to be aware of our responsibilities to the flow of traffic around the Thao Dien area, and our neighbours in the immediate vicinity. Please ensure that your driver has read the following code of conduct and understands the importance of respecting our stance on the importance of road safety and the need to keep traffic flowing for the good of our children. 

Emergency Procedures

Fire drills and emergency evacuation

In the event of an emergency, a continuous alarm will sound. The building should then be evacuated in a quick but orderly fashion. No one should stop to retrieve possessions.

Details of evacuation routes are displayed in every room and everyone concerned with the school must familiarise themselves with these.

After leaving the building, children and adults assemble in the designated areas in class lines. Children and teaching staff are then checked against the register to ensure they have all vacated the building and visitors’ names are checked against the signing-in book and swipe card information, if necessary.

There is at least one fire drill each term to practise the evacuation procedure.

Lockdown Procedure

A lockdown will be initiated when a situation arises that requires the isolation (rather than evacuation) of staff and students from an identified threat such as extreme weather, civil unrest or a violent intruder. 

The head of campus will commence the lockdown by repeating ‘Lockdown’ three times through the campus PA system. Staff and children will remain in the classroom (or go to the designated safe area), turn off all the lights, lock the doors, close the blinds and wait silently for the ‘all clear’ to be sounded. 

The lockdown drill will be practiced twice a year.

expectations

Both the school and the individual have expectations of each other: 

• Pupils have the right to expect that the school is safe, secure and friendly. It is the school’s responsibility to provide this. 

• The school expects pupils to behave in a way that will contribute to a happy environment and will discourage the kind of behaviour that undermines this. 

• Children will respect the feelings, needs and rights of others and will receive the same in return. 

• Children should wear the correct uniform and should take pride in their appearance.  Please click here and scroll down to "Uniform".

Discipline

The school has a Positive Behaviour Policy which all staff implement and students follow.

Appropriate behaviour is encouraged through positive reinforcement of good behaviour. Class Circle Time is used to discuss problems and decide strategies to deal with these. Golden Time is used to reward pupil’s positive behaviour.

If a child constantly behaves inappropriately then parents are asked to be involved in a behaviour modification programme, involving co-operation between home and school with the possible involvement of the Learning Support department.

The school assembly is used as a vehicle to reinforce moral values and the school’s fundamental aims through stories, plays and songs and to celebrate individual and group achievements.

Rewards

‘Star of the Week’ certificates are given as a reward for extra effort, consideration for others or any other achievements and will be awarded at an assembly each week. Certificates of Excellence are also given to children who demonstrate excellence as an example to other children.

Expeditions and trips

BIS HCMC believes in the all-round development of its students and ensures that the programme of expeditions demonstrates: 

• A high level of planning and organisation 

• Progression through the Year Groups

• A structured and safe environment conducive to learning

• Continuity with classroom learning aims

In addition, it develops personal qualities such as:

• Leadership

• Independence

• Self-esteem

• Enquiry

• Reflection

• Care

• Perseverance

The range of trips falls broadly under one or more of three categories:

1. For Years 3 to 6 there are compulsory residential trips or sleepovers where participation is expected from all students. 

2. Day trips which enhance the curriculum and allow the students to contextualise their school studies into the world around them. These trips are included in school fees.

3. Optional residential trips, such as sports or music events, which are group specific, not year group based.

In addition to the above aspects, BIS HCMC aims to develop in its students a respect for different cultures. To access our Trips and Residential Opportunities page, please click here.