From The Head Teacher

Since last weekend’s incredibly successful and incredibly hot Aquathlon, we have held several more events in school.  On Tuesday, we welcomed parents of Year 6 children for a talk on life in secondary and a campus tour, with our Prefects acting as guides.  This is the culmination of transition events that have lasted most of this year.
 

Visitors

On Tuesday, we welcomed Mr. Mark Sayer, the founding Principal of the latest school in the BIS Group, BVIS Royal City, Hanoi.  Mr. Sayer visited TX, AP1 and AP2 and enjoyed talking to teachers and students.

 

We have also enjoyed visits by several BIS alumni who are returning from their first year of university.  The overwhelming message from these students is how well prepared they were for the academic rigours of university life. As with students before them, they have found the first year straightforward, having had the excellent preparation of the IB Diploma Programme at BIS.  Their peers from A Level schools have found the frequent long essays and academic supervisions a big step up, but our alumni have taken it all in their stride. 

These personal experiences support recent findings by researchers at the University of Warwick in England, who found an overwhelmingly positive response to the Extended Essay experience of the IB.  Extracts from the article which describes this research are reproduced in the following pages.

 

Graduates Garage Sale

 
Our latest alumni were also back during three lunchtimes.  Our final year students visited for three lunchtimes in order to offer their old books, calculators and so on to our Year 10, 11and 12 students before departing for university.
 

IB Induction

Year 11 students returned, joined by several new students, for 2½ days of pre-IB DP work.  They spent time in seminars and workshops as part of our IB Induction Programme.  This work will help them get a flying start to their studies when they return as Sixth Formers in August.

 

AP1 Summer Music Concert

It was a privilege and a pleasure to attend the AP1 Summer Music Concert on Thursday night.  It was clearly a popular event, with the queue to get in snaking down the steps, into the basketball court and over to the main entrance.  The sheer number of children involved was impressive in itself, but when they all came together for the finale, playing and singing “We Are Young”, they made a glorious sound!  Their enthusiasm and talent shone throughout the evening.

 

Departing Teachers

We are now two weeks from the end of the academic year and it is time to thank colleagues who move on to other schools for the new school year.  They have all contributed in their own ways to your children’s education and have made a lasting impact on the development of the school.  They go with our thanks and our best wishes for the future.

Mr. Nick Hardy

Mr. John Witton

Mrs. Lisa Smith

Ms. Fiona Read

Mrs. Catherine Howell

Mr. Nick Arnsby

Mrs. Emma Goodwin

Mr. Ben Hough

Ms. Anne Marie Cowan

Mrs. Jeanette Henry

Ms. Kate Williams

Mr. Mike Howell

Mr. Rad Lowry (returning to BVIS)

 

New Teachers

We have several new teachers joining us in August.  They are Exciting about joining us and currently in England, China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Norway concentrating on finishing the summer term at their current schools.

Ms. Judith Dennis

Mr. Jozef Durok

Mr. Natacha Tiemann

Mrs. Leila Holmyard

Mr. Stephen Roberts

Mr. Rob Bergin

Ms. Daphnée Deleporte

Mr. Mark Hadley

Mr. Ben Durrant

Mr. Oliver Goulding

Mr. John Moore

Ms. Nicola Tingey

Ms. Samantha Hadley

Mr. Mark McGraw

Mr. Will Church

 

Sun Protection

If you missed last week’s piece about sun protection, you can read more in this article from Time magazine:

 http://healthland.time.com/2013/06/04/sunscreen-slows-skin-aging-and-what-else-you-should-know/#ixzz2VUCinFjU

Richard Dyer

Head Teacher

Secondary