05th September 2014
Dear Parents, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to a new school year at ISHCMC. The year has started very well, with the students clearly happy to be back after their long vacation. Our teachers prepared for the start of the new year with a week’s long series of workshops delivered by Paul Ginnis on constructivist pedagogy for the modern classroom. These workshops were very inspiring and it is obvious from walking the corridors and talking to students that there is a transformation under way in many classrooms. Paul will be returning later in the year for a week to work as a consultant in classrooms to further embed constructivism into all levels of teaching at ISHCMC.
ISHCMC’s New Mission As you will have heard and noticed ISHCMC has a new school mission which will be officially launched at the PTO Family Evening on Friday 6 September. As an IB World School, ISHCMC constructs a Culture of Achievement in an environment where students are Energized, Engaged and Empowered to become active participants in their communities. The key words of our new mission are: • Energized: Individual, physical, emotional and interpersonal well-being at school • Engaged: A Rational, emotional and behavioural attachment to learning by students that is fuelled by the inquisitive young minds through inquiry, wonder and prediction • Empowered: The ability of students to direct and control their own learning and lives These will be the operative words for us as a school over the next few years as we promise to deliver a progressive and challenging education to your sons and daughters. We will be holding a couple of parent workshops regarding the new mission and values later this semester. We will confirm the dates very soon.
Child Safety and Protection Last week we had several groups visiting ISHCMC carrying out an audit on our Child Safety procedures and introducing Cognita’s new Child Safety and Protection Policy. Representatives from the PTO met with one of these groups and received information about the new policy and procedures. Over the last year ISHCMC has been introducing changes that have improved our Child Safety procedures in the school in order to make our school as safe as possible for our children. As with all of modern education it is important that all stakeholders, school, students and parents, play their part in understanding the procedures that lead to greater security for our children. On my parent blog that can be viewed at http://4u2nomore.blogspot.com/ I have shared an article which provides some simple tips on how to protect your child that I think you will find very useful. One parent who attended the workshop had a very useful suggestion for families with younger children that I would like to share with you. This is the use of a safe or password in case someone tries to entice them into going somewhere, get in a car etc. By using this your children know that if someone tells them that “mummy said for you to come with me” then they have to ask them “what’s the safe word/password?” You will have told your children that they can only go with that person if they know the safe word/password. If you would like more information on this topic here are some other links to websites where you can find additional resources: Avoiding Sexual Dangers: A Parent’s Guide to Protecting your Child Prevent Child Abuse Love and Logic (Parenting website) Kidscape NSPCC
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Research from the International Baccalaureate I thought that you might be interested in some recent research finding focused on the processes and outcomes of pre-school students enrolled in its Primary Years Programme (PYP). Researchers from Deakin University examined four early years programmes—two in Singapore and two in Melbourne, Australia. Top findings from the research include: • • • • •
IB PYP students benefit from their pre-school education over and above non-IB students IB PYP students perform at or above literacy levels typically expected for their age groups IB students are significantly more likely to have high levels of “learning skills” Parents of IB students are very positive about their children’s education IB students are aware of their own learning and personal development
Additional Reading for your information: Last year I started a blog for ISHCMC parents to keep themselves updated about education in the 21st Century and posted approximately seventy articles. I did this because I believe it is important that parents learn about how educators are thinking about educational issues today so that they can help us transform the learning experience for their children. Since the start of the year I have also posted four articles that you might find interesting to read. Here are links to these article on the blog: We Tell Kids, “Go To Sleep!” We Need To Tell Them Why. 3 Simple Things That Will Make you 10% happier 6 Things The Happiest Families All Have In Common Paying attention online Wishing you all a great year at ISHCMC, Yours, Adrian Deputy Head and Academic Director.
INDEPENDENCE DAY The Secondary school commemorated Vietnam’s National Independence Day with some exhilarating performances to convey the national traditions and culture of our host country. The first performance was a southern dance known as “Vui Hội”. It is a prominent traditional dance in the Mekong Delta region. With its fast pace and quick tempo, the dance depicts the elation and jubilation of southern Vietnamese during festivities held in the olden times. Following the “Vui Hội” dance was a contemporary dance: “Sài Gòn, Here We Come!” The city of Saigon is humming with sounds and brimming with life. Despite being one of the most developed and modern cities in Vietnam, it still maintains the imprints of its long history that are pivotal to Vietnamese culture. This is a very famous song with lyrics celebrating Saigon: “Saigon has lit up my hope/ It is my pride, my joy.” The final performance was the conical hat dance named “Vietnam - My Home”. This performance pays homage to the traditions of Vietnamese agricultural life, while simultaneously depicting the elegant beauty of Vietnamese women, whom are adorned in the pure white robes of the traditional Áo Dài, with the conical hat by their sides. The song lyrics praise said beauty of, not just the women, but of the entire country. All the performers were wonderfully dedicated and supported by the hard work of our Vietnamese department.
PTO NEW PARENT MORNING TEA It has been a busy start so far to this school year for the PTO. We helped welcome all the new families to ISHCMC at Orientation Day and gave them a bag of goodies to help them settle into HCMC. We then hosted a morning tea for new families to meet and get to know each other better. Michelle Preston (Class Parent Representative) also hosted a coffee morning for class parents. These people are a great help to both class teachers and the PTO. A big thanks to those who volunteered for these roles. We are looking forward to the PTO Family night tonight. This is a fantastic evening of food from Al Frescos, music and fun. This year we will have Carl, our resident ISHCMC DJ in charge of music plus SSA running some fun football and basketball games. You can also test your skills against some of the stars of Saigon Heat basketball team! The Rhino Hut will be open too so you can check out their new products. Other upcoming events include our first General meeting this month and the Celebration of Cultures in October. We’ll keep posted on key dates! Rebecca Taylor, PTO President.
IB RESULTS Congratulations to the Class of 2014 on their outstanding IB results. We wish all ISHCMC graduates the very best in their futures. The Graduating Class of 2014 equaled ISHCMC’s previous highest IB Diploma average score, a remarkable achievement considering that every student at ISHCMC participates in the IB Diploma programme as opposed to other international schools in HCMC that offer an alternative programme. For anyone that missed the announcement, please view here: http://www.ishcmc.com/school-life/news/news-and-events/class-of-2014-exceeds-expectations-world-average-ib-score.html