tintuc@unishanoi.org UNIS Hanoi’s Weekly Community Newsletter Volume 20, Edition 15, Friday 29 November
NEXT WEEK... MONDAY, 2 DECEMBER
Freedom from Chemical Dependency Visit, 2-6 Dec
TUESDAY, 3 DECEMBER
MS Boys Soccer 16:30-17:30, Field Class Parents Board Orientation Session, 17:30-19:00 Community Room
WEDNESDAY, 4 DECEMBER
SMP 2015-2020 Planning Taskforce Meeting, 7:00-8:30, Conference Room HS Girls Basketball 15:30-16:30, Sports Centre
THURSDAY, 5 DECEMBER
ES Maths Coffee Morning 8:20-9:00 MS Boys & Girls Soccer 16:00-17:00, Field Freedom from Chemical Dependency Parent Evening 18:00-19:30, Theatre
SATURDAY, 7 DECEMBER
SAT Tesing (Grades 11-12)
COMING SOON... MONDAY, 9 DECEMBER
Teen Read Week, 9-13 Dec Grade 3 Exhibition for Parents, 9-12 Dec Amazing Science from Philip Rose, 9-12 Dec
TUESDAY, 10 DECEMBER
K2 Trip 9:15-12:00 MS Boys Soccer 16:00-17:00, Field Grade 3 Performance for parents 18:00-19:30, Theatre
THURSDAY, 5 DECEMBER
Grade 5 “Living Museum” 14:00-15:30, Library
SATURDAY, 14 DECEMBER
Winter Holidays, 14 Dec - 5 Jan
FRIDAY, 6 DECEMBER
Patana Swim Meet, Bangkok - Thailand 6-8 Dec ES Snack Sale Morning 8:30-11:00 HS Boys Basketball 16:15-17:15, Sports Centre Festive Fundraiser 18:00-19:30, UNIS Plaza
IN THIS WEEK’S TIN TUC - The Highlights... Notes from the Head of School and the Board of Directors (p.2) Notes from the ES Principal (p.3) “Grade 4 Slice of Ice” (p.4)
Model United Nations at UNIS Hanoi (p.9) Future leaders of the Mekong Delta Conference (p.10)
From the MSHS Principal (p.4) Is your Family leaving Hanoi ? (p.5) Student Story (p.6)
Grades 3-5 Atheletics Morning score (p.11) Song Hong Half Marathon (p.12) Blue Dragon Red Stocking (p.12)
Freedom from Chemical Dependency - Visitor in December (p.6) Festive Fundraiser (p.7) HS Basketball Tournament (p.8)
Blue Dragon Walk-a-thon (p.13) What do you know about Sleep? (p.14) SCO All Parent Meeting(p.15) SCO Snack Sale (p.15 ) Canteen Menu
In the wake of the HIWC Bazaar that was held on our campus last Sunday, I would like to extend my congratulations to the HIWC for providing such an outstanding event. While the final tally on funds raised is in process, the organization overall was superb and the community building was amazing. It was a true confluence of cultures represented here in Hanoi. I would also like to extend a sincere thank you to the UNIS Hanoi team including Nathalie Grun and Emma Silva and rest of the Advancement office, and to Dave Porter and Linh and the rest of our operations crew who together with the events contractor transformed our campus in a matter of hours into a school ready for students at 08:15 on Monday morning – truly remarkable.
on in June 2014 and we have identified 2 finalists from a field of over 60 applicants. These two finalists will be coming to campus this week and next to go through a series of interviews with the hope that one of them will be chosen to fill the vacancy. Thanks to all the parents who came to meet the first candidate, Simon Joyce, on Friday afternoon. Because of the short visit and full schedule, we are unable to have a meeting in the early morning or evening for either candidate unfortunately.
A final group to recognize is the Ciputra management under the leadership of Michael Schmitt, and the Ciputra residents living in close proximity to the school, who were cooperative, understanding and supportive of this event.
Respectfully,
On to other things. I am delighted to invite all parents to the upcoming community meetings. The first involves the recruitment of a new Director of Activities. Our current Director of Activities, Dirk Kraetzer, has decided to move
The Board is pleased to advise that the School's auditor, Ernst&Young (E&Y), has reviewed and audited the School's financial statements for the school year ended 31st July 2013. The E&Y audit report states that the financial statements give a true and fair view of the School's financial position and performance, and are in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. The audit report can be viewed HERE. Parents who wish to know
The other candidate, Tarique Al-Iesa, will be on campus next Monday and Tuesday and the meeting for parents is again from 14:30-15:15 on Tuesday, December 3 in the Community Room. Finally, during the last week before our Holiday break in December, we will be hosting the architect we have chosen for our Campus Development Master Plan project. We would like to invite all parents to a session with the architects scheduled for Monday, December 09 at 19:00 in the Community Room. At this meeting, the architects (Perkins-Eastman) will solicit ideas and input from parents regarding the future development of the campus using the visioning study they did two years ago as a starting point. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this important session.
Dr. Barder, hos@unishanoi.org
We wish all the best to who is left Hanoi this week
more about the financial statements are invited to contact Len Archer, Director of Finance dof@unishanoi.org . Questions and Answers from the Board Community meeting held 12th November will be provided in the 6th December Tin Tuc. Thank you for your patience. Best regards, Sarah Garner, UNIS Hanoi Board Chair
Dear ES Families
Congratulations and thanks to all those concerned with our very first “A Slice of Ice” on Tuesday evening. What a joy it was to see the children so engaged and excited, pulling their parents from exhibit to exhibit proudly showcasing their efforts over the last semester in all areas of the arts. Their ability to articulate their knowledge and understanding and to demonstrate their skills were testament to the work of both the learners and the teachers. The evening gave us all a really good picture of how the learning opportunities in the arts, with their interesting central ideas and challenging lines of inquiry, fit into the IB PYP framework and make links to to other areas of the curriculum. All the arts had their moment in the spotlight and we finished with some drama videos and small group performances based on “Stomp” followed by a song with accompaniment learned during the visit of Richard Gill. All in all, a very learning focused and enjoyable evening which gave us a good understanding of the depth and breadth of the Arts curriculum.
A reminder that the ES Maths Coffee morning will take place this coming Thursday at 08:20 and parents are invited to come and be “a fly on the wall” during first period when all classes will be doing Maths. This session is designed to give people a clearer idea of what Maths lessons look and sound like as well as to see our teaching approaches. Parents may drop in to any number of classes – lesson objectives and explanatory notes will be posted on each classroom door. Please RSVP to your student’s teacher if you are able to attend.
We welcomed back Ms Heidi Sanchez in K1 this week as she returned to work after her adoption leave. We will therefore be saying goodbye and thank you to Ms Patti Mullen who has been teaching K1PM/ Hs all semester. There will be a one week handover period now and so Ms Patti’s last day will be Wednesday 4 December. We thank her for all her contributions and are glad to know we will see her again in the near future as she is one of our regular substitute teachers. Warm regards Carole Denny, esprincipal@unishanoi.org
Dear MSHS Families, Greetings from the MSHS. I would like to congratulate our APAC, MRISA and Model United Nations teams on splendid tournaments and festivals. All teams traveled to their respective tournaments and I am happy to report that UNIS was represented extremely well. UNIS students participated in THIMUN Model United Nations (Singapore), volleyball (UNIS & Laos), choir (Hong Kong), orchestra (Korea) and basketball (Laos). Participating in APAC/MRISA and MUN events is an important component of the UNIS Hanoi educational experience. Competing against and collaborating with peers from other international schools helps our students set goals and more fully understand the level of excellence needed to succeed. Healthy competition is good and not something to shy away from. To be honest UNIS Hanoi does have a bit of difficulty competing against larger APAC schools. Many APAC schools have long sporting and artistic traditions and as relative newcomers to the conference it will take time for our teams to adjust to increased skill levels. We are making positive strides and our athletes and artists are growing and learning from these opportunities. Nevertheless, our students must be exposed to higher levels of competition. In the all too near future UNIS Hanoi students will be vying for the same university and career placements as students from our peer schools. We should relish the opportunity to compete against top caliber competition and encourage our thespians, musicians, and athletes to reach for personal excellence.
I am happy to announce that UNIS Hanoi is developing a student exchange programme with our sister UN school UNIS New York. The “UNIS Exchange� will provide students from UNIS New York and UNIS Hanoi the opportunity to participate in school visits, build relationships and strengthen the bond between our two schools. Specific details will be made available in the coming weeks but in broad strokes the Exchange will be available to a limited number of grade 10 & 11 students. UNIS New York will travel to and be hosted in Hanoi during the first week of April. UNIS Hanoi will travel to NYC during the last week of April. Students will travel during their respective Spring Breaks in order to avoid loss of academic time. Again, more details will follow as the programme develops but so far there is strong interest among students from both schools. Warm regards, Pete Kennedy, mshsprincipal@unishanoi.org
Please notify the Admissions office of your intended withdrawal date. School will close for the winter break on Friday 13th December. The last day of the first semester is Friday 17th January. Upon confirmation of your departure, we shall guide your family through the withdrawal process. If you require any further assistance, please email admissions@unishanoi.org or contact Admissions staff on 37581551 extension 8217 / 8220.
Recently, the UN created produced a short video on Increasing Women's Leadership in Vietnam. Women are underrepresented in the decision making process and Viet Nam needs its women to shape the future. This video calls for action to encourage women to take part in the decision making process. It advocates to getting 50% of women on the ballot, to achieve a minimum of 35% elected. There is a clear message that the under representation of women affects all and that all are responsible for making a positive change. The producers sought participation from a wide audience to be in the film and specifically sought out a UNIS Hanoi student to represent the voice of future leaders. Uyen Trinh, a Grade 7 student, participated in the film and this is what she has to say about her involvement: "I agreed
on being part of this video only because I felt strongly that the message it portrayed was important not only to the Vietnamese community but also to society in general. I believe that woman should be respected and I certainly learnt a lot from the script
As part of our student support and health education programmes, we have invited Prevention Specialists from FCD Educational Services to visit our school. FCD (Freedom from Chemical Dependency) is a non-profit organization that provides alcohol, tobacco, and other drug education to schools and colleges world-wide. FCD Prevention Specialists are not coming here to tell your family what to do. They recognize that every student makes his or her own decisions about alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drug use. FCD Prevention Specialists will present the most up-todate information available on the physiological and psychological effects of various drugs, and provide a forum for discussing social, cultural, and personal issues that relate to the choices people make. One thing that makes FCD unique is that all of the Prevention Specialists have achieved long-term recovery from alcohol or other drug addictions. Most FCD Prevention Specialists began their own drinking and drug use during middle school and high school. They have experienced the pressures, personal issues and social situations teens face with regard to alcohol and other drug use. They also have first-hand knowledge of the destructive aspects of drug use, and how occasional use, in their case, led to addiction.
even though I only said a few lines. Thank you for this opportunity. I was glad I got the chance to take part in this video because even though I was only a fraction of the process, it shows that when people join hands together, the outcome will be just that much bigger and better." Click here to see Uyen's participation in the film View our latest film on Women’s Leadership in Viet Nam
FCD believes in educating the whole school community, not just students. FCD educators will be visiting our school for five days and working with students in Grades 5 through 12. There will be educational sessions for teachers and parents as well. The parent information session will take place on Thursday, December 5 from 6:00 to 8:00 in the Community Room in Building 7. If you have any questions or concerns you would like the FCD Specialists to know about prior to their presentation, please send them to your level counselor: escounselorcole@unishanoi.org (Tom Cole - ES) escounselorfleming@unishanoi.org (Andrea Fleming - ES) mscounselor@unishanoi.org (Jason Caruana - MS) hscounselorcrouch@unishanoi.org (Candy Crouch - HS) hscounselorarnold@unishanoi.org (Tanya Arnold - HS) and they will be passed on to the FCD team. For more information on FCD in advance of their visit, please go to their website at: www.fcd.org. We look forward to seeing you at the FCD Parent Workshop. The D-12 Counseling Department
Friday 6 December Sausage Sizzle 5:00 – 6:00pm Performances 6:00 – 7:00pm
100,000 vnd per family (donation) Where? UNIS Plaza (outside the library and canteen entrance) What is it? Musical performances by Elementary School, Middle School and High School students and teachers What is it for? To raise money to support Vietnamese schools and students IMPORTANT: Students will go home as normal and then return, with their family. We request that families come together as children MUST be supervised at all times..
2013 Phoenix Challenge HS Basketball Tournament The UNIS Hanoi Boys MRISA team, which played in the junior varsity division, is coached by Mr. Anthony Bennett. They also managed to finish in second place, coming out on the short end of two narrow losses to St. Paul American School. Their game scores were as follows:
UNIS played host to the 3rd annual “Phoenix Challenge” High School Basketball Tournament last weekend. The tournament involved 16 teams from Hanoi and was divided into two categories – Varsity and Junior Varsity. Four teams of each gender competed in each division. The participating schools, by division and gender, were as follows: TEAMS - VARSITY DIVISION
Win vs. Pham Van Dong 23-8
BOYS
GIRLS
Win vs. Singapore Inter. School 27-22
Le Quy Don (LQD)
Hanoi Amsterdam School (HAS)
Loss vs. St. Paul American School 19-24
Hai Ba Trung (HBT)
Thang Long Club (TL)
Championship Final – Loss vs. St. Paul American School 22-16
Viet Duc (VD)
Hai Ba Trung (HBT)
UNIS Hanoi
UNIS Hanoi
TEAMS - VARSITY DIVISION BOYS
GIRLS
Pham Van Dong (PVD)
Viet Duc 1 (VD 1)
Singapore International School (SIS) St. Paul American School (STP)
Le Quy Don (LQD)
UNIS Hanoi
Kim Lien (KL) Viet Duc 2 (VD 2)
All teams were guaranteed to play at least 3 games, with those teams advancing to the championship games involved in one additional game. The tournament marked a great opportunity for our UNIS Hanoi teams to get their HS basketball seasons off to busy and competitive start. Both of the UNIS Hanoi Boys’ teams played well enough to earn a spot in their divisional championship game. The UNIS Hanoi Boys APAC team, playing in the varsity division, is coached by Mr. David Cuming. The team finished second overall, losing twice to a strong team from Hai Ba Trung. Here are their game results:
Win vs. Viet Duc 38-24
Loss vs. Hai Ba Trung 27-48
Win vs. Le Quy Don 35-34
Championship Game - Loss vs. Hai Ba Trung 52-42
The UNIS Hanoi Girls APAC team, coached by Ms. Kelly Burton and Mr. Ido Yaffet, competed in the girls varsity division, where they came up against three strong opponents. The young UNIS Hanoi team, learned a lot from the experience and played hard in each of their games. The eventual winners of the Girls’ Varsity division was Thang Long. In the Girls’ JV competition, the team from Viet Duc came out on top. The scores in the UNIS Hanoi Girls’ games were:
Loss vs. Hai Ba Trung 13-40
Loss vs. Thang Long 27-51
Loss vs. Hanoi Amsterdam School 17-33
The UNIS Hanoi teams will be participating in the APAC Basketball Tournament in January in Kobe, Japan (hosted by Canadian Academy), with the MRISA Tournament taking place in Ho Chi Minh City in February (hosted by Saigon South International School). Good luck to all of our UNIS Hanoi teams as their seasons continue. GO PHOENIX!!! UNIS Hanoi Activities
Model United Nations at UNIS Hanoi The Model United Nations programme has gotten off to a good start this year. The first conference was held here in Hanoi and was a Security Council simulation on October 31. The students had heated debates in trying to solve the issues surrounding the situation in North Korea. The students spent fours grappling with an issue that has been part of the UN agenda for a number of years.
This past month a smaller and select group of students attended a conference in Singapore. THIMUN Singapore is a much larger conference that has around 1500 students from across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Students worked in the various committees of the UN to solve problems as far ranging as cyber warfare to promoting universal primary education. This year’s conference theme was Energy and Sustainability which was also evident in many of the debates and guest speakers. Students also had the opportunity to explore the sights and sounds of Singapore in the evening.
The students are now preparing for the UNIS Hanoi MUN conference on Water Cooperation which will be held in March. We will have around 175 students from 12 schools participating in the conference.
Future Leaders of the Mekong Delta Conference - Nov 20 Sun U (Isabel) Kim, Grade 8, pointed out that throughout the discussion and role play, no one had asked where the funding would come from to build the new flood control systems or green energy producing technologies.
“It was an amazing experience and I would love to do it again.”
Predtheev Ravi, Grade 7, suggested that vertical urban gardens which take less water would alleviate some of the water demands of increasing populations. But more importantly, he pointed out that the organizers were basing their role play assumptions on today’s technology and not future
“At first it was nerve racking, but then it was really interesting talking with people and next time if I get another chance, I really want to do it again.” “In the council we talked about each topic separately, but really after the simulation and all the voting was over they introduced us to a brand new idea that everything was somehow connected. So what we did impacted the other factors in a way that was unexpected to anyone.” These are just a few of the comments made by students who attended the first Future Leaders of the Mekong Delta Conference that took place at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi last week. The conference brought together scientists and government officials from all over the Mekong region to discuss three important development aspects: Energy Production, Water security and Food Security. It was run by the Austrailian organization CSIRO--the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. According to their website, CSIRO is Australia's national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world. The students played a pivotal role in Wednesday afternoon’s session where they represented the future generations of the region in a role play activity that had them reading a script of future needs and then most impressively, joining in the discussions with the 100 or so scientists, development workers and university professors who were in attendance.
developments. Yoav Shahar, Grade 8, contributed a number of astute comments including the question of equitable access to green technology. Even with proposed government subsidies and reduced electricity costs, few people in the region would be able to afford the initial installation costs of solar panels. The adults were certainly impressed! In fact, the following day, scientist Dr. John Ward wrote:
“The performance, articulation and insightfulness of the future citizens has been the talking point of delegates, with serious discussion about involving the school in future conferences.” Read more about this Future Leaders of the Mekong Region project and CSIRO’s other amazing endeavors at this link.
Grades 3-5 Athletics Morning The Grades 3–5 Athletics Morning allowed all the students to have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills across a broad range of athletic disciplines in a House event that also promoted team spirit. In their PE classes the children had been practicing hard to develop the specific skills required for running, throwing and jumping events and it was a great chance to showcase their efforts. Parent support was keen and the whole morning ran smoothly due to all of the teacher help and organization. Congratulations to each participant for their good sporting attitudes and their best efforts throughout the morning.
1st Eagles – 4578 2nd Buffaloes – 4422 3rd Lions – 4190 4th Tigers – 4069
UNIS Supporting the Community Song Hong 2013 half marathon, 10km, 5km and kids fun run takes place on Sunday December 8 with UNIS Hanoi once again hosting this fantastic community event. Red River Runners hopes to raise over $3000 for ENV (Education for Nature) through proceeds from the races.
Nothing says “Christmas” like a family meal For 150,000 VND, this tea towel’s a steal! Use it on Christmas or even New Year, to clean up your kitchen and spread holiday cheer. Here for sale at the Service Learning Office !
There is still time to register for this event as Hanoi Red River Runners have extended the registration until Friday December 6. Check www.redriverrunners.com for more details or email hanoiredriverrunners@gmail.com
Blue Dragon Walk-a-thon
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help l l i We rai w e ans w e m s i h chool s o t year! T s t n tude s 6 2 1 send r! for a yea
For more information on the Blue Dragon Charity please go to: www.bluedragon.org
Different children have different sleep needs, habits and problems. Here are some answers to some frequently asked questions.
Questions:
Is my child getting enough sleep? How much sleep do different ages need?
Answer:
Toddler – 10-12 hours per night and most can do with an extra hour or 2 in the middle of the day. Pre-schooler – 11-13 hours per night. Children age 3- 5 years have a rapidly expanding imagination that can sometimes get in the way of a good night’s sleep. By listening to your child’s fears and helping overcome them, you can beat the sleep monsters away.
You can often handle sleep difficulties by setting up a positive bed time routine and good sleep habits. Please seek medical advice if you are worried that your child’s sleep problem, however mild, is affecting their wellbeing, schoolwork or relationships. Wishing you and yours a great sleep.
School Age – 10 -11 hours per night. Children age 6-9 years. By school age, your child is regularly sleeping through the night without waking up. A good night sleep is important for growth and development Adolescents – 12 and above. At least 9 hours per night. Sleep and sleep patterns start to change during adolescence. Adolescents also bring lots of reasons to miss out on sleep but your child needs to have a good quality sleep. Question:
What does it mean if my child wakes up grumpy?
Answer:
It may mean your child is not getting enough sleep or that they are not getting enough deep sleep (the third and fourth stage of quiet or non REM sleep, in which we sleep heavily, feeling drowsy if we are woken).
School Health Centre the School Health Centre is in need of clothes for children of all ages for accidents that happen at school. If you have some spare clothes – T shirts/Shorts/ Long pants we would be greatly appreciate them.
We had a great turn-out for our latest all-parent SCO meeting on Tuesday. Paulina Pineda introduced our next big event, the Spring Fair, which will take place on March x. For more information about this event, please contact us at sco@unishanoi.org<mailto:sco@unishanoi.org>. Our guest-speakers at this meeting were Michelle Matias (ES Technology Facilitator) and Paul Swanson (MS/HS Technology Facilitator). They lead a very interesting discussion on the impact of social media in our children's lives as well as a general, very dynamic discussion on the use of technology in our children's education. Unfortunately time ran short, so we will be running another meeting to continue the discussion in the New Year.
The SCO Snack Sale had a rough start this year, according to the coordinators "We had a BIG problem...we ran out of snacks!" In order to ensure that ALL students have an exciting selection of snack choices we ask that every family in class ___ contributes treats for the ES Bake Sale.
Contributing Classes for the December 6 Bake Sale include: 4HK, 4LL, 4MK, 4BM, K1PM/ HS, K2CA, 1JK What to bring ?
We encourage you to bring healthy snacks.
Both savoury and sweet snacks are welcome (i.e. fresh fruit bowl, lightly salted / sweetened popcorn, rice balls, homemade muesli bars, muffins, samosas, etc.)
Please send 10 individually wrapped of snacks and deliver it to the designated table (ES or ECC) before 8.10am on Friday, October 18, 2013.
History of the Snack Sale: The snack sale was (is) a fun way for kids to experience variety by trying other foods and snacks from other cultures. It is also is considered a fun opportunity for the small children to exercise choice and learn how to handle money. It is also a tradition at UNIS Hanoi, and has developed over a long time and the children love it.
The value of the individual snacks should be at least VND10.000.
You are always welcome to help us sell snacks during the Snack Sale and your child is always happy to see you at school. Please contact one of the coordinators listed below if you are interested in helping.
Please label the bag/container/dish with the class and child’s name along with the list of ingredients.
We thank you for your support and cooperation in making this event possible!
We will not sell any Choco-pies, chips, candies, prepackaged cookies or chocolate bars.
Kind Regards,
Based on school policy, the snacks CANNOT CONTAIN NUTS.
Akiko Nakano: akiko.nakano2008@gmail.com Ikuko Mizuno: mikue@mbn.nifty.com Bo young Hwang: soool2@yahoo.com