tintuc@unishanoi.org UNIS Hanoi’s Weekly Community Newsletter
Volume 21, Edition 34, Friday 15 May
NEXT WEEK
COMING SOON
MONDAY, 18 MAY Multimedia Exhibition - Through the Lens, 18-23 May MS Band Concert, 18:00-19:30, Theatre
MONDAY, 25 MAY MSHS Art Exhibition, 25-29 May
TUESDAY, 19 MAY School Community Organisation Annual General Meeting, 8:30-10:00, Community Room Board of Directors Meeting, 17:30-20:00, Community Room WEDNESDAY, 20 MAY Volunteer Appreciation Event, 18:00-20:00, Don’s Bistro THURSDAY, 21 MAY MRISA Middle School Volleyball Tournament @ VIS, 21-24 May MSHS Band Concert, 18:00-19:30, Theatre FRIDAY, 22 MAY Grade 3-5 End of Year Party, 16:00-17:30, Centre for the Arts MS Formal Dance, 18:00-20:30, Off Campus SATURDAY, 23 MAY ES Drama Production for the Community, 17:30-18:30, Theatre
TUESDAY, 26 MAY IB Orientation for New and Incoming Board Members, 17:30-19:00, Conference Room Grade 5 to 6 Transition - Parent Presentation, 19:0020:00 WEDNESDAY, 27 MAY THURSDAY, 28 MAY Class of 2015 Tree Planting, 11:00-12:00, Center Court Yard Class of 2015 Alumni Lunch, 12:00-13:00, Room 101-102 B4 Graduation Rehearsal, 13:00-15:00, Sports Center HS Sports Awards Ceremony, 15:45-17:15, Theatre FRIDAY, 29 MAY Early Dismissal Discovery - Grade 8, 11:30 Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2015, 13:00-15:30, Sports Center Graduation Reception, 15:30-16:30 SATURDAY, 30 MAY ASA Session 3 Swimming Ends UNIS Hanoi Spring Invitational Swim Meet, Swimming pool HS Prom, 19:00-22:00, Off Campus
IN THIS WEEK’S TIN TUC - The Highlights... Notes from the Head of School (p.2) Notes from the Board of Directors (p.3-4) Discovery Performance Arts Celebration photo special (p.5)
Youth Sports Rugby Tag Festival (p.9) ISHCMC Invitational Swim Meet (p.10) NEXT WEEK: Through the lens - A multimedia Exhibition (p.11)
The story behind the ES Garage Sale (p.6) ES Drama Production. Get your ticket NOW! (p.7) Grades 4-5 Swim Meet photo special (p.8)
Community Education Recruitment (p.12) Summer Programme update (p.12) Food Revolution Day (p.13) SCO News (p.14-15)
In past years I have waited to the very end of the school year to send out the names of those faculty who are departing in June. I have decided this year to send these 21 names out to you now so you can have the opportunity to wish them well. Their names can be found here . We are pleased to have such hard working professional faculty choose to come and work with us here at UNIS and we wish them all the best in their future endeavours. At the same time, I wanted to send along the names and short bio information on each of our new faculty. This information can be found here . You will see within this list some new positions that we have added for next year. Some of these new positions have been added to deal with the growth particularly in the MS/HS and some are to enhance the delivery of our programs for students. Here are the new positions: 1. ES and MS/HS Mandarin Teachers – We are introducing Mandarin into our curriculum next year as a world languages choice and have hired two highly experienced faculty to take on the introduction of this new program in our school. 2. ES Deputy Principal - In addition to the current position of ES Deputy Principal, we have decided to add a second deputy to the ES. This structure is in line with schools of similar size and our hope is to provide better support to students, faculty and parents particularly in the ECC. We also expect the two deputies to work on developing an extended learning program for those students who are highly able.
MS Athletics Day. Photos by Tim Barnsley
3. Part-time MS Deputy Principal – As our MS/HS grows, we need to add admin support with the ultimate goal of having a separate Middle School organizational structure within the school. Again, this is common in our benchmark schools and positions us to be able to best meet the learning needs of our students in grades 6-8. 4. Learning Support and Counseling – We continue to improve our Learning Support and Counseling program through the addition of faculty. In the ES, there will be an additional Learning Support Teacher, and the in the HS there will be an additional counselor to help with the growing numbers particularly in grades 11 and 12 where the university admissions process is so important but also quite time consuming. This new counselor will also take on the role of D-12 Psychologist as we want to provide more in-house assessments and evaluations in order to better help students. 5. Technology: Senior Manager - Information Technology - As our systems continue to expand in order to better support student learning, the need for system support is growing rapidly. It is hoped that with this addition, we will deliver our programs and improve communication significantly. While we will certainly miss those moving on, we are pleased to be able to attract such high caliber professional educators. Respectfully, Dr. Barder hos@unishanoi.org
Thank you to everyone who attended the Board’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) this week. The Board appreciated the great turnout and your invaluable input to our `Imagine you are a Board Member exercise’. We are very grateful for your contributions to the discussions and we hope you enjoyed the opportunity to get to know some other community members. Highlights of the presentation and the Board of Directors End of Year Report can be found here . At the AGM an introduction to current and new board members was followed by a presentation on the first Scholarship Fundraising campaign at UNIS Hanoi. Details on the next phase to our Campus Development Plan were briefly outlined as well. Finally, following the Financial
update, the community participated in an exercise reviewing the changing dynamics in international schools regionally and globally. A summary of the questions and answers discussed during the meeting will be posted by the end of this month. On behalf of the Board, I would like thank everyone for coming on Tuesday night and for participating in such a lively discussion. Regards, Nguyen Van Hieu, Board Chair
On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to announce that Mr Barry Knaggs has been re -appointed to the Board for a final four year term. Mr Knaggs has served on the Board since 2009 serving in various capacities and currently is Chair of the Campus Development Task Force. We would like to thank Barry for continuing to volunteer his time on the UNIS Hanoi Board. On behalf of the Board, I am also pleased to announce that Mrs Ngo Thi Quynh Hoa will be our new Board appointed member replacing Dr. Nandini Oomman who steps down in June. Her position as Board Appointed Member has been ratified by Dr. Pratibha Mehta, United Nations Resident Coordinator, Vietnam. Mrs Hoa will assume Board duties at the close of business at the last Board meeting of the 2014-2015 School Year on 2nd June 2015. Please find below her profile and personal statement in English, Vietnamese, Best regards, Nguyen Van Hieu, Board Chair boardofdirectors@unishanoi.org
Name: Ngo Thi Quynh Hoa Nationality: Vietnamese Grade of children: Son – Grade 2 Personal Statement: My reasons for being interested in taking on Board Member responsibility include: I believe that investing in people, especially in young
people’s education, is key to making the world a better place. I seek to harness my skills, qualifications and experience to help UNIS as an institution, current and future students, and the broader community to maximize their potential. I have a strong personal interest in contributing to UNIS
as my son is a student at the school. I would like to help build on the achievements of the past 27 years, to enable UNIS to go from being a great school to becoming a truly world class educational institution. From what I can see, the Board of Directors and the
School’s management and faculty already have a strong and positive relationship. I would be delighted to contribute to further building and strengthening this partnership. Tên: Ngô Thị Quỳnh Hoa Quốc tịch: Việt Nam Lớp của con: Con trai – Lớp 2
이름: 응오 티 꾸인 화 국적: 베트남인 자녀 학년: 아들-2학년 자기 소개: 저는 사람에 대한 투자, 특히 젊은이의 교육에 대 한 투자가 더 나은 세상을 만드는 열쇠라고 생각합니다. 저는 교 육기관으로서의 유니스와 현재와 미래의 학생들, 그리고 이사회 가 그 잠재력을 극대화 할 수 있도록 저의 기술과 자질과 경험을 찾아내도록 하겠습니다. * 저는 제 아들이 이 학교에 학생이기도 해서 유니스에 헌신하는 것에 깊은 개인적 관심을 가지고 있습니다. 저는 지난 27년간 유 니스가 이룩한 것을 바탕으로 멋진 학교가 된 것에서 나아가 정 말 세계적 수준의 교육기관이 될 수 있도록 돕고 싶습니다. * 제가 경험한 바로, 유니스의 이사회와 학교 운영자 및 교직원 은 이미 강력하고 긍정적인 친밀감을 갖고 있습니다. 이러한 유 대관계를 더욱 튼튼하게 만드는 일에 제가 이바지하게 된다면 영광이라 생각합니다.
Tuyên bố cá nhân: Lý do vì sao tôi muốn trở thành một thành viên của Ban Giám Đốc trường UNIS: Tôi tin tưởng rằng đầu tư vào con người, đặc biệt là thế
hệ trẻ là một công việc đặc biệt quan trọng để làm cho thế giới tốt đẹp hơn. Tôi mong muốn nâng cao các kỹ năng, kinh nghiệm và năng lực của mình để giúp phát triển UNIS, với tư cách là một thể chế giáo dục, giúp các học sinh hiện tại và tương lai và giúp đỡ các cộng đồng xung quanh đạt được những tiềm năng của chính họ. Tôi có lý do riêng thực sự mong muốn đóng góp sức
lực của mình vào UNIS vì con trai tôi là học sinh của trường. Tôi muốn giúp trường tiếp tục phát huy những thành tựu đã đạt được trong 27 năm qua, để biến UNIS từ một ngôi trường xuất sắc thành một thể chế giáo dục đẳng cấp quốc tế. Từ những gì tôi biết, tôi nghĩ rằng Ban giám đốc và
Lãnh đạo nhà trường cùng các giáo viên đã xây dựng được một mối quan hệ tốt đẹp. Tôi muốn đóng góp sức mình để tiếp tục vun đắp và tăng cường sức mạnh của mối quan hệ quan trọng này.
Discovery had their Performance Arts Celebration on Wednesday. The children came up with many ideas as to what they wanted to perform. They were responsible for creating their own ideas, choreographing their dances and moves, making their costumes and props, writing their scripts and choosing their animations and sounds. They produced six short performances which were amazing. They clearly showed their learning, skills and confidence throughout the process.
Discovery Performance. Photos by Tim Barnsley.
Thank you to all the stall holders and buyers who supported our second ES Garage Sale on Tuesday this week. We raised just over 14,000,000 VND from unwanted toys that found new homes. The students thoroughly enjoyed the event, learning about value, haggling and counting their profits. Each stall holder, gave back half of their earnings to the school to purchase toys for the ACCV centre for young blind students. The ACCV is one of the projects supported by the UNIS Hanoi 25th Birthday Gift Fund. Last year the Student Council decided that this was the perfect charity to support through our 'Toys for Toys' event. Thank you to Adi, Francesco, Quan, Vihann, Minh, Tane, Kevin, Lulu, Max, Paul, Elsa, Thomas, Kalin, Bobo, Ronan, Samantha, Abigail, Amber, Megan, Farah, Avik, Atabek, Tae Woong, Tim, Mukhtar, Omar, Anna, Chun Yu, Yuto, Seunghun, Alvin, Seungheon, Ji Won, Seo Won, Thien Anh, Defne, Izzy, Angeline, Erin, Seyoon, Chloe, Halo, Melia, Mika, Dion, Hedvig, Jax, Seiji, Abigail, Brielle, Kiana, Savannah, Mai An, Betty, Olga, Basile, Mi Seo, Ga In and of course all the adults who supported and helped the students. A few weeks ago the Grade 1 and 2 Student Council met the Director (via Skype) and organisers from ACCV. They interviewed these people to find out about the organisation, what it was like to be blind, who were the students that attended the ACCV centre and how UNIS Hanoi could help. Following this the students brainstormed what type of toys would be useful for students who had sight impairment and who were younger than 7 years old. They looked through online catalogues, made decisions about which they thought were the best toys and then created a list to send to Alison, the Director, who was in Brisbane, Australia. The Student Council visited the Business Office to find out how they could access the funds raised last year
to buy toys from an online shop in Brisbane that Alison could bring back to Hanoi. Alison also sent us ideas of things we could purchase here in Hanoi. On Thursday this week the Grade 1 and 2 Student Council representatives went shopping to buy toys from the money raised by this year's ES Garage Sale. It was lucky that the Director, Alison was in Hanoi this week so she came to our Friday assembly to show us the toys she had bought from Brisbane with our donations. The Student Council showed her the toys they had bought here in Hanoi. Representatives from the ACCV centre were invited to our Assembly so we could hand over the toys to the ACCV centre. These will bring much joy to the young children who attend the centre every week. Once again, we would like to thank everyone who sold or bought toys this year and last year. From your generosity we have brought happiness and education to children and their families here in Hanoi. You can listen to more information about ACCV here Grade 1 and 2 Student Council
Next Saturday, May 23 the ES Spring Production Company is presenting ‘A Fairy Tale Adventure’ at 5.30pm in the Centre for the Arts Theatre. This last ASA session, 43 students signed up to be a part of the annual ES Drama Production. Meeting for 1 hour twice a week, they have put in an amazing amount of effort and creativity that will be culminating in their Performance on May 23. What is it about? The Wicked Witch is trying to take over Fairy Tale Land by destroying all the happy endings, but the Fairy Queen is not going to let that happen. Even when she is captured she knows that Hansel will save the day. Join
Hansel, his awful sister Gretel and a host of other fairy tale characters as they try to outwit the Wicked Witch and her Treacherous Trees. A comedic mixture of Acting and Dancing, look forward to be entertained and involved in this show. Entry is free and tickets (for seating purposes) will be available from Monday at the ES Office. Any uncollected tickets will be available at the door. We hope to see you there to support this talented, hardworking team!
First place - LIONS 941 points Second place - BUFFALOES 927 points 3rd place - EAGLES 911 points 4th place - TIGERS 686 points
Grades 4-5 Swim Meet. Photos by Tim Barnsley
Thursday, May 7 saw the final Youth Sport Festival of this academic year take place at UNIS Hanoi. 6 teams from 4 international schools, including 2 from UNIS Hanoi participated for the first time in this Tag Rugby Festival style format.
Tag Rugby develops agility, speed, hand-eye coordination, cardiovascular endurance plus many more health and skill related components of fitness. Additionally, this sport encourages teamwork, cooperation, effective communication and other pertinent ‘life skills’.
Tag Rugby is a non-contact team sport in which each player wears a belt that has two velcro tags attached to it, with velcro patches. Attacking players attempt to dodge, evade and pass a rugby ball while defenders attempt to prevent them scoring by "tagging" – pulling a velcro attached tag from the ball carrier, rather than a full contact tackle. Tag rugby is used in development and training by both rugby league and rugby union communities.
I would like to congratulate all Grade 4 and 5 students who participated in the Youth Sport Programme this year for their commitment, sportsmanship and enthusiasm. Well done. Adrian Hubbard, Co-Curricular Activities Manager
Youth Sports Programme - Rugby Tag. Photos by Tim Barnsley
Last weekend the UNIS Phoenix Swim Team with 43 swimmers traveled to HCMC to compete in the annual ISHCMC Invitational Swim Meet. UNIS Hanoi placed 3rd out of 10 teams narrowly beating ISPP. Nikki Erken and Uyen Trinh placed 3rd overall for most points scored in their age groups. UNIS Hanoi swimmers set 17 team records during the two day event! In the 9+10 age group, Hannah Goldberg and Bill Nguyen set new team records in the 100 back and 200 free respectively while Anita Moyale set a new record in the 200 back. Tat Anh Trinh set a new team record in the 11+12 200 fly. In the 13+14 age group, Uyen Trinh set new records in the 200 back and 200 free while Roope Makela set new records in the 50, 200 and 400 free. Additionally Luke Harris, in the grueling 200 fly, and Adelaide Charlier, in the equally tough 400IM set new records. For 15+over swimmers, Nils Jaranovs set a new record in the 400 free, Nikki Erken broke the 200 backstroke record and Andy Cole set a new record in the 200 breaststroke.
The following swimmers were members of record setting relays: Roope Makela, Luke Harris, Jacob Gee, Ruben Maiervoet, Tat Anh Trinh, Rasmus Makela, Bill Nguyen and Vicente Valdes. Congratulations to all the new UNIS Hanoi Swim Team record holders! Not only did we set many new records, but our swimmers achieved over 150 individual personal best times!! Great showing swimmers! Swimming is a tough sport and the swimmers who train hard and pay attention get a great measurable reward! Our final competition will be Saturday May 30, when we host the 2nd Annual Hanoi Swim Gala with many teams from Hanoi coming to UNIS Hanoi to race us! It is our final opportunity to achieve best times this year! Special thanks to Coach Cat and Coach Hiep who accompanied us to the meet as well as Natascha Sentfleben for taking photos and all the other parents who came down to cheer our swimmers on!
We are delighted to launch an exhibition celebrating this year at UNIS Hanoi in photo, film and publishing. Through the Lens will be in situ in the Centre for the Arts from Monday May 18 through to the end of the day on Saturday May 23. Don’t miss this wonderful collection… and you might just find that you or your children are the stars! Exhibition Introduction “In the middle of a big, gray city lives a little boy who loves to draw and paint. Every night he dreams of the perfect colour blue. A blue so blue, it is both dark and bright. A blue so blue, it is always just right…” (A Blue So Blue by Jean-Francois Dumont) During this 2014-15 school year, we took a journey to try and capture the essence of our own “blue” - the colour of UNIS Hanoi through our people: students, parents, teachers. Join us on this journey and we hope you will enjoy discovering for yourself your perfect “blue” in the multicultural, multifaceted mosaic that is our UNIS Hanoi community.
Comminity Education Programme is in the process of planning offerings and securing instructors for the Autumn 2015 Session. The session runs from September to December 2015, and is coordinated through the UNIS Hanoi Activities Office. If you are interested in submitting a proposal for a class please contact Ms Ha, Community Programme Officer at comed@unishanoi.org before Friday, 30 May 2015 with the following details: 1. Class Name 2. Class Description 3. Age Ranges 4. Maximum and minimum number of participants 5. Preferred Day Options 6. Preferred Time Options 7. Location 8. Estimated Material cost 9. Equipment/ Set up required for your activity 10. Identify your expectations about the achievement of the participants after attending your class.
Please feel free to pass this information on to individuals you may know who may be willing to offer opportunities in their areas of expertise. Your contribution to UNIS Hanoi Community Education Programme is greatly appreciated.
Over 42 million children under the age of five are overweight or obese. Experts predict that by 2030, 41% of the world's population will be overweight or obese. This global obesity epidemic is due to current eating habits and lifestyle choices. Part of the underlying reason could be a severe lack of education about food. While ultimately it might be up to the parents to teach their children, they tend to rely on schools to do most of that.
What makes a healthy snack?
Food Revolution Day is fighting to put compulsory practical food education on the school curriculum. With diet-related diseases rising at an alarming rate, it has never been more important to educate children about food, where it comes from and how it affects their bodies.
Raisin or fruit toast*
At the core of the campaign is celebrity chef and food education advocate Jamie Oliver's petition, which urges G20 nations to address the issue through implementing "compulsory practical food education" in schools around the world. He is asking all of us to stand up for food education in order to "arm future generations with the life skills they urgently need in order to lead healthier, happier, more productive lives."
Plain popcorn (unbuttered and without sugar coating)
Other elements of Food Revolution Day call on everyone to do what we can for better food education, whether it's cooking at home with our kids or roommates, hosting a food event in our community, talking to others about the importance of food education, or teaching children and their parents about the connection between diet and health.
Here are some simple ideas for healthy snacks that you can make at home or add to lunchboxes: Fruit muffins or slices, baked using monounsaturated or
polyunsaturated oils and margarine instead of butter Fresh, frozen, canned (in natural or unsweetened juice)
or occasionally dried fruit Toasted English muffins, preferably wholemeal or
wholegrain* Reduced fat custard with fruit Rice crackers or corn cakes Muesli and fruit bars – look for the healthier choices Scones or pikelets (plain, fruit or savoury)* Plain breakfast cereals, such as wheat breakfast biscuits,
with reduced fat milk, topped with sliced banana and a drizzle of honey Snack-sized tub of reduced fat yoghurt (plain or fruit
flavoured) Cubes, slices, shapes or wedges of reduced fat cheese
with wholegrain crackers or crispbread Potatoes, topped with reduced fat cheese and baked in
the microwave or oven. Corn on the cob A boiled egg
The UNIS Hanoi community joined the International Food Revolution Day celebration on 15May, by encouraging healthy eating during snacktime. Healthy snacks in between main meals help kids and teens meet their daily nutritional needs. Young children have smaller stomachs than adults, so they need to eat every few hours to keep up their energy levels and get the right amount of nutrients. Teens get particularly hungry during periods of fast development and snacks are important. Snacks based on fruit and vegies, reduced fat dairy products and whole grains are the healthiest choices. It is important to limit snacks that are high in sugar, salt or saturated fats – such as chips, cakes and chocolate – which can cause children to put on excess weight. These ‘extra foods’ should only be offered occasionally.
For more on Food Revolution Day, read http:// www.foodrevolutionday.com/#pGWFA7TibzITcgWB.97
It has come to the attention of the School Health Center that there are some students with head lice in MSHS. Please read this for further information. Although we advocate wet combing treatment at UNIS Hanoi, some parents may choose to use head lice shampoo that is available without appointment from International SOS or FMP. Please don't hesitate to contact the SHC if you have any questions. School Health Centre
MSHS Chair MSHS Vice Chair ES Chair ES Vice Chair Treasurer Communications Officer Book Sale Coordinator Spring Fair Coordinator
To enhance and foster supportive partnerships throughout the school community in support of the UNIS Hanoi Mission. Look not in your bank account, but instead in your heart. SCO Annual General Meeting Tuesday 19 May 2015, 8:30 Community Room, Admin Building 7 19 August 2015 Questions? sco@unishanoi.org
Jae Won (Amy) Han created a summer Sports Jacket for her personal project. Her jacket design was in such high demand that the school shop has decided to order a limited amount for the Boutique.
Stop by the shop to pick yours up TODAY!
May 19, 8.30 - 10.00am Community Room (Administration Building, room 104) You are invited to attend and participate in the Annual General Meeting of the School Community Organisation. The Treasurer will present a year-end financial report, a projected budget for the coming year and shall indicate projects that have been approved for funding. Elections for the BEST JOB IN THE WORLD will be held. Self-nominations can be made at the Annual General Meeting. It is great to give back to your community! SCO Committee Coordinators will also be appointed. We are still looking for a Spring Fair Coordinator and a Book Sale Coordinator. Please let us know if you are interested. Lastly, the SCO Constitution was created in May 2009. Sections of the Constitution are out of date and need to be updated to reflect the current changes of the school. We are currently in the process of revising the Constitution. Suggested amendments to the Constitution will soon be published in Tin Tuc. Please come to the SCO AGM if you are interested in finding out more about the Constitution amendment process and if you have any suggested amendments to make.
Wednesday, May 20 Time: 18.00 - 20.00 Location: Don's Bistro Rooftop (16 Quảng An Road, Tây Hồ) What would our school community be like without the love and support of our generous volunteers? We VALUE everyone who has given their time and talents to help the UNIS Hanoi community over the year. Your spirit of volunteerism makes our school community thrive and flourish. To THANK our volunteers this year, we would like to invite everyone who has supported UNIS Hanoi with your time and talent to a VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION NIGHT!
There will be delicious food and drinks (wine, beer, cocktails, juice) for all to enjoy on behalf of the School Community Organisation and the Advancement Office as a final THANK YOU for all your help. Please register HERE before May 17th. Please keep in mind that this is an adult function and we kindly ask that you arrange childcare beforehand. Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact the Community Liaison Officer, Nathalie Grun at clo@unishanoi.org