newsletter16th May 2014

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Simon LeslieHeadmaster

Dear ISHCMC community

Another adventurous week has passed in Ho Chi Minh City and at ISHCMC.

It was a sad decision to cancel the MRISA Volleyball Tournament, however the safety of our students and visitors to the School must always be paramount in our thinking. Our concerns in particular were related to the transport of students to and from the airport and to and from the School. Some of our students were also billeted in Districts a long distance from the School.

It does seem to be a little calmer today, however I believe that demonstrations are planned in the city over the weekend. The School will contact you by message and email should there be any escalation which we believe may affect our school.

Our IB Diploma students are now past the half way mark in their examinations and I wish them well for the short period ahead of them. After 15 years of school education, the end is now well and truly in sight! I look forward now to the many celebrations that will happen between now and the end of the year, including the Graduation of our Grade 12 students on Friday 30th May.

With best wishes.

Simon

Adrian WattsDirector of Academic StudiesDeputy Headmaster

Dear Parents,

It seems like a long time since I wrote a newsletter to you and in that time there have been many good and some bad things happening to our community both locally and internationally. This is the nature and test of being a true international school. If we are one community we should share the pain and suffering of all our communities. Being internationally minded involves having empathy and understanding for everyone in our community and beyond. We have to support each other in times of natural disaster and accidents and to denounce violence against others as a means of settling disputes. I know this can be hard at times when history tells us another things. However, today is 2014 and we live in a globalized world and community at ISHCMC where we respect each other and see difference as an opportunity for increasing our cultural awareness and understanding. Over the last few days ISHCMC has made hard, yet correct decisions about the MRISA tournament to protect all the students participating. Students have shown great concern for each other within ISHCMC and even spoken to administration to ensure that we were following the rights steps internally to maintain our international mindedness and caring approach within our community. As the diagram below illustrates being an internationally minded community is not just being the tip of the iceberg, which is obvious, but drilling down further to reveal a greater understanding of others.

http://www.thirstforthinking.org/

So how do we know when we are being internationally minded?When, WE,

• actively listen to the ideas of others• feel slightly uncomfortable with the actions of others and want to understand why we feel uncomfortable• question whether viewpoints we hold are culturally specific• are open to exploring new ideas• try to communicate across language barriers• seek to understand the point of others even though we might ultimately end up disagreeing with it• accept that people view actions differently depending on their cultural background• realize how little I know and am excited by how much I have to learn about the world and its peoples.

Our hearts and sympathies must also be extended as a community to our Korean families at ISHCMC who have suffered the loss of at least 281 passengers, including a large number of High School students, in the recent ferry accident. Death is hard

enough to accept but it is made much worse when one loses young people ahead of the natural order of life. Our deepest condolences go to Danwon High School, Seoul, their families, students and teachers.

Last weekend we hosted a fantastic Stingrays Swim meet, with over 300 students travelling from around the region and others from HCMC. It was a wonderful event and incredibly well organized by our team of swim teachers and parent volunteers. ISHCMC won the overall team award which on its own was an excellent achievement but in some ways even more merit able were all the positive comments that flowed in from visiting coaches, parents and students about the professional nature of the event and what a wonderful community there is at ISHCMC.

Last week we hosted ISHCMC on the COUCH 2. It was a very informative evening on Cyber Safety that we will build upon for the start of next year with a Digital Citizenship and Literacy curriculum and workshops with students and more with parents. We are now attempting to bring to ISHCN and internationally renowned speaker from Australia on Digital Safety, Cyber bullying and Digital Citizenship.

As promised I have already shared two articles relating to the talk for parents at https://4u2nomore.blogspot.com This blog was created at the start of the year so that ISHCMC parents could learn more about educational issues and ideas that are driving modern education. I have posted 70 so far for you to read so that you can understand your daughters and sons better as they move forward with their education.

Wishing you a safe and relaxing weekend,

Yours

Adrian

ISHCMC students shine at the International Final of the SuperT Mental Mathematics Competition

Ngo Minh Anh Han Lin Chen Advaith Jai Hyunseo Jahng

Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6

Rio Yamamoto YuSol Shin YuJeong Shin Kyuong Bin Moon

Grade 7 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9

ISHCMC students shine at the International Final of the SuperT Mental Mathematics Competition

Ngo Minh Anh Han Lin Chen Advaith Jai Hyunseo Jahng

Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6

Rio Yamamoto YuSol Shin YuJeong Shin Kyuong Bin Moon

Grade 7 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9

ISHCMC StudentS SHIne at tHe InternatIonal FInal

oF tHe Supert Mental MatHeMatICS CoMpetItIon

The Association for Music in International Schools recently completed their auditions for the International Honor Jazz Band. This band is made up of High School musicians from around the world, including International Schools in Japan, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, China, South America and Europe.

ISHCMC musician Samuel Malott-Rogal has been invited to play Tenor Sax in the International Honor Jazz Band! This Fall, Sam will represent ISHCMC and join the other musicians from around the world at the International School Beijing for rehearsals.

This is an wonderful achievement and one that makes our community very proud of Sam.

Please take a look at the following link to see pictures of last year’s band, rehearsing in Zurich, Switzerland.

http://amis-photos.smugmug.com/Category/2013-Honor-Jazz-Festival

SeCondary MuSIC

ISHCMC on tHe CouCH - Cyber SaFety

Title of Presentation Arial 31pt Subtitle of Presentation Arial 24pt

May 13, 2014

CYBER EDUCATION FOR FAMILIES SECURITY IS EVERYONE’S RESPONSIBILITY Vu Nguyen Country Manager McAfee Viet Nam

> Download the presentation> See the video from McAfee

ISHCMC on the COUCH!“Cyber Safety”

Thursday, May 8th, 20147pm, ISHCMC MPR

An informative evening for parents with dynamic guest speakers.

Introduction by:Mr. Adrian WattsISHCMC Deputy Headmaster& Director of Academic Studies.

Presentations by:Vu Nguyen Business Development ManagerMcAfee

On April 10th and 11th we had our first Lego Mindstorms tournament. The following link is a recap of those two days. Please enjoy!

http://youtu.be/daEH42FoKtY

CONGRATULATIONS STINGRAYS !!

As many of you know, we held our third annual ISHCMC Invitational Swim Meet this past weekend, and our Stingrays team won First Place, as the OVERALL TEAM POINTS Champions for this event, in a close race with strong rival BIS. Congratulations to all Stingrays swimmers, as many of them set personal best times in their races on Saturday & Sunday, while also establishing new school records in various events.

Thank you to all teachers who came out to help with the meet!

AND - A big thanks and congratulations also go to our awesome coaches - Bonnie Coles, Rick Wheeler, Sue Harris, & Mr. Dung.

GO STINGRAYS!

Both U11 boys’ & girls’ football teams finished in third place in their recent SISAC City Championships tournament. Congratulations primary footballers!

Other announcement:

After the MRISA Junior Volleyball Tournament being cancelled due to the current turmoil and unrest, our girls’ & boys’ teams will host the SISAC U14 Volleyball City Championships Tournament here at ISHCMC on next Tuesday, May 20. Matches will be played in the gymnasium, MPR, and on two covered courts next to the cafeteria. The matches will start at 12:00noon and finish at 6:00pm. Please come out and cheer on our teams - show them your RHINO SPIRIT!!

SeCondary draMa SHowCaSe

ISHCMC InvItatIonal SwIM Meet

u11 SISaC CIty CHaMpIonSHIpS

During the start of March, suffering the damp chill of the north, twelve students from grades 9-11 at ISHCMC traveled to the United Nations International School of Hanoi to participate in a Model United Nations Conference. The theme of the conference was Water Cooperation, and for the first time in MUN history at UNIS, it was run by students.

UNIS and their students did a fabulous job both in terms of organising the conference and allowing everyone participating to feel involved in the process. The mix of students from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam allowed students to interact with a diverse mix of backgrounds and perspectives. These perspectives were definitely implicated in the discussions (sometimes thinly veiled arguments) during debates!

Many friendships were made, not too many nations went to war, and there were heartfelt goodbyes. Overall, both Mr. Harwood and myself hope that all the students involved gained confidence in their speaking, writing and debating abilities as well as learning more about the complexities of their world and having heaps of fun along the way.

MUN is a great starting place for students interested in their world, the interactions between individuals and their communities, and the needs and interests of nations. As well, it allows opportunities for students to personally be involved in important issues that could affect them in their future. They learn to do this by critically approaching and debating events and perspectives presented through various sources, while having to serve a given nation’s interests.

I hope all the students who participated this year continue to participate in MUN and that more students consider attending a conference.

Mrs. Kilminster and Mr. Harwood

unIS HanoI Model unIted natIonS

PRESIDENTVACANT

FOR THE 2014-2015 SCHOOL YEAR

Ginny CondraLynne McDonnellMolly Spangler

VICE PRESIDENTMaya Raz

NEWCOMERSREPRESENTATIVEAnjana Gomes

CULTURAL REPRESENTATIVES

TREASURERVACANT

SATURDAY SPORTSVACANT

SECRETARYVACANT

Rebecca Taylor RHINO HUT

CLASSROOM REPRESENTATIVEVACANT

PTO Positions Vacant

Please contact Molly Spangler at mollyspangler@mac.com if you are interested in one of the above positions.

UNTIL NEXT TIME