British Vietnamese International School

The British Vietnamese International School (BVIS) is a group of dual-language international schools in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam, offering a British-style education in both English and Vietnamese languages. BVIS Ho Chi Minh is located in the Binh Chanh district, and BVIS Hanoi is in the Long Bien district of Hanoi and was founded in 2012. The majority of BVIS students are Vietnamese, with some Viet Kieu.

History

BVIS is part of the BIS Group of schools in Vietnam, which started with the founding of Tiny Tots in Ho Chi Minh in 1997, which went on to become the British International School, Ho Chi Minh City.

In 2011, the first dual-language school of the BIS Group was opened in the Binh Chanh district of Ho Chi Minh City, and the following year another was opened in the Long Bien district in Hanoi.

Philosophy

BVIS places a strong emphasis on the students' abilities to speak and work proficiently in both English and Vietnamese; it further aims to provide a Western-quality education to students of a Vietnamese background, while still nurturing the students' understanding of the Vietnamese language and cultural traditions.^[1]

The schools teach their students to have a healthy respect for others, and to care about local and global issues, as well as to strive towards becoming responsible global and Vietnamese citizens.

Curriculum

In addition to primary and secondary schools, BVIS enrols students from the age of 2 – 5 as part of its Early Years Foundation Stage, where emphasis is placed on emotional development, aiming to develop students' independence and problem-solving skills, doing so both in Vietnamese and English.^[2]

Primary

Students from approximately ages 5 – 11 are in years 1 – 6 of BVIS's primary school, which is the equivalent of the Vietnamese national system's "Leaf" year and grades 1 – 5. Students in these year groups are taught a modified version of the English National Curriculum, altered to be more suitable to learning in Vietnam and learning in a dual-language situation.^[3]

Literacy, Maths, and Science are treated as the core subjects, and as such are given the largest class time, with a variety of subjects taught in either Vietnamese or English.

Secondary

Students aged 11 – 18 are part of BVIS's secondary school. The secondary school teaches most subjects in English, but Vietnamese literacy is also given a high priority.

Years 7 – 9 are again taught a modified version of the English National Curriculum, with the aim to prepare students for the later years where they are taught the Cambridge IGCSEs and the A-levels.^[4]

Facilities

The BVIS Ho Chi Minh library

Each of the campuses have a library, theatre, auditorium, as well as an indoor swimming pool, sports hall, and grass playing field. BVIS Ho Chi Minh classrooms and BVIS Hanoi primary all have interactive whiteboards and projectors, and BVIS Hanoi secondary classrooms are each equipped with projectors.^[5] Both campuses have dedicated specialist rooms for subjects like Science, ICT, and Music.^[6]

See also

• British International School, Ho Chi Minh City
• International school

References