UNIS Hanoi’s Weekly Community Newsletter Volume 21, Edition 38, Friday 11 June

tintuc@unishanoi.org

Notes from the Head of School and

the Board of Directors (p.2-3)

Notes from the Elementary

andMiddle and High School

Principals (p.4-5)

Notes from the Admissions Office

(p.5)

Goodbye (p.6)

Grade 8 Art (p.7)

MSHS Uniform Requirements for

2015-2016 (p.8)

SCO Constitutional Amendments

(p.8)

Break Poverty Bike Donation (p.9)

Job Opportunities (p.9)

School Health Centre Reminder

(p.10)

SUMMER BREAK 12 June - 18 August

COMING BACK? TUESDAY, 4 AUGUST New Faculty Orientation, 4-11 August

WEDNESDAY, 12 AUGUST Professional Development Days for Faculty & Staff, 12-

17 August

TUESDAY, 18 AUGUST New Families Orientation and Welcome BBQ

WEDNESDAY, 19 AUGUST First Day of School 2015-2016

IN THIS WEEK’S TIN TUC - The Highlights...

As we end the year, I wanted to mention

two slight revisions to our Master Calendar

for the 2015-2016 School year.

The Hung King Holiday falls on 16 April

2016 which is a Saturday. In recognition of

this national holiday, we chose to close school on Friday,

15 April. Since then, it has come to our attention that

when a holiday falls on a weekend, the government usually

declares the national holiday on the next working day after

the holiday. In this case that would Monday, 18 April 2016.

Knowing that people make their travel plans for holidays

early, we have decided to officially change our master

calendar. On Friday, 15 April 2016, we will have school as

normal. And we will celebrate the Hung King holiday on

Monday, 18 April.

The Vietnamese Victory Day Anniversary, 30 April

2016, falls on a Saturday. The International Labor Day,

01 May 2016, falls on a Sunday. In recognition of these

holidays, we chose to close school on Friday, 29 April and

Monday, 02 May. Once again we have reviewed these

holidays in light of the government’s usual way of handling

public holidays that fall on a weekend, and we have decided

to officially change our master calendar for this situation as

well.

On Friday, 29 April 2016, we will have school as normal.

And we will celebrate Vietnamese Victory Day and

International Labor Day on Monday, 02 May and Tuesday,

03 May.

You can find the newly revised UNIS Hanoi Master

Calendar for 2015-2016 here . We will re-announce this

revision at the beginning of next year as well. We apologize

for having to revise things but believe it is in everyone’s

best interests to make these changes.

This has been another outstanding year filled with

numerous learning experiences for all of us in the UNIS

Hanoi community. I would like to take this opportunity to

extend to everyone my sincere appreciation for all of your

help and support on behalf of our students.

To the families who are leaving our school, I send to you

my best wishes for a successful transition to the new school

and location. Change is never easy or straightforward but

we hope we have prepared you well for you to land safely in

your next location and have a successful transition to the

new school and community. And remember that you will

always be considered a part of UNIS Hanoi and are

welcome to come back and visit anytime. All of you

including students and parents are now officially alumni and

will be included in future communication from our

Advancement Office.

For those returning for next year, I hope you have a

wonderful vacation and I look forward to seeing you on the

first day of school on Wednesday, 19 August 2015. In

addition to all the wonderful enhancements, additions, and

changes I mentioned last week, we hope to do an even

better job regarding air quality monitoring and upgrade of

air handling in classrooms.

We plan to have our own professional air quality

monitoring system on campus and therefore the AQI will

be much more reliable and localized to reflect the quality of

the air on campus. The same action protocols will be in

effect regarding the different levels. The difference will be

that the AQI reading will in fact be taken on campus and

not several kilometers away on the top of a building.

The other enhancement is that we are adding air

purification systems next year. Each classroom will be

fitted with an air purification machine that will filter out

contaminants and other particles. We look forward to these

enhancements as we work to provide a safe environment

for our students while on campus.

Finally, I want to once again thank our faculty and staff for

a job well done this year. Our facilities are wonderful and

our school is well-resourced, but at the end of the day, it is

our personnel who work so hard to deliver the programme.

My heartfelt appreciation goes out to them on a job well-

done.

Respectfully,

Dr. Barder hos@unishanoi.org

I am delighted to announce that the following officers were

elected to the Board for the 2015-2016 school year;

Board Chair: Mr Nguyen Van Hieu

Vice Chair: Mr. Barry Knaggs

Treasurer: Mr. Bob Hughes

Secretary: Ms. Amie Pollack

The 2015-2016 UNIS Hanoi school Board and officers

assumed their duties following the board meeting on June 9.

Board officers serve in that capacity for one year.

The Strategic Management Plan 2010-2015 will be

completed at the end of this school year. Throughout the

last two years, the Strategic Management Plan Task Force

has worked with faculty, administration, students,

community members and outside consultants to define the

new strategic path for UNIS Hanoi for the next five years.

The Framework for Strategy 2020 which defines the goals,

objectives and vision for UNIS Hanoi was approved at the

June Board meeting. Details of the plan including metrics

for success will be presented in detail during Quarter 1 2015

-2016.

Before we all head in different directions over the summer

to meet up with family and friends, I would like to ask you

to consider volunteering at the school next year.

The Board of Directors at UNIS Hanoi are all volunteers

and we depend upon other members of the community to

volunteer their time and talents for the benefit of the

School. There are many ways you can help the school. The

following are some examples:

Class parent representative ,

School Community Organisation (SCO) position,

Provide homestay accommodation for visiting sports

teams,

Helping to orient new families at the start of the school

year

Serving on the Board or one of its committee or task

forces.

The Board invites you to consider volunteering to serve on

a Board committee or taskforce next year. We will follow

up with candidates in August. To find out more about the

work of this year’s committee and taskforces, click

here . For more information, please contact the Board

Assistant, Maeve O’Donovan, at

boardassistant@unishanoi.org.

Thank you to the Board, Committee and Task Force

members and everyone who contributed to

making 2014-2015 another wonderful year.

Safe travels and we look forward to seeing

you on campus next year.

Best regards,

Nguyen Van Hieu, Board Chair

Dear ES Families

It is with some sadness and nostalgia that I

write my last TinTuc article for UNIS

Hanoi as the Elementary School Principal.

My three years here have flown by and now

I find myself amongst the leavers making

preparations for my move to Colorado to

take up the Headship of the International School of

Denver.

Transition is never easy for anyone and it is always so

important to prepare the way for your successor to make

the change over as smooth as possible. With my two

leadership team members Jan Humpleby (ES Deputy

Principal) and PYP Coordinator Chris Frost also moving on

to promoted posts this summer, (Jan to become ES

principal at the International School of Tashkent and Chris

returning to Tokyo International School to become ES

Principal), we have been working extremely hard behind the

scenes to make sure all is extra prepared and ready for the

new school year and the incoming team. Ms Megan Brazil,

the new ES Principal, and I have been in regular contact

and she visited the school again very recently to meet with

staff, students and parents to get things set up. She and her

two incoming Deputy Principals are also in regular contact

already and all are really looking forward to coming to lead

the Elementary School onto the next stage of its

developmental journey.

From my perspective I am proud to be handing on a

fabulous team of dedicated teachers and support staff who

have always gone the extra mile when needed and who

never cease to put the children and their learning and well-

being first.

It is such a pleasure to have worked with the children and

families here at UNIS Hanoi. My last school in Belgium

was equally international in terms of the number of

nationalities and languages spoken, but the unique aspect

here has been the connection to the United Nations, a

draw card for many educators as they seek to join the

school. Trying to live out the UN principles, declared as

part of our Mission Statement, and applying them to day-to

-day life within the school is an added dimension that I will

miss. I will, of course, continue to watch the growth and

development from afar with great interest and a real sense

of connection to the community.

I will take this final opportunity to wish everyone a safe

and happy summer and my particular best wishes to those

transitioning out of Hanoi to pastures new. Who knows

where or when our paths may cross in the future in this

very small world of ours.

My thanks to all of you have made my stay in Vietnam very

special.

Warmest regards,

Carole Denny

Dear MSHS Families,

It seems that the saying, “Time goes by

faster the old you get” is indeed true! What

a whirlwind this year has been. As you can

imagine, the MSHS is full of excitement as

students have finished their academic

requirements and are looking forward to a

well-deserved break. I would like to give a special thank

you to the student body for their maturity, hard work in the

classroom and enthusiasm during the 2014/2015 school

year

The end of a school year is a time of great excitement.

Exams are over, vacation looms, no homework deadlines to

complete (At least for the next two months!) … life is good!

But I do encourage everyone; students, teachers and parents

to take a moment and look back over the past school year.

Please focus on the positive in terms of achievement,

relationships and opportunities but also do take a moment

to reflect on what did not go as well as planned. It is

important to learn from both success and adversity.

I am sure the entire UNIS Hanoi community will join me

in thanking the following departing MSHS faculty members

for their contributions to our school: Phil Sanchez

(English), Melanie Sanchez (English), Kevin Johnston

(Humanities), Lin Turley (Counseling), Brian Healy (PE),

Susan Lepry (Science), Samantha Trebesch (Math), Jon

Trebesch (Learning Support), Sibylle Harth (MYP

Coordinator), Lindsay Reilly (Science), Christopher Gerdes

(Humanities), Nicolaj Nielsen (Music), Ivo Jonker (Dutch)

and Sara Petersson (Swedish). Our entire learning

community appreciates the contributions you have made

and wishes each of you the very best luck in the future.

Before signing off for the year I would like to wish all the

students and their families who will be leaving our school

community every success in the future. Good luck! To

everyone who will return to UNIS Hanoi please enjoy a

wonderful break and I look forward to seeing you in

August.

Best regards and enjoy a well-deserved break!

Pete Kennedy, MSHS Principal

If your family intends to withdraw during the school holiday, please confirm in writing by submitting an

Admissions Withdrawal Form.

You will be required to complete withdrawal procedures by returning all UNIS Hanoi property to school such as borrowed resources, parking permits

and remitting payment of outstanding bills to the business office.

Leaving documentation shall be issued to you from the Elementary or Middle and High School offices upon completion of withdrawal procedures.

For assistance contact admissions@unishanoi.org

or 37581551 extension 8217 / 8220 / 8732.

School might be out for summer, but remnants of our

student body remain. Grade 8 art classes just finished a

sculpture unit that required them to cast some or all of their

body using tape. They were inspired by artist George Segal

as they considered The Art of the Ordinary. Their final

product was submitted as a photograph. Here are some of

their images:

Hanging Around by Caitlin Guthrie

In the Nurse's Office by Khanh Linh Duong

Making Music by Yeonsu, Jae Yoon, and Solmin

The Serve by Rohan Gowda

Super Hero by Eliza

Adelaide Squared by Adelaide

Dear MSHS students and parents,

For the 2015-2016 school year all MSHS students will be

required to wear a UNIS Hanoi PE uniform consisting of:

UNIS Hanoi Light blue PE shirt (sleeveless, short sleeve

or long sleeve acceptable)

UNIS Hanoi PE shorts (unisex or girls shorts).

In winter, only UNIS Hanoi sweat suits, track suits or

leggings may be worn in addition to a PE shirt.

All acceptable items will be specifically labeled 'PE' on the

price list and available in the School Shop starting

from August 18, 2016.

Please note, these changes are for MSHS students

ONLY.

The reason for this requirement is to avoid confusion

amongst students of what to wear to scheduled PE classes.

Therefore we will create consistency through our PE

programme.

Should you have any questions regarding this change in

policy, please contact the Head of MSHS PE, Mike

Lakwijk, at mlakwijk@unishanoi.org and MSHS Principal,

Pete Kennedy at mshsprincipal@unishanoi.org.

We wish all UNIS Hanoi families a fantastic, healthy,

balanced and active summer!

The MSHS Physical and Health Education

Department

In 2009 the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) worked

together with two consultants to proactively organize and

structure the PTA. In this process, it was decided to change

from the name of the PTA to a more inclusive name, the

School Community Organisation (SCO) was created and

along with it the SCO Constitution.

When the Constitution was created in 2009, it was based on

what they thought was best for the organisation. Since

2009, members of the SCO have made their best attempts

to follow the Constitution which has proven to be a

practical tool for the SCO Executive Committee and

Committee Coordinators. However, for the past 2 years the

SCO Executive Committee have been working on making

updates to the constitution to reflect what has been tested

and tried over the years with transparent, workable

procedures and an effective system of checks and

balances. At this time, we hope to have reached a

structured yet flexible tool to guide any incoming

committee members.

According to the Constitution, amendments need to be

made at the SCO AGM. A motion was made to move the

vote for Constitutional Amendments to the first SCO

General Meeting of the school year, as opposed to waiting

until the 2016 AGM. This motion was endorsed by a

unanimous vote in favor of moving the voting date to the

first SCO General Meeting of the 2015-2016 school year.

Both the Head of School and SCO Executive Committee

have approved the Constitutional Amendments. Below are

two links for the community to review the original and the

amended versions of the SCO Constitution.

It is hoped that this process reflects the original intent of

the Constitution to allow for a period of public

consultation before constitutional amendments are voted.

SCO Constitution (May 2009 original version)

SCO Constitution (June 2015 amended version)

If you have any suggestions, questions or concerns please

contact sco@unishanoi.org

They G5 Exhibition 'Poverty' Group would like to thank

those who donated their bikes to the 'Break Poverty Bike

Donation'. We delivered the bikes to HSVC on Monday

morning and they will take them to a village where children

need bikes to get and continue attending school. As we

learnt and many of you know it is education that really

helps break the poverty cycle. They will let us know who

received the bikes over summer.

Thanks again.

Ananya, Bill, Ben and Ms Tracy

UNIS Hanoi is inviting applications for the following

vacancies:

1. Part-time (40%) IB MYP Music Teacher - Specialization

in Orchestra/Strings

2. Part-time (40%) IB MYP Mathematics Teacher - Grade 8

3. Part-time (40%) IB MYP and DP Mathematics Teacher

- Grades 9 and 11

4. Part-time (40%) IB MYP Music Teacher (semester two)

1. Database Assistant

To view more information about these openings at

UNIS Hanoi, and to apply online, please visit our

website at www.unishanoi.org/jobs

The 2014-2015 academic year has passed very quickly. The

School Health Center Nurse Team would like to wish

everyone a very happy, safe and healthy summer and all the

best to those of you departing UNIS Hanoi.

We would like to say a very special good bye and thank you

to Nurse Kelly Havlin who will be leaving UNIS Hanoi.

Your hard work and dedication to the students, families

and staff of UNIS Hanoi will be missed by all of us. You

have truly made a difference to the physical and emotional

health of many students -- you will always be remembered

for the nurturing and caring you’ve given them.

All returning students who have not submitted a

Medical Report in the past 3 years must submit an

updated report, completed and signed by a licensed

Medical Doctor. A medical pack was sent through

email to all returning students who need to update their

medical records.

Students with Asthma or Allergy are required to have an

Asthma Plan or an Allergy Action Plan completed and

provided to the School Health Centre.

Please review the mandatory immunizations and ensure

that student record is fully updated.

Update the SHC next school year with any changes to

your child’s medical status, to include new medications

to be taken, allergies, vaccines received over the

summer.

Update emergency contacts and family phone numbers

if these have changed.

Have twice yearly dental visits for teeth cleaning.

Seek eye/vision exam for your child if you notice he/

she has any difficulty seeing and/or having persistent

headaches.

Refill prescription medications: Ensure that the validity

dates for inhalers, Epipens and oral medications cover

the next school year 2015-16. In case meds expire

before June 2016, make sure new ones are available for

the remainder of the school year.

See you all in August -- from the SCHOOL HEALTH

CENTRE NURSE TEAM!!