British Vietnamese International School


British Vietnamese International School in Ho Chi Minh City, commonly referred to as BVIS HCMC, is a bilingual international school in Vietnam, and the only bilingual school in Vietnam that is fully accredited by the Council of International Schools. The school is also a member of the FOBISIA group of schools, and is part of the Nord Anglia Education Group.
BVIS educates children at preschool, primary and secondary level. The school uses the English National Curriculum with modules from the Vietnamese curriculum that are believed to be particularly strong: Vietnamese Literature, History and Geography.

History

BVIS was officially established in August 2011 after the success of its sister school the British International School which was established in 1997.

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.

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.
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.

Qualifications

The percentage of students achieving A*–C grades, including English and Math at IGCSE is 87% in 2015.

School Facilities

BVIS HCMC is a purpose-built school. It has an "early years" soft play area, a swimming pool, a library with 56,400 books, a modern lecture theatre, a number of dance, music and drama studios, an auditorium, a sports hall and a grass playing field, amongst other facilities. All classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards and data projectors.