British International School - BIS Hanoi

The British International School (BIS) Hanoi, is a selective, independent, co-educational day school. It provides a British style education for an international student body operating from a modern purpose-built campus in the vibrant and cultured city of Hanoi. BIS Hanoi provides a high quality education in first class facilities resourced to the highest level. The National Curriculum for England, International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and Advanced Levels (A Levels) are taught to English speaking students from Pre-School to Year 13. The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma will, pending IB authorization, be offered from 2016 onwards.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) offers children aged from 2 to 4 an outstanding environment providing Pre-Nursery (F1), Nursery (F2) and Reception (F3) education of the highest quality. The school offers a child-centred, play-based curriculum using teaching and learning materials from the British Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.

The main emphasis is on providing a secure and nurturing environment that allows for all children to develop at their own pace. Children have the opportunity to work towards Early Learning Goals in seven areas of learning whilst being closely supported and challenged along the way. Readiness and flexibility are therefore key considerations in the planning of effective and differentiated teaching strategies.

Primary students follow the National Curriculum for England, appropriately modified with learning materials which make it suitable for use within Vietnam. BIS Hanoi consider itself to be a learning focused school, aiming to provide the skills, knowledge and understanding for our pupils to become successful life-long learners. In order to do this we define what good learning is, how we achieve it and for what purpose. We ensure that this is shared with the whole school community.

Secondary education at the British International School consists of three distinct, consecutive phases. It delivers a curriculum that is both stimulating and challenging, providing a broad and balanced education that is essential in preparing students for the future. We provide the A Levels as the recognised pathway to tertiary education but with the introduction of IBDP in 2016 pending authorisation for the IB.

The school is a registered centre for the UK examination board, Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and it is currently a candidate school for the IB Diploma Programme. Additionally, it is a member of the British International Schools in Vietnam Group and in due course it will be pursuing accreditation and membership of the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA) along with the Council of International Schools (CIS).

There are currently 49 full time teachers, the vast majority of whom are British qualified and trained with recent UK experience. All pre-school and primary teaching classes have English speaking Vietnamese teaching assistants, some of whom are qualified teachers in their own right.

Although our students are academically able, many do not have English as their first language. Consequently, the school operates an English as an Additional Language (EAL) programme for those children who initially need extra support. Students normally make rapid progress and quickly integrate into the mainstream classroom. All the children and adults connected with the school are expected to speak English inside the school and this is also encouraged in the playground.