Letter from School's Management Board – Academic Year of 2013 - 2014

such as the adopting of an international curriculum, applying innovative teaching methodologies, the applying of educational technology, soft skill training for students, and active parent engagement in this whole process of change. The main target of all those changes is to provide VAS students with more opportunities for international integration, better prepare VAS students for global competition, to be advanced in research and analytical skills and at the same time being emotionally sensitive in order to be successful in life.

1. The International Cambridge Program applied from grade 1 to grade 9 in the school year 2013-2014 will provide students with an international certification after each school level and allow VAS students to understand their position on the educational global map of 160 countries. This will help the students and their teachers to establish specific achievement targets for each stage, which again will serve as academic accountability for parents to evaluate the school performance. At present, VAS has completed all the inspection steps with the Cambridge International Examinations and is in the final stage of paperwork to become a Cambridge school which is expected to happen within 1 or 2 weeks.

2. Innovative Teaching Methodologies have been introduced to teachers through many training workshops, some have been applied in classrooms this year and all are ready or the new school year. Those are all internationally popular research based methodologies and pedagogies. Examples are the applying of Multiple Intelligences theory in lesson designs and Differentiation in Classroom Assessment; Mind-mapping is also an ultimate method in classroom teaching, together with the application of picture notebooks, project based learning, outdoor classes and extra curricula activities.

3. School Year 2013-2014 will also see the excitement of technology application in teaching and learning. 100% of the Cambridge classrooms are equipped with smart boards, and 100% of classrooms of both curricula are equipped with LCD projectors. Students will be provided with accounts to learn Maths, English, Science online, real time and have access to world online library resources.

4. To meet the requirements for a Cambridge school, VAS is building international standard libraries at campuses and they all will be open from August 2013.

5. The school has been launching several courses to train soft skills for students. Focuses are on skills to optimize brain functions for the most efficient learning, to build up self-esteem, confidence at school and in life, positive thinking and response to changes in life. Examples are “I am Gifted! So Are You!”, “Smart Values”, “Learning Tips for Exams”, etc. Those courses have been executed, received extremely positive feedbacks from parents and students and will be strengthened from time to time.

6. The school has allocated 1 billion VND as scholarship for talented students at the High School level for next school year. Detailed information about this Talents Scholarship will be announced in June 2013.

7. VAS understands and values the importance of parent engagement in the success of our education. Monthly morning coffees at all campuses, parent workshops on child psychology, workshops on the preparation for children in transitional phases such as when students enter grade 1, fifth graders entering grade 6, workshops on discovering and developing children’s multiple intelligences, etc., are highly valued by all parents and we have had the honor to received almost full participation at all workshops.

The school is working on the School Information System (SIS), in which each parent will have a personal account to track their child’s daily progress, activities at school and from there they can communicate directly with their child’s teachers on the daily basis. This serves the daily communication between school and families.

8. Food Service is also improving well. The school is changing the food supplier to the one who is more experienced in serving international schools in the City. We are committed to bring the food service up to the quality of international school standard, giving students more choices in the daily menu that are suitable for their diets and tastes.

All of the aforementioned will bring about VAS’s overall changes mainly focused on Teaching and Learning.

They are all for the betterment of VAS students and therefore we, as educators, are responsible for assuring that all VAS’s students can benefit from a high standard bilingual program, with the Cambridge International A-Level Diploma and the Ministry of Education and Training Secondary Education Certification at graduation. With that in mind, despite the huge investment of financial resources and human resources from the Board of Trustees and the Management Team, the school is not going to increase the tuition fee in proportion with the investment. The tuition fees next school year and in the coming years will be maintained the same as currently in use and adjusted only to meet the inflation rate.

Attached you can find the Fee Schedule for academic year 2013-2014 with an adjustment of 8% for tuition fees and from 0-10% for other fees. We also have new incentive policies for families with more than one child enrolling at VAS. Click here

Yours in education,

School's Management Board