Dear Parents of Middle and High School Students holding Vietnamese Passports,
At Saigon South International School we are proud of the many diverse countries, cultures, and language from which our students come. Recent changes in the laws and regulations here in Vietnam have permitted us to admit Vietnamese passport holding students to our school, limited in number by Decree 73 of the Vietnamese government and by our own nationality caps.
According to the law, these students must receive instruction in Vietnamese language and studies, based on a curriculum approved by the Ministry of Education, and of at least 90 minutes per week.
Because of our talented staff of teaching assistants in the Elementary School, and our reworking of the daily schedule to allow for instruction of all children in Vietnamese language studies differentiated by ability level, we are able to offer elementary students in kindergarten through Grade 5 instruction during the regular academic day.
Middle and High School students, because of their other required courses, will need to have their classes outside of the regular academic day. The good news is that it will no longer be necessary for our high school students to have Vietnamese instruction every Saturday mornings during the year. Instead, all students who hold Vietnamese passports will now have their required class on Wednesday afternoons. We chose Wednesday in order to maximum the opportunities for these students to continue to participate in all other co-curricular offerings at SSIS from theater and music to sports and clubs.
Next week we will need to administer placement tests in the High School Multi-purpose Room (MPR) to these Vietnamese passport holding students in order to properly place them in a section which matches their current level of language mastery. These tests are scheduled as follows:
Tuesday, 23 August 2016, 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm – All students in Grades 9 & 10 who hold Vietnamese passports.
Tuesday, 23 August 2016, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm – All students in Grades 6, 7 & 8 who hold Vietnamese passports. (Middle school students will be tested second on this day as older students will have sports practices at that time.)
Wednesday, 24 August 2016, 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm – All students in Grades 11 & 12 who hold Vietnamese passports.
You will all receive more details via email, but please mark your calendars now for these placement tests. SSIS has worked hard with our partner teachers to create a curriculum with is engaging for our students. After the exams have been assessed, students will be placed in groups according to their ability levels in Vietnamese language and classes will begin on Wednesday, 14 September 2016.
Sincerely yours,
Mark Iver Sylte, Head of School
