Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Promotional video. A glimpse into my world

My school has just released / uploaded  this promotional video onto YouTube with the intent of attracting parents to the school. An electronic prospectus. The target audience are those families who currently live outside Vietnam, and who are likely to be moving to HCMC in the near future. Within HCMC the school has quite a good reputation now.
However with most things you can please some of the people, some of the time. Our third campus Tu Xoung where I am based, our inner city campus, is not featured or mentioned. Frequently TX is left out of school happenings, so this promotional video just adds fuel to discontent and  the "we're left out / not recognised for what we do / our smaller family feel campus" barrage of acquisitions.
Our market manager has sent out a long email to us all outlining the short timespan to get this video finished in, and the time constraints placed on the film crew. Traveling across the city to shoot more footage was not good use of production time. However one of the IT guys is going to shoot fresh and new footage and the video will be refreshed constantly. To be far 1500 of o 1800 students reside in the 2 campus's featured.
Using another lens, does this video portray a fair and reasonable take on life at British International School Ho Chi Minh City. Yes I think it does. We are very much about being in a foreign country  but retaining our Britishness through the curriculum and extra currica activities. Preparing students for universities in the UK and USA is a big feature and our IB results are high. We are a melting pot of nationalities sharing and valuing what is unique about each and all of us and  working together supporting each other. We do have alot of community interaction. So yes a true representation.

For those who know me well, my computer lab is not featured, its rather old and tired. The high end Macs are used in the secondary for graphics. Our music department and choirs are fabulous, likewise our art, and our library. Our PE facilities are also fab, did you see the nice pool. Sadly ICT is lagging way behind in the primary campus. While we continue to work within the constraints of what we have, I believe the school owner and our CEO/ principal are blinkered. Blinkered to the impact ICT has on students lives, how it is a tool, and a prominent part of 21 century learning. Blinkered too, by the need to continually open new schools, 2 in Hanoi currently, and create a bigger empire. It would appear to me that the financial resources  necessary for maintaining and running an establishment such as our in HCMC are being redirected to Hanoi. Am I happy working where I am? Yes. Can I affect some change? Yes, although it is small. AND the people and children I work with are great. It is the people, it is the people, it is the people.

2 comments:

Izzy said...
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Izzy said...
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