When you move to Ho Chi Minh City with a child under six, bring three kinds of records: the latest progress reports or learning journal from the current nursery, any formal assessment or support plan such as an IEP, IFSP or EHCP together with therapy reports, and a short letter from you describing your child's routines, language and needs. Most preschools in the city do not require these to enrol, but a teacher who reads them before the first day can plan for your child instead of discovering everything by trial and error.
For most children, the records are a helpful extra. For a child with additional needs, such as a speech delay, autism, a physical disability or a medical condition, they are essential, and the conversation with the new school should start before you sign a lease, not after. This guide explains what each kind of record is, how teachers in a bilingual preschool use it, how to discuss support needs honestly, and how to keep sensitive information in the right hands.
Common records from different systems
Names differ by country, and families often have a mix. The table covers records that families arriving in Saigon most often bring.
| Record | Where it comes from | What it tells a new teacher |
|---|---|---|
| Nursery progress report or learning journal | Most early years settings worldwide; often a digital record with photos and notes | Interests, friendships, how the child separates, eats and sleeps, recent progress |
| Progress check at age two | England, under the Early Years Foundation Stage, summarising development between two and three | A short snapshot of communication, physical and personal-social development |
| EYFS Profile | England, at the end of the reception year, around age five | An overview across areas of learning, useful when a child moves into the last preschool year or primary |
| IFSP or IEP | United States: an IFSP for children under three, an IEP from age three, under federal special education law | Goals, services such as speech or occupational therapy, and accommodations |
| EHCP | England: an Education, Health and Care plan for children with significant special educational needs | Detailed needs and the support agreed, often across education and health |
| Transition statement | Some systems, such as the Australian state of Victoria, prepare a statement when a child moves from kindergarten to school | Strengths, interests and suggested approaches |
| Therapy and medical reports | Speech therapists, occupational therapists, paediatricians, psychologists | Diagnosis if any, what has worked, what to watch for |
Formal plans such as an IEP or EHCP are legal documents in their home system. They have no legal force in Vietnam, but they remain the clearest summary of what your child needs and what has helped, which is exactly what a new school needs to know.
How a new teacher actually uses these records
A preschool teacher meeting your child for the first time wants to know practical things before anything else. How does your child show they are upset? What helps them calm down? Do they nap, and how? What words or signs do they use for the toilet, for water, for "stop"? Which languages do they understand? A learning journal or nursery report often answers these questions better than a formal assessment, because it was written by people who spent every day with your child.
The teacher then uses the records to plan the first weeks: who greets your child at the gate, where they sit at circle time, which activities to offer first, what to tell the kitchen. In a bilingual preschool, language information is particularly useful. A child who understands English but not Vietnamese, or a third home language but neither of the school's languages, needs a different first week from a child who already speaks both.
Records also stop the new school from repeating work already done. If your child has just finished a block of speech therapy, the new teacher can continue the same strategies rather than starting from scratch. If an earlier assessment ruled something out, the school does not need to raise the same question again in its first month.
What teachers do not need is a thick file of everything. If you have years of reports, pick the most recent progress report, the current plan if there is one, and the latest specialist report for each area of need. Offer the rest if the school asks.
Additional needs: start the conversation before you choose the school
If your child has additional needs, the most important step is to talk openly with the preschool before you commit to it. Families sometimes fear that being honest will cost them a place. The opposite risk is worse: a child who starts at a school that cannot support them, followed by a difficult conversation a month later and a second change of setting in a new country.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the support available varies a great deal between schools. Some bilingual and international preschools have experience with children who have speech delays, autism or developmental differences, work with outside therapists and can adapt routines. Others are happy to try but have little experience. Asking specific questions, and listening carefully to how they are answered, tells you which you are dealing with.
It also helps to find out before the move what therapy is available near your home. Speech therapy in English, occupational therapy and psychological assessment for young children exist in the city, but the number of providers working in English is limited and waiting lists can be long. If your child receives regular therapy now, ask the current therapist for a written handover and, if possible, continue online sessions for the first weeks until a local therapist is found.
Medical needs belong in the same early conversation. A child with epilepsy, diabetes, a severe allergy or a heart condition needs a written care plan that the school agrees to follow, staff who know what to do in an emergency, and a clear rule on who may give medicine. Ask the school to name the people trained to act and to show you where the plan and any medication will be kept. If the plan is in another language, have it translated before the first day rather than after.
Arrange a teacher-to-teacher handover
Paper records travel well, but a twenty-minute conversation between the old teacher and the new one often transfers more. The old key person can explain in a few minutes what took months to learn: that your daughter calms down if she can hold a small object at circle time, that your son needs a warning before transitions, that a particular song signals nap time. These details rarely make it into reports.
Ask the current nursery, before you leave, whether the key person would be willing to have a short video call with the new teacher after you arrive. Most are glad to help, especially if you suggest a time that suits both time zones and offer to set up the call. If language is a barrier, a written list of five or six practical tips from the old teacher is the next best thing.
For a child with a support plan, the same idea applies to therapists. A call between the previous speech or occupational therapist and the new one, or between the old therapist and the new class teacher, keeps strategies consistent and avoids a gap of several months in which nothing is followed through. Ask for your consent to be recorded in writing, so both sides know they may speak about your child.
Questions to ask a preschool about support
These questions are best asked in a video call or a visit, with the records already sent, so the school can answer about your child rather than in general.
- Have you supported children with similar needs, and what did that look like day to day?
- Who on your staff would be responsible for my child's plan, and what training do they have?
- Can an outside therapist observe or work with my child at school?
- How would you adapt routines such as circle time, meals and nap time?
- Is a shadow teacher or one-to-one assistant possible, and who would employ and pay them?
- How do you communicate progress and concerns with parents, and how often?
- What would happen if the school felt it could no longer meet my child's needs?
A school that answers these questions with examples and honest limits is often a better partner than one that promises everything. The last question is uncomfortable but important: a clear answer shows that the school has thought about it and will treat your family fairly if things do not work out.
Write your own one-page letter about your child
Formal records describe what professionals see. A one-page letter from you describes what only a parent knows. It is often the document a new teacher reads most closely, and it is worth writing for every child, with or without additional needs.
Keep it short and practical. Describe how your child usually starts the day, what they eat and refuse, how they nap, which words they use for important things in each language, what upsets them and what comforts them, any fears such as loud noises or dogs, and what they love. Add a line about the move itself: how long ago you arrived, what has changed, how your child seems to be coping.
Write it in English, and if your child speaks a third language at home, include the key words in that language with how they sound. A teacher who can say "water" or "mummy" in the child's home language in the first week has a powerful tool for calming a homesick toddler. If you can, have the letter translated into Vietnamese for Vietnamese-speaking staff, so the whole team reads the same picture of your child.
Update the letter after the first month. By then you will know which parts of the old routine survived the move and which changed, and the teacher will have questions of her own. A short revised version keeps everyone working from the same, current picture.
Privacy: who sees what
Records about a young child can include diagnoses, family circumstances and observations that are sensitive. Before you hand them over, ask the school who will read them, where they are stored and what happens to them if you leave. A reasonable answer is that the class teachers, the head of the preschool and, where relevant, the school nurse read them, that they are kept in a secure file and not shared with other families or outside parties without your consent.
You can also choose what to share. It is fine to give a full specialist report to the head of the preschool and a shorter summary to the class teacher, or to remove details that are not relevant to school. What matters is that the people working with your child every day have the information they need to keep the child safe and supported.
Vietnam has its own rules on personal data protection, which are being updated, so ask the school how it applies them to children's records. Keep your own complete copy of every record in the cloud folder you use for the move, because you will need the history again when your child moves on.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
Do preschools in Ho Chi Minh City require previous school records?
Most do not require them for children under six, but many welcome them. For a child with additional needs, sharing records before enrolment is strongly advisable, because it allows the school to say honestly whether it can provide the support your child needs.
Is an IEP or EHCP valid in Vietnam?
No. These plans are legal documents in the United States and England respectively and have no legal force in Vietnam. They remain very useful as a clear description of your child's needs and the support that has worked, and many schools in the city will use them as a starting point.
Should records be translated into Vietnamese?
In a bilingual or international preschool, English records are usually enough for leadership and English-speaking teachers. A translation of the key parts, or of your one-page letter, helps Vietnamese-speaking teachers and assistants understand your child too. Records in other languages should be translated into English.
Can my child's therapist from home continue online?
Often, yes, at least for a transition period. Many therapists offer online sessions and parent coaching. Ask early, agree on times that work across time zones, and use the period to find a local therapist, since waiting lists for English-language therapy in the city can be long.
What if we are not sure whether our child has a developmental delay?
Share your observations and any assessments with the school, and ask the teacher to tell you what they notice in the first weeks. If concerns remain, see a paediatrician in the city, who can refer you for assessment. A move can temporarily change behaviour, so allow time before drawing conclusions.
How do we get records from the old nursery after we have left?
Ask before you leave, while staff still know your child well. Request the latest report, the learning journal export if it is digital, and a short handover note. Once you have left, many nurseries can still send records, but it often takes longer.