Author Day. We had a super day last Friday celebrating Author Day on the day (or nearly) of Dr Seuss’ birthday. It was lovely to have so many parents (and older students) in to read to classes, then all of the activities during the morning including making Cat in the Hat hats. The afternoon snack of Green Eggs and Ham although it didn’t look very appealing went down a treat. The involvement of our whole community in this event, including providing the treat for the younger classes’ party at the end of the day, is one of the key ingredients for our school. 
The event was preceded on the Thursday by an extra after school activity of watching two short Dr Seuss film.
Extra Curricular Activities and the Hanova Herald. These started their 4th block of varied activities this week. We hope your child enjoys the activities they do and thank you to those of you who suggested alternative activities or especially have offered to help or even run an activity. The activities provided cover a large range in subjects and ages and include such as basketball, art with play dough, computer art, making movies and the ever popular clubs connected with food!
You should have received your copy of our school newspaper, the Hanova Herald, just before the Chinese New Year break. The School Council has sponsored this newspaper and paid for the distribution costs. The second edition of the newspaper will be distributed in a few weeks with input from the Hanova Herald ECA group and students from Mr. Gallerno’s Extended Essay classes. If you have any comments or suggestions for the newspaper, please do not hesitate to send these to Mr Gallerno, at richard.gallerno@his-xian.com, and he will pass it on to the editorial team.
Hilton Hotel. Thanks to the Hilton Hotel and particularly Mr and Mme Roger for the 5 star treatment of our Nursery to Y1 students on their trip this week to investigate how spaces within buildings are used to serve the needs of people, linking to our Unit of Inquiry. Look out for a report on this in the next day or two on the Xi’an Educational Channel, as the press turned up with cameras, video and reporters to see some of the things we get up to in an international school. A great day was had by all, and again thank you to our wonderful parents some of whom were there to help the trip be successful.
Parent School Association. Please remember this event which will follow our school assembly on Friday. There will not only be the usual chance to hear something about the curriculum in Primary Years and Middle Years and a discussion about past and upcoming events, but also the chance to partake in coffee tea and cakes as part of Women’s Day. We will also have the usual chance to raise any concerns or suggestions about our school. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at this event which will run from 9:45am to about 11:15am. You are welcome to travel to the school on the student bus, but please let May Liu in the office know, if you intend to do this, so she can ensure there are enough seats for everyone.
Student Council Shop. The Student Council intends to have a grand opening of their school shop on Monday, 18th March. The shop will be open every school day at breaks and lunchtime in the PE Storage Room, across from the lunchrooms on the first floor. The Council members have been working hard by planning budget, searching for easy and cost-effective supply sources, establishing procedures for staff and customers, and lots of other details involved in setting up a small business. It has been a good experience for them all, and we hope that our customers, the Hanova community, will be satisfied with our service! The children will be able to purchase small stationery items, drinks and light snacks. A separate letter will come home with more information. Any profits will go back into the Student Council’s budget to fund activities to benefit the Hanova community and support charity work.
Evacuation Practice. We held a fire evacuation practice last week. All of the students were out of the building and checked in 2½ minutes and all visitors and staff were checked in 3½ minutes. The practice went smoothly. The only improvements we looked at was assembling all the adults in one place on the football field so we can check them more quickly and the purchase of handbells (or something similar) in case of an electrical fault during an evacuation and the fire alarm system not working.
We will later this semester introduce a lockdown procedure practice. This differs from an evacuation practice in that we practise that the danger is outside school and we make ourselves safe and hidden inside. In an evacuation practice we pretend that the danger is inside school and we practise getting out safely and quickly. We have a text tree to inform staff and Board of any problem and to give frequent updates in case of an actual emergency. The safety and security of the students are our first priorities.
Library. Thank you to all of you who have sent in toys or books in very good condition to include in our library. These are much appreciated.
Parents are also welcome to borrow books from our library, up to 2 books at a time and for two weeks. To do this please go along to Camellia Feng in our library and she will give you the details of the scheme and set up an account for you. Hanova Library wishes to welcome everyone.
Korean Language School. We welcome the Korean Language School to our premises on Saturday, 9th March. They will be here each Saturday at roughly the same time as Saturday Sports. They will run 8 classes in our school teaching Korean Language and culture. We are very pleased to be developing links with the Xi’an Korean community.
Best regards,
Martin Hughes
Forthcoming events
March
Friday, 8th Parent School Association and Women’s Day 9:45am
Saturday, 9th Korean Language School opening
Saturday, 9th Saturday Sports begins 9:30am-12:00
Saturday, 16th Mission statement and school aims meeting 10:00
