Library book donations. Thank you very much to those parents and staff that have donated books in excellent condition to the school library.  We are also keen to get books in our students’ mother tongues.  With 22 countries represented in our student body there are a lot of languages.  So if your family has any good quality books, in terms of content, suitability and condition, that you no longer need, please send them along to Ms Camellia Feng so we can add them to our mother tongue collection of books.

International Day. Our first community event of this year is coming up shortly.  We will spend the day learning about other countries by seeing, doing, eating and sharing experiences in different “countries”.  On this day we suggest that your child might like to dress in a costume (perhaps for just part of the day) from their own country.  International Day is on Thursday, 26^th September.  More information will follow.

Student photos. We are intending to photograph all the students (portrait only) next Wednesday, 18^th September.  We would like these photos for our school records.  So that the photos look similar we would suggest the children come in the uniform of green short sleeve polo with trousers or scooter, if they have them.

Playgroup. We are planning to restart our Playgroup for children aged below 4 on Tuesday, 18^th September. This provides an opportunity for parents and young children to come into the school together to join in structured activities and free play. Playgroup will be held every Tuesday from 3:00 to 4:45. The first session will be free. Last year we charged ¥50 to cover the cost of some toys and refreshments. This charge was sufficient for about 6-10 weeks.

Saturday Sports. This went ahead last week despite the lingering presence of a few wasps.  After the removal of the four nests the initial infestation and wasp nuisance has reduced considerably.

We would like to remind attendees at Saturday Sports that the rooms in the school, apart from the toilets, of course, are not open to students.  A number of rooms are used by the Korean Language School on Saturdays.

Buses. Some of our buses are now getting near to capacity with regards to seating.  We are thrilled to have so many students, and, this last week, we also added parents after the curriculum information afternoons!  Just a few reminders: there should be no eating or drinking on the bus.  Students (and parents!) should have eaten before they get on the bus.  If a student really needs a drink of water, they ask the bus teacher to help if needed. The bus seating plans stays the same for the students, except if a Nursery/Reception parent is on the bus as they can sit with their child.  This bus seating plan is changed every 6-8 weeks so students are not sat with the same partner for a whole year.

Safety inside campus. If you drive a vehicle inside the Bodi campus, please can we suggest all vehicles keep to the speed limit of 10km/hour for the safety of all students.  Please ask anyone who picks up your child to comply with this request.

Xi’an City Wall Run. A number of staff and parents are intending to take part in the Xi’an City Wall Run on Saturday, 2^nd November.  Distances are between 5km and the half marathon.  If you would like to join in as part of the Hanova group please see the race website http://www.xianmarathon.com for more information and contact May Liu in the office (may.liu@his-hanova.com) to register.  I understand the cost is ¥30 to enter.

Parent School Association (PSA). By the time you read this we hope to have seen many parents at our first PSA meeting of the year.  The meeting starts at 3pm with sessions on the International Baccalaureate Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes (PYP and MYP).  For the MYP this will cover Managebac, the system where student assessments are recorded and can be viewed by parents along with many other things.  The PYP will cover what the Learner Profile might look like in practice.

After these sessions there will have been a general meeting on school.

Parent Volunteer Group (PVG). The PVG is a group of parents who are interested in volunteering to help in the school with special events or when needed in various classes.  This programme deepens the community aspect of our school.  Anyone who is interested in finding out more about this group and how it works is invited to the first meeting next Wednesday, September 18^th at 3:00pm in the staff room.  Other parents seem quite happy to help with translation, so please come no matter your English level.  All are welcome and invited! 

Extracurricular Activities (ECAs). Hopefully your children came home on Tuesday and Thursday this week and told you how much fun they had or how much they learned in their ECAs. We hope to have many more choices available in terms of club choices starting in Block 2. Parents that indicated an interest in a Language Exchange Club will be contacted soon. Any parents that are interested in supervising their own ECA, please contact

Mr Gallerno at richard.gallerno@his-xian.com .

Best regards,

Martin Hughes

 

Forthcoming events

Thursday, 12^th                            Parent School Association meeting at 3pm

Wednesday, 18^th                        Student individual photos – green polo and trousers or scooter, please

Wednesday, 18^th                        Parent Volunteer meeting at 3pm

Thursday, 19^th &                        School closed for Mid Autumn holiday and

Friday, 20^th                                  IB Middle Years training for teachers

Tuesday, 24^th                              Playgroup 3-4:45pm

Thursday, 26^th                            International Day

Friday, 27^th                                  School closes for National Holiday

October

Monday, 7^th                                 School reopens for students