Movember assembly. Great fun was had by all at our assembly last Friday.  Students had voted for best and worst facial hair that staff had grown over the month of November.  The winners were Mr “Monster” Herben and Ms O’Connor and Ms Rice.  Mr “Babyface” Hughes failed to feature.  It was even more fun shaving a number of volunteers on stage.

Learner Profile Week. Many students joined in the fun of dressing each day to reflect the IB Learner Profile

Philippine Disaster Fund. The Student Council would like to thank the Hanova Community for being very generous in providing donations to assist disaster victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. So far, through projects such as Movember and Learner Profile Week, we have raised more than 5000 RMB. We will also have a donation box available after each of our Christmas Wizard of Oz performances next week. We plan to send our donation to UNICEF before the winter holidays. 

MYP Unit Letter. Starting from next semester, parents shall be receiving letters from relevant subject teachers at the beginning of each new unit.  This letter will outline what was covered in the previous unit, as well as informing parents what topics will be covered in the coming weeks.  Last year, parents received the MYP/SY monthly newsletter, which contained the same information, but in one large document.  The new format will be delivered in a manner that will make it easier to read by breaking it down into smaller chunks.  We hope that this is the sort of information you find useful – please let us know!  Our aim is always to make our communication with parents to be as clear and helpful as possible.  We are always seeking to improve.

Christmas Wizard of Oz. The practices for a Christmas Wizard of Oz are hotting up as the performance dates approach.  There is still much to do to be prepared for the opening performance next Wednesday.  You may have noticed that practices have so far taken place so that they do not alter the normal schedule.  On Thursday morning we will be starting with morning run throughs of the performance.  These will take place during lessons 1 and 2.  This means that on Friday there will not be a whole school assembly.  All the children will not be at these practices with students coming in and out when their part is involved. If your child has a significant role in the play then their normal curriculum will be a little different over the next few days.  We think the learning that is happening by taking part more than compensates for the slight disruption of their usual schedule.

Wizard of Oz arrangements. You should have received letters so you can order tickets for performances.  Although they are free you must have a ticket to attend any performance.  This is so we can plan safely for each performance.

You should also have received letters about the eating arrangements and the bus arrangements in particular for the Wednesday and Friday performances.  If you are unclear about these please do not hesitate to contact May Liu (email may.liu@his-xian.com) in the school office.

Extra Curricular Activities (ECAs). The last ECAs in Block 2 are on this Thursday, 5^th December. Next week the buses will be leaving school at 3:45pm on Monday and Tuesday, at 7:15pm on Wednesday, and at 4:45pm on Thursday and 7:15pm on Friday – a tiring, but hopefully enjoyable week.

There will be a number of new students enrolling at Hanova straight after Christmas.  There will be some new teachers then also.  Consequently there will be a lot of work to do to induct all the new members of the Hanova community into the school.  This is the reason that ECAs will not resume until after the Chinese New Year break. 

We have been searching for tutors to come in to offer both Chinese and English lessons to parents.  This has taken some time.  These will be paid for courses.  We intend to put them on during Tuesday and Thursday ECAs. Any parents who are interested in these language lessons should contact May Liu.  More information to follow such as length of course, level and cost.

Playgroup. The changes in the ECAs mean that the next Tuesday playgroup will be after Chinese New Year

Best regards,

Martin Hughes

 

Forthcoming events

2^nd – 6^th                                        Learner Profile dressing up week 25rmb

Thursday, 5^th                               Last ECA in Block 2

Friday, 6^th                                    No Assembly

Friday, 6^th                                    Admission Panel considers student applications for January

Wednesday, 11^th                        Christmas Wizard of Oz 5pm

Thursday, 12^th                            Christmas Wizard of Oz 2pm

Friday, 13^th                                  Christmas Wizard of Oz 5pm

Saturday, 14^th                             Xi’an International Business Forum Christmas Party

Monday, 16^th                              School closed for Teacher Training

Tuesday, 17^th                              Y9 English trip

Wednesday, 18^th                        2^nd Semester Tuition fees due by this date

Thursday, 19^th                            PYP Christmas Party 12:40-14:00

Thursday, 19^th                             School closes for mid-winter break