Students’ reports. We hope to have your child’s report to you via email on Friday (17^th January).  We are frantically putting the finishing touches on these reports as I write! We really hope you find these reports both informative and clear. The reports cover the first reporting period for this academic year, which ran from the start of the year on 19^th August to Thursday, 19^th December.

All reports have a comment for each subject, which covers such aspects as your child’s achievement, their progress and the next steps in their learning.  There are also grades for each subject.

In the primary the grades are measured against the phases of development as defined by the International Baccalaureate (IB).  There are just four phases for the 8 years from Nursery to Y6 (5 phases for Language). The suggested phase level guidelines at Hanova are based on mother tongue language expectations.  For students new to English or Chinese, a phase indicator below the “suggested phase” should be expected.  As phases in all subjects often cover two years of good progress in the primary we have broken them down into three sections – Beginning (B), Proficient (P) and Advanced (A).  More information on this is being sent home with the reports.  Over the years your child’s grades should gradually increase if they are making good progress. If any primary years parents would like further explanation on phases and proficiency levels, please do contact the school to arrange a meeting with Mr Van.

In the middle years and senior years a different final grading system is used.  This is measured against the curriculum the students are doing and is a summation of the assessments they continually undertake. In the senior years a subject percentage is often given – please note the percentage required to achieve different grades varies between subjects. A comprehensive description of these grades may be found on the final page of this report. Over the years the grades should remain the same if your child is performing at a consistent level against the increasing expectations each year.

3 and 2 way Consultations and reports. Along with the student’s report will come an appointment time for the 2 and 3 way conferences with the teachers.  This will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday, 21^st and afternoon and early evening of Wednesday, 22^nd.  Many parents seemed to be happy with us allocating times for them to attend.  However, we are most pleased if you suggest alternative times that may suit you better.  We will try to fit you into the schedule.  If a suitable time cannot be found on these dates then we will arrange an alternative time for you to attend.

Conference times have been selected with your child’s homeroom teacher.  We are trying this system for all students after requests for this rather than the more rushed subject based conference we have done in the Secondary school previously.  We also feel that the report gives detail for each subject.  The subject teachers will all be available to parents.  However, we would appreciate it if you could pre-book an appointment if possible. This is to enable the teacher to be better prepared.

Your child’s printed report will also be given to you at the conferences by the homeroom teacher.

We encourage you to use these conference times to further explore any issues that may have been raised in the reports as well as to raise other questions you may have about your child’s learning and overall experience at school.

If your child is new to the school we would love to see you for a “settling-in” discussion.  At this you might identify particular strengths and interests your child has and any areas that are of concern to you. We will report on how your child has settled in.  New admissions who have been in school just two weeks will not be given a written report.

Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year celebration at Hanova is intended to provide the students and parents, many of whom have only been in China for a short while, with a chance to experience a little of the culture and traditions of China. Planned events such as this are important for developing international mindedness among all community members, which supports our mission and vision at Hanova.

On Friday, 24^th January, we will begin the day with a performance programme from 10-11:45. A variety of acts by Hanova students and community members should be fun and provide cultural knowledge about our school’s host country. After the performances, we hope that parents will be able to contribute to a Chinese-themed shared lunch buffet from 11:45-1:00. Starting at 1:00 and running through until the end of the day at 3:30, we have several different activities related to Chinese New Year and Chinese culture planned that should be enjoyable for students of all ages. Parents are welcome to join. Activities include calligraphy workshop, running races, various crafts and more!

Community Board. You may have noticed a new Community Notice Board on display in the Front Lobby.  If you would like to put any notifications on this please contact Ms Anisha Grimmett or Ms Anne Guss as they are developing some editorial guidelines.  Thanks, Anne and Anisha!

Heating and electricity. We are pleased to tell you that we have enhanced the electrical supply to our school at some considerable cost.  This was the reason that we had been informed that the electricity may be cut off last week.  The switch-over was eventually managed out of school hours.  We apologise for any inconvenience that our notification may have caused you.

Previously the power able to be supplied was insufficient at peak times in the use of the air-conditioners.  We hope this problem is now solved.

As you will know if you have visited the school it is normally lovely and warm.  The radiators will be switched off next Wednesday as the Bodi School is on holiday. Unfortunately they cannot be put on just for us.  We still have our air-conditioning which some classes have been using this winter to top-up the heat. We hope this will be sufficient depending on the weather.  You may wish to send your child in additional clothes from mid-week on.

Parent language classes. We have finally managed to get a proposal to support our parents that wish to learn English or Chinese.  A number of parents have expressed an interest in studying Chinese or English and have asked if Hanova could support in finding a teacher to arrange this.

We recently made contact with a language school offering adult Chinese and English classes in Xi’an. Chineseworld Language School has offered the following learning opportunities for parents and friends of Hanova:  

Chinese classes for parents

• Professional Chinese teachers
• One on one class and group classes:
  • One-to-one classes: 200RMB per hour or 300RMB two consecutive hours
  • Group classes: 70RMB per hour Minimum 3 students at the same level.
• Group classes delivered at South gate or at Hanova.
• Teachers are available from 9:00AM to 9 PM from Monday to Sunday

English classes for parents

• Foreign teachers who can teach adults
• One-to-one and group classes:
  • One-to-one classes: 240RMB per hour or 400RMB for two consecutive hours
  • Group classes: 70RMB per hour Minimum 3 students at the same level.
• Group classes delivered at South gate or at Hanova.

All parent language classes will be divided into groups based on language level. This allows improved ability to focus instruction to meet the needs of language learners. There will likely be classes for beginners as well as intermediate and advanced learners for both English and Chinese.

If you are interested in more information about Chinese or English classes, please contact Mr Gallerno via email: richard.gallerno@his-xian.com or contact Ms May in the office.  We have 5 potential enrolments for a Chinese class.  These parents have suggested a lesson during Saturday Sports.  When you email or call to express your interest, please let us know your preference or other ideas.  We would like to be starting these lessons very soon after Chinese New Year.

Best regards,

Martin Hughes

 

Forthcoming events

Friday, 17^th                                  Reports home by email

Tuesday, 21^st Wednesday, 22^nd Parent Consultations

Friday, 24^th                                  Chinese New Year activities

Friday, 24^th                                  School closes for Chinese New Year holiday

February

Monday, 10^th                              School opens for second term of second semester