Author Visit. On Monday 23^rd and Tuesday 24^th March, we are very lucky to have joining us Trevor Kew, an author for teenagers.  Trevor is Canadian, and as well as being a published author with six books to his name, is an IB English teacher in Yokohama International School.  His novels are for 11-14 year olds, predominantly centre around sports, and have both male and female protagonists.

During his stay, he will be holding special creative writer workshop sessions with our MYP students from Year 7-9, taking them from building ideas to writing drafts to the editing process.  He will be bringing some copies of his books, which students can then purchase and he will kindly sign.  Copies of the books are limited, however, and should you wish a copy, you can contact our librarian, Ms Amy Hou, to place an order.  We are really looking forward to having Trevor with us, and reading all the creative stories that our students will create!

International Day. We are looking forward to the activities of our 3^rd International Day at Hanova, which is on Wednesday, 1^st April. The day will consist of a morning parade of students, ideally in their national costume, internationally focused activities in mixed groups with students of all ages where they get to “tour” activities form different countries, an international lunch and then two assemblies (one for PYP and one for Secondary).  We hope you will be able to join us for part of the day and perhaps, as in previous years, can contribute to our shared International lunch – always a highlight of the day.

IB Diploma Induction Programme and Secondary School Developments. As mentioned earlier, we plan to have an IB Open Day as part of our preparation for launching the IB Diploma. This will involve showcase lessons, static and AV displays and more opportunities to meet the Secondary School teaching team and the subjects they offer. The date will be announced later. We have been very busy recently preparing the documentation for students and parents, including a University and Careers Guidebook and an IB Diploma Guidebook. These are nearing completion and should be published shortly. Existing parents whose children are going to undertake the IB Diploma or Hanova Diploma programmes here at Hanova will receive a copy of these. The Secondary School timetable for years 7 to 13 in 2015-16 has been devised, as has been the IB Diploma Assessment Calendar.

Very shortly, we will start interviewing our students in Year 9 with regards to their university ambitions. Based upon these, we will be holding an MYP/IGCSE Options information session so that we can start students choosing their subject options for Year 10, 2015-16. Details will follow.

We have started our Korean classes for students in Years 11 and 12 and we will shortly to surveying students in Year 10 to see if opening a Korean class after the Qing Ming holiday is desirable.

Admissions into Y6 and the Secondary School. As you will probably know there are entrance requirements for admission into Hanova and the minimum standards expected are obviously different for each year group.  New applicants to the school are given a series of assessments to assist in the process of deciding whether the school can meet the educational needs of those students.  This is also to ensure the school is able to achieve high standards. I copy below the minimum expectations for English from our Admissions Policy.

At the current time any new admissions to the following year groups must have a minimum English level of:

Year/DP subject level	Recommended number of years’ formal education in target language	MYP Phase required for entry
DP Studies in Language and Literature HL	6 to 7	6
DP Studies in Language and Literature SL	5 to 6	5/6
DP Language Acquisition HL	3 to 5	4*
DP Language Acquisition SL	2 to 4	4*
Year 11	2 to 4	4
Year 10	2 to 4	4
Year 9	2	3
Year 8	2	3
Year 7	2	2
Year 6	1	2
Year 5	0	1

*Need a minimum of Phase 5 in English to access the minimum requirement of 3 subjects

There may be some students admitted prior to the establishment of these minimum standards, or ones that have not made sufficient progress, who may currently fall short of the expectations.  This could mean they may be unable to effectively access the curriculum of the next year group in August 2015.  There is now an entry test into Y7 in English and Maths to ensure students are able to access the curriculum.  If your child is unlikely to reach these minimum standards then you will be contacted by one of the Senior teachers before the forthcoming Qing Ming holiday to discuss what can be done to address the situation, and to ensure an appropriate curriculum for your child.  If your child will be in Y8 or above then you will already be aware of the expectations if they affect your child.  Our aim is always to provide the best quality of international education we can for all our students.

Lower School Art teacher. We are most pleased to welcome Mr Dylan Trull as Art teacher for the Lower School. Mr Trull joined us last week for induction and is now on his full timetable for teaching. Dylan Trull studied Electrical Engineering at the Cape University of Technology. After working for approximately two years he went on to study Jewellery Design at Ruth Prowse Art School in Cape Town. He has now been a full-time artist for over twenty years, participating in many exhibitions, both collaborative and independent. Dylan is a sculptor specialising in wood and metal. Always interested in working with others, Mr Trull has run numerous art workshops for children and training programmes with final year university sculpture students.

University visits to Hanova. Please note the following changed dates:

University of Aberdeen will now come on Monday, 16^th March at 10am

University of New Mexico have confirmed they will come on Friday, 27^th March at 1pm

Extra Curricular Activities (ECAs). The last day for the current block of ECAs is Wednesday, 11^th March.  This means that the students will be going home at 3:35pm on Wednesdays until our next ECA block which begins on 15^th April.  Parents should expect to see forms for our next ECA block before the end of next week. We hope that parents can take a moment to discuss the options for ECAs with their child and complete the form with the top 3 choices. Note that students might not be placed in their first choice for ECAs due to limited space and that changing ECAs after the block has started is not permitted for the same reason.  Any payment needed for ECAs can be given to Lucy or Zena in the school office. Wednesday, 1^st April is the day for our International Day – more information above. 

Below are some photos from our Extra-Curricular Activities this year so far:

Saturday Sports. Now the weather has much improved we are recommencing our Saturday Sports Programme. Parents and visitors are invited to attend (weather permitting) from 10-12 every Saturday morning to use our outside facilities for sports activities.  Sam emails parents before 9am on the Saturday if it is not clear whether the weather is suitable and the session is cancelled.  Please contact  Sam Quan (sam.quan@his-xian.com) for further information about Saturday Sports.  All children must be supervised by an adult – usually their parent!

Best regards,

Martin Hughes

 

Forthcoming events                

Wednesday, 11^th          Last day of current block of ECAs

Saturday, 14^th               Saturday Sports restarts 10:00-12:00

Monday, 16^th                University of Aberdeen Admissions 9:30am

Tuesday, 17^th                University of York Admissions 10am

Monday, 23^rd and        Trevor Kew, Canadian author visit to Hanova

Tuesday, 24^th

Friday, 27^th                    University of New Mexico Admissions 1pm

April

Wednesday, 1^st             International Day

Thursday, 2^nd                 Last student day before Qing Ming Spring break

Friday, 3^rd                       Professional Development Day for Teachers

Monday, 13^th                First student day after holiday