International day. A great day was had during International Day yesterday despite the rather cool weather.  The rain (representing the British Isles) held off long enough for the day to start with a colourful parade of the countries represented at Hanova with the 22 student countries and our staff’s 16.  So many of the children, staff and parents looked fantastic in their national costumes or colours following their national flag. Children then spent the morning going round activities from different countries ranging from making flowers (China), potato prints (Ireland), lassoing a stool (USA), eating Halo-Halo (Philippines), to throwing games such as an arrow game (Tou Hu from Korea) and tossing the caber (Scotland).  This was followed by a fantastic international lunch – a huge thank you to the parents and others who donated their time and effort to putting on such a great spread for the estimated 4-500 mouths to feed!  We were able to focus in the afternoon on thinking about what internationalism means for us, especially as an IB school, during Secondary and Primary assemblies. The day gave a small chance to celebrate our own nationalities, but also to respect and begin to understand others.  We want to develop our students to be internationally minded and to develop the courage to act on our beliefs in support of local and global communities.

Re-Enrolment for Semester beginning in August 2015. You should have received a letter home on Monday asking your intention for your child’s schooling for the academic year 2015-16.  I hope you have been able to reply to this letter in hard copy or by sending an email reply to Lucy Liu (lucy.liu@his-xian.com).  It is important for our planning purposes and also to ensure we keep a place for your child assuming they are returning.

We have made a deliberate attempt this year to slow down the growth of the school by having more strict requirements for entry especially in terms of English levels. This has enabled us to focus on curriculum development initially with the Diploma Programme and now with Primary and Middle Years.

Nonetheless the school is now full or nearing capacity in a number of age groups.  There is insufficient room on our current site for much more expansion without impacting on the quality of the programme.

If you have not had a chance to reply to the letter, or didn’t receive one please contact Lucy Liu or Zena Yang in the office.  We would like to know whether you intend to re-enrol your child or children at Hanova for the next school year. We already have a waiting list for some year groups, nationalities and mother tongue speakers, and we want to ensure we make the best provision possible for all the students now and in the future.

Qing Ming Holiday. We wish you all the best for the Spring Break whether you are staying in Xi’an or going further afield.  Please remember that school is closed to the children on Friday, 3^rd April as the teachers undertake a Professional Development Day.  Saturday Sports will go ahead, weather permitting, on Saturday 4^th April, but there will not be one at the end of the holiday on 11^th April.  Saturday Sports will return on Saturday, 18^th April.

We look forward to welcoming the children back to school on Monday, 13^th April. 

Best regards,

Martin Hughes

 

Forthcoming events                

Wednesday, 1^st             International Day

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

Friday, 3^rd                       Professional Development Day for Teachers

Saturday, 4^th                  Saturday Sports

Saturday, 11^th               No Saturday Sports

Monday, 13^th                First student day after holiday

Wednesday, 15^th          ECA Block 3 begins

Friday, 17^th                    Sports Day

Tuesday, 21^st                 Sports Day – wet alternative