IB Open Day at Hanova. A successful International Baccalaureate (IB) Open Day was held in school on Monday.  Parents and students considering enrolling in our IB Diploma Programme (DP) as well as interested members of the public were able to take part in a full day learning and sampling the IB DP, after being given a tour of the school by the Y10 students.  People were able to find out more about many subjects; DP Language and Literature, Economics, ITGS (Information Technology in a Global Society), Visual Arts, Chemistry, Geography, Physics, Biology, Maths as well as the more particular IB areas of study of Creativity Activity and Service (CAS), Extended Essay (EE) and Theory of Knowledge (TOK).  Guests were also treated to a lovely buffet lunch.

For me it was fantastic to see evidenced the high quality and complexity of our organisation less than 3 years after I remember standing in the Shangri-la launching publicly for the first time the concept of Hanova with no building, no equipment, a new curriculum and many dreams.  The staff in the Secondary have worked so well and hard under the excellent leadership of Mr Robert Muntzer to achieve so much.

The School and IB DP information leaflets were also distributed to guests along with our excellent and comprehensive Hanova Guidebook to Universities, specifically dedicated to our students.  This has been produced after many months research and development by Sharon Zhu our University and careers Counsellor.  This document gives comprehensive guidance on choosing and making a successful university application.  It includes guidance on the value of the IB Diploma in entering Universities, different countries admission process into universities, how students can plan their time and application whilst at Hanova and on what to ask and how to write an application.  This guidebook is available to students above Y10 at Hanova from Sharon Zhu (sharon.zhu@his-xian.com).

College Board School Code. We are delighted to tell you that our College Board School Code has been assigned. A College Board School Code allows our school to receive reporting from the College Board and from other educational organisations, such as the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and the Common Application. Having a code enables our students to be affiliated with our school when they apply to higher education institutions and scholarship programmes around globe. It also allows our school to apply to become a SAT test centre, which is our next step.

University Visit. We will have another university – University of St. Andrews – who will visit us at 10:00 am next Monday, 18^th May in the auditorium.  Our Y10 – Y12 students will be back on the Sunday night, and they have an option to take a day off on Monday, as they are likely to be very tired after their residential to Yangshuo. Nonetheless, we still strongly encourage students and parents come to school to participate in the presentation.

St Andrews is ranked as 1^st in Scotland and 3^rd in UK, after Cambridge and Oxford. The majors of Physics, International Relations, Mathematics and Statistics, Computer Science are all ranked as 1^st in UK. Alumni includes Prince William, United States Declaration of Independence signatories John Witherspoon (1764) and James Wilson (1761), inventor of beta-blockers, H2 receptor antagonists and Nobel Prize in Medicine winner James W. Black (1946 MB ChB).

The school has also arranged a visit from University of Dubai for Thursday, May 21^st. Please contact feel free to contact Ms Sharon Zhu (sharon.zhu@his-xian.com) for more information.

Hanova Carnival and Open Day – Years 9 to 11. As you will probably remember, the annual Hanova Carnival is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 6^th June. In addition to the various activities and performances, there will be some parental workshops that are designed for parents in Years 9, 10 and 11. These workshops are open to our existing parents and the general public. They will outline the IGCSE subject options available to students in Year 9, joining Year 10 next year, and for Year 11 students who may wish to sit IGCSE examinations in Year 12.

School Trips and Residentials. It seemed a strange day on Tuesday this week with the 2^nd and 3^rd floors virtually deserted.  Y7-9 have started on their Exam week.  There are also a number of school trips and residential visits happening at the moment.  This week Y10-12 have gone off for their 6 day residential to Yangshuo in Guangxi province. Here are a couple of picture we received via We Chat.  They will be returning on Sunday with exciting stories to tell I am sure. From Monday to Thursday Y5 and 6 have been and are going out for day trips in and around Xi’an including hiking, pottery trip, fishing, rock climbing and obstacle course, as well as a fair amount of eating! They will have a Problem-Solving day in school on Thursday. Y4 have been out ice-skating.

All these activities are planned in as part of the IB programmes taking learning outside the classroom and enriching the curriculum.

Student Council Shop. This week, the Student Council Shop has opened for business on the Dragon Court. The Student Council Shop will be open every day at lunch from 12-12:30. We try to keep the food choices healthy but there are one or two snacks such as mini Oreo cookies available. We also sell pens and notebooks. The Student Council Shop has several benefits for Hanova students. First, students of all ages will be able to show that they can take responsibility for keeping litter from Shop items off the school grounds and maintain a clean school. Second, all profits from the Shop will go into the Student Council budget that will be used to benefit the school (e.g. we bought 2 extra pingpong tables last year) or charity. Finally, students running the shop get experience with operating a real business and customers can learn to be responsible with money. Of course, it is up to parents if they choose not to allow their children to have pocket money to spend at the shop.

There are a few rules that students are expected to follow if they use the Student Council Shop. First, students must not share food of any kind with others or buy shop items for their friends. This is important because we do have some students with various food allergies. Another rule is that students must not borrow money from their friends to buy Shop items. Students who break these rules may be banned from using the Shop for a period of time.

List of Student Council Shop items and prices:

Milk – 3RMB Juice Box – 3RMB Apple Chips – 2RMB Mango Chips – 7RMB Energy Bar – 6RMB

Mini Oreos – 3RMB Noodle Soup – 5RMB Pens/Pencils – 3RMB Mini Notebook – 5RMB Erasers – 2RMB

Best regards,

Martin Hughes

 

Forthcoming events                

Monday, 11^th to Thursday, 14^th Y5 and 6 Day Trips and Problem Solving

Tuesday, 12^th to Friday, 15^th Year 7-9 Exams

Tuesday, 12^th to Sunday, 17^th Year 10-13 Residential to Yangshuo

Friday, 15^th                    No Primary Assembly

Monday, 18^th                University of St Andrews talk to Parents and Students 10am

Tuesday, 19^th to Saturday, 23^rd Year 7-9 Residential to Yangshuo

Thursday, 21^st               University of Dubai presentation to parents and students