September is arriving. The new academic year has started with enthusiasm. We are proud and grateful for the effort that all students, parents, teachers and staff are providing to ensure we continue to increase our academic excellence.
We expect all parents and students, especially the new families, to become familiar with our community and our curriculum: the School Leadership and the Office have met as many parents and students as possible, but we continue to invite you to meet any of us in school at your earliest convenience. In addition, a number of information days and events are coming up for this purpose during September.
Finally, we have experienced some initial difficulties related, for which I want to apologize: we hope to resolve soon the current transportation difficulties that students and parents experience between the main gate and our school, and will keep you as informed as possible.
PYP Information Day. Our new PYP curriculum, after all the summer preparatory work, will be introduced to students and parents during a PYP Parent Information Session that will take place in the Auditorium on Friday August 28th, starting at 1:30pm.
During the first two weeks, a huge effort has been made by all PYP Teachers and Teaching Assistants to prepare and administer assessments, prepare levels and lessons, develop new resources and a coordinated approach for Mathematics, English Literacy and Mandarin Language, all including e-learning support. This will lead also to an increased use of computers and technology to integrate teaching and learning.
Secondary School Parents and Managebac. All new parents and existing parents will be receiving an email notification from Managebac shortly. It is very important that you follow the instructions carefully. The instructions will show you how to access Managebac. Once you access Managebac, parents will be able to monitor what their children are doing in all their subjects, what grades are being awarded for assessments, attendance and absences etc.
We will be having a parents meeting next week so that we can show parents how to navigate Managebac. Details will follow.
Upcoming university visits. Our University Counselor will soon be providing information about the upcoming visits of foreign universities during September and October, and in particular the organization of the first “Hanova College Fair”. On a single day, Hanova will host 4 foreign universities together, giving to our MYP and DP students the opportunity to think about and exchange ideas related to their academic and professional future.
After-school Extra Curricular Activities (ECAs). As anticipated, we plan to expand the extra-curricular activities offered by the school. The first block of our highly successful after-school ECA programme is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, 9th September, and we will keep you as informed as new activities are launched.
On Wednesdays, buses will leave Hanova about one hour later than usual and those who choose not to join ECAs must be picked up immediately after school by parents, because we do not offer staff supervision unless students participate in ECAs. A large variety of choices will be available for students, so we encourage parents to read through the ECA form with their child(ren) and select the top 3 activities that they are interested in. Some of these activities have a fee which should be paid as soon as possible after member lists have been completed. Look for ECA Forms to be sent home with your child(ren) and via email next week.
Yours,
Francesco Masetti-Placci