A lot has been achieved by our students and staff over the last semester, and I think we’d all agree that Hanova International School has seen significant, positive developments this year.
However, with the last few weeks remaining, with major events such as our Christmas Market, Winter Concert and the five public performances across Xi’an, this festive season should also be a time where we, as a school community, reflect upon what our priorities are.
For those of us who have been in other international schools – especially IB World Schools – experience shows that there is one major factor in what makes a successful school. And that factor is, quite simply, good will.
If we think about it for a moment, good will lies behind every achievement in a school. Let’s look at a few examples in Hanova over the last week.
That lovely, beautifully- decorated Christmas tree in the school lobby, that makes our children smile as they come into school. It wouldn’t have been there were it not for a few parents who gave up their time to set it up.
Over the weekend, Hanova hosted the regional finals of a national schools debating league. In addition to those of our students who participated, several more gave up their weekend to volunteer in helping out – including our Year 13 Diploma students who are facing the imminent submissions of their Extended Essay and TOK Essay, upon which their Diplomas depend.
Faced with the possibility of our children suffering because of unreliable sources outside the school, the operations and maintenance staff spent all night on Friday installing back-up heaters in all our classrooms.
Students and staff across the whole school have been giving up their own time to prepare for the forthcoming musical and dramatic performances across Xi’an. We hope that their good-will is appreciated by our community’s support for these events.
And, on this note, I’d like to remind everyone that the MYP Orchestra – led by Mrs. Kim, Sophia Kim and Jennifer Kwon – will be performing at the Gran Melia Hotel on Saturday, 1stDecember at 6.30pm.
School Charity – Chunshan Education Foundation. One of the fundamental tenets of the IB Diploma CAS programme is ‘think global; act local’. We are really happy that we have found a worthwhile beneficiary this year to whom we will donate funds that the Hanova community has so generously raised last year and this year.
Chunshan Education Foundation (http://www.chunshan.org), located in Xi’an, is a charity group registered with the Shaanxi Provincial Civil Affairs Department. Chunshan Education Foundation was founded in 2006, focusing on educational development of students from ages 6 to 20 in Shaanxi rural areas. There are two charity proposals that Chunshan Education Foundation is focusing on now: the counselling services for college students from rural areas and the library projects.
Since 2009, Chunshan Education Foundation has donated over 107 libraries in Shaanxi rural areas. And they provide reading training sessions for over 600 teachers in those areas as well. This year, Hanova will raise money and make the donation to the library project. The money will be used to build a library in one of the schools in rural areas.
It is hoped that our students will be involved in the construction and implementation of the library that our donations will found.
News from Secondary School
National High Schools Debate League of China (NHSDLC) – Regional Finals. Over the last weekend, more than 140 students from all over China gathered here at Hanova for the NHSDLC regional finals. Coming from as far afield as Ningbo, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou, students from local and ‘international section’ schools competed over several rounds on Saturday to win places in the finals on Sunday.
Many congratulations to the Hanova students who competed – especially Katherine Chung and Pelin Kayacik who got through to the last 8 students in the quarter finals.
We would like to express our gratitude again the Hanova staff and students who gave up their time over the weekend to help this event run smoothly.
Arts Assembly – Friday, 30th November. Don’t forget the up-coming Arts Assembly that will take place on Friday afternoon in our Auditorium. Here is the running order of performances:
Y7 MUSIC
‘Yan Hua Yi Leng’ – Chinese pop song
‘Yue Guang Xia De Feng Wei Zhu’ – Chinese folk song
Hulusi solo performance by Drake Gallerno
Y7 Drama
‘Twelfth Night’ Jukebox musical. Originally a seasonal play by
Y11 Drama
‘The Wedding’ by Anton Checkov
All parents and our community are welcome to attend. Please be reminded that the performances are part of their MYP Arts studies and will be assessed on the day.
News from Primary School
‘Mother Tongue’ Programme in Years 3-6. Vision: We endeavour to “teach through the language” by helping students to connect their Mother Tongue with the language of instruction at Hanova.
Knowledge of and correct use of vocabulary used at school in Mathematics, Units of Inquiry, Literacy, and Learner Profile.
Enjoying reading in their mother tongue whether independently, with others or listening and responding to stories read by adults.
The first focus in our ‘Mother Tongue’ Programme this semester was on students discussing the IB Learner Profile attributes in their home language. Students were grouped according to their Mother Tongue, where possible, with students from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 in each group.
Students discussed and created posters about the ten learner profile attributes in Chinese, Korean, German and English. These will be displayed around our school.
Ask your child to tell you what the learner profile attributes mean to them, in your Mother Tongue.
We thank the Upper Years and Specialist Teachers for organising these learning sessions, and especially the parents and Year 11 students who have supported the students in their own Mother Tongue.
“It’s Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!” The foyer has a more festive holiday look – a special thank you to those moms who came in to decorate the Hanova Christmas tree. We really appreciate your help in spreading holiday cheer! There were so many “oohs” and “aahs” as the students discovered the newly placed décor.
Year 4 ‘Chore-A-Thon’ The news from PYP Year 4 is that they have a new addition to the class. Their new friend has four legs and is very furry.
Welcome to the Hanova family, ‘Star’ the hamster!
The Year 4 students would like to thank everyone for their support of their class pet. The students are VERY excited and we think this will be a great way to build community, practice responsibility and kindness and learn in an authentic way!
To raise funds to maintain the pet, Year 4 students are undertaking a ‘Chore-A-Thon’. A chore can be any job that the child can do independently or with just a little help. (i.e. cleaning their room, washing the dishes, sweeping the floors, playing/reading to younger siblings…etc)
With this iniatitive, the students are learning to take responsibility for our learning and show kindness by caring for a class pet.
Parents are asked to choose a small amount of money that they will pay their child for 30 minutes of work done around the house, or a chore.
Thanks again for your continuing support.
Yours,
Robert C. Muntzer
Upcoming Events
Please take note of these dates. As soon as they are confirmed, we will inform you about any additional events and activities that may take place in the following weeks:
Saturday 24-25 November National High School Debate League of China
Friday, 30th November MYP Arts Assembly
Friday, 30th November Hanova PYP and MYP students’ performance at Shangri La Hotel, 6.30pm
Friday, 30th November Hanova MYP students’ performance at Crowne Plaza Hotel, 6.30pm
Saturday, 1st December Hanova MYP Orchestra performance at Gran Melia Hotel, 7.00pm
Monday, 3rd December Hanova PYP Year 1 and MYP students’ performance at Grand Hyatt Hotel, 6.30pm
Saturday, 8th December Christmas Market and Winter Concert, 10.00am to 2.00pm
Friday, 14th December MYP Awards Celebration Assembly
Friday, 14th December Last day of school!
