What an incredible ending to an incredible first semester of 2018-19! So much has happened, I’m worrying that this newsletter may be too big!

It’s really difficult to choose the high-lights of the last two weeks – but here goes …

As you know, our PYP, MYP and Diploma students undertook a series of public performances at our partner hotels. Year 7 MYP Drama students performing a modern, musical version of Shakespeare’s play ‘Twelfth Night’ at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Our MYP Orchestra performed live at the Gran Melia Hotel the following night. Their performance of the classical piece, ‘Ode to Joy’, gave the occasion an atmosphere of culture and elegance.

Other students performed at other venues; Years 4 and 8 played for the guests at Shangri La Hotel and, the following Monday, our Year 1 students sang at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Photos of these events can be found in the Primary School news.

All of these accomplishments seemed to culminate with our annual Christmas Market and Winter Concert last Saturday. In spite of the freezing cold conditions, we actually lost count of the number of our community who braved the cold.

The various crafts activities were a great success and our children enjoyed making snow globes, candy-cane ornaments, furry mittens and bead necklaces among other things.

We had more than 20 external vendors, selling everything from imported food and wines, jewelry, hand-made soap, ice-cream, coffee, mulled wine, barbecue and pizza.

As is now a Hanova traditional, our Christmas Market featured wonderful lunches prepared and served by the top hotels in Xi’an; Shangri La, Gran Melia, Marriott and, this year, Grand Hyatt. This year there was a wider range of food available and each menu chosen was sold by ticket. Our community enjoyed dishes from Spain, Germany, China, Asia and other international cuisines.

All the monies raised by hotel food tickets, ‘lucky draw’ and the craft activities were collated on the day, and it was with great pleasure that we were able to formally hand over a cheque for 43,181 RMB to our chosen charity, Chunshan Educational Foundation.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our hotel partners, the community vendors, the staff and students for making the Christmas Market 2018 such a success.

News from Secondary School. Before we celebrate the achievements of our students and staff in Secondary School, there are a couple of future events to remember.

On Friday morning, Secondary School celebrates the achievements of its students in our annual Awards Assembly. Students in Years 7 to 13 will be awarded certificates for academic excellence and for IB Learner Profile attributes. We strongly encourage our parents to attend.

After the winter holidays, parents of Years 9 to 11 are encouraged to attend the IB Diploma information workshop on Friday, 18th January. Students and parents of Years 9 to 11 will receive information on the various Year 12 IB Diploma subjects that are available, how to choose them and what the selection procedure is.

The first ever Arts Assembly was held on Friday November 30th, and it was a smashing success!

Thank you to all of those who attended, took pictures, made videos, posted on their moments, and applauded with great enthusiasm for the children!

The Year 7JL Music class, taught by Ms. Krystal Jiang, performed by using their newly taught skills on both eastern & western instruments!

Special congratulations to Drake Gallerno and Tony Wang to performed solos on two traditional Chinese instruments.

Next on stage were the Year 7 DM Drama class, taught by Ms. Jennifer Lazareck, who performed a modern jukebox musical adaptation of William Shakespeare’s comedy ‘Twelfth Night.’

As the final act of our Arts Assembly, the Year 11’s performed the satirical play, ‘The Wedding Party’ by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. The actors presented caricatures of stereotypes we find in society and their words and actions not only made us laugh but made us think about hypocrisy, pretence and greed we find around us today.

These Dramatic performances were created by the students, as they had to work both on and back stage to create their pieces. The promotional poster, programme, props, costumes, and soundtrack were all collected and prepared by the students to support their show and demonstrate all of their newly learnt skills in the performing Arts focusing on cooperation, and creativity. The songs for the were chosen for their lyrics or emotional tone that represent what happens in the scene.

A special thank you is also needed to show our appreciation for our DP students who volunteered as our Crew and House Managers on the day! These students showed their caring and community/school spirit as they supported the Arts teachers & students to help ensure that the Arts Assembly ran smoothly. Thank you for your responsible selves; your help was greatly appreciated!

News from Primary School. The Year 1 students performed beautifully at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Monday evening and were rewarded by the hotel with a lovely buffet dinner.

Nursery and Reception classes performed ‘Gingerbread Forest’, which was all about being kind to others; thanks to Ms. Jessie and Ms. Zoe, Ms. Ashley and Ms. Judith, for their coordination. Year 1 who performed ‘International Stop’; a song about visiting other cultures around the world. Thanks to Ms. Crockford and Ms. Sunny for their guidance.

Thanks to Mr. Haigh and Ms. Jennifer, Year 5, brought us an unusual play called ‘Whoville’, which was a tale about good will during this festive season. Year 2 performed a musical play named ‘Outer Space’, which is all about the scientific reasons behind the season of Winter. What amazing costumes. Thanks go to Mrs. Rice, Ms. Wang, Ms. Maggie and Ms. Morena.

Possibly something to do with the fact one Year 6 teacher comes from the Antipodes, the Year 6 classes performed a musical play called, ‘Southern Hemisphere’. This humorous play featured the students having their Christmas celebrations on the beach, as they do in Australia and New Zealand. A big ‘shout out’ to Ms. Alana and Ms. Stephanie.

The Year 3 classes brought a little glamour and style to the show with their ‘Winter Ball’ performance. The formal dancing brought a lot of laughs from our auditorium audience. Thanks to Ms. Petra, Ms. Ashley and Ms. Amber for their efforts.

More merriment was brought on by Year 4, whose ‘A Winter Wood’ performance was both visibly and audibly intriguing – especially the serenade of owls in front of the Moon!

Thanks to Ms. Sierra and Ms. Yeri for their support here too.

And, to finish the event with a grand finale, the whole of Primary School crammed themselves onto the stage to sing ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’.

Great fun was had by all. Again, we’d like to think the parents, staff, Teaching Assistants for their continued effort and support. Particular thanks go to Mr. Giovani Sorano, Mr. Dylan Trull, Ms. Krystal Jiang and the Faculty of Arts for their work on the music, staging, stage set and costumes.

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:

Thursday, 13th December – PYP Year 2 Performance at Marriott Hotel

Friday, 14th December – MYP Awards Celebration Assembly

Friday, 14th December – Last day of school!

Monday, 7th January – First Day of Semester Two

Friday, 18th January – IB Diploma Information Workshop for Years 9 to 11