Featured in this section are photos of our PYP students undertaking various activities and games as part of their ECA programme. Thanks to Goden Zhou for his contributions.
IB Diploma Programme. It’s hard to believe that this is the fifth year of our IB Diploma Programme (IB DP) at Hanova. With two very successful examination graduations behind us, and our third examination cohort this year, we are reviewing and further improving our IB DP experience for our students. Please see the Secondary School section for more news.
Hanova Scholarship Programme. We are happy to announce that the Board of Hanova International School is continuing to offer student scholarships in its MYP and IB Diploma programmes in the academic year 2019-20. Our scholarship scheme is open to all families in Years 7 to 13. Successful applicants are evaluated according to academic merit, and will be awarded a discount to school fees on a case by case basis.
If any family would like to apply for the scholarship scheme, please contact Jane directly on jane.lei@his-xian.com and arrange an initial meeting.
Languages Steering Committee. As has been previously mentioned, this academic year, Hanova is embarked on a series of reviews to consolidate and improve upon what we already have in place. Again, as part of our aims for 2018-19, we are involving the wider school community.
So it is with pleasure that we can report that our Languages Steering Committee (LSC) has had its first full meeting. We would like to thank the representatives from our student body and our parental community for taking part.
So far we have identified areas for improvement, using guidelines published by IB. Our next aim is to review and develop a whole school languages philosophy, which will then be manifested in a revised policy and practice.
We would welcome any parent in Primary to take part in the LSC; it would only mean attending two or three meetings over the next few months. Please contact me directly if you think you can help.
Another great initiative took place last week – the Student Forum was established in Secondary School. More details can be found later in the Newsletter.
Health and Safety Policies and Procedures. We have been busy reviewing the various policies and practices that form the basis of our pastoral care system. Different working groups are being established to look at Child Protection, Internet Safety and e-Learning, Emergency Evacuation and school buses to name a few. Once reviews are completed and approved by the Board, the key features will be shared with the community.
Student ID Cards. We are happy to announce that the design for the Hanova Student ID Card has been approved and that we are currently researching suppliers for their production. We hope that the cards can be issued before the end of the school year.
School Food. We are currently negotiating a contract with Hilton Hotels to continue providing our children with high quality school food. So far, feed-back from the students seems favorable. Please be reminded that, in order for Hilton to continue its high quality service, we need to have a minimum of 40 school lunch orders per day. If you would like to know more about ordering school food, please contact Lana on lana.li@his-xian.com
News from Primary School:
Year 6 PYP Exhibition Update. The PYP exhibition in Year Six represents a significant event in the life of a PYP school student, synthesizing the essential elements of the PYP and sharing them with the whole school community. As a culminating experience it is an opportunity for students to exhibit the attributes of the IB learner profile that have been developing throughout their engagement with the PYP.
The Year Six exhibition is well under way! Here is what some of our students have to say about what the PYPX is about…
“PYPX is a time that we can express our ideas, show cooperation and take real and big actions in the real world and for global issues. Our theme for exhibition is “How we express ourselves”. We are looking at how we can use our passions and ways we express ourselves to take action towards a global issue. PYPX (PYP Exhibition) also helps prepare us for MYP and we can show what we have learnt in PYP for six years.” Coco and Adele Year 6b
“PYP Exhibition is all about developing our thinking and showing our learning. We have learnt all about teamwork and we have learnt that we need to talk to each other to get ideas and to learn together. ” Benny Year 6a
Stay tuned for more progress on the PYP Exhibition!
Year 4 EOTC to Banpo Neolithic Village. Year 4 visited Banpo Village Museum. We had a great day making connections to our UOI (Unit Of Inquiry) and traveling back in time to understand what life was like 6, 000 years ago. We also spent time sketching a man-made landscape for Art class. We will add detail and color back at school.
The following stories and illustrations were created in Shared Writing and use the perspective of living in Banpo Village 6, 000 years ago…
If we lived in Banpo Village 6, 000 years ago… we will live in a mud house. It is warm and cozy in the winter. We will pick grapes and some fruits. We will hunt deer and catch some fish. We will plant some grain and make weapons out of rocks. We will get water from the lake every day and in winter we need to collect wood every day. We feel tired and happy because we get to spend the day in nature.
If we lived in Banpo Village 6, 000 years ago… we will live in a big house. Inside it has a place that we can put some food, it also has a huge fire pit at the center of the house. But it is not warm at all, so in the winter it is so cold and in the summer it is too hot! Outside is so cold too but I must go out to plant food and to hunt for food. My friend died because he was so cold and he got a terrible sickness. I am happy because I do not go to school but every afternoon I need to work!
If we lived in Banpo Village 6, 000 years ago… my house is cone shaped. We used hay, mud and wood to build it. The hay is yellow, the mud and wood is brown. Our house is covered with hay and mud. Our house has a fire pit in the center. The fire makes our house warm even when it is very, very cold in the winter. It took us seven months to build the house. Our house is in Banpo Village. Our village is small but it is good place to live because there are a lot of plants, fruits and animals to help us survive.
PYP ‘Readathon’ and Door Display Competition. As can be seen in the following photos, all the Primary students enjoyed their ‘Readathon’ activities – and some took a well-earned rest!
The winners of the ‘Door Display’ competition were：Year 1 for ‘Most Creative’, Year 4 for ‘Most Child Directed’ and, pictured below, Year 2a for ‘Most Inspiring’. Well done to all the students and their teachers for their effort and support.
News from Secondary School. Featured throughout this section are photographs of our Secondary School ECA programme. We have some even more exciting options this semester; web-site design and programming, 3D model printing, traditional Chinese board games, modelling, film making among others!
IB DIPLOMA Newsletter. In order for us to more effectively communicate with our Pre-DP (Year 11) and Diploma students and parents, we are going to introduce a regular IB Diploma Newsletter. This will be translated and emailed to parents of students in Years 11 to 13. Here are a few items for your immediate attention.
IB DP Year 13 Study Leave. As is indicated on the School Calendar, the Year 13 DP Study Leave starts on Monday, 15thApril. Therefore, the last scheduled lessons end on Friday, 12thApril. After consultation with Board, it has been decided that students must attend school but are not obliged to attend classes. Additional revision classes may be offered but otherwise students should be allowed to follow their own priorities and, of course, their teachers are available for last-minute guidance.
IB DP Year 11 Subject Options. IB DP subjects being chosen by our Year 11 students have been reviewed by the DP teaching staff to ensure that the right subjects and levels are being chosen, and that the student will be able to access that subject.
These student choices have now been arranged into DP subject blocks that are the basis of the new school timetable, which we hope to release before the end of the year.
Depending upon a case by case basis, there will be subsequent individual meetings between students and the IB Diploma Coordinator.
Once these meetings have taken place, parents and students will receive written confirmation of their provisional DP subject choices.
As part of our development of our IB Diploma programme at Hanova, we are introducing some new initiatives to ensure that our students are making the right choices. So parents and students should be aware that these provisional choices will be only be finally confirmed after several more stages.
Just as we did last year, there will be a two week ‘Pre-DP’ programme at the end of this academic year for Year 11. Not only will the students benefit from having ‘real’ IB DP subject classes, activities in CAS and TOK workshops.
A new initiative this year is to include some authentic IB Diploma subject assessments – effectively ‘end of year exams’ for Year 11. When we say ‘authentic’, the exams will be based upon ‘real’ Diploma assessment components and assessed using the ‘real’ IB DP assessment criteria where appropriate.
These assessments will differ from subject to subject but the subject leader will make it clear to students from the beginning what they are being prepared for. So, for example, those students in DP English A Language and Literature could have a FOA (Further Oral Activity) presentation to do or they could have a Paper 1 Written Commentary to do.
Please note that the results of these ‘Pre-DP’ Year 11 exams will not be counted as part of their final MYP report. The purpose of these exams is to indicate how well a student could do in the ‘real’ Diploma subjects and to evaluate if they are capable of doing a subject.
Over the summer holidays, our Year 11 students will have some preparatory work to do in their subjects. This may be reading a novel for Languages A, research into some topics for Humanities and Sciences etc.
When they start their Year 12, they will be another Diploma Orientation Week but this will mainly focus on subject lessons and core component workshops.
In the middle of September, the students’ subjects and levels will be confirmed. Thereafter, no changes of DP subjects will be allowed unless there is an exceptional case. In this instance, the Principal will make a final decision.
Please keep an eye open for the emailed IB Diploma Newsletter!
Secondary School ‘Student Forum’. Some of our parents may remember the days when we started a Student Council, which seemed to ‘fizzle out’. However, last week there were some really exciting developments – the formal establishment of a student led and organized ‘Student Forum’. Our Head Boy and Head Girl, with the Deputy Heads have shared this vision with the Secondary School students already, and we have already had nominations and volunteers as year group representatives.
One of the aims of this student body is to find ways of improving communication channels and learning experiences for Hanova students – from a students’ perspective. Exciting times!
IB Diploma CAS Award. As part of the CAS requirement for DP students, some of our Year 12 and 13 students have completed volunteer service for the Yellow River Soup Kitchen; an organization which serves people who are homeless or in need of assistance in Xi’an and surrounding areas. Hanova has supported this worthy charity since 2014 by raising funds at Carnival. The leader and founder of the Yellow River Soup Kitchen, Mr. Tony Day, presented an award acknowledging the assistance of Hanova to our CAS Coordinator, Mr. Gallerno, to deliver to our students. He would have liked to give the certificate in person, but he is usually very busy arranging daily meals, organizing and delivering clothes donations, and the multitude of other activities that the Yellow River Soup Kitchen is involved with. Congratulations to all of the Hanova students and community members from the past, present, and future who provide volunteer service or donations to this charity. For those who wish to find out more information about the Yellow River Soup Kitchen, follow this link: http://www.yellowrivercharity.com/en/videos/yixi-china-ted-talk-the-story-of-11-years-of-chinas-first-soup-kitchen
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:
Wednesday, 27th March Year 13 IB DP Full Reports 2/6
Friday, 29th March MYP Interim Reports Issued
Friday, 29th March Qingming Holiday begins
Monday, 15th April Year 13 DP Study Leave begins
Thursday, 18th April PYP Sports Day
Friday, 19th April MYP Sports Day
Monday, 6th May Year 13 IB Diploma exams begin
