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Year 12 Theory of Knowledge Exhibition

Dear Parents and friends

Year 12 Theory of Knowledge Exhibition - Written by Mr John McGovern, MYP & DP Humanities. The DP1 class successfully held the TOK Exhibition, the first internal assessment of their diploma programme. For this exhibition each student had to choose three objects to display in the exhibition, linking each of them to one of the prompts that they had chosen. This year our students selected the following:

  • Why do we seek knowledge?
  • What are the implications of having, or not having, knowledge?
  • How important are material tools in the production or acquisition of knowledge?
  • In what ways do our values affect our acquisition of knowledge?
  • Can new knowledge change established values or beliefs?
  • Is bias inevitable in the production of knowledge?

The students used themes such as language, technology and religion, as well as knowledge and the knower, to explore their ideas. The exhibition has given them a chance to reflect on themselves as learners, asking the question how do I know what I know? It has also encouraged them to look critically at the knowledge around us, never accepting anything at face value and never forgetting the skill of asking 'why'.

If you have any questions about Theory of Knowledge in the DP then please send Mr McGovern an email any time: john.mcgovern@his-xian.com

U14 Boys Footballers Dominate the Chan Ba Trophy - Written by Mr Paul Robinson, Director of Sports. We recently held the U14 Chan Ba Trophy for boys at the Hanova campus. In conditions that were significantly worse (if that was possible) than the U19 Chan Ba Trophy tournament the team under the guidance and tutelage of Mr. Dušan played some scintillating football racking up some really big victories. Playing in the rain, on a field that had water lying on it presents a very different challenge, but the Hawks team were open-minded, prepared to take risks and showed incredible ability to adapt to the situation.

Click here to see the 'U14 Chan Ba Trophy' photo album

The team played with great quality throughout their 3 games defeating XIS 8-1, Dehong International School 9-1 and XLIS 9-0, with some outstanding individual performances. At the end of the tournament Mr. Dušan had the difficult decision of who were going to be our 2 all-star team tournament nominations. These awards went to Jason Liu in acknowledgement of him standing in the rain for most of the day with little to do as the goalkeeper, and the outstanding captain Edán Hernández-Day.

Congratulations to our Boys- UNDER 14s CHAN BA TROPHY CHAMPIONS!!

I would also like to say a big thank-you to our parents who supported us in such bad weather in providing snacks for the players in between games and the other schools players, coaches and parents who were a credit to the Xi’an International School community.

Year 6 Exhibition 2023 - Written by Mr Bruce MacGregor, Year 6 Teacher.  Empowered to choose 22 different Topics, Year 6 students presented their Exhibition on May 4 and May 5. Students created the theme for Exhibition, Our Choice, Our Voice, Initiate Action. They lived up to the theme by engaging in Principled Actions to improve our local and global community. Students not only had individual responsibility to write a magazine article but also collaborative responsibility to create Art linked to the Trans disciplinary theme Who We Aresuch as Community and Family,Health and Well Being, and Rights and Responsibilities. The students really appreciated the mentors and everyone who supported Exhibition. Exhibition 2023 will have enduring Educational value in the 2023 Exhibition Magazine!

Early Years “Loose Parts” Workshop - Written by Mr Graeme Noble, Year 2 Teacher.  On Tuesday the 25th of April, parents from the Early Years were invited to a workshop hosted by Mr. Noble. Mr. Noble presented a workshop on loose parts play and how they can be used in the classroom to enhance inquiry-based learning. He guided parents through a presentation of what loose parts are and why we use them. One of the key points made by Mr. Noble was how wonderfully loose parts play connect with the ATL skills promoted by the IB. After the presentation, parents were given an opportunity to show their creativity by using loose parts to explore, make and build. Some used loose parts to make animals, some used them to make words, some used them to make shapes and others used them to show emotions. For the last part of the workshop, we all reflected on our work together and used that as an opportunity to learn from each other using our communication skills. It was a terrific afternoon of inquiring and learning.

Charity Kindergarten Donation - Written by Nesta Silvestri, Year 5B Student.  On the 13th of April 2023, I took a day off school and me, my dad and some of his colleagues drove two hours to Chakoupu Kindergarten in Ba Qiao Town. We were visiting the kindergarten to deliver some donations to the children there, because they live in an area without many resources.

I decided to donate some of my toys and two backpacks. My dad and his colleagues donated soap and yummy cookies. The soap came from an organisation who help poorer areas with hygiene to protect their health.

The children barely had any toys before we arrived. I got to eat some yummy cookies as well! Sometimes I feel sad about giving my toys away, but it’s fine. I wanted to play on the roundabout so much, and told my dad so many times. When I finally got on it I made it go so fast I nearly got thrown out of my seat! There was a little boy who couldn’t talk, who loved it when I whizzed him around on the roundabout. I had lunch at the kindergarten which was rice, noodles and seaweed soup.

I have been donating my toys like this since I was two years old and I try to do it at least once a year. As well as giving toys away, it’s important to also share some time with those receiving them to see the joy they bring. We do it because these children have barely any toys and it makes us feel good.

Girls Footballers Win Inaugural Secondary Chan Ba Trophy.  The girls also took part in the first-ever girls secondary school Chan Ba Trophy with XIS and XLIS. This was a 5-a-side tournament and was under threat because of pitch conditions that would have been detrimental to the girls footballing development. Fortunately, we are blessed with a fantastic facility here at Hanova so we made the decision to take the girls competition into the gym, where we made a 5-a-side court.

The team were again open-minded about this change and showed great skills to adapt to the situation so quickly. Our first game was against XIS and the female Hawks ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, with the 3rd goal of the game being something to be proud of at any level of football. The second game of the day was possibly going to be a tense affair, as it was winner takes the champions trophy against XLIS. However, our girls played a calm, assured, performance and in the end won the game 3-0.

The way the girls tried to pass and move displayed really good knowledge of how to play in invasion games and their quality deservedly shone through, meaning that the Hanova Hawks girls football team are the 2023 Chan Ba Trophy Champions! Our All-Star team nominations were Faith Gibbs and Alice Zhang.

Thank you to parents, the school nurse, Ms Carrie, Mr Goden, Isabella’s father for taking photos throughout the day, and the admin team who ensured everything was set up for us. These events could not happen without your support.

Primary Girls Basketballers Make it a Super Saturday Trio of Trophies.  In what was a “Super Saturday” of sport the PYP girls’ basketball team went to XLIS to defend their Junior Chang’An Cup title with XIS and XLIS. Our young female Hawks had enjoyed success in their friendly games with comfortable victories but were to find that tournament play can be a completely beast.

Both XLIS and XIS put up a great fight in the round-robin section of the games and nerves affected the team as in both games they were behind at half-time. However, after encouraging words from Mr. Jason, the girls showed incredible spirit and a willingness to work together as a team and the Hawks clawed their way back into the game, and ended up winning both games setting up a final with XIS.

The final was an extremely even game, that went one way and then the other. Leading by 2 points towards the end of the game, our female Hawks were incredibly resilient, courageous and committed in defence in order to maintain this lead until the final whistle sounded. Hanova Hawks, Junior Chang’An Cup Champions for the 2nd year in succession!!

All-Star team nominations were Grace Li and Anna Liu. Thank you to all of the parents that showed their support for the players and Mr. Jason.

We finish this academic year with the Grand-Slam of PYP, U14 and U19 girls’ basketball titles, which is an amazing achievement for all concerned.

Primary Boys Show Outstanding Commitment and Attitude at Junior Chang’An Cup.  Our PYP boys’ basketball team was also in action on Saturday at XLIS, with XIS, Dehong and Kangchiao being the other schools involved. This season has been one where the focus has been on the development of the boys. After some difficult moments during the regular season extra practices were put on by Mr. Sam to help the players develop and hone their skills. We saw the boys record a victory during the season.

Throughout the tournament itself the players showed tremendous dedication, work ethic and had a very positive attitude and were so close to winning on a couple of occasions, which shows that our Hawks are closing the gap to the other schools. Ultimately, the boys did not win a game, but Mr. Sam was incredibly proud of how the Hawks team conducted themselves and the positive way in which they tried to play. Jacob Chen was nominated as All-Star team player with an honourable mention going to Leon Li.

The boys’ team are on a journey, and with the attitude they currently have will no doubt continue to improve, develop and be significantly stronger for these experiences.

Thank you to the parents for their support of the players and Mr. Sam throughout the basketball season- it is very much appreciated.

Upcoming Events

  • Friday 19th May: Secondary Sports Awards Assembly
  • Saturday 20th May: Hanova Community Cup Football (Parents, Teachers, U19 Hawks)
  • TBA: Primary Sports Awards Assembly

 


Former Head of School


Mr James McCrory

Former Head of School

Mr James McCrory was Hanova's Head of School for the 2022-23 school year. James graduated from Demontfort University in 1988 and worked in the commercial Design sector in Ireland, UK and Spain. He has worked in education since 1994 after completing his PGCE at Goldsmith’s College, London. The last 30 years in education includes 4 years in the UK, with the remaining years working divided between Spain, Japan and Kuwait, as well as leading schools in China over the last decade.


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