A fantastic start in Upper Primary! - written by Mr Andrew Symonds, Upper Years PYP Coordinator.  As we almost doubled the number of teaching staff in our section we began by welcoming a large number of new teachers and introducing them to the Hanova community. The enthusiasm which they brought with them immediately saw the school pulse back into life and the outside learning spaces evolve into a hive of activity, filled with provocations to help our students learn through inquiry and practice agency in their own learning.

We also welcomed a large contingent of new students and their families to the campus with our meet the family day before the returning students all joined us on Monday. Since then, the children have attended an assembly to learn a little bit more about what it means to be caring, they have begun establishing their classroom agreements and undertaking MAP assessments, which will assist teachers in targeting their own individual needs. They have also been exploring their new learning spaces and helping to make them their own.

We have really enjoyed having everybody back on campus and have big plans for the rest of the year.

Hanova Science Competition Challenge - written by Ms Shirley Qi, MYP Science Teacher.  We are proud to announce that Hanova secondary students have received the Big Science Competition (BSC) certificates during summer holiday. Nine of our secondary students participated in the BSC competition at the end of the last academic year, and six of them have won the award.

High distinction (China national top 10%):

• Zhuowen Liu (Year 10)
• Dacheng Gao (Year 10)
• Jiaqi Zhang (Year 8)

Distinction (China national top 25%):

• Peixin Chen (Year 7)

Credit (Regional top 10%):

• Xinran Lu (Year 9)
• Xiyao Zhang (Year 7)

In the last academic year, Hanova science faculty has offered international science competition for the first time to all secondary students. Our students have shown their enthusiasm to participate in various competitions. Our DP and MYP students participated in 9 competitions from Canada, Australia, and the UK and achieved impressive results. We will keep providing these opportunities to students who want to challenge themselves and all science faculty members will give their support to help them to improve not only in the academics but also in their creative and critical thinking.

Chinese Language Acquisition Exhibition - written by Mani Sasannejad, Year 11 Student.  Our summer holiday exhibition in Chinese Language Acquisition class was an exciting event where all MYP Chinese LA students shared their memorable experiences from their summer vacation.

On my first day of school, I was both nervous and eager to make new friends. Little did I know that the students in my class would play a significant role in helping me feel welcomed and included. When the idea of a summer holiday poster was proposed, I saw it as an opportunity to share my own holiday experience and a way to connect furthermore with my classmates.

Preparing for the poster for the exhibition was a bit of a challenge since my Chinese was not as good as my classmates. Each student was encouraged to create a visual display showcasing their summer holiday adventures. As a newcomer, I hadn’t known my classmates for long, but they approached me with warmth and enthusiasm. They offered me suggestions, helped me with vocabulary, shared their own stories, and even helped me brainstorm some ideas when I was stuck. It was really heartwarming to witness their interest in getting to know me and making me feel like a part of the class!

My classmate’s encouragement and involvement made me feel confident and proud to be part of the class. This exhibition did not only allow me to share my summer holiday, but also helped me to build friendship with my classmates as well as a sense of belonging in my new school, Hanova.

Movie Break at Secondary School library - written by Ms Lydia Song, Secondary School Librarian. Secondary School Library plays the movie, “Wonder”, during the lunch break from 8/28/2023, for MYP library lessons are currently about designing movie posters out of reading books. Teachers and students are welcomed to relax themselves by enjoying this heart-warming and educational movie.

Tang House Triumphs in STEAM Catapult Challenge - written by Mr Andrew Symonds, Upper Years PYP Coordinator.  Students from year 3 and year 4 participated in a fun and exciting STEAM competition last week, where they had to design and build a simple catapult using only a few materials. The challenge was to launch a small die as far as possible.

The competition was fierce, as each house tried to outdo the others with their simple and quick catapults. The students demonstrated their skills in science, technology, engineering, art and math, as well as teamwork, problem-solving and communication.

After several rounds of testing and measuring, the judges announced the winner: Tang House! Their catapult was able to launch the die over 1 metre, while also being sturdy, stable and stylish. The students from Tang House celebrated their victory with cheers and applause, while the other houses congratulated them on their achievement.

The STEAM catapult challenge was a great way to engage the students in hands-on learning and spark their curiosity and interest in STEAM subjects. The teachers and parents were proud of all the students for their enthusiasm, effort and excellence. Well done to everyone who participated, and especially to Tang House for their outstanding performance!

House activities – Early Years - written by Ms Isabella Helberg, Year 2 Teacher.  On Friday, 25 August we had House activities in the form of games for our Early Year students. Y1 and Y2 students were divided into their houses and then the games started with a hula-hoop relay race. Students had to run to a hula-hoop, climb in it and pull it over their heads and ran back to the start. Teammates were cheering each other on and it was great fun.

The next relay race: run to the hula-hoop with a bean bag and put the bag in the hula-hoop. The next one in line had to go fetch the bag and bring it back to the line.

Then students had to pass the bean bag either over their heads or between their legs to the next one in line – this was very funny and students had to use their communication skills to pass the bean bag quickly.

For the next game we had to form a line holding hands, and we had to let a hula-hoop slide along the line by climbing through it without letting our hands go – three teachers had to demonstrate it first! At first it looked challenging, but we showed off with our skills.

The last game was an obstacle race. We had to jump over three hurdles, and ran zig-zag between cones, turn at the last cone and run back. It was a lot of fun and some of us had been risk-takers by playing these games for the first time. We hope to have more of these fun games during House activities! Everybody was a winner!