Dear Parents,
I hope that today’s email finds you all well and that you are making the most of this beautiful Xi’an weather! Last weekend, XLIS hosted the ACAMIS Spring Leadership Conference. The theme of the conference was “The Power of Community – building (communities), engagement, wellbeing and inclusion”. This was the biggest conference held to date by ACAMIS as we welcomed top, middle and divisional leaders from all over China and Mongolia. The event was a huge success because we, at XLIS, place such a high value on being a community. This is why it is included in both our mission and vision statements. The XLIS Choir and Concert Band opened each day with incredible performances. Thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement for your children.
In today’s email, I would like to highlight some upcoming events, gather some feedback for next year’s classes, and share a recommended book list for each year level (starting from P1).
Upcoming Events
PYP Exhibition
Wednesday, April 30th
The PYP Exhibition marks the end of the students’ journey through the Primary Years Programme and allows them to showcase all they have learned in their time in the PYP. This year, the groups inquired into these 10 topics:
1. Robots in Daily Life
2. Video Games
3. K-Pop
4. Deforestation
5. Coding in Curriculums
6. Arts
7. Animals
8. Addiction
9. Sports
10. Ancient Civilizations
The day is sure to be exciting as we watch our confident P6 students take the stage to present their learning to the XLIS community!
Parent Workshop May 8th
Title: Inquiry-based Mathematics
Led by Ms. Julia Fan and Ms. Shevon Hu, the P6C teaching team
During this session, we will explore how students learn math within the PYP framework. We’ll discuss the benefits of an inquiry-based approach, highlighting how it motivates students and fosters a deeper interest in mathematics. Together, we will look at some home support strategies.
Classes for the 2025-2026 year
The students’ social-emotional well-being is very important to us at XLIS. There are many factors that we consider when making the classes for the next academic year. We must ensure that the classes are well balanced with boys/girls, English proficiency level, nationalities, behaviours, etc. Now is the time our teachers and me will look at current classes and make decisions about which students learn well together and which students may be better in separate classes next year.
I am happy to receive feedback from parents about students your son or daughter gets along well with and would like to be in a class with. You may send this to me before May 23rd, as after this time the classes will be sorted and changes will not be possible. If you could let me know 2-3 students your child would like to be in a class with, I can ensure they will be with at least 1.
Please do not send requests for specific teachers, as I am not able to assign students to teachers based on parent requests. I am only seeking feedback on peer relationships and believe that having a friend in the class is important for children to feel happy at school.
Recommended books for XLIS students to read
Reading is one of the most important skills students develop over the course of their school lives. It not only happens in the early literacy years, but over many years. At XLIS, our first goal as a school is to support our students in their English language acquisition, and reading English books is an important part of that development.
Our school librarian, Mr. Jessie Yatar, has created a reading list of recommended books for XLIS students in Primary from P1 – P6. Most of these books can be found in our school library. The books with the yellow highlight are not yet available in our collection yet, but will be soon. These books have been selected because they are age-appropriate and include topics of interest. I have attached the list to this email. Have you read any of these stories with your child? Do you have any other recommendations for books that your child has enjoyed reading? I would love to hear your feedback or recommendations.
Thank you again for your ongoing support of your children and the XLIS community. These last weeks of school are sure to go quickly, and I will enjoy the upcoming Exhibition, Student Led Conferences, and Summer Fair as opportunities to connect with our families.
Please reach out at any time, I love hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Marly Song
Email: marly.song@xalis.con
WeChat: principal_marly
