Upcoming Events

Parents wishing to be involved with the PYP Authorisation should contact Bonnie Ma at bonnie.ma@mea-international.com.  PYP Authorisation will be held 19-20 April.

School Holidays are coming up and we finish Term 4 on Friday 20 April.  We return to school on Wednesday 2 May for the start of Term 4.

IB PYP and DP Authorisation Visits

The IB Authorisation visits are booked for the week starting 15 April, 2012.  Parents wishing to be involved in the Authorisation process can email enquiries@mea-international.com

Check our Year Level Curriculum Handbooks.  Second, updated edition.  These handbooks will now be available via ManageBac for parents.  Contact your teacher for more information.


Earth Spirit Week Activities to be announced here on 20 April and via a special announcement on the 20th.

Monday 7 May - 
Tuesday 8 May -
Wednesday 9 May -
Thursday 10 May -
Friday 11 May - 

Students visited University of Nottingham for an Out Reach weekend and Open Day on April 7th and 8th.

For more photos visit our High School website.

English I 中文

Please note that our new website has been launched at www.mea-international.com

Newsletter 9 April, 2012

Dear Parents and Friends,

Student Led Conferences
Thanks to all parents and friends who attended our Primary Years Student Led Conference (SLC) this past weekend.  I delayed the publication of this newsletter so we could post some photos of students explaining their work and learning this academic year.  I am sure you will join with me in congratulating both teachers and students for their hard work.  The digital portfolios that were on display are a new initiative.  Previously we had employed paper copies of portfolios.  However, we found that many hours of teacher work went into preparing a hard copy of a portfolio.  We consider the digital portfolio a natural progression for the school.  The benefits are:
 1. teachers get to spend more time to concentrate on the teaching and learning process,
2. we are now able to upload videos and photos more readily,
3. we waste less paper and produce a "greener product", and
4. the development allows a more continuous production of the portfolio.
Having gone through the process of producing the portfolios in several formats over the past three years has enabled us to hone our requirements for this form of assessment.  I believe the portfolios that will be produced by the end of the year will be a true reflection of the learning progress and outcomes achieved by students over their time at MEA.  I thank you for being patient as we refine this product.

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Outreach weekend at UNNC

Our Year 10 students visited University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus (UNNC) last weekend.  From the reports from students and teachers this was a fabulous success.  It is useful for our students to start to learn about university life and explore their pathways to university.  We are particularly grateful to Professor Gethin Wyn Roberts and Ms Judith Guttesen for helping make this possible for our students.

Spirit Week

Our Year 4-5 students have been studying how media impacts our lives and last week visited the Yinzhou television station.  The students had a wonderful time and were on air twice last week as part of the television station's coverage.  The students now want to extend their work in media and promote a Spirit Week starting the 7th of May.  They have some fun plans for the week and will use this opportunity to fund raise for a worthy cause.  Watch this space for more details.

Photos of visit to Yinzhou Television Station also available on the Year 4-5 website.

Facility Development

Our senior students have started to use a new timetable, having chosen their higher level (HL) and standard level (SL) subjects that they wish to study within the Diploma Programme (DP).  As part of their move to more independent learners they are now using a new library space in the Administration building of Hua Mao.  In anticipation of a growing cohort of students we are now planning to add an Art and Music suite within the Administration building and additional classrooms.  It is envisaged that we will take increasingly more space within this building as MEA grows.  Therefore MEA will start to occupy two builds - our curent space and the Administration block.  For those that wish to tour the new facilities, please contact Bonnie Ma, Assistant to the Principal at bonnie.ma@mea-international.com

Hua Mao is also planning to renovate the Science Museum space and include a cinema.  The plans are extensive and incorporate 4 floors of the building.  As our plans for development are finalised we will involve the parent body. 

MEA Community Links

We would like to reinvigorate how the school links with our local community.  Our students are looking at a number of initiatives in what we call Community, Action and Service (CAS).  We would like to involve our parent body in the same fashion through an organisation called MEA Community Links.  What this entails is:

     - fostering relationships with local businesses via focus groups
     - helping families that are new to Ningbo
     - looking at ways in which MEA can better engage with our community and build the best school that services that                         community.
     - a focus on projects such as how we market and communicate with the wider public about our school

We will be contacting parents to ask them to assist us where we see parents have a skill set that would be invaluable to help us achieve our goals.  However, we would like all parents to feel they can join us in this endeavor.  Please contact bonnie.ma@mea-international.com if you would like to be involved.

Drop and Pick Up times in the Pre-school

Please be aware of our policy regarding drop off times of your child.  It is disruptive to the class when children arrive late.  Those that arrive at 9:30am or later in Term 4 will receive a late slip.  If you receive a number of late slips this may affect the ability for your child to migrate to the next year level.  If you would like more information regarding this policy and procedure, please contact the Pre-school Coordinator, Ms Twilite Sagun at twilite.sagun@mea-international.com

We are facing a busy end to the term with our DP and PYP authorisation visits not far away.  Everyone has been working hard and will deserve a well-earned rest.  I hope this provides you with valuable time for your family.

Ivan Moore
PRINCIPAL