We had a successful first day of school. After welcoming new students and teachers and discussing rules and procedures, we got right back to work. Our first learning task was to observe, sketch, and write about the rice we had planted last spring.
Please click on the image below to see some photos from our first day.
Filed under: News on September 1st, 2008
On May 12, 2008, we were invited to a local rice paddy to plant some baby rice plants. (<--Click to read about our rice planting adventures.) Here is what that rice looks like today.
The baby plants have gotten VERY tall indeed. There are many small leaves in the water. We should ask our farmer friends to tell us what they are.
There was also a small, skinny creature swimming in amongst the plants. Is this little guy helping the plants or hurting them? Maybe someone in Tsukuba can tell us.
Filed under: News on July 16th, 2008
Tsukuba International School now has a mailing list for people who want to be kept informed of what is happening at the school. The mailing list is “announcement-only”, not a discussion list, so members will only receive emails directly from the school, not from other members of the list. The list volume should be quite low, with only about one email sent out per month. We anticipate sending newsletters and other reports to the list so members can get a sense of what has been happening at the school.
The name of the list is “Friends of TIS” (hosted by Google Groups: http://groups.google.com/group/friendsoftis) and we hope that all people who are interested in the school (including current and former staff, students, and parents, people living in Tsukuba, and people who want to support the development of the school) will consider joining. If you are interested in being added to the list, please contact the school.
Filed under: News on June 26th, 2008
Today we had a drawing class, but it wasn’t the normal kind where we sit in our desks and draw something. Today we got to go outside and draw the things we saw around us.
It was a little bit hot, so we found some umbrellas to shield us from the heat. There was also some shade on the grass, so not all of us needed to use umbrellas.
Some of us drew pictures of trees and others drew pictures of animals and bugs. It was fun to spend some time outside!
Filed under: News on June 15th, 2008
Tsukuba International School (TIS) is currently accepting applications for the 2008-09 school year, which starts in September.
Tsukuba International School is a full-time elementary school (Grades 1 to 6) for children of all nationalities. It was founded in 1992 in response to the need for an English-based educational opportunity for students in the Tsukuba area. TIS is a non-profit and religiously-neutral organization. The school employs fully qualified native-English speaking teachers (currently from Australia, Canada, and the US).
TIS accepts students in grades 1 through 6. Students entering grade 1 must be 6 years old by December 31 of the current school year in order to be eligible for admission. This age requirement may be waived for transfer students who have completed at least one term of school elsewhere.
If you are interested in learning more about Tsukuba International School and our application procedures, please have a look at our website or contact the school directly.
Thank you for your interest in our school!
Filed under: Enrollment, News on June 1st, 2008
May 2008
In the Fall of 2006, I was asked to take over the management of Tsukuba International School (TIS). In April 2008, I officially became the head of the school.
There are currently around 7200 foreign residents of Tsukuba, including many students and researchers, representing approximately 130 different nationalities. In order to provide an educational opportunity for the children of these foreign residents, the city must have an international school where classes are held in English. In addition, the continued existence of the international school must be assured, and the curriculum be up to standard, so that parents and guardians will feel comfortable sending their children to the school.
In order to respond to the needs and expectations of the parents of international children, I have worked since 2007 to obtain official school status for the school from Ibaraki Prefecture. In March of this year, the school was given permission to construct a new school building: a two-storey, 1085m2 log-house style building with 10 classrooms which is scheduled for completion in April 2009. The new building will be located in a lot adjacent to the current school facilities at Kamiyamori Finnish Log House (my personal residence) in the Kamigo area of Tsukuba.
Learning environment and teaching staff play a central role in education. TIS students receive their education at Kamiyamori, a natural wood building in Kamigo which is an area of Tsukuba that is blessed with rich, untainted landscape. We humans have been destroying our natural environment for many years now in the name of modernization and one of the most serious issues we face in the 21st century is how to foster citizens of the world who can co-exist amicably with nature. By making efficient use of the intellectual infrastructure provided by the close to 300 research institutes in the vicinity and by taking advantage of the urban amenities afforded by the city of Tsukuba, our school aims to produce students who can become the new pacesetters of the 21st century.
Our staff is comprised of qualified native English-speaking teachers who have a strong sense of their mission and many years of experience. Our teaching staff treat every child as a unique individual, and are careful to respect the various cultural backgrounds from which the children come. Students learn both tolerance of others and discipline of self. In addition, since the school is located in Japan, the children also learn about Japanese culture and their local community in Tsukuba.
Tsukuba International School welcomes children of all nations who would benefit from receiving their education in English, regardless of their race or religion. We are planning on starting classes at the middle school level in two years. We are also working towards obtaining international accreditation for our primary and middle school curricula. We welcome the enrolment of all children whose parents agree with the principles of our school. We also welcome the guidance and support from those in the community who can contribute to the educational environment at our school.
If you would like to get more information about our school, please visit our website (www.tsukubainternationalschool.org) or contact us to arrange for a school visit.
Mr. Masayasu Kano
Principal,
Tsukuba International School
Filed under: News on May 27th, 2008
Since we moved to our new location, we have been able to enjoy many new activities. Last week, Mr. Kano installed volleyball net posts on the school grounds. When the concrete at the base of the posts dried, we finally got the go-ahead to use the new equipment. Mr. Kano put the net up for us and we started to learn how to receive (bump) the ball over the net.
As you can see from the photo, even on our first day ever, we were getting some good height!
Filed under: News on May 21st, 2008
Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry, but students in English-speaking countries usually study it during their Language Arts classes. Trying to say something meaningful with a limited number of syllables is a good exercise in word use, no matter what language is used.
Today, our junior and senior students went outside to get inspiration for writing haiku poems in English. The students wrote about many different topics, including the colours of nature, the trees, and changing of the seasons. It was challenging for some of our students to count the syllables in English words. The students learned to clap their hands as they spoke to help them “hear” the concept of syllables in English.
Filed under: News on May 16th, 2008
This year, the moms of TIS children are getting their Mother’s Day present on a Tuesday! Our school closes for Golden Week, so our students were away the week before Mother’s Day. To make up for it, we baked some cookies yesterday and we decorated them for Mom today.
I think we will have some happy Moms this year!
Filed under: News on May 13th, 2008
Today we got to see what it is like to plant rice in a rice paddy. Some of our neighbourhood farmers were kind enough to leave one section of a rice paddy unplanted so we could come and plant it ourselves.
First, we had to get our “super-special plastic bag boots” on. Mr. Kano came up with the idea of covering our legs with these boots so we wouldn’t get too wet or dirty.
Then, we got into the rice paddy and started planting.
Have you ever wondered how farmers can make nice, straight rows, even when they don’t use a machine to plant the rice? Well, we discovered the secret today! The farmers strung up a wire with red beads on it at equal distances apart showing where we had to plant the baby rice plants. The wire was in the water, so we had to look carefully to find it. (Can you see the bead just in front of the plant in the picture below?) As long as we planted the rice in the place where the bead was, we could keep our lines straight.
Once we finished planting one row, the farmers moved the wire back towards the edge of the field and we started planting the next row. We planted about six rows in total.
As an added bonus, we found a worm in one of the plants!
We are excited to see how our plants grow over the next few months!
Filed under: News on May 12th, 2008