Tokyo International School

Head of School’s Message

TIS Office — Fri, 24 May 2013 05:04:59 +0000

GRADE 5 EXHIBITION

The Grade 5 exhibition has again this year been a highlight! Congratulations to the students for their outstand- ing skills and confidence. We are all so proud to see their emerging sense of internationalism and global re- sponsibility. The whole event was an excellent showcase of the IB Primary Years Programme, our focus on the 21st century skills and the personal qualities of the Learner Profile. Well done teachers, mentors and parents for your guidance and encouragement.

BELATED STAFF NEWS

Congratulations to Travis and his wife Megumi, on the arrival of their son Noah Sadaya Ion born on 7th April 2013.
Congratulations also to Maki and her husband Allen, on the arrival of Kei James born December 14th 2012.
And last but not least, congratulations to Jennifer former IT team member, and her husband Jason, on the birth of Kaylie on February 17, 2013.

ROCK CHALLENGE JAPAN

Last Saturday most members of our Rock Challenge team travelled to Columbia International School in Sai- tama, to participate in the final event for this school year. Koichi led the 80 or more students from ASIJ, Nishi- machi, Columbia and TIS through a two hour workshop. This culminated in each school performing their pre prepared pieces and a joint ensemble which was the finale of the day. The team will reconvene next school year, with more new members, to continue exploring their joy for dance!

Des Hurst

Head of School

TIS Performance Recital

TIS Office — Fri, 24 May 2013 05:03:26 +0000

Last Saturday afternoon 30 TIS students from Pre-K to Grade 5 participated in the annual PSA sponsored, TIS Recital in our gym. There was a range of items from dance to piano, guitar and vocal, including a piano duet and a piano and guitar duet. The event was well attended by parents and extended families of the performers. It was wonderful to see our students demonstrating their talent with such confidence and poise. A big thank you to Jen Goswami and Yoko Sato for organizing this special occasion.

Cheers
Lorraine Izzard

Back Row: Joshua Thoppil, Hugo Posthuma, Thomas O’Dea, Leon Carlson, Marissa Goswami, Sameer Gos- wami, Panka Pavel, Joaquin Amigorena, Julia Amigorena, Nora Jaffe.

Front Row: Sijie Yan, Issac Thoppil, Amelia O’Dea, Relli Kondo, Klara Hillman, Agnes Kohler, Kalista von Bun- nik, Alma Dalsgaard, Setha Romeijn, and Riona Cardozo.

(Not pictured: Leo Mizuno, Yuta Tokusei, Sofia Shortis, Hikari Sato, Yuri Choi, Fatima Azfar, Rita Leiderman, Oura Inouchi-Kubota, Gloria Cho, Chaewon Lee)

PYP News

TIS Office — Fri, 24 May 2013 05:00:28 +0000

Grade 4 camp

Last week the two grade 4 classes went away to Lake Aokiko for a three day camp. The camp was run by the experienced team of Evergreen Outdoor Centre and provided a wide range of fantastic activities for the stu- dents to participate in. All children had the chance to go mountain biking, rock climbing, canoeing as well as playing Capture the Flag in the forest. Despite an exceptionally long bus ride back on Friday night, the kids all behaved brilliantly and participated in the camp activities with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. Thanks to Kenny, who also helped on the camp and well done to Carolyn and Andy for organising such a great experi- ence for the children.

Grade 5 Exhibition

After a lot of preparation and hard work, the Grade 5 students presented their Exhibition to an audience of par- ents, siblings and teachers last night in the school gym. During the week all classes were given the opportunity to wander through the gym and ask questions of the students about the many global issues researched. Grade 4 students, as well as the Grade 5 students from Yokohama International School, were even lucky enough to see the full dress rehearsal on Wednesday afternoon. Once again there were some great displays and art work up in the gym and this year we were even treated to a song and drama performance by the students. Thanks to all of the parents who came to watch the Exhibition, and congratulations to all of the teachers in- volved, especially Travis and Clare.

MYP News

TIS Office — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:57:26 +0000

Grade 8 Residential Trip 2013: Changes

Dear Middle School families,

We would like to advise you of the decision to change the location of the Grade 8 Residential Trip for 2013. For the last four years, Grade 8 students have visited Cambodia for their annual trip in October. This was largely based on our connection to TIS Cambodia, and formed the basis of case studies for part of the Grade 8 Hu- manities program. From a Pastoral Care perspective, the trip overseas for the Grade 8 group helps them to form strong bonds with each other, as well as a level of persistence, resilience, and the ability to face challenging situations.

We very much would like Grade 8 to continue to have these opportunities, and as educators we very firmly believe the experiences the students have during the trip are invaluable. In order to keep the trip relevant and exciting, we have decided to change the location for the trip in 2013 to Beijing, China. The connections to the curriculum will remain strong and appropriate; Humanities, English, Maths and Art will all draw upon the fieldwork observations made by students to support their programs throughout the 2013/14 school year.

We are lucky enough to have a number of the TIS staff who are familiar with Beijing, and so they will be able to contribute ideas and advice. Also, there is some precedent for the change to Beijing – in the past the Grade 8 Residential Trip has involved traveling to China. Further, as the fastest growing economy in the world, and a dominant player in world politics, China makes for an interesting and highly topical case study for our students to explore.

As always, we welcome your questions, and hope our Grade 8 students will look forward to the 2013 Residential Trip as much as we do!

Kind regards,

Michelle Storer (G8 English & Humanities)

Mahadev Lad (G8 Homeroom & Mathematics)

Counselor News

TIS Office — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:55:01 +0000

End of year interview with Steve and Barney- Saying Goodbye

Barney: Hello Steve, this will be my final interview with you. How are you feeling?

Steve: Oh Barney, totally mixed feelings. I have been doing this job for a long time. On the one hand, I feel it’s time to move on, return to the US, help family, reconnect with old friends. That’s important you know. But on the other hand, working with young people, from all over the world, has been a big part of my international life. I will miss them, their energy, and their hearts!

Barney: What do you mean, their hearts?

Steve: Well, sometimes I meet students with broken hearts, but it’s not the heart in their chest, but their emo- tional hearts. When a heart gets broken, so to speak, it’s like someone stepping on their heart and breaking it. It’s hard work working with wounded hearts. And you recall the assembly last week. You didn’t join us because you had a wounded heart, remember.

Barney: Yes, I remember. Oh, I see….you try and help students mend their emotional hearts, because they ‘think’ they have a broken heart, but not really. You’re saying emotional hearts get wounded, but that’s a part of life. And getting young people to do the heart work, communicating their feelings when they begin to feel wounded, that is key to mending one’s heart.

Steve: Yes! I tell students often that when their thoughts take over, such as “I’m stupid”, “I’m not fast enough”, “I’m not pretty enough “, they begin to feel sad and get down on themselves. They step on their emotional hearts.

And also when someone says something mean to them, to make them feel not ok, it does the same thing.

Barney: So what departing words can you leave with parents, kids, so we can take better care of our emotional hearts next year? And like, forever!

Steve: Well, remind yourself that whenever you start getting down, feeling hurt or sad, it’s your mind talking. I call it your Monkey Mind. It causes you to have a ‘pity party’ (PP), and you feel sorry for yourself. Challenge your thinking, dispute your thoughts, and ask yourself, are they based on facts, or just your perception, your picture of what’s happening? We all look through our own lens. In some ways, we all live in our own ‘bubble’ world.

I also try to remind students that on any given day certain unexpected events will happen. How they respond, and their thinking about the event, will determine the outcome.

Here’s the formula: Event + Response = Outcome

Barney: Wow, this is heavy stuff Steve. So what final message do you have for parents, when their children are having a PP, or blaming someone else when negative events happen.

Steve: Well, first things first. Parents need to love their children unconditionally. Accept them with all their im- perfections, and focus on their strengths. And when there are problems, with school, with life situations, par- ents need to listen, and remind their children it’s only a temporary state. Life is filled with problems, challenges along the way. Parents need to model as best they can the ability to solve problems, not over-react to situa- tions, and stay in control. And that kind of modeling is powerful for children to see. That’s why family meetings, open communication, and solving problems together is so important.

Barney: Wow, you know Steve, maybe you should write a book one day to help kids, and parents of kids, so they don’t walk around having ‘pity parties’ and feeling emotional pain all the time.

Steve: Thanks for the suggestion Barney. OK, maybe one of my next life goals will be to work on a book to help students, and maybe parents too. Something to think about, thanks for the suggestion.

It has been a wonderful ride for me Barney, and I have really been grateful to finish my educational career at TIS. This school and all of the wonderful students and parents and colleagues have taught me a lot. I will miss them all.

I will skype you Barney as soon as I return home, and we will stay in touch. Forever!!!!

Oh, and by the way, I’m not saying goodbye, because I’m planning to do a little travel next year, back to Asia, as my daughter is gong to Shanghai to teach. Got to see those two grandsons of mine! It’s also important that I return to TIS and take a walk around the new campus. I must say hello to all those wonderful faces again.
So this is not goodbye Barney. How about, “See you next year!”

Warm regards, safe travels, and a great summer to all.

Steve Summerfield

Counselor

PE News

TIS Office — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:48:40 +0000

Swimming Lessons

It is that time of year when Swimming is starting! Our first day of swim lessons is Monday the 3th of June. The schedule is the same as for regular PE classes.

Pre K: Thursday 1:10-1:50 pmKindergarten: Tuesday, Friday 10:40- 11:20 am, 11:35- 12:15 pm

Grade 1: Monday, Thursday 10.45-12.15 am

Grade 2: Monday 1:10-2:45 pm, Wednesday 10.45-12.15 am
Grade 3: Wednesday 8.30-10:10 am, Friday 1:10-2:45 pm
Grade 4: Tuesday 9:25-10:10 am, Wednesday 1:10-2:45 pm
Grade 5, 6, 7, 8: regular PE schedule.

Our Swim Teachers for this season are Malgosia, Jon and Willie.
Questions regarding swim classes, curriculum and general enquires should be directed to Malgosia.

The school nurse will be checking the student’s feet for plantar warts. If your child has a plantar wart they are required to wear a latex sock. These can be purchased from PE department for 1000 yen.
Please ensure that your child comes prepared with their swimsuit, swim cap, towel, goggles and a change of underwear on each swimming day. Jewelry is not to be worn in the pool and we advise that it is not worn to school on swimming days to avoid loss. Please also apply sunscreen to your child before school on swimming days.

If the temperature is above 24 degrees Celsius, the children will be swimming, regardless of whether it is wet or not. If your child is unable to swim for any reason, please send either a note with your child or an email to me directly. If any parents are interested in helping by either assisting in the pool or helping children to change before and after their swimming lessons, could you please email Malgosia.

We look forward to your support and to seeing you around the pool again this season.

Sincerely,
Malgosia Zajkowska

Library News

TIS Office — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:44:20 +0000

Congratulations to the students who participated in the Japanese Book Review Contest. This year we had 10 students participate with 3 students receiving a special award
for their outstanding review. A number of International Schools participate in this competition so TIS is very proud!

Congratulations to:

Amika Yamada (Grade 4A) 優秀賞

Aki Li (Grade 1C) 努力賞

Koko Suzuki (Grade 4B) 努力賞

Afterschool activities and Late bus

TIS Office — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:41:03 +0000

All the after school activities finish on Friday 7th June.
NO LATE BUS service on the week of 10th and 17th June.

NO AFTERNOON BUS operation on 10th June due to Student Led Conferences.

If you have any questions regarding the afterschool clubs or bus service, please contact Yoshiko Fukushima.

Latest School Bus Routes from the new site

TIS Office — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:34:31 +0000

Dear school bus users and parents,

As a result of the bus registration for the year 2013-2014, we needed to readjust the routes and times to make it well balanced, because some of the buses are already full or nearly full.

We tried our best to minimize the difference of the pick-up and drop-off time from the timetable proposed in March, but some of the times are a bit earlier or later. We hope you will not be disappointed!

Some of the bus stops have been moved to different buses and some bus stop locations modified.

We hope we won’t need to change them anymore. However, it still depends on the bus registration during summer. Please check our website to find the most updated timetable in mid August.
We will also inform all the families concerned by email.

Thank you for your support as always!

Bus Timetable 2013-2014

Yoshiko Fukushima

Operations Manager

Spring Concert DVD

TIS Office — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:31:58 +0000

We hope you had a great night at the Spring Concert on April 26th.
We had a professional cameraman shoot the concert and now they are in the process of producing a DVD of the whole show.

Each DVD will cost 2,000yen. If you would like to purchase the DVD, please fill out the following order form and return it to the office with the EXACT money in a sealed envelope marked “Spring Concert DVD”.

The DVDs will be ready and be handed out to the students before the end of this school year.

If you have any questions regarding the concert DVD, please feel free to contact Atsumi in the office.

Spring Concert DVD Order Form

Thank you.
Atsumi Fujii
Office Manager
Tokyo International School Office