The Crane, 16 October 2020

ITEMS: Piano Performance by Jundai; Board of Trustees Guardian Election; HIS Sign; PTA News.

We have a roof, walls, floors and windows. Nearly there! At least for the outside.

Principal’s Message

Dear HIS Community

It was great to see all of our families at HIS today for the Student-Teacher-Parent Conferences today. The three-way partnership between the student, the home and the school is extremely important. Also, please remember that you can contact your teachers at any time during the year. The more communication we have, the better we are all able to support your child’s learning.

As we move into our one-week break, I would like to emphasise two points which may well form the most powerful influences on your child’s academic performance at school that you, as a parent, are able to support. One is sleep and the other is reading. This combination is powerful.

Sleep – The electronic device has affected the sleep of children all around the world. Not getting enough sleep used to be mainly a Secondary issue, however, we see this issue being more and more problematic in Primary aged children, as well. ‘Just one more game. Just check a few more Instagram posts. Just one more YouTube video?’ Sleep is competing with these highly entertaining options and sleep time may be replaced by screen time if a child is left to make these choices.

Parents need to control both bed-times and access to devices so even though you may encounter some resistance from your child, this is one area where it is extremely important to be firm. Children’s brains are still developing and a lack of sleep affects us in very negative ways. I have spoken to many parents over the years who struggle with this issue but it is too important not to pursue.

Reading – This is the second area of a child’s life where parents can exert an influence that a school can not. If a child reads more, they will experience better academic achievement over time because their language skills will develop. The logic is simple. Reading at home is just like exercise, if you don’t do it, the muscles will not develop. If you consider the image below, you can have a significant influence on your child’s language development just by carving out some time in the day. It needs to be consistent, but just like regular sleep, it is well worth any struggles that you may have.

Unknown author

Here are some tips that you may like to consider to support your reading. There are other considerations such as the type of conversations you have about reading and the range of materials your child is reading, but in short, there needs to be a clearly defined time that is dedicated to reading. Also, it should be text that is complex enough to challenge the reader. For this reason, social media (as interesting as it may be) does not help a child’s reading development. Which of these seven points could you focus on?

Moving into the one-week break, a clear focus on sleep and reading would be very helpful. Remember that if your child does not like it, there has to be a captain of the ship and your child’s brain can not be left in charge of decisions like this. Good luck!

Also, moving into a break, this is a longer TED Talk video than usual, and it is part of a really important series on climate change that is running at the moment. I thought it may be a good one to watch and discuss with your child. I hope you all enjoy the October Break.

Kind regards

Damian Rentoule

Crane Video

Piano Performance by Jundai

Tomorrow Jundai G9 is going to perform at a piano festival called The day of Chopin. It will be streamed on YouTube Live. This event will be open from 10:00 am till 4:00 pm with many performances and you can see Jundai’s performance on Saturday, October 17th,  10:20 am – 10:30 am.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxci5cMAnIGt8_Pqk7391EQ/featured

Board of Trustees Election for Guardians Positions

We are looking for some new members of our Board of Trustees (BOT) who play an important role in supporting HIS. We have two separate boards at HIS and you can see an explanation here of their different roles.

During the next week, I will send out a form by email which you can use to nominate yourself for a position on the BOT, if you would like to support HIS in this way. Thank you.

HIS Sign

Over the October Break, HIS is getting a new sign. It will go on the front of the building to help raise our profile in the local community and also to help people find us a little easier. We have only had a small sign on the front gate that is easy to miss so after the break when you come to school be sure to look up. I would like to express my appreciation to our Board of Directors member, Ryoma Matsumoto, for the generous donation of the sign as well as all of the design work that went into the preparation.

PTA NEWS PTAからのお知らせ

Main Points 今週の要点

  • Next PTA Meeting: Monday, 26th October  

次回PTAミーティング 10月26日(月)

  • Volleyball lunch money request  

バレーボール  ランチ差し入れのリクエスト

  • Secondary Halloween prize money request from student council 

セカンダリー生徒会への資金提供の要望について

  • Halloween donations and volunteers ハロウィン用菓子の寄付とボランティアの募集
  • Costume help 衣装係のお手伝い
  • (Non PTA)  Halloween Scavenger Hunt Event Invitation ハロウィン スカベンジャーハント イベントへのご招待 (注: PTAのイベントではありません)

PTA MEETING PTAミーティング

The next PTA meeting will be held from 9am on Monday, October 26th. 

We have received the following proposals for the use of PTA funds and will be discussing them and voting at this meeting, so please come along or e-mail pta@hiroshima-is.ac.jp  before the meeting if you have anything to add to the discussion.

  • The secondary student council have requested a budget of ¥15,000 to pay for prizes for their secondary Halloween event, as in previous years. We need to confirm this by voting at the meeting. 
  • Mr John has requested that the PTA provide lunch for a mini volleyball tournament on November 7th, as has been the tradition in previous years. This will not cost more than ¥10,000 so does not require a vote and the committee has approved this request. 

*Friendly reminder: anyone can make a proposal for the use of PTA funds at any time. Proposals will be considered and voted on in accordance with the existing PTA rules and with the agreement of the Principal.

10月26日(月)午前9時よりPTAミーティングを行います。(終了後、引き続きハロウインお菓子袋詰め作業を行います) 

このミーティングでは、PTA資金の使途に関する以下の要望について話し合い、是否を問う投票を行います。ご意見等ございましたら、ぜひご参加下さい。もしくはミーティング開始までに pta@hiroshima-is.ac.jp 宛てにメールにてお考えをお知らせください。

  • 過去数年と同様、セカンダリーの生徒会より、セカンダリーの学年で行うハロウィンイベントの賞品を購入する為の15000円の資金提供のリクエストがありました。この件について、このミーティングで投票を実施します。
  • John先生より、11月7日(土)に行われるミニ・バレーボールトーナメントにランチ差し入れの要望がありました。長年続けられている支援です。こちらは10000円以下の支出になりますので、規約により投票を必要としない為、役員間で承認させていただきましたことをご報告させていただきます。

ここで改めて皆さまにお知らせです。PTA資金の使途に関するご提案は、どなたにでもしていただけます。提案事項は、校長の同意のもと検討され、PTAの規約に従い必要に応じて投票が行われます。

HALLOWEEN CANDY AND VOLUNTEERS ハロウィン用菓子の寄付とボランティアの募集

Thanks to all who have donated candy for Halloween. Thanks to your generosity, we should have plenty for all the kids. After the PTA meeting on Monday the 26th of October, we will be preparing for the Halloween event and packaging up the candy for Halloween from around 9:30am in the genkan. Please come along and lend a hand if you have time.

ハロウィンのお菓子を寄付していただき、ありがとうございました。おかげさまで、子ども達に配る事ができそうです。秋休み明けの10月26日(月)にお菓子の袋詰めの作業とハロウィンイベントの準備をしますので、ご協力ください。9時半に玄関前で始めたいと思います。

FESTIVE EVE COSTUMES フェスティブイブの衣装

Thanks to everyone who has been helping this week with the Mamma Mia! costume preparation, and for the donations of bags, paper, clothes and sustenance for the workers. We are making great progress. There will still be plenty to be done after the October holiday, and your help would be appreciated. Please feel free to drop by and join in the fun any time you are in school. 

フェスティブ マンマミーア衣装作りの連日のお手伝い、および、備品の寄付をしてくださいました皆さま、本当にありがとうございます。おかげさまで順調に作業が進んでおります。秋休み明けも楽しく作業を続けていきますので、お手伝いにお気軽にご参加くださいね。ご協力、宜しくお願い致します。

HALLOWEEN SCAVENGER HUNT EVENT INVITATION ハロウィン スカベンジャーハント(いわゆる借り物競争)イベントへのご招待

Happy Halloween from Matt J (Hotaru’s Dad)! 

This year due to COVID-19, the usual Trick or Treat by Hiroshima Castle, organized by Matt J (Hotaru’s dad), will not be happening. Instead, there will be an outdoor scavenger hunt on Saturday, October 31 – starting at the usual spot. It will be open to all children from infants through elementary school – if they are with a responsible adult who can take photos. 

The scavenger hunt will start at the usual meeting spot near Hiroshima Castle. It will run from 4PM until 7PM. All locations are outdoors, in public spaces. Each group must have responsible adults with them. There is a Facebook public group called “Hiroshima Kids Halloween Scavenger Hunt 2020” with all of the information on it. Here’s the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/349896282927024/?multi_permalinks=349921956257790&notif_id=1602767292908000&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic 

Matt (ほたるの父) から、ハッピーハロウィン!

毎年広島城近辺でおこなってきたトリックオアトリートですが、今年はコロナウィルスの状況を受け、トリックオアトリートは実施されません。代わりに、10月31日(土) にいつもと同じ場所スタートで屋外におけるスカベンジャーハント (いわゆる借り物競争) を行います。幼児から小学生以下のお子さまにご参加いただけます。必ず大人が責任者として同伴のうえご参加いただき、かわいい写真をたくさん撮ってあげてください。

スカベンジャー ハントは、広島城近くのいつもの場所からスタートします。実施時間は午後4時から午後7時までで、すべて屋外(公共スペース)にて行います。それぞれの参加グループに、必ず大人が責任者として同伴していただく必要があります。フェイスブックの公開ページ『Hiroshima Kids Halloween Scavenger Hunt 2020』に詳細がございますので、ご覧ください。以下がリンクです。

https://www.facebook.com/groups/349896282927024/?multi_permalinks=349921956257790&notif_id=1602767292908000&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic