The Crane, 5 February 2023

Welcome from James Steward

Can you identify these students below?!

We have a short student learning week ahead, parents and families, as Feb 9-10 have been previously designated as School Development Days (Student Free Teacher Work Days) on the HIS Calendar. With this in mind, I hope that you are able to use this time productively. Our HIS teachers will remain at school planning and preparing for the rest of the school year.

You are likely to see some new faces at HIS in the coming weeks. Not only do we have many new students, but we also have some practice teachers visiting from Tokyo and the Netherlands.

Connor Glienke, originally from Germany, now studies in the Netherlands at ITEPS (International Teacher Education in Primary Schools Program). He wants to be an international Primary teacher and has a passion for Outdoor Education. He will focus on G5 while at HIS.

Teresa Pöppelmann, also originally from Germany and studying at ITEPS, has a love for History, Geography, Arts and Culture. She is excited to taste ‘real’ Japanese cuisine! She will focus on G3-4 while at HIS.

Anafi Lenis is Greek/French and now studying at ITEPS. She is very multilingual! Very familiar with the IB, she will focus on ECKG and G1-2 while at HIS.

Aoiko Iwagami is a second year masters course student at International Christian University, majoring in language education. She will spend most of her time in Secondary School.

Let’s offer all of our new teachers a warm HIS welcome!

As usual, there are plenty of great photos and short videos in the HIS Gallery. Please be sure to check them out.

Please read further for more information.

James Steward

HIS Principal


Parent volunteers needed for G9-12 Visual Arts exhibition (March 1-3, 2023)

We will have our secondary (G9-12) Visual Arts Exhibition at Hitomachi Plaza this year. It will be from March 1 – 3, 2023 and we would like to ask any parents who can help to monitor the gallery space on March 1st and March 2nd.

If you are available and willing to support, please contact Ms K (akurokawa@hiroshima-is.ac.jp),

THANK YOU!

Ms K (Ayako Kurokawa)


Yuki is Flying High!

Yuki Fujii qualified to compete in the Junior Moguls National Championship, based on the results of the competition he competed last weekend at Matsunoyama, Niigata! The National Championship is scheduled to be held in Bankei, Hokkaido on March 11 and 12th.

We wish Yuki good luck in Hokkaido!


New Applications

We continue to accept many new student applications. HIS is doing very well with enrollment up significantly this year. If you are aware of families considering HIS, please encourage them to get their applications in early as space is becoming limited in some grades.


HIS Faces in the News! (Picture Gallery)

Click here to see our weekly selection of photos from across HIS.


Videos of the Week


From the HIS Parent Wolfpack (PTA) 

◆ Ski Day – Friday 10th Feb

This coming Friday, 10th February will be this year’s Ski Day at Megahira ski resort. (this is the teacher working / student off day). This year we are not going to organise a bus / ski-wear or lessons. If you need some advice or language support please ask one of the Wolfpack onsite.

We will meet at Megahira Ski Site at 9am.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

 ➡︎ Google Map: Megahira Ski Site

 ➡︎ Megahira Ski Site Official Website

◆ Val-O-Grams -Deadline Monday

The deadline for applications is fast approaching – it’s Monday (6th) – if you can’t find the form you can print a copy to submit from the link below.  

➡︎ Val-O-Grams Order Form

As the form doesn’t reflect the new class structure for Grade 3/4, please just write additional names on the “Application form for specific recipients” section or on a blank piece of paper. 

◆ International Festival News                                           

Thank you to all of you who gave your time on the 30th for our first planning meeting for the International Festival on April 15th. Please mark your calendars! As a small school, we need help from all parents to make the festival a success. 

The Next Meeting will be Monday 20th February at 9am

Event leader: Naoko Kurata was introduced as leader at the meeting. 

Communication: As a large majority of parents are using the Parents LINE group we will use LINE as the base to communicate. Please e-mail us if you are not a member but would like to join the HIS Parents LINE group.

GOAL: The aim of the Festival is principally to provide a fundraising source for the HIS Parent Wolfpack (PTA), but also to give an opportunity to raise HIS’s profile in the community. 

Charity: Historically we make a donation from the profits of the festival to deserving charities and  we will discuss ideas for this in a future meeting 

Scale: As this is the first festival in 4 years, there have been many changes in the individuals and companies that have previously taken part or provided services. We will keep the style of past festivals with a stage, food booths, a game corner, a bazaar, and a bake sale. 

In order to staff all these different areas we will need lots of volunteers so please give your time generously!

Section Leaders:

International Cafe – Food Booths – Naoko Kurata

Games – Yukina Fukushima

Bake Sale – Nami Ohata

Bazaar – Kumi Kim

Stage/Raffle- Naoko Kurata

Outside Vendors – Eriko Hird

Equipment/Patrol/Parking – Eriko Hird 

The people listed will be the point of contact for smaller teams responsible for all aspects of their section. We will share a link for a volunteer sign-up list shortly, via LINE.

New Ideas: People with ideas for new activities/items for the festival should contact the relevant section leaders directly within the next 2 weeks if possible. If you are unsure who is responsible for your idea, please contact one of the Wolfpack team.

Festival Day vs Preparation Phase jobs: We will need volunteers for both preparation and staffing events on the day, and you can volunteer for both or either. Please help wherever you can.

Festival Day Staff Rota: Staffing all the booths is the single biggest challenge. We will announce the staff rota for the actual day of the festival closer to the day. Every possible effort will be made to accommodate your 1st choices, but some people may be asked to work different jobs if necessary. 

Section Information

Bazaar – To make this a manageable task we will limit the items to be sold as follows:

Books; Toys; New items – unwanted gifts; Handmade goods. We will provide details on how to donate items later. 

Stage – If you know any internationally themed groups who would be interested in performing, please let us know. 

Outside Vendors – We are opening up the application to vendors outside HIS – if you know of any Food, Internationally themed goods vendors etc please let us know. The currently confirmed vendors are pottery craft sales and handmade accessories.

Looking forward to working with you all this year, to make a great event! We will keep everyone updated via the Crane and LINE messages. 

As we mentioned above, the Next Meeting will be Monday 20th February at 9am – please come and support us!

The Festival Team

That’s all for this week, enjoy the rest of the weekend!  

From the Wolfpack Team