Damian Rentoule – Hiroshima International School

17Apr 2021 by Damian Rentoule

The Crane, 17 April 2021

The Crane

ITEMS: New Annex Opening Ceremony on Monday Principal's Message Dear HIS Community Our Grade 12 students had their last lessons on Friday. At this point, they are now into their study period and will begin their final DP exams during Golden Week. The exams always begin during Golden Week, the first week of May each year, as schools all around the world in the Northern Hemisphere start the exams on the same day. We are very proud of our Gr12s who have been working so hard and we wish them well. The exams will be held in the New Annex so the Gr12 students will move in on Monday afternoon after the Opening Ceremony to continue their preparation. I would like to thank all the staff at Hebel Haus who…

09Apr 2021 by Damian Rentoule

The Crane, 9 April 2021

The Crane

ITEMS: Staffing for 2021/2020; Gr6 Excursion; Gr10 Lost & Found Fashion Parade; and PTA News. Principal's Message Dear HIS Community Today, I would like to remind Primary parents that we are running a parent information session on Monday morning from 9:00 am - 10:00 am. We will look at assessment in the Primary Years Program (PYP) and we will also have a chance to introduce our new mathematics program that we have started to use in the Primary. We will live-stream this event so I will send out a link to all parents via email. One of the reasons that we are introducing the structured mathematics program that includes a range of resources such as texts and student workbooks is to help our parents understand the approach to mathematics that…

04Apr 2021 by Damian Rentoule

The Crane, 4 April 2021

The Crane

ITEMS: Global Heart Dance Performance Project; Update on Fundraising Art Installation; DP Exams. Principal's Message Dear HIS Community I hope you have all had some time to enjoy those beautiful sakura blossoms. As we move through the year the Covid situation has been constantly changing although changing in a predictable way it seems and there has been much talk of the fourth wave where we are expecting an increase in the number of cases around Japan. Hopefully, everyone across Japan will be very careful At HIS we are still operating with our regular health guidelines that have been used throughout this pandemic. Of course, as time goes by we tend to return to more familiar ways so I would just like to remind everyone that we still need to be…

26Mar 2021 by Damian Rentoule

The Crane, 26 March 2021

The Crane

ITEMS: New PYP Math Program; DP Music Recital; New Annex Opening Ceremony; and HIS Idol Awards. Principal's Message Dear HIS Community I hope everyone is getting an opportunity to enjoy those beautiful cherry blossoms which I believe have been in full bloom in Hiroshima since yesterday. Without wind or rain, it looks like it is going to be a lovely weekend for a picnic under the sakura trees, particularly in Hiroshima where it is quite easy to find an uncrowded spot. When we were not enjoying beautiful sakura blossoms this week, we were enjoying the wide variety of HIS Idol Performances. Many thanks to Jackie and Mr Washington for all of the work that went into HIS Idol, a wonderful event that took many, many unseen hours of digital work…

13Mar 2021 by Damian Rentoule

The Crane, 12 March 2021

The Crane

ITEMS: Momiji Fundraising Project; Secondary Art Exhibition; Bento Order; Sakura Book Trailer Contest; HIS Idol News; MYP Design Videos. Principal's Message Dear HIS Community We have some great news. The new building will be handed over on Monday 19th April so we are very excited about that. We will have an opening ceremony at school from 2 pm-3 pm and I will send more details home regarding that event. I am currently at the 24 Hour Race. The students did a fantastic job organizing everything. All is going well. You will be able to see some images in next week's Crane. Please enjoy Spring Break. Kind Regards Damian Rentoule https://www.ted.com/talks/knut_ivar_bjorlykhaug_love_sorrow_and_the_emotions_that_power_climate_action?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare Crane Video https://youtu.be/CDbWbmUymK0 Momiji Fundraising Project https://youtu.be/XV3S3etlyyQ Thanks, Matt, for the introduction. These are the global landmarks, ready to go.…

05Mar 2021 by Damian Rentoule

The Crane, 5 March 2021

The Crane

ITEMS: Kaina and the National Sailing Championships; Secondary Visual Arts Exhibition; Yoko Ono, My Mommy is Beautiful; Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences; Fundraising Project; HIS Idol; and PTA News. Principal's Message Dear HIS Community Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held at school next week on Friday. We look forward to seeing you all there. There are some notes about the day below. The IB programs' focus on inquiry places the child firmly at the centre of the learning process. Reflection on the learning process (thinking about how we learn - what works for us and what does not) is an extremely important part of the process. Our Student/Parent/Teacher Conferences represent a type of conversation that independent learners use to guide their future development. We have two structures for conversations which sometimes, understandably, get mixed up:…

26Feb 2021 by Damian Rentoule

The Crane, 26 February 2021

The Crane

ITEMS: HIS Graduates & Seniors Panel Discussion; HIS Momiji Fundraising Project; Diploma Program Exams Update; and PTA News. Principal's Message Dear HIS Community I would like to thank our Graduates, Leela, Lisa and Nanako, as well as our Seniors, Mairi, Leah, and Joe who came in to talk about their experiences learning at HIS with our parents who have children in the Primary Years Program. The students talked about their development as independent learners who followed their interests in their studies and were able to develop as critical thinkers, among other interesting ideas. We really appreciated the opportunity to hear from the students' perspective. I will share a video with some highlights next week. Thank you very much to Nanako, Leela, Lisa, Mairi, Leah, and Joe for sharing your ideas…

20Feb 2021 by Damian Rentoule

The Crane, 19 February

The Crane

ITEMS: 24-Hour Race; COVID-related Talk; The PTA Shop; Personal Project and Theory of Knowledge Presentations; Crane Club images; PTA News. Principal's Message Dear HIS Families I hope you have all had an enjoyable week and manage to keep warm during those quite cold days. We are seeing the new building coming together day-by-day. It is very exciting to watch. It will not be long now! In my message today, I have included an explanation that we have been providing to the students about the use of English in their classes as well as in the after-school club program that will be starting on Thursday next week. It is very important for us to maintain an English language environment in our English-medium classes and the club activities as these times can…

11Feb 2021 by Damian Rentoule

The Crane, 11 February 2021

The Crane

ITEMS: Primary Parents Reading; Festive Eve Recording; ISA Testing; and Crane Club Representatives at the Peace Park. Principal's Message Dear HIS Community It was just a short week so we hope you all enjoy the long weekend. Many thanks to the parents who came to the Language Learners workshop and the MYP Assessment workshop during the week, both in-person and via Zoom. It was wonderful to see you all here. Another big event that we had this week was our Open Campus. Even though we run these each month, this was the one that coincided with a public holiday so we had many families visiting us. This was the first time our students had a role in the school tours and they did, as you would expect, remarkably well. We…

06Feb 2021 by Damian Rentoule

The Crane, 6 February 2021

The Crane

ITEMS: HIS Idol sign-up; After-school Club sign-up; Fundraising Project Artwork; Parent Information sessions; MYP Exhibition; Theory of Knowledge student presentations; 24 Hour Race; and PTA News. Principal' Message Dear HIS Community We have our Open Campus coming up on Thursday next week. Currently, our student numbers are quite low so welcoming new families is extremely important. Even more important for us all, however, is ensuring that our current families are completely satisfied with our program and stay with us for the duration of their child's educational journeys. As parents, we are always looking into the future for our children as we want them to be as prepared as possible for the exciting but uncertain future that awaits. We have great confidence in our educational programs at HIS for preparing students…