The Crane - 31st May 2013

Grade 5 Graduation
The Grade 5 Graduation will be taking place on Friday, 7 June starting at 4:30pm in the Gym at HIS: this
event is open to any member of the school community who wishes to come and celebrate the achievements
of these students who are about to pass from the Primary to the Secondary school.
Sports Day
Were we just plain lucky or were the weather gods smiling on us
because we deserve good fortune? Who cares! On Wednesday
the whole school turned out for the annual HIS Sports Day at the
Coca-Cola West Stadium in Naka-ku, and it is probably fair to say
that a great time was had by all.
The morning focused on co-operative team challenges in vertical
groups: teams consisting of students from the Foundation class
through to Grade 12 worked together to accumulate points for
their larger ‘colour’ team. After lunch the focus turned to the
more traditional track and field events
Party, etc. Invitations
Recently in school we have had a couple of instances of parents
asking teachers to give out party invitations on behalf of their
children. Whilst this is not generally a problem it does become one when some students are included, i.e.
invited to the party, and others are excluded and do not receive an invitation. This might be a fact of life for
adults but for children it can be very distressing, both at the time when the invitations are handed out and
afterwards when children are talking about the party. Therefore, in line with the practice in many schools,
we will no longer give invitations out on behalf of parents or children unless all students in a class are invited.
Should you decide to give them out yourself in school we simply ask that you are mindful of the feelings
of students and do this discreetly: we will also expect this of the students.
HIS prides itself on its friendliness and ‘family’ approach, and so I would urge all families to consider being
as inclusive as possible when organising events such as birthday parties, etc. Inevitably our children will not
always get on all the time but it is important that we urge them to be inclusive and to consider the feelings
of others at all times, thus modelling the Learner Profile attribute of being Caring.
I am sure that you understand why this approach is necessary: If you have any questions or concerns about
this matter please feel free to contact me.
Yearbook
A team of teachers and students have been working very hard to assemble the 2012-
13 Yearbook ready for sending off to the printer: it went off this week and we will
have them back before the end of the school year.
The yearbook is priced at ¥4500 and there will be limited copies, so it is important to
order early: the order form is being sent home as a hard copy and can also be downloaded
from the Newsletter page of the school’s website. It should be returned to the
school office as soon as possible.
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