The Crane - 26th September 2014

The Crane
The newsletter of Hiroshima International School
26 th September 2014
Dates to note
Please make a note of these forthcoming events:
International Schools’ Assessments (ISAs) – 30 th September – 2 nd October
Interim reports issued – Friday, 10 th October
October break – Saturday, 11 th October to Sunday, 19 th October inclusive.
Parent-­‐teacher-­‐student conferences (all grades) – Tuesday, 21 st October
Parents’ Coffee Morning (in city) – Thursday, 23 rd October
Review of School’s Guiding Statements
Arising from the school’s re-­‐accreditation process, the Boards of Directors and Trustees are reviewing our
‘guiding statements’, i.e. mission, vision and objectives. As part of this process the Boards are surveying all
stake holders and on Monday a short survey will be sent home to all parents: you can complete it together
or you can copy the survey and submit one each. Completed surveys should be returned to the school of-­fice
by Wednesday, 8 th October. We need your views! Thank you for helping.
ISAs
The ISAs will take place next week as follows:
• Tuesday, 30 th September -­‐ Mathematics and Writing 1 (all students Grades 3-­‐10)
• Wednesday, 1 st October – Reading and Writing 2 (all students Grades 3-­‐10)
• Thursday, 2 nd October – Science (Grades 8 and 10 only)
Please remember students at HIS should not ‘prepare’ for these assessments, since they are consistent with
what students learn on a regular basis: thus, cramming is not appropriate for the ISAs.
A good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast are the best ways to prepare!
Matt Sides Returns
Former HIS teacher and PYP Coordinator Matt Sides returned for a
flying visit on Friday, while on a trip to Japan with his current, New
Zealand-­‐based school. The visit was kept a secret until he walked
through the door, with the cover story being that he was a prospec-­tive
parent coming for a school tour.

His arrival unleashed amazement in the school office, where the
reaction went something like:
Makkie-­‐san (looking out of the window): “Wow, that new prospec-­tive
parent looks just like Matt.”
Yoko-­‐san: “Really? Let's see.”
(Prospective parents enters the genkan)
Yoko: “Yeah, you're right. He does looks like Matt”
Makkie-­‐san, Yoko-­‐san and Mika-­‐san: “What the heck! He is Matt!”
Thanks for visiting Matt, have a great trip around Japan.
Grades 4 & 5 Camp
Ms Wallace, Ms B, Mr B and Mr Lothar took all the Grades
4 and 5 students to the Yachio campus of Tsuru Gakuen for
3 days of residential fieldwork this week as part of their
unit of inquiry looking at role models.
During their time on camp they undertook a canoeing ac-­tivity,
worked on the low ropes course, engaged with team-­building
exercises, developed group presentations, pre-­pared
their own food and wrote about the whole adven-­ture
in their journals.
Bill Harley Concert
Keep this date free -­‐ the afternoon of Sunday, 9th November -­‐ when HIS is supporting a concert by Gram-­my-­‐winning
children's musician Bill Harley at Aster Plaza. We are hoping that some of our students will sing
with Bill Harley while others volunteer to help run this event, being held in aid of the 'family house' being
built for Hiroshima University Hospital. Spread the word to everyone you know who might be interested.
http://www.billharley.com/
In order to enable all the ticket revenues to be donated to the ‘family house’ project, the concert organisers
are looking for individual, family and corporate sponsorship to cover the costs of staging the event: more
information about this opportunity will be coming out shortly.
Hiroshima International School
3-­‐49-­‐1, Kurakake, Asakita-­‐ku
Hiroshima 739-­‐1743
tel. (082) 843 4111
fax. (082) 843 6399
www.hiroshima-­‐is.ac.jp
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