March 2012 Newsletter - Seaview High School

Hosei Junior High School – Study TourSeaview High School hosted a group of 18 students and one teacher from Hosei Junior High School in Japan from Monday March 5 th toMarch 9th. Hosei is one of the top academic schools in Tokyo, Japan. Each year it brings over 140 students to Adelaide on a One Week StudyTour. Seven local schools participate in this program.We have successfully hosted Hosei Study Tours in the last three years. Our home stay families and Seaview teachers have shownoutstanding care toward Hosei students especially last year when the tsunami and earthquake disaster were first broadcast over the longweekend.The 18 Hosei students and teachers arrived home safely on Monday March 12th. It was hard for them to say goodbye to their host familiesand teachers on Friday March 10th. There were many tears as the students left on Saturday morning.The school based program included English, Art, Drama and Science. Our visitors also talked to students in Japanese classes about differentaspects of the Japanese culture. As the curriculum in Japanese schools is quite different to that in Australian schools, Seaview’s short-termprogram offered a variety of learning activities that reflected our learning and lifestyle in Australia.The Graduation Ceremony was a great success. The Hosei students gave farewell speeches which reflected their wonderful learningexperience at our school and performed two songs they had rehearsed in Japan for many weeks. Gifts were exchanged between Hosei andSeaview High Schools. Seaview Principal Ms Penny Tranter gave the farewell speech at the graduation. Daniel Hill and Bianca Williamsgave a farewell speech in both English and Japanese. This program hasprovided our language students with the opportunity to improve theirlanguage skills and forge life-long friendships with Japanese students.We would like to thank everyone for their support and involvementin the Hosei program. Special thanks to Julienne Chambers, Nicole Moody,Vesma Wilson, Vanda Banks, Cheryl Gigney, Brad Hurrell, Kym Foot andMargaret Marschall for delivering high quality educational programs to theHosei students. Thanks to Ms Penny Tranter, our Principal for her strongsupport to this program.Hannah Webb and Jess Tutton worked hard behind the scenes in manypractical ways including homestay management and the graduationceremony. This program couldn’t be possible without their hard work.Special thanks to Shirley Donovan for volunteering her time to helpwith the students’ art work. The Year 12 Food and Hospitality studentsprovided a special lunch on the final day. The food and presentation wassuperb. We would like to thank Vesma Wilson for her excellent work andher students’ contribution to this program.The feedback from Hosei Junior High School is very positive. I will quotetheir email to me below …I did feel all your host schools really understood and met the school’swishes and requests this year. We didn't have any big issues and allthe teachers were so thankful to you for your great effort! Again Ireally appreciate your GREAT HELP! Please also convey our verydeep and sincere thanks to everyone involved in the tour at your schoolThank you very much once again!Ms Ying Yao, Coordinatoron behalf of the International Team