5 April 2019 - Message from the Head of Secondary - TISKL In Touch - 05 April 2019

5 APRIL 2019 - MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SECONDARY

Glocal Enquiries - Exit Point One

On the 29th March Yr7 presented a showcase of the work they had been doing in the first term of Glocal Enquiries. Glocal Enquiries is a skill-based combined curriculum encompassing skills from the subjects History, Geography and Future Learning. This term students have been studying hard and developing skills in: teamwork, presentations, research, climate graphs, chronology, referencing and much more.

It was pleasing to see so many visitors join us to celebrate the students' hard work - over 60 parents and staff came to explore the presentations. All the guests voted on the best groups from three categories: communication, display and content. In a close vote, the following groups won and were awarded medals, complete with the student designed GE logo, in the assembly on Monday 1st April:

Gold -
Team 41
Xin Way
Hayden
Jolene
Marissa

Silver -
Team 23
Irene
Sumin
Calysta
Nusaibas
Zaim

Bronze -
Team 11
Joshua,
Sophie,
Ryan Matteo,
Shanna

Thank you to all the students and staff who have worked hard all term, this showed in a good spirited showcase. Also, thank you to all the visitors who came to share in our experiences. We hope to see you at the next event!

Morioka Chuo High School Exchange Program in Malaysia 2019

Prepared by Alexa Chew Y11 (with assistance from Michelle Lee Y10 and Jin Wei Wong Y11)

From the 10 to 16 March 2019, three high school students from Morioka Chuo High School came to our vibrant city Kuala Lumpur for a week to stay with a host family and experience the school and city life in Malaysia. Shun Takesawa, Himari Horiai and Yui Ishikawa were chosen as the student representatives for this exchange programme. Hosting of said students is credited to Jin Wei Wong (Y11), Michelle Lee (Y10) and I, Alexa Chew (Y11) and said families. Jin Wei and I had participated in the Chuo International Education Forum of 2018, and Michelle will be heading to Morioka in late 2019 to participate. Throughout their one week stay, Shun, Himari and Yui each had their own topics to investigate during their stay in Malaysia: Shun's being food loss in Malaysia, Himari focusing on information technology in Malaysia and Yui's being the differences in education between Japan and Malaysia. They followed us to school to experience school life at TISKL and at other times, we explored the city of Kuala Lumpur.

Throughout their stay, we were able to take our guests to visit many tourist attractions in Kuala Lumpur. With our host families we visited Batu Caves, Petronas Twin Towers, Menara Kuala Lumpur and more. Our school teachers also brought them to Central Market and Complex Craft to purchase souvenirs and learn more about Malaysian culture. In addition to this, Jin Wei and I brought Himari and Shun out after school to hangout with our friends, to allow them to experience teenage life in the capital. We went karaoke, bowling, shopping and also ate many delicious foods. Michelle brought Yui out to explore the city and discover more about Malaysian culture. In school, the 3 Japanese students were greeted warmly with a coffee morning and welcoming chat and followed by a school tour led by Ms Sheela. In lessons, Shun, Himari and Yui were able to learn more about the Malaysian education system and also get to converse with other TISKL students and make friends. Shun was able to conduct discussions with the Year 11 classes on food loss to gain ideas and perspectives; Himari was able to visit several ICT classes to observe IT development in TISKL, and Yui visited classes ranging from kindergarten to secondary to observe the education system in TISKL. On 14 Mar (Thursday), the three of them presented their findings on the 7th floor training room to KS4 students, and it was a success. They also shared more about the culture of Morioka; Jin Wei and I also presented more about our city Kuala Lumpur.

In conclusion, this exchange programme has been a fruitful and memorable experience for us hosts, and I'm sure that Shun, Himari and Yui also enjoyed themselves greatly. From this hosting experience, Jin Wei, Michelle and I were able to learn more on how to be welcoming, accommodating and considerate when being a student host. Though hosting was stressful and overwhelming at times, it has overall been an amazing experience to host and also make new friends that will last a lifetime. We hope that Shun, Himari and Yui were also able to enjoy themselves in Kuala Lumpur and learn more about our country and culture. From this exchange programme, we were also able to learn more about Japanese customs and culture. Shun, Himari and Yui have been wonderful guests and we hope we will continue to keep in contact with the Japanese students in Morioka and maintain this valuable friendship that connects cultures and countries.