The Lion – 30th March 2018

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MESSAGE FROM BRIAN CHRISTIAN – PRINCIPAL Dear Parents, I know that the term that has almost come to an end has been a relatively short one but it has also been very busy and a lot of ground has been covered; I feel sure that many of your sons and daughters - like their teachers are looking forward to a richly deserved break. Spare a thought then for those who cannot afford to switch off just yet. In May and June more BST students than ever before will sit important public examinations and the pressure on them to achieve the best results they can is perhaps more intense than it has ever been. Earlier this week the former Head of Harrow School stirred up some controversy when he suggested that (I)GCSE and A Level students should spend at least seven hours revising every day during the holidays.* Very quickly lots of comments appeared on social media raising concerns about student wellbeing and the intimidating academic pressures that today’s teenagers have to face. While I believe that these commentators do have a point, my own view is that most of the young people taking exams in the next few months understand that they are on the last lap of what has been a long-distance race – and that the time has come for that final determined push. Seven hours a day is not a terribly excessive target as long as students pace themselves intelligently, allow themselves the occasional fall from grace and, above all, avoid burning the midnight oil. Far from adding to levels of stress, a sensibly ambitious, carefully focused holiday revision programme will take much of the pressure off in the final run-in. Good luck! Earlier this week some of us were given indisputable evidence that hard work and practice pays off when we were entertained and enthralled by the young musicians, singers and dancers who performed in the Primary Spring Concert. Once again, I was simply amazed at the standards they set for themselves and it was clear that a full and very appreciative audience shared my admiration. Each year this concert focuses on ensembles and small groups, and it was obvious that every performance was the product not only of hours of solitary practice but a lot of collaborative rehearsal time too. Thank you to Ms Cowan, Ms Coates-Jones and to all those who have supported these talented young pupils over the past term. I think the sheer exuberance of that grand finale said it all – music really is the heart-beat of the school. Finally, it only remains for me to offer my very best wishes to those families who are moving on from BST today, to wish everyone who will return to school in April a happy and relaxing break, and to say a sincere thank you to those of you who have sent through some very kind messages following my announcement yesterday. Enjoy your holiday! Brian Christian https://twitter.com/BST_Principal Page 2 of 18

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SECONDARY NEWS Dear Students and Parents, It has been 12 weeks since we started back at school in January. Our Assembly today, was a fabulous celebration of the many achievements of our students during that time (far too many to mention in this newsletter). When we return in April (in summer uniform), the examination season will almost be upon us. The details for external examinations have been sent out to all students and parents, with exam conduct and revision sessions taking place on our return.

Can I also remind all parents of the parent presentation on student mental health and wellbeing, by Mr. Dick Moore on Tuesday 17th April at 7pm. We sadly have to say goodbye to a few students who are moving elsewhere and we wish them all the best. We have some new students starting after Easter and we look forward to welcoming them. I am very grateful to Niwa-sensei who has covered Japanese teaching this term. Our new full time Japanese teacher Meguro-sensei has been handing over with her for the couple of weeks of term and we are delighted that he is joining us. I would like to wish everybody a wonderful Easter Break and I hope our Year 11, 12 and 13 students especially, find time to relax between your intensive bouts of study and revision, and get to spend some quality time with your friends and family. Brian Platts https://twitter.com/BST_Secondary Page 3 of 18

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SECONDARY EVENTS

Well done Bishamon for winning this term's house cup! Term 3.1 (2017-2018) Tuesday 17th April Term 3 begins Dick Moore – Mental Health & Wellbeing Talk – 7pm – Showa Admin Bldg Friday 20th April Stress and adolescents TELL speaker coffee morning Saturday 21st April History Bowl & Bee Secondary Sports Newsletter – Term 2 2017-2018 here: https://goo.gl/z4VXFH Music Newsletter – March 2018: https://goo.gl/WLdBfN

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SECONDARY ELECTIVE REFLECTION AFTERNOON

Pictures from another successful Elective reflection afternoon in Secondary. 250 students discussing their learning from 24 different activities over 10 weeks.

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VEX ROBOTICS TEAM RECRUITMENT

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PUZZLE OF THE WEEK

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PRIMARY NEWS Dear Primary Parents, Another term has flown by. Our students have worked really hard and with the hanami season in full bloom I am sure they are eager to rest, read and exercise during the Easter holiday. Some of our older students suggested some alternatives to rest, read and exercise - which frankly was a relief as even I am ready for a new catchphrase! They suggested 1. Choose to be happy 2. Create something...a song, a cake, a game, a painting, a card, a computer game...the list is endless 3. Learn something new We loved these so why not add one or two to the obligatory rest over the holiday.

Beginning our spring celebrations was the music department with another fantastic Primary Music Concert on Tuesday evening. All of the performers played and performed brilliantly, it was an absolute pleasure to see you all up there confidently singing and/or playing. A particular highlight was the large scale collaboration between the Music and PE department with the final piece involving the choir, contemporary dancers and the samba drummers. A fantastic joint performance! I have never seen such a large audience in the Green Hall so enraptured by our young performers. Thank you to all who attended, and a special thank you to Ms. Cowan, Mrs Coates-Jones and the Music Department for their endless hard work, vision and enthusiasm.

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PRIMARY CONT’D Our students have been enjoying the sakura this week during break time and PE lessons. Our Y1 students had their own hanami at Yoyogi Park to observe the season’s changes to their tree. It looks like you had a fantastic morning of outdoor learning Year 1! And I’m very impressed with the progress that they have made growing vegetables in the classroom, it is quite the spring bloom.

Onto a couple of more serious notes: this week we had a lucky escape when accidentally a walnut was kindly and generously offered to someone with a nut allergy. PLEASE remember not to send anything with nuts of any type into school. We are a nut free zone because we have some children who have anaphylactic allergies to nuts. We really appreciate your help with this. We have had reports of children shoplifting from the Family Mart opposite our Shibuya campus and also outside our Showa campus. This is obviously totally unacceptable. Each of the stores have CCTV and we will eventually identify those stealing but could I ask you to remind your children about how to behave when in shops and I might recommend at this stage that you not allow your children to go into the conbini without you. Again, thank you for your help with this. As at the end of each term, we have a few leavers in Primary today. We would like to wish you all the very best of luck in your new homes and schools. Remember you always have a BST Lion in you - work hard and keep in touch. The summer term (& summer uniform) will commence in two weeks’ time on Tuesday 17th of April; we look forward to seeing you all refreshed and ready to begin the last term of the school year. Warm wishes, Kirsten O’Connor https://twitter.com/BST_Primary Page 9 of 18

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PRIMARY NEWSLETTERS

Music Newsletter – March 2018: https://goo.gl/WLdBfN Nursery Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/nursery-news-friday-30th-march-2018/ Reception Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/reception-news-friday-30th-march-2018/ Year 1 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-1-news-friday-30th-march-2018/ Year 2 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-2-news-friday-30th-march-2018/ Year 3 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-3-news-friday-30th-march-2018/ Year 4 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-4-news-friday-30th-march-2018/ Year 5 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-5-news-friday-30th-march-2018/ Year 6 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-6-news-friday-30th-march-2018/ Page 10 of 18

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YEAR 5’S RUNNING ACHIEVEMENT

9 Year 5’s & 1 Year 8 participated in the Jingu Kyujyo Relay Marathon on 25th March: http://jingu-run.jp/#resume Result for Half Marathon distance relay: 8th out of 34 teams including adult teams Time: 1:27:06

Congratulations to: Y5 Amy, Taisuke, Matt, Matthew, Kirren. Julian, Malachy, Hugo and Ryoga Y8 Sennon

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PRIMARY MATHS CHALLENGE The Primary Mathematics Challenge is a fun and exciting mathematical Challenge aimed at pupils in years 5 and 6 England and Wales, P6 and P7 in Scotland, and Years 6 and 7 in Northern Ireland. All our Year 5 and 6 BST Students participated. For all information Primary Mathematics Challenge 2017please download the PDF here https://goo.gl/9edZdy

RE & PHILOSOPHY

RE and Philosophy at BST Due to our upcoming Easter break, there are quite a few dates to tell you about from our cultural calendar: 1st April: Easter Sunday Celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The most important Christian festival and the one celebrated with most joy. 31st March-7th April: Passover (Pesach) A festival celebrating the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, led by Moses, and a general celebration of freedom. 12th-13th April: Lailat-Al-Miraj The night journey and ascent of the Prophet Muhammad, celebrated by the telling of the story of how he was visited by two archangels. 14th April: Baisakhi The Sikh New Year festival, which also commemorates Sikhism being born as a collective faith in 1699. A philosophical question to ponder during the holiday season...

What is philosophy anyway? Page 12 of 18

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PTA

PTA TOURS

Sanae & Riko PTA Tours – Next Tour Tsukiji Fish Market is on Monday 23 April RSVP to PTA Tours [email protected]

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SHOWA COFFEE MORNING

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HAND UNIFORM SALE PARENTING COURSES COMING SOON!

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COMMUNITY EVENTS

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THE COLLECTIVE MARKET

https://www.facebook.com/events/2039515289656141/ Page 17 of 18

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IRISH DANCING Recommendation by BST Mum Mrs Grennan ARDAGH SCHOOL OF IRISH DANCE Ms. Tomoko Shirasawa owns the school. She was trained in Ireland and a registered teacher of CLRG. She went to many competition herself and won some awards. Her students also are joining various championship all over the world and winning prize. http://www.ardaghschool.com/profile.html https://www.facebook.com/ardaghschool/ Contact detail Ms. Tomoko Shirasawa [email protected] 090 1768 7803 She has various adult classes as well as student classes. Students class in Tokyo(Hiroo) : every Saturday 11:50-13:20 Biweekly Wednesday 16:45-18:15

CHARITY PUB QUIZ

Oxfam Charity Pub Quiz British Pub, THE FooTNiK in Ebisu Tuesday 10th April 8pm – 10.30pm Free shots and food for special Shooter Questions… Grand Prize bottle of Bubbly! Many question categories! 1000 yen entry fee (all proceeds to Oxfam) Max 5 people per team Individuals & small teams welcome! http://www.footnik.net/index.php/english/ [email protected]

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