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The initial link was set up through a parent governor who had spent time living in Japan and whose children had previously attended the Toei Elementary School. The two schools were then awarded Joint Curriculum Project funding for an environmental project they were developing together.
Grange Primary School registered for the Eco-Schools programme during 2006, and as such felt it appropriate to make environmental issues the focus of the project. Pupils from Grange Primary School were set the challenge of learning about how Japanese children interact with, and work to conserve, their environment. To prepare the children for their visit, study meetings on Japan and Japanese language were held twice monthly in the run-up to the trip.
Toei Elementary School arranged a varied timetable for the three days that the Grange Primary School children spent with them and also organised host families for the children and teachers to stay with. The English children had the opportunity to participate in lessons in craft, music and sports and also learnt about traditional Japanese hobbies such as origami and calligraphy.
The English children gave a presentation to their Japanese counterparts on their first day, explaining about life at a UK primary school. In turn they were given the chance to participate in all aspects of Japanese school life, including certain things which they would not do in the UK – such as serving lunches and even cleaning the school.
As part of the environmental focus, the English children looked at the way that rubbish is separated and recycled within their host school. They were also given questionnaires to complete with their Japanese host families to discover the ways in which Japanese families save resources, reduce waste and practice recycling.
On the third day at Toei, the English and Japanese children made a joint visit to a local aquarium, where they learned about marine conservation, and to an environment study centre, where they were give the chance to make soap out of waste oil.
The children were also given the opportunity to visit the Fujimae Wetlands conservation area in Nagoya and to learn about the consequences of global warming at the Miyako Ecology Centre, built to commemorate the signing of the Kyoto Protocol.
The children from Grange Primary School had the chance to learn about Japanese family life whilst staying with their host families from Toei Elementary School. This was complemented by trips to sights of cultural interest, ranging from historical temples to a brand-new museum of robot technology.
Both Grange Primary School and Toei Elementary School hope to build upon the success of the English school’s trip to Japan and are looking for ways to further develop the link between them. Discussions between the two schools are ongoing and both hope to see a return visit to the UK by children from Toei Elementary School in the near future.
“The one thing I’ll always remember is how welcoming the Japanese children were and how much spirit they had.”
“Japanese children are very similar to us. I found them just as easy to make friends with as British children”
“Our host family treated us just as though we were part of the family. I was really surprised by how kind they were.”
“Japan is amazing. Truly beautiful.”
“When can we come back?”
“I learned that reducing the number of plastic bags and bottles I use is better than recycling them later.”
“I enjoyed the wetlands very much. I learned about the importance of keeping the environment safe and I enjoyed seeing all the creatures that live there.”
“I realized that global warming is our fault, even though most of the time we don’t realise it.”
“I think Japanese people think a lot more about recycling than British people, and they are better at it.”
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