Japanese Intermediate School

Konnichiwa!
How was the science fair and art auction?  And the choir is tomorrow proformance right?  Have fun!

I visited a chougakkou (Intermediate School) yesterday.  Man, are they different to NZ schools.  For starters, intermediate schools are for 3 years (from 13-16years old).  Everyone (including the teachers) has a hot lunch, and you must eat it all.  You can't choose what you eat.  Most schools have a cafetaria where you eat, but at this school, you must eat in your classroom.  I ate lunch with a class, it was curry vegetables, bread, salad, a cheese stick, and a bottle of milk yesterday.  Sorry I forgot to get a photo, the food was all packaged like airplane food, and on a tray.   

There is no morning tea or afternoon tea, and the school day is from 8:30-4:30.  After that, students are expected to do at least 2 hours of homework, a school club activity (such as sports, music, art) and go to a cram class (for help in which ever subject they find the hardest).  So the kids come home for dinner, then straight out again.  You can't just go to any intermediate school, it depends on your grades in Year 6.  If you have good grades, you can go to a good school.  The same is for college and university.  So it is very competitive and education is taken very seriously. 

I was amazed that during class the children sit with their desks test style, and they don't talk!  At lunchtime, the library is busy but quiet, and the classrooms are full of children doing homework and extra work.  It's tough!

For every subject the children have their own textbook and that is all the teachers use.  So everyone in the class does the same work.  There are no groups like we have for maths, writing and reading.

There is very little art or children's work on the wall.  Parents are only allowed to visit on special open days.  At this school, there are no day trips.  But everyone has one camp a year.  No assembly, and no special guests. And the children do the cleaning of the school too- mop the floors, clean the white board etc,.

There are only 3 terms.  And the children move from class to class like we do in college.  Each subject has a different teacher.  Every class has a homeroom where they meet in the morning for notices/role and at the end of the day.  Most classes have 40 students.
Here are some pictures:

Science-Intermediate 2nd grade (Year 8)

Each student has their own goal for the term on the wall of their homeroom.

Social Studies. 

The main school building.  First floor is 1st grade, second floor is 2nd grade, 3rd floor 3rd grade.  There are about 230 students at this school. On the other side of the walkway where I took the photo from is the computor room, art room and woodwork room.

The school field.

The art room.  See how every room has a big tv on the wall?  Every classroom in Japan has one. 

The children take of their shoes and put on their undershoes.

Here is a poster made by a student.  It says something like, 'remember to change your inside shoes to your sports shoes at pe time.'

A music class.  All the children in this school learn the alto recorder.  Every music classroom in Japan has a grand piano.

 

The corridor on 2nd floor.

The library

In the kitchen: milk

All the food arrives each day in a truck.  The student have to take turns collecting the food for their class and dishing it out.

The lady in the mask (she has a cold) is in charge of the kitchen.  She's watching the students are doing the right thing!

Dishing up the food.

Before eating the children say 'itadakimasu' (thanks for the meal) and after the meal they say 'gochisosamadeshita' (I appreciate the good meal).  They have to stay at their desk for 30mins until the bell goes, then they have 30mins left of lunch do what they like.  Not many children choose to go outside.
I was the first Westerner to visit the school.  The staff were nervous.  The children were extremely shy and quiet. 
The staff were really nice, and I was really lucky to get a peek at a Japanese school.

That's all for now,
O genki de ne, (take care)
Amelia