The Lion – 16th June 2017
School
news
Primary
Secondary
PTA
Community
MESSAGE FROM BRIAN CHRISTIAN – PRINCIPAL
Dear Parents,
The weekend is almost upon us
and a quick glance at the latest
weather forecast for Tokyo
suggests that, despite the season,
we are set for two fairly sunny
dry days - good news for
everyone on their International
Award Bronze expedition, for the
60+ students signed up for the
Makuhari Challenge Triathlon and
for those among us who, being of
a slightly more sedate disposition,
are looking forward to a pleasant
PTA family picnic in Yoyogi Park
on Sunday.
Not such good news, perhaps, for
our A Level students who must
continue to resist the lure of the
sun and stick with their books for
a little while longer - good luck
and keep going, you’re almost there! In contrast, Year 11 can now celebrate the end of
their GCSE and IGCSE examinations and begin to look forward to a well-earned summer
break and their move up into the Sixth Form. In September it looks likely that we will
have more than 80 students in Years 11 and 12. This is a far cry from the tiny group of
seven who started the A level programme off just six short years ago, and the strong,
steady growth in numbers says much about the successful example set by those earlier
cohorts.
The increasing popularity of the Sixth Form at BST and the acquisition of so much
additional space in our building at Showa mean that we are now able to offer a wider
variety of subject options and give our older students the library and private study
facilities that they deserve. Renovation work on the first and second floors is moving
ahead very quickly now and our new Secondary Librarian, Michael Bell, has told me how
excited he is to see his new domain really beginning to take shape. Even more exciting is
the thought of all that additional shelf space and a significantly enhanced budget to
ensure that they are well and truly filled!
BST children have always been avid readers, thanks largely to the good habits instilled in
them from an early age by Mr Steven. I think therefore that he might claim just a little
credit for the recent success of two of our young writers. Thomas Uchiumi-Jones is
celebrating the award of third place in the Under-10 category of the global COBIS poetry
competition for his lyrically descriptive Oh How I Long To Be There, and he should be
very proud to see his poem published in the most recent edition of the World Student
magazine. Well done, Thomas!
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The second of our award-winning writers is Kyoka Hadano in Year 12 who learned just a
few days ago that she has won a prestigious commendation for her entry into this year’s
competition for the Peterhouse Thomas Campion English Prize. The Director of Studies
for English at Peterhouse, Cambridge University’s oldest college, wrote:
The judges were impressed by the fluency and elegance of your writing and by the range
of ideas brought together for the argument. We thought it showed remarkable assurance
and real promise. Finishing in the top seven of our very strong field of candidates is a
considerable achievement.
Congratulations to Kyoka and to her teachers on this exceptional award. As Mr Paterson,
our Head of English, will happily attest she is one of our most widely read students and
this is clearly demonstrated in the thoughtful maturity of her writing.
Enjoy your weekend - and perhaps spend a little time with a good book!
Brian Christian
https://twitter.com/BST_Principal
MACBETH
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SECONDARY NEWS
Dear Students & Parents,
This week saw the start
of our transition process
for Year 6 students
joining us in the
Secondary School. We
had two information
sessions for those most
anxious about this pivotal step...... our parents! The students have been busy getting to
know their new tutors and fellow tutees this week. We also had a very successful
'Fresher's Fair' this afternoon. We are really looking forward to welcoming this wonderful
cohort of students and will continue to work with them, their tutors and of course, our
parents, in ensuring this transition goes as smoothly as possible.
I mentioned our leaving staff last week and would like to tell you something about our
new teachers this week. Our new Modern Foreign Languages teacher will be Charlotte
Wery, who will be joining us from King's British School in Madrid. Adam Whybro will also
be joining us from King’s Madrid and he will be joining our Humanities Faculty.
Christopher Speller will be joining our Mathematics Faculty after teaching at the
Greenwich Free School in London. Magali Matsumiya will be joining our Science Faculty
from The Marlborough School in Oxford. Finally, Christopher Balcombe will lead our
Computing Department after 4 years at Dulwich School in Beijing. We are delighted to
welcome them all to BST and can't wait to see the impact they will have on our
community.
Well done to the Secondary Choir who performed so well for the Queen's Birthday
Celebration at the British Embassy on Wednesday. Congratulations to Amaterasu House
who won both the girls and boys Year 9-10 inter-house futsal on Wednesday.
Congratulations to Bishamon House who won both the girls and boys Year 7-8 interhouse futsal on Thursday. Good luck to all teams competing in the inter-house Netball
today, although I must admit I am hoping for a Tsukiyomi win! Finally, good luck to the
87 students, along with a few teachers and parents, who will be competing in the
Makuhari triathlon on Sunday.
It was fabulous to hear that one of our Year 12 students received a commendation from
Peterhouse College, Cambridge, for her entry in the Thomas Campion English Essay
Competition. Well done Kyoka.
I look forward to seeing Year 7 and Year 8 student work on Monday afternoon at the
Science and Drama Exhibition. Parents are also invited, so please do come along.
Many of our students have been working incredibly hard rehearsing for two events taking
place next week. We have two performances of Macbeth on Tuesday and Wednesday and
our Summer Concert on Thursday; I very much hope you can all attend and help
celebrate the incredible talent we have at BST.
Have a lovely weekend.
Brian Platts https://twitter.com/bst_secondary
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SECONDARY EVENTS
UPCOMING EVENTS – TERM 3.2 2016-2017
Saturday 17th June
DofE Bronze Assessed (MGR) 3 of 3
10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Macbeth rehearsal
Sunday 18th June
DofE Bronze Assessed (MGR) 3 of 3
Monday 19th June
Y8 Student Tutorial Week
Exhibition (Y7-9 off timetable from P5)
PTA Meeting
8:30 am – 12:00 pm Macbeth Dress Rehearsal, Green Hall
Y11 & Y12 Return
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
GCE/Adv: Chemistry P2
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
GCE/Adv: Business P2
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
GCE/A2: Music Unit 6
5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
GCE/A2: French Unit 3
Tuesday 20th June
School Production: Macbeth
12:00 pm – 3:30 pm
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
8:00 pm – 9:30 pm
Y12 Corporate Afternoon Visit
GCE/Adv: Biology P2
GCE/A2: Maths C3
Wednesday 21st June
School Production: Macbeth
Climbing Club 9
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Middle School Show, night 1
GCE/Adv: Physics P2
Thursday 22nd June
Summer Concert
UCAS Reply Deadline
Y12 trip to Moriumius Departs
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Middle School Show, night 2
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
GCE/Adv: English Lit P2
5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
GCE/A2: Spanish Unit 3
9:00 pm – 11:00 pm
GCE/Adv: Psychology P3
Friday 23rd June
Y7 Full Report Released
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Middle School Show, night 3
GCE/A2: Maths C4
GCE/Adv: Business P3
Sunday 25th June
TBC - World Scholar's Cup Global Round (EHE)
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LOST PROPERTY
LOST PROPERTY
All Primary and Secondary lost property at Showa is on display along the cabinets on the
4th floor. If your child has lost anything, please ask them to pop up there and have a
look for it. Thank you!
PUZZLE OF THE WEEK
British School in Tokyo - Puzzle of the Week
Previous Solution: A full tank of petrol will go 160km.
Solutions for the puzzle this week are due in by 26/6/2016
Twenty 1 yen coins are placed in a line. Then every second coin is replaced
with a 5 yen coin. After that, every third coin is replaced with a 10 yen coin.
Then, every fourth coin is replaced with a 50 yen coin. After that, every fifth
coin is replaced with a 100 yen coin and finally every sixth coin is replaced
with a 500 yen coin.
Given that coins can be replaced more than once, what is the value of the
twenty coins in the line?
SPORT
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WHOLE SCHOOL SUMMER CONCERT
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PRIMARY NEWS
Dear Parents,
This week’s Year 3 Egyptian day was a resounding success. Some fantastic costumes,
mummifying classmates and of course walking like Egyptians certainly seemed like fun.
We have Space Day in Year 2 and Roman Day in Year 4 to look forward to next week!
YEAR 5 ENTERPRISE MORNING
This morning our Year 5 students
showed off their entrepreneurial skills
with their Business Enterprise Fair.
Groups of students were tasked with
creating a business plan for a game,
securing an investment loan, creating the
business, and then running their stall at
a fair for other students. Quite a lot of
work and they had to make a profit to at
least pay back their loan. There was a
super atmosphere with the children
working excellently in teams having
created some very well designed and
professionally produced stalls. Well done
Year 5, I am sure you will be able to
make a substantial charity donation with
your profits.
NEWS JUST IN - Year 5 raised a staggering
🌟 290,300 yen🌟 for the charity mirai-no-mori
(http://mirai-no-mori.jp/).
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PRIMARY REMINDERS & DATES
REMINDERS & DATES
PTA Picnic - Sunday 18th June - Yoyogi Park
Annual Reports - these will be published to the iSAMS parent portal on Tuesday.
17-18 class lists - published to the iSAMS parent portal next week. We will email when
they are available to see.
Optional Parents Evening - Wednesday 21st June - . Please email your teacher directly if
you need to make an appointment.
Summer Concert - Thursday 22nd June - Hitomi Hall from 6.00pm. We look forward to
drawing the year to a close with some excellent performances. I have been listening to
the rehearsals and the event promises to be wonderful, building again on last year.
Transition Morning - Wednesday 28th June - all Primary children will be visiting their
new classroom and teacher with their new classmates. Year 3 children will be travelling
over to Showa on the school bus to visit their new campus too.
Year 6 Leavers Assembly - Wednesday 28th June, 1.30pm, Green Hall, Showa. Year 6
pupils will be staging their final Primary performance and we will be wishing them
farewell as they move into the Secondary school. Parents are welcome to attend.
Non-School Uniform Day and parties - Thursday 29th June is the day when all the end
of year parties are happening. The Student Council have asked to have this as a fund
raising non-school uniform day, so please wear your own clothes and donate 500 yen.
Last day of term - Friday 30th June - school finishes at noon with year group dismissal
times as follows:
● Nursery
11.45am (from the classroom)
● Reception
11.45am (from the courtyard)
● Year 1
11.50am
● Year 2
11.55am
● Year 3, 4, 5, 6
12.00pm
Intra school buses and bus stop will be operating as normal. School buses arrive to
Shibuya at 12.30 approx.
Good luck to all our athletes, pupils, staff and parents, taking part in the triathlon on
Sunday. l am looking forward to hearing all about it.
NEW STAFF JOINING
Finally, please let me introduce you to the NEW STAFF JOINING the Primary Team in
August – click here – https://goo.gl/pZ4Lbz
Have a good weekend.
Kirsten O’Connor Head of Primary https://twitter.com/BST_OConnor
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PRIMARY NEWSLETTERS
Nursery Newsletter
http://www.bst.ac.jp/nursery-news-friday-16th-june-2017/
Reception Newsletter
http://www.bst.ac.jp/reception-news-friday-16th-june-2017/
Year 1 Newsletter
http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-1-news-friday-16th-june-2017/
Year 2 Newsletter
http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-2-news-friday-16th-june-2017/
Year 3 Newsletter
http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-3-news-friday-16th-june-2017/
Year 4 Newsletter
http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-4-news-friday-16th-june-2017/
Year 5 Newsletter
http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-5-news-friday-16th-june-2017/
Year 6 Newsletter
http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-6-news-friday-16th-june-2017/
5 MINUTES ON A FRIDAY
5 MINUTES ON A FRIDAY
What religious celebrations are taking place/starting in May?
It is a busy time of year for those of Muslim faith. Here are the religious celebrations this
week...
27 May - 25 Jun: Ramadan
A month of dusk to dawn fasting, in which the gates of heaven are open and the gates of
hell are closed.
21 Jun: Lailat-Ul-Qadr
The Night of Power, when the Qur’an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.
Muslims spend this time in study and prayer.
25 Jun: Eid-Ul-Fitr
Muslims celebrate the end of fasting for Ramadan, with processions through the street
and a celebratory daytime meal – their first for a month.
Here is a new philosophical question to fill you with wonder and to fuel your imaginations...
What is so great about the world anyway?
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LIBRARY NEWS
ALL loans need to be returned to the libraries on Monday 19th June
2017.
This week some parents have been returning the books directly to the
shelves. Please do not do this. In Primary the books need to be put in
the blue boxes and in Secondary they need to be returned to Mr. Bell or
Mr. Warburton.
If you still would like a free e-book account for the holidays, please email [email protected] for primary accounts and [email protected] for secondary accounts.
PTA END OF YEAR PICNIC
Full flyer with map here: https://goo.gl/uzBMOL
N.B. This is a BST Community event.
Parents are responsible for their own children at all times
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PTA
BUDDIES NEEDED
Finally, as we begin to prepare to welcome new families to BST,
please let us know if you would be willing to help with these
welcomes. Usually it involves attending a few coffee mornings, but
also being a ‘buddy’ for someone in your child’s year group or class.
As you may remember, this is a huge help to new families, so please
let us know by emailing us on [email protected].
TUTOR AVAILABLE FOR SUMMER HOLIDAYS
We have a tutor available for either Secondary or Primary students over the summer
holiday.
Able to help with developing English skills as well as Maths and other subjects.
If interested, please email [email protected]
PTA TOURS
LAST TOUR OF THE YEAR WAS AT THE
KABUKI-ZA THEATRE
Thank you for the fun [email protected] Toshie, Ritsuko, and Francis
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COMMUNITY EVENTS
Save the date! Next 音和座 otowaza concert on July 24th!!!
Young and talented musicians, soulful performances, traditional music at its best, set in
a relaxed atmosphere at Live House 六本木 C•laps.
5 Senses ikebana on stage.
https://www.facebook.com/otowaza/
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OXFAM CHARITY PUB QUIZ
Oxfam Charity Pub Quiz
British Pub, THE FooTNiK in Ebisu
Tuesday 20th June
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/english/location/
Email: [email protected]
MIRAI NO MORI TANABATA PARTY
Mirai no Mori Tanabata Party: Making children's wishes come true
https://mirai-no-mori.jp/tanabata-party-2017/
<Date> Wednesday, July 5th
<Time> 18:30-21:00
<Location> BNP Paribas Tokyo office, Gran Tokyo North Tower, 42nd floor (Very close to
Tokyo Station)
<Access> http://www.grantokyo-nt.com/e_access/
<Cost> 4,000 yen (including delicious food, drinks, and a small donation)
* All payments can be made in cash at the door.
RSVP via - http://bit.ly/MiraiNoMori-Summer-Tanabata-Party
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HANDCRAFTED JEWELRY POP-UP SHOP
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