Nanohana

FORTNIGHTLY NEWSLETTER
Upcoming Training At MIS we are keen to improve the training we can offer to all our teaching staff. As a result we are pleased to confirm that Dr. Myriam Met (a well known educator) will be visiting MIS in December 2014. This is some time in the futurehowever it takes time to secure meaningful training. We hope that we can also find time for Dr. Met to talk to parents if interested.
Proposed visit details for Dr. Met. More information will be sent home later. Keep December 13th free!
Friday Dec. 12th Saturday Dec. 13th
Visit school and observe what we do and how we are set up. Hold a session/ workshop after school for staff on her observations /educational thinking. This is also a chance for staff to have a Q&A Morning Presentation to parents (in line with what she has seen the day before). This will give parents a chance to ask questions as well.

Edition 89May 2nd 2014

Welcome to the Eighty Ninth Edition

Dentist Visit! Well done to K1G2 children for their excellent behaviour during the dentists visit yesterday!

BazaarCOINS, CANS and CARTONS Thanks to all those people that have sent things in. So far we have some cans/cartons and about half a bucket of coins. This is great but WE STILL NEED MORE. Please send full cans/cartons and any spare coins you have from visiting other countries. Many Thanks. G1.
Summer Uniforms/Cool Biz Please dont forget that on May 7th children will be expected to come to school wearing their Summer Uniforms. In a previous letter it may have said May 19th. Apologies for this it is May 7th! Teaching and office staff will also be wearing Cool Biz so please dont be surprised if you see men not wearing ties from this day. As you may remember, Chiba begins this quite early. This is in an attempt to ensure we are not using the air conditioning which saves electricity, not only for the school but after the tragedy on March 11th 2011 when the Great Earthquake struck and caused many power stations around the country to be shut down. Thank you.

Information about Dr. Met Dr. Myriam Met is currently an independent consultant, having recently retired from the University of Maryland where she was Acting Director, Deputy Director, and a Senior Research Associate at the National Foreign Language Center (NFLC). Dr. Mets current work focuses on strategic support for K-12 programs for foreign language learners and for students learning English. Her previous positions include supervisor of foreign language programs, English for Speakers of Other Languages, and bilingual education for major urban and suburban school districts, including responsibility for designing, implementing, and supervising a variety of immersion program models. She was the founder and first president of the National Association of District Supervisors of Foreign Languages; a founding member, and later president, of the National Network for Early Language Learning; and served on the Executive Council of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. She has provided consultant services to school districts, state departments and ministries of education, universities, professional associations and private agencies throughout the United States, as well as in Europe, Asia, South America, and Canada. She has published extensively in books and refereed journals on topics related to foreign language, ESL, and bilingual education. Dr. Met has received major national awards from The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages: the Florence Steiner Award for Leadership in Foreign Language Education, K-12, in 1983, and the Papalia Award for Excellence in Teacher Education in 1999. She has also received a Pioneer in Bilingual Education Award from the National Association for Bilingual Education, the Robert Mead Leadership Award from the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, and the Palmes Academiques from the Government of France.

PTA - NEXT MEETING 12.00pm on OPEN DAY in the MEDIA CENTRE

The PTA would like to say thanks to all of you who returned the reply slip from the last PTA letter. Your feedback is always useful. We are hoping we will see you at our next meeting in the Media Centre on Tuesday 13th May at 12.00pm. Please come if you have ideas and wish to help improve our school! Hayakawa-san will be pleased to talk to parents on that day.

Happy Golden Week Wishing everyone connected with MIS a wonderful Golden Week holiday. This special holiday is an important time to spend with your family and I hope that all have a relaxed time and a chance to unwind with their loved ones. We will see you on May 7th! Children in their Summer Uniforms.

Some of the performers at the Bazaar so far! Balloon Performer. Juggler. Cheer Dancers. Sogo High School Band Guitar Group Magician Hawaiian Dance MIS Student Performances. Hip Hop Should anyone know of other willing performers, please contact Mr. Gunn.
Do you have a QR Code Reader on your phone? If so why not scan the code on the left and see where it takes you?! Some of you already know this important site. For newcomers welcome!

OPEN DAYMay 13th. We look forward to seeing parents on Tuesday May 13th for Open Day. Please remember that this day is not open for visitorsbut only parents/guardians of children already here at the school. We will try to follow a normal timetable on that day. Class teachers will have timetables of lessons being taught outside the classesso you can read them. In Kindergarten we will have our normal Kindergarten Assembly at 9.50am where we get together to share a story and sing a song. We also celebrate Student of the Week as well as children who have had birthdays. We hope you enjoy the day and that some of you can also come to the PTA Meeting held in the Media Centre at 12.00pm. Please remember not to take photos of children and to speak in English. We are all role models for the children. Thank you.

Kendama Parents! On May 19th from 1.45pm to 2.15pm, the children will be treated to a Kendama Show. This will be held in the hall and promises to be an exciting chance to see Japanese Culture in action! Domoto-san visited On Tuesday April 22nd the ex-Governor of Chiba Prefecture visited MIS. She was one of the initial founders of the whole project and had not visited the school since we first opened. Therefore it was good to be able to show her around the school on that date. Her comments were extremely favorable and I know that she was very impressed with all that she saw at our school. She will no doubt share her impressions with others that she meets and perhaps this will help to increase the MIS good reputation that we have.
Music Recital Our Music Recital takes place on May 16th starting at 9.30am. Please remember we have another Music Recital to be held on Friday October 24th. Only parents of performing children will be invited to come and watch. They will be presented with a program on arrival and most children will watch at least some of the recital, if not all. We aim to finish by 11.30am.
Fire , Earthquake and Tsunami Practices Over the past few weeks all children and staff have practiced what to do in an emergency should a fire break out, an earthquake occur or a tsunami approach the school. In all cases, the children followed instructions excellently and we were very impressed with these practices. We will continue to practice each term to ensure all children are always ready.

Order arrived from UK Last Tuesday our order from the UK arrived. This included many educational resources as well as furniture for children and staff to use. As each year progresses, we have more and more equipment at the school and we become more and more able to enhance what we are teaching the children at the school as well as hopefully more ably concentrate on each individual child s needs.

Some Upcoming Dates! May 2ndDisplays changed around the school. May 7thchildren change to Summer Uniforms. Staff wearing Cool Biz. May 13thOpen Day. May 16thMusic Recital. May 31stBAZAAR. June 10th12th. Parent Evenings. July 9thElementary Olympics Day. July 11thEnd of Term