Japanese Exchange 2019

Once again, we welcomed our Japanese friends from our partner school, Johoku High School, for an exciting week packed with local sights and fun activities.

On Wednesday 20th March, Highcliffe’s welcomed our friends from partner school, Johoku High School in Hiroshima, Japan. Their weeks stay with us was full with a wide range of exciting activities in school and out in our local area too.

Apart from making sure they were in the right place at the right time, students took their new friends to lessons and welcomed them into their friendship groups showing them true Highcliffe hospitality.

The Johoku boys managed to get out and see iconic landmarks like Stonehenge as well as local sites like Christchurch Priory, climbing up the church tower to appreciate the beautiful landscape.

We also arranged a meeting with the Mayor of Christchurch, Cllr Lesley Dedman, where one of the boys dressed up in the ceremonial regalia to show him some of their traditional culture and in return, one of the Johoku boys tried on the mayoral robes.

The Johoko students were then invited to an Easter themed afternoon tea with our SEN team. Students from year 7, 8 and 9 prepared presentations on our celebration of Easter and our local community of Highcliffe. Traditional Afternoon Tea was served with a range of pastries and cakes from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The afternoon was a delightful occasion with an opportunity for students to mix in an informal setting.

Our Japanese friends attended an art lesson, showing our students their ancient art of origami and demonstrating how to fold a simple piece of paper into a crane. They explained to our students the meaning behind the crane, the links to Hiroshima and how it became the symbol for peace in Japan.

As well as showing us Origami, the boys showed our students how to write calligraphy the traditional way, using paintbrushes and ink. Our students left the lesson inspired and wanting to adopt some of the techniques learned, in their own school work. The boys also demonstrated these origami and calligraphy techniques at Ballard School, much to the delight of the younger students there.

Toward the end of the week, Miss Whiteside was delighted to be joined by Year 5 students and their parents from our primary feeder schools for an evening learning about Japanese history and culture. She was very impressed with how maturely the Year 5 students listened to the story of the effects of 1945 on Hiroshima. The primary students learnt a traditional Japanese sea shanty dance from the Johoku boys, and got thoroughly stuck in! At the end, there was an opportunity for students to ask our Japanese visitors questions about the different cultures. Thank you to all of the Year 5s and parents who attended – we hope you found it an informative and enjoyable evening.

On their final day in school, the Johoku boys took on members of the Highcliffe U16 basketball team. It has to be said that the Johoku boys performed very well against them winning 9-6.

At the end of the day, we held a Farewell Party in the Study Centre, were we tucked into delicious cakes and scones provided by our host families. The Johoku students delivered speeches of thanks and performed a traditional dance for us.