熊日日新聞が取材に来られました。記事は下記のリンクからアクセスできます。

https://kumanichi.com/articles/233201

On May 1, 2021, KIS officially became an IB World School for the Primary Years Program (PYP).

I would like to thank all teachers, students, parents and other members of the school community who have supported us in getting to this point.

The IB is the most respected and widely-followed academic program in the international school world, and accreditation validates that a school meets high standards of institutional quality through an ongoing, independent, objective review process.  As an IB World School, KIS joins a community of over 5,000 schools worldwide that offer IB programs.

All IB World Schools share a commitment to developing knowledgeable, caring young people who will be ready to negotiate their futures successfully and make contributions resulting in a more harmonious and peaceful world.

KIS will continue to work to increase the quality of the education that we provide for students, preparing them to succeed wherever they go and whatever they do in their lives.

Thank you again for your support, and I look forward to working together to realize our vision of providing world-class education for our students.

Matthew Ohm

Principal

Kumamoto International School

2021年5月1日、KISは国際バカロレア（IB）ワールドスクールとして正式に認定されました！

昨年11月に発表したように、KISは現在、IB初等教育プログラムPYP*の候補校です。認定に向けて、PYPカリキュラムを取り入れています。新型コロナウルスによる影響に関わらず、順調に進んでいます。

国際バカロレアの認定校への旅の一環として、PYP候補校は、コンサルタント学校訪問と認定学校訪問の2回の学校訪問を受ける必要があります。 KISでは、7月に１回目のコンサルタント学校訪問を受けました。

現在、2021年の初めごろに、認定学校訪問を予定しています。

熊本インターナショナルスクール小学部は国際バカロレア（IB）のPYP候補校*です。現在、IBワールドスクールの認定校になるための調整を進めています。IBワールドスクールは、チャレンジに満ちた優れた国際教育を提供するために尽力する、という共通の理念をもっています。*国際バカロレア機構に認定を受けた学校のみが、IBの４つのプログラムである、初等教育プログラム（PYP：Primary Years Programme）、中等教育プログラム（MYP：Middle Years Programme）、ディプロマプログラム（DP）、キャリア関連プログラム（CP：Career-related Programme）を提供することができます。

国際バカロレアについてより詳しくお知りになりたい方は以下リンクをご覧ください。

• 文部科学省IB教育推進コンソーシアム　ウェブサイト
  https://ibconsortium.mext.go.jp/
• 文部科学省IB教育推進コンソーシアム　ウェブサイト（ＩＢとは）https://ibconsortium.mext.go.jp/about-ib/
• 文部科学省「国際バカロレアについて」　ウェブサイト
  http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/kokusai/ib

As we announced last November, KIS is currently a candidate school for the IB Primary Years Program (PYP). During our candidacy, we have begun our trial implementation of the PYP curriculum, and despite the challenges created by Covid-19, things are proceeding apace.

As part of the journey to accreditation, PYP candidate schools are required to schedule two on-site visits: the consultant visit and the on-site verification visit. KIS had the first of these two on-site visits in July, and we continue our work preparing for the second.

Currently, we anticipate having our full on-site verification visit sometime in the early part of 2021.

Kumamoto International School is a candidate school* for the PYP and is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. IB World Schools share a common philosophy – a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education – that we believe is important for our students.
*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted. For further information about the IB and its programmes visit http://www.ibo.org.

KISのPYPカリキュラムの基礎となる「学習範囲と順序」のカリキュラム

学習範囲と順序書類はこちら：学習範囲と順序のカリキュラム

During the summer break, KIS provides summer school for all students who wish to attend.  This year, almost 3/4 of students are coming to KIS during summer break.  Because the development of good study habits and routines are so critical to students’s success, KIS works to provide a fun, yet structured, environment conducive to student growth even during the summer.  Teachers ensure that students have ample time to relax and play with their friends, but critically important daily study routines are are also maintained.

KIS assigns homework for each day of the summer semester; each day in the morning, all students study together doing their summer homework.  After lunch, all students are free to play however they wish – in the hall, with toys, making crafts, reading, etc.  Students have a great time studying and playing with their friends, and the structure and balance of the day means that students’s academic growth continues during the summer break.

It is wonderful to finally have a hall in the newly finished school expansion building. The space is located directly adjacent to the Grade 1 and Grade 2 classrooms to allow teachers to supervise students while they use the hall space during breaks and after lunch. In addition to during PE class, students use the hall space in numerous ways throughout the day to play and run during the 10 minute breaks between classes. Favorite games are currently basketball and dodgeball, and many students have gotten much better at throwing balls overhand and at dribbling. In addition, the PE teacher, Yamada Sensei is taking advantage of the new PE equipment to help students build strength and coordination via circuit training during PE class.

Grade 1 students are currently studying their  Sharing the Planet unit of inquiry.  The theme of the inquiry is Caring for the environment is critical for the survival of all living things.　（環境を大切にすることは全生命体の生存に不可欠である。）

Within the inquiry, students are currently learning about difference between recyclable and non-recyclable items in preparation for understanding the impact that the use of non-recyclable energy sources have on the planet and all living things.

All 18 Grade 1 students are working hard practicing reading and writing hiragana.

The Coronavirus pandemic this year has placed unprecedented challenges on schools in Japan and around the world. Following the direction of the Kumamoto Board of Education, KIS moved to teaching all grades online in April and May. Although we were able to offer Hearth Club (Gakudo Hoiku) for certain students, the majority of our pupils took classes at home via Zoom each day. KIS offered our English and Japanese curriculum online in a differentiated format similar to that used during regular classes.

The beginning of the school year is a critical time for all students, but it is especially so for new Grade 1 students. KIS wanted to try to provide students with as regular a life and education as possible during this difficult period, and thus offered daily online classes for all grades. Online learning is difficult for younger students because they struggle with focus and are still working on mastering basic reading and writing skills which can only be practiced properly with real pencils and paper. Working within this limitation, we used a balanced approach of most instruction taking place online, but homework assigned digitally and, in the case of Kokugo, via printed materials that were mailed to all students. All students were given daily homework assignments which they completed and then uploaded digitally for review by teachers.

One of the challenges of teaching online is providing effective feedback to students — mistakes that are not corrected can quickly become bad habits that are hard to break. Further, it is simply quite challenging to provide effective, targeted feedback for students when they are not in the same physical space as the teacher. KIS teachers worked hard to overcome the limitations of virtual instruction using screen share within Zoom and small group differentiated instruction. By displaying curriculum materials via screen share and writing directly onto them, we were able to provide engaging and effective feedback in most cases. In addition, staff followed up with further comments on the homework uploaded by the students each day.

We returned to full regular classes on Monday, June 1st, and it is wonderful to have all students back in the classroom (we can finally take full advantage of the new building!). It is interesting to realize, however, that staff learned many things about being more effective instructors during this time.

In retrospect, although online teaching was challenging and placed a large burden on parents at first (particularly in Grade 1), everyone got used to the virtual teaching format quickly and worked hard to maximize the possibilities for online education. It did take a few weeks of constant tweaking, but in the end, I was extremely proud of how hard students, parents, and staff worked during this time and the resulting quality of our classes. Everyone rose to the challenge posed by online teaching, and while I hope that we do not have to return to teaching virtually, I know that we will be ready if it becomes necessary to do so again in the future.

新型コロナウイルスの影響は今もなお、日本中、そして世界中の学校を前例のない苦況に立たせています。熊本県教育委員会の方針に沿って、KISでは4月と5月の間は全学年オンライン授業を行いました。一部の児童はハースクラブ（学童保育）の利用が可能でしたが、多くの児童はZoomを使用して毎日自宅からの授業でした。またKISでは、英語と国語のカリキュラムおいては、オンライン授業になっても、可能な限り通常授業と同じように児童のレベルに応じたグループ別の指導を行いました。

新年度の始めはどの児童にとっても非常に大事ですが、新一年生にとっては特にそうです。このような大変な状況下でも、児童にはできる限り通常通りに授業を受け日常生活を送って欲しいと願い、毎日全学年でオンライン授業を行いました。実際に紙と鉛筆を使用しての練習を必要とするリーディングとライティングの基礎を始めたばかりの児童や、集中力が未熟な幼い児童達にとって、オンライン授業はとても難しいことです。このような制限の中、ほとんどの指導をオンラインで行い、宿題はデジタルを使用し、また国語においては郵送されたプリントを使う、というふうにバランスを取りながらの指導を行いました。全児童が、毎日担任からデジタルで宿題を受け取り、答えをアップロードし、それを一人ひとり担任が確認するというやり取りを行いました。

オンラインでの指導で難しい事の一つが、教師がいかに効果的に児童にコメントを与えることができるかどうかです。学習の基礎はとても重要です。間違いはすぐに正さないと癖になり、あとで修正することが難しくなります。また、教師が同じ空間にいないという環境で、児童に対して適切で的を射たコメントを与えることは大変難しいことです。KISでは教師全員が一生懸命に考え、これらオンライン指導の難点をZoomの画面共有機能を使ったり、児童を小さいグループに分けて指導するなどの工夫をこらして乗り切ることができました。また、画面でカリキュラムの教材を共有しながらそこに直接文字を書き込むことで、児童の興味を引き効率的な指導も行うことができました。更に、児童がアップロードした宿題の答えに対して、教師が一人ひとりにコメントを返し、毎日のフォローアップを徹底するよう努めました。

さて、ついに6月1日（月）より完全に通常授業に戻りました。児童全員が元気に学校に戻ってくることができたことを心より嬉しく思います。やっと新校舎の活躍の場が来ました！
この数ヶ月の経験は、私たち教職員にとって、より効果的な指導者になるための貴重な学びにもなりました。

最後になりましたが、オンライン授業は保護者の皆様にとって大きなご負担になっていたかと思います。特に新１年生にとっては大変だったと思います。ですが、コロナの状況下でも、私たちは素早く遠隔授業の形式に慣れ、オンライン授業を最大限に充実させることができました。色々な調整に数週間かかりましたが、オンライン授業をやってみた今、児童、保護者様、そして教職員の全員が力を合わせて頑張ったこと、そしてその結果、クオリティの良いオンライン授業が行えたことを大変誇りに思います。皆様のご理解とご協力に、KIS職員一同心より感謝申し上げます。
再びオンライン授業に戻ることがないことを願っていますが、将来またそうなったとしても、私たちにはしっかりとした経験と備えがあると確信しています。