The fourth years are having their English conversation tests this week. Having read a variety of Japanese fairy tales in English for the year, the students will finish by performing an original tale which they made together as a small group.

Filled with laughs from start to finish, the girls did an excellent job of conveying the strange and bizarre worlds featuring in their stories, and they did a fantastic job of showing how expressive they are in English.

Splendid!!

Some fifth year students had a cooking class with the two Cambodians who are visiting the school. The goal today was making gyoza and milk-agar, a jelly-like dessert. Everyone, as can be seen below, had a smashing time showing off their cooking skills.

At the end of the class, the students were able to relax and enjoy the fruits of their efforts and their final cooking class of the school year.

The fifth years are learning about animal anatomy in biology, and today they dissected a pig's eye. The girls worked on delights such as the eye's lens, the vitreous humour, the retina, and the optic nerve. And if you think that sounds a bit yucky just reading about it here, just try it for real!

The fifth year Japanese literature class is now in its final stages as the students finish reading the staple for all Japanese high school students: the fantastic “Kokoro”, by Natsume Soseki. Part of the class is conducted by the students, who design their own original handouts and have their peers discuss various aspects of the story in groups. Were it not for the uniforms, one would think they were professional teachers; they look supremely confident and are totally in control of the subject matter they are handling.
In the 5-3 class, Miss S and Miss K had their classmates do some group discussion work on the word “resolution” which appears in the story. The presentations given in the other fifth year classes were just as interesting as this one.

Here are some of the students’ impressions of the class:

“I thought the group discussion on section 42 of the book was a smart move. It reminded me of the time we worked on song-writing with Maki Oguro as second years. I think all 42 of us did a good job in looking at this central theme of “resolution”.

“I enjoyed being able to listen to everyone else’s opinion, and I think I benefitted a lot from it. Even within a single group, I realised just how differently we can interpret things when we read a book like ‘Kokoro’ ”

“From the way Miss S and Miss K conducted the lesson, I could clearly see that they had been able to form their own opinions on the story content.”

Approximately ten members of the art club came together after school today to start work on the Fuji snow statues. Preparation should take all of this week, with a display ready by the start of the new week. Watch this space!

The fifth year students have spent the year reading E.T. Today, they are making presentations based on the concept of E.T. and a friend making a trip to one of the many countries on Earth. The girls are totally on the ball and are quite happy to blether away for up to twelve minutes and even longer, as they introduce a variety of countries in great detail...and, of course, great English!

Security is tip-top at Fuji. However, every year on the third of February, there always seems to be an evil ruffian from somewhere who manages to worm his way into the school building and head for a classroom of poor, unsuspecting students. Naturally, it all ends in tears. Fuji girls are always prepared and are ready to launch a barrage of beans in defence. They did so today and sent the demon back to its lair, its roar nothing more than a tearful whimper!

Great work!

The new summer uniform will be introduced from the summer. Normally, there are about a dozen or so students milling around the display, forcing this photographer to wait patiently for his chance to take a snap!

Elections for the school council were held today. Candidates gave speeches outling their plans and ideas for the next year, and, after listening to all of the candidates, students submitted their votes. All speeches were very well made, and the voters must have had a very difficult job in choosing their candidate!

Among the many activities students can be found to be undertaking on a Saturday, there is always a test now and then. Here, fifth year students are taking an academic test to see how "on track" they are for the universities they hope to enter.