更新日：2022年7月19日

 Life at Hamamatsu City Schools

Life at Hamamatsu City Schools

School Term and Vacation

The academic year starts in April and ends in March of the following year. One year is divided into three terms. From April to late July is the first term and the summer vacation follows it. The second term starts in September and goes on until the winter vacation begins in the middle of December. The third term is from January to the middle of March, and the spring vacation starts after that.
Holidays are Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays and spring, summer and winter vacations. The spring vacation is about 2 weeks (mid-March - beginning of April), the summer vacation is about 6 weeks (late July – late August) and the winter vacation is about 2 weeks (late December – beginning of January).

Starting and Dismissal Time

The starting time varies at each school. Usually students are instructed to be at school 10–30 minutes before the morning activities start. When a student doesn’t show up by the time school starts, he or she is considered tardy. If the child will be late or absent, parents/guardians must inform the school. The dismissal time varies by the day, and depends on the timetable. However, in case of school events, the schedule may be changed, and as a rule guardians will be informed beforehand.

School Zone and Group Commuting

Students’ route to school might be designated by the school. This route is called “Tsugakuro”. There are schools that conduct group commuting, or “Shudan Toukou”. Students meet, and go to school together for their safety. It is important to confirm when and where to meet.

School Lunch / Lunch Box / Rice

Both elementary and junior high schools have school lunch from Monday through Friday. If a child attends school in the Old Hamamatsu or Hamakita area, there are days in the week when they have to bring their own cooked rice. Check the menu every month to ensure that they bring cooked rice with them to school on the specified days.
At the beginning and the end of terms and special occasions, children will be asked to bring lunch. Parents/guardians should be informed beforehand, so please make a lunch box and have your child bring it. Parents/guardians should also inform the school if their child has allergy of some kind.

Cleaning

There is cleaning time called “Soji no Jikan” during which students and teachers clean classrooms, hallways, stairs, and the school grounds. At Japanese schools, students clean the places that they themselves will use.

Club activity (junior high)

At junior high schools, there are club activities. Every student joins either a sports or an arts club that interests him or her and practices after school and on holidays under instruction of advisory teachers.
There might be morning practices and games on holidays. When a student goes to a practice or a game, expenses should be covered by the individual. Also items needed for club activity, such as uniforms and goods, should be paid by the individual. The number and the variety of club activities are varied in each school. Please inquire to the school teacher about the club activities.

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Example one day schedule at elementary and junior high school in Hamamatsu

The starting and dismissal time and number of classes per day are different each school. One class is usually 45 minutes in elementary school and 50 minutes in junior high school.

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School Event

The Japanese school starts in April and ends in March of the following year. One year is divided into three terms. The first term is from April to July, the second term is from September to December, and the third term is from January to March. There are many school events throughout a year. The guardians will be asked to come to school for some of these events, such as an open school and an interview. In that case, the school will inform you beforehand in writing.

School events at elementary schools (example)

School events at junior high schools (example)

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Subject

Subjects learnt in elementary school

1 & 2 grade	Japanese, Arithmetic, Living, Music, Art, and P.E.
3 & 4 grade	Japanese, Social Studies, Arithmetic, Science, Music, Art and P.E.
5 & 6 grade	Japanese, Social Studies, Arithmetic, Science, Music, Art, Home Economics, and P.E * Other than these, there are Moral Education, Class activities, General Education and School events.

 

Japanese	Acquire Japanese language skills such as speaking, listening, writing and reading.
Social Studies	Learn basic social matter and Japanese geography.
Arithmetic	Learn basic knowledge of quantity and figure.
Science	Acquire scientific point of view through observation and experiment.
Living	Think about the society and nature around us and acquire knowledge and manners needed to live life (combination of Science and Socials).
Music	Learn basics of music by singing, playing instruments and listening to many kinds of music.
Art	Bring up artistic sentiment and creativity by working on and enjoying pieces.
P.E.	Encourages the healthy growth of body and mind through various kinds of exercises such as track and field, swimming, and gymnastics.
Home economics	Acquire knowledge, skills relating to clothing, food, and housing.
Moral education	Learn manners and the way of living based on humanism, and acquire strength to practice it.
Class activity	Learn how to act as a member of a class or a school.
Student body activity	Students’ independent activity to make school life better.
General Education	Bring up ability to find the issues, to learn, to think, to judge and to solve problems by oneself.

Subjects learnt in junior high school

Japanese, Social Studies, Mathematics, Science, Music, Art, P.E., Home Economics, English, Elective Subject
*Other than these subjects, there are Moral Education, Home-room activities, Student body activities, General Education, School events and Club activities.

Japanese	Acquire Japanese language skills such as speaking, listening, writing and reading.
Social Studies	Learn basic social matter, geography and history of Japan and the world.
Arithmetic	Learn basic knowledge and principle of quantity and figure.
Science	Acquire scientific point of view through observation and experiment.
Music	Learn basics of music by singing, playing and listening to many kinds of music.
Art	Bring up artistic sentiment and creativity by working on and enjoying pieces.
P.E.	Encourages thehealthy growth of body and mind through various kinds of exercises such as track and field, swimming, and gymnastics, also, gaining physical knowledge.
Home economics	Learn basic knowledge and skills for daily family life through activities on food, clothing and housing.
English	Gain basic knowledge and ability to understand and express in English.
Elective Subject	Start from second year. Second year students can choose from P.E., Music, Art and Home Economics. Third year students can choose from subjects they want to study in depth and learn deeper.
General Education	Bring up ability to find the issues, to learn, to think, to judge and to solve problems by oneself.
Moral education	Learn manners and the way of living based on humanism, and acquire strength to practice it.
Class activity	Learn how to act as a member of a class or a school.
Student body activity	Students’ independent activity to make school life better.

Grades ("Ayumi" or "Tsushinbo")

At the end of each term, the grades are given by the home-room teachers. This grade which is called "Ayumi" in elementary schools and "Tsushinbo" in junior high schools is the record of establishment of study and school life in general. In many cases, details will be discussed.

If a translator is needed, inquire to school. Board of Education will send a Foreign Student Counselor to help you out.

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Information guardians need to know before starting school

Expenses need to be covered by guardians

At public elementary and junior high schools, admission fee, class fee and texts are free. A guardian needs to cover expenses come up with school supplies other than texts, school lunch, sub learning materials, year book, outdoor training (or lodging training), excursions and so on. The ways of payment may vary each school, but most of schools charge directly to your bank account. Please make sure to have enough money in your account by a stated day.In case that your income dropped off and have difficulty paying for school expenses, schooling support may be applied, so please consult with your school.

Opportunities to have a consultation with the school

In Japanese schools, there are opportunities for parents to discuss their children's education with schools. In case of urgency, you can always consult with your school teacher. If a translator is needed, Board of Education will send a Foreign Student Counselor and help out. Also, consultation opportunities such as a home visit, a home-room meeting and a student-parent-teacher meeting are scheduled each term. So if you have any worry over your child’s study and life, talk with your school.

Home visit	A home-room teacher visits each student’s home and discusses child’s life at home and school.
Home-room meeting	Parents visit school and discuss matter of school and each home-room with a principle (or a grade manager) and a home-room teacher.
Student-parent-teacher meeting	Student’s school performance is discussed. You can have meeting either with or without your child. It is the best opportunity to discuss personal matters.

* Schedules for the meetings mentioned above will be informed in writings, so please participate in. A student-parent-teacher meeting is chiefly important, so if a stated date is inconvenient, please inform to school in order to change the date. In case that you ask for a translator, a date might be designated according to a translator’s schedule. Please accustom to it.

Parent-Teacher Association (P.T.A.)

P.T.A. is an association constituted of parents and teachers, and the purposes of this association are: 1) to improve children's education, 2) to gain support for school, and 3) to build up partnership between the members. When your child enrolls a school, you become a member of P.T.A. automatically and need to pay a membership due through your school. Selection of the officials are conducted differently each school, and the officials organize various kinds of committees. These committees plan and practice many educational activities, cultural and sporting activities and community service activities. P.T.A. news will be distributed through your school, so please read them and participate in.

How to Help Your Child Enjoy School

Japanese schools may be different from the ones in your own country. Please take notice on the following points and discipline your child in order that he or she can enjoy school life in Japan.

(1)	Don't be absent nor be late.
(2)	Don't forget to eat breakfast.
(3)	Make sure to contact the school by 8 am if your child will be absent.
(4)	Use the assigned route to go to school. Don't leave school after arriving without your teacher's permission.
(5)	Bring only permissible clothing and items to school. For safety reasons, do not let you children wear jewelry such as earrings and rings to school. Most of elementary schools don't have rules on clothing or the items you can bring but you must change into gym wear for physical education classes. Junior high schools have school uniforms. Also they have designated training wears for P.E. class and school activities.
(6)	Don't bring food, drinks and things which aren’t needed for school such as toys and money.
(7)	School shoes may be designated. Also, shoes need to be changed when entering a school building.

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