Japanese school facts

I plan to write heaps about the school experience over the next few years because it’s a subject that fascinates me. To start off with, here are some basic facts about the local primary school at Sunami.

• First of all, the official website is here (Japanese only obviously, but a nice picture of the cherry blossoms in bloom).

• The school day starts at 8:10 and finishes at 4:00, except on Wednesdays, when they finish at the outrageously early time of 3:30.

• Currently there are 131 students altogether in Years 1 through 6. Class sizes are 20-25, which is small by Japanese standards. There is also a kindergarten on the site with 20 tinies.

• The school has a huge yard covered in packed sand (Lilydale topping?) like on the Tan around the Botanical Gardens. (Grassed areas are rare at schools and in public parks in Japan.)

• There is an impressive indoor gymnasium with a stage down one end, and even an outdoor pool that will open up in about June.

• Every day after lunch the kids all have to help clean the school. Each class has allotted duties; I don’t know what Felix’s class does but Ruby’s class has to clean out the toilets!

• They get cooked school lunches every day.

• There is no such thing as playlunch, so in the morning we must feed them up properly so that they can last until the cooked lunch arrives at 12:40.

• There are six periods in the day, and between each period the kids get to run outside for ten minutes to stretch their legs.

• They don’t have to wear school uniform.

• During winter (ie now), they don’t turn on the heaters in the classrooms unless the outside temperature is below 10° C. Most of the kids wear massive fluffy coats with furry collars while studying at their desks.

• The kids have to take off their shoes at the entrance and put on special school slippers called uwabaki. At lunchtime and for outdoor sports, they put their outdoor shoes back on again.

• Felix was rapt to discover that there are enough boys of his age who like soccer to form two teams at lunchtime. There are even goals in the playground.