Skool update

May 20, 2010 | 0 | Category: School, With pics

Just a few random thoughts about the kids and their respective schools.
Firstly, Ruby is now having a better time at school (in contrast to the shenanigans last month). Some of her former tormentors are even speaking to her civilly again, which makes it that much easier to get through the day. The after-school brass band is proving to be unexpectedly good fun, not least because Ruby has worn down the resistance of the anti-sax faction and won herself a couple of genuine sax parts. And in the process we’ve discovered that the Year 9 trombone player is actually a closet saxophonist too, while the Year 9 trumpet player is also a wicked drummer. It’s not quite School of Rock yet but the winds of change are definitely a-blowin’ through the No. 4 Mihara City Junior High School.
Meanwhile, the native English speaker is still being forced to sit through three English classes per week. She is also expected to write out a diary page in English every night, but tonight we hit upon the idea of copying out the back covers of paperbacks from around the house. We figure that the teacher never reads the homework anyway. Then Ruby decided to make up her own story from half-way through, so in tonight’s instalment the happily married protagonist abruptly kills off his wife and breaks out in a volley of traditional Japanese drumming while his daughter Joy (possibly traumatised by the recent upheavals) changes her name to Nappi-San. I wonder how long it will take Teacher to twig to the fact that Ruby’s diary entries are not entirely grounded in reality.
Felix meanwhile is enjoying himself at school. He loves learning new kanji characters (and there’s plenty of those), and just last week proudly brought home a new kanji dictionary that has proven so popular it already has stains on it. Some of the stuff they do in science sounds interesting — this week they are all building solar-powered cars — while in maths he is regularly usurped by “two really smart girls” which presents him and his ego with an excellent challenge. Year 4 has more excursions and activities to spice things up; in a couple of weeks they are off to the local rubbish treatment plant which apart from the smell sounds like it should be fun. He still gets to play at friends’ houses after school more than he ever did in Australia, and on Wednesdays he goes with a group of mates to the local shrine where they all do their homework together then play games and learn about Japanese traditions and culture. (I suspect that the sweets and biscuits are the main attraction.) Meanwhile the skool pool is due to open in a few weeks and some of their classes become swimming lessons, the lucky things.

OK it’s gripe time now. Having experienced two very different education systems (three if you count Italy), I can’t help but draw comparisons, and I’d like to share a few here.

• The kids have virtually no free time for playing. At primary school the “long break” is all of 20 minutes, and although lunchtime is 45 minutes most of that is taken up with eating and packing up the school lunch so they’re lucky to get 20 minutes to run around outside. I can’t help but compare this to Australian primary schools, where the kids get an hour and a half unadulterated free time. At Ruby’s high school, where you bring own lunch, they get barely 15 minutes to themselves after they’ve finished eating, and that’s the only break in the day. What are the chances that the lack of free time might have something to do with all the bullying and other stress-related problems that plague the education system?
• Computer education is woefully behind. Apparently in Year 9 they’re just learning how to turn on the computer and create a file in Excel. Contrast this with Australia, where according to Ruby they were making PowerPoint files in Year 1 (probably Year 2 or 3 after discounting for exaggeration) and had moved on to designing websites and creating 3D models in Google SketchUp and Kahootz by Year 6. How is it possible for the land of technology to be so far behind at the school level? Or is it just us out here in the sticks?
• There are no drinking taps. The primary school is serviced by tank water rather than mains water, which the kids are discouraged from drinking. Every kid brings a water bottle (NB: cold tea is the norm; plain water is a strange drink enjoyed by foreigners) and when that runs out… well, I guess that explains why Felix looks so hot and bothered sometimes when he gets home. Meanwhile Ruby nearly got heatstroke in a PE class the other day when they were all sitting out in the baking sun with no access to water (OK, cold tea). Apparently you’re not allowed to drink during class, and PE is a class, ergo…

I don’t mean to sound overly negative. The curriculums are well-structured, the teachers are committed, the schools are well-equipped (if a little shabby), the results are there to see. Besides, we came here to experience a different culture and way of life, and this is it. Whether by design or by default, Japanese schools see it as their duty to foster toughness and resilience. Even at the risk of dehydration.

Oh, and apropos (love that word) of nothing in particular, we bought Felix some purple pants at our favourite clothing store Uniqlo last week. He chose them himself, I should add. Here he models his new pants complete with the Leif Garrett look: