2026年1月30日金曜日

ありがとうの花🌸

本園で長い期間、運転管理・内務員として勤務してくださった今井さんが１月末で退職となります。

みんなが大好きだった今井さんにたくさんの感謝の気持ちを伝えられるよう、「今井先生ポスト」も設置されました。

ポストはみるみるいっぱいになり、郵便屋さん先生も忙しくまとめてくれていました。

そしていよいよ最終日、半日保育日でしたがみんなで遊戯室に集まりお別れ会が行われました。

感謝の気持ちを歌にしようと「♪ありがとうの花🌸」をプレゼント。

この日のために各クラスで練習してきました。

そして園を代表してリーダーさんからお手紙と花束を。

お手紙は数えきれないほどたくさんでした。

子どもたちがどれほど今井さんが大好きだったかよくわかりました。

８２億人いるこの地球の中で出会えた奇跡に感謝！

人には優しく、そして感謝の気持ちを忘れない人になってくださいとのお話をいただきました。

まさに縁の下の力持ち。陰日向なく園のため、園児のため、職員のために一生懸命尽力してくださいました。

本当にありがとうございました。

今後のご活躍を心よりお祈りしています。

Good Luck！👍And thank you very much!!

受賞しました👏

この度、本園が「令和7年度（第40回）はごろも教育研究奨励賞」において「学校賞」を受賞いたしました。

この賞は、はごろもフーズ株式会社が設立した「はごろも教育研究奨励会」によるもので、静岡県内の教育研究の充実を目的として、優れた取り組みを行う学校・個人等を表彰するものです。
本園が継続して取り組んでいる「STEAM保育」の実践を研究報告し、その内容を高くご評価いただくことができました。
また、本件について「沼津経済新聞」にも掲載されました！

記事はこちらから↓
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/b39370451645c5ec0f074ae01d09ce5665f373c0

この受賞を励みに、今後もより一層、子どもたちの学びと育ちを支える充実した保育に努めてまいります。

Instagramはこちらから↓

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUHt3makSWG/?hl=ja

2026年1月29日木曜日

International Days Coming Soon

Exciting times ahead in the 3rd Term for our Immersion classes! International Days will take the students to the vibrant cultures of the Canada, New Zealand, and Iceland, immersing them in language, food, and music unique to each country.

The anticipation builds as students showcase intriguing items from around the world at the entrance, inviting everyone to pause, explore, and appreciate the diversity within our community.

Come by and take a look at the fascinating array of global treasures!

International Days Opening Ceremony - K2I’s Journey Around the World!

Our International Days began with a vibrant and joyful Opening Ceremony that set the tone for a journey rooted in open mindedness, respect, and global connection. The day started with a spectacular parade, where our students proudly took action as internationally minded learners.

Dressed in a dazzling array of traditional costumes representing countries from around the world, the children paraded with confidence and excitement. As they waved to friends, teachers, and Kindergarten staff, they shared greetings in many different languages, turning the parade into a living celebration of diversity. This powerful moment reflected the heart of the PYP; recognising, appreciating, and learning from cultures beyond our own, while taking action to connect with others.

Following the parade, everyone “arrived” at our very own Narita International Airport, as the school community gathered in the Auditorium.

Here, students learned about the different countries they will be exploring throughout International Days: places they will be “travelling” to (through hands-on activities, inquiry, and collaboration). Together, they practised greetings in English, French (Canada), Te Reo Māori (New Zealand), and Icelandic (Iceland), highlighting the importance of language as a bridge between cultures. The auditorium echoed with joy as students and teachers sang “Hello to All the Children of the World,” reminding us that we are all connected.

With passports ready and excitement in the air, it was time for take-off!

Our first destination: Canada! From the colourful parade to our first international “flight,” the Opening Ceremony was a meaningful launch into learning that celebrates international-mindedness, student voice, and purposeful action.

Canada was just the beginning, many more adventures await! 🌎

2026年1月21日水曜日

New Year Celebrations from Around the World by K2 Immersion

We are excited to welcome our K2 students back as we begin a new year of learning. To start the year with learning and joy, our K2 Immersion classes are exploring New Year celebrations from around the world as part of our Unit of Inquiry, How We Express Ourselves.

Through the inquiry, students are also exploring how people use traditions, celebrations, language, art, and movement to express ideas and feelings, with New Year celebrations providing a meaningful and engaging learning context. There are similarities such as spending time with family and friends and fireworks but there are also many differences making each country and culture unique.

In Canary Class, we explored New Year celebrations from different cultures around the world. Children learned about Japan’s Omisoka, where temple bells are struck 108 times to cleanse human desires and welcome the new year. We also discovered shimekazari decorations placed on doors to ward off evil spirits, and the tradition of visiting temples or shrines to pray for a blessed year ahead. A super connection to our field trip to Mishima Shrine.

We also learned about the Chinese Lunar New Year, its origins, and the meaning behind its 15-day celebration, including family reunions, special foods, red decorations for good luck, and lion and dragon dances. In addition, students explored Thailand’s Songkran Water Festival, where splashing water symbolises washing away the old year and preparing for a fresh start. Our learning continued with India’s Diwali (Deepavali), the Hindu Festival of Lights, where lamps and candles are lit to represent the victory of light over darkness and good over evil, celebrated between mid-October and mid-November.

They enjoyed all the informative stories and discussion, as well as being challenged through a Quiz game! They drew their answers on their New Year’s Disco Ball, confident of their answers.

In Dove Class, we watched a short English video that took us on a tour of some countries. In Japan, people eat Mochi and Osechi for New Year’s day. Everyone will clean their house and decorate with Kadomatsu. When we traveled to Spain, we tried to eat 12 grapes at each chime and found it was a bit hard. In Brazil, we found that on New Year’s day, it’s so warm that we could play at the beach. We jumped 7 waves as Brazilians to wish good luck for this year. Scottish people will go and visit their friends and bring coal, bread or whisky for First Footing. Children found that was very interesting. There are so many different traditions around the world. In a short time we traveled to many countries and children discovered lots of fun things, as we are Open-minded learners we decided to inquire into more traditions around the world in the near future.

Then to find out how much we could remember we played a game in our table groups to match aspects of the traditions to the countries. Finally, once we had reviewed how New Year was celebrated in different cultures the children completed an individual activity choosing four countries they were most interested in and matching the New Year tradition.

It’s a good start of a new year and our lead up to International Days this term is the perfect time to inquire into how New Year is celebrated around the world.