School Reopening Information
Dear parents of DSKI,

I would just like to wish you a happy and relaxing holiday now that our summer camp is coming to a close. It's been a very enjoyable four weeks, and I would really like to thank Ms Faye for a fantastic job coordinating and making it go so well and to all of the teachers for running great daily activities. It's been a real pleasure seeing the students come in and have fun here on site!

I would also like to take this opportunity to let you know what will happen next. We will continue to follow the recommendations of the local education authorities, which is that currently all schools in Hyogo are expected to be open full time for normal operations. 

So I am happy to say we will be back and open full time from the 20th of August. 

Pre-school families, please remember it will be the 24th August, starting with our welcome ceremony. You'll receive a letter from the team shortly giving you more details - and please don't forget your school cones!

We will of course continue taking full precautions to ensure the school is a safe and healthy environment with correct sanitation and distancing. 

We will also adapt our opening or operating procedures if there is any change in the Covid 19 situation. Closer to the open date I will send out our revised and updated health and safety policy giving you full details about how school will work. 

So please have a great holiday, safe travels and we will see you in a few weeks.

Yours sincerely and on behalf of the staff and school board, 

Alex Inman

Principal

School Office Opening Times

Our office will be open July 20 and August 12, between 10:00am~12:00pm

Message from Kidzania!
Please contact the office for the good quality pdf

Have a Great Holiday!
To all our families, we woudl like to say have a great summer vacation. We do hope you will find a way to relax and enjoy summer season.

Our summer camp will begin on Monday, and our teachers are preparing everything right now.
We will have a special camp blog - click here, which will be updated daily with what has been going on!

Next Years School Dates and Oktoberfest

The Oktoberfest will be a much lower key event, with the emphasis changing to a bigger event in April, when we are hopefully clear of CV19 and winter weather.

More information closer to the time!

Due to the change of emphasis, we have made a holiday date swap.

Date Change

October

12th - changed to a school day, due to no large Oktoberfest on the weekend

April

12th - School holiday as the Saturday event will need teachers to be present and help.

Yearbooks 2020
Our newly designed yearbooks will arrive on Monday (15th) morning. We will pass them out to the students who have ordered them on Monday and then to the rest of the school Tuesday when students are on site. 

We are really very happy with them, they look really nice and a very big thankyou to Ms Brabeck and Br Huber for stepping in and taking over when our interns left, who would have normally made them. Ms Natalia, a new designer who did all the setting out, will continue working with us and also produce next year's yearbooks.


Wake up Shake Up
We are very happy to announce the return of Wake Up Shake Up next week. Thankyou Gemma and Henri for the good idea!
As usual, main gate Grade 2, 4 and 5/6, yard gate Pre-School, Grade 1 and 3. 
Students will go directly onto the yard with their teacher, keeping social distancing and then Mr Waite will lead the students on the yard before they go upto class for their last day.


Library Books and Computers
Please return all library books and computers which were borrowed whilst the school was closed. We still have a lot of outstanding books, if you could please give them to your homeroom teacher on your childs last day.


Bus Lunch and Club return of Fees Final Call
The June 4th deadline has passed now for a discount on next years tuition fee option, so if you could please let us know where to send a money transfer here.


Summer Camp
Many thanks for the tremendous response for summer camp! We have now closed registration and schedules and timetables will be sent out next week by Ms Faye.


Oktoberfest
Yes, its that time of year again!
We will soon start making plans to have our Oktoberfest, any parents who are interested in helping out, please contact the PTA chairperson.

Summer Camp is Here!

Click here to register - Deadline June 12th

All ages welcome, no cost for DSKI Students!
For questions please contact Ms. Faye at  faye.nepomuceno@dskobe.org

Peace and Nature
A message for our parents!

NPO Peace and Nature produces rice without using pesticides in OZO, Kita-ku, Kobe.  This year, to prevent the spread of coronavirus, we postponed the rice planting workshop, but considering the recent situation, we would like to schedule it in June. Food shortages are of particular concern this year, and we want to keep growing rice, the staple food of Japan, and provide harvested rice to children and their families who are having trouble eating due to the effects of the new coronavirus. We would like to invite all of you who support us on a regular basis to participate in the hands-on workshop. In addition, depending on the situation, it will be implemented under infection control measures. Please note that the content may be changed depending on the extension of the policy of the government or local government.

[Date]
14 days from June 1st (Mon) to June 14th (Sun)

Please contact us in advance by email or by email 3 days prior to the desired date.

English information & application. 

https://peace-and-nature.com/2020/05/13/taue-workshop-june-1st-14th/?lang=en

Japanese information & application.

https://peace-and-nature.com/2020/05/13/taue-workshop-june-1st-14th/

Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Shinobu

★Acting together to sustain the earth for the next generation!
次世代のために、持続可能な地球環境を共に作ろう！
NPO法人Peace & Nature 　                    
P&F: 078-779-7474 
Email: info@peace-and-nature.com
www.peace-and-nature.com

Back on the 1st of June
Our teachers have been hard at work this week preparing the campus for reopening again next week.
We are all looking forward to seeing all your children in again!

Return of Bus, Lunch, Club Fees
We are happpy to follow up with the board decision to offer return of fees for bus, lunch and clubs whilst these were not running due to school campus closure.

We would like to offer you a choice of how you would like the money returned.

You can choose either a direct return of fees or next tuition fee invoice discounted by the return amout.

Please click here to tell us your choice.

Please let us know before June 4th so we can get the payements out quickly.


Summer Camp!
We are looking at the governmant guidines and how the school days in June work out and then we will make a final decision about summer camp - dates, hours, numbers of students we can have on campus.
But first - we want to ask who would be interested and when?
(The concept will be a mix of fun, games and some academics for all ages Kindergarten - Grade 6).

Dear parents of DSKI,

I want to give you some more information on what next week will look like and the procedures
for our reopening. We are currently getting everything set up and ready for next week when
we can once again welcome students through the doors of DSKI! I hope you will find this
helpful, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.

Schedule

8.55am 

School bus arrives, students can start lining up

9.00am

To reduce congestion we will use 3 different arrival/departure gates.

Arrival gates open and students enter school. Gates will be closed when the last student enters.

Late students will need to buzz at the main entrance and report to the school office.

Arrival Gates (Students only please on campus)

Early Years (Pre-kindergarten, Kindergarten)

Will use the Early Years gate.

Students need to line up outside with parents or the bus supervisor if they arrive by bus.
They will then enter in small groups to go in, change shoes and meet their teacher.

Pre-School, Grade 1 and Grade 3 

Will use the Yard Gate. Students line up on the spacing marks and will be met by their homeroom teacher.

Grade 2, Grade 4, Grade 5/6

Will use the Main Gate. Students line up on the spacing marks and will be met by their
homeroom teacher.

9.00am - 12.00pm

Lessons and recess. We want the main focus to be on students having a great but safe time back
in school!

• All students will have class and outdoor play time. 
• Classes will be live streamed, so families at home or still out of Japan can join.
• Please note there will be no snack in primary school, only recess. Early Years will have a snack time. 
• Please send enough water for your students, as we will not be using out water taps for refill.
• All students need to have a face mask
• Classrooms, recess and routines will be arranged for social distancing and healthy working
• Online learning will continue for the days off site

12.00pm

School Ends

Homeroom teachers will take their students down to their arrival/departure gate to go home,
meet parents or join the school bus.

Student Attendance Schedules

Week 1		Monday 1st	Tuesday 2nd	Wednesday 3rd	Thursday 4th	Friday 5th
Primary Grades to attend	9am - 12pm	Pre-school G5/6	G1 G2	G3 G4	Pre-school G5/6	G1 G2
Early Years Week 2 (1-5.June) Names of students to attend will be sent out by teachers	9am - 12pm	Unicorn room 6 students maximum Butterfly room 6 students maximum Rainbow room 6 students maximum	Unicorn room 6 students maximum Butterfly room 6 students maximum Rainbow room 6 students maximum	Unicorn room 6 students maximum Butterfly room 6 students maximum Rainbow room 6 students maximum	Unicorn room 6 students maximum Butterfly room 6 students maximum Rainbow room 6 students maximum	Unicorn room 6 students maximum Butterfly room 6 students maximum Rainbow room 6 students maximum

Week 2		Monday 9th	Tuesday 9th	Wednesday 10th	Thursday 11th	Friday 12th
Primary Grades to attend	9am - 12pm	G3 G4	Pre-school G5/6	G1 G2	G3 G4	Pre-school G5/6
Early Years Week 2 (1-5.June) Names of students to attend will be sent out by teachers	9am - 12pm	Unicorn room 6 students maximum Butterfly room 6 students maximum Rainbow room 6 students maximum	Unicorn room 6 students maximum Butterfly room 6 students maximum Rainbow room 6 students maximum	Unicorn room 6 students maximum Butterfly room 6 students maximum Rainbow room 6 students maximum	Unicorn room 6 students maximum Butterfly room 6 students maximum Rainbow room 6 students maximum	Unicorn room 6 students maximum Butterfly room 6 students maximum Rainbow room 6 students maximum

Staying Safe

All rooms will be arranged so students have 1.5 metre separation and at recess time they
will be in small play buddy groups. The teachers will be talking to the students about the
way school will work, the reasons why and helping them adjust. We will be monitoring
health at all times, including temperature checks on entry.

We will send out our full and detailed health and safety policy Thursday the 28th May in
a separate email. 

But please talk with your child about the situation and please see the accompanying
letter from our Special Education Needs Coordinator Faye Nepomuceno.

We are all looking forward to having the school open again and we very much hope
your students will be as happy as us to be back.

With many thanks,

Alex Inman

School Principal

School Campus Reopening!
We are planning now to reopen on the 1st of June! Please see the letter attached to the blog email for more information.

School Pictures
We need your childs picture for the yearbook! As we didnt have a school photographer this year, please could you take a happy face, head and sholders picture of your child. We will send you a link next week for upload.

Teachers for School Year 2020-2021

We are very happy to say that, even in these difficult times,  most of our teachers have decided to stay with us over the next school year!

Early Years

We will be saying goodbye to Tina who will be moving on to a new school but Azusa and Anita will be here, business as usual. 

Our new EY staff member will be Pam Ureta, who will also be the new Early Years Coordinator. She is a very experienced early years teacher with a lot of PYP experience. We are very happy to have her joining us, she made a great impression with us, very friendly and positive so a perfect fit for our kindergarten team!

Rainbow Room - Anita

Butterfly Room - Pam

Unicorn Room  - Azusa

Primary School

In these uncertain times we wanted to make sure that the students had as much certainty as possible. So instead of having new homeroom teachers in August we will have our current teachers moving up with the students. This will also give good continuity for learning, when the teachers can just pick up where they left off. 

-Ms Faye will move into the pre-school position. She is a very experienced teacher, who has worked a lot with early years teachers in the past, and has worked closely with many of our current kindergarten students, so it makes sense for her to take them upto preschool.

-Ms Ramani will move up to Grade 4, and Ms Jamandra will move into Grade 2. 

-We will unfortunately be saying Goodbye to Mr Rich, who has done a great job as our Grade 3 teacher, but will also be moving on to develop his career.

Pre-School - Ms Faye

Grade 1 - Ms Shirai

Grade 2 - Ms Jamandra

Grade 3 - Mr Brabant

Grade 4 - Ms Ramani

Grade 5/6 - Ms d’Amours

Letter from Ms Pam Ureta, our new EY Coordinator/teacher

Dear Parents, 

I am Pam Ureta, an educator, and an excited new member of the DSKI learning community. This coming school year, I will be working closely with the Early Years team to support the teachers and to provide your children with a creative, fun-filled, and inquiry-based learning experience in school. 

Teaching has always been my passion. I have been involved in early childhood, elementary, and secondary education for the past 17 years. Throughout my career, I have immersed myself in the process of learning from those whom I teach, and from institutions that have equipped me with strategies that I can utilize in the classroom. I have taken my credentials for a Master’s Degree in Special Education in the Philippines, and continue to be involved in trainings provided by the International Baccalaureate Organization. 

Early childhood education is the foundation of my career in teaching. I have been a preschool and kindergarten teacher for 8 years, and I have had the privilege of opening my own early childhood learning center in Manila. I have designed programs that target the different facets of child development for children ages 2 to 7 years old. I have also collaborated with private companies in creating workshops and designing daycares for preschoolers. My diverse experience in early childhood education has given me a profound sense of purpose as a teacher, and has solidified my philosophy in molding young learners. 

Throughout the years, I have become an advocate of lifelong learning. I believe that the foundational years during preschool play a crucial and significant role in developing a child’s love for inquiry and discovery. 

I see the value in creating an environment that promotes holistic learning through play and exploration, and the importance of building and bridging relationships for young children. Their years in preschool is a celebration of their individuality, and their roadmap in learning about the world and how to navigate through it. 

The opportunity to work with and learn from the DSKI community is a new adventure that I am excited to take. I look forward to meeting you and your children this coming school year. I am delighted to partner with you in developing your child’s love for learning. 

Sincerely,

Pam Ureta

DSKI Early Years Coordinator