Community
The Communication with Parents
We value the collaboration between Family and School, going hand in hand we hope to build the best study environment for our children
The collaboration between family and school is considered very important for the growth of our children. At KIA, we value communication with parents and we build an educational environment together with teachers and parents in order to give the maximum benefit to our students. Every aspect of our students, including their physical, mental development, social skills, academic achievements; are shared with the parents through student diaries, reports, meetings and open days. Round table for parents is also held regularly to share the latest education news and serve as a chance to provide counseling to parents who are worried about education for their children.
Educational Environment and Cooperation with Parents at Kansai International Academy
Two homeroom teachers and one full-time ESL teacher are assigned to each class at all times. Having both an international homeroom teacher and a Japanese homeroom teacher in each class allows each child to develop his or her own personality, and also enriches the individuality of the class. The maximum number of students per class is 20, and the teacher to student ratio is 1:4 during ESL. Classes proceed under the direction of the homeroom teachers, but for language learning classes, there are four teachers in charge including a full-time teacher. In addition, we have established a small group system. In order to maintain a small class size, the number of teachers has been increased in proportion to the increase in the number of children.
Furthermore, cooperation between the school and the families is essential for the growth of the children. We place importance on communication with parents through various opportunities. We have three open days a year, where parents can see how the children are doing at school. We also hold parent-teacher conferences twice a year, where we show the children’s work, progress reports, and other information about their progress and learning.
Through our biannual curriculum briefings and monthly class newsletters, we keep you informed about learning and extracurricular activities. Conversations at home about the children’s experiences and supporting the children with their homework will help to deepen their learning.
We also hold regular round tables with the founder of the school to discuss the latest in education and child rearing based on the parents’ own experiences, reports on overseas school visits, and lectures by invited speakers such as Mr. Ken Mogi, advisor of the Curriculum Lab, and people active in the education and medical fields.
Round Table
We conduct round tables with the founder of the school and parents three times a year. The founder provides parents with easy-to-understand information on a variety of issues including age-appropriate child-rearing concerns such as the terrible twos and puberty, the evolution of technology, and the state of affairs in the world.
Each session is very popular with parents, who come away with new insights and learnings and find that their worries have been resolved. Participants can bring their own tea and snacks and talk in a relaxed setting.
Coffee morning
When we think about the education of our children, everyone has many questions (things we don’t understand).
What is IB? What is inquiry learning? Do we need ICT? When should I start sending my child to study abroad?
At coffee mornings, you can feel free to talk about such daily questions that you don’t know who to ask or that you can’t ask now, as well as the latest education situation.
It is held once a month at Kobe campus, and new information on various genres is provided by outside specialists and the staff of KIA. Parents who are far away from the school can also join in the live streaming.
The Father’s Association
This is the round table for fathers. The goal is to help the father understand what he needs to know because you are a male parent and what your wife needs.
It’s an opportunity for men to have a frank discussion about how to relate to the children and what education they need in the future.
Counseling
Since every child is different, every parent has their own concerns. At Kobe campus, we have native English speaking counselors and Japanese counselors on staff. We believe that the most important thing is to build a relationship of trust between teachers and parents, and to understand each other as a team to raise your child.
Lectures by prominent figures in various fields
We regularly invite well-known people from various fields to hold lectures on a variety of topics, including: “What is “expressing oneself?”” “Is Tokyo University really the best in Japan? “What is the important knowledge of money in raising children?”
We have held lectures by neuroscientist Mr. Ken Mogi, director Mr. Amon Miyamoto, businessman Mr. Takafumi Horie, and architect Mr. Tadao Ando, and others.