The Lion – 23rd March 2018

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MESSAGE FROM BRIAN CHRISTIAN – PRINCIPAL Dear Parents, There is only one way to begin this week’s Lion message and that, of course, is with a very big thank you and with warmest congratulations to our brilliant PTA team and everyone else who worked so hard to bring us such an enjoyable and successful Spring Fair. Quite simply, it was just a great family day and a wonderful opportunity to bring the whole BST community together. I am told that the various stalls and activities raised an impressive sum and I was especially delighted to hear that the student-led Cambodia UWS book-sale made ¥100,000 for the children of our partner school in Dor Village; above all, this was a fun day out for everyone. Among the highlights of the day were two traditional Japanese performances. We may have become accustomed to the incredible Taiko displays staged so passionately by Mokosensei but they never fail to take the breath away. The precision, the energy and enthusiasm, the earth-shaking volume all combine to deliver something very special indeed. This year we also welcomed another traditional Japanese group to entertain us: the Awa Odori dancers and musicians offered a very different style of cultural display but it was certainly no less entertaining and was much appreciated by everyone. Even those among us who were ‘persuaded’ to join in!

Taiko & Aikido Performances at Spring Fair 2018

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PRINCIPAL CONT’D

And that leads me neatly into the other real highlight of the week – this morning’s incredible celebration of dance at Shibuya. It was astounding to see how many children took to the stage, a privilege to witness so many diverse, demanding and ambitious routines, and a pleasure to share the obvious enthusiasm of the dancers and their teachers. At a time when concerns are being raised about the inactivity of this generation of children, it was gratifying to see that the energy levels at BST are so high! Thank you to all those who helped to make this morning’s celebration such a success and particularly to Ms Purewal who brought it all together with such panache. What a brilliant way to give us all a burst of that Friday feeling at the end of a rather cold and dreary week! The good news is that it seems that the sleet and snow of the first week of spring are likely to give way to higher temperatures and some much-needed sunshine over the weekend. Despite the recent cold snap, the sakura is about to reach full bloom here in Tokyo and I am hoping that you will all have the opportunity to make the most of it over the next day or two. Enjoy your weekend! Brian Christian https://twitter.com/BST_Principal

Darcey Bussell sent a message of good luck to BST! Page 3 of 20

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SECONDARY NEWS Dear Students and Parents, A huge thank you to the PTA for putting on such a wonderful Spring Fair last week (with the support of our communications and operations team). The weather cooperated, and with the huge of amount of work that goes into events like this, it allowed so many members of our community to have such a fantastic day. It was great to see so many students contributing in various ways, whether it be through their Independent Project (IP) games, helping on various stalls or raising money for various causes such as UWS Cambodia or Operation Wallacea. Following on from November's BEBRAS computational thinking challenge, the top 10% of all scorers in the world were invited to take part in the TSC Oxford Computing Challenge. A number of BST students qualified, and 12 students took up the challenge to participate last Thursday after school. Students had to solve as many challenging programming problems as they could in just one hour. All the students did very well, but especially Eugene in Year 7 who placed in the Top 20 worldwide in his age group. Eugene can now compete in the final stage of the competition after the Spring holiday. Congratulations to all involved and good luck to everyone for next year's challenge. Feel free to try to solve some of the challenges from 2017 yourself here Congratulations to two other students on their recent achievements. Melody in Year 7 who has won the Outstanding Performer Award in the prestigious K Music Competition flute category. As a result, she has earned the qualification to perform in a recital in April, and to enter the Grand Prize Competition, to be held in March 2019. Ariana in Year 8 has qualified for the Japan Junior Swimming Championships later this month. To reach these levels of performance takes an incredible amount of hard work and resilience, and we are very proud of their achievements. On Tuesday, during Assembly, we heard from our eight candidates who have applied to be Head Prefect. Each student spoke so well and so passionately about our school and what can be done to ensure all students have more of a voice, to make BST even better. It will certainly be a tough decision and I very much look forward to their interviews next week. Page 4 of 20

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SECONDARY CONT’D It has certainly been a very busy Friday. Thank you to all of the parents that attended either our Maths Coffee Morning or our Universities Fair (or both!). I am sure you came away impressed by the continued development in both of these important areas. Our students are stretched and enjoy the rigour in their Maths lessons, with plenty of enrichment opportunities. Our Careers and University guidance continues to grow, with our students being encouraged to think earlier about their possible options and also to think a bit more broadly, to ensure their final choice is both aspirational and the ‘best fit’. We also had two sporting giants joining us today. The Leicester Tigers have provided some fantastic rugby clinics for our students and they thoroughly enjoyed learning new skills in the glorious sunshine. The England blind football team also joined us today and were interviewed by several of our students; I look forward to reading their article and finding out more about this incredible team. We know that Tokyo is among the safest of cities but I have to report that a rather unsavoury confrontation took place this week near the entrance to Sangenjaya Station, involving a member of the public and some of our students. No one was hurt and help was soon at hand but it would be wise to reinforce the message with your children, as we have done in school, that they should always be aware of their surroundings and be with friends wherever possible. If they do ever find themselves in a difficult situation, they should seek help immediately and must not hesitate to contact either their parents or the school. Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the beautiful cherry blossom. Brian Platts https://twitter.com/BST_Secondary

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SECONDARY EVENTS

Term 2.2 (2017-2018) Friday 23rd March Spring Universities Fair Coffee Morning - Maths 18:30 – 19:30 Operation Wallacea Borneo 2019 15:30 – 17:30 HS Girls and Boys Inter House Basketball OLD GYM Saturday 24th March 11:00 – 15:00 IGCSE PE Year 10 Swimming Assessment Monday 26th March PTA Showa Coffee Morning Japanese HS Exchange Wednesday 28th March After school departure Y12/13 Harrow HK and Art Basel Trip Climbing Club 6 Elective reflection afternoon Friday 30th March Last Day of Term – normal school dismissal Y7-Y11, Y12 & Y13 Progress Reports Released Page 6 of 20

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VEX ROBOTICS TEAM RECRUITMENT

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FANTASY FOOTBALL

BST Fantasy Premier League round up: Anyone who didn’t have Mo Salah as captain last weekend, or didn’t play their ‘Free Hit’, or didn’t ingeniously combine the two, has basically been left behind in the scoring stakes. The top 5 players appear to be in superb form going into the final straight and it’ll be hard for anyone to break their stronghold. Leader Mr Norton was pegged back slightly, but he is still odds-on to take the title.

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PRIMARY NEWS Dear Primary Parents, It may not have felt like it on Wednesday but the Vernal Equinox has arrived and spring will be in the air shortly. Feel like I’ve been saying that for weeks now to no avail! As always, our PTA organised an incredible day of fun last Saturday at The Spring Fair. I was so pleased to see such a huge turn out from our families and staff, seems that everyone had a fantastic time. A big thank you to everyone offering cakes, food, drinks, stalls, crafts, wet sponges, performances and games. If you weren’t able to join us this year we hope to see you next time. Our Annual Dance Assembly this morning pulled together the entire Primary school at Shibuya for an hour of upbeat performances from our many talented students. It is always a pleasure to see our students confidently take to the stage and showcase their hard work. Thanks to our dance club staff for their dedication over the past two terms. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to Aneeta Purewal for all of her hard work coordinating this event and pulling together the staff dance video. Please do dance along to it at home. https://youtu.be/Q2L1v6M1IaA Next week we have a Primary Music Concert on Tuesday from 5.30pm in the Green Hall. It will be an opportunity for our music ensemble to perform so please do come along for what will undoubtedly be some good quality musical entertainment and energy. Finally, a request for your help. Many of our children travel to and from school independently which is good. I have noticed however that some of them do not follow Japanese public transport etiquette such as being quiet, making space for others to come through or sit down, not blocking doorways or stairs, not speaking on mobile phones. One of the wonderful things we all enjoy living in Japan is people’s selfless consideration of others in public settings. Please could I ask you to speak to your children about making sure they observe these expectations when traveling alone, we have had several complaints recently and I have observed it myself when on the train or bus. We are highly visible in the community and really should be observing these sometimes unwritten rules. Thank you in advance. Have a great weekend, keep dancing. Kirsten O’Connor https://twitter.com/BST_Primary

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1ST TOKYO SCOUTS NEEDS HELP

1st Tokyo Scouts are urgently needing leaders to help run their Cub and Beaver Pack due to their leader returning back to the U.K. If you’re interested, please get in touch as the pack will have to close at the end of this term if we can’t find anyone. [email protected]

Our Scout pack with British Scouting Overseas President, John May

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PRIMARY NEWSLETTERS

Nursery Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/nursery-news-friday-23rd-march-2018/ Reception Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/reception-news-friday-23rd-march-2018/ Year 1 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-1-news-friday-23rd-march-2018/ Year 2 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-2-news-friday-23rd-march-2018/ Year 3 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-3-news-friday-23rd-march-2018/ Year 4 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-4-news-friday-23rd-march-2018/ Year 5 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-5-news-friday-23rd-march-2018/ Year 6 Newsletter http://www.bst.ac.jp/year-6-news-friday-23rd-march-2018/

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RE & PHILOSOPHY

RE and Philosophy at BST A very busy time on our cultural calendar... 14 February-29 March: Lent finishes. 25th March: Rama Navami The birthday of Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu and the hero of the Ramayana. 25th March: Palm Sunday The last Sunday of Lent marks Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, where the people waved Palm branches at him. 26th March: Bangladesh Independence Day Commemorates the declaration of independence in 1971. 30th March: Good Friday A day to commemorate the execution of Jesus on the cross. 1st April: Easter Sunday Celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The most important Christian festival and the one celebrated with most joy. 31st March-7th April: Passover (Pesach) A festival celebrating the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, led by Moses, and a general celebration of freedom. Here is this week's philosophical question...

Can there ever be a perfect world?

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PTA

PTA SPRING FAIR WINNERS KIDS RAFFLE WINNERS Nintendo Switch William Roertveit Go Pro Shivaan Kothari Beats Headphones Takaya Suzuki Kiddyland Vouchers Taku Iijima Disneyland Vouchers Neeral Senapali iPad Taiga Lewis ADULT RAFFLE WINNERS Hokkaido Tracks Peninsula Hotel Vacation Niseko

Chandler Family Vadlamudi Family Roelandts Family

BROWNIE BAKE OFF WINNERS 1. Sophia Ziardis 2 Eliot Williamson 2. Sienna Blagbrough (joint 2nd)

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SHOWA COFFEE MORNING

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UNIFORM SALES

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SECOND HAND UNIFORM SALE

PTA TOURS

Sanae & Riko PTA Tours – Next Tour

Tsukiji Fish Market is on Monday 23 April RSVP to PTA Tours [email protected]

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COMMUNITY EVENTS CONGRATULATIONS

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AIKIDO

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CHINESE MARTIAL ARTS

All information here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nv1A4D-XPnkTwnbmGE0s_9sxlBAmXJAh/view Email Mr Bell [email protected]

IBSA BLIND FOOTBALL

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BST ALUM VIOLIN RECITAL

BST Alum Dillon Jeffares Violin Recital - Wed 11th April 2018 - 7pm Downloadable flyer here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fEgwPYMfa1imtHAHgH25zknKj3dmckFx/view

BST TAIKO AT THE EMERALD BALL

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The-Lion-Fri-23rd-Mar-2018.pdf

Mar 23, 2018 - took to the stage, a privilege to witness so many diverse, demanding and ambitious. routines, and a pleasure to share the obvious enthusiasm of the dancers and their teachers. At a time when concerns are being raised about the inactivity of this generation of children,. it was gratifying to see that the energy ...

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