The Japanese Exchange 2000

In November 2000 a party of pupils travelled to Japan for the second biennial exchange visit.

The party comprised pupils aged from 13 to 17, some of whom were beginners in the language and others are on GCSE or A Level Japanese courses. The pupils were given tuition in Japanese at the targeted level, and took part in a programme of visits. Perhaps the chief benefit of the exchange, though, was the opportunity to live with Japanese families. Clive Pickles and Sarah Makins, joint organizers of the exchange, commented that the Japanese were again excellent hosts as they had been on the previous visit.

Pupils from Hikawa have visited KLB on three previous occasions, being hosted by families of our pupils. The British hosts have found that hosting Japanese guests is itself a rewarding experience. Liz Parke, a teacher of Japanese who joined the school in 1999 and who has lived in Japan helped to organize the visit of the Japanese to KLB. She remarks: "Hosting is not restricted to families whose children are learning Japanese. I was delighted to see that the role of the exchange in fostering good Anglo-Japanese relations was by no means confined to pupils learning the language."

The link with Hikawa High School was made in 1997, and KLBS hosted its first party from Japan in March 1998. Since then, the school has hosted a Japanese party annually in March, and visited Japan twice - in November 1998 and November 2000.

Hosting is done by families of KLB pupils, though not only by the families of those who are learning Japanese. A reception is held at the Civic Centre, Wotton-under-Edge, and it is a feature of hosting the Japanese party that the town offers a welcome which is much appreciated.

In 1999, the relationship between the two schools was formalised into that of Sister Schools. Also in 1999, KLB formed a link with Tavistock College in Devon. Like KLB, Tavistock College is a language college in which Japanese is taught as a major language.

In March 2000, KLB and Tavistock College hosted parties simultaneously, offering broadly similar programmes and meeting in Minehead for a joint fun day.

The pupils of both schools took part in a programme of lessons and visits, designed to increase their competence in Japanese, and to enhance their knowledge of Japanese culture. The lessons were intensive and conducted entirely in Japanese. Sarah Makins, Head of Oriental Languages at the school said: "The lessons were strenuous for our pupils, but the progress made in a short time was impressive."

Yamanashi is approximately 60 miles from Tokyo, and is traditionally a wine growing region. One of the visits, fittingly, was to a vineyard; another was to a fruit farm, where the party enjoyed a barbecue - Korean-style!

As is usual with exchange visits, the pupils stayed in families and this meant that the many unique features of Japanese life were sampled at first hand.

Clive Pickles, Director of International Studies, said: "Our pupils responded in an open-minded and intelligent way to the many cultural influences to which the trip exposed them."

What the Headteacher says...

"The visit to Japan is a deep and lasting experience for the pupils fortunate enough to travel. However, the benefit of the relationship between our two schools is wider than this. The wider aim is to promote Anglo-Japanese relations, and our sister school relationship with Hikawa High School is of great benefit to us."
Andrew Harris - Headteacher, KLBS

What a student says...

"This last trip was my second time to Japan. These visits are very valuable to students, particularly me as I'm taking A level Japanese and hope to do it at university. Ultimately I hope to teach English in Japan and I was lucky enough to have some experience of this. I love it!
Isobel Adams - sixth form student