The AIS Chronicle

It's been a busy week and we head into a week of well-deserved rest for our athletes. Sports Day was a fun spectacle to watch and being able to officially host it at our new campus was definitely a learning experience.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Sports Day 2023, was nothing short of a resounding success. It was a day filled with enthusiasm, energy, and sportsmanship, where our students showcased their athletic prowess, teamwork, and dedication. The participation and commitment of our students, as well as the support and encouragement from our dedicated staff, made it a day to remember.

One of the most remarkable aspects of this event was the opportunity to welcome the Abroad Osaka community. This was a wonderful occasion for our community to come together and cheer on our students. I loved the energy and enthusiasm that I witnessed, not just from our students cheering on their teammates, but from the parents being loud and proud.

As we move forward, I encourage all our students to take this upcoming week to rest, relax, and rejuvenate. It's essential for them to recharge their physical and mental batteries, ensuring they return to school on the 23rd of October with renewed vigor and enthusiasm for their studies.

This brief break provides an excellent opportunity for family time, outdoor adventures, and personal reflection. I hope that you will cherish this time together, and perhaps even take a moment to discuss the highlights of Sports Day and the valuable lessons it brought about in terms of teamwork, perseverance, and fair play.

As we look forward to the resumption of classes on the 23rd of October, I am excited about the learning opportunities and experiences that lie ahead. Together, we will continue to foster an environment where our students can flourish academically and personally.

Thank you for your continued support, and I wish you and your children a joyful and restful week.

Warm regards,

Ali Kara

Principal

Abroad International School Osaka

Oh my days. This year's sports day was a fun spectacle to watch! I hope all the parents and students had fun. We had two teams, red vs white face off against eachother in several activities that spanned all grades. All points from ELC to Middle school were added up to determine the winner of this years Sports day.

Despite it being neck and neck, the red team was able to pull away and secure the victory with an impressive performance in the Elite Relay Race. Congratulations to all the students in the red team for winning this years sports day.

So far this term the Middle School has been focusing on research skills in Individuals and Societies. Each class has been working on a procedure of writing research questions, thinking of their anticipated answers, rewriting their questions to more specifically target one of these answers (or not), then describing why they chose this question, with particular emphasis on how it connects to the key and related concepts of their unit.

While this core process has been the same, the content the classes have been exploring has been very different:

Grade 7 has been looking at the technological innovations of ancient civilisations. We began by trying to find the oldest technology in our classroom, with one contender being the superficially hyper modern smartboard stylus (once used for writing in clay and wax). This led the students into looking at ancient Rome and Egypt. We played some of the city Building games Pharaoh and Caesar, on the school computers, and took note on the things that came up, such as the types of foods that were in the granaries and how quickly roads were constructed, which shifted out focus towards selective breeding of plants and animals, as well as transport. Did you know that it was the ancient Egyptians that created the watermelon from the much less juicy and delicious kordofan melon?

We built models of Roman roads, and learned about how effective their concrete was, especially for applications that involved water.

We then moved on to the Inca, who also had a vast road network, but oddly no wheeled transport, such as carts. We discussed the bias behind the idea that ‘the Inca never invented the wheel’, which is often repeated, even though wheeled toys from their civilization have been discovered by archeologists. We also looked at their scientific crop experiments, which developed varieties of foods that could grow at different altitudes, making them less likely to all be wiped out by any particular natural disaster or bout of extreme weather.

Grade 8 has been looking at islands and the issues of perspective, identity, and globalisation that surround them.Our current sub topic is ‘War Over Islands’. We looked at the Falklands conflict through the lens of the picture book ‘The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman’, the sarcasm and absurdism of which, punctuated with stark realities of war, lead to a lot of questions that need to be unravelled. One that is still unresolved is why the author altered the flags of the UK and Argentina; was it to avoid censorship or legal action? To make the story less specific and its themes more universal? We still aren't sure.

Soyeon translated a Korean school quiz on Dokdo for us, which shed some interesting light on the different ways the countries try to bolster their historic claims to territory in the modern age. Did you know that Korean nationals can get an honorary residence card, if they visit? PR has always been an important theatre of war.

The third island that we focused on was Snake Island, which was so bitterly fought over by Ukraine and Russia at the beginning of the 2022 invasion. We learned about its strategic importance for shipping in and out of the Black Sea, and the impact that the disruption of this had on the world’s wheat supply. We also found interesting parallels with the ancient battles

over Troy, which had a similarly commanding position. Did you know that it is thought that the lost tomb of Achilles might be on Snake Island?

Grade 9 has been researching trade routes and debating the question ‘do humans have more impact on the environment, or does the environment have more impact on humans?’

We’ve researched the Silk Road, the Portuguese Shipping lanes, and the Amber Road. We’ve compared monopolies on silk, and the lengths taken to protect them (executing people for smuggling silkworms) with monopolies on seeds created by giant corporations like Monsanto (maintained through genetic engineering and legal action). We've also looked at human migration and how different levels of UV exposure at different latitudes darkened and lightened the skin of different populations, and compared this to how the invention of CFC’s eroded the ozone layer (letting in more UV), before global political action restricted their use and it began to regenerate.

Our ultimate goal will be to examine the supply chains that culminate in the products that our school consumes, and weather we should or could be making better choices for our environment

Across all of the grades, we have explored a lot of interesting ideas in a relatively short period of time. We couldn’t quite get everything wrapped up before the midterm break, but the students are well prepared to complete their summatives when they return, and hopefully should be well enough rested to make short work of them.

Hello, young artists! October has arrived, and with it comes the exciting and creative challenge known as Inktober! Inktober is a wonderful art tradition that takes place every October, bringing artists from all over the world together to celebrate the joy of drawing with ink.

What is Inktober?
Inktober is like a month-long art adventure. The goal is simple: create one ink drawing every day throughout October. You can choose to follow a list of daily prompts, or you can let your imagination run wild and come up with your own ideas. Whether it's a spooky ghost, a magical unicorn, or a friendly pumpkin, the possibilities are endless! All you need is some paper and your favorite ink tools, like pens, or markers.

How Can Inktober Help Improve Vocabulary?
Inktober is not just about drawing; it's also a fantastic opportunity to enhance your vocabulary skills. With new prompts everyday, you might find a word you do not know or do not know how to describe. You can use adjectives to make your drawings come to life. Is your cat drawing fluffy or sleek? Is your haunted house drawing eerie or mysterious? By choosing the right words, you can make your drawings even more exciting and vivid.

Sharing the Fun
Inktober is a social event too! Many artists like to share their daily creations on social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #Inktober. It's a great way to connect with other artists, get inspired by their work, and receive feedback on your own drawings. You can also share your Inktober creations with your friends and family using the Inktober display next to the office! Take a look to get inspired and see Inktober artworks created by students AND teachers.

The Benefits of Inktober
Participating in Inktober offers several benefits for young artists. It encourages you to practice your drawing skills regularly, helping you become a better artist over time. It also sparks your creativity, challenging you to think outside the box and come up with new and exciting ideas every day. Moreover, it's a lot of fun and a great way to build discipline and perseverance.

So, young artists, grab your favorite ink tools, whether it's a pen, a brush, or a marker, and embark on your Inktober adventure! Let your imagination soar, improve your vocabulary, and have a blast creating beautiful ink drawings throughout October. Remember, there are no right or wrong drawings in Inktober – it's all about expressing yourself and having fun. Happy drawing!

ASCO (Abroad Student Council Osaka) has been working really hard with planning upcoming events and working towards a better school life. We discuss problems and suggestions the students have such as changing the Manpuku lunch, whether it is ok to play at the gym during recess times, etc. Hopefully, we can find solutions and make agreements to have a more positive school community. Students coming up with suggestions and concerns are greatly appreciated since that is one of the reasons we have ASCO, and it allows the student’s opinions to be heard and resolved.

Lately, we’ve been involved and are cooperating with the PTA to plan a Halloween event for the whole school. Before that, we had worked really hard towards the October assembly trying to make sure everything was ready for us to present to both the students and the teachers on the day. The assembly overall went great and was filled with laughter and joy! Many ASCO representatives were involved in the making of the assembly slideshow which made it even better. Our game planner had a very fun game prepared involving everyone which made it special to students.

Next, we got in touch with the PTA members to have a successful and fun Halloween party. We were informed that they needed volunteers for game/activity stands which we are helping organize. Additionally, we asked each class to decorate their class Halloween-themed to get into the vibe of October. Grade 3 did a wonderful job decorating their classroom!

We have our very own Halloween Party coming up brought to you by the Abroad PTA. It will definitely be a fun and exciting event. The parents of Abroad have always put together an awesome Halloween Event every year.