St Andrew's College students had a wonderful time with Seinan Gakuin HS student

In Week 3 of Term 3 St Andrews College students had a wonderful time with Seinan Gakuin HS students from Fukuoka, Japan. Seinan Gakuin HS students had joined various classes to have intercultural lessons including cooking lessons and arts lessons. Both our students and Seinan Gakuin HS students had an opportunity to make Anzac biscuits together. Seinan Gakuin students also had the opportunity to take fantastic art lessons to learn about Australian animals.

Both Year 9 and Year 10 Japanese classes had an opportunity to have an intercultural lesson with Seinan Gakuin HS. Our students planned many intercultural activities to accommodate Japanese students. I could see many happy faces from both Japanese and our students during the lessons. I have also received so much positive feedback about the lessons from both Japanese and our students after.

On the last day at our school, Dr Kennaugh gave special gifts to Japanese students and supervisors of the Seinan Gakuin HS students. They all loved their gifts so much! 

Also, thank you to the students who helped Japanese students as a buddy for a week. Without your support, they could not have had such a memorable and valuable experience at our school.

Sincerely, 

Miss Miho Matsufuji

Japanese Teacher

Students’ feedback:

Intercultural Lesson with Seinan Gakuin High School Students

On Wednesday the 7th of August, the Seinan Gakuin High School students joined our Year 10 Japanese class for an intercultural lesson. We were able to share our cultures with each other through many fun activities such as a Kahoot challenge and playing Australian games eg. bullrush, and musical chairs. Through these activities, we were able to enjoy the similarities and differences between Australian and Japanese cultures. 

My group was in charge of the free drawing activity. Using a variety of markers and crayons, the Japanese students shared their culture with us, as we did the same. Many Japanese students drew popular characters such as Doraemon and Totoro that my friends and I recognised. They also drew Australian animals such as koalas and kangaroos that many of them saw at the zoo when they had gone with their host families on the weekend. I was surprised with how good the students were at drawing and had fun talking with them about how they had enjoyed their trip so far. At the end of each rotation, we took a group photo with everyone as the Japanese students held up the paper, displaying their drawings. 

For the second activity, my group played Pictionary. As the Australian team, we faced the Japanese students in guessing as many drawings as possible to earn points. The words we received were written in Japanese. We had to draw the word the best we could on the whiteboard, to help our teammates guess the word in Japanese. Some words that we received were たこやき（takoyaki), しんかんせん (bullet train) and オムライス (omelette rice). However, the Japanese students received and guessed the words in English.  Some of the words they received were emu, koala and fairy bread. The games got quite heated as the timer came closer to finishing, although it made everyone just as eager to guess and earn more points. It was very interesting to see what everyone drew and hear the funny guesses that were made.

The Intercultural lesson with the Seinan Gakuin High School students was a very fun class. Through the activities, I was able to meet and talk to many Japanese students who had similar interests as me, allowing me to make some new friends with some of them. This lesson was a great experience for both our Year 10 Japanese class and the students of Seinan Gakuin High School in experiencing and sharing our different cultures with each other.

- Micaela Sibucao Year 10 Japanese

On Tuesday the 6th of August, the Japanese class of Year 9 had an extremely fun, interactive and informative learning experience through the arrival of students from Seinan Gakuin High School, a high school in Fukuoka, Japan. 

This lesson involved fun, Australian-themed activities like “Pin the tail on the kangaroo” and exciting presentations that informed the Japanese students all about Australian life and culture. Both classes of our school and Senian Gakuin had a wonderful time learning about life in Japan and Australia, but also the surprising amount of similarities that are present between both countries. This lesson was a one-in-a-lifetime experience for the kids involved, enriching not only their knowledge of Japan but also themselves and Australia. 

The students had lots of fun talking to each other and testing their knowledge of languages through the activities. The lesson was fantastically rounded off with the serving of an all-time classic Australian dish; Fairy Bread! The lesson was an amazing display of proof that no language barrier, nor nation is disconnected from human companionship and friendship. All students conducted themselves with poise, politeness, and welcoming arms. The tour guides of Seinan Gakuin High School who supervised the Japanese students were incredibly pleased with the way students from St Andrew’s conducted themselves with care and professionalism.

All students involved played a huge part in allowing the Japanese students to ease into Australian life and coordinated every activity that took place. I would like to formally thank the students of the Year 9 Japanese class for their continued support and effort when participating in these intercultural lessons.

- Zayne Bayrich Year 9 Japanese