Health&Safety

ELC & Kindergarten

We are starting to feel the arrival of autumn with the cool morning and afternoon breeze. It is time to get out your autumn clothes and bedding. It is easy to catch a cold at this time of year, so please stay warm.

【Clothing and Thermoregulation】
As the mornings get chillier in October, you may be tempted to dress your children in heavy clothing.
However, when children feel the outside air directly on their skin, they regulate their autonomic nervous system and increase their resistance to illness. As a rule of thumb, it is recommended that children wear one less layer of clothing than adults, and that they adjust their body temperature appropriately by layering lighter clothing. 

【Infectious Diseases in Winter】
As the weather gets colder, coughs and stomach infections become more prevalent.
Young children may not be able to properly communicate with you about their health. If you have any concerns, please let the staff know when your child arrives at school in the morning.

• Influenza
  Sudden onset of high fever, lasting several days. Loss of appetite and joint and muscle aches may occur. Children often cannot say they are "tired" and remain "unwell" or "in a bad mood". Usually, it takes about a week to recover.
  • Guidelines for returning to school after having influenza
    Five days after the onset of fever (onset of symptoms)
    Three days after the fever subsides (infants and toddlers)
     
• Norovirus infection (viral gastroenteritis)
  • As the name "epidemic vomiting and diarrhea" implies, it causes severe vomiting and diarrhea. In most cases, symptoms resolve in one to three days, but dehydration can occur.
  • Chlorine disinfectant: Norovirus is highly contagious, and chlorine disinfectant is necessary to disinfect clothes soiled with vomit. It may be helpful to keep some chlorine disinfectant on hand in case of sudden symptoms.

【Non-cognitive Skills】
“Zest for life”
One of the key factors behind a child's social skills is non-cognitive skills, which are currently the focus of a lot of attention. Non-cognitive skills are mental strengths that cannot be measured by IQ tests. It is the foundation of the zest for life.
　
These are not innate, but are acquired through education, play, and daily life, and are greatly nurtured between the ages of 0 and 3.

• Grit
  • Perseverance
  • Self-control
  • Passion for goals
• Social skills
  • Sociability
  • Caring
  • Respect
• Emotional regulation
  • Respect for oneself
  • Confidence
  • Optimism

For example, K3 students at the Kobe Campus have been exploring how to "make better communities" and deepening their understanding of diversity (everyone can be different) since term 1.  In term 2, they are learning about "Compromise." Here are some scenes from their Sports Day practice.
 

Episode 1
The children have been discussing "Is it OK to do things exactly as I want？" through picture books and role-plays of familiar situations. When deciding on music for Sports Day, there was disagreement. Everyone had a different favorite song. The teacher said, "If you don't like a song that someone else has chosen, you can say so, but let's think of a way to make it work for everyone.” As a result, it was decided that one song would be played during the games and the other song would be played at the entry to the event.

Episode 2
At the beginning of practice, when Team A (6 players) won, Team B (5 players) was frustrated and said, "That's because you have 6 players," and "That's not fair." The teacher then asked the children, "Does saying negative things about the other team make that team weaker?" The children then responded with opinions such as, "We should make a strategy," "We should all talk together to find a way to win," and "We should take tips from what the other team has done." After that, they no longer said anything blaming the other team.
 

In the process leading up to Sports Day, the children themselves thus acquired the ability to change their feelings, "Emotional control", "Social skills," and "Grit."

Non-cognitive skills are important for children who will continue to live and connect with a variety of people. Children who are warmly involved with others, through encouragement and support, will kindly interact with others as well. More than winning or losing, thinking and working hard in their own way helps them develop confidence and respect for themselves.

 

“Safeguarding Education for K2・K3”

The Kindergarten Department will be working on safeguarding education from October to December.
The purpose of safeguarding education is for children to understand that both they and those around them are precious and to learn how to protect themselves. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) recommends safeguarding education for life for students from age 5 through high school. We hope that through safeguarding education, children will acquire developmentally appropriate knowledge, safe behaviors and attitudes, and grow up taking good care of their mental and physical health.

＜Lessons＞
Developmentally appropriate content lessons: in accordance with the Ministry of Education's "Life Safety Education (for 5-6 year olds)" and UNESCO's "International Sexuality Education Guidance (for 5-8 year olds)", and in conjunction with sex education at the elementary school level
K2/K3: Importance of obtaining consent 　e.g., “May I 〜？”
K3：”Good Touch and Bad Touch”, “Private parts”,”How to protect yourself”
Homeroom teachers who know the children's condition on a daily basis conduct the lessons
Use picture books and other materials to help children think through familiar examples
 

Elementary / Secondary 

It gets cooler and cooler in October, and we feel like autumn is around the corner. In Japan, it is said that autumn is the best season for eating. As you know, we enjoy many delicious foods in autumn. Let's have nutritious seasonal foods and pay attention to our daily lifestyle.

World Food Day - OCT 16
World Food Day is an international day established by the United Nations to promote cooperation among people around the world to solve hunger.
It is said that sufficient food has been produced to meet the needs of all people in the world. Nevertheless, more than 800 million people, or one in nine, are chronically undernourished. This is about seven times the population of the Japanese population. There are various factors behind this situation, and we called on the students to think about what we can do at our school assembly.

 

Food Waste

When food that can still be eaten is thrown away, it is called "food waste”. In the world, one-third of food produced for human consumption, or 1.3 billion tons, is thrown away every year. In developed countries like Japan, a lot of food is thrown away at the consumption stage, such as "leftovers" and "expired by the expiration date. 

Even in KIA, a lot of leftover food is thrown away. One of the SDGs includes "Halve global per capita food waste by 2030" and food waste is a major problem throughout the world.
As food waste increases, waste disposal costs and CO2 emissions from burning food as combustible waste increase. As a result, it becomes a burden on the global environment.

In order not to waste food and to protect the global environment, each of us needs to address the issue of food waste. We can reduce food waste by being aware of "mottainai" and taking action to reduce food waste. The word "mottainai" not only means that we should not waste food, but also includes a spirit that is unique to Japan, such as a sense of guilt for treating food carelessly. You do not have to force yourself to eat, but we hope that you will grow up to be an adult who eats with a sense of appreciation at home, at school lunches, and when eating out.