Japan's Children's Day
On Sunday 5 May, students from Years 2-10 participated in the inaugural Japan¨s Children¨s Day Celebration at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens.
Our wonderful students showcased their love for Japanese language and culture in a number of ways.
You can see more photos on our gallery: Japan's Children's Day.
Year 2-4 students sang two songs that we often sing in class to help us with our learning, ＾Learning Japanese￣ from the movie ＾Big Bird Goes to Japan￣, and a Hiragana song. They did a great job of beginning the celebrations!
Next, sisters Priyannika Kumrai (Year 6) and Tanishka Kumrai (Year 3), teamed up. Priyannika recited her self-introduction speech, which won her first prize in the Year 5 division of last year¨s Tasmanian Japanese Speech Contest. An English translation of her speech was shared with the audience by Tanishka.
Another sister act, Ella and Sarah Fitzpatrick (Year 10) joined forces to present a mash-up of their first and third prize winning speeches from the Speech Contest last year.
Harry Breslin (Year 9) then followed by sharing some of his reflections on the recent Japan Study Tour, with much giggling from the crowd as they found points they could easily relate to in his speech!
Newly formed 2019 Dominiku Daiko (Senior) summoned the audience back to their seats after intermission.
Newcomers Sarah O¨Reilly and Justin Nguyen (both Year 8), Sarah Fitzpatrick and Ella Fitzpatrick, joined seasoned taiko player Daniel Nguyen (Year 10) to do a fine job of performing ＾isami goma￣ to an enthusiastic crowd.
The grand finale of the event was the Japanese Signing Choir. Fifty nine students in Years 2 to 6 performed well-known Japanese children¨s song, ＾sekaijuu no kodomotachi ga￣, using both Japanese AND Japanese sign language - what an amazing workout for their brains! (And no wonder bilingualism is linked to improved brain function!). They did a splendid job, impressing us all with their beautiful voices and confident singing and signing!
All of the students who were unable to attend the event were well represented by the 11 large koinobori (carp streamers) created by students of Japanese from Kindergarten to Year 10, with all students contributing a scale for their year level fish.
A sincere thank you to all performers for their excellent effort and enthusiasm, and to their wonderful families for supporting them to participate in this event. 云輝にありがとうございました。
Mrs Belinda Kumashiro & Mrs Susie Allan - Japanese Teachers
A Catholic School in the Salesian Tradition
