Policies & Related Documents

ADMISSIONS POLICY

Introduction

Aoba-Japan International School is an environment that provides a challenging and rigorous standard of education with English as the language of instruction. Students who are proficient in English and are familiar with international education systems, in particular the International Baccalaureate, will experience a smooth transition into Aoba-Japan International School (Aoba), however, we accept applications from students with various cultural and educational backgrounds.  All students from families with an international mindset, who share the same belief in our core values will be a great fit.   Students who are not fluent in the English language will be supported, and will benefit from the education Aoba offers equally. 

 

Aoba offers a rigorous and challenging educational program, but at the same time we accommodate students with a range of academic abilities, provided they are able to adequately access and benefit from our curriculum. We make this determination primarily by reviewing students’ school records and teacher recommendations.

 

Any changes to the process outlined below will require the authorization of the leadership team, including the Head of School.  This policy will be reviewed and the information updated annually in August of each year.

 

The Application Process is in place to ensure that students can successfully access the curriculum within a reasonable time and to thrive in our English-language learning environment.  

 

English is the language of instruction at Aoba.  Every class starting from G1 will have a 70/30 ratio, which means up to 30% of the students will be receiving formally enrolled Communications Support of all ranges.  All students entering and applying into G10 will need to be proficient enough to access the curriculum with no Communications Support.  

 

English is also the primary language for communicating with parents. Although not required, it is recommended that at least one parent or guardian is able to communicate comfortably with school personnel in English. In addition, parents must be able to access electronic communications from the school (email and web-based platforms including the school’s parent portal).

 

Please refer to our Language Policy for more details on eligibility requirements around the English language.  The Language Policy and Assessment Policy must be read and understood, and parents will need to acknowledge their understanding by signing the designated area in the application form.  

 

Our Programs

Our IB Primary Years Programme learning is designed to encourage curiosity in an integrative way. A balance is sought between the acquisition of essential knowledge and skills, development of conceptual understanding, demonstration of positive attitudes, and taking responsible action.

 

In the development of our learners, we emphasize the characteristics of:

 

• Global leaders
• Entrepreneurs
• Innovators
• Effective communicators
• Wise risk-takers

 

In our IB Middle Years Programme, we emphasize the core values of global leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation. We also emphasize the teaching of effective communication skills, problem solving, and wise risk-taking.

 

We concentrate on developing independent and interdependent learners who are able to draw upon strong academic skills of inquiry, critical thinking and analysis to discover and apply new knowledge.

 

We future-proof our middle school learners, helping them be ready to excel along multiple pathways that, in high school, mean a variety of options such as self-designed courses (that learners and teachers develop together) and the internationally recognized Diploma Programme. Our focus is to refine their communication, problem-solving, and risk-taking skills by providing relevant, engaging, meaningful, challenging learning opportunities and possibilities for action.

 

Choosing the right pathway

In the Senior School Program, we offer challenging academic programs (IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) and the Global Leadership Diploma Program (GLD)) geared toward students who are planning to go on to college or university in all areas of the world. Students entering at this level must have a fairly high degree of competency in English.  Moreover, in order to obtain an Aoba graduation diploma, students must have credits equivalent to four full years of high school English. 

 

Students going into G11 will be required to decide on the DP path or the GLD path.  

 

In the process, we encourage all students applying for admission to G9 – G12 to visit the school and meet with an Admissions Rep or the Secondary Principal for an informal interview.  This will also help ensure that candidates will be able to meet academic requirements for graduation from Aoba. 

 

IB DP

For students applying for G11 during the school year who have not yet embarked on the IBDP: the IBDP coordinator will speak to the students and the parents to explain that the students hold a chance of obtaining the IB Diploma, given that the students are capable and there is enough time left in the year to catch up on the months that the students have missed.  If the IB Diploma does not sound reasonable given the circumstances, then the students may choose to sit for individual exams to obtain certificates, or aim for the GLD.  

 

For students applying for G11 during the school year, who have started the IBDP at their previous school: the IBDP coordinator will speak to the students and the parents to examine what courses they had been taking, and if the courses offered at Aoba will enable the students to continue with the IBDP.  If not, but the students still wish to enroll, then they will be able to sit for individual exams to obtain certificates.

 

For students applying for G12 who have not yet embarked on the IBDP: the IBDP coordinator will speak to the students and the parents to explain that the students will not be able to obtain the IBDP.  However, provided that the students have acquired the necessary credits up until that point, the students can obtain a high school diploma if they successfully complete G12.  

 

For students applying for G12 who have already embarked on the IBDP at their previous school: the IBDP coordinator will speak to the students and the parents to examine what courses they had been taking, and if the courses offered at Aoba will be able to have the students prepare for the final year for the IBDP.  The IBDP coordinator will also examine how far they have gone with the Extended Essay, CAS and TOK and how Aoba-Japan International School can assist with the completion of those.

 

We will not accept any students applying for G12 after the start of the school year.

 

GLD

For students applying for G11 and G12: the GLD coordinator will speak to the students and parents to examine which courses and projects will match the students’ interests, strengths, and career aspirations at the same time meeting the graduation requirements.  

 

We will not accept any students applying for G12 after the start of the school year.

 

Application Process

1. Inquiry

• Phone
• E-mail
• Open House
• Visit

 

2. Preparation

• Application Forms
• Supplementary Documents

 

3. Application Fee
4. Interview & Assessment

 

Inquiry

When a family inquires about Aoba, the Admissions Office first answers all questions they may have about the school, and then encourages them to visit the school.  School visits are the best opportunities for families to meet the Admissions team and to see the facilities and classrooms in session.  

 

When a family is not able to come in for a school tour, the Admissions Office provides as much information as possible over the phone or email.  

 

Application Forms and Supplementary Documents

Applicants are encouraged to apply through our website.  If families experience technical difficulties, they can contact the Admissions team to be provided with assistance and further guidance. 

 

All students must submit the following:

• • Completed Application Form (online)
  • One confidential recommendation Form – filled out by the Homeroom teacher, sent directly to the Director of Admissions at Aoba
  • School records for the past 2 years (including current school year) 
    • Report cards: Copies of the report cards of the past two years, including the current year are required. The final report for the current school year is required and can be emailed or posted when it becomes available if the student is accepted.
    • Students for Kindergarten who may not have report cards but attend a pre-school, nursery, or daycare are asked to submit a recommendation from the class teacher.
    • If report cards are in a language other than English or Japanese, it must be translated into English by an official translator.
  • Health forms (to be completed by a physician and parent) 
    • Health forms must be completed before the student can begin school. 
    • Required immunization information.
  • Photocopy of birth certificate or passport, and proper visa for non-Japanese citizens
  • One passport size photo for each student and their parents/guardians 
  • Additional reports, including from specialists if applicable
    • A report of testing if the student has received or is receiving any supplementary school services or outside of school support. These may include: learning resources support, speech and language therapy, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) support, counseling, behavior modification, etc. 
    • Others included are: psycho-educational evaluation, Individual Educational Plan (IEP), speech language assessment, etc.

• An exit report and recommendations for future learning if the student is no longer receiving these services

 

Additional Documents required for Students applying for MYP, DP & GLD:

• Two Recommendation forms – in addition to the recommendation form from the Homeroom teacher, one from the current English teacher and one from the current Math teacher is required (three in total). 
• Standardized test results (ITBS, MAP, ISA, Stanford, PSAT, SAT, TOFEL, etc.) should be submitted for any tests taken.   

 

Additional Documents required for Students applying for DP & GLD:

• Official Transcript
• All high school students applying for G11&G12 are required to include an official transcript from their current school. They should post or bring with them an official transcript which includes the year just completed. Transcripts are required from all high schools attended by the student

• • If official transcripts are in a language other than English or Japanese, it must be translated into English by an official translator

 

Age of students:

• The cut off date for age placements is September 1
• The age of the student is considered in placements for Kindergarten to G1
• Age requirements for the lower grades are as follows
• K2: 1.5 years old
• K3: 3 years old (must be toilet trained)
• K4: 4 years old
• K5: 5 years old
• G1: 6 years old
• All students for G2 and up are placed according to their completed or current grade level or at the principal’s discretion in consultation with the parents.  

 

Application Fee

• The application fee for all grade levels is 23,000 yen and is subject to change annually based on the Board approved fees.
• This fee is applicable for only one attempt unless the student’s matriculation is affected by space availability for that academic year or an inadvertent mistake on the part of the admissions office.
• A new fee is required on all subsequent submissions of applications 
• The application fee covers the processing of the application, testing and interviews.
• An application fee is required with each student
• The fee is non-refundable

 

Appointments for interviews and assessments

• Upon reviewing the application, student’s school records and recommendation(s), we invite the student and his/her parents for an assessment and interview. 
• All students and their parent/guardian from schools within Japan will be invited to come in for an interview before they can be accepted into Aoba.  The Admissions office contacts the students’ parents/guardians to set up an interview & testing appointment.  If for any reason, the family requests for an online interview, we will do our best to accommodate.
• Students from overseas schools are asked to participate in an online interview or other form of virtual interview/assessment.

 

Kindergarten/G1

Students entering Kindergarten and/or G1 are asked to come to school for an informal play session and interview before a formal acceptance can be offered.  While the student is taken into the relevant classrooms, the Admissions Director interviews the parents. 

 

G1-G9

In addition to the above, an English level assessment using the MAP Test or equivalent is conducted, along with an interview of the student by the Admissions Director.  The MAP Test is conducted to ascertain the level of English proficiency of the student.  If the student is accepted, but the assessment results show that the student requires Communications Support, the class/grade in which the student will be placed in, must be examined.  If the class has already reached 30% of Communication Students, that student will be placed on the waiting list until there is an opening.  The school does not disclose the MAP Test, or any other application test results.  The acceptance may be dependent on the results of the MAP Test for the upper grades, as the English proficiency is necessary to access the IB Programmes.

 

The Communications Support is only available until the end of G9.  Students applying to G6 and above with a need for the Communications Support must demonstrate that he/she will exit the support program before the end of G9.  

 

While the student is being tested, the Admissions Director may interview the parents/guardians. 

 

For students applying to G10, the application forms and supplementary documents will have proven the student’s English proficiency, and will only be invited in for an interview if the above is true.  

 

Acceptance Decisions 

The Admissions Director, with input from the Principal of the school section for which the candidate is applying for, reviews all applications.  The Admissions Director, with input from the relevant Principal, makes the final admissions decisions.  In the case of G11 and G12, the Secondary Principal and the IBDP/GLD Coordinator, at times in addition to consultation with the Head of School, makes the decision.  

 

Other school personnel, such as Support staff, may also be involved in the review process.  

 

No student may be denied admission due to nationality, race, or religion; all students who meet the academic and behavioral expectations of our school are accepted. The admissions office denies a student only when it believes that it is not in the best interest of the student to join Aoba and/or when it believes that the school is unable to serve the specific learning or behavioral needs of the student. 

 

Conditional and probationary acceptances 

• For future acceptances, Aoba uses conditional acceptances.
• All letters of conditional acceptance must offer clear and precise conditions upon which the student has been accepted.
• All letters of conditional acceptance must offer a time frame by which the condition(s) must be met.
• All letters of conditional acceptance must offer clear suggestions as to how the conditions can be met by the student. 
• All letters of conditional acceptance must offer clear suggestions as to how the school can support the student in meeting the condition(s).
• All letters of conditional acceptance must state who determines whether or not the condition has or has not been met within the given time frame.
• The principals are responsible for following up with conditional acceptances to see if the student has met the conditions of acceptance such that the student’s acceptance becomes a regular acceptance.
• The principal of each school determines the consequences and next steps when conditions of acceptance have not been met.

 

Deadlines and timeline

 

The Admissions Timeline

• Applications are accepted for the following school year, every year from November 1 until December 31, for consideration for interviews in February.  Thereafter, rolling admissions applies to all students up to G10 – please refer back to the Introduction for details for students applying to G11 & G12 (IBDP & GLD)
• If a student is accepted, but the class is a full capacity, the student will be waitlisted

 

Notifications

• Decisions are made by the Admissions Director, with the input of the Principal of each respective school
• Families who have been accepted are sent a confirmation letter by the Director of Admissions
• The school does not respond to any inquiries around acceptance decisions over the telephone
• The Admissions Director informs families of students whose applications have not been accepted with an email
• Letter to announce the student has been put on the Waiting List (if the class is full or disrupts gender ratio), is prepared and sent to the family, by the Admissions DIrector
• An invoice (Registration Fee and/or Tuition and all other relevant Fees) prepared by the Accounting Department is also be sent with the Letter of Acceptance

 

Enrollment agreement 

• If an accepted student decides to enroll, the student’s parents/guardians are expected to sign the Letter of Acceptance and return it to the Admissions Office 
• The enrollment is final when the signed Letter of Acceptance has been received by the Admissions Office and when the Registration Fee has been received

 

Upon accepting an Offer of Admission from Aoba, the family will accept and consent to all Aoba policies, terms, and conditions of enrollment. Parent/guardian/student non-agreement or non-compliance with the Aoba enrollment policy may result in withdrawal, admission, or exclusion from enrollment.  All families will consent and sign to the below: 

 

‘Disclosure, Consent, and Permissions:

• I confirm that I am this student’s parent or legal guardian, that I have full authority to enter into this contract, and that by consenting to these policies, terms, and conditions, consent by all other legal guardians of this student is implicit.
• I understand and agree that failure to fully disclose any and all information as requested on the Aoba requested forms may result in incorrect grade or program placement, nullified acceptance, or withdrawal of enrollment.
• I give permission for Aoba to receive and release information from or to any of my/our child’s past, current or future schools, educational institutions, or student support providers.
• I understand that continued enrollment at Aoba is conditional on my child remaining in good academic, behavioral, and financial standing.

By enrolling my child at Aoba, I commit to:

• Accepting and supporting my child’s grade level placement, class list placement, Communications Support placement, and Inclusion Support placement and service model.
• Supporting the school’s mission, vision, values, strategic objectives.
• Ensuring my child’s regular attendance at school.
• Ensuring that my child will be living with a parent, or a legal guardian acknowledged by the school for the duration of his/her enrollment at Aoba.
• Reading, understanding, and following academic and behavior policies.
• Working in partnership with the school to support my child at home in order to help him/her meet the school’s academic and behavioral expectations.
• Reading notifications sent from the school to ensure knowledge and understanding of the school’s academic programs, curriculum, and co-curricular activities.
• Using the channels of communication established by the school when seeking a resolution to a problem or concern.
• Paying school fees and all other fees invoiced by Aoba in accordance with and adherence to the School Fee Schedule.
• Accepting the school’s decision to temporarily close and/or temporarily move to online learning due to immediate or imminent threat to the health or safety of students, staff or community members. This may be due to an emergency, critical incident, extreme weather, pandemic, power failure and the like. There will be no reimbursement of school fees for unexpected temporary school closure.
• Enabling my child to participate in the mandatory Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Program. As a blended learning school, it is a requirement that all students in G1-G12 are part of the BYOD program. G1-G3 students need their own iPad, while G4-G12 students need their own MacBook. Students should bring their charged devices to and from school daily. Device specifications will be provided upon student registration.
• Enabling my child to participate in the mandatory Residential Trips (for MYP students, G7-G9). MYP students are expected to attend the annual residential trips as part of the MYP framework. The inquiry-driven trips, to various locations within domestic Japan, are directly linked to the MYP curriculum; failure to attend may result in failure of the related unit. In the event of an unavoidable or exceptional circumstance that may prevent participation in a residential trip, we request the parents contact the school as soon as possible to discuss.
• Understanding that Aoba is an IB school that implements the PYP, MYP and DP curriculums. I agree to read and understand the relevant International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) Regulations before enrolling my child in each respective IB program at Aoba.
  PYP: https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/publications/become-an-ib-school/general-regulations-pyp-en.pdf
  MYP: https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/publications/become-an-ib-school/myp-general-regulations-2015-en.pdf
  DP: https://www.ibo.org/globalassets/publications/become-an-ib-school/dp-general-regulations-en.pdf
• Understanding, agreeing to, and following all other Aoba Policies.’

 

Orientation

• New students and their parents starting at the beginning of the school year have a group orientation session on the weekday afternoon before the first day of school
• All students who enroll in the middle of the school year have an individual orientation either before or on their first day of school 

 

Payment and Refund of Fees and Payments

It is the family or guardian’s duty to ensure the financial obligations to the school are discharged promptly, even in the case where their employer may be paying the fees on their behalf. Even though a student has been accepted by or is enrolled in A-JIS, if financial obligations are not met by documented dates, the student’s enrollment will be cancelled.

 

Tuition, CommunicationsSupport, Inclusion Support Fee Tuition and Support Fees are payable by semesters.  One Payment Option Due by 15 June (or payable at the time of registration for new students) Two Payment Option Due by 15 June and 15 November (or payable at the time of registration for new students)  Building Maintenance and Family Community Membership Fees Building Maintenance Fees and Family Community Membership Fees are billed in full with the first tuition invoice and are not divided for mid-year entry.  School Trip Fee The School Trip Fee is a mandatory payment for all students to participate in compulsory school trips as part of the curriculum. Enrollment after the School Year Commences For students entering school after the Autumn Break or the Spring Break, tuition is calculated based on the school’s four quarters. A student’s attendance for any portion of a quarter requires payment of the entire quarter. Full payment of the Building Maintenance Fee and Family Community Membership Fee is also required, regardless of the length of attendance.

 

Re-entry

For re-entry of students who have left the school, the Building Development Fee will be billed in full and Registration Fee as follows:

 

Re-entry in the same school year as withdrawal	JPY 100,000
Re-entry in the next school year after withdrawal	JPY 150,000
Re-entry in the second school year after withdrawal	JPY 200,000
Re-entry after two years have elapsed	Full Charge

 

In the event of cancellation of re-entry, the fees will be refunded regarding Refund Policy.

 

Leave of Absence

Students may apply to take a leave of absence by submitting an official notification by 31 July for the 1st semester and by 8 January for the 2nd semester. Leave of Absence is applicable only by semesters. Upon the approval by the Principal,  50% of Tuition will be waived during the leave of absence.  Any other fees will not be billed for the term of the leave of absence. Building Maintenance and Family Community Membership Fees will not be refunded for Leave of Absence taken in the 2nd semester.

 

Delinquent Payment Policy

An arrears charge of 1.20% per month, compounded monthly, will be applied to all overdue accounts. In the case of serious financial delinquency, the school will prohibit class attendance and/or the release of report cards and transcripts.

*This regulation shall be governed by, and construed and interpreted under the laws of Japan. The lawsuits hereunder shall be exclusively brought in the Tokyo District Court of Japan.

 

Refund Policy

In the case of cancellation of enrollment, the Admissions Office will refund fees as follows, following receipt of the enrollment cancellation (for new students) or Notification of Withdrawal (for current students).

 

Application Fee, Registration Fee & Building Development Fee 

Non-refundable.

 

Building Maintenance Fee and Family Community Membership Fee

For the coming school year, enrolled students who withdraw by 31 July will receive a full refund. The enrollment cancellation (for new students) or Notification of Withdrawal (for current students) must be submitted. No refunds will be given to students who submit the notice after 31 July.

 

First Semester of Tuition & Support Fees

Enrolled students who withdraw by 31 July will receive a full refund of the first semester’s tuition (remaining balance after deduction of administration fee for continuing students including those enrolled after April of the year), Communications Support and Inclusion Support Fee. The enrollment cancellation for new students or Notification of Withdrawal for current students must be submitted. No refunds will be given to students who submit the notice after 31 July. Attendance of 6 days or more, at any time in the semester, will constitute attendance for the full semester and will not be entitled to a refund.

 

Second Semester of Tuition & Support Fees

Enrolled students who withdraw by 8 January will receive a full refund of the second semester’s tuition, CommunicationsSupport and Inclusion SupportFee. No refunds will be given to students who submit the notice after 8 January, nor to a student who attends 6 days or more of school. Attendance of 6 days or more, at any time in the semester, will constitute attendance for the full semester and will not be entitled to a refund.

 

Re-enrollment (Continuing Students Only)

A deposit of JPY 250,000 is required by the due date in order to reserve a place for the next school year. This deposit will be deducted from the Tuition Fee. Re-enrollment without payment of deposit by the due date will result in a JPY 150,000 Reinstatement Fee. The Reinstatement Fee is non-refundable. In the event of cancellation of re-enrollment, following administration fee will be deducted from the deposit for refund after Notification of Withdrawal is submitted.

 

	Administration Fee	Deposit Refundable
Up to May 31	100,000 yen	150,000 yen
Up to June 30	150,000 yen	100,000 yen
Up to July 31	200,000 yen	50,000 yen
On or after August 1		No Refund

 

Graduation Fee

Students who withdraw before Mid-Winter Break in February will receive a full refund of the Graduation Fee by submitting a Notification of Withdrawal. No refunds will be given to students who withdraw after the last day of the first semester. 

 

School Lunch Fee, Bus Fee

Students who withdraw by 31 July will receive a full refund of the School Lunch Fee and Bus Fee. Students who withdraw by 8 January will receive a full refund of the second semester’s School Lunch Fee and Bus Fee.

 

Other Fees

All other fees (Summer School, After School Program Fees and School Trip Fee) are non-refundable. Parents/guardians will consent to the following: 

 

‘As the parent/guardian of an enrolled A-JIS student, I understand that:

 

• • By making, or authorizing, a full or partial payment of A-JIS Registration, Tuition and other fees, I give my consent to all A-JIS Payment & Refund Regulations.

• It is my duty to ensure that my financial obligations to the school are discharged promptly (even if I am sponsored by our employer). 

• Late payment of fees will result in penalty interest and may result in the withholding of enrollment, reports, and annual transcripts.

• Failure to respond to requests for settlement of late fees may result in a student’s suspension.’

 

RECORDS MANAGEMENT POLICY

SHARING POLICY / USE of PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGE and CONTENT

SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY

School Social Media Tags: @aobajapan  #aobajapan

 

Overview

Aoba-Japan International School (Aoba) recognizes that there are many legitimate professional and personal reasons for using social media.  Taking advantage of social media sites to promote our school is encouraged. Because all social media postings may have unintended audiences and consequences, we request that all employees represent themselves and the school in a manner that is respectful of the entire school community. This is to safeguard your professional and personal reputation, the reputation of your colleagues, and the entire school community.  When  engaged in social media, particularly related to Aoba, consider your activity in accordance with both the Faculty Work Regulations and Staff Work Regulations, Articles 13 (Work Rules) No. 15 that underpin our contractual conditions.   

 

What is Social Media?

Social media includes any website that enables publishing of content to a larger group. Examples of such sites include, but are not limited to, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tik Tok,  blogs, special interest forums, and user communities.

 

Social Media Content

Posting of content about the school on social media is permitted for all employees. Our school trusts all employees to consider the reputational implications of all posting they do. For advice on posting content please discuss with your supervisor  or the Marketing Department.

 

Content Publishing and Confidentiality Policy

Consider the policy guidelines below when engaging in social media activity. Employees are personally responsible for any content they publish.

• Be professional. As a representative of  Aoba your personal web footprint and related content reflects how you wish to present yourself to colleagues, students, parents, and others.
• Seek approval to publish or report on private conversations or confidential information from the people involved.
• When you make a reference to research, a customer, school partner or supplier, link your posting to the source.
• Anticipate the impact of the content might have on others before posting. If in doubt, discuss with your colleagues, supervisor or the marketing department.
• Post photos and commentary you think are appropriate and beneficial to promoting the reputation of all within Aoba.
• Consider the impact personal opinions about Aoba may have on your peers, colleague, students and families before posting on social media 
• Ask your own account to be “tagged” by  the Marketing Department.
• Always check confidentiality agreements we have with individual students related to social media exposure and privacy. 

 

Malware and Online Crime Prevention

Social media is used by criminals to deliver malware and schemes to damage property or steal confidential information. To reduce risk, follow the guidelines below. Note, they do not cover all possible threats and are not a substitute for good judgment.

 

• Avoid using the same passwords for social media that you use to access AJIS computing resources.
• Avoid following links or download software on social media pages posted by individuals or organizations that you do not know.
• If any content you find on any social media Web page looks suspicious in any way, close your browser and do not return to that page. 
• Inform the IT department of any unusual problems you encounter on social media.

ICT ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

The Internet is a powerful educational resource that can significantly enhance teaching and learning, when used appropriately. 

Aoba-Japan International School is committed to providing access to Internet facilities on campus in order to enhance student learning. Vigilance by all members of our school community is required to ensure that students use the internet and digital education resources safely. It is the responsibility of the staff and faculty of Aoba to protect students from harm while at school, including digital environments. It is also the responsibility of Aoba to comply with Japanese Legislation in these areas: 

• Protection of Personal Information Act 2017
• Law Banning Child Prostitution and Pornography 2005  
• Law on Communications Interception During Criminal Investigations 1999
• Portrait Rights 2005  

This policy governs access to and use of the Internet by students of Aoba as well as details, practices, and procedures implemented and carried out by the school and intended to provide maximum protection for users from potential risks associated with the use of the Internet. 

The aim of this Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is to ensure that students will benefit from learning opportunities offered by the school’s resources in a safe and effective manner. Internet use and access is considered an Aoba resource and privilege. Therefore, if the school AUP is not adhered to, this privilege will be withdrawn and appropriate measures – as outlined in the AUP – will be taken.

Content Filtering, Web Browsing & Downloading

Aoba allows access to millions of websites including games and YouTube, and other similar types of websites, such as blogs but blocks access to websites belonging to categories such as: alcohol, adult content, gambling, and violence. 

Students will not intentionally visit internet sites that contain obscene, illegal, hateful or otherwise objectionable materials. 

Students will report accidental accessing of inappropriate materials in the classroom to their teacher. 

Students are encouraged to report accidental access of inappropriate materials in school but outside the classroom to their homeroom teacher. 

Students will not copy information from the internet without acknowledging the creator and referencing the source of the content. 

In principle, students will use the Aoba internet connection only for educational and career development activities. 

E-mail & Messaging

Online communication through a student’s assigned email account is mandatory. The use of personal email accounts on campus is not acceptable.

Students should not under any circumstances share their email account login details with other students. 

Students will not send any material that is illegal, obscene, and defamatory or that is intended to annoy or intimidate another person. 

Students should avoid opening emails that appear suspicious. 

If in doubt, students should ask their teacher before opening emails from unknown senders.

Social Media

School Social Media Tags: @aobajapan  #aobajapan

Overview

Aoba-Japan International School (Aoba) recognizes that there are many legitimate professional and personal reasons for using social media.  Taking advantage of social media sites to promote our school is encouraged. Because all social media postings may have unintended audiences and consequences, we request that all employees represent themselves and the school in a manner that is respectful of the entire school community. This is to safeguard your professional and personal reputation, the reputation of your colleagues, and the entire school community.  When  engaged in social media, particularly related to Aoba, consider your activity in accordance with both the Faculty Work Regulations and Staff Work Regulations, Articles 13 (Work Rules) No. 15 that underpin our contractual conditions.   

What is Social Media?

Social media includes any website that enables publishing of content to a larger group. Examples of such sites include, but are not limited to, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tik Tok,  blogs, special interest forums, and user communities.

Social Media Content

Posting of content about the school on social media is permitted for all employees. Our school trusts all employees to consider the reputational implications of all posting they do. For advice on posting content please discuss with your supervisor  or the Marketing Department.

Content Publishing and Confidentiality Policy

Consider the policy guidelines below when engaging in social media activity. Employees are personally responsible for any content they publish.

• Be professional. As a representative of  Aoba your personal web footprint and related content reflects how you wish to present yourself to colleagues, students, parents, and others.
• Seek approval to publish or report on private conversations or confidential information from the people involved.
• When you make a reference to research, a customer, school partner or supplier link your posting to the source.
• Anticipate the impact of the content might have on others before posting. If in doubt discuss with your colleagues, supervisor or the marketing department.
• Post photos and commentary you think are appropriate and beneficial to promoting the reputation of all within Aoba.
• Consider the impact personal opinions about Aoba may have on your peers, colleague, students and families before posting on social media 
• Ask your own account to be “tagged” by  the Marketing Department.
• Always check confidentiality agreements we have with individual students related to social media exposure and privacy. 

Malware and Online Crime Prevention

Social media is used by criminals to deliver malware and schemes to damage property or steal confidential information. To reduce risk, follow the guidelines below. Note, they do not cover all possible threats and are not a substitute for good judgment.

• Avoid using the same passwords for social media that you use to access AJIS computing resources.
• Avoid following links or download software on social media pages posted by individuals or organizations that you do not know.
• If any content you find on any social media Web page looks suspicious in any way, close your browser and do not return to that page. 
• Inform the IT department of any unusual problems you encounter on social media.

BYOD & Mobile Phones

The bring your own device (BYOD) program allows students to bring their own Apple laptop or iPad to school to support teaching and learning activities. 

1. Students take responsibility for appropriate use of their personal device at all times. The school is not responsible in any way for personal devices or for its use.
2. Students/parents/guardians are responsible for their devices, including any breakages, costs of repair, or replacement.
3. The school reserves the right to inspect devices during school hours.
4. Violations of any school policies or rules involving a student device may result in a student not being allowed to continue using the device during school hours and/or disciplinary action, for a period to be determined by the school.
5. During school hours, students are allowed to use their device for learning related activities only.
6. Students must comply with teachers’ requests regarding use of devices during school hours, and classes.
7. Students may not use the devices to record, transmit or post photos or video of other teachers or students. No images or video recorded at school can be transmitted or posted at any time without their teacher’s permission.
8. Students may use the school wireless network and content filtered broadband. Use of other ‘unfiltered’ public wireless connections, such as mobile networks, is not allowed during school hours.
9. Each user is responsible for her/his own device and should use it responsibly and appropriately. Aoba takes no responsibility for stolen, lost, or damaged devices, including lost or corrupted data on those devices. While school employees will help students identify how to keep personal devices secure, students will have the final responsibility for securing their personal devices.
10. Aoba is not responsible for any possible device charges to their account that might be incurred during approved school-related use.

Images & Video

The development of digital imaging technologies has created significant benefits to learning, allowing staff and pupils instant use of images that they have recorded themselves or downloaded from the internet. 

However, staff, parents / carers and pupils need to be aware of the risks associated with publishing digital images on the internet. Such images may provide opportunities for harassment or breaches of privacy to take place. Digital images may remain available on the internet forever and may cause harm to individuals in the short or longer term. 

Care should be taken when taking photographic or video images that students are appropriately dressed and are not participating in activities that might bring the individuals or the school into disrepute. 

At Aoba, students must not take, use, share, publish or distribute images of others without their permission. 

Taking photos or videos on the grounds of Aoba or when participating in school activities is only allowed with express permission from staff. 

Students must not share images, videos or other content online with the intention to harm another member of the Aoba community regardless of whether this happens in school or outside. Sharing explicit images and in particular explicit images of students and/or minors is an unacceptable (illegal) and absolutely prohibited behavior, with serious consequences for those involved. Sharing explicit images of other students automatically incurs suspension as a consequence. 

Cyberbullying

This type of bullying is increasingly common and is continuously evolving. It is bullying carried out through the use of information and communication technologies such as text, social networking sites, e-mail, instant messaging, apps, gaming sites, chat-rooms and other online technologies. 

Being the target of inappropriate or hurtful messages is the most common form of online bullying. As cyberbullying uses technology to perpetrate bullying behavior and does not require face to face contact, cyberbullying can occur at any time (day or night). 

Many forms of bullying can be facilitated through cyberbullying. For example, a target may be sent homophobic text messages or pictures may be posted with negative comments about a person sexuality, appearance, ethnicity, etc. 

Students are increasingly communicating in ways that are often unknown to adults and free from supervision. The nature of these technologies means digital content can be shared and seen by a very wide audience almost instantly and is almost impossible to delete permanently. While cyberbullying often takes place at home and at night, the impact can also be felt in school. 

Cyberbullying is defined as repeatedly engaging in online activities with the intent to harm, harass, or embarrass another student or member of staff. It is an unacceptable and absolutely prohibited behavior, with serious consequences for those involved. 

Predominantly drawn from: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/client-castleknockcc/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/AUP-2017-2020.pdf

Other examples:

https://www.k12blueprint.com/sites/default/files/Acceptable-Use-Policies.pdf

http://mercyinchicore.ie/drupal-7.15/node/47

How does Aoba ensure a safe digital learning environment?

At  Aoba-Japan International School, the digital safety and security of our students is of utmost importance.  Using modern network infrastructure and filtering solutions, our ICT Engineers ensure the safety of the school’s internal network.  Additionally, all of our staff and faculty are trained in safe, responsible internet usage and put these skills into practice during educational activities.  Many of our teachers are also Google Certified Educators and Apple Distinguished Educators, recognised as global leaders in Digital Literacy and Educational Technology.

Important points:

1. Aoba ICT does not control what content students access at an individual level.
2. Aoba ICT does not install software and configure parental controls on student devices.
3. Aoba Faculty are expected to monitor device and internet usage within the classroom.
4. Parents are expected to monitor device and internet usage outside of school.
5. Our filtering policies are reviewed and approved by school Leadership. We can schedule a review and adjustment of our filtering policies at any time.

Network Access and Security

Aoba campuses utilise powerful Firewall devices which allow specific control over anti-virus, threat protection, and filtering on the school network.

https://www.cyberoam.com/webfiltering.html

Our Firewall prevents access to inappropriate or potentially harmful content related to drugs, firearms, adult content and more.  Furthermore, students only have access to the internet at school via the Aoba Student network. This network falls under the security and filtering protections provided by our Firewall devices.  Students must be enrolled into our MDM (mobile device management) system in order to use this.  If they are not, they can not access the internet at Aoba.

https://meraki.cisco.com/solutions/mobile-device-management

Parental Controls

Parental controls are not mandated by the school.  We encourage parents to carefully consider what protections and restrictions should be placed on their child’s device based on their child’s age and their own family values.  There are several options for applying Parental Controls to a student’s device:

macOS Parental Controls / ペアレンタルコントロール

English: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25799?locale=en_US

日本語: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25799?locale=en_US&viewlocale=ja_JP

macOS Monitor Computer Usage / コンピュータの使用を監視する

English: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/monitor-childrens-computer-usage-mchlp2911/mac

日本語: https://support.apple.com/ja-jp/guide/mac-help/monitor-childrens-computer-usage-mchlp2911/mac

iOS Parental Controls / 機能制限を使う

English: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304

日本語: https://support.apple.com/ja-jp/HT201304

Third-party apps and software solutions for parental control:

Apple以外のソリューション:

https://screentimelabs.com/

https://kidslox.com/en/

http://ourpact.com/

For questions, comments or concerns relating to the Aoba-Japan International School ICT Acceptable Use Policy please contact the Aoba Department at ict@aobajapan.jp

CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

Introduction

This policy has been developed in accordance with the principles established by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990), Children Abuse Prevention Act 2000 (Act No. 82 of 2000) and Child Welfare Act 1947 (Act No. 164 of 1947) in Japan, and also the guidelines provided by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology-Japan (MEXT), the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Social Welfare and Public Health and the Center for Child Abuse Prevention (CCAP), and the CIS Code of Ethics. This procedure will be reviewed and updated as needed.

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines child abuse and child maltreatment as “all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.”

 

Types of Abuse

 

Abuse can be:

• physical abuse, for example, beating or punching;
• emotional abuse, for example, rejection and denial of affection;
• sexual abuse, for example, sexual assault or encouraging a child or young person to

view pornographic material;

• neglect, for example, failure to provide appropriate care including emotional or medical attention

 

Students harming themselves, for example through cutting, burning, or misuse of substances as well as forms of self-harm related to anorexia and bulimia, need to be supported. The school will follow the steps outlined in the A-JIS Student Protection Flowchart to notify the appropriate parties.

 

Signs of Abuse

 

Possible signs of abuse include (but are not limited to):

• The student says she/he has been abused or asks a question which gives rise to that inference.
• There is no reasonable or consistent explanation for a student’s injury; the injury is unusual in kind or location; there have been a number of injuries; there is a pattern to the injuries.
• The student’s behaviour stands out from the group as either being extreme model behaviour or extremely challenging behaviour, or there is a sudden change in the student’s behaviour.
• The student asks to drop subjects with a particular teacher and seems reluctant to discuss the reasons.
• The student’s development is delayed.
• The student loses or gains weight rapidly.
• The student appears neglected, e.g. dirty, hungry, inadequately clothed.
• The student is reluctant to go home or has been openly rejected by his/her parents or carers.

 

Duty of Employees

 

Every employee and director/trustee of the School is under a general legal duty to:

• Protect students from abuse
• Be aware of the School’s child protection procedures and to follow them
• Know how to access and implement the procedures, independently if necessary
• Keep a sufficient record of any significant complaint, conversation or event
• Report any matters of concern to the school nurse who will then inform the Head of School (HoS) and Principals as soon as possible.
• Collaborate with the School Nurse to complete documentation of any incident as required

 

Teacher-Student Interactions  

 

A member of staff suspecting or hearing a complaint of abuse:

• If you suspect abuse, inform the school nurse.
• If the student approaches you, listen carefully and keep an open mind. Staff should not make a decision as to whether or not the abuse has taken place.
• Staff must not ask leading questions, that is, a question which suggests its own answer.
• Must reassure the student but not give a guarantee of absolute confidentiality. The member of staff should explain that they need to pass the information to the school nurse and/or counselor, who will ensure that the correct action is taken.
• Must keep a sufficient written record of any teacher-student conversations, on the current SIS platform at the time.
• The record should include the date, time and place of the conversation and the essence of what was said and done by whom and in whose presence. The record must be kept confidential on the SIS platform.

 

Preserving Evidence

 

All evidence, (for example, scribbled notes, photos, mobile phones containing text messages, clothing, and computers), must be safeguarded and preserved to the best of the school’s ability, within the limits of the law.

 

Reporting

 

Central to this aspect of the school is the role of the Child Protection Officer. In short, the CPO:

 

• Implements child protection policy and procedures in collaboration with the PLT.
• Encourages good practice by promoting and championing the child protection policy and procedures.
• Monitors and reviews the child protection policy and procedures to ensure they remain current and fit for purpose.
• Regularly reports to the PLT.
• Keeps abreast of developments in the field of child protection in Japan and in international schools by attending relevant training or events and reading all governmental guidelines.
• Organize/signpost appropriate training with the PLT for all adults working/volunteering with children at the school.
• Establish and maintain contact with local statutory agencies including the police and social services.
• Respond appropriately to disclosures or concerns which relate to the well-being of a child.
• Maintain confidential records of reported cases and action taken.
• Where required liaises with the PLT and/or statutory agencies and ensure they have access to all necessary information.

 

All suspicion or complaints of abuse must be reported to the CPO who will ensure that the HoS and/or the principals are aware.

 

Action by the HoS (or on behalf of the HoS):

 

The action to be taken will take into account:

• The local inter-agency procedures of the Child, Family Support Center or/and Child guidance Office.
• The nature and seriousness of the suspicion or complaint. 
• A complaint involving a serious criminal offense will always be referred to the police without further investigation within the School.
• The wishes of the student who has complained, provided that the student is of sufficient understanding and maturity and properly informed. However, there may be times when the situation is so serious that decisions may need to be taken, after all appropriate consultation, that override a student’s wishes.
• The wishes of the complainant’s parents, provided they have no interest which is in conflict with the student’s best interests and that they are properly informed. Again, it may be necessary, after all appropriate consultation, to override parental wishes in some circumstances. If the HoS is concerned that disclosing information to parents would put a young person at risk, or it is against the student’s wishes, he or she will take further advice from the relevant professionals before making a decision to disclose.
• Duties of confidentiality, so far as applicable.
• The lawful rights and interests of the School community as a whole, including its employees and its trustees.
• If there is room for doubt as to whether a referral should be made, the HoS may consult with external agencies. However, as soon as sufficient concern exists that a student may be at risk of significant harm, a referral will be made without delay. If required, the HoS will confirm the referral in writing to the relevant Social Services within 24 hours.

 

Confidentiality and information sharing

 

The School will keep all child protection records confidential in the current SIS platform, allowing disclosure only to those who need the information in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The School will cooperate with police and social services to ensure that all relevant information is shared for the purposes of child protection investigations under Article 25 of the Child Welfare Act 1947, Article 6 of the Child Abuse Prevention Act 2000.

 

Prevention of student abuse

 

The school will not hire staff who have a record of abuse. Background checks will be part of the hiring process for employees. Applicants for Aoba positions will agree in writing with the terms of this policy as part of the contracting process.

 

Abuse prevention and awareness training will be provided for faculty and staff

 

Aoba will develop and maintain guidelines for faculty and staff to address the prevention, reporting, and investigation of student abuse.

Safeguarding Agreement with Employees

 

Employees are to read, agree and understand the below, and sign their Full Legal Name, Date, and Position every year.

 

1. I will treat everyone with respect, patience, integrity, courtesy, dignity, and consideration.
2. I will exercise due diligence and professional judgment at all times.
3. I have read, understood, and agree to abide by the Aoba-Japan International School Student Protection Guidelines. I understand that any violation of the guidelines  may result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal from Aoba and/or legal action if warranted.

 

_____________________________________     _______________________________________

Full Legal Name                                                                             Signature

 

_____________________________________     _______________________________________

Position                                                                                             Date

 

Contact Numbers and resources

 

Within Tokyo

Tokyo, Child Guidance Office （児童相談センター：保健福祉局）

0570-064-000 / 03-3937-2302

 

TELL

Free, anonymous telephone counseling for anyone of any age. (English and Japanese).

Tel: 03-5774-0992  (9:00-23:00, 365 days a year).

English: 03-4550-1146

Japanese : 03-4550-1147

 

Tokyo, Child, Family Support Center （子供家庭支援センター：保健福祉局）

 

Police （新宿少年センター）

03-3227-8335

 

Tokyo Metropolitan Education Consultation Center (教育相談センター）

for students and family : 03-3360-8008

for teachers : 03-3360-4160

 

Outside Tokyo

 Make contact with local Child Family Support Center first, searching by ○○市、こども、虐待.

Center for Child Abuse Prevention (CCAP)（虐待防止センター：厚生労働省）03-5300-2990

 

Additional Resources

Accident and incident report

A-JIS Student Protection Flowchart

Japanese law relating to child protection

DRESS POLICY

Meguro Kinder

Uniforms are to be worn everyday unless directed by the school otherwise. Items are detailed in the Uniform Guide. Please do not substitute with alternative items, unless advised by the school, even if the alternative is from our suppliers. Certain items require the school logo – these are noted in this Uniform Guide and already come with the logo applied. All uniforms must be clearly named. All students may choose to wear skirts or pants.

* Meguro students do not need the school PE clothes.

 

Hikarigaoka K3 – G9

Daily: 

Students may wear clothing items of their choice, including the school uniform, being mindful that they are representing the school at all times, and should be dressed in appropriate attire for learning. It is important that they are culturally, religiously, socially, politically, and historically respectful at all times. 

Formal Occasions: 

All students must wear an Aoba polo shirt with proper bottoms and shoes, or uniform dress, for field trips, performances, etc. The Aoba polo shirt may be purchased from Top of the Class. 

Physical Education: 

Students are recommended to be in proper PE uniform for PE classes, to be purchased from Top of the Class. All students are required to have proper indoor athletic shoes for the gym. 

 

Bunkyo G10 – G12

As our senior students head towards adulthood, we support them in becoming increasingly responsible and accountable for the decisions they make. Thus, we have made changes to our uniform guidelines to enable students to understand the implications of how they present themselves in different contexts. At the beginning of each year the senior school student cohort from Grade 10 and 12 will discuss what it means to belong to Aoba and the importance of being culturally, religiously, socially, politically, and historically respectful at all times in terms of how they present themselves as an Aoba student. 

Daily: 

Students in the senior school may wear clothing items of their choice, being mindful that they are representing the school at all times, and should be dressed in appropriate attire for learning. 

Formal Occasions: 

All students are required to purchase the school tie and pin badge, to be worn on formal occasions. In these occasions students will be asked to ensure when representing the school they present as a unified group. Formal occasion attire includes a blazer, a white collared shirt, formal pants/skirt and dress shoes of their choice, and the school tie and pin badge. 

Physical Education: 

Students are recommended to be in proper PE uniform for PE classes, to be purchased from Top of the Class. All students are required to have proper indoor athletic shoes for the gym.

 

Supplier

Lands’ End and Top of the Class will continue to be our main supplier of uniforms.   

 

Order Process

Top of the Class : www.schooluniform.jp/how-to-order/

Please contact them directly for any questions.

Lands’ End : www.landsend.com

School Number is 900160342. Please contact them directly for any questions.

 

Uniform Items

Items for each grade level are detailed in the Uniform Guide. Certain items require the school logo – these are noted in this Uniform Guide and already come with the logo applied. All uniforms must be clearly named. All students may choose to wear skirts or pants in any grade level. Polo Dresses can also be worn for K-G3 students, available at Lands’ End.

 

Sizing

Top of the Class provides sizes by age or height (cm).

Lands’ End provides charts to ensure accurate sizing. Trousers, shorts, and skirts come with adjustable elastic inner waistbands. Trousers can be hemmed to preferred length.

COMMUTE POLICY

 

Please follow the red line from/to Toyoko line Nakameguro station. From Keio Inokashira line Shinsen station, please follow the blue line.

 

Commuting to and from school

 

Any family members who come to the school, such as pick-up and drop-off, must also check the temperature before coming to school. Families are not allowed to enter the school building in principle. Doors open for 8.40 to 9.00 and 15.00 to 15.20. You cannot enter the school building earlier than 8:40 am.

 

School bus (School Bus Rules and Guidelines (Meguro))

 

If your child is registered to ride the bus, he/she may ride the bus from the first day of school. Parents must check the student’s temperature before getting on the bus. If the temperature is 37.4°C or above, the student will need to stay home. Please sanitize the hands prior to getting on the bus and wear a mask (for children from K3 onwards) on the bus.

 

＊Parents must be with their child(ren) while waiting for the bus.

 

Morning Bus

• 8:40-8:50 Three staff members will wait outside the main building for the bus to arrive.
• 8:50-9:00 After parking the school bus, the bus attendant will make sure the bus area is safe to get off. Two staff members will help K2 and K3 students to walk up the stairs into the building. One staff member will stay with the K4 and K5 children in the garage. Once the bus leaves and it is safe, K4 and K5 students will be accompanied by one staff member into the K4/K5 building.
• Bus attendant will check the bus to ensure no belongings are left behind before leaving the school premises.

Afternoon Bus

• Before 14:30 Before the bus leaves for Meguro campus, the driver will turn on the engine and adjust the temperature inside the buses. Drivers and operation manager of the bus company checks if the basic functions such as lights and indicators work well and checks under the bus to make sure that nothing is under it.
• 14:30 Bus arrives at Meguro campus. The bus attendant will speak to the office staff to identify who will be on the bus in the afternoon.
• Office staff and teachers who are on duty will stand at the bus area to help the students board.
• 14:45-14:50 All bus riders will get on the bus accompanied by staff members to the doorway of the school bus. The bus attendant will help the students to their seat and fasten their seat belts. While bus riders get on the bus, the bus attendant confirms their name with the daily bus list to make sure all bus riders have boarded.
• After all bus riders get on the bus, the bus attendant counts the number of the students on the bus to make sure they are all on board and checks if their seatbelt is fastened.
• 14:50 The bus departs from the school.

 

Coming to school by car

 

If you intend to bring your child to school by car, please use parking spaces nearby the school and walk your child into the school grounds. The school does not provide parking for pick-ups and drop-offs.

 

Please do not park your car on the road of our school or in front of anyone’s house.

 

Coming to school by bicycle

 

Parents of younger children may ride their child to school by bicycle. They can park their bicycles in the garage.

 

＊As of April 1, 2020, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government requires all bicycle riders to enrol in insurance (such as bicycle casualty insurance) to ensure that they can pay for any damage or injury to others if the rider is involved in a cycling accident.

 

When the student is late

 

If your child is late for school, please let the office know. Students who are late will receive a late pass and will be brought into the classroom by a staff member.

 

Families visiting the school 

 

Families are restricted from entering the school building but will have access to the office. If you have special circumstances and need to enter the school, please make reservations and registration by emailing at meguro@aobajapan.jp, and follow the instructions. Families without reservations/registrations may not be permitted to enter the school building.

INSURANCE POLICY

LANGUAGE POLICY

Policy Statement

The Aoba language policy is a working document developed by staff and administration and input for the Aoba community.  The policy is consistent with the stipulated principles and practices of the IB. This policy is intended to provide an overview and guiding principles for language learning at Aoba which permeates the entire school curriculum through authentic contexts in a culturally rich and diverse environment. Our policy is a statement of agreement—one to which the staff and the Aoba community are asked to commit to so our school can achieve its mission of developing globally-minded, compassionate, collaborative students inspired to learn, take risks, and lead change in the world.

 

Language Philosophy

At Aoba we share these common beliefs about language acquisition and learning.

 

• Language is an important focus because it is integral to effective learning in all curriculum areas and across all phases of learning.
• Language is essential for students’ lifelong learning and for their active participation in a highly complex and networked world.
• We value the importance of learning the host country’s culture and language. This is reflected through the teaching of Japanese language and culture from beginner to native level throughout the school.
• All teachers are teachers of language and, as such, need to teach their students explicitly how to engage with the language conventions and vocabulary of their subject area.
• At Aoba we believe that language is central to all learning, is used to construct meaning and deepen our understanding of the world. We believe that language is best learned in an authentic context
• The acquisition of more than one language and maintenance of the mother tongue enrich personal growth and help facilitate international understanding. 
• Whilst English is the language of instruction, the language policy allows students to inquire in their mother tongue to assist with understanding, inclusion, and multilingualism.
• Students learn best when they are actively involved in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  At Aoba we approach language through a variety of methods and strategies with a focus on inquiry and team-based learning. As all teachers are teachers of language where the conventions of communication are unique in a given subject, the appropriate scaffolding and teacher modeling must be in place to encourage students to succeed (i.e., lab report, literary essay, letter).
• Differentiation of tasks and expectations to suit students’ language levels assists students’ ability to access the curriculum.
• The use of language must be assessed using a balance of authentic assessments, both written and oral. Continuous feedback and student self-assessment support student learning.

 

The Aoba Language Environment

Aoba students consist of a high percentage of host country nationals and a minority population consisting of many different languages and cultures. This has guided our choices in languages offered to our students. We acknowledge that many of our students speak English as an additional language. There is a range of proficiency in English, both spoken and written across the school. Results from externally moderated and internal assessment tools such as ISA, PAT, DRA and WIDA may be used to determine the effectiveness of our language programme, and provide feedback and focus for student learning needs.

 

Admissions

To support students and inform teachers, an English language proficiency screener test in all four domains of literacy, reading, writing, speaking and listening is administered to incoming students entering Grade 1 and above to ascertain the level of English proficiency of the student.

 

Students entering middle school (G7-G9) with limited English will have to demonstrate their capacity to acquire and engage the language of instruction to ensure success in accessing the curriculum.

 

Our high school academic program (for grades 10-12) is geared toward preparing students for college or university, so students need to have academic English proficiency commensurate with the grade level for which they are applying.

 

Language of instruction

To meet the language and communication needs of everyone at Aoba, English is promoted as the language of inclusion as it is the language of instruction and therefore the common language within the community. To this end, students, teachers, administrators, and parents are encouraged to converse in English whenever possible to ensure a sense of community and belonging.

 

Beliefs about Bilingualism

As an IB world school, Aoba offers students the opportunity to learn more than one language and for some, the opportunity to be proficient bilinguals, with fluency in two languages. We believe that exposure to more than one language and bilingualism offers multiple perspectives, not only linguistically, but in all areas of life and learning.

 

Beliefs about Mother Tongue

In keeping with the IB philosophy, appropriate use of the mother tongue is encouraged, valued, and supported at Aoba.

 

We recognize that a solid foundation and continued development of the mother tongue language is essential in the development of all other languages and is crucial for maintaining identity, cultural understanding, and empathy. 

 

Japanese Culture and Language Studies support the host country students in the development of their mother tongue, these classes are offered throughout all grade levels.

 

The programmes have been developed with guidance from the Japanese Ministry of education standards. Aoba recognizes the need for students to use their mother tongue language to translate and clarify when the language of instruction is not clearly understood. The continued promotion of mother tongue languages is encouraged in the home environment; parents are informed of the necessity to continue the development of their native language(s). Supporting mother tongue languages provides an emotional component as the child maintains links to their own culture and their native language is valued. Academic benefits include the transference of linguistic structures and thinking skills from one language to another providing essential links and scaffolds for language proficiency.

 

Beliefs about additional language learning and exposure

The JSL (Japanese as a Second Language) programme promotes cultural awareness and language acquisition of the host country for the non-fluent Japanese speaking school population. We believe that the acquisition of more than one language enriches personal growth and promotes global mindedness as highlighted in the Aoba Mission Statement.   

 

English as an Additional Language (Communication Support)

Aoba will provide an inclusive programme to support Communication Support students in becoming proficient in English for social interaction and academic success and to enable them to fully access the IB curriculum with confidence and understanding.

 

In Kindergarten, complete beginners in English will be accepted. Children from Grade 1 – 6 with limited English will be provided with assistance to support them in their English acquisition.   

 

Inclusive Communication Support students in Grades 1 – 5 will have their needs met through including modifications in specific subjects as necessary, along with having language objective goals that are modified from the WIDA Can Do descriptors for students (based upon grade level and proficiency levels). These students will receive in-class support at key junctures in the day from our Communication Support support team.

 

We will employ a two-stage Communication Support to grade level assessment cycle for the academic year, which we employ school-wide at the end of each semester. As an exit criterion, we utilize the internal programme assessments in each semester in the language domains of speaking, listening, writing, reading, oral language, and literacy to produce a composite, weighted score of each student’s overall English proficiency level. 

 

English in the MYP

Communication Support students in Grades 7-9 are enrolled in MYP Language Acquisition classes, divided into phases, whilst being immersed in mainstream classes for social inclusion and contextual enhancement of language acquisition. We employ the MYP curriculum to support these students to progress through IB Phases 1-6. The students are taught according to the MYP Language Acquisition guide and are assessed against the related criteria by qualified teachers who have completed IB-sanctioned training. Students will join G10 studying the English Language and have an opportunity to pursue DP Language & Literature or GLD English Communication.

 

Japanese in the MYP

Beginning Japanese language learners are enrolled in MYP Japanese Language Acquisition class; this is organised into Phases 1-6 as with English. At the end of MYP, students may be enrolled in a Japanese language DP class according to their fluency level based on their instructors’ recommendation. There are Japanese A Language & Literature, Japanese B Language  acquisition and Japanese Ab initio options available. 

 

Roles and responsibilities

It is recognized throughout the language policy that each facet of the community holds responsibilities in the development and use of language and in the support of student learning. 

 

To support the Aoba language policy:

 

Students will

• Take an active role in language learning that is outlined in the Aoba language policy.
• Be encouraged to seek a wide range of language opportunities.
• Do their best to develop a second language if appropriate.
• Have an opportunity to learn the language of the host country.
• Be responsible for using the language of inclusion.

 

Teachers will

• Be aware of the Aoba language policy.

• Provide a safe and supportive learning environment.
• Model effective communication.

• Help students find appropriate language resources.
• Differentiate between student’s language needs in planning, teaching and assessing student work.
• Provide timely and effective feedback about language development to the students and their parents.
• Students who are not developing the requisite language skills need to be referred to the appropriate department.
• Use a range of assessments and teaching strategies.
• Understand their role that all teachers are teachers of language.
• Engage in active communication between students and their family.

 

Parents will

• Be aware of the Aoba language policy and support it.
• Encourage, provide and support opportunities for their child to maintain their mother tongue.
• Provide resources and support for all areas of language learning both at school and at home.
• Monitor their child’s progress and communicate concerns initially through the classroom teacher.

 

Administration will

• Ensure all parents have access to the Aoba policy and practices

• Provide adequate resources and staffing for the school’s language programmes.
• Ensure consistency across all sections of the school in the delivery of language instruction, assessment and reporting.
• Instigate a regular review of the language policy.
• Ensure that teachers are supported with professional development opportunities to keep abreast of current practices in the teaching of English as an additional language.

 

References:

Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programme: Guidelines For Developing a School Language Policy. IB Language Policy

ASSESSMENT POLICY

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY

Academic Integrity 

Academic integrity is a guiding principle in education and a choice to act in a responsible way whereby

others can have trust in us as individuals. It is the foundation for ethical decision-making and behaviour in the production of legitimate, authentic and honest scholarly work. Academic integrity goes beyond a definition and a well-structured school policy; it should also be part of an “ethical culture” of any educational institution, be that a primary school or a university. It is an obligation which must be embraced and fostered by the entire school community, so students continue their future life, whether in higher education or in the workplace, in strict adherence to this principle.

Fostering an academic integrity culture, and a personal positive attitude towards it, requires the design of a school strategy that combines policies and good academic practice, while understanding the fundamental dimension it has in the authentic construction of meaning and learning in all IB programmes. The guiding principle of academic integrity can be seen as built up from a number of simpler concepts in education, that can start early during the PYP, be reinforced during the MYP and cemented later through the DP and CP. Expectations should be clearly communicated and modelled at an age appropriate level so that all IB students understand:

• their responsibility for producing authentic and genuine individual and group work

• how to correctly attribute sources, acknowledging the work and ideas of others

• the responsible use of information technology and social media

• how to observe and adhere to ethical and honest practice during examinations.

Educators supporting IB students in their learning should understand their own central role in developing the approaches to learning and reinforce the principle of academic integrity through all teaching, learning and assessment practices. 3

IBO  Programmes: Academic Integrity (2019)

Introduction

‘A  spirit  of  community  shapes  the  Aoba experience’. We  believe  all  members  of  our  school  community at Aoba-Japan International School are accountable for upholding ethical and moral behaviours in the school. It is the  responsibility  of  stakeholders to  learn  about  and  understand  the  nature  of  intellectual honesty and academic integrity. The purpose of this document is to guide our actions related to the development of academic integrity across the entire school and to guide our management of cases of malpractice in a fair and transparent manner that is in line with IBO regulations.  However, even though we hold people accountable for academic  integrity,  our  main  aim  is  to  help  young  people  and  the  rest  of  our  learning  community  to  become intrinsically  responsible  for  making  the  right  decisions  when  it  comes  to  matters  of  integrity.    In  this  way,  we provide  numerous  opportunities  and  platforms  for  discussion,  debate  and  inquiry  within  classes to  ensure learners have had ample chance to understand what academic integrity is and the importance of developing it in themselves and the groups to which they belong.

As  with  other  IB  schools,  we  also  believe  in  the  importance  of  our  Academic Integrity  Policy promoting the development  of  the  attributes  of  the  IB  learner  profile. We promote a  commitment in  our  students to  take responsibility  for  their  own  actions  so  they  become knowledgeable  and  open-minded  inquirers who are able  to communicate and act in a principled manner as demonstrated through integrity and honesty.  This is developed through careful attention to approaches to teaching and learning so that academic integrity is developed explicitly through the normal teaching in the school.

Acknowledgements

Our Academic Integrity Policy has been developed in accordance with the International Baccalaureate Middle Years and Diploma Programmes, and we acknowledge the contribution  of  policies of Yokohama International School, Japan, Dwight School in South Korea, and NIST in Thailand.

Academic Honesty and Integrity: Definitions

Academic  honesty means  that  all  academic  [artefacts]  should  result  from  an  individual’s  own  efforts. Intellectual   contributions   from   others   must   be   consistently   and   responsibly   acknowledged in an appropriate way. Academic [assignments] completed in any other way are fraudulent’. Academic Integrity is something bigger and deeper.  While academic honesty can be seen to be in response to certain  situations  and  especially  assessments,  academic  integrity  is  more  about  the  responsibility  of  the individual due to their right to develop as a learner.  If academic honesty is how one behaves, academic integrity is  why  one  behaves  in  this  way.    Therefore  it  is  the  intention  to  develop  a  spirit  of  academic  integrity  among community members of Aoba rather than merely develop a reactive policy to academic dishonesty.

School Maladministration

The IB defines school maladministration as an action by an IB World School or an individual associated with an IB World School that infringes IB rules and regulations, and potentially threatens the integrity of IB examinations and assessments. It can happen before, during or after the completion of an assessment component or completion of an examination.

Academic Misconduct

Academic misconduct is behaviour by an individual that results in that learner using material, data and information in such a  way  that  they  gain  an  inequitable  advantage,  particularly  in  relation  to  assessment  practices.  Academic misconduct is when a learner does not follow the school’s regulations as articulated in the school’s academic policy.  Academic misconduct mainly consists of:

• Plagiarism
• Collusion
• Submitting work commissioned, edited by, or obtained from a third party 
• Duplication of work
• Inclusion of inappropriate, offensive, or obscene material
• Misconduct during an examination

Academic misconduct is ‘any other behaviour that gains an unfair advantage for an individual or that affects the results of another  learner  (for  example,  taking  unauthorized  material  into  an  examination  room,  misconduct  during  an examination, falsifying a CAS record)’.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism  is  defined  as  using  another  person’s  assignments  or  ideas  as  their  own.  This  occurs  in  our  school when a learner, teacher or parent does not acknowledge the source of the assignments or ideas of others that have  subsequently  been  used  in  their  own  assignments. However,  it  is important that learners at Aoba learn how to create new ideas, products and processes by refining and extending original ideas and/or assignments.   Plagiarism is theft and includes but is not limited to:

 

• ‘Direct copying of material without proper citation’.
• ‘Use of large segments (sentences or even phrases) of  un-cited,  copied  wording  mixed  in  with  your  own words’.
• ‘Over-dependence  on  sources’  phrasing  in  a  way  not  allowed  by  the  assignment,  such  as  rewriting  a paragraph  in  basically  your  own  words  but  clearly  only  using  the  ideas  and  structure  of  the  source  you  are reading’.
• Peer plagiarism is copying work from another student or student lending their work to others to be used. 

Plagiarism is a serious offenseoffence at Aoba that will result in disciplinary action. We expect all students to demonstrate an age-appropriate understanding of plagiarism and how to correctly attribute authorship to sources of information.

Collusion vs. Collaboration

Collaboration

Collaboration/teamwork is the backbone of our teaching and learning and supports the implementation of our school’s mission, vision and core values. It is when two2 or more learners work together to create or achieve the same tasks. 

Collusion7

Collusion is when learners work together collaboratively to take an unfair advantage when carrying out assessment tasks. This is when two or more learners act  together  in  a  dishonest way thus contravening the instructions of the teacher and or school in relation to how they respond to assignments, generate ideas, or products.

Example: 

Taro and Jenny have been studying algebra together. Jenny is quite skilled in mathmaths and has helped Taro by explaining several topics many times. Taro, who writes well, is quite grateful for her help and offers to write an essay on algebra in everyday life that has been assigned for all students to write independently. Jenny reads over his essay, checks the spelling and adds citation, then submits it as her work, as does Taro.

Taro and Jenny were collaborating initially: it’s perfectly fine for one student to explain things to another. However, each student was supposed to do their own work but when they submitted the same essay as individual work they colluded to deceive the teacher.

Submitting work commissioned, edited by, or obtained from a third party7 

This occurs when a student submits work that is heavily or entirely edited by a third party (tutor, parents, external supervisor) to circumnavigate the rules set by the teacher. In our school, we highly encourage students to seek support from their school teachers while completing their work and especially DP coursework needs to be verified by their subject teachers or supervisors. 

Duplication of Work7

Duplication of work is when students present the same work, partially or fully, for different assessment components or subjects.

Inclusion of inappropriate, offensive, or obscene material7

This is a major offenseoffence when student work shows disrespect of personal, political and/ or spiritual values. Materials cannot include excessive violence or explicit sexual content that does not consider the racial, gender and religious beliefs of others. Our school’s mission statement, which is in-line with the IB philosophy,  strongly supports compassionate and global minded individuals who are always considerate of the cultural diversity present in the school community.  

Misconduct during an examination7 

Any attempt to exhibit misconduct or disruptive behaviour during an examination; possessing unauthorized material in the examination room; exchanging, passing, obtaining or receiving verbal or written information from other students during the examination completion time; removal of secure materials such as examination papers, questions and answer booklets, from the examination room; gaining access to IB examination papers before examination’s scheduled time; sharing of IB examination paper content before or during the examination’s scheduled time, or within 24 hours after the examination; assisting another student(s) in committing an act of academic misconduct or failing to report an academic misconduct.

Roles and Responsibilities

Pedagogical Leadership Team

All members, of the school’s Pedagogical Leadership Team, including the PYP, MYP, DP, and GLD coordinators, have a responsibility to:

• model intellectual academic integrity and the integrity of the learner.
• foster a culture of academic integrity amongst the members of the learning community
• support all classroom teachers in the development of their understanding of the importance of academic integrity.
• parent and teacher information sessions related to academic integrity.
• provide the resources to ensure the monitoring of academic integrity is adequate.
• investigate cases of malpractice for facts supported by evidence.
• make recommendations to the Head of School regarding cases of malpractice.

Librarian

One role of the Librarian is to regularly collaborate with all PYP, MYP, DP, and GLD classroom teachers to develop the learners’ research skills that are needed to understand and apply academic integrity. The conventions of academic integrity will be displayed in the library and classrooms. Other roles are to identify and relate the use of new resources for fostering a culture of academic integrity and for monitoring it and relating these to teachers.

Class Teachers

IB teachers have a responsibility to teach and monitor academic integrity by:

• modeling academic integrity in their own practices.
• explaining the academic policy and the implications of academic misconduct.
• teaching research skills to all learners in collaboration with the librarian.
• developing and assessing the quality of research skills in all learners they teach.
• providing regular feedback to learners related to the assignments they draft.
• planning a manageable amount of work so that students can allocate appropriate time to produce good quality work according to the expectations of teacher, school and IB. 
• identifying and monitoring the causes that lead learners away from academic integrity and ensure they are reduced or eradicated.
• monitoring learner assignments for exemplary practice.
• monitoring learner assignments for academic misconduct.
• reporting any suspicion of malpractice in a timely and professional manner to members of the Pedagogical Leadership Team.

Learners

The path to developing academic integrity in all situations is part of a learner’s path to becoming a good citizen. As part of the community, our young people must become aware of and develop their responsibility as learners with integrity. In an age-appropriate situation, our learners need to be taught about academic integrity and learn how to accept and live up to this responsibility. Our development as learners is a right and so comes with certain responsibilities that respect that right. While we wish integrity to grow within each learner, academic misconduct by learners is not tolerated by Aoba. As such all learners are expected not to engage in acts of malpractice in accordance with the guidelines outlined in this Academic Integrity Policy and associated IBO policy. 

IB learners are expected to uphold the integrity of academic honesty in all the assignments they produce by having a full understanding of the policy. 

Parents/Legal guardians

Parents/legal guardians play an important role to work hand in hand with the school to reinforce the importance of academic integrity.  Parents, teachers and learners will have open conversations together to uphold the IB’s principles on academic integrity and be fully committed to support the student learning and success in the IB programmes. 

To manage the process of academic integrity, parents/legal guardians of IB learners are expected to: 

• model and understand the tenets of academic integrity in the completion of coursework or examination papers by their children.
• understand school internal policies and process to ensure academic integrity in their work
• talking to their child about the importance of academic honesty and intellectual integrity.
• supporting the school in monitoring academic honesty.
• understand what constitutes student academic misconduct and its consequences.
• submit authentic and up-to-date evidence to support a request for inclusive access arrangements or adverse circumstances considerations for their children.
• avoid excessive assistance in the completion of work for their children

Citing and Referencing 

Learners at Aoba will adopt a referencing style leading up to and including the diploma years. Some subjects may require other referencing styles, which will be taught as needed. Learners in all grades will be taught how to use referencing as appropriate to their grade and development.

All learners will reference citations used in their assignments and include a bibliography or footnotes when appropriate. The classroom teachers and librarian will teach citation methods during normal teaching time. Methods used by learners will be adjusted in relation to their stage of development.

Resources: 

• Purdue Online Writing Lab by Purdue University
• Effective Citing and Referencing by IBO
• Complete Guide to MLA by EasyBib

Maintaining Academic Integrity

The Aoba school community has a responsibility to ensure the principles and spirit of academic integrity is embedded throughout the school. The school will use any tools and technology that will support the overseeing and supervision of academic integrity in the school. This could include but is not limited to:

• assignments being submitted in draft prior to completion
• the use of plagiarism checkers in our LMS to authenticate learner’s assignments to verify any possible collusions and/or plagarisms between learners and across schools. 
• academic integrity workshops for parents and teachers
• all learners being consistently exposed to teaching and learning strategies and opportunities that help develop academic integrity

Detecting Academic Misconduct

All school community members have a responsibility to report any suspicious behaviour related to academic misconduct. If academic misconduct is suspected, an investigation committee, consisting of a classroom teacher and pedagogical leadership members, will meet to conduct an investigation. This investigation will be recorded and include the process of:

• establishing if the evidence of malpractice is legitimate.
• interviewing those concerned (leadership, teachers, learners, parents) .
• convening a leadership team to review the evidence.
• make a reasoned and validated recommendation to the Head of School for further action. (If it is an IB coursework that has been identified to have violated academic integrity, the school will not submit the work and it will be marked “0”. If the work has already been submitted to IB, the programme coordinator must notify IB as soon as possible. For IB examinations, if a learner has violated the regulations of the examination, the programme coordinator has to report to IB within 24hours and the student will still continue the examination and be sent for marking as usual.)

 

Learner Rights

Learners under investigation for academic misconduct will be provided with a fair and transparent process in which the learner will, of course, have the right to reply. Where possible, the investigation of the facts will be done in collaboration with the learner. The school will inform all parties of the probable duration, possible consequences of the investigation process and alternative pathways after the announcement of the investigation outcome.

Consequences

If a learner has been identified as having engaged in academic misconduct, they will be subjected to internal investigation to verify the facts. Pending the outcome of the investigation:

DP

• A report will be provided for review by the Principal or Head of School.
• The Principal or Head of School will forward a report to the parents outlining the issues
• For internal assessments, students can resubmit and be graded again but for IB coursework, “zero” will be recorded for the assessment piece. 
• If the malpractice is related to any DP externally assessed and moderated assignments (Internal assessment, external assessment, ToK, EE and written tasks) for learners in diploma, the malpractice must be reported to IBO by the DP coordinator. This means the student work will not be submitted. As a result, the student will not be awarded the IB Diploma. The IB penalty matrices showing details of the infringement by students and the level of penalty to be applied by the IB.
• After counseling has been provided, repeated incidents of malpractice by a learner can lead to suspension or expulsion from Aoba.

PYP & MYP

• A note of the incident needs to be recorded in the SIS.
• The homeroom teacher or case manager will contact the parents outlining the incident.
• The work will not be accounted for grading.
• After the above consequences, repeated incidents of malpractice by a learner will lead to a PTC and further action plans. 

Notification of Academic Misconduct

Parents and the IBO will be informed in writing of cases of learner academic misconduct. The school will follow the regulations as stated in the IBO Academic Policy.

Final Grade

All other processes and procedures related to the final grade of learners in the diploma in cases where academic misconduct has been detected by the IBO examiners, the school will follow the regulations as set out in the IBO Academic Policy.

Reconsideration, Appeal and Arbitration

Learners and parents will be informed in writing of cases of learner academic misconduct that include the procedures for reconsideration, appeal and arbitration in accordance with the IBO regulations.

School Staff: Improper Conduct

If any school staff member has been found to act in an improper manner they will be disciplined in accordance with the school’s faculty labour regulations.

CONDUCT POLICY

Introduction

A spirit of community shapes the A-JIS experience. We are dedicated to developing global-minded, compassionate, collaborative students inspired to learn so they can lead positive change in the world. In doing so we foster five core values in students during their time with us: Global Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Effective Communication, Wise Risk Taking, and Effective Problem Solving. We also value and promote the IB learner profile attributes as they align with our core values and mission statement. These are: Principled, Open Minded, Caring, Risk-takers, Balanced, Reflective, Communicators, Inquirers, Knowledgeable, and Thinkers.

 

Objective

The purpose of this guide is to give students, parents, teachers, and staff an overview of our objective to develop and support positive behaviours, self-discipline, and respect among all members of our school community. It also makes clear the roles we all play in maintaining a safe, respectful, and caring environment for all. 

 

Conduct

Aoba operates, in all aspects of the school, from a strengths-based perspective rather than a deficits-based model. In short, this means that Aoba celebrates successes and facilitates additional success by leveraging existing strengths within each student. The implication for the conduct policy, then, is that conduct is defined proactively in positive terms rather than being defined as a list of proscribed behaviours. At Aoba we expect all community members to treat one another with kindness, consideration, and respect. This expectation holds for both the digital and physical learning environments, though Aoba maintains a separate “Acceptable Use Policy” to expand upon the foundation explained here, as it applies to the digital realm. 

 

Restorative Approaches 

We primarily adopt a restorative approach to support our students to learn from their mis-behaviours. 

 

… whole-school restorative approaches build healthy school climates by creating space for people to understand one another and develop relationships; when things go wrong, restorative approaches create space to address needs, repair relationships, and heal. Restorative practices provide meaningful opportunities for social engagement that foster empathy and mutual responsibility for the well-being of individuals and the community. Proactive practices intentionally build trust and understanding within the community to ensure a healthy supportive climate and environment. When things go wrong, restorative practices engage those affected and create space so that individuals and communities can effectively identify, understand, and address harms and needs—this facilitates healing.

 

Kidde, J. (2017) Whole-School Restorative Approach Resource Guide: An orientation to a whole-school restorative approach and guide toward more in-depth resources and current research. Agency of Education, Vermont, USA.

 

Strategies to Meet Positive Behaviour Objectives

To achieve positive behaviours students, parents, teachers, and staff are expected to: 

1. ensure that behavioural expectations and agreements are clear
2. be effective role models and implement the learner profiles within our own behaviour 
3. have a consistent approach to the adherence to and implementation of the behaviour policy 
4. intervene effectively in misbehaviour when it occurs 
5. handle behavioural incidents compassionately and consistently
6. lead and participate in regular discussions about behaviour at home, during homeroom classes, and lessons
7. foster collaboration between the school, students, and parents in developing lifelong learners
8. report behavioural issues and concerns to the relevant personnel 
9. keep a record of the issues in Veracross – Behavioural comments (+Add Behavior)

 

Shared Discipline Routine: Minor Misbehaviour and Disruptions

Minor disruptions are dealt with by teachers within the context of the class. If moderately disruptive or disrespectful behaviours occur we follow a four-level approach:

 

1. First instance: Discuss this issue, making the reason, and possible consequences for continued negative behaviour clear. 
   1. Inform the Grade Core Team members to discuss during the weekly team meeting. 
2. Second instance: Give a second warning making the reason clear and reiterating while applying initial consequences for continued negative behaviour.
   1. Report this to the Core Team and record the incident in the communication platform (currently Veracross Behaviourial comment), stating in writing that this is the second instance of this behaviour.
3. Third instance: Report the incident to the Core Team and set up a student-teacher conference with the reporting teacher, a member(s) of the core team, and the student(s). The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the issue and set a formal behaviour management plan.
   1. Record the incident & plan in the Veracross Behaviourial comment and notify all relevant teachers and parents.
4. Fourth instance: Report the incident to the Core Team. The Core Team is to then notify leadership and set up a parent-teacher conference with parent(s), a member(s) of the core team, the student, and a member of the leadership team in order to review the initial behaviour management plan and make amendments.

 

Shared Discipline Routine: Severe Misbehaviours and Disruptions

Serve misbehaviours and disruptions are dealt with by teachers within the context of the school community.  The difference between ‘moderately’ and ‘severely’ misbehaviour and disruption are understood in terms of social norms and specific expectations shared by the school community. The level of severity is a matter of professional judgment on the part of the teacher, the Core Team members, and/or the Pedagogical Leadership Team. 

 

When dealing with a serious issue such as reported self-harm and illegal activities teachers are expected to respond based on the steps outlined below:

 

1. The adults in the school notify the school a leadership member immediately.
2. The leadership then informs the Head of School and an internal investigation is conducted. 
3. The investigation findings are analysed.
4. Based on the analysis of the findings, a decision* is made by the Head of School or Head of Campus and parents are contacted.  
5. Parents are informed and a meeting is convened to share the findings and the decision with the parent. 

 

*Depending on the nature of the incident parents may be involved in the decision-making stage. 

 

Consequences for severe Misbehaviours and Disruptions: Stand-Down

A stand-down is when a student is removed from the class/school for a period of fewer than five (5) days. The Head of School or Head of Campus has the authority to do this. Stand-downs provide the opportunity for the school, students and their families to look at the problem, reflect and work together to try and stop the behaviour from happening again. A student will not be stood down simply because they have broken a school rule or misbehaved. 

 

A stand-down can be used for:

1. continual disobedience (regularly or deliberately disregarding rules or refusing to do as they are told) which is harmful or dangerous to other students and/or members of the school community.
2. gross misconduct (serious misbehaviour) which is harmful or dangerous to other students and/or members of the school community.
3. any situation where the student needs to be temporarily removed from class/school for the student’s own safety or the safety of others while deliberations or an investigation is proceeding.

 

When a stand-down has been implemented, the Head of Campus will contact the parents to inform them, and then send a formal letter/email regarding the stand-down. Parents can ask to meet the Head of Campus, or the Head of Campus may ask to meet with parents. The student can be at the meeting and families may bring a support person, too. The stand-down takes effect the day after the Head of Campus’s decision is made. In some cases the school will send the student home straight away, however the stand-down officially begins the next day. The student will be able to return to class/school on the date given in the Head of Campus’s letter, but the student may also be required to go to class/school for guidance and counselling during the stand-down period. The stand-down period can be lifted, shortened or withdrawn by the Head of Campus before it expires.

 

Consequences for severe Misbehaviours and Disruptions: Suspension

A suspension is the formal removal of a student from school by the Head of School or Head of Campus for a period exceeding five (5) days. The suspension process allows time for an investigation or deliberation that can lead to the cancellation of enrollment. It may be that the head of School will decide to lift the suspension with or without some conditions or extend the suspension with some conditions. As with a stand-down, the Head of Campus must determine whether a suspension is warranted on any of these grounds:

1. continual disobedience (regularly or deliberately disregarding rules or refusing to do as they are told) which is harmful or dangerous to other students
2. gross misconduct (serious misbehaviour) which is harmful or dangerous to other students and/or members of the school community.
3. behaviour that risks serious harm if the student is not suspended.

 

The Head of Campus may consider what information parents and/or carers can give, but there is no requirement to involve parents and/or carers before a suspension. The Head of School or Head of Campus will immediately inform parents that they have decided to suspend the student and the reason for doing this. Parents will also receive a formal letter/email regarding the suspension, information about the suspension meeting and options on how to attend the suspension meeting. At the meeting, the Head of School or Head of Campus may:

1. lift the suspension without conditions.
2. lift suspension with conditions–the student may return to school full-time but must comply with conditions that are ongoing and reasonable.
3. extend the suspension–the student may not attend school and must comply with conditions that are reasonable.
4. cancel the student’s enrollment.

 

Consequences for severe Misbehaviours and Disruptions: Cancellation of Enrollment 

The Head of School has the authority to cancel a student enrollment if the student can not meet the expected student behaviour conditions. The decision to cancel student’s enrollment is based on: 

1. the findings of the school investigation into the student’s behaviour.
2. a lack of compliance by the student to meet the school’s behaviour expectations.
3. unsatisfactory progress by the student to meet the conditions set out by the school.

 

If a student has their enrollment cancelled the family does not receive a refund for the outstanding time remaining during the semester in which the cancellation occurred.

 

Right to Appeal

The student and/or family have the right to appeal to the A-JIS Board regarding the cancellation of enrollment. Written application to appeal is to be forwarded to the A-JIS Board Chair.

SUPPORT POLICY

Introduction

This policy guides the teaching and learning practices associated with supporting students by removing learning barriers in the domains of communication, curriculum, environmental or wellbeing. It describes the basic processes, procedures, delivery models and modes of services for supporting the learning of students in the context of an inclusive learning environment. 

 

Philosophy

In keeping with our school mission, our goal is to develop globally-minded people who are inspired to learn, develop as learners, take risks and lead change in the world. As a school, we understand that students learn at varied paces and in different ways. The Support staff at Aoba work collaboratively with all faculty and staff to provide a fully inclusive education within the four programs operating in the school, the PYP, MYP, DP, and GLD. We address the educational and wellbeing needs of all learners we accept so they can access and fully participate in learning within their student teams, supported through  Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and high impact teaching strategies. Inclusion is embedded within our school culture and everyday practices.

 

Goals

1. Ensure an inclusive culture of learning at Aoba
2. Increase access & engagement by identifying & reducing learning barriers
3. Continuously develop and refine the processes, procedures, delivery models and modes of services for all students

 

Types of Support

Curriculum Support: Identify and reduce learning barriers by adjusting the curriculum, assessment practices, teaching styles and the physical environment. Specialist staff collaborate with staff to provide meaningful academic accommodations or modifications.

 

Communication Support: Identify and reduce communication barriers for students when reading, writing, listening and speaking in English. Specialist staff co-teach a language acquisition program within the mainstream class that directly aligns with the IB philosophy and pedagogy.

 

Environmental Support: Identify and reduce the physical barriers for students who require physical accommodation or modifications  to access the curriculum.

 

Wellbeing Support: Identify and reduce barriers for students who are developing contextually appropriate behaviours or social and emotional skills.

 

Continuum of Holistic Support

At Aoba we apply a holistic approach to supporting all students, including those with diverse backgrounds and needs. Our holistic approach is conducted in partnership with all relevant stakeholders including but not limited to leaders, teachers, school counsellors, students, parents and community members. This inclusive approach means support occurs primarily within learning settings and that the support provided comprises a continuum of high impact strategies within a team learning context.

 

The support is informed by the principles of the curriculum programme (PYP, MYP, DP or GLD) and classroom routines of the particular grade the student attends. Generally the classroom teacher and supporting co-teacher work collaboratively to ensure barriers to learning are removed from the classroom and the classroom content is universally accessible to all students. Co-planning and co-delivery of lessons and assessments are reviewed regularly as part of the school’s cycle of reflection that considers student performance and programme efficacy.  Reporting of student progress takes place at the beginning of the year and at the end of each semester with the student and family.

 

The team supports teachers to plan lessons which are accessible to all students. We do this by identifying and removing learning barriers from the classroom. Adequate communication and planning are essential for classrooms to be universal in their design and accessible to everybody in that class community. 

Identifying Support Needs at Time of Enrollment in Aoba

At Aoba we accept any child who, with reasonable accommodations as described by the IB, can access the curriculum. This includes language ability as well as other possible support needs. A panel comprising the Support Team, Admissions Director and relevant Coordinator will review the documents and reports, presented at the time of application. The panel will evaluate and make appropriate placement recommendations. Specific to the Senior School, Grade 10 students currently have three possible routes for entering grade 11 and 12:

 

Aoba High School Diploma: All learners meeting the basic requirements of grades 11 and 12 receive the High School Diploma, regardless of any other programmes the School offers.

 

Aoba Global Leadership Diploma: Support for students is provided by the Leadership Coach, advisors, and teachers.   The Support team becomes involved to provide support once a learning barrier is identified. 

 

IB Diploma: The IB Diploma Programme can be accessed by many students with or without special educational needs.  Special educational needs and their appropriate accommodation are approved by the IB for learners with officially recognised needs. These needs must be recognised and registered in accordance with the IB regulations to allow accommodations and reasonable adjustments during official, externally moderated assessments. Internally, support for students is provided by the advisors, and teachers.   The Support team becomes involved to provide support once a learning barrier is identified. 

 

Identifying Support Needs if Already Enrolled in Aoba

In addition to the opportunity to enter the Support Programme at time of admission, students already enrolled in Aoba may be considered for the Support Programme based on language ability or other support needs. Each student is unique, and needs manifest themselves specific to each child, so there is no single list of requirements; instead, entry into the programme follows the general process outlined below:

 

1. Teachers, parents, or the students themselves notice the student encountering difficulties.
2. This concern is brought to the attention of the  teacher.
3. The teacher, in consultation with the Coordinators, and Support team, implements support measures in accordance with the identified needs of the student.

 

Support Programme Exit Process

Exiting the Support Programme is based on a thorough review of a range of internal assessments specific to the student’s needs conducted by the Teacher with the Support Team and Coordinator. To start this process, the Teacher and Support Team will inform leadership that the child’s performance and assessments have met the previously determined benchmarks. The student’s level of independence in the classroom should be sufficient to access the curriculum so the student can meaningfully contribute in lessons and feel successful in the classroom. Each teacher working with the individual will be asked for feedback regarding how the child is progressing in all his or her classes. The Teacher and Support Team will formally document all the input and relay it to the appropriate curriculum Coordinator and parents. The exit process will conclude with a PTC for the student and their family to ensure all stakeholders are part of the process. A written record of the process will be recorded in Veracross.

 

Glossary of terms

 

Co-teaching 

Co-teaching is the practice of pairing teachers together in a classroom to share the responsibilities of planning, instructing, and assessing students. In a co-teaching setting, the teachers are considered equally responsible and accountable for the classroom. Co-teaching is often implemented with general and special education teachers paired together as part of an initiative to create a more inclusive classroom.

 

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

UDL is an evidenced based framework to improve and optimise teaching and learning for all. The three pillars of UDL are:

• Engagement, stimulating interest for purposeful motivated learners 

• Representation, presenting information and content in a variety of ways for knowledgeable learners

• Action and Expression, differentiate the ways in which students can express what they know for strategic goal-directed learners 

 

Educational (learning) Barriers

A barrier to learning is anything that stands in the way of a child being able to learn effectively. A learner may experience one or more barriers to learning throughout his or her education due to; motivation, social and cultural experiences, practical and personal issues, learning disabilities, emotional needs. 

 

Inclusive Education 

Inclusive education is achieved when students can access and fully participate in learning, alongside their similar-aged peers, supported by educational accommodations or modifications and teaching strategies tailored to meet their individual needs.

 

Modifications

A modification changes what a student is taught or expected to learn. Students who are experiencing severe learning barriers will need modified learning expectations so they are still able to access the curriculum alongside their peers. Individual learning goals will be created based on informed data so the student can recieve explicit instruction on their areas of need. Students who require curriculum modifications will be supported with the inclusive co-teaching approach, whereby support and general teachers co-plan, co-teach and co-assess core classes such as English or Maths.

 

Reasonable Accommodations

An accommodation changes how a student learns the material. Reasonable accommodations help students learn the same material and achieve the same learning objectives as their peers. For example, if a student’s learning barrier presents with a limited ability to concentrate, the teacher can provide reasonable adjustments to a test such as extra time, a less distracting environment, amplified test layout, allowed breaks.

 

List of Clinics for Psychoeducational Assessment

 

National Health Center for child Health and Development (成育医療研究センター） (要紹介状）

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Outpatient (児童・思春期メンタルヘルス診療科）

〒157-8535 2-10-1 Okura, Setagaya

 

Kawakita Hospital 

Child developmental outpatient　(小児科発達外来・要紹介状・事前問診票あり）

166-0001 東京都杉並区阿佐谷北1-7-3

 

Juntendo University Nerima Hospital 

Pediatric developmental outpatient, 

〒177-0033 Tokyo, Nerima, Takanodai 3-1-10    

 

Child Mental Clinic Shiba

TEL: 03-5765-6980

〒105-0014 3F YODA Building, 3-15-13 Shiba, MINATO-KU

 

Aoyama Child Developmental and Mental Clinic

TEL:03-3478-1406

2−2−15 1402 Minami-Aoyama, MINATO-KU

 

Fujisawa Children’s clinic

TEL:050-5840-4890

6-6-6 Toyotamakita, Nrima

 

Child Development Support Center　地域こども発達支援センター

Address: 〒179-0072  3-1-1 Hikarigaoka,  Nerima,

Phone:03-3975-6251

only for Nerima residents

You can also find your local Child Development Suppoert center

 

Support Center for People with Developmental Disorder 発達障がい支援センター

Centres are located in Shinjuku and Yokohama

Provides; variety of evaluation tests and skill training. Medical diagnosis will not be given. Each session will cost 9800 yen.

Make an appointment via online. The first session will be free of charge. 

 

Tokyo English Life Line (TELL) 

Wesley Center 2F

6-10-11 Minami-Aoyama

Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062

〒107-0062

東京都港区南青山6-10-11

ウェスレーセンター2F

 

Marielle Gorissen PhD – ( evaluate in English and French, can speak Spanish)

Neuropsychtokyo@gmail.com

www.tokyoneuropsychologist.org

LIBRARY POLICY

INTERNSHIP POLICY

Overview

Our school is dedicated to collaborating with our external community to continuously develop globally-minded, compassionate, collaborative students who are inspired to learn, take risks and make a change in the world. Internships help students to gain real world experience, and opportunities to apply their knowledge.

 

Our school’s core values embody what we want all school community members to be: Global Leaders, Wise Risk-Takers, Entrepreneurs and Innovators, Effective Communicators and Effective Problem Solvers. In order to develop these core values, together with our strong K-12 inquiry programme, we aim to partner with external organizations to allow students to apply their knowledge they gathered from the classroom to the real world. We also hope that the experience will act as a catalyst to help students realise their areas of interest and be able to choose the best pathway in their high school and tertiary education.   

 

Objective

The objective of this policy is to shape all internships offered to the students so that they: 

1. provide real life work experience for students related to their areas of passion;
2. help students to evaluate their career opportunities, working with an external organisation;
3. ensure meaningful tasks or projects aligned with learning objectives and the school’s vision;
4. ensure there are mutual benefits for the both intern(s) and the organisation.

 

Roles and responsibility of the people involved in the internship

The intern student/student team:

1. acquire(s) listening and communication skills, people relation skills, managing clients, superiors and colleagues, skills that are crucial to navigate in a work environment and contribute to job performance;
2. acquire(s) technical skills, management related skills, research and data analysis skills that can lead to the completion of a task or solve a problem;
3. carries out established activities which are mutually discussed between the intern(s), site supervisor, and school supervisor;
4. report any irregularities to the school supervisor. 

 

The site-based supervisor/host organisation:

1. assigns meaningful tasks and duties that are aligned with the learning objectives of the intern and school’s vision;
2. schedules regular meetings between intern/team to discuss expectations, upcoming tasks, ask questions, and review the progress of current tasks;
3. evaluates the intern/team and provide regular feedback on strengths, areas of improvement and opportunities for continued development;
4. includes the student intern in relevant meetings when possible so he/she can gain experience attending and participating in business meetings.

The school-based supervisor:

1. ensures the internship is a meaningful learning experience for the student(s);
2. provides pre-internship training and all necessary resources for the position;
3. develops and documents learning objectives and outcomes with the student(s);
4. monitors the intern(s) to ensure they are responsible, completing the tasks and are safe;
5. evaluates student(s) progress and provide feedback frequently;
6. maintains positive communication with site-based supervisors and relay any changes and issues in a timely appropriate manner. 

 

Internship programme

Skills 

1. Students will acquire skills that are crucial to navigate in a work environment and contribute to job performance, such as listening and communication skills, interpersonal skills, managing clients, superiors and colleagues before embarking on an internship. 
2. Students will be given training to acquire technical skills, management related skills, research and data analysis skills that can lead to the completion of a task or solve a problem.
3. Students will apply the Aoba Inquiry cycle and the core assessment skills in their internship to communicate and collaborate with working adults and use critical and creative thinking skills to complete a task or solve problems.

 

Process

1. Student(s) will identify and discuss their learning objectives and goals before starting the internship with their advisors and site supervisor. 
2. Internships will be supervised experiences, pre-planned, and approved in advance. 
3. For G11/12 internships: Student(s) can begin their internship at any time of the year and can be conducted face to face or online with the site supervisor. Meetings will be scheduled in advance and at a mutually convenient time. Duration and frequency of the internship can vary depending on the agreement between the site-based supervisor/organization and the school-based supervisor and also the grade level of the intern student(s).
4. Student(s) will not be financially compensated during the internship.
5. Frequent communication will occur between the site-based supervisor/organization and the school-based supervisor to monitor the student(s) progress. 
6. End of internship evaluation will take place between student(s), site-based supervisor/organization and the school-based supervisor. 
7. Student(s) will take action and apply skills and knowledge learned throughout the internship with a demonstration of learning. They will have a presentation using a learning artifact and also go through self, peer and team evaluation. 

 

Agreement 

A-JIS Internship Agreement

EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

 

<Bunkyo Campus>

Emergency Procedures and Student Release Plan

1. Please remain CALM and remember that we will take care of your children. Your children’s safety is our first priority. 
2. The school will not contact parents immediately after a major disaster. CHECK your email, website, twitter, facebook for updates and communication. Announcements will also be sent through Veracross.
3. DO NOT CALL THE SCHOOL. Phones will be needed for emergency information.
4. A-JIS staff will follow the A-JIS Site Emergency Evacuation Procedures. All staff have designated roles in any emergency and a command structure exists.
5. Each classroom is equipped with an Emergency Backpack containing first aid/emergency supplies and materials.
6. The school has emergency food and water for the immediate crisis and up to 72 hours for all students.
7. Collect reliable  information by listening to warnings and other information reported by TV and radio, Internet etc.

 

During School Hours & Retention Policy

1. If the Principal declares a school-wide emergency during the school day, all students will be required to remain at school or an alternate safe site under the care and supervision of A-JIS personnel.
2. EARLY RELEASE – Until notification is received to send students home, STUDENTS WILL BE RELEASED by a staff member ONLY TO THEIR PARENTS OR A DESIGNATED ADULT. Parents/guardians are asked to assist in our efforts to maintain an orderly process and follow the directions of all staff members.
3. Adults picking up children must sign out with a signature. For this reason, it is important all information on the school record is up to date. It is recommended that parents give careful consideration to the arrangements made for their child to be picked up by designated persons in case parents are away. Please talk with your child about emergency plans within your family.  Tell your child not to be worried if it takes a long time for someone to pick him/her up.
4. Staff members will serve as runners to bring students to the designated pick-up area when the designated adults have arrived. Students are to remain with their teacher, or the Advisor teacher, until their parent or designated adult arrives.
5. Students who must remain at school because a parent cannot be located or is unable to reach school immediately will be grouped together at the direction of the principal.
6. Please talk with your child about emergency plans within your family.  Tell your child not to be worried if it takes a long time for someone to pick him/her up.

 

Before/After School Hours

1. Follow directions given by the civil authorities who have trained personnel for emergencies.
2. Students who walk or use public transport should study a map of their route with their parents and note designated “places of refuge.”
3. If a student does not speak Japanese well, it is best to follow the majority to a place of refuge.

 

Evacuation Route map

B1 and 1F

2F and 3F

Emergency Evacuation Point

(Gather at Rikugien side of the turf)

Staff Members & Responsibilities

Announcement: Tetsuji Muto, Kate Loke, Ken Sell, 

Report Emergency Sweep to Authorities : Ken Sell

Attendance info Floor leaders: Aki Niwa

Secure the evacuation route in 1F, Attendance check collection, Greet the Fire/Police: Nami Taguchi, 

Fire Extinguishing Team (if necessary): Tetsuji Muto & Teachers closest to the point fire started

Medical Services: Aki Niwa, Nami Taguchi and all the Teachers

Communications with Bunkyo GH: Tetsuji Muto, Nami Taguchi

 

Stage 2: Evacuation to Other Evacuation Areas

When the Principal decides that there is a perceived threat to the safety and security of the students on campus, the students will be navigated to evacuate to Rikugien park or Showa Elementary School which is about 5 minutes walk from the school. Students will be escorted by teachers and staff in a manner which is determined most appropriate. The school will then follow the instructions by the local government for further actions.

 Parents will be informed by the school  via Veracross regarding the status and further instructions for student safety.

 

CRITICAL INCIDENT AND RISK MANAGEMENT

 POLICY

Introduction

Like all international schools, Aoba operates in a complex cultural context that requires a balance between internal and external accountability responsibilities and mechanisms that regulate risk control strategies related to student safety and well-being. Aoba works closely with local and national government authorities to ensure the safety of all students. Aoba develops and applies risk management protocols based on international standards in the areas not adequately covered by government regulations. 

Aoba adopts proactive and reactive control strategies and approaches to dealing with child safety and well-being. The proactive control strategies identified in the planning stages of anticipated risks prepare Aoba staff. Our proactive control strategies are routinely reviewed and practised school-wide. The reactive strategies rely on the adult’s acumen and common sense to take action when a dangerous situation arises. The reactive control strategies require all adult members in our school community to take immediate action in situations representing an immediate risk to the student’s safety and well-being. 

This policy provides guidelines for assessing the risk associated with four categories as outlined below. The policy outlines the risk management protocols and procedures and the expectations that all staff assume Duty of Care responsibilities to ensure student safety and well-being is protected no matter what the situation. Specific guidance for faculty and staff actions to be taken for each of the four categories below may be found in the Guidebook for Aoba Faculty and Staff for each campus.

 

The school has identified four risk management categories that can impact the health and safety of students and school community members. These categories are C1: School events, C2: Natural Disasters, C3: Intruders, and C4: State of Emergency.

Guiding Principles

The control strategies strategies within the four risk management categories are assessed following the guiding principles as outlined below:

1. The planning protocols are undertaken collaboratively so that different perspectives are considered.
2. A team of Aoba staff apply the risk assessment management protocols to mitigate risk.
3. All staff attending to any of the four categories have a Duty of Care role and must actively manage risk before, during and after the field.
4. The risk assessment management protocols are aligned with the International Organisation for Standardisation’s ISO31000: 2018 Risk management – Principles and Guidelines.

Duty of Care

At Aoba, Duty of Care refers to the staff members’ responsibility to act with wisdom and common sense as a parent would in circumstances that potentially threaten the child’s safety and well being. Meeting Duty of Care responsibilities begins with anticipating possible risks and planning positive steps and actions to mitigate any foreseeable risk. 

The flow chart below outlines the pathway of proactive actions to risk management related to the four risk management categories.

Aoba’s  Risk Management Flow Chart  

Figure adapted from https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:31000:ed-2:v1:en and Krzemień, A. et.al,. (2016). Doi: 139. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.08.149.

School leadership responsibilities

The Head of Campus or Campus Principal:

1. is the accountable officer for the risk management plan and control strategies.
2. debriefs all Aoba staff members of their Duty of Care responsibilities.
3. designates a staff team to apply the risk management protocols.
4. ensures yearly reviews of risk management planning and control strategies occur.
5. approves the risk management plan when it meets regulations and control protocols.
6. changes risk management control strategies in the documentation based on the review. 
7. monitors staff compliance with the risk management control strategies.
8. communicates with Aoba’s Board breaches of non-compliance.
9. works with local health and safety authorities where necessary. 
10. administers disciplinary action if required.

Staff member responsibilities

All staff are to:

1. become familiar with Duty of Care responsibilities and accountabilities when working with students. 
2. understand the risk management planning protocols and approval requirements.
3. participate in the writing of planning documentation when appropriate.
4. participate in the risk assessment protocols with colleagues and school leaders. 
5. applies control strategies as outlined in the risk management protocols 

Risk Management Protocols 

Establish the context

1. Establish a team to conduct a risk assessment for new events.
2. Examine the scope of the activity and consider the following questions:
   • Why is this risk management plan essential?
   • What are the risk management objectives?
   • Who does this risk management plan impact?
   • What are the roles and responsibilities of staff and school community members?
3. Work collaboratively to read, review or complete all relevant documents.

Risk identification

1. In your team, brainstorm and document potential health and safety risks associated with the activity.
2. Check the risk assessment register for activity or event control strategies. 
3. If the activity or event is registered, then review it for relevance and effectiveness.
4. If a new set of control strategies are required, then:

• shortlist all potential risks.
• identify existing school policy procedures and practices that minimise that risk. i.e. list existing control strategies for each risk and consider their effectiveness.

Risk Analysis

Using Aoba’s consequences criteria, the team assesses the consequences, frequency, and risk rating of the event or activities identified in the Risk Register documents.

Aoba’s Risk Register 

Risk Evaluation

1. If risks are ‘extreme’ or ‘high’ NOT proceeding should be immediately considered.
2. Medium’ risks should be treated to ensure they are as low as possible and should be frequently reviewed. Permanent actions to reduce the risk should be considered.
3. ‘Low’ risks are acceptable but should be periodically reviewed.​

Aoba Risk Consequence Criteria

Frequency and Description Criteria

Aoba Risk Rating Matrix 

Aoba Accountability Matrix

Reassess Risk Control Strategies

1. The team reassesses the existing control strategies in place for improvement. Risk control strategies can involve:
   • avoiding the risk.
   • removing the risk source.
   • changing the risk likelihood.
   • sharing the risk with another party (e.g. outsourcing or insurance)
   • retaining the risk by informed decision
2. For risks requiring further control strategies, include:
   • What will be done?
   • Who is accountable?
   • When will it happen?​

Monitor & Review

Campus Heads and Principals: 

1. ensure the risks and control strategies are continuously monitored and reviewed
2. monitors the development of new control strategies through the application of Aoba’s risk management protocols. 
3. reviews the development new and existing risk management control strategies 
4. monitors and reviews the risk Register documentation for compliance to the rick management protocols for approval.  ​

Communication & Consultation

Campus Heads and Principals: 

1. designate school leaders to communicate the risk management protocols to all staff and ensure all staff are aware of significant changes.
2. have the final approval for the event or activity based on compliance with the Risk management protocols 
3. communicate with Aoba’s Board non-compliance of the Risk management protocols 
4. consult with external regulatory authorities where appropriate

GOVERNANCE STAKEHOLDER INFORMATION POLICY

Introduction

This policy guides the provision and publication of information about Aoba-Japan International School’s governance available to the public and school community following Japanese regulations and laws. The policy is published on our school’s website. 

 

The policy consists of two sections:

1. The first section outlines the school’s definition of good governance, its ownership and describes the governance structure that includes the roles and responsibilities of Board members and executive school leadership. It presents the functions and relationships between the Board and the school’s leaders that have established an effective collaborative and sustained model of school governance at Aoba-Japan International School. Additional information about the school’s strategic plan, audit compliance and finance are presented for inclusion in the school’s Digital Annual Report that is published at the end of June each year.

 

1. This section identifies the appendices associated with the policy. Each appendix provides information related to specific sections of the policy. Access to this information is available upon request.  

 

Section 1: Aoba Board Governance and Ownership Structure

 

Governance Definition

According to Aoba-Japan International School, the central function of effective governance is to ensure that the school is aligned with its mission by supporting an appropriate and clear sense of direction, continuity and organisational sustainability. Thus, governance at Aoba provides the philosophical stability and financial sustainability required to ensure the school community functions within the parameters of Mission and Vision statements.

 

School Ownership 

The school is a member of a group of schools belonging to the Aoba International Educational Systems (AIES Co,. Ltd.) owned by Business Breakthrough, Inc. BBT is registered with Tokyo stock exchange (registration no: Tosho 2464 ). BBT’s governance is regulated by the Japanese corporate law and the Tokyo stock exchange regulations that ensure public scrutiny through quarterly reports. 

 

Board Membership 

The Aoba Board comprises senior company employees and one external Japanese national representative. The Board Chair is a member of the BBT Board and the COO of BBT. School campus leaders are non-voting members of the Aoba Board leaders. Each campus leader can contribute to Board discussions except for confidential matters as guided by Japanese law.  

 

Board Meetings

Aoba Board’s monthly meetings  report on the: 

• financial status of the group of schools and each campus within the group. 
• operational status of each campus concerning meeting budget requirements and alignment with the group’s mission and the individual school’s guiding statement.
• future strategies for long term sustainability and development.

 

 

Board Responsibilities 

The Board’s responsibilities are to:

• adhere to the Board of Directors regulations.
• collaborate in the development of the strategic direction.
• approve the strategic direction.
• approve the yearly budget.
• monitor school progress against its mission and financial responsibilities.
• ensure all Japanese laws are followed.
• manage serious human resource issues, including staff grievances and inappropriate professional behaviours.
• provide resources to ensure the school functions effectively. These include financial and legal resources. 
• monitor the school’s procedures to ensure the school collaboratively creates a community and a safe and secure environment focussed on student wellbeing.
• approve all official school policies. 

 

Aoba School Leadership: Roles and Responsibilities 

The Aoba school leadership follows a typical school governance structure. It consists of an executive leadership team and programme coordinators. 

 

Executive leadership team

The executive leadership team comprises the senior leaders of the school across all domains.

 

Group Head of School

The Group Head of School is responsible for the school’s overall functioning, including, but not limited to, facilities, child safety,  financial status, curriculum delivery, human resourcing, adherence to Japanese Laws,  school community, and the school’s climate. The Group Head of School reports monthly to the Board. These reports update the school’s progress and any critical issues that may impact its capacity to deliver its mission. In addition, the Group Head of School has overall responsibility for staff and student welfare. 

 

Head of Campus 

The Head of Campus is ultimately responsible for all operational, financial, and pedagogical matters for the Hikarigaoka. The Head of Campus works in partnership with the Programme Coordinators, Business Manager, Director of Early Years,  and Director of ICT  to achieve this. In addition, the Head of Campus reports directly to the Group Head of School monthly and supervises all Programme Coordinators and faculty.

 

Meguro Principal 

The Meguro Principal is ultimately responsible for all operational, financial, and pedagogical matters for the Meguro Campus. The Head of Campus works in partnership with the Programme Coordinators, Business Manager, Director of Early Years,  and Director of ICT  to achieve this. In addition, the Meguro Principal reports directly to the Group Head of School monthly and supervises all Programme Coordinators and faculty.

 

Director of Early Years

The Director of Early Years is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the school’s Kindergarten section. The Director of Early Years reports directly to the Group Head of School monthly.

 

Business Manager

The Business Manager is responsible for the overall management of the business office, including, but not limited to, school finance, student management, HR, billing and purchasing, facilities and transportation. The Business Manager reports directly to the Group Head of School monthly and supervises all office staff apart from ICT and Admissions.

 

Admissions and Marketing Director

The Admissions and Marketing Director, together with the senior leadership, is responsible for developing, executing, measuring, and reviewing marketing and communications strategies to enhance student recruitment and retention and communications activity to support new families joining the school community. The Admissions and Marketing Director reports directly to the Group Head of School monthly and supervises all Admissions and Marketing staff.

 

Director of ICT

The Director of Information Communications Technology leads and oversees the ICT team to ensure operational effectiveness. In addition, the ICT director manages the school’s data archiving and offsite disaster recovery management. The Director of ICT works collaboratively with the school’s educational leaders to develop Blended Learning innovations and reports directly to the Group Head of School monthly and supervises all ICT staff.

 

A-JIS Organisational Chart

Performance Appraisal 

Group Head of School

The Board Chair conducts an annual performance appraisal of the Group Head of School. This appraisal references the contractual agreement and the Key Performance Indicators identified during the cycle of contractual negotiations. The Board Chair and Group Head of School discuss the performance rating to find agreement before presenting to the Board for approval.  The Group Head of School can appeal to Japan’s Labour Office concerning any grievance related to the appraisal process or the Board decision. 

Heads, Principals, Directors and Managers

The Group Head of School conducts a yearly appraisal of the senior school leaders (Heads, Principals, Directors and Managers). The Group Head of School and senior school leaders discuss the performance rating to find agreement. A senior leader can appeal to the school’s Board or Japan’s Labour Office concerning any grievance related to the appraisal process or the Group Head of School’s decision. 

Faculty and Staff

The Senior Leadership members conduct a yearly appraisal of the school staff. The senior school leaders discuss the performance rating to find agreement. School staff can appeal to the Group Head of school, the school’s Board, or Japan’s Labour Office concerning any grievance related to the appraisal process or decisions made by the senior leader and approved by the Group Head of School. 

Aoba Board Roles and Responsibilities 

The Regulations of the Board of Directors (see below) outlines the Board members responsibilities, roles and decisions which require the Board approvals. These are translated into English and are administered appropriately with the external & professional auditor reporting on the board’s status at the annual shareholders meeting.

Current Board Members: State of Corporate Officers

 (i) State of Directors and Company Auditors (March 31, 2019)

Role of the Auditor

The auditing office develops an auditing plan every year to confirm if the regulations, rules, and policies at all business units, including the AJIS group, have been appropriately implemented. In addition, the auditor conducts on-site visits quarterly to audit the school’s compliance with Japanese law and internal regulations. 

Decision Making Standards

In accordance with Japanese corporation regulations, AJIS follows the Decision Making Authority Standards.  Outlined in Appendix 2 these standards guide decision making authority  of the Board of Directors, President, Board members, Vice President and the Head of School. The decisions related to AJIS’s: 

• General operations
• Marketing and sales
• Expenses
• Business trips 
• Purchasing
• Administration
• Human Resources
• Assets
• Documents 
• Accounting   
• Fund management
• Budget 

 

Report Summaries  

 

2021-2024 Aoba Strategic Plan Review Report June 2021

Introduction 

The school’s strategic plan was approved by the AJIS Board in November 2020. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic precipitated significant adjustments to the school’s normal operations and communication with the school community. The timeline below listing the major adjustments clearly demonstrates the school’s agility to respond through educational innovation.    

 

Timeline 

January 2020 WHO reports COVID 19 

February 2020  AJIS moves to full online learning within a day of the Tokyo SoE

June/July 2020 AJIS online Summer session, utilising majority of staff

August to December 2020 AJIS F2F and online school blend 

January to June 2021 AJIS Extended F2F and online school blend

 

The COVID disruption meant that the school focussed on supporting the whole school community to effectively engage in online learning. Unwittingly, the 3 year collaborative project between Southern Cross University and the school enabled the school’s workforce to respond to the COVID challenge. We were able to transition from Face to Face on-site learning to fully online overnight. Our survey data shows the school maintained teaching and learning expectations, a positive school climate, parent satisfaction and student achievement during this disruptive period.

 

Report Structure

The report reviews the two key strategic areas: 

1. Education consists of 3 Strategic Objectives and 8 Goals. 
2. Business consists of 4 Strategic Objectives and 8 Goals.

 

This report rates the progress of each objective, goal, and strategy as No Progress (N), Ongoing (O), and Achieved (A). As can be seen from the chart that follows the School has achieved slightly more than one-third of the strategy strands as of June 2021. Just over half are ongoing, and one-eighth show no progress.

Future Strategic Focus

The school will continue to implement the ongoing strategic goals. Listed below are the key goals the school focuses on achieving in 2021-2022. 

Note: Appendix 8 provides an overview of the Strategic Plan Review. 

Audit Reports 

 

Summary of Internal Audit Plan

Audit Type

Internal control audit based on the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (J-SOX) ⇒ Cooperation with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC . Basis: Article 24-4-4 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act from  

• October to December 2020: Content Internal control over business processes including, Account Management, General Affairs, Human Resources and Financial Reporting

• January to March 2021: Internal control over AJIS business processes including order flow and labor cost.

• April to May 2021: Content Internal control related to IT, Order Management, Account Management.

• May 2021 Content (Full year) Internal control over financial reporting

 

Audit Type

Internal control audit based on the Companies Act: Conducted by the Internal Audit Office (in the presence of Audit & Supervisory Board Members). Based on Article 362, Paragraph 4, Item 6 of the Companies Act / Article 100 of the Enforcement Regulations of the Companies Act

• October to December 2020:  Content Labor management (personnel), Impact of the new coronavirus infection and countermeasures, Workflow application status, Business risk management system, Impacts of ITization of business and countermeasures, Privacy Mark compliance, Status of AJIS’s  business, business problems and countermeasures and Subsidiary management

 

Summary of Audit Report

Board of Directors: December 2020, May and June 2021.

 

Report on the Results of Internal Audits by the Internal Audit Office for the 23rd Fiscal Year

May 11, 2021 Internal Audit Office. The following is a summary report on the results of internal audits conducted by the Internal Audit Office for the 23rd fiscal year.  

• Based on the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (Article 24-4-4) conducted from August 2020 to March 2021 no problems were found. 
• Based on the Companies Act (Article 362, Paragraph 4, Item 6 / Enforcement Regulations, Article 100) conducted from October to December 2020 no problems were found.
• Based on the  internal control as required by the Companies Act found no problems at all.

 

Financial Report

During the 2020 fiscal year, Aoba achieved 1.4 billion JPY total revenue due to increase in enrollment. In addition to the initial fees of 7 percent, tuition-related fees including facilities fee, comprised 83 percent of total revenues. In total, enrollment-related income constitutes 90 percent of total revenues. Other revenues such as lunch, school bus and after school activities accounted for 6 percent, which is less than the previous years due countermeasures against the COVID pandemic.

 

In our efforts to provide high-quality education, Aoba has employed 83 teachers (student-teacher ratio 6.9) for homeroom, EAL, special subjects, learning support and others. Salaries and benefits represented 70 percent of total cost of sales which contributed to hiring and training professional and experienced teachers.

 

Investment in education and the school environment including educational material purchases, professional development, membership fees, rent and leases, accounted for 29 percent. This includes a large investment in the renovation of the first floor at Hikarigaoka Campus.

Section 2: Information available to the school community and public

This section lists the documentation available by request from the school community. It consists of several appendices:

1. Appendix 1 Regulations of the Board 
2. Appendix 2 Decision Making Authority Standards 
3. Appendix 3 Internal Audit Regulations
4. Appendix 4 Internal Audit Annual Plan September 2020
5. Appendix 5 Audit Report
6. Appendix 6: Internal Audit Results May 11, 2021
7. Appendix 7: Settlement of Accounts 

DEBT MANAGEMENT POLICY

Introduction

The governing body of Aoba Japan International School is responsible for ensuring that procedures are in place for the recovery of any outstanding debt. This policy sets out the procedures for debt recovery and for the write-off of any debt which is deemed to be irrecoverable.

General Debt

Payment should be obtained as and when goods, services, facilities are provided. Where payment is not received at the time when the goods/services/facilities are provided, a letter will be sent to the debtor within 7 days via the Veracross school management system. The letter will state that the fee is overdue and needs to be paid by 14 days from the date of the letter. If payment is still not received then a final reminder will be sent to the debtor via Veracross informing them that if payment is not received within 14 days their debt will be sent to the School Board  for pursuance of the debt.

Instalments

If a debtor requests to pay their debt in instalments then they must put in writing to the Billing Officer the reasons for their inability to pay their debt. If the Billing Officer is in agreement with the instalments then a payment plan will be agreed with the Business Manager. All instalments must be paid before the first day of each semester.

If the debt is still not settled within the terms of the agreement, then a final reminder will be issued requesting payment within 14  days and if no payment is received the debt will be sent to the School Board for pursuance.

Debt Write off

Debts referred to the School Board will be pursued, and if not successful, the Business Manager will seek permission of the School Board to write off the debt or pursue further. The write off must not be communicated to the debtor. It is not an acknowledgement that the debt does not exist but is an internal transaction and remains on record.

Removal of Services within School

Whilst the debtor remains in debt they will be unable to access any services within school which require payments. If a debtor regularly fails to make payment within agreed timescales then the Business Manager will need to consider removal of the service until the account is cleared of the debt.

Individuals or organisations that have previously defaulted on payments to the school are not allowed credit facilities.

Where a debtor’s payments are regularly or consistently paid outside the terms of supply the Head of School must consider withdrawal of credit facilities and request the individual/organisation to pay for goods/services/facilities at the time they are consumed.

Appeals Process

Debtors may appeal for financial hardship in accordance with the school protocols.

BACKGROUND CHECK POLICY

Overview

Our school is dedicated to collaborating with our external community to continuously develop globally-minded, compassionate, collaborative students who are inspired to learn, take risks and make a change in the world. Internships help students to gain real world experience, and opportunities to apply their knowledge.

Our school’s core values embody what we want all school community members to be: Global Leaders, Wise Risk-Takers, Entrepreneurs and Innovators, Effective Communicators and Effective Problem Solvers. In order to develop these core values, together with our strong K-12 inquiry programme, we aim to partner with external organizations and individuals to allow students to integrate the knowledge they gathered from the classroom with external resources. We also seek to support the local and international community through strengthening teacher education by accepting teacher interns into our school in order for them to complete their practicums, and run educational workshops for educators.

This requires the school to ensure that our students are as safe as possible during these interactions, and as a result, the school requires all adults who have a significant amount of contact time with the students to undergo a background check.

 

Objective

The objective of this policy is to delineate the background check requirements for all adults who will spend significant time on campus, or with whom students will spend significant time off campus.

 

Applicability

1. This policy applies to adults only, defined as 18 or older by Japanese law, who will spend significant contact time with students.
2. ‘Significant time’ is defined as those who will likely have four weeks or more of contact with students on campus. This need not be consecutive.
3. For external vendors, such as week-long camp employees, significant time is defined as three days or more, given the 24-hour nature of camps.

 

Background Check Procedures

1. Applicable adults are informed by the HR Department of the background check requirement, and are asked to provide a current email address.
2. An external company, currently Avvanz, is notified of a new case order.
3. The external company contacts the adult directly and initiates the check.
4. Upon completion of the check, the company provides the resulting report to the school.
5. The school stores this report in a secure online SIS platform, currently Veracross.
6. For external vendors and/or subcontractors, the external party is responsible for conducting background checks; the school requires only formal written verification that the company has conducted proper background checks on all employees who will come into contact with our students.

STUDENT ACCELERATION POLICY

Purpose

To establish a consistent set of procedures for students and their families who request grade acceleration in Aoba in lieu of a multi-age curriculum in the PYP. 

 

Policy Principles:

1. Consideration for acceleration is open to all students from K-G6. The process will be applied equitably and systematically.  
2. A fair, objective, comprehensive evaluation of the student will be conducted using appropriate instruments. 
3. The evaluation process will be data-informed, using multiple valid and reliable evaluation instruments for the purpose of assessing a student’s cognitive, social, emotional and developmental domains. The evaluation process should include feedback from parents/guardians as well as observations from teachers and/or counselors regarding knowledge, skills, abilities, social and emotional needs. 
   1. The current assessments are the PAT-R, PAT-M, Aoba Core Assessments, and teacher observations,
4. Parents/guardians and the community are allowed access and open communication regarding the policy and evaluation process.

1. Parents, teachers, administrators or students can initiate the process of the consideration for acceleration by sending an email to the Head of Campus at least 60 days before the 2nd semester. 
2. Discussions between family and teachers to share detailed information may take place in person, online, or via email.
3. A student evaluation team will be set up to conduct an evaluation process. The team consists of: 
   1. Relevant teachers (current grade and next grade)
   2. School counselor
   3. Programme coordinator
   4. Head
4. Parental agreement is required in order to evaluate the student for acceleration. At the end of the evaluation, the team will inform parents and students on the evaluation results and provide a written plan. 

 

Criteria descriptors

Strongly above grade level: The student’s literacy, numeracy, and SEL development are equal to the end-of-year expectations for their current level.

Above grade level: The student’s literacy, numeracy, and SEL development are half a year beyond mid-year expectations for their current level.

At grade level: The student’s literacy, numeracy, and SEL development are equal to the current grade expectations for their current level.

Developing towards grade level: The student’s literacy, numeracy, and SEL development are not yet equal to the current grade expectations for their current level.

Criteria	Developing	At grade level	Above grade level	Strongly above grade level
Core Assessments
Literacy
Numeracy
Social-Emotional

 

Guidelines for Developing an Academic Acceleration Policy

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ880578.pdf

 

Spring Independent School District Grade Acceleration Testing General Guidelines – 2021-2022 Elementary and Middle School

https://www.springisd.org/cms/lib/TX01918331/Centricity/Domain/77/Grade%20Acceleration%20App%20for%20Elem%20and%20Middle%20Students.pdf

 

Developing Academic Acceleration Policies: Whole Grade, Early Entrance & Single Subject 

http://www.nagc.org/sites/default/files/key%20reports/Developing%20Academic%20%20%20Acceleration_10-23-18.pdf 

 

Guidelines for Whole Grade Advancement

https://www.reynolds.k12.or.us/sites/default/files/fileattachments/district/page/1759/grade_advancement.pdf

EXCLUSION OF ANTI SOCIAL FORCES POLICY

Objective

In order to prevent damage caused by anti-social forces (groups or individuals that pursue economic benefit by making extensive use of violence, force and fraudulent means) for the school community, the school will comply with the following basic policy against the forces.

1.Definition of “Anti Social Forces” 

1. 1. an organized crime group, a member of an organized crime group, a related company or association of an organized crime group, and any other equivalent person of above
   2. a person who themselves or through the use of third parties conducts a demand with violence, an unreasonable demand beyond its legal entitlement, use of intimidating words or actions, damages the credit or obstructs the business of the other party by spreading false rumors or by the use of fraudulent, or any other equivalent actions of above.

 

2.Each party represents and warrants that it is not a person who has fallen and shall not fall under any of the following descriptions:

1. 1. membership in Anti Social Forces
   2. having a relationship with the Anti Social Forces that shows the Anti Social Forces’ substantial involvement in the person’s personal or business affairs
   3. having a relationship with the Anti Social Forces that shows reliance on the Anti Social Forces
   4. cooperation or involvement with the maintenance or operation of any Anti Social Forces by providing funding to any Anti Social Forces or any similar act
   5. engagement in a socially condemnable relationship with the Anti Social Forces

 

3. If the party is found in breach of the representations and warranties in the preceding clause, the school shall be entitled to terminate any agreements and request for the damages without any notice and any and all obligations of the party owed to the school shall become due and payable.  In case the above applies to the caretaker of the student, the school shall be entitled to terminate the enrollment of the student; school fees shall not be refunded.