Typical Junior High School Year

by Rachel Woodley, (12 August, 2004) in teaching > teaching articles

I put this together from my junior high school’s schedule for the year distributed in April. Some dates and activities may vary in other schools but the months and main activities will generally correspond.

July (shichi gatsu)

Summer (natsu). Extremely humid and hot right through the day and night.

19 July

Marine Day (umi no hi). National holiday.

21 July to 24 August

Summer break (natsuyasumi kakikyuugyou). Many students will still come to school, although formal classes are suspended. It is a good time to wander around and familiarize yourself with the school and get to know the students. You’ll find them hanging out in the library, in the classrooms and practicing for the upcoming sports day (taiikutaikai).

August (hachi gatsu)

Summer (still hot).

If you are interested in sitting the Japanese Proficiency Exam in December, you need to get your application in this month. The application forms and study material can be bought at the major bookstores in Fukuoka.

6 and 9 August

Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing anniversaries. They are marked in the school by an assembly and presentations on related themes.

15 August (and surrounding days)

Obon. Buddhist ancestor memorial rites. This is not an official holiday period, but many Japanese will take time off to return to their family homes. Because the focus is on immediate family it is not an especially social time. There will be obon dances held throughout the region.

24 August

School starts back.

25 August

Sports day practices (renshu) begin in earnest.

30 August (Monday)

Substitute holiday (shinkyuu), as there will be a Sports Day rehearsal on Saturday, 4 September that everyone will be attending.

September (kyu gatsu)

Summer/early autumn (aki). Still hot but temperatures will start to cool over the month, especially in the mornings and evenings.

4 September (Saturday)

Sports day rehearsal (taiikutaikaijunbitou)

5 September (Sunday)

Sports day (taiikukai). The ALT role will probably be limited mostly to that of a spectator. A staff party will probably follow; your first of many enkai. If you don’t want to drink alcohol here are some strategies: take part in the kanpai, take a sip of your beer and then leave it and request oolong cha (other teachers will be doing the same). If you accept alcohol as part of the sake cup sharing etc, it is acceptable to discretely empty most of it into an ashtray (grab one early in the night and position it under the table by your feet).

6 September (Monday)

Substitute holiday (shinkyuu) to compensate for working Sunday.

20 September

Respect for the Aged Day (keirou no hi). National holiday.

23 September

Autumn Equinox (shuubun no hi). National holiday.

October (juu gatsu)

Autumn (aki). The inter-school English speech contests (anshoutaikai) will be held in November. Ask if the students who will be representing your school have been selected. Get involved in coaching them. In previous years, representatives have delivered their speeches at the school’s cultural day as well (30 October). Students are selected to represent each grade level. Students from across Higashimatsura-gun learn the same speeches (”Marbles and Kendama” for ichi nen sei; “The Sound of the Whales” for ni nen sei; “Martin Luther King” for san nen sei). All the Higashimatsuura-gun ALTs judge the speeches. There will probably be an organizational meeting involving both JTEs and ALTs some time this month.

Also in preparation for cultural day, the students go to sites around the town to make sketches of the scenery. The resulting art is displayed at the culture day. When this will be is not on the schedule; ask if you are interested.

4 October

San nen sei are to go on a tour of township. You might want to ask to go along (furusato mawari).

7 October

End of the first school term. School wide cleaning to be followed by the closing ceremony (ichi gakki shuugyoushiki).

8 October to 14 October

Autumn break (akiyasumi shuukikyuugyou).

11 October

Sports Day (taiiku no hi). National holiday.

15 October

Beginning of the second school term. Opening ceremony (ni gakki shigyoushiki). Practice will begin in earnest for cultural day (bunkasai), scheduled for 30 October.

25 October (Monday)

Substitute holiday (shinkyuu), for Saturday, 30 October, cultural day.

30 October (Saturday)

Cultural day (bunkasai). Your role will probably be limited mostly to that of spectator.

November (ju ichi gatsu)

Autumn. Weather will become rapidly colder.

There will also be township wide workplace health check-ups (shokuinkenkou no jisshi). You will be expected to present with a stool sample (they will give you the bag and scooping implement the day before). Basically what happens is that everyone is given a scheduled time in which to turn up at the community center hall (which will have been taken over by a mobile medical unit for the week). The unit’s nurses and doctors will perform a series of hearing tests, eye tests, blood pressure tests, take blood and urine samples as well as chest x-rays, your heart rhythm (I think — will be tested in a process involving gel and electrode-looking things being attached to your body). You will also be asked not to drink after midnight the night before and not to eat breakfast. If any of it really freaks you out, cross your arms and say irimasen (I don`t need). You might want to pre-arrange with you JTE to get out of the x-rays, since you already had some done for the JET application.

1 November (Monday)

Subsitute holiday for the education festival, 6 November (Saturday).

3 Novemeber

Culture Day (bunka no hi). National holiday.

6 November

Education festival (kyouiku fuesuteibaru). All the pupils and teachers from the local schools gather in the junior high school gym to take their turn up on stage doing various cultural performances.

23 November

Labour Thanksgiving Day (kinroukansha no hi). National holiday.

December (ju ni gatsu)

Winter (fuyu). The weather will become really cold. It will probably snow over late December/early January. In the event that it snows heavily on a school day, school will be cancelled. Ring in to see if you need to come to school. You might want to buy some kairo from the local 7-Eleven. These are the heat packs that the students and teachers carry to keep themselves warm. Haru are the kind that you can stick on to parts of your body, while the other kind can be carried in your hand or pocket.

Later in the month there will be a rush of year end parties (bonenkai). The staff may plan a weekend away at a hot spring resort. You might want to send New Year’s cards as per the local custom to anyone who you have become close to. You can arrange for the post office to deliver them on New Year’s Day. The cards are called nengajyou. The standard greeting written on them is, “Oshogatsu omedetou gozaimasu. Akemashite.” There will be a list of your teachers’ home addresses somewhere in the staffroom. You will probably be given your renewer’s contract and be asked to consider whether you will stay on for another year. The deadline from previous years is January 13.

23 December

Emperor’s Birthday (tennoutanjyoubi). National holiday.

24 December

Regular classes finish for the year (toukikyuugyou) and do not resume until 11 January.

29 December to 3 January

The new year holiday period. You are not expected to turn up to work, and if you ask can stay away until 11 January.

January (ichi gatsu)

Winter. An ALT conference will be held some time in late January or early in February. The renewing deadline will be coming up. Exam preparation begins in earnest. A slow time of year as team-taught classes are mostly put on hold.

Preparations will begin for the new school year starting in April. The new ichi nen sei students and their mothers will come for a school observation visit. The graduating san nen sei students will be busy preparing for exams and moving on to high school.

11 January

Coming of Age Day (seijin no hi). National holiday.

February (ni gatsu)

Winter, still cold.

11 February

Foundation Day (kenkokukinen no hi). National holiday.

14 February

A day is spent playing a traditional card game, hyakuninisho. The game works on the same principle as “Snap.” The object is to be the first team member to pick up the card with the same poem on it as the poem being read aloud. It is held in the school gym so come dressed for the cold.

March (san gatsu)

Weather will be gradually coming warmer.

The first and second grades have internal exams, while the third grade will be sitting the exams, which determine which high school they will be going to (entrance exams, nyuushi). Exams for the private high schools and the public high schools are held days apart. Generally students who are less academically able will be sitting exams for private high schools or less prestigious public vocational high schools. Through a lot of pre-testing, the exam results are pretty much a foregone conclusion.

7 March (Monday)

Substitute holiday for Saturday, 12 March (graduation ceremony, sotsuyoushiki).

12 March

Graduation ceremony (sotsugyoshiki). Time to dress up formal. The ceremony itself is very formal. You will only be expected to sit there with the other teachers beside the stage. The conclusion is very emotional. Many students and teachers will be in tears. The reason for the heightened emotion is that most of the students have been with the same peer group since kindergarten but will now be going their separate ways to different high schools.

21 March

Vernal Equinox (shunbun no hi). National holiday.

25 March to 5 April

The end of the Japanese school year (gakunenmatsukyuugyou) Spring break begins (haru yasumi). If you decide to go away on holiday remember that this is the season when staff rotations take place. The teachers do not choose which schools they teach at but are assigned by the prefectural board of education. They are transferred after anywhere between one to eight years. This is done as a way to limit the potential for corruption to develop in the system. Generally they know by mid-March if they are to be transferred. You need to be ready for two things: coming back from holiday and finding that some teachers are gone and new ones have replaced them, and finding the staff room seating plan rearranged. If you are not at school during the rearrangements, you will probably come back to find that your desk contents have been emptied out and moved to a new location. You might want to anticipate this by cleaning out your desk and slacking its contents in some boxes before you go on holiday. You might also want to make sure that you have a name list of the new incoming ichi nen sei, so that you can get their names right. In previous years, a group school photo with names has been sent to the junior high school from each elementary school. Try and get a copy so that you can identify the new students. The schedule for the entire new school year will be drawn up and circulated around the staffroom. If a copy doesn’t land on your desk, ask for one.

April (shi gatsu)

Cherry blossom season. The weather will become significantly warmer.

Anticipate a few cherry blossom viewing party invitations (hanami). Hanami, combined with farewell and welcome staff parties will probably take a toll on your liver. Gambatte ne.

6 April

New school term begins (ichi gakki shigyoushiki). There will be a farewell party for departing staff (jininshiki).

7 April

Welcome party for new staff (buninshiki).

9 April

Entrance ceremony (nyugakushiki) for new ichi nen sei. This is a big deal. Dress up as school photos will probably follow. A series of ability tests will be held.

29 April

Green Day (midori no hi). National holiday.

30 April

Substitute holiday for Sunday, 25 April when the teachers and PTA will have a joint meeting.

May (go gatsu)

Weather will be getting warmer. The rainy season (tsuyu) will begin sometime over May/June.

The Golden Week holidays fall 1 May to 5 May. There is the annual school trip away for the san nen sei scheduled for 26-28 May (shuugakuryokou). You may try and combine it with the Kobe ALT renewers conference which will be held some time in May. Do not expect to be able to go on the school trip as of right. The students have been saving and planning since first grade for their two days in Kyoto/Osaka, but do let it be known if you would like to go.

3 May

Constitution Day (kenboukinenbi). National holiday.

4 May

National Holiday (kokumin no kyuujitsu). National holiday.

5 May

Children’s Day (kodomo no hi). National holiday.

26-28 May

School trips (shuugakuryokou) away. In the past, the first grade have gone to Fukuoka for the day, the second grade have gone to Nagasaki for the day, while the third grade have gone to Osaka and Kyoto for three days).

June (roku gatsu)

After rainy season the weather will turn to summer proper. No national holidays or significant school events.