Upon completing the primary level schooling, children are transferred to the last three years of compulsory education in Japan, known as secondary school, middle school, or junior high school. The curriculum of secondary level education includes four main groupings: required subjects, elective subjects, moral education, and extracurricular activities for the students, usually between the ages of 12 and 15.
Japan is equipped with one of the best education systems around the world. Secondary schooling in Japan can be divided into two main categories:
- Lower secondary (also called middle school or junior high school)
- Upper secondary (also called high school or senior high school)
Read on to know about the top 3 secondary schools in Japan.
1. Global Indian International School (GIIS)
A prominent secondary school in Japan, GIIS offers an immersive and knowledgeable experience to its middle-year students to accelerate their physical and mental growth. The school’s secondary-level curriculum comprises an engaging approach towards academic and skills-based learning. At GIIS, students are at liberty of choosing either the CBSE curriculum or the International Cambridge Lower Secondary and IGCSE program based on their academic and extracurricular interests. While both programs involve different learning styles, they focus on the holistic development of children, which includes their scholastic, co-curricular, and personality grooming education.
Here are the key features of the teaching methodology of this international school-
- With the Bridge program of GIIS, a student can get admission to the school at any time during the academic term and receive the required assistance to cover the previous syllabus and catch up with the classes.
- The school also provides value-added programs such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) to primary students to boost their learning curve and understand their interest areas.
- Advanced techniques are used to enhance the learning and add-on skills of children. Additionally, detailed assessments are conducted to comprehend every child’s strengths and weaknesses.
- The course also includes extracurricular activities to hone performing arts, leadership, and innovation skills in children. Outdoor games like badminton, volleyball, and soccer provide students a chance to build character and become well-rounded individuals to face the world.
- Along with sports and games, course enrichment activities such as quizzes, group projects, or short tests are conducted to challenge students’ learning capability.
- With various subject clubs, community services, and co-curricular activities such as drawing and painting, children are given proper holistic growth exposure.
An additional feature for secondary school students at GIIS is the 9GEMS holistic framework which encapsulates the ideals of respect, discipline, creativity, sportsmanship, and entrepreneurship to transform students into honourable global citizens and prepare them for the countless challenges of life.
2. New International School (Tokyo)
With many resources and a positive ethos, this school offers an elegant learning environment to its pupils necessary for an overall development beyond academic achievements. Providing a well-designed curriculum that allows junior high students to develop social, communication, presentation abilities, and academic skills is a key aspect of school learning.
The school views all its students as emerging bilingual or multilingual people, encouraging them to use and develop their language proficiencies. Content-based dual language education is used to teach the students all the core subjects in both English and Japanese with two teachers of equal status per class. This thematic approach also allows the transfer of concepts from one language to another over time.
Along with a child-centred, dual language, and multiage education, the school also conducts extracurricular activities such as Book Week, Heritage Week, Science and Technology Weeks, and Snow Day, Picnic and Field Day, a Spring Carnival etc. These activities provide an atmosphere suitable for the holistic growth of the students.
3. Axis International School
Situated in the cosmopolitan city of Tokyo, the school focuses on instilling motivation and self-discipline in students from a young age to transform them into independent learners and thinkers. Along with an American curriculum and world-class facilities, the school pedagogy involves various additional activities to channel its students’ core interest areas. The faculty also assesses the students using formative assessment methods and a developmental approach for extracting their true potential.
The school promotes extracurricular activities at the art club, business club, and computer club. The school also encourages students to participate in sports such as soccer, basketball, badminton, swimming, etc. These activities are used for skill development, building character, and instilling ethical values such as dignity, honour, respect, and integrity in the students.
Final words
Secondary or middle school is a crucial stepping stone of the education process, helping develop a child’s character to face the approaching high school and university level challenges ahead. Hence, parents must perform an in-depth investigation of the local or international schools based on their academic curriculum, assessment techniques, and value-added programs to ensure their child’s holistic growth.
