Cultural Links forged with Japanese High School
During the September school holidays, twelve students, two teachers (Mr Priestly and Mrs Musch) and the Principal, Mrs Pinese travelled to Japan to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for Intercultural Exchange between St Stephen’s Catholic College and Sano Nihon Daigaku Secondary School in Sano City.
The purpose of this agreement is to establish a cultural exchange programme between our two schools. In 2013, a similar group of students made the first connection with this secondary school located in a town of approximately 100 000 people.
With an enrolment of just over 600 students, Sano Nihon Daigaku Secondary School has many similarities with St Stephen’s in terms of its school culture. Over a period of two days, our students were involved in a range of class room educational activities with their Japanese counterparts and were able to practise their Japanese language skills. It was a great opportunity to compare similarities and differences between the two schools and to gain a greater appreciation of each other’s cultures.
Students and staff from St Stephen’s Catholic College with their counterparts from Sano Nihon Daigaku Secondary School.
College Principal, Mrs Ida Pinese said the students were very effective ambassadors for St Stephen’s Catholic College, the community and country and established positive relationships with their host families. “It was indeed a memorable experience and our college looks forward to future visits by our new sister school in Japan.” Mrs Pinese said.
