Preamble

The school project defines the specific conditions for the implementation of national education programs (the listed objectives and orientations of the Ministry of National Education in the Special Official Bulletin of March 26, 2015 and in the Special Official Bulletin of November 26, 2015), as well as the Global Project for the Asia-Pacific Zone and the Strategic Orientation Plans (POS) of the Agency for French education abroad.

It sets the pedagogical choices of the professors in line with the specific needs of the students, to ensure the success of all, while cooperating with parents for these objectives.

It specifies the extracurricular activities.

The school project is developed by school staff to ensure the continuity of learning between the different classes. It is set up for a period of three years.

Context

The covid-19 crisis and the global economic crisis have shaken the French education network abroad: however, thanks to its attractive network for French and international families around the world, it has been possible for French education to continue to grow with the support of the State, excellent management of schools, and private initiatives. It is a necessity: families have high expectations, and we will not let them down. For the rigorous and ambitious team of the French-Japanese International School of Tokyo, the wish to be recognized as an essential French education actor in Japan is bearing fruit: the number of students and teachers has tripled in one year, projects have been multiplied, families helped.

The team truly wish to become a partner of the AEFE network in order for French and bi-national families from Japan to be granted scholarships, also to participate, together with parents of students and staff of the school, in the tremendous development of the finest educational network in the world, which intends to remain so for the decades to come.

The French-Japanese International School respects the fundamental principles of freedom, equality, secularism, pedagogical and educational organization, operation of schools, and complies with the principles of pedagogical and educational organization of schools of French schools. Its teaching, direct and provided in French, English and Japanese, complies with the Ministry of Education’s programs of 2015 and the recommendations of 2018. The process of founding the school participates in the government effort and in the orientations wished by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron (speech of March 25, 2019) to encourage the creation of partner schools of the network in order to promote French education and the influence of France abroad.

The President of the Republic, responding to an invitation to EIFJ at the occasion of the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, in a letter dated July 13, 2021 and conveyed by Brice Blondel, Chief of Staff to the President of the Republic, wished to "underline the tremendous success of EIFJ, and praises your commitment for the excellence of France, and for the French-Japanese cooperation."

At the French-Japanese International School of Tokyo, we educate students to become creative and ethical citizens through an official, comprehensive & bilingual curriculum. We teach all students to think objectively & behave responsibly, to shape their own views and respect others, to determine their aims in life and be successful.

The French-Japanese International School of Tokyo (established in 2019), is a primary & secondary school, and a French International nursery, with a total capacity of 250 places, supported by the French Ministry / AEFE (Agency for French Education Abroad) towards accreditation, and by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Remaining open during holidays, promoting an education of excellence in classes with a satisfactory teachers-students ratio, our team of certified teachers offers the following programs:

French, English, Japanese or bi/trilingual nursery program (ages 1~3)

Bilingual French-English, French-Japanese or 100% French Preschool & Elementary programs (French Ministry of Education)

100% English, Japanese, or bilingual English-Japanese Preschool & Elementary (project & inquiry based)

2022: middle school

After-school activities for ages 2 to 18

Language courses for adults

The school received in February 2019 the status of "ninka gai" by the Tokyo Governorate (TMG), its parent organization, and as such allows families of children aged 3 to 6 years to receive 37,000 yen monthly family allowances provided that the parents work a minimum of 12 hours per week.

Thanks to our desire to welcome children 365 days a year and with the support of the Tokyo Governorate, we have implemented a health protocol against Covid-19 which has enabled us to be one of the only international schools in Japan to have continuously welcomed students. We are proud to have helped families keep work as normal as possible during the epidemic, enabling them to survive in times of economic crisis.

The bilingualism of the classes and the progress of its students in language, the small class sizes and the family nature of the French-Japanese International School have encouraged significant growth in attendance. In the context of welcoming the students on the waiting lists at the Lycée Français International de Tokyo, we have become, in 18 months, a convincing answer for families.

• Presence of a director, a deputy director and a school teacher, five other school teachers, three education assistants, a teacher with a FLE diploma, a plastic art teacher, two nurses (State graduates), a secretary, a school bus driver, two guides, a canteen manager, six extracurricular workers (piano, violin, sports, art, languages, cooking and pastry, calligraphy, science and math, guitar and ukulele), and three interns.
• Desired participation in the continuing training of personnel.
• Respect for the principles of governance and management of schools.
• Existence of premises and equipment adapted to the educational requirements of kindergarten level, to the reception of pupils with special educational needs and to compliance with safety rules.

Students

Most of the families of children enrolled in the school's programs are French-Japanese, with an increasing proportion of only French, Japanese, and international families. The school's programs meet a specific need for bilingualism: French-Japanese stream suitable for bi-national families, French-English stream suitable for expatriate families. We also encourage families in the 100% English stream suitable for Japanese and international families to enroll their children in French bilingual kindergarten and elementary by demonstrating the excellence of the curriculum. In a competitive environment in Tokyo where Anglo-Saxon schools are well established, the management's objective is to attract these Japanese and international students to French learning.

After-school activities

18 after-school activities are mostly given in French: French as FLE lessons, art, culture, sports, science, educational childcare, piano, violin, saxophone, singing, etc. It also provides ESL English, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Spanish lessons, homework assistance, short-term childcare and educational childcare (exclusively in French), ballet, cooking and baking.

Results and orientations

Academic excellence, for the school administration, is more than a requirement, it is a necessity. Many families, particularly French-Japanese, expect progress from their children growing up in a multicultural context where French is losing ground compared to Japanese or other dominant languages in Tokyo such as English and Chinese. We guarantee to put language at the heart of our learning. The very setting of the school, which is more family-oriented and has limited class sizes, appeals to families for its ability to offer excellent and individualized education.

The school has subscribed to Edumoov, a service recognized by the Ministry of National Education and allowing optimal use of its many educational and administrative tools.

At the end of primary schooling at the French-Japanese International School, the management would like, on the model of existing agreements between new schools and older schools in the network (as we can see in Singapore in particular), to negotiate a Charter with the LFIT Tokyo allowing students of the school, after leaving elementary, to be admitted to LFIT college.

Axis of the 2021-2024 school project

French-English and French-Japanese bilingualism, on an hourly basis, is the keystone of the school's philosophy. The specificity of Japanese in Japan for French-Japanese learners is indisputable, and the school has adapted to this wish of families to maintain this linguistic and cultural specificity.

The management's wish to keep a family style of the school is driven by its focus on academic excellence in a necessarily adequate environment, so that kindergarten and elementary educations are provided in a demanding and effective way.

Axis 1 : French and bilingualism language proficiency

Priority goals for the school:

- Acquisition of solid language skills in French and in another language

- Allow allophone students to acquire the French language

Actions taken / planned

In kindergarten:

Through the 5 areas of learning that are Mobilizing language in all its dimensions, Acting, expressing oneself, understanding through physical activity and artistic activities, Building the first tools for structuring their thinking, Exploring the world, the student develops their autonomy, their knowledge of the world around them, their language, social and motor skills in a class with an excellent teacher-student ratio.

The educational philosophy of EIFJ Tokyo is to place the students in an active situation, at the heart of their learning. Their cognitive faculties are constantly stimulated by the implementation of playful activities, adapted to one’s level, and progressive. The student learns by playing, observing, manipulating and interacting with his classmates and adults who are facilitators, in bright and fully equipped classrooms (projectors, library, teaching materials, etc.)

In Elementary:

Language development and fluency in French (Japanese and English as well) are one of the priorities of EIFJ program. How to learn in a multilingual, multicultural and multi-level classroom? EIFJ Tokyo rethinks differentiation by setting up a splitting mechanism allowing everyone to progress according to each student’s level and needs. EIFJ “French as a Foreign Language” (FLE) teachers intervene during the French and language study sessions: they take responsibility of the group of students who are new to the French language, as needed, daily and within the framework of a dedicated language learning and consolidating workshop, hence benefiting from the experience of our teachers and teaching methods specific to FLE. This unique mechanism allows these students to acquire sufficient language skills, to return to the main course daily led by the school teacher, and to follow the official program with students whose mastery of French is advanced or in accordance with the expectations of their age. In addition to this remarkable system, intensive courses in FLE (French), ESL (English), JSL (Japanese) as well as other languages are offered every day as part of extracurricular activities.

Selected indicators to assess the effectiveness of the planned actions

Monitoring notebooks, evaluations, data compilation.

Axis 2: An open and family oriented school

Priority goals for the school:

- To generate more commitment and interest in school among children through the investment of their parents in educational projects.

- Communicate as much as possible with families in order to make them real partners and actors in the educational sphere of children.

Actions taken / planned:

- Diversification of communication supports and tools with parents

- Cultural events with parents

Selected indicators to assess the effectiveness of the planned actions

- Number of visits to the school's website or class blogs, feedback from parents and children, participation in life’s notebooks, school climate, peaceful relationship with parents, children's willingness to tell their parents about their day using the media (posters, websites, life books, etc.)

- Parents' investment, more and more diverse proposals for parents to intervene in the classes.

Axis 3: Continuity of learning

Priority goals for the school:

- Define common projects and actions at all class levels of the school.

- Facilitate the Kindergarten - 1st Grade transition through inclusions all year around.

- Use tools that follow the student to keep track of one’s learning and cultural, artistic, and scientific experiences.

Actions undertaken / planned: Inclusion of pupils of 1st Grade and kindergarten and vice versa

Indicators used to assess the effectiveness of the planned actions: Decrease in the apprehension of parents and children about transitioning to CP, pleasure of CP children to share their knowledge with the little ones.

Actions undertaken / planned: cultural notebook and scientific notebook

Selected indicators to assess the effectiveness of the planned actions: consultation of the notebook by children and parents, facilitation of scheduling logic and communication

Actions undertaken / planned: Artistic and Cultural Education course

Selected indicators to assess the effectiveness of planned actions: cycle coherence and school-extracurricular articulation on artistic and cultural contributions and discoveries

Actions undertaken / planned: school exhibitions by theme

Selected indicators used to assess the effectiveness of planned actions: mobilization of parents to see the exposure, awareness of belonging to the same school group among children and parents.

Appendix

Promoting and respecting sanitation rules at the French-Japanese International School is one of the priorities.

Required by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, rigorous daily checks are carried out on students, monthly on full-time staff, and annually through unannounced visits of specific departments of Tokyo Metropolitan Government. These devices allow the school to maintain its accredited school status and an adequate health system to prevent epidemics. It also allows its students to be educated in a healthy environment. The school, in February 2020, implemented a Sanitation Protocol, the first of its kind in Japan, enabled the school to welcome students from LFIT in the spring, as well as other international schools, increasing its visibility and allowing, through the continuous education of their children, parents to continue their professional practice.

School life in the school is rich in discoveries, initiatives, and the development of talents. The entire school team, creative and imaginative, strives to offer both students and parents interesting events to promote learning and contact with reality, quality human relations, the expression of emotions and of all talents.

The past or current partnerships of the French-Japanese International School are oriented not only towards the social actors of the city of Tokyo, French, French-Japanese, Japanese and international, but also towards local and national authorities, civil society (artists, entrepreneurs, business community). Exhibitions, student exchanges, joint festivals, joint sporting events, cultural events, the organization of seminars relating to the business world, a particular sensitivity for psychology, motherhood, education, sport, health, culture, and invitations from various personalities: the French-Japanese International School in Tokyo is driven by a societal ambition along with the LFIT where each community can meet to discuss. Participating in building the families of tomorrow in a country where the French community is established with respect for the local culture and the desire to make French the main foreign language in Japan, along with English, is our goal.

Communication

Very active on social networks since its foundation, followed in particular by elected officials, French, European and Japanese personalities, also by the communication services of the AEFE, the French-Japanese International School brings together many followers on its Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and the numbers are steadily increasing. This presence on social networks, impressive because of its rapid growth, contributes to the influence of France, its culture and its language in Japan. Management is undertaking the further development its online presence.

IT and ICT

The French-Japanese International School is very committed to providing its students with state-of-the-art computer tools, as well as access to computer knowledge, by teaching coding and other sciences to its students. The occasional use of tablets, and the organization of extracurricular or intracurricular scientific visits intensify the desire of the French-Japanese International School to extend the use and learning through computer tools.

Projects

- Boarding school for students from elementary to high school

- Professional section in college and high school

- Organization of an annual "Education Forum"

- Awareness of students to the rights and duties of citizens in Japan

- Complimentary lending of EIFJ premises to associations as part of their meetings and events

- Proposed accommodation of the collection of books of the Library of the Embassy of France in Japan

- Welcoming within the Board of Governors of the Consular Counsellors