School Profile
Hokkaido International School in Niseko is a private, coeducational day school that offers a western-style education from Early Years through 8th grade for students of all nationalities. English is the language of instruction. Hokkaido International School in Niseko was established in 2011 and is a branch of Hokkaido International School in Sapporo. HIS Niseko and HIS Sapporo are the only international schools on the island of Hokkaido.
The Faculty
HIS has 3 full-time teachers and 3 part-time teachers: Early Years, Primary Years and Intermediate Years and Japanese language. Teachers are US, England, Australian, Japanese nationals.
The School Year
The HIS school year is 180 days long and is divided into semesters. Report cards are distributed twice yearly at the end of each semester. Conferences are held mid-semester or at the end of the first and third quarter with an optional conference at the end of the second semester.
The Curriculum
HIS Niseko offers an elementary international curriculum to its students that prepares them for secondary education at the Sapporo campus. The Language Arts and Maths Curriculum are developed by the Curriculum Team with input and assistance from the classroom teachers. Science, History, Geography, Society, Technology and the Arts are delivered through The International Primary Curriculum (see the section on Academics) and the International Middle Years Curriculum. All curriculum is resourced with a variety of materials from England, Australia, the United States, and Canada.
The thematic standard-based units of the IPC allow for easy integration across the subject areas and differentiated learning opportunities. Our Early Years students and teachers are inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to learning.
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Our Learning Activities
Students at HIS Niseko have a number of unique opportunities thanks to the wonderful town and natural environment where we are. All of these activities are implemented into our daily, weekly, and monthly routines.
Cultural Exchange
As one of the five schools in Niseko town, we have a responsibility to promote international relations. This can be seen when we greet our neighbours when we are outside, and when we share in learning experiences with the local schools. Both of the elementary schools and our school visit each other twice a year and share in the different themes that we are working on. The local junior high school sends students on their internship to spend three whole days on our campus, learning and teaching with us. The local high school comes and plants flowers with us in our garden. We learn about how they grew the flowers during a visit to the high school and then get to see them bloom and grow until September. The highlight of this visit is the soccer game at the end of the day.