CGK International School is an IB PYP candidate school
CGK's educational goal is to nurture internationally-minded individuals that can contribute to a better world. CGK provides an environment where children can learn the skills they need in society and expand their opportunities for happiness on a global scale.
Elementary School Features
1.World-class Curriculum
As an IB PYP candidate school, CGK Elementary School will not only follow an international curriculum, but will also teach mathematics and the Japanese language (for which learning progress tends to differ) with reference to the Japanese government guidelines for education. (*Japanese language class taught only in Japanese)
2.Language Policy for Parents
CGK Elementary school is open to students of any nationality. Although we are an international school, we also accept Japanese students (with an English proficiency requirement). Therefore, parents / guardians will not have any problem if they can communicate with the school in either Japanese or English.
3.Full EAL Support
Since most subjects are taught in English, English proficiency is required for admission to the Elementary School, but if students need help to improve their English, we offer EAL support (English as an additional language.)
Helping Students Develop a Spirit of Inquiry, Acute Cognitive Abilities, and Self-expression
Students are taught through inquiry. Lessons based on "inquiry" are not passive, rather students take the initiative to cooperate with classmates and deepen their learning. Through active lessons based on research, discussion, presentation, and communication, students acquire cognitive abilities and the ability to express for themselves the things they have learned.
These skills are indispensable for children to be able to carve out their own future paths and spread their wings to the world. Students will not just get high grades on exams, but the global skills needed in real life around the world.
School Information
Name
CGK International School - Elementary School
Location
2-25-2 Minaminakadori, Naka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa (Greater Tokyo) 231-0006, Japan
Capacity
Approx. 20 per class
Class Hours
Grade 1-2: 25 hrs per week, Grades 3-5: 29 hrs per week
Vacations
Spring Break (approx. 3 weeks), Golden Week (approx. 1 week), Summer Vacation (approx. 6 weeks), Winter Vacation (approx. 2 weeks)
Kannai Campus Layout
Access
4-minute walk from Bashamichi Station (馬車道駅) on the Minatomirai Line (directly to/from the Tōyoko Line and Fukutoshin Line)
5-minute walk from Nihon-ōdōri Station (日本大通り駅) on the Minatomirai Line (directly to/from the Tōyoko Line and Fukutoshin Line)
5-minute walk from Kannai Station (関内駅) on the Yokohama Municipal Subway Blue Line
7-minute walk from Kannai Station (関内駅) on the JR Keihin-Tōhoku Line
Bus transportation is provided in the morning only. We have three school buses, and the following routes are subject to change. Please note that although students in the lower elementary grades are eligible, priority will be given to younger children from age 2 and up.
"Taxi Service for Childcare" may also be available. For more information, please refer to Afterschool "Taxi Service for Childcare".
Feel free to contact us, not only regarding applications for open schools or other questions, but also about observations, interviews, community interaction proposals, partnerships, consultancy requests, internships, etc.
(日本語は後で) Grade 3/4 students are engaging in a unit exploring the relationship between between Japanese calligraphy (in particular the work of Inoue Yuichi) and the abstract art in America🎨 In this video, you can see students actively express their opinions, collaboratively deciding on the progression of their artwork showcasing distinctive IB lessons! For more details about the lesson content, please visit our school’s website for the blog post.
(日本語は後で)The Mountain students visited the indoor sandbox at LATTEST Green in Cattleya Plaza Isezaki 🌿 The children were delighted with the smooth sand, which was different from the sandbox at the park, and they were playing enthusiastically with their arms and legs tucked under the sand ☺️ ✨
(日本語は後で) On 11/23, we had Elementary school only event.
✨🌏 International Family Day🌏✨
We invite and celebrate our families in their different forms and cultures.
Some of the activities we had: - Students attempt to create a piece of art in the style of the Australian indigenous people🇦🇺 - Cultural Storytelling📗 - Prepare Japanese-patterned fabric and have people actually make “walnut buttons” and take them home🧵
Grade 1 focused on Australian culture. It was lead by Mr.Martin from Australia🐨 We had a chance to play some traditional Australian games as well as create some traditional Australian artwork🎨
Students learned more about the prefectures in Japan through storytelling. We also learned how to make our own buttons in commemoration of Button Day on 11/22 and we had a great opportunity to peek into the life of one of our parents by an interview🇯🇵 Thank you so much for your hard work. We look forward to having parents involved for other UOIs in the future as well too so thank you for your interest and support.
After this, we went to the park to enjoy a booknic pizza party to celebrate all their record breaking reading📚🍕✨
We have 2 more open schools left in 2023. ・ 11/18(SAT) 9:00AM(Japanese) / 11:00AM(English) / 2:30PM(Japanese) ・12/16(SAT) 9:00AM(Japanese) / 11:00AM(English) / 2:30PM(Japanese)
We are currently accepting applications for the 2024 academic year, and the admissions process is underway. Regarding applications for new Grade 1 in the elementary, the capacity for one class is 20 students, and we currently have 22 applications (including those have not done an interview yet). We are close to reaching the capacity for one class, so if you are considering applying, please attend one of the open schools scheduled before the end of the year.
We are also accepting transfers within this academic year. After attending the open school, please consult with us regarding the admission timing.
The content of the open school covers not only information about CGK Elementary School but also reliable information for considering the future educational path for your child after graduating from preschool. Whether or not you have a definite intention to enrol, please feel free to participate. This invitation extends to those who have attended in the past or those targeting enrolment from the 2025 academic year onwards!
Children are welcome to join on the day. It’s also an opportunity to interact with elementary school teachers, so please join us!
11/8 was a very nice and sunny day for our sweet potato digging. Ocean and Jungle friends had a lot of fun digging and picking the sweet potatoes.
The students found a spot and used all their muscles to pull out the potatoes. First we had to dig away the soil around the potatoes and remove some of the roots. Everyone enjoyed digging up the dirt with their hands and got excited when we could see the sweet potato. Ocean and Jungle friends did their best to pull out the sweet potatoes with teachers, as it was very heavy and so many were bundled up together.
Thank you very much to the farmers for sharing their delicious potatoes.
The afternoon snack time included sweet potatoes from digging. Everyone enjoyed the flavors of autumn with sweet potatoes, persimmons, oranges.
At CGK Afterschool, Halloween week was held during the last week of October, allowing students to come to school dressed in costumes. On October 31st, on Halloween day, a Haunted Classroom event took place! Students decorated each classroom and created haunted house-style mazes. Then, they divided into `ghost` and `human` roles within their classes to compete in a game to see which class could scare the other the most! To conclude the project, teachers also gave out candies for Trick-or-Treat. Throughout the week, various activities and games related to Halloween were held, allowing everyone to fully enjoy the spirit of Halloween!
Today, both preschool and elementary school children, as well as the teachers, dressed up in Halloween costumes and came to school!
We went trick-or-treating at... Bashamichi GLANEUSES @bashamichi.glaneuses Bashamichi Jyubankan @bashamichijyubankan Primo @primoyokohama Thank you for your cooperation!
We would be delighted to continue strengthening our connections with the local community through these fun, engaging events.
We also had activities such as a fashion show, games, and elementary school students went to see preschool students to hand out trick-or-treat snacks ♪
CGK内部のファミリーだけでなく外部の方も含め、70人近くの方が参加してくださり、雨上がりの片瀬東浜海岸のゴミ拾いをしました。 IBのレッスン”Sharing the planet(この地球を共有するということ)”の中で、プラスチックごみが海の生き物に与える影響など考えていたCGKの生徒たち、”マイクロプラスチック”もしっかり見つけてくれました。
On Sunday October 29 CGK held our first beach cleanup event!
Almost 70 people took part, which included our students and their families as well as people from outside of CGK. Our students had been looking at the impact of plastic litter on marine life in their IB Sharing the Planet UOI. So they were able to connect their prior knowledge at the beach when the picked up micro-plastics.
At the end of the event, the students shared in front of everyone the treasures and, in their words, the "dangerous trash" that they had found while cleaning up the beach.
***************** School Shuttle Bus New Route : Musashi-Kosugi to Kikuna ! *****************
The new bus route will mainly run on the Tokyu Toyoko Line (Tsunashima Kaido) between Musashi-Kosugi and Kikuna.
Musashi-Kosugi Route Start Date of Operation: April 2024
New Bus Route: Please note that the following routes are subject to change, especially Musashi-Kosugi route. https://cgkis.com/school-news/general/new-bus-route-en/
Bus transportation is available in the mornings and evenings for preschool and in the mornings only for elementary students. Service is available for students from 2 years old.
10/25 was an incredibly eventful and fun-filled day for Sky class (5-years-old class)! We had the opportunity to once again visit this Italian restaurant, `IMPASTO’, located in Motomachi. The kids looked absolutely adorable in their chef hats and aprons. They were split into 3 different groups: pizza-making, pasta rolling, and a craft station. In addition to making pizza and other fun activities, Sky class had the opportunity to ask the staff about their job, their experiences, and learn a little more about Italian culture. Most importantly, they got to connect with members of the community to grow their knowledge, learn about different job responsibilities, and build relationships with others!
With the IB curriculum, everything comes back full circle. So it was great to see the children reflect back on their learning from our previous unit. Additionally, they were able to understand that everyone has their own role and responsibility in their community. Thank you so much, Sky class, for an enjoyable experience!
This event is open to not only CGK students and families but also external students and their families!
Date and Time: Sunday October 29 10:00 - 11:00
Location: Katase Higashihama Beach (片瀬東浜海水浴場) https://www.fujisawa-kanko.jp/spot/katase_kugenuma/11.html *Meeting / Dismissal at the beach *At the meeting point, you can identify CGK teachers who wear CGK`s light blue T-shirts. Please refer to the photo.
Fee: Free
Clothing: Comfortable attire for ease of movement.
Things to bring: Work gloves or tongs (Trash bags will be provided. We will have tongs but only a limited amount.)
How to register (for external participants): 1. Add CGK official LINE account as friend 2. Please send your full name and the number of participants to LINE chat by 12:00 PM on the October 27th. *We will announce cancellation due to rainy weather and you may communicate us on LINE in case of emergency.
Participation Requests: - The event will be cancelled if rains. The cancellation notice will be made at 3:00 PM on the October 27th. - Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Unaccompanied children are not allowed to participate. - Please make your own transportation arrangements to and from the beach. Please join us with your family and friends. We hope to make this an enjoyable event not only by cleaning up Katase Higashihama Beach, but also by enjoying the company of others at the beachside.
Today`s snack at CGK Preschool was "Bashamichi Aisukurin Fresh Bread(馬車道あいすくりん生食パン)" from Bashamichi Glaneuses (@bashamichi.glaneuses), a sponsor of CGK School Festival. The students were so happy to eat it and said "Yummy!"
On our LINE Official Account, we are providing various up-to-date information on CGK. Please follow us! If you have any questions or queries about the school, please feel free to contact us via chat on the LINE Official Account.
CGK Elementary School actively incorporates field trips, with each class taking various modes of transportation, such as school buses and trains, every month. In the first semester, three classes had 13 field trips. Some of the field trips are deeply related to the IB and the daily curriculum, while others are inspired by the children`s own interests, making them both fun and educational. Please take a look at the examples of field trips on our website.
●Mitsuzawa Park Picnic - School Bus ●Hamagin Space Science Center - School Bus ●Kanagawa Plaza for Global Citizenship (Earth Plaza) - School Bus ●Yokohama Customs Museum - School Bus ●Ōmori Furusato-no-Hamabe Park - Train ●teamLab Planets TOKYO - School Bus ●Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse - Walk ●Miraikan - The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation - School Bus ●Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum - Henri Matisse: The Path to Color - Train ●Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Cultural History - Walk ●Children’s Nature Park (Oike Park) - School Bus ●Field Athletics Yokohama Tsukushino Course - School Bus
(日本語は後で) CGK Elementary School offers Summer Lab as a program during the summer vacation! During the second week of summer vacation, students enjoyed five days of ""Dinosaur"" summer lab!
<Day 1> The week started with us researching what dinosaurs are. We also started creating our information book filled with the knowledge we had learned through the day.
<Day 2> On this day, the students researched about what the dinosaurs ate. They learned about herbivores, carnivores and omnivores and what the biggest and smallest dinosaurs were.
<Day 3> On this day, the students researched about the extinction event that wiped out most of the dinosaurs. They learned that 66 million years ago a massive asteroid struck the Earth and caused mass devastation to the planet.
<Day 4> On this day, the student researched about fossils and had a great time digging up some fossil remains! They also had fun putting together their dinosaur skeletons.
<Day 5> On our final day, students research about the dinosaurs that survived the extinction event - birds! We also had a fantastic time at the dinosaur show at Kannai Hall.
All-in-all it was a fun and informative week in the CGK Dinosaur Summer Lab!
