The British School in Tokyo

Welcome Booklet
Information for Nursery to Year 6
www.bst.ac.jp | Tel: 03-5544-9160

Message from Head of Primary
A very warm welcome to The British School in Tokyo (BST)
Primary School. It is a great privilege to be leading this excellent
School, offering an outstanding British education with aninternational outlook from Nursery (age 3) to Year 6 (age 11). All
facilitated within the best possible facilities in central Tokyo.
I firmly believe in the importance of providing an innovative andchallenging all-round education during the Primary School
years. I am therefore delighted that our last ISI inspection reportaffirmed that BST offers an “excellent education” to students at
all levels.
Our committed and highly professional staff offer outstanding
teaching of a broad and contextually enriched curriculum,
individualised to meet the needs of all students. Together, withthe wealth of extra-curricular activities, we strive to develop
potential from within, encouraging each student to grow in
confidence, flourish academically and develop a life- long love oflearning.
Together with the staff and students, I look forward towelcoming you.

Eleanor LoranHead of Primary

The Primary Leadership Team

Head of Primary
Eleanor Loraneloran@bst.ac.jp

Deputy Headof Primary
Hannah Pinkney
hpinkney@bst.ac.jp

Deputy Headof Primary
Nicola Hill
nhill@bst.ac.jp

Assisstant Headof Primary
Rebecca Remnant
rremnant@bst.ac.jp

Assistant Headof Primary
Ben Girling
bgirling@bst.ac.jp

Assistant Headof Primary
Tom Keantkean@bst.ac.jp

Assistant Headof Primary
Luke Rolls
lrolls@bst.ac.jp

Travelling to School
Driving to School
Driving to school is discouraged as there is not a dedicated school car parkor drop off area. The Azabudai Hills parking and drop off areas are toservice the commercial and residential areas of the development and it isimportant that these areas run smoothly throughout the day.
Parents who do need to drive their children to school due to mobility issues
or due to an emergency need,would need to park in the public car park andescort their child to the school building. There is public parking available on
the basement floors of the main tower next to the school building.
More information about parking, public transportation and cycling to school
can be found in our ‘Travelling to School’ Information booklet’.
School Bus Information
BST provides a school bus service between three stops - Azabudai Campus,
SKG Shibuya and BST Showa campus.

Timetable for lessons:
Small bus

Big bus

Big bus

Shibuya stop

Showa stop

-

8:00

8:10

Shibuya

8:05

-

8:30

Azabudai

8:40 (arrival)

8:40 (arrival)

8:55 (arrival)

PM Azabudai

15:45 (leaving)

15:40 (leaving)

15:20 (leaving)

Shibuya

16:20*

-

15:50

Showa

-

16:20*

16:10

AM Showa

YR, Y1, Y2 students“Small bus” bus pass holders*When student is not picked up at the bus stop, she/he will be brought back to the schooland parents must pick up the students from the school.

For clubs only; an additional bus will also run for children attending thePrimary club programmes, Curricular/Sport/Music. Times are as follows:
MORNING

Small bus

AFTER SCHOOLClub - Shibuya stop

Club - Showa stop

AM Showa

7:00

AM Showa

17:00 (leaving)

16:55 (leaving)

Shibuya

7:15

Shibuya

17:30*-

Azabudai

7:35 (arrival)

Azabudai-

17:35*When student is not picked up at the bus stop, she/he will go to Showa
and parents are asked to pick up from the Showa campus.

Seats on the bus need to be booked and paid for one term inadvance. Failure to do so may result in your child being refused
admission onto the bus. For further details and payment
arrangements, please contact bstar@bst.ac.jp.
BST Way on The Bus• At the end of the school day students must go directly to the bus,
board the bus in an orderly manner and proceed to a seat.
• Eating, drinking, or littering is not allowed.
• Use of iPods, electronic games or any device in a manner thatwill disturb others on the bus is not allowed. All device use must
be in line with the School’s Acceptable Usage Agreement.
• Behaviour must be in line with school expectations.
• Seatbelts are to be worn at all times.
• Students shall remain seated until the bus comes to a complete
stop.
• All school and personal items must be properly and safely stored.
• Students should behave respectfully towards the driver andbus monitor. All behaviour issues will be reported to the Head ofPrimary and parents.
• Children misbehaving more than once will not be allowed to use
the bus service.

Morning Drop Off
To reduce congestion at the start of the day, we have astaggered start system.
Nursery and Reception
Arrival from 08.50am		

Registration 09:00am

Year 1 and Year 2
Arrival from 08.40am		

Registration 08:50am

Year 3 to Year 6
Arrival from 08.35am		

Registration 08:45am

Parents of Nursery and Reception are asked to escort theirchildren to their classrooms via the front outdoor stairs to the EY
balcony
Year 1 parents are asked to escort their children to the classroom
via the main entrance.
Year 2 children and their parents can enter the building from theside entrance and up the back stairs. Parents can escort theirchildren to their classrooms.
Year 3 children and their parents can enter the building by
the main entrance. Parents can escort their children to theirclassrooms.
Year 4 children use the side entrance and go up the back stairs
to enter the building. They can come with or without theirparents to their classrooms.
Year 5 children use the side entrance and go up the back stairs
to enter the building. They can come to their classrooms without
their parents if they choose.
Year 6 children can come to their classrooms without theirparents if they choose to from the main entrance.
Each child has a labelled cubby for storage of gym shoes, snacks
and lunch boxes. There is also a labelled peg for each child tohang up his or her coat and backpack.
Please see the maps at the end of the booklet for reference.

Lunch and Snack
Please provide your child with a small, healthy snack each day, suchas fruit or rice crackers. This is eaten in the classroom during a short
break in the middle of the morning. In addition, please provide yourchild with a packed lunch each day. At BST we encourage balanced,
healthy eating. Please bear this in mind when preparing your child’smeal and avoid chocolate bars and other unhealthy snacks.
As we have children in our school who have severe allergies to nuts,
the school operates as a “nut-free” zone.
External Lunch Providers for Nursery-Year 6
As an alternative to home made packed lunch or bento,
Nursery-Year 6 can arrange for a meal to be delivered to their childat lunch by Kiwi Kitchen (Y3-Y6) or Luca Deli (Nursery-Y6).
All orders and payments should be made directly.
Kiwi Kitchen - https://edu.kiwikitchen.com/users/sign_in
Kiwi Kitchen New User Login Information - https://tinyurl.com/
kiwikitchen-newuserlogin
Luca Deli - https://lucadeli.com/
For more information, visit: https://www.bst.ac.jp/school-life/schooloperation/lunch
DrinksChildren are actively encouraged to drink water on a regular basis
throughout the day. Please provide your child with a water bottle,
clearly labelled with his or her name. These bottles will be stored in
the classroom and used throughout the day.
Please do not send in fizzy drinks, fruit juice or drinks in glass
containers.

Afternoon Dismissal
To reduce congestion at the end of the day, we have astaggered dismissal system.
Dismissal
time

Pick up point
Classrooms 2nd Floor

EYFS

3pm

(Parents should wait outside on the
EY balcony on the 2nd floor)

Year 1

3:05pmMain Entrance / Side EntranceYear 2

3:15pmMain Entrance / Side EntranceYear 3

3:25pmMain Entrance / Side Entrance / Pitch

Year 4

3:25pmYear 5

3:35pmYear 6

3:35pmHome Aloneor collection from the Main Entrance /Side Entrance / Pitch.

Nursery and Reception children can be collected at the doorof the Nursery outdoor balcony on the 2nd floor. Please use the
Early Years Balcony stairs and wait in the outdoor balcony area
for children to be dismissed to you directly by a member of staff.
If there is a different adult collecting the child, please make theclass teacher aware in advance.
Year 1, Year 2 children will be designated and dismissed fromeither the main entrance or the side entrance.
Year 3 children will be designated and dismissed from either themain entrance, side entrance or the outside sports pitch.
Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 can either go home alone or bedismissed to be collected from the main entrance, side entrance
or the outside sports pitch.
For classes dismissed from the outdoor sports pitch, in the eventof wet weather, dismissal will be redirected to the Early Years
Balcony (2F).

For children who are being collected from school. Teachers andTeaching Assistants bring the children out to the allocated dismissal
location and supervise them until they are met by an authorised
adult.
All pick-up requirements must be communicated clearly to the classteacher and kept up-to-date.
No child will be allowed to leave the school with anyone other than
the adult on the school’s records.
The school’s most current pick-up arrangements are displayedoutside each classroom.
The school requires this written consent to place your child in thecare of another named adult.
Please see the maps at the end of the booklet for reference.

Clubs
The school runs a wide range of clubs before and after school
and during the lunch break. All club information will be shared
via the Schoolsbuddy platform when the club signups open
around the start of each term.
We offer an array of clubs which cater for a wide range ofinterests across four key areas:• Extracurricular Clubs (delivered by BST staff)• Music Clubs (delivered by BST staff and peripatetic
instrumental teachers)• Sport & Physical Activity Clubs (delivered by BST staff andexternal coaches)• Language Enrichment Clubs (delivered by BST staff)
While the vast majority of clubs entail no charge, a small number
are run by BST endorsed external groups who run clubs bothon and off site. These Externally Run Clubs (ERCs) set their own
dates and prices.
All information about these programmes is included in
Schoolsbuddy when the club signups open. Please consult this toconfirm drop-off and pick-up arrangements.
Any enquiries about the programme should be sent to the Clubs
Team clubs@bst.ac.jp

Attendance
AbsenceIf your child will be absent or late, please email
priabsence@bst.ac.jp with the following information:
Student’s Full Name:Class:
Absent or Late:
Reason for absence/lateness:
These emails will be delivered straight to our Front Reception Desk
Teams who will notify teachers. You will receive an automatedresponse to let you know that the message has been received
by us. Any emails sent to teachers will be forwarded to this email
address, so please email priabsence@bst.ac.jp directly to avoid any
confusion.
Lateness
Any child arriving after the registers have been taken must report to
the Receptionist before entering class.
Request for leave of absence
Regular attendance at school is expected, so please refrain fromarranging family holidays during term time. If you need to take yourchild out of school, please contact the Head of Primary in writing by
email eloran@bst.ac.jp
Sickness
Children with a fever, nausea, sore throat etc., are to be kept athome until all symptoms have subsided. The school must be notified
at once if a child has contracted a contagious disease such as
mumps, influenza, or chicken pox. Please see our website for our
COVID-19 policy.
Please keep your child at home until the contagious period has
passed. Your local doctor must be advised and consulted. If a childis suspected of being ill while in school, the parents/guardians will be
informed and asked to come to pick up their child.
To notify the nurses at BST please email nurses@bst.ac.jp

Student Leadership
At BST we strive to build a school community where students
feel their voice is valued. Our student leaders undertake termly
projects and have been instrumental in the success of The
BST Way, Reaching Gold, Positive Play Leaders, The Five Waysof Wellbeing and much more. We aim to create a platform
for students to build their leadership skills and have a positive
impact on our school culture by:• Providing opportunities for student-voice in daily school life.
• Actively promoting student-led initiatives.
• Facilitating a range of platforms for students to feedback
and inspire change.
• A range of student leaders through the school and indifferent areas of school life.
• Holding regular meetings for student leaders.
Our Student Leadership groups are:
•
•
•
•
•
•

Student Council
House Captains (Year 6 Students)
Wellbeing Ambassadors
Sports Leaders
Art Ambassadors
E-cool Ambassadors

All of thesegroups make up
our Positive Play
Leaders.

Positive PlayThe BST Way
ageous ew
Be Coourm
ake nt
We try friends

newto joinWe try gamesornd up f
We sta and others
esourselv

Show Re

spe

ct
We us
e kindand fe hands
etWe play fairly
We include everyoneTake Responsibility

We look out for others
We look after the equipment
We try to sort our problems
ourselves before going to a teacher

Library
We have two fully stocked libraries at BST Primary, the Shibuya
Library for EYFS and KS1 learners and our Showa Library for KS2
learners. The libraries are named after the historical BST campuses!
Returns
All library returns should be placed in the boxes by the entrance of
the Showa or Shibuya Library.
Books can be renewed during any library session; it is not necessary
to have the book with you to do this.
If a library resource becomes damaged while you are borrowing
it, please alert us so that we may repair it. All broken parts of themagazine or book are required to be returned. If a book is lostor completely damaged, you will be charged for the item using
Amazon Japan rates.
Parent loans
The primary libraries have an ever-growing number of fiction andnon-fiction books for parents. Non-fiction books can be found in themain library and the fiction books are shelved in the little office atthe back. They may be borrowed at any time. Parent loans are for
one term at a time.
The PTA also pays for subscriptions to the following magazines
which you can borrow as well:••••

Australian Women’s Weekly (Australia) BBC Good Food (UK)
Donna Hay (Australia) Marie Claire (UK)
North and South (New Zealand) OK! (UK)Red (UK)For further information, please contact our librarian, Richie Steven at
rsteven@bst.ac.jp

School Uniform
The details & ordering procedures for BST school uniforms areshown on the uniform page of the BST website here: https://www.bst.ac.jp/school-life/school-operation/uniform
Delivery times can vary so please take this into consideration.
Children are required to be in complete uniform at all times
while in school. Complete uniform means shirts are to be tucked
in or can be out as long as they are smart (ironed and tailored)at all times while in the building. They are also required to be inuniform when entering and departing the school premises.
The children will need a pair of trainers (sneakers/joggers) for
outdoor PE, and a pair of white indoor PE shoes (trainers orplimsolls with light, non-marking soles) for indoor PE.
All school uniform items MUST be named.
Second-hand uniform sales are run by the PTA, details of which
are announced either on the PTA social media accounts, The
Lion newsletter and The Hub.
Seasonal uniform changes
The winter uniform can be worn from the Monday after halfterm in Term 1 (October) to the end of Term 2 (April).
Dress code
The dress code applies to all students regardless of year groupor gender.
• Hairstyles should be appropriate. No dyed hair or extreme
hairstyles. Long hair must be tied back with dark blue/blackbands or clips.
• No jewellery or makeup• Only white undershirts, without print or lettering, should beworn under uniform shirts.
PE and Swimming
For PE lessons, children can wear their kit into school on the day.
Each year group has swim lessons for 30 minutes and you will be
informed when your child is due to have them.

Equipment Checklist
Your child will need the following items on the first day of school:• A small backpack (Navy / black)• PE kit, including a pair of trainers for outdoor PE in a drawstringbag.
• a sunhat, plain blue/black or the School’s hat, preferably with abrim and neck cover.
• a raincoat, which can be rolled up and stored in the back pack.
• a water bottle labelled with a permanent pen or name sticker.
• a snack and lunch in a labelled container.
• a pair of indoor shoes (trainers or plimsolls with light, nonmarking soles and as plain as possible (no lights and/or wheels).
Lost Property
Lost property clothing items will be placed in the boxes.
In the last week of the term, lost property items will be displayedin the foyer. Please check lost property at this time and reclaim
any lost items. All remaining unclaimed items will be donated tothe second-hand uniform sale, or disposed of. Parents/guardians
are advised to clearly label all of their child’s clothing and personal
belongings.

Communication
Communication with teachers
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
the relevant member of staff. Teachers are available before
and after school for brief queries between the hours of 7am5pm. You can also arrange to make appointments by email.
The teachers’ email addresses are available by contacting thecommunications team at comms@bst.ac.jp.
BST Comms
BST uses many communication channels, ranging from thewebsite, social media, to letters and posters to keep you
informed of what is going on at the school.
The website itself is a key element in school communications.
The Calendar is regularly updated, and you can find the weekly
newsletter, The Lion, and messages for your child(ren)’s year
group via the BST Hub.
It is essential that the school be notified immediately when
there is a change in address, telephone number, or email. Pleasecontact data@bst.ac.jp if such a change occurs.
Emergency communications
Emergency procedures are drilled on a termly basis. Both BST
campuses are equipped with two-way radios and provisions forother methods of electronic communication (e.g. mobile phone,email, website).
Please note that during the 2011 Great North East Japan
earthquake, the most effective, immediate forms ofcommunication were Facebook, Twitter and other web-based
communication applications. For this reason, we recommendthat parents set up Facebook and Twitter accounts and follow
us. Please remember to click on the ‘Get Notifications’ option for
Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/bst.tokyo
https://twitter.com/bst_tokyo
https://www.instagram.com/bst_tokyo
https://www.facebook.com/bst.pta.1
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BSTMumsandDads
For further information and details, please note the emergency
page on the BST website here: https://www.bst.ac.jp/school-life/
school-operation/health-and-safety/emergency-procedure

Parental Involvement
We actively encourage parents to help with a variety of activities.
These may include helping with creative and technology sessions,supervising groups of children on trips, or being a member of ourvolunteer reader programme.
Please inform the class teacher if you have a particular skill orinterest that you would like to offer.
Every class also has one or two class parents, who help findvolunteers for the trips, arrange shared lunch events & organiseclass/year group/social/coffee events. If you are interested in
becoming a class parent, please email classparent@bst.ac.jp
All parents are members of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
automatically, by way of their child’s enrollment at the school. Whilst
there is an Executive Committee, all parents are encouraged toattend and participate in the many activities and events that the
PTA organises. These include: The Spring Fair, Parent Workshops,
Tours, lunches and coffee mornings.
Shortly before your child starts at BST, you will receive an email fromthe PTA Welcome Committee. If you would like to contact them,please email pta-welcome@bst.ac.jp
For other PTA related enquiries please email pta@bst.ac.jp.
Parent coffee mornings
Coffee mornings will be announced via the Hub and social media.
This is a good opportunity to meet other parents, ask questions andsample some delicious baked treats.

Important Information
Term & Holiday Dates
BST is open on most Japanese national holidays.
Please refer to the page on the BST website for our term dates:
https://www.bst.ac.jp/admissions/term-dates
Important contact details
School offices• Azabudai Hills (Primary) Reception: 03 5544 9160
• Showa (Secondary) Reception: 03 3411 4211
Finance teamFor all invoice, school fees & CCP enquiries, contact bstfinanceinv@bst.ac.jp
Communications teamFor newsletters and school information enquiries, contact
comms@bst.ac.jp
Data team
To update telephone, address, emails and emergency contact
details, contact data@bst.ac.jp
Admissions teamFor notification of departure and submission of leaving forms,
contact admissions@bst.ac.jp
The Admissions Officer must receive a leaving form one
complete term in advance of the planned withdrawal date.
In cases where this does not occur, the family will forfeit thecomplete term’s fees in lieu of such notice. Once this leaving
form is submitted, the student’s place is released from the date
notified on the form.
PTA
For membership, fundraising, events, school uniform & social
information enquiries, contact: pta@bst.ac.jp

Floor Maps