Published on: 13 August 2015





Christ Church farewelled students from Japan’s Hotoku Gakuen High School this week, following their 12-day immersion into life at CCGS.

Arriving on Saturday 1 August after a day trip to the Pinnacles, the Headmaster Mr Garth Wynne welcomed the touring party at a ceremony in the refectory where the Japanese students met their host families.

In addition to shadowing their host brothers to classes and after school activities, the Hotoku Gakuen students received ESL and IT classes with Mr Daniel Budd, an introduction to AFL with Mr Luke Dwyer and a special Geography class taught by Mr Allen Hallett. They also had an Aussie bush experience, spending the night at Kooringal.

While the students were here to experience life in Australia, the visit provided an opportunity for Christ Church students to practise their Japanese language skills.

Christ Church has been involved with student exchanges, tours to Japan and visits from Hotoku Gakuen Junior and Senior School students since 1989. As part of the Beyond Queenslea Drive program, Nowar Koning (Year 11) went on exchange to Japan last year. Ryoya Sekio from Hotoku Gakuen is presently visiting us on exchange and Alex Thornhill (Year 9) will travel to Japan in Term 4.

The Hotoku Gakuen visit culminated in a farewell celebration with a Japanese Okonomiyaki BBQ enjoyed by CCGS and Hotoku Gakuen students and staff.

Japanese teacher, Mr Michael Armstrong said the visitors had a fabulous time and expressed his gratitude to the CCGS families who generously offered their hospitality as host families.