Kids pay respects before the quake

By Melissa Meehan
JUST days before Japan’s worst natural disaster, Cockatoo Primary School students took part in a Japanese Day to learn about the country’s culture.
Assistant principal Barbara Kewish said it was a wonderful day that students really enjoyed.
She said the whole school was broken up into 10 groups with five different activities to take part in over the day.
“This included cooking, making headbands, exercising to Japanese counting, working on a mural and learning about Japanese culture,” Ms Kewish said.
“Japanese assistant Mich-elle Stevens did a great job organising the whole day.”
Ms Kewish said Japanese was the Language Other Than English (LOTE) taught at the school and the day gave students the opportunity to learn more than just the language.
“The most interesting was the exercising activity,” she said.
“Students took part in exercising to a radio broadcast similar to that of those in Japan, apparently every morning before work or school they exercise to the radio broadcast. It was really interesting.”
She said at the end of the day students were also lucky to be entertained by a visit from Emerald Secondary College students who performed a Japanese drumming exercise.