Location	365,yoshikawa,hachihonmatsucho,Higashihiroshima-shi, Hiroshima
TEL.	(+81)82-429-1054
Website	https://www.city.higashihiroshima.lg.jp/school/yoshikawa_sho/index.html
Membership	2025

2025 Annual Report

1.Educational Research and Practice

【Research Background and Objectives】

Since 1989, our school has served as a Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) research and development school, engaging in life studies research and continuously pursuing education that connects learning with the local community. Since the 2011 academic year, we have positioned the entire Yoshikawa region as a “comprehensive learning stage.” Centering on life studies and integrated studies time, we have promoted unit development incorporating regional collaboration and SDGs perspectives.

In the 2025 academic year, we aimed to nurture children who learn proactively and collaboratively and become creators of a sustainable society. This was achieved through curriculum management that consciously linked Japanese Language Arts, Mathematics, Life Studies, and Integrated Studies. We restructured accumulated local teaching materials from the perspectives of problem setting, individual inquiry, enriched expression, and clear goal definition. Learning was deepened through collaboration with researchers and local experts both domestically and internationally.

 

[Practice Overview by Grade Level]

Grade 1 (Life Studies)

Children heightened their interest in their immediate environment through activities directly engaging with local nature and noticing seasonal changes. They devised play and toy-making using autumn natural materials and gained experience applying their learning for others by planning and implementing the “Yoshikawa Autumn Festival,” which invited kindergarten children.

Grade 2 (Life Studies)

Through town explorations, students learned about local residents’ jobs and roles, gaining awareness of how the community functions. They organized findings on “Yoshikawa Town’s Amazing Features” based on research and deepened their understanding and affection for the area through activities communicating this to community members.

Grade 3 (Integrated Studies)

Students identified the declining birthrate and aging population as challenges and explored ways to contribute to community health initiatives. By planning and implementing projects in collaboration with local government and adults, and disseminating their learning to the entire community, they cultivated the foundation for social participation.

Grade 4 (Integrated Studies)

Students observed and investigated the local natural environment, scientifically assessing its current state and challenges. By engaging with experts and local residents to devise solutions and disseminating these to the entire school and families, they connected their learning to proactive environmental conservation actions.

Fifth Grade (Integrated Studies)

Students utilized local resources like glutinous rice and native crops to develop processed foods, handling everything from production to sales. By experiencing production, distribution, and promotion as an integrated process, they gained a tangible understanding of regional industries and sustainable economic practices.

Sixth Grade (Integrated Studies)

Starting from environmental issues, students explored ways to realize a circular society, making concrete proposals centered on upcycling. Through collaborative product sales with guest teachers and experiential events, students heightened their awareness as practitioners who can positively transform society.

Our school’s practice is positioned as research that systematically develops learning from “awareness” in lower grades to “social participation” in upper grades, fostering the ability to create a sustainable society together with the community.

2. Special Activities (Committee Activities)

Based on the Special Activities Promotion Plan, our school formulated an annual committee activity plan in April with students playing a central role, and conducted committee activities from April to March under the leadership of the SDGs Committee. In addition to holding regular monthly meetings, the SDGs Committee promoted practical learning toward the realization of a sustainable society through its ongoing daily activities.

As a specific initiative, the entire school continuously carried out a recycling program for milk cartons used in school lunches. Through activities such as washing, drying, sorting, and collecting the cartons, students deepened their understanding of effective resource use and the importance of a recycling-oriented society.

In addition, the school conducted a UNICEF fundraising activity. After researching and discussing the situations faced by children around the world, students engaged in the fundraising effort. Through these activities, students realized that their actions can contribute to solving issues both locally and globally, thereby enhancing their proactive awareness of social participation from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Annual Work Plan

1.Educational Research and Practice

April: Formulation of Research Promotion Plan

May–July: Lesson proposals and discussions for Japanese and Mathematics classes, focusing on curriculum management within Life Studies and Integrated Studies

July–August: Development of regional teaching materials and creation of lesson plans

September–December: Proposed lessons and research discussions

January: Preparation of research bulletin

February–March: Discussions and teaching material development for next year’s research promotion

2. Special Activities Promotion Plan (Committee Activities)

April: Formulation of the Special Activities Promotion Plan and the annual plan for committee activities

April–March: Monthly committee meetings and ongoing activities conducted under the leadership of the SDGs Committee