子供たちの学校選び（その1)

（English follows Japanese.)
私には11歳娘と3歳息子がいます（写真は学校近くの公園で白鳥のファミリーを眺める娘）．この度の渡英にあたり，二人の学校選びが必須でした．特に11歳娘は多感なお年頃のため，2年間の滞在の大半の時間を過ごす学校選びは最重要事項でした．

11歳娘は幼稚園年少と小学校1年の1年間をオランダのインターナショナルスクールで学び，その後日本に帰国し，小学校1年から小学校6年の途中まで英国系インターナショナルスクールに通っていたので，英語はそこそこできます．イギリスの学年は半年早いので（秋開始，夏終わり），小学校を卒業することなしに，中学1年生になりました．

一昨日，娘は現地の公立中学に通い始めました．馴染めるだろうか，友達できるだろうか，英語通じるだろうか，という親の心配をよそに，登校初日にお迎えに行くと，「友達できた」「女の子四人で仲良しになった」「ほとんどすでに習った範囲をやってる」などなど，めっちゃ楽しんでます．

昨日は，「地理のテストがあったけどめっちゃできた．点数が楽しみ．アトランティックオーシャンはどこかとか，そういう内容．でも教室に地図が貼ってあるから，それ見れば正解できる．」

1学年240名程度の中高一貫校．15人から20人のグループで学校内を移動しながら，さまざまな授業を受けます．こちらでは学級という概念もなければ，自分の教室という概念もないようです．ずっと自分の所持品が入ったバックパックを背負って，過ごしているようです（ロッカーが必要なら借りられるらしい）．

なんとも異文化！この学校は8月中旬から新学期が始まっているようですが，娘が初登校した日は，娘以外に4人（学年はバラバラ）も新入生がいました．みんな緊張した面持ちでしたが，放課後にはニコニコ笑顔でした．娘にはバディと呼ばれる「担当の同級生」がいるそうで，その子がまためちゃめちゃいい子のようです．ポーランド語が話せるそうです．

そして，こんなに人数の多い学校なのに，日本人はいないそうです．そういえば，エジンバラに来てから，日本人に一人も出会っていません．しかし，フラットのゴミ箱にククレカレーの箱が捨ててありました．もしかしたら，近いところに日本人ファミリーがいるかも？出会えるといいな．

娘は学校に通ってまだ二日．いまは楽勝っぽいですが，さて，多感なお年頃，どうなるでしょうねー．

つづく．

I have an 11-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son (The photo shows my daughter watching a family of swans in a park near her school). When we decided to come to England, it was essential to choose a school for them. My 11-year-old daughter, in particular, is at an impressionable age, so choosing a school where she will spend most of her two-year stay was of the utmost importance to me.

My 11-year-old daughter attended an international school in the Netherlands for her first year of kindergarten and first year of elementary school, then returned to Japan and attended a British international school from her first year of elementary school to the middle of her sixth year of elementary school, so she speaks English reasonably well. Since the school year in the UK starts half a year earlier (fall-start, summer-end), she entered the first grade of junior high school without graduating from elementary school. The day before yesterday, my daughter started attending a local public junior high school. Despite the worries of her parents about whether she would fit in, whether she would make friends, and whether she would be able to speak English, when I picked her up on the first day of school, she was having a great time, saying that she had made friends, that the four girls had become good friends, and that she had already covered most of the material she had learned.

Yesterday, I heard, "We had a geography test, and I did really well. I'm looking forward to the score. I'm looking forward to seeing the score. But there's a map in the classroom, so I can look at it and get the answers right.

At this integrated junior and senior high school with 240 students per grade, students move around the school in groups of 15 to 20, taking various classes. There seems to be no concept of classes or classrooms here. They seem to spend all their time with their backpacks on their backs (they can borrow lockers if they need them).

What a different culture! The school started a new term in mid-August, and on the day my daughter went to school for the first time, there were four other new students (of different grades). They all looked nervous, but after school they were all smiling and happy. My daughter has a "classmate in charge" called "buddy," who seems to be a very nice girl. She speaks Polish.

And there are no Japanese students in spite of the large number of students in the school. Come to think of it, I haven't met a single Japanese since I came to Edinburgh. However, I found a box of Kukure Curry in the garbage bin in the flat. Maybe there is a Japanese family nearby? I hope I can meet them.

My daughter has only been in school for two days. She seems to have an easy time now, but I wonder what will happen to her at her impressionable age.

To be continued.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
(完全にAIさんに翻訳頼ってます．文法チェックや細かい直しは面倒なので入れてません）