～The Past and Future of the Nishi Comprehensive School’s Community School System～

Mihoko Shimizu, Principal and
Taro Nakanishi, Vice-Principal
Kyoto Municipal Nishi Comprehensive School for Special Needs Education

1. Overview of Our School

Our school opened in April 1986 as a school, from elementary to high school, for children with intellectual disabilities, who live west of Horikawa Street, a main road of Kyoto City facing the east side of Nijo Castle.  The school is located in Katsurazaka in Nishikyo Ward in Kyoto City, and is celebrating its 37th anniversary this school year.  Near the school, there is a sheltered work institution, and institutions for persons with disabilities and for the elderly, forming a community as part of the welfare zone.  In recent years, a nursery school has also been opened, and an environment that welcomes welfare activities for the whole community has been created.

In April 2004, Kyoto City reorganized its school system and created comprehensive schools for persons with disabilities by district for the first time in Japan, and our school made a new start as Kyoto Municipal Nishi Comprehensive School for Persons with Disabilities.  After that, in April 2007, it was renamed Kyoto Municipal Nishi Comprehensive School for Special Needs Education, which continues to this day.

In Kyoto Municipal Comprehensive Schools for Special Needs Education, we conduct educational activities by creating an “individual comprehensive support plan” for each student and a curriculum that meets the needs of each student.  Moreover, since our school opened, we have adopted a “one-class, one-teacher, one-classroom system,” which remains unchanged even after the reorganization.  In class, children with various types of disabilities study together as classmates in the same classroom.  This is the way how it should be in Kyoto Municipal Comprehensive Schools for Special Needs Education, and we believe that this is the way necessary for students to live towards a fulfilling life as they interact with others in society.

At the same time, the Comprehensive Nurturing Support Education Consultation Center (Hagukumi Support Center) was opened to provide consultation services and support for education tailored to each individual, targeting local children, parents, nursery schools, kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, etc., and also collaborates with local medical and welfare institutions.

2. Establishment of School Management Council

Kyoto Municipal Comprehensive Schools for Special Needs Education have been promoting various educational activities since April 2004 when the schools were reorganized into comprehensive schools for persons with disabilities.  One of the points we regarded as important in conducting educational activities is to let the children study in the area where they live.  The school districts of schools for special needs education cover a wide area, unlike other local elementary and junior high schools.  After graduating from our schools, the children will become citizens living in the community.  For children with disabilities to become independent in the community and participate in society, it is important for us to have the perspective of supporting their daily lives.  For this reason, the Kyoto Municipal Comprehensive Schools for Special Needs Education, as schools open to the community, play a role as centers that also provide community support within the school districts.  We are making an effort to cooperate/collaborate, and build networks with welfare, medical and other concerned institutions, local organizations, and citizens.

With a strong desire to make real these ideas and initiatives of the then principal of our school, it was designated by the Kyoto City Board of Education as a community school having a School Management Council for the first time in Japan as a school for special needs education.  In addition, it was designated as the subject of the “Community School Promotion Project (designated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology),” the “Practical Research on the Operation of School Management Councils (Kyoto City Board of Education),” and the “Volunteer Training Project to Support Community Activities for Children with Disabilities (designated by the National Association of Principals of Special Schools).”  The first meeting of the School Management Council was held on June 11, 2005.

3. Efforts Up to the Present

We believe that the word “community” has two definitions that serve as the basis for planning a “community school” in a school for special needs education with a wide school district.

One is the “local community” formed in the area where the school is located, and the children live. The other one is the “theme community” gathered and formed under the common themes such as education, child-rearing, and the like.

Based on this concept, the School Management Council of our school has launched the following three projects, and the school and the community have cooperated and collaborated to carry out various initiatives.

(1) Career Advancement Support Project (learning to enrich life in the community)

• Exchange and joint learning with students in the schools in the area of residence
• Field trips in the area of residence
• Learning to work

(2) Projects with local communities (management of after-school activities in collaboration with the local communities)

• “Exchange Meeting in the School District” for the parents of children with disabilities in the area of residence
• “Volunteer Training Seminar” for residents in the school district
• “Waku-waku Club” and “Niko-niko Club,” which aim to create an after-school familiar place for children with disabilities – activities with parents and volunteers using an elementary school classroom in the area of residence.
• “Summer School” where the children visit high schools, universities, and public facilities in the area of residence with locals and volunteers to experience tea ceremony, hula dancing, Japanese drums, dyeing, etc.
• “Lawn Festival” aimed at turning our school’s lawn ground into a hub for people with disabilities in the community
• “Community Art Exhibition” at ward offices, supermarkets, etc. in the area of residence to display paintings and other works created by our students to show to the community.

(3) School evaluation / management project (implementation, analysis, improvement of school evaluation)

• Discussion in the School Management Council on what the school should communicate to the community

Through these efforts, not only the inside of the school, but also the outside of the school, has become a place of learning.  In addition, through dissemination of these efforts to the local community, training of volunteers, and repeated exchanges with local residents, understanding for persons with disabilities and the recognition of the existence of schools have become enhanced, thus leading to the creation of a new community through two-way assistance.

In this way, we have achieved a certain degree of outcome through various initiatives.  At the same time, there are projects that were terminated for good reason due to the enhancement of after-school day services, while some projects had to be canceled or reviewed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under such circumstances, the School Management Council has repeatedly deliberated on activities that can be done under the current situation or asked ourselves about any good ideas for any kind of activity.

Photo 1: Council members experiencing workshop interaction

4. What We Are Aiming at

The keywords for future initiatives are “familiarity” and “online.”

As for “familiarity,” we want the members of the School Management Council to know more about our school’s students and want our students to become “familiar” with the committee members, too.  The aim is to “figure out what kind of projects are beneficial to children, and allow the children to get to know more people, thus expanding their range of human relationships.”  What we have done so far: the members of the School Management Council have filmed a sign language video of our school song and played it at a closing ceremony; and the members themselves have participated in the workshops for our junior high school students and conducted hands-on activities with the students (Photo 1).  We also gave products made in the workshops as gifts to the elderly living in the community to celebrate their 88th birthday.

Now, we are planning to take steps little by little toward making real the “Katsurazaka Human Resources Bank,” in which people who live in the Katsurazaka area where our school is located, will teach our students traditional crafts.

I understand that there are still many spots in the Katsurazaka area that we do not know about.  One of the members of the council suggested, “Why don’t we hold a ‘Katsurazaka Walk Rally’ where some people in the community introduce some interesting spots and mark them on a map, and then others try to find those spots by relying on the map!”  In addition, we have received a suggestion that we conduct workplace tours and welfare office tours online using ICT.

Although the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is yet unknown, we will continue to make efforts to create a new Nishi Comprehensive School for Special Needs Education Community School as we make use of the ideas we have garnered from our efforts.