This Winter, Discover the Joy of “I Want to Try!”
Laurus Winter School is more than an English programme. For one week, children work on a single STEAM theme — building, testing, getting it wrong and trying again — in a full English environment, guided by teachers who know how to ask the next question.
What we have seen, and what research on short intensive programmes suggests, is that a week like this changes something specific: children go home wanting to say more in English than when they arrived.
Most of the children who join have never been to Laurus before. In our Winter School 2025 survey, 6 of 10 families were joining us for the first time — so arriving without knowing anyone is the normal way to start here, not the exception. It is a valuable chance to make new friends in an English environment.
Programme Highlights
STEAM Winter School
~ Seasonal Festive Market ~
This winter, Primary students take on the hands-on “Seasonal Festive Market Project”, which brings creativity and STEAM learning together.
Working in teams, children share ideas and use their imagination, problem-solving and design thinking to plan and make original products for a winter market. Through rounds of prototyping and improvement, they discover the fun of turning an idea into something real, and how much it matters to work together to finish one thing.
A special seasonal field trip lets them enjoy the feel of winter, taking in the sights, sounds and culture of the city as they look for that spark of inspiration.
The programme ends with a special market for families, where children proudly present the products they have put their hearts into.
What One Week Actually Costs
¥85,000 + ¥6,000 enrolment fee = ¥91,000 (tax included)
With Early Arrival (from 8:30): ¥100,000 + ¥6,000 = ¥106,000
Siblings applying for a Seasonal School or Programme are each charged the enrolment fee. The once-per-family rule applies to Seasonal Camp only.
For Ages 11–16
Winter Programme runs the same week (14–18 Dec). Laurus teachers lead near-university-level STEAM activities and research around the theme, and fieldwork visits to research facilities and companies deepen the learning and connect it to the real world.
View Winter Programme →What is Winter School?
In general, a winter school is a short, intensive educational programme held during the winter holidays. Unlike regular school lessons, it usually concentrates on one area — most often language learning, and increasingly science and technology — and runs for a fixed block of days rather than a term.
Laurus Winter School is a one-week programme for primary children aged 6–11. For five days, Monday to Friday, they work on a single STEAM theme entirely in English: asking a question, experimenting, building something and presenting what they found on Friday.
Lessons are led by native English-speaking teachers, and there is one field trip a week connected to the theme. It is a day programme with no overnight stay, and Early Arrival offers care from 8:30.
Three Programmes by Age
Laurus offers three winter programmes, divided by age and purpose — from 18 months to 16 years.
| Winter Camp | Winter School | Winter Programme | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ages | 1.5–6 | 6–11 | 11–16 |
| Dates (2026) | 21–25 Dec | 14–18 Dec | 14–18 Dec |
| Booking unit | From 1 day | 1 week | 5 days |
| Hours | 9:00–14:00 / 8:30–18:00 | 10:00–15:30 / 8:30–15:30 | 10:00–15:30 |
| Fees | From ¥12,000 per day | From ¥80,000 per week | ¥98,000 for 5 days |
| Content | Play, crafts, science & world cultures | Inquiry-based STEAM, experiments & field trips | University-level STEAM, research & certificate |
| View Winter Camp → | (This page) | View Winter Programme → |
Will my child be able to follow along in English?
Lessons are conducted on the assumption that students can communicate in basic English. Japanese language support is generally not provided. Winter School is for ages 6 and up, so this applies to every participant.
| English is brand new | Currently learning English | International school / returnee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years 1–3 (ages 6–8) | Please talk to us first | ◎ A good fit | ◎ A good fit |
| Years 4–6 (ages 9–11) | Please talk to us first | ◎ A good fit | ◎ A good fit |
| 11–16 | Please talk to us first | Winter Programme → | Winter Programme → |
If your child is 6 or older and completely new to English, please contact us before applying. Depending on age and circumstances, there may be a better route in.
If you also have a child under 6, Winter Camp (ages 1.5–6) is designed for preschool-age children: gestures, visual support and bilingual staff are part of how it runs. View Winter Camp →
6 Reasons Families Choose Laurus
Cambridge International Certified
Laurus is one of the few international schools in Japan teaching the Cambridge International Curriculum, used in more than 160 countries. Winter School classes are taught by our own Cambridge-accredited teachers.
STEAM Education Pioneer
Japan's only STEAM-focused international school, teaching STEAM since 2016. Past winter themes have covered microbiology, light, cryptography and robotics — real subjects, taught as real subjects.
Full English Environment
The whole week runs in English, from arrival to home time, with native English-speaking teachers.
Real-World Experiences
Experiments, builds, field trips — and at the end of the week, children present what they found. In 2020 the week closed with children presenting their projects to the class on an iPad; in 2021, inspired by a field trip to teamLab Toyosu, each child designed their own “light room”.
A Full Week, with Early Arrival
Winter School runs Monday to Friday as one continuous project. Early Arrival adds supervised care from 8:30 — for many working families, those 90 minutes make the difference between possible and not.
From 18 Months to High School
Laurus offers a continuous pathway from Preschool to Year 12. Younger siblings under 6 can join Winter Camp (ages 1.5–6) the following week, and children aged 11–16 have their own Winter Programme.
Shiba Campus — A Science-Themed Learning Environment
Our Primary and Secondary campus sits on floors 7–10 of the Shiba Kokusai Building in Shiba, Minato-ku, just by Tokyo Tower. Inside this building, completed in 2023, is a science-themed learning environment conceived as an amusement park for the mind — a one-of-a-kind space for inquiry-based learning where children look, touch and think.
Location & Access
By train
Explore four science-themed floors
designed to nurture curiosity.
A Week at Winter School
One theme, five days — from the first question to the final presentation.
* This is a sample schedule. Content and times may change.
The question for the week is opened up, and teams are formed.
Experiments and first attempts.
Out of the classroom, to a place connected to the theme.
Teams make, test and rebuild.
Teams show the class what they made and what they found.
Past Themes
A different theme every year — here is what past weeks have looked like.
2026Seasonal Festive Market
Inspired by seasonal markets, children plan, make and improve festive products of their own. A seasonal field trip provides inspiration, and on the final day they present their creations at a special market for their families.
2025The Robot Olympics
2024Bot Builders Academy
Robotics. Children built their own robots and brought them to life.
2023Young chemist Academy
2022Code Breakers
Codebreaking — ciphers and cryptanalysis.
2021Light it up!
A field trip to teamLab Toyosu, including a meeting with the people who made the works — and then a brief: design a light experience room of your own.
2020Fantastic Microscopic Universe
A week inside the world of microbes, working in teams (Team Fungi among them), closing with each child presenting their project to the class on an iPad.
What Parents Say
Feedback from parents whose children joined Winter School
“The content is interesting every time and the teachers are so kind — my son looks forward to every single session. We're grateful to the team for organising everything so carefully, from the bus service right down to the field trips.”
“He had such a wonderful time — he still treasures the picture-book booklet from the programme and reads it again and again. Thank you so much.”
“Watching him, I could see how much he was enjoying it.”
“It helped enormously that the bus ran on its usual schedule.”
“He seems to have genuinely loved building the robot, so I think hands-on programmes like this will be popular.”
“There was PE as well, which gave them a breather — the content was good.”
How to Choose a Winter School
Four Things Worth Checking
How to Apply
Four simple steps
Key Dates for Winter School 2026
See all our winter programmes: Laurus winter programmes
