A HEADMASTER from a school in Japan visited St James's, the independent girls' school in West Malvern.

Yuho Satomi, of the Shukutoku Yono high school in Tokyo, which has had a long relationship with St James's, presented the school with a beautiful Japanese painting. He also signed certificates confirming the alliance between the two schools.

Headteacher Stephanie Kershaw said: "We've been taking students from Japan for the past 50 years and there's a branch of our 'old girls' in Tokyo.

"We have a long-standing relationship with the Shukutoku Yono school, which is a girls' school, and we have frequent exchange visits. A party of sixth-formers from here will be visiting Japan next year."