Moshi Campus News – 31 Aug 14

From September 9-12, the M4 classes from Moshi and Arusha campuses will be going to Simba Farms in West Kilimanjaro, for their Mathematics and Science Field Study Trip. The permission form for M4 day students will be sent home to you on Monday September 1st, and payment for food (for day students only) must be made before the trip begins.
Students will also need to leave a returnable deposit of TSh 10,000 with the OP Store, to collect their tents, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, and backpacks (if needed). Students must pick up their gear on Thursday September 4th at 2:30pm, at the OP Store. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this trip, please speak to Ms. Farrell or Mr. Buck, who will be the Moshi staff members going on this trip.

We are excited to announce the start of the ISM Private Music Lesson program for this semester. The ISM Music program is offering private instrumental lessons to students who are interested. Currently, our private instructor list is as follows: Mr. Emmanuel Swai – beginning and intermediate guitar, beginning and intermediate piano Mr. Paulus Liveti – drum set, African drumming, Mr. John Machibya – clarinet, saxophone and trumpet Miss Susan Kellerman – beginning and intermediate violin, all levels flute, beginning clarinet, all levels saxophone
Sign-up is on a first come, first served basis on the red bulletin board outside of the Music Room door (room 12). If your child is interested in taking a lesson (for a fee of TSh16,000/30 minute lesson), you may come by the bulletin board in your free time, find the schedule for the teacher that suits your child’s needs and sign up in any open block. Please be sure to take the contact information of the teacher and contact that person to let them know that you have added your child to their schedule.
* Please note that your child is expected to have his/her own instrument to keep for daily practice and weekly lessons. ISM has a limited number of instruments for rent (fee: TSh20,000 per month, or portion thereof), which are also available on a first come, first served basis. If your child needs to rent an instrument, please contact the Equipment Manager, Mr. Emmanuel Swai at 0754 414440 and he will take care of rentals.
If you have any questions at all regarding the Private Music Lesson program, please feel free to email Miss Kellerman at .

There are a number of tests that different students may need to take for university entry purposes. Please note the dates of tests this semester and the registration deadlines.

Test	Purpose	Register by	Test Date
ACT	Students applying to USA	(closed)	13 Sept
IELTS	Any students needing an English qualification	19 Sept	1 Nov (in Arusha)
SAT	Students applying to USA	3 Oct	8 Nov
TOEFL	Students needing an English qualification applying to USA or Canada	3 Oct	15 Nov
SAT	Students applying to USA	3 Nov	6 Dec
ACT	Students applying to USA	3 Nov	13 Dec

We are expecting a number of university visits in September and these will be excellent opportunities for M5, D1 and D2 students to learn more about different universities in various countries, what are their expectations and how to apply.
UK Universities Fair: Monday 15th September at 2:30pm. About 18 UK universities will be visiting and meeting with students on this day as well as presenting on the UK applications process. They will also be visiting our Arusha Campus that same morning.
University of Alberta, Canada will provisionally be visiting on Monday, 22nd September.
University of British Columbia, Canada (UBC) will provisionally be visiting on Friday, 26th September.

There are two kinds of students in the world; those that like Mathematics: those that are not sure about it and those that just can’t wait to give it up – at ISM we have both of those three kinds!
Mathematics is a compulsory component of the Diploma curriculum, which is one of the reasons why the IB Diploma is held in such high regard by universities. At ISM, students can study Mathematics in one of three different courses; the Mathematics Standard and Mathematical Studies courses have the same status within the Diploma, but the Studies course focuses more on applying the concepts, whereas the Standard course is focused more on theoretical aspects of Mathematics. The Mathematics Higher level course requires an extraordinary interest in Mathematics and is a demanding syllabus.
From ISM’s results over the past few years, it is clear that many of our students are not choosing the course that best suits their interest or aptitude and, as a result, many have achieved much lower grades than they would otherwise have done. There is a clear indication that they underestimated just how tough the Standard Level course is. Many diploma students are understandably unsure about what they are going to be studying after school and so they want to keep their options open. Unfortunately doing Maths at the incorrect level can have a detrimental effect on their overall grade.
This year’s students in the first year of Diploma are spending a few weeks consolidating the basic algebra required for the course – nuts and bolts of the course. Those in the second year will be starting their project/investigation for the internal assessment as soon as they have completed their Extended Essays. The Internal assessment counts for 20% which is a very significant proportion of their final grade.
Peer tutoring sessions are available on Wednesdays from 3 to 4pm in room 19 for any secondary student needing extra assistance with Maths. Coenie Wesselink (Head of Mathematics)

I hope that you have received the PA minutes sent out earlier today.

I am sorry to indicate that a number of families have not yet paid fees in full for the first quarter of this school year. If you are in this position, you have also been surcharged for overdue fees. Please ensure that payments are fully up to date this week, as we will otherwise need to ask some students to return home and not attend school.

D2s submitted their Extended Essay (EE) draft (www.ibo.org/diploma/curriculum/ core/essay) that will be critiqued by their respective EE supervisors. Thereafter, the final version will be written. The 1½ points of the 45 total points for a full diploma student that comprises the value of the EE portion takes on more significance when one reflects on how two of the ISM May 2014 grads, who failed the IB diploma, missed attaining it by only one point!
September 1st is that date by which D1 students should make all course changes.
In the faculty monthly meeting this week DP teachers analyzed the May 2014 IB DP exam results and addressed the matter of how to incorporate CAS and Theory of Knowledge into the planning and implementation of the curriculum.
Pamoja Education on-line IB DP courses commence next week. (www.pamojaeducation.com)
Parents of DP students should endeavor, if possible, to make arrangements to attend the late-morning Friday October 3rd end of quarter one Parent-Teacher meeting.
All DP students are enrolled in a Life Skills course. D2s this week addressed the matter of personal statements for their university applications while D1s closely examined Habit #1 Be Proactive of Stephen Covey’s best seller Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOpKziGrxSE)
DP students are learning to view the world from a critical eye and from a more in-depth angle and this article tries to do that as well as these maps help us to view the world differently…. www.uwcea.org/dip32
Feel free to write me with any questions, concerns or constructive criticism! Rick Fitzpatrick – DP Coordinator

A reminder that our primary students are required to have the following for school, please label all your child’s items.

• Every day – ISM school T-shirt (or polo shirt)
• PE days – House T-shirt and shorts
• Library days – library bag
• Hat to wear during play time
• Spare shoes on rainy days for the classroom

Unit of Inquiry Many thanks to all those who sent their boxes in last week for the class museum. The children have begun to decorate them in their own style. This will be an ongoing process over the next few weeks. We have plenty of boxes for everyone now so no need to send in anymore. Thanks also for the family photographs. If you haven’t sent them in already we would love to receive them soon. This week we will begin to talk about our interests/hobbies. If your child takes part in a particular activity outside school such as tennis, riding, dancing, football then please send in something to represent this interest such as a pair of ballet shoes or a football. It may just be something that they enjoy doing at home such as painting, playing with cars or dressing up, in which case you could send in a paint brush, a car or a dress up costume.
Maths Focus

• Count by rote through songs and rhymes
• Sort and count objects
• Match groups of objects to numerals
• Begin to explore patterns
• Graph favourite food

Information for Parents Thank you for your work with your child on the homework this last week. I hope you are off to a positive start with homework at your house. Please remember to have your child read to you every day, and spend a little time working on spelling. I will grade the spelling tests and send the results home on Monday so you can see how your child did.
I’ve sent a new book home for the weekend. Please take some time to read it with your child.
Literacy focus for the week We will continue to focus on handwriting this week. We will also continue to write in our journals. The P1 students will be working on letter sounds and reading short words. The P2 students will be doing a lot of reading and working on blends gr, pr, tr, and thr.
Maths focus for the week Group 1 students will work on ordering numbers to 12. Group 2 students will work on making doubles.
Unit of Inquiry We will continue to study “My Family”. We will finish learning about birthday celebrations around the world. We will start learning about holiday traditions around the world.
What to bring to school: Children need a hat for playtime and a healthy snack every day.
Timetable: Monday: Library (we will choose new books) Wednesday: PE (wear PE shoes and a house T shirt) Thursday: Swimming (please send swimwear)

Last week we have been wondering about Nature verses Nurture in reference to explaining who we are, and have reflected upon the places, people and experiences that have influenced us so far in our lives. We have been putting together individual time-lines of our significant life-time events. The ideas and discussions have been really thoughtful.
Language Focus for This Week This week we will be recounting events in both spoken and written form. Through this, we shall focus on using correct and consistent verb tense, practise using simple and compound sentences and link ideas using time connectives.
Maths Focus for This Week In Mathematics we will be looking at place value, and will practise reading a writing numbers using both digits and words. We will be recalling multiplication facts and solving lots of word problems in a variety of contexts.
Unit of Inquiry This week we will focus on the people who have “shaped” us and helped us to become who we are. From Monday the children will be asking for your support in making a family tree at home. Feel free to explore this in as much depth and detail as you wish with your child.
Please Remember that: Monday: PE and homework folders sent home. Thursday: Swimming and Library. Friday: All homework folders to be handed in.

Information for Parents We began our swimming class last week and the students were so excited to get in the pool! We continued our work with place value and the students are doing really well with ordering and comparing large numbers. We learned about perspective in both reading and art this week and the students created some fabulous pictures of a river using one-point perspective.
Language focus for the week This week we will begin to learn about idioms. You can help your child by pointing out idioms as you read, or mixing them in to your conversations. The early bird gets the worm, so start this weekend!
Maths focus for the week Group 1 and 2 are both going to be working on addition and subtraction strategies for numbers up to the thousands place. We began last week by learning how to add numbers using a number line strategy.
Unit of Inquiry Last week students used their atlases to try to locate the major rivers of the world. We watched a movie that showed how humans rely on rivers to help meet their needs. We will continue to go further into our inquiry by discussing land use and making a land use map of the school campus.
What to bring to school: A hat for playtime and a healthy snack.
Timetable: Homework packets will come home on Monday and are due on Friday. The expectation is that students will read at least 15 minutes daily, as well as practicing their spelling words daily. A good strategy for completing the rest of the packet is to do one page each evening. Tuesday PE (wear PE shoes and a house T shirt) Thursday Swimming (bring swim costume, towel, flip flops) Library (we will choose new books)

Last week the students have been thinking about useful actions they can complete for the good of themselves, the community and the environment. They’ve learned that actions don’t need to be large and that people of any age can carry out worthwhile action. To demonstrate this they collaborated in small teams to come up with creative performances. These short skits and songs were then delivered to an audience of more than one hundred primary students less than 24 hours later. Thanks to this action the younger students are now also aware of what it means to carry out positive action.
Maths focus: Last week the students used their maths skills to carry out open ended maths investigations related to our unit. This week they will be working out area, e.g. of their home countries.
Language focus: Last week the students learned how to use apostrophes in their writing. This week they will be planning for and writing a unit related story.
Unit of Inquiry: Last week the students completed a piece of Word Art about themselves and their history. This week they will be investigating maps about their home countries and those of their classmates.
Monday: Homework will be set for the week | Library session Wednesday: Swimming lesson Friday: This week’s homework is due to be handed in | PE lesson
What to bring everyday: Please bring a bottle of water to keep on the desk. A healthy snack for break time. A hat for break time, lunchtime and sports lessons.

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