Moshi Campus News – 14 Dec 14

Our primary students will all be performing in Karibu Hall on Monday, 15th December from 18.30. This is an amalgamation of the drama co-curricular club and class presentations; all the primary students are participating. Please ensure your child has supper before the show and is at Karibu Hall by 18.00

Monday, 15th December: Reports will be issued for primary students.
18:30 – Primary Show

Tuesday, 16th December: Primary Parent-Teacher conferences. This is a chance for you to talk one-one with you child’s class teacher about their progress. It is a good opportunity for you to ask questions about your child’s learning and gain an in-depth understanding of what they do at school. You can use your child’s report as a starting point for your discussion. There will be no formal primary classes or clubs on Tuesday, 16th December. If you need to bring your child to school during your conference time they can play in the school playground where a teaching assistant will supervise them during your meeting. Each meeting will take about 15 minutes.

Tuesday, 16th December: Normal classes for secondary students.
Reports will be issued for secondary students.
If you would like to receive a digital copy of your child’s report by email, please send a request to .

Wednesday, 17th December: 8am – D1 Raft Race – all welcome.
9am – School Assembly in Karibu Hall.
10:15 – Students free to leave school.
10:35 – 12 noon – Secondary parent-teacher meetings in Karibu Hall.
If your child will need transport to KIA, please contact Rosemary Bango on as soon as possible with full flight details.
The school office will be closed during the holidays between Wednesday, 24th December and Sunday, 4th January. Urgent matters in this period can be dealt with by email to Keiron White on .

Congratulations to D2 student, Sammota Chungu who has been awarded a place in Harvard University next academic year on a full scholarship. This is the fourth consecutive year that an ISM student has received a full scholarship to Harvard.
And congratulations also to D2 student, Jasper Kajiru who has been awarded a full scholarship to Stanford University in California. He will join Moses from ISM who started at Stanford just a few months ago.
We look forward to announcing more successes from our class of 2015 in the near future.

At the Parents’ Association Annual General Meeting in November, a new PA committee was elected and we have held our first meeting to determine officers. We would like to take this opportunity to introduce the Parents Association of International School Moshi (Moshi Campus)

• Chairperson: Bianca Joester
• Board Representative & Treasurer: Rishi Shah
• Secretary: Kellen Gilbert
• Member: Trudy Haller

On Tuesday, 16th December at 3pm there will be a Horse Show at the ISM stables where many of the students who have been learning riding this semester will show off their skills and have some fun.

Last week M1 – D1 students participated in a hands-on Service Learning Reflection Seminar. In small groups students shared feedback and experiences before writing reflection statements. According to M4 student, Sameer, “it was a very interactive session because we could share our views about the different CAS activities this quarter and we collaborated with different students to hear about their experiences”. A highlight of the seminar was the sharing of skits and movies that were created in the Filmmaking CAS.
On Monday, December 15th, from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. there will be a Digital Portfolio Workshop for D1 students who would like extra guidance getting their Digital CAS Portfolios up and running.
Next term, students will sign up for activities after a “try-it-out week” in mid-January. Stay posted for the new activity schedule.

We are concerned about the number of families who are currently in arrears with fee payments and will now be taking stronger action in such cases. If your fees for quarter 1 or quarter 2 are currently overdue, your child will not receive a report this quarter. If fees remain overdue by 7 January (one week before classes start) your child may not return for the 3rd quarter of school. You are strongly advised to make payments well in advance of due dates as bank errors and delays can often result in us not receiving fees on time and this can have consequences for your child’s education. If you are unsure about your position, please contact our accounts office on
Please also note that fees for the 3rd quarter were due to have been received by 1st December 2014. Late fees will be surcharged.
At its recent meeting, the Board determined school fees for the 2015/16 school year. These are detailed on our website at www.uwcea.org/fees.

If you know of any families who may wish to apply for their children to join ISM in August 2015, please encourage them to apply soon. Applications are now being received and some classes may soon not have places available for new students.
If you expect your child to be leaving ISM at the end of this current school year in June 2015 or earlier, could you please let me know on ? Although this might seem like very early notice, it does help us to admit other students to the school and thereby to help those new families.

If you know of any famlies in Arusha who may be interested, during the entire school year 2015-16 and beyond, in hosting students who wish to study at ISM Arusha Campus, please let Mr Eanna O’Boyle know at . Arusha Campus is keen to pursue this alternative option as we respond to families who seek boarding options in order to study at Arusha Campus. Please note that the hosted students (and their families) would make private arrangements with their family hosts.

Boarders are expected to return to school next term on Tuesday, 13th January. Classes will start at 7:30am on Wednesday, 14th January.

The MYP Physical Education classes will beginning their unit on swimming upon return from the Christmas holiday break. Swimming is an essential life skill, and we are very lucky to have nice warm weather and a pool to learn in! This is a compulsory part of the PE program here at ISM, and we look forward to your support in ensuring your son/daughter comes prepared for this unit.
Please be sure your son/daughter returns to ISM with the following items:

• One piece swimsuit (girls)
• Swim shorts (boys)
• Goggles
• Swim cap (optional)
• Towel
• Flip flops

We are looking for people in the ISM Community who would be willing to coach sports at either the Primary or Secondary level. If you have any interest and/or experience, we would love to have you join our program.
Generally our sports program runs from 2:00-3:00pm (Primary) and from 4:30-6:00pm (Secondary) from Monday to Thursday. However, we are also open to other times (mornings or weekends) if that works better for you. If you can help us out, please contact Marika Farrell at . Thanks!

As part of the ISM sports programme we will be offering Mountain Biking next semester for students in M4-D2. If your child has expressed interest and has a bicycle could you please make sure they bring it with them when they return to school.
For those that do not have a bike but want to participate there will be the opportunity to rent bikes locally. There are also a limited number of school bikes of varying quality that will be available.
Please note that although every effort will be made to ensure rider safety there are always some risks associated with Mountain Biking. If your child is hoping to participate and you are concerned about their safety please make sure they bring a helmet when they return after the holiday.

ISM is excited to offer a range of Outdoor Pursuits trips for this coming semester. We hope that all students from M1-D2 will join our programme, and challenge themselves in the great outdoors of this region. At ISM, we offer a 5 level programme, where each student (and teacher) must complete each level of the programme before moving up to the next level. Our OP store has lots of equipment to lend (tents, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, flashlights, hiking boots, rain jacket and pants, etc.), so we can help you be prepared for the trips.
Here are the trips on offer this coming semester:

Trip	Level	Dates	Details
Pare Mountains	1b	Jan 31 – Feb 1	M1-D2 (starting level for new students in these classes)
Mawenzi Hut	3	Mar 15 – 18	Students who have successfully completed level 2
Mandara Hut	1	Mar 21 – 22	M1 students who have successfully completed camp craft or others new to the programme.
Machame Route	4	Apr 15 – 19	Students who have successfully completed level 3.
Little Meru	2	May 1 – 3	Students who have successfully completed level 1b

Here is a simple overview of the procedure we use for determining the marks that appear on the D1 and D2 grade reports. Additionally, listed below is a summary of the major exam periods for D1s and D2s.The grade reports that DP students will receive on this Tuesday (16th December) reflect the academic work for Semester 1 (August to December 2014). The March 2015 interim report for DP students will cover work completed between January and March. The June 2015 report will cover the Semester 2 work from January to June 2015. IB DP exams will occur in May 2015 for D2 students. The grade results for those May 2015 D2 exams will be officially released by the IB on July 6, 2015. D2 students will take mock exams between January 16th and 26th and feedback on those mocks will be shared with students by the end of the first week in February. D1 students will have their end-of-D1 year exams in late May 2015 and the results of those exams will appear on the May report cards for D1 students.
One more note about the D2 mock exams. The thirty-six D2 students return for two days of classes and then their mock exams commence on Friday January 16th. The mock exams in each of the DP classes serve as a key signpost of how D2 students will likely perform on the official May 2015 exams.
Critical thinking remains a hallmark of study in the DP. The eleven D2 History students conducted an engaging discussion this week on the question – To what extent and in what ways were the actions of US President Ronald Reagan and USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev significant to ending the Cold War?
We hope to see many parents of DP students at the parent-teacher meeting scheduled for the latter part of the morning of Wednesday December 17th. Teams of D1 students have been working to create their raft for the famous and tradition-packed fun event that will occur at 8am on Dec 17th – the D1 raft race.
Gentle reminder – create travel plans to ensure that your son/daughter does not miss any school around this upcoming and all ISM holidays. Each day counts. The last day of school is Wed Dec 17th and we start back on Wed Jan 14th.
This week I commended the D1 students on the tangible improvements seen in both the academic results and behavioral comportment around the ISM campus. Nearly all of the dozen D1 students who were at risk (after quarter 1) of being moved off of the ‘full diploma status.’ We also seemed to have far fewer D1/D2 student behavioral and academic dishonesty infractions this semester – and I complimented them on that too.
Feel free to contact me with any DP-related questions or concerns. Sincerely, Rick Fitzpatrick – DP Coordinator

Dear Parents, We were very sad to say goodbye to Nita on Friday. She has been volunteering in our classroom for this quarter and has been a fantastic help. We wish her all the very best as she starts university in South Africa.
We are very much looking forward to the Primary play on Monday night at 6.30pm. Please bring your child to the classroom by 5.45pm to get changed into their costumes. They should wear shoes that are comfortable to dance in. No flip-flops please.
Monday is the class party. There was a sign up sheet for food at the classroom on Friday. If you haven’t signed up then please donate a small snack of your choice.
There will be no classes on Tuesday but I look forward to meeting with you for your Parent/Teacher conference. Your child’s report and conference time will come home tomorrow in the communication folder. I hope you will have a chance to read the report before the conference so that we can address any questions or concerns you may have. Children are not required to come to this conference.
On Wednesday we will have a whole school assembly at 9am and we hope that you will be able to attend to find out about all the amazing things that have been happening throughout the school this Quarter. School will finish directly after the assembly but if you have another child in secondary we will provide care for your child in my classroom until you have finished your conferences.
May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Holiday. Safe travels and I look forward to seeing you all in January.

We are excited for our performance on Monday night. Please have your child meet at Karibu Hall at 5:45 pm. Thank you for bringing your child for the Sunday rehearsal. It looks like they will be ready to do a great job on Monday.
We will have our end of the semester party on Monday. Thank you for signing up to send something for the party. The children are looking forward to it.
On Tuesday we will meet for individual parent/teacher conferences. I will send the report and your conference time home on Monday. Then please bring the re-port back to the conference on Tuesday and we can discuss your child’s progress.
Wednesday will be the last day of school before the holiday. We will dismiss after the all school assembly is over at about 10:15. Please make arrangements to collect your child then.
I’ve included some pictures of an activity we did with the P4/P5 class. The children enjoyed getting a chance to work with the older children.
If I don’t get a chance to see you, I wish all of you a happy holiday. We will all be back on January 14th refreshed and ready to go.

    Last week we have been squashing, stretching, bending and testing strength of a range of materials. This has linked well with our Measuring in Maths and with our Instructional language in English. The highlight of the week for many of the children was making their own salt dough, which is incredibly cheap and easy to make at home. The children will share the recipe with you gladly!
We are getting ready for the Primary Production. Over the week we have been involved in rehearsals daily, practising both the final song and our Mexican Hat Dance. It promises to be a great show to watch on Monday evening, and we look forward to seeing you all there.
This Week: Monday: Class Party Day. Please bring some food or drink to share with classmates. Reports to go home. Primary Show starts at 6:30 (children need to be at school before this time though!) Tuesday: Parent/Teacher Consultation Day. No Lessons. Wednesday: Assembly in the morning and an early finish.
Happy Holidays! Wishing you all safe journeys and lots of fabulous family time.    

Information for Parents The students have been busy practising for the primary drama and it is coming together nicely. The performance will be Monday, December 15th. Students should arrive at school by 17:45. The play will begin at 18:30.
Language focus for the week We are practising a holiday reader’s theater. The students are getting very good at reading with expression. They will be performing for the P1/2 students on Wednesday morning. We are also practising our writing skills my making cards for the EC postbox. The kids can’t wait for the daily mail delivery!
Maths focus for the week We will only have maths lessons once next week. We will continue with rounding.
Unit of Inquiry The students will continue their discussions of what makes writing poetry and developing their own questions about poetry and song. Our reader’s theater is written in poetic form, so we are making connections to how poetry can be ex-pressed in different ways.
What to bring to school: A hat for playtime and a healthful snack.
Timetable: Monday: Primary Drama (Students arrive at 17:45) Tuesday: No Classes    

This week the students made separate trips to the duka at ISM and Rosie’s fruit stall off Lema Road. Working in small groups they explored the two different kinds of shops and observed the communities they served. They asked the shop keepers probing questions and made useful comparisons, e.g. about supply and demand. The students later displayed their data in Venn Diagrams in order to analyse what they had learned and to reach conclusions.
The students now know their groups for this unit’s summative assessment. They have started to plan what they can exchange in order to receive items for the Bags of Love. These Bags of Love have been organised by the Guides and Brownies and will be given to the children who attend the Day Care Centre at ISM; the centre which serves the children of the school workers. The class have also been thinking about how they can advertise the item or service they are offering to the students in primary school. There has been some really worthwhile collaboration going on and there is quite a buzz of excitement about this assessment activity.
The P5/6s have also been busy planning their end of semester class party for Monday. They each volunteered to take on a role in organising it, e.g. the decorations, snack and drinks, music etc. It’s fantastic to see the students taking on such responsibilities with so much enthusiasm.
This week the students have been rehearsing their lines, songs and dances hard for their show Around the World in 80 Minutes. They are looking forward to presenting their parts in the musical on Monday evening. We are all looking forward to many friends and family coming to watch and support the children.
Unit: Transdisciplinary Theme: How we organise ourselves Central Idea: Systems of exchange serve the needs of the community

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