Moshi Campus News – 14 January 2017


Dear Parents,
We hope that you have enjoyed the one month holiday with your family and that all are now ready for the new semester ahead. Once again the new term will bring a new set of challenges and many experiences for all.

Boarders will return tomorrow on Sunday, 15th January and classes will begin at 7:30am on Monday, 16th January. If your child needs transport from Kilimanjaro Airport, please contact Rosemary Bango [] as soon as possible.

The D2 mock examinations will start next Thursday, 19th January.
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ManageBac
Reports for last semester were issued via ManageBac in December. If you have not recently accessed your ManageBac account and you need a password reminder, please send a message to request this to Grace Mkumbwa on .
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Sports News
Wow, how fast the first semester went! It has been a great time so far. Please find below all the important information regarding Physical Education, Houses, and Sports.

Physical Education
What a great first semester for all Secondary School Physical Education Classes. Not only for me to get back into the classroom, but for students to learn from another source. We spent the semester learning collaboration, expectations, respect and sportsmanship. It was a great learning experience for all of us.

Please find below the units that each of the classes will start with in January. These units will be outlined on Managebac after school starts.
M1 – Swimming
M2 – Swimming
M3 – Swimming and Water Polo
M4 – Swimming and Water Polo
M5 – E Portofolio
Students should check into the Managebac accounts for updates regarding these specific PE Units.

Sporting News
The ISM Sports Department is excited about this new season in January. Not only we will be continuing with our NTAA sports, but we will be offering some new sports and activities.

  • Please www.uwcea.org/sports1701 to find the ISM Sports Brochure.
  • Please www.uwcea.org/sports for the Sports Practice Timetable
  • Please click the link www.uwcea.org/sportschedule for sporting fixtures for ISM teams.

    Activities
    As always the ISM Sports Department wants to advertise three excellent afterschool activities, so please find below information regarding swimming, tennis and horseback riding.

    Swimming lessons for beginners, intermediate and advanced with Coach Sabini. Those students and parents who are interested in arranging lessons are kindly requested to contact Coach Sabini in person.

    Tennis Lessons for beginners, intermediate and advanced players with Coach Charles. Those students and parents who are interested in arranging lessons are kindly requested to contact him at 0757606766.

    Horse riding is also available and those interested need to contact Mr Priva at 0758053280 for more information regarding times, prices and requirements.

    As the year progresses please keep up with all the info, news, and sports reports by reading the Moshi Campus News.

    Go Leopards

    Scott Hibbard, (Head of Sport and Physical Education)
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    Fee Payments
    We would like to remind all parents paying fees by instalments, that the 3rd quarter fees were due to have been received by us last 1st December. This week all overdue fees will be surcharged by 10%. Please ensure that you make payment of any outstanding amount (if applicable) immediately so that your child’s place in classes is maintained.
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    Diploma Updates
    Update:
    • D2 mock exams extend for six full class days from Thursday, January 19th until Thursday, January 26th and in which D2s will be off the normal timetable. In mid-February parents will be sent the results.
    • D1s commence their hour-long weekly Research and Writing course facilitated by Ingrid Chavez and Rick Fitzpatrick. It is expected to enhance their skills in these areas which will prove useful for the preparation of IB DP coursework including the challenging independent research project – the Extended Essay – whose elements will be unveiled later this month.
    • D1 students will again be assessed against the DP Progression Policy benchmarks for the third academic quarter and it states: “At the end of the third quarter and of the third quarter, all full diploma students will be expected to have a minimum of 22 points (obtained by adding the reported achievement grades from their six subjects excluding ToK and EE). Any student achieving fewer than 22 points at this stage (or achieving fewer than 11 HL points) will be required to undertake a reduced programme with either fewer subjects or with fewer higher levels in consultation with the Diploma Programme Coordinator.”
    Upcoming Events:
    D2 Graduation Weekend (Fri May 19 & Sat May 20) – Mark your calendars for these events associated with our D2 May 2017 ISM IB DP graduation:
    a) Decorating of Karibu Hall – Friday morning May 19th from 9am to 12noon. Parents and relatives of graduates tend to lead this effort along with D2s who will have finished their exams by this date and this customarily is a wonderful, happy event for all who participate.
    b) Graduation Dinner – Friday evening May 19th at 6:30pm in Moshi for D2 grads and family members (only).
    c) Graduation – Sat aftn May 20th and doors open at 2:00pm for open seating.
    d) Graduation Tea in the Director’s Garden – approximately 4:30-6:00pm

    Weblinks:
    On the details regarding the new Extended Essay (for D1s) – https://ibpublishing.ibo.org/extendedessay/apps/dpapp/index.html

    On raising brilliant children – www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/07/05/481582529/how-to-raise-brilliant-children-according-to-science

    On helping young people confront challenges – www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/12/how-praise-became-a-consolation-prize/510845/

    On Building Critical Thinking Skills for the Internet – https://hechingerreport.org/teens-learned-internet-may-shock/

    On Plagiarism and the new President of Ghana – www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/ghana-nana-akufo-addo-caught-plagiarism-row-170108165213500.html

    Rick Fitzpatrick, (Diploma Coordinator):
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    Primary News



    I hope you and your families all had relaxing and enjoyable holidays. It was lovely to see so many parents at the End of Semester Assembly, just before we closed. For a lot of children, the highlight of that final week was the P3 – P6 Pool Party. This was so much fun. To sum it up – there was music, noodles, pizza, dancing, water pistols, juice, smiles, inner tubes, laughter and the ever popular Slip and Slide. What a great way to celebrate the end of such a fantastic semester.

    Almost all the parents managed to come to the parent-teacher conferences. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedules to do this. The student reports and conferences are important ways for us to communicate with you on the progress and successes of your children.

    In that final week also enjoyed the P1/2 Art Gallery in Karibu Hall. I thought the children were all very confident when performing songs and poems and when describing their paintings. Well done children!

    Of course, we are now looking forward to another busy quarter coming up. The students are excited to start such diverse clubs as gardening, swimming, physical theatre, contemporary music, Brownies, origami, netball, basketball, African Drums, code academy, jump rope, fairy tale arts & craft and much more. The clubs programme begins on Tuesday 17th January.

    Dates for your Diaries:
    Monday 16th January – lessons begin at 7.30am. Collect your child at 13.05.
    Tuesday 17th January – primary clubs begin
    Monday 23rd January – first homework will be sent home

    Kate Schermbrucker, (Head of Primary)
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    Early Childhood Preview
    Happy new year and welcome back to school. I hope you had a wonderful holiday. We are really looking forward to seeing the children on Monday and will welcome three new students, Aditi, Christian and Garvin. We hope that they will have a smooth transition into ISM.

    Our new unit of inquiry is under the transdisciplinary theme of ‘How the world works.’ This unit has a science focus. The central idea is ‘Through exploring, observing and communicating we learn to make sense of the world around us and its natural laws.’ The lines of inquiry are;
  • The cycle of light and dark
  • Investigating sources of light
  • Purposes and need for light and dark
  • How light and dark affects the behavior of living things
    We will tune into this unit by investigating a variety of light sources. If you have any light sources that you would be willing to loan us for this unit, please send them into school.

    Literacy
    The children will have an opportunity to share their favourite holiday experience with the class so please take time to talk to your child about this so that they are more prepared.
    Our literacy work this week will be based around the book ‘The Owl who was afraid of the dark’ by Jill Tomlinson.

    Numeracy
  • 3D shapes
  • number groups this week will focus on counting forwards and backwards and sequencing numerals.

    Please remember to send in a set of named spare clothes, a hat for the sun and indoor shoes. PE will be on Tuesday and swimming on Friday.
    Annalee
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    P1/2 Preview
    Congratulations to Chantelay, Levi and Maxine for receiving a green leaf at the Primary Gathering on the last Friday morning last semester.

    Unit of Inquiry: How We Express Ourselves
    Central idea: Creativity can be nurtured through inspiration, imagination and application.
    Lines of Inquiry:
  • Identifying Imagination. FORM
  • How we use our imagination CONNECTION
  • Investigating what inspires people. PERSPECTIVE
  • Applying imagination to creative endeavours. CONNECTION

    Last month we learnt about Perspective. Some children interviewed people to found out the meaning of the word. We read about how different artists used techniques to illustrate perspective in their artwork, for example objects closer to the viewer are presented larger than those, which are further away.

     

    Maths focus of the week.
    Thanks very much to all the parents who emailed me photographs of their children’s pictographs. The children each presented their photo which was projected for everyone to see. They used mathematical vocabulary to explain them and were very knowledgeable on the subject. In class the children designed a variety of pictographs using complex thinking skills. They also formed a number of different human graphs, i.e. by standing in separate columns. For example they made a human graph showing the different countries they were each born in, one showing their house teams and one showing T-shirt colour. This was a fun task which required good communication skills. This week the children will continue to measure items from the classroom and outside using both centimetres and metres.

    English focus of the week.
    The Green and Blue Groups played the game ‘Speed trial” recognising as many sounds as possible in one minute. Our record is 46 sounds so far. The children learnt three new sounds this week: ‘sh’, ‘ch’ and ‘th’, and we also practised reading sentences with these sounds. We connected our learning to our unit of inquiry by making sound crafts.

    The Purple Group was focusing on ‘ccvc’ (consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant) words, two syllable words, such as sunlight, lunchbox, etc., and reading and writing with these new learning ideas.

    Tablets. The children continued to enjoy exploring the ‘Scratch JR’ programming application. They are learning how to manipulate pictures and make them move in different directions. They also loved playing on the ‘Letters ‘application practising how to form letters and numbers correctly.

     

    Arts and Crafts. Last month the children were encouraged to be involved in new art related activities. They had the opportunity to make beautiful cards, use playdough, build with Lego and paint large scaled pictures in groups.

    What to bring to school every day:
  • Indoor shoes – please remind your child to bring the indoor shoes back to school.
  • A hat, a water bottle and a healthy snack. Some children still did not bring their hats this week. The rule is: No hat, no play, no fun.

    The Week Ahead:
    Monday: Swimming – please bring: trunk/costume, goggles (not compulsory but very useful), towel, swimming cap (for long hair), flip flops (the concrete by the pool can get very hot), sun lotion, and a plastic bag for the wet kit.
    Tuesday: Library
    Primary Clubs start
    Wednesday ‘Show and Tell’ for group 1.
    If your child attends the Gymnastics club, please make sure he/she wears comfortable clothing (skirts/dresses, jeans are not suitable for different jumps, rolls, hand and headstands).
    Thursday: PE lesson – sport shoes (no skirts please).

    Thank you for your co-operation!
    Have a great week ahead!
    Ms Andrea, P1/2 Teacher
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    P2/3 Preview
    Dear Parents,
    Welcome back to school and Happy New Year. I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. I look forward to welcoming all the children back for another wonderful quarter 3.

    The Week Ahead in class:
    P2/3 will be beginning their fourth unit of inquiry.
    How we organize ourselves
    Central idea – Human made systems are carefully designed to achieve multiple purposes.
    Line of inquiry – Where our food comes from
    We will be spending this week tuning into our new unit and find out what the children already know and what they would like to inquire more into.
    I have highlighted the main concepts in the central idea and these will be helping to drive our inquiry in class.
    If there are any partners who can help with this unit either sharing, field trip suggestion etc., please email me .

    Reading:
    This week the children will be practising their reading stamina and recording their thoughts and questions as they read. The children will also be setting their own reading goals for this quarter.
    We will be starting more book clubs this week. The children will be part of a book club during their guided reading time.
    If you would like to listen to some children read, please email me:

    Writing:
    This week the children will be writing personal narratives. This will be a great way for them to share all the amazing experiences they have had over the four-week holiday. It will also be a great way for the children review what is needed when writing a personal narrative.
    We will be looking a different spelling patterns that occur in their writing.
    The children will also be review the directionality of short letters and using the space provided correctly.

    Math:
    This week we will be reviewing our math facts. The children will be introduced to mad minute which is an activity which helps them practise their math facts within a certain time frame.
    The children will also be investigating into fractions. They will be identifying, showing and making fractions.

    The Week Ahead: –
    Monday: Quarter 3 begins. Home readers go home
    Tuesday: Library and Swimming: Clubs start today
    Wednesday: P3 French
    Thursday: P3 French
    Friday: PE

    Have a great week and welcome back
    Clare Hibbard P2/3
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    P6 Preview
    Compliments of the New Year. I hope all families had a great break and that your child is well rested.

    This quarter will be exciting with the Exhibition retreat underway and students learning about the Exhibition process bit by bit. Hopefully, this will allow them to smoothly embark on their journey.

    It is the beginning of a very exciting unit on energy. Our Central Idea is; Understanding energy transformation allows us to utilize its power.
    Lines of Inquiry:
  • sources of energy
  • how energy is transformed to do work
  • applications of energy sources
  • energy conservation
    We will do a pre-assessment and then tune-in through unpacking the central idea. Parents who are experts in this field of Energy, you are welcome to share your knowledge. Let me know through email when you would like to come in for a session. I am sure the students will be delighted to learn from you.

    In Math we will be focusing on algebraic expressions using number patterns and rules. The students will identify, describe, extend and create a wide variety of patterns.

    In Language Arts we will be looking at sequential writing and the vocabulary associated with this type of writing. Students will use this form of writing to document experiments they carry out during their unit of inquiry. Students will also be looking at patterns in the genre of myths.

    Our timetable remains the same, however homework will begin on the Monday, 23rd of January. Clubs will start on Tuesday, 17th of January.
    Have a great weekend,
    Ms Cathy.
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    IN THIS ISSUE
    ManageBac
    Sports
    Fees
    Diploma News
    Primary News
    Primary Previews
    CONTACT US International School Moshi
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    Moshi, Tanzania
    Tel: +255 27 2755005
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    NOTES This newsletter has been sent to you from International School Moshi. if your email address changes or if you would like me to add another email address to this mailing list.

    Keiron White
    Head of Moshi Campus

    International School Moshi provides a world-class education through a challenging international curriculum in a dynamic environment. We are committed to developing balanced global citizens who are empowered to act responsibly in a complex world.
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