Moshi Campus News – 12 Feb 2017

We will be having a long weekend holiday this coming weekend. There will be no classes on Friday, 17th or on Monday, 20th February. Classes will resume at 07:30am on Tuesday, 21st February. Please note that there will be normal Primary Clubs, CAS and Sports activities on Thursday afternoon, 16th February.
Boarders who wish to travel home for the weekend may leave on Thursday evening after their afternoon activities are completed, or on Friday morning, and should return by Monday supper time at 6pm. For those boarders who remain in school, we will be offering a holiday trip to the school house in Pangani – boarders in primary and M1-M4 who are not travelling home for the weekend will be expected to go to Pangani; this trip is optional for M5 and diploma boarders.

Short but busy, I think that will describe this week. We kick off Monday morning with the annual D1 Raft Race and the ISA tests all week for students in P4 to P6, M1 and M3. The ISA tests will finish off next week. On Tuesday, the M5 students will have their Personal Project Exhibition and the Student Council will be delivering roses for Valentine’s Day. This weekend our MUN students will be heading to Nairobi for the East African MUN Conference.
Please remember we have the long weekend with no school on Friday the 17th and Monday the 20th.
The morning we get back, Tuesday the 21st Memorial University will meet with the D1 and D2 students. This has been a popular destination for our students so we are happy to have them on campus. The next day our M1 students will head off to Manyara for their interdisciplinary trip. Bob Cofer

Our M5 students will be exhibiting their Personal Projects in Karibu Hall on Tuesday, 14th February from 10:35am to 12:10.

A Personal Project is an MYP requirement which provides an excellent opportunity for students to produce a truly creative piece of work of their choice and to demonstrate the skills learnt over an extended period of time. The project is personal as it reflects an individual student’s special interests, hobbies or abilities. All are welcome to view the presentations.

Every year, a number of our students take the online ISA tests set by ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research). These tests, designed for international school students, help us to evaluate our own curriculum and teaching and also help you to determine your child’s level when compared with international standards. After the tests, each parent will receive a detailed report of their child’s performance. However it is important to remember that a child’s academic level is measured in many different ways and these test scores only provide one possible assessment and these must interpreted along side all the other assessments that take place regularly in your child’s classes.
Students in P4, P5, P6, M1 and M3 will take tests in Mathematics, Reading and Writing and, in addition, M3 students will take a Science test.
These tests are scheduled between 13th and 24th February. This week’s tests are Reading (Monday 13th), Writing Test A (Tuesday 14th), Mathematics (M1/M3 on Wednesday 15th, P4/P5/P6 on Thursday 16th).
If you would like to read more about ISA tests, please see https://www.acer.edu.au/isa.
Parents are requested to read the ISA Privacy Information available at www.uwcea.org/wp-content/docs/archive_documents/isa_privacy.pdf

On Wednesday, 15 February we will be holding our primary swimming gala. Children should be at the pool by 0740 for land warm-ups led by their class teachers. EC will begin the competition at 0815 with widths and one P6 swimmer-helper in the water. Then, P1-P6 will continue with the gala until 10am, when we will break, returning for the rest of the events and relays. We will finish before lunch at 1:05pm.
All students will register in their classes on Monday. There will be 25m races and 50m races for all ages, and 100m freestyle, and 100m individual medley available for those who are swimming with the swim squad. There will also be 25m and 50m relays. It is a fun event for House points, and we encourage all students to participate for their House team!
Other Primary Sports Last week was a big one for our swimmers who traveled to Kennedy House for a Dual Meet with the two schools. The two-hour meet was followed by a stroke clinic that involved all of the swimmers on both teams.
Football, jump rope, riding, and basketball clubs continue each week. We had to postpone the basketball tournament scheduled for last week due to a lack of teams, but will look to arrange friendlies after the holidays.
Please note: Thur 23 Mar – Sun 26 Mar 2016 – Kenyan Independent Schools Champs – Nairobi – selected primary swimmers only.

There were a number of boarding activities planned for the weekend. These included town trip, movies for different ages and football on Friday. On Saturday, the boarders took part in a tennis tournament on campus, but also had other activities to keep them engaged. These included a primary debate, making Valentine’s crafts, a picnic for primary boarders on the pitches, music and dance, and a trip to the movies in Arusha for Diploma students. In the evening, a basketball tournament was organized for MYP boarders, while the Diploma students had a barbecue and dance outside the Diploma boys’ boarding house.
The Tennis tournament will continue on Sunday for ages 19+. There will church trips in the morning, and in the afternoon several groups will be involved in baking activities.
Next weekend will be a long one, and classes will end on Thursday 16th in the afternoon, and resume on Tuesday 21st morning. There will be study hall as usual on Thursday evening. A boarding trip has been planned for Friday the 17th to Sunday the 19th February. The trip is compulsory for Primary boarders, and MYP boarders (up to M4).There is no charge for the trip. Students from M5 to D2 are also welcome to join. This trip is to Pangani, where the school owns a house by the beach. They will leave Pangani on Sunday 19th to come back to school, and still have time for other activities on Monday. Normal study hall will resume on Monday, 20th February.
Some boarders have planned to spend the long weekend at home. Kindly inform us if you plan to have your child at home during this weekend, especially where flights are involved, so that we can organize transport to/from KIA. A few boarders have been invited to spend the weekend with other families. Kindly note that if your child is staying with a host family during the long weekend, then we need an invite from the host parent, which then acts a confirmation that they will take care of the student the entire weekend. We also require permission from the parent, allowing their child to spend the weekend with the host family. This information should be fairly elaborate, to enable the boarding team to plan. Rosemary Bango, (Head of Boarding)

We were pleased to welcome many guests to our presentation in Dar es Salaam yesterday morning – thanks to those ISM families who supported us and invited friends to the event.
We are currently receiving a number of applications for the new school year and some classes, notably M4 and M5 look likely to be full already. Early application is advised for new places.

Bursaries We were pleased to announce our enhanced Bursary programme whilst in Dar. Every year ISM offers a few academic bursaries (worth 25% of the tuition fee) for able new students joining the school. In 2017 we will have a number of additional bursaries available for new students joining D1 who have a stong academic record.

ISM is now seeking applications from successful form four students to join our scholarship programme for D1 and D2 from August 2017. These scholarships offer full payment of all tuition (and boarding) fees and are very competitive every year. Applicants must be Tanzanian citizens who have completed form four in a national (NECTA) school and obtained the excellent score of 10 points or better on their form four exams. Applications close on 16th February. If you know of an able student in this position, please encourage him or her to apply. Full details and application forms are available from https://www.uwcea.org/scholar

HOME OF THE LEOPARDS As mentioned in last week’s article, the importance of culture in schools and sports programs. I had the opportunity to speak with students and I believe we are heading in the right direction with this culture. As students make a commitment to the program, the program needs to show a commitment to students as well. So we are arranging sport friendlies on a weekly basis with local clubs and schools to keep our teams and players fresh, and we will explore other avenues for our program to expand. This could be international trips, or visitors or any number of opportunities. Keep posted by reading the newsletter.
Sporting News This past Saturday February 4th the Leopard teams traveled to Braeburn for the 2nd round of the NTAA. Please see the game reports from the coaches
Boys’ Football The U15 Boys came into the weekend as top of the table and left the same way. The boys played to a 0-0 tie vs St Jude’s, and a 5-1 win vs St. Constantine’s. The boys played well, and their coach Mr Isaac was really impressed.
Girls’ Football The U15 Girls came to Braeburn determined to keep themselves at the top of the table after their two victories the weekend before, however, they ran into two really determined opponents in Braeburn and St. Constantine’s. Both games were highly competitive and the Lady Leopards lost to Braeburn 1-2 and tied against St. Constantine’s.
Boys’ Basketball Saturday was disappointing for our program. Our guys lost to ISMAC 36-17 & Braeburn 43-37. STATS Edward 15 points, 5 rebounds; Sam 14 points, 6 rebounds; Manini 9 points, 20 rebounds; Tommaso 6 points, 6 rebounds; Mike Cool 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 blocked shots (ONE MAMMOTH ONE!); Louie 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals; Hussein 1 point, 2 rebounds; Mahdi & Brian had 1 rebound each; Hardeep got minutes.
Girls’ Basketball OUR LEOPARD LADY SEASON ended as expected, nothing better, nothing worse. We beat St. Jude’s (11-7) and lost to St. Constantine’s (39-9) on Saturday. STATS Lianne 9 points, 12 rebounds; Rachelle 4 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist; Ndashi 4 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals; Janeth 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist; Margreth 1 point, 2 rebounds; Emily 3 rebounds; Nandi, Tanpreet, & Maggie got minutes.
As always you can keep yourself up to date with the important links:

Season Two Practice Timetable: www.uwcea.org/sportspractice

U15 Football and U19 Basketball Game Schedule www.uwcea.org/sportschedule

NTAA Schedule of Events. www.uwcea.org/sportsmeeting
House Competition The ISM Indoor Football Tournament is now in full swing, and games are highly competitive and the crowds have been enthusiastic. At the moment, Curry FC hold a slim lead at the top of the table over the Karibu Krackers (Teachers), but there are lots of games to be played, so it can be any team’s tournament. Please click here for the Tournament Schedule: www.uwcea.org/sports_house. We look forward to the rest of the tournament.
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)

75+ students participated in Saturday’s fabulous day-long tennis tournament for ISM community youth sponsored by AMEG Lodge (www.ameglodge.com). The healthy spirit of friendly athletic competition contributed to the event’s super ambience in which fun was had by all! Listed below are top players in each age group along with the day’s best photos.
ISM expresses its special thanks to Maria Chauhan and Priya Shah for arranging the complex players’ tennis competition schedule. A big appreciation also goes to Rajen Shah for AMEG’s donation of the free red golf-shirts, white caps, water, coffee, snacks, new tennis balls and juice! Lastly, Coach Charles and his referee squad plus the presence of ISM’s school nurse enabled the event to be a smashing (do you like the tennis pun?) SUCCESS! The BIG question now is….on Sunday’s Day 2 of the tennis tournament for adult men…who from among the eighteen ISM community adult competitors will be the champion? News on that in next week’s newsletter.

Winners & Runners-Up Girls U6 – Mariza, Annie-Matilda Boys U6 – Kairi, Eli R Girls U8 – Mithra, Kamili D Boys U8 – Sahil C, Fedya Girls U10 – Aurelia M, Eunice Boys U10 – Aman, Nuno Girls U12 – Caroline M, Amaya Boys U12 – Frank M, Luke B Girls U15 – Victoria N, Deborah L Boys U15 – Batian, Christopher F Girls U19+ – Susanna W, Ana H Boys U19 – Joseph W, Nathan

Last week we hosted the NTAA Regional Championships at Moshi Pool. As a team, we secured 50 gold medals, and won the overall team points for men, women, and combined. We truly shone in the pool, and many of our swimmers secured their spots on the NTAA Regional Team as the top finisher in their event.
This week, we wish Alicia, Sanne, and Chris luck as they travel to Buluwayo, Zimbabwe to represent Tanzania at the CANA Zone 4 Championships. This is the largest competition an age-group athlete can participate in in East Africa. They have earned this honour through their hard work and dedication, and as captains, they are role models for others.
Last Friday, our very own Coach Sabini was interviewed by ITV for his role in training some of Tanzania’s best swimmers, not only those who attend the school presently, but also those who are alumni. This is a deserving honour, for Sabini’s presence at the pool has for years raised the bar for swimming in Moshi. We are here because of his efforts and hope that Tanzania continues to recognize the impact he has made on swimming in this country.
Workouts remain the same this week, though we will miss Saturday’s practice, we will workout on Monday at 3.15pm, after the long weekend.

After the huge success of our Blood Drive last Semester, we are planning another Blood Drive on Friday, 24th February from 2pm. KCMC Hospital is in great need of blood supplies which are in short supply. You can help by giving about one hour of your time to donate blood to be used at the hospital. We would like to encourage as many members of the community to come to school to donate blood as feel able.
A number of doctors from KCMC who are members of our community have kindly offered to join us to support the KCMC and blood donation staff to ensure that the event is a success and that all operates smoothly.
If you are over 18 years of age, in generally good health, and weigh more than 50kg, we would be very grateful for your support. Students who are 16 or 17 years old require parental permission to donate blood. A tiny drop of blood is taken from your fingertip. This allows the medical staff to check your haemoglobin levels and ensure that giving blood won’t make you anaemic. If all is well, you will be able to donate blood. You will donate about 470ml of blood – this amount of blood is quickly replaced by your body. Once you have given blood, you should have a short rest before being given some refreshments. All in all giving blood shouldn’t take more than an hour. Please remember to have something to eat and drink before you give blood. There will be some light refreshments available for donors in school.
Please do try to help and join us to donate on 24th February. Whether you are a first time donor or a frequent donor, you will be very welcome. Please spread this message amongst your friends and colleagues so that we can maximise the success of this event.

This weekend our planned Outdoor Pursuits trip to Mandara Hut was cancelled due to a very low number of sign-ups. The next trip is to Mt Hanang and this will leave Moshi on 9th March. A large number of students have signed for this trip and there are only one or two places remaining.

Many thanks to everyone who supported the bookswap last week. The primary students had a lot of fun finding new books to read and the leftover books were donated to our day care children who were delighted to receive them.

Update:

Concerns have arisen regarding the effort level of D2 students with their May 2017 IB DP exams less than three months away. Parents will want to join us on the ISM faculty in encouraging D2 students to intensively focus their energies and focus.

D2s will submit their final Theory on Knowledge Essay on March 9th and the Biology, Chemistry ESS and Physics course-work assignments are due on Thursday, 16th February.

Oral exams in the Group 1 and 2 language subjects in addition to various other coursework assignments are also due soon.

D2s identified sleep and time management as two items that warrant extra attention as they prepare for the May exams.

DP teachers’ collaborative planning meeting focused on concept-based learning and differentiation in the classroom and ManageBac unit plans which parents can access.

The D2 graduation committee met and Mr White provided an overview. Then the leadership team elections took place (Lulu Seyvunde, Sarah Khaki, Gladys Morgan and Sahil Aggarawal).
Upcoming Events:

• This week in the ‘D1 Research and Writing skills’ class, students analyzed the guidelines and timeline for the Extended Essay (https://bit.ly/2laskyM).
• The 3rd academic quarter parent-teacher meeting will occur on Friday March 31st. PLEASE ensure that your son/daughter does not leave before 9:15am on that date. It is detrimental to their education to remove them early.
• The DP Handbook for the incoming class has been finalized and sent to M5s and their parents. M5 parents who will be on the campus on Tues Feb 14th and who plan on enrolling their son/daughter in the ISM Diploma Programme are invited to have face-to-face meetings on that day (DPC – ISM incoming D1 student – parent) to make course selections.
• Reminder to parents of D2 students re: D2 Graduation weekend events: a) Decoration of Karibu Hall – Fri May 19th – 9am-noon; b) Graduation Friday evening dinner at AMEG Lodge in Moshi at 6:30pm; c) Graduation Ceremony – Saturday May 20th with arrival at 2:00 for a 2:30pm sharp star; d) Tea in the ISM Director’s Garden 4:30-6:30pm.

Websites: On job market of the future and teaching 21st century skills – https://bit.ly/nonacademicskills
On IB May 2016 statistics for the DP – https://bit.ly/IBDPmay2016stats
On 50 Excellent Extended Essays (for D1s/parents) www.easthartford.org/page.cfm?p=10855
Rick Fitzpatrick, (Diploma Coordinator):

What a great week we had last week for book week! Many thanks to our mystery readers; Gelske, Ms Clare, Ms Pearl, Kacey and P5. Many thanks also to P4/5 for inviting us on a teddy bear’s picnic. There was yummy food, story time and fun with our P4/5 buddies. The book swap went really well and everyone went home happily with some new books! (or even their own books back!!) Everyday the whole school dropped everything and read; EC enjoyed reading in the tent and other new places around the classroom.
Unit of Inquiry This week the class will inquire into shadows as well as test a variety of torches for their brightness. The children are still adding to their list of light sources and will now think about what different lights are used for.
Literacy

Looking at the difference between fiction and non-fiction books

Working on their individual non-fiction books about light

EC1s will find out about the sound w made by Walter Walrus

EC2s will work on rhyming words through stories and games
Numeracy

Our graph of lights found in our homes is almost finished and we will discuss the data this week

Number activities will be according to the children’s level, working in groups on recognition of numbers, counting skills and matching groups of objects to numbers.

Mental maths skills will include adding and taking away 1/what comes after/before a given number.

The children will sequence pictures of different events that occur at different times of the day.

What an exciting week we had!!! Book week, assembly! The children at school were buzzing all week!
Congratulations Everybody in P1/2 for a great assembly presentation!! We were leading the Primary Assembly for the very first time this school year. The children have shared what they learnt about our current unit with enthusiasm, growing confidence and great team effort.
A big Thanks to Niall’s mum, Maxine’s dad and Mama Yuji for being our Secret Readers this week. The children really enjoyed this activity and it was great hearing them giggling and asking questions with curiosity.
Our Unit of Inquiry is: Where We Are In Time And Space Central Idea: Sources of historical evidence help us learn about the past. Lines of Inquiry and key concepts:

The ways individuals document their histories. FORM?

Reflecting on past experiences. REFLECTION

Documenting our own histories. PERSPECTIVE

Representing our identity. REFLECTION This week the children worked very hard to prepare for our assembly. Everybody was engaged and very busy. Some children were building Viking boats or shields and swords. Another group of children were putting ‘My Own History’ project together using their baby and infant photos. Some children were practising lines and working on ‘How children lived 80 years ago in England’.
English focus of the week: This week we had fantastic activities related to the Book Week. We wrote a creative story together as a class effort. We also visited P2/3 for buddy reading and had some parents reading us their favourite stories.
Maths focus of the week: This week we started to revise number bonds to 10 and 20, sums, 2D and 3D shapes. The children were busy walking around the school campus drawing and writing shapes from our environment. They also enjoyed fun physical activities to remember number bonds to 10 and 20.
What to bring to school every day:

Indoor shoes – please remember to send the indoor shoes back as it can get very muddy after heavy rains.

A hat, a water bottle and a healthy snack. The rule is: No hat, no play, no fun.
Monday: Swimming – please bring trunk/costume, 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. Homework goes home. Tuesday: Library Wednesday: Primary Swimming Gala Thursday: PE lesson – trainers please Friday: No classes – long weekend.
Thank you for your co-operation! Have a great week ahead! Kind regards, Ms Andrea, P1/2 Teacher

Dear Parents, Last week the children had a great time on their field trip to Macharme farm. Thank you Gelske for organizing a wonderful learning experience. The children saw firsthand a human made system. They took part in this learning experience by planting seeds using tools to dig and the most important part eating the home-grown food (a delicious salad).
A reminder to all parents, please can you ensure that your child is completing all of their homework and returning back to school on Thursday so it can be marked.
This Week in class: This week the children have had a lot of fun during Book Week. They enjoyed the surprise readers we had in class. Thanks to everyone who read. The children reflected on books they had read or had read to them. They then wrote a summary of the book and a reason why they had pick this particular book to receive an award. The P2/3 children have been busy counting and sorting money. We have been focusing on being able to counting in 2s,5s and 10s in order calculate different currencies. The children have begun to create their own 3-dimensional book. This has helped them to see what type of process an author goes through when writing a book.
The children have been asking me about when their camping trip will be. I have kept them in suspense for a couple of weeks now. I will however be sharing the date and venue with them next week. A letter about the camping trip will be sent home next week with a permission slip.
The Week Ahead in class: Unit of Inquiry This week we will be continuing with our new unit and looking at the following lines of inquiry: How we organize ourselves Central idea – Human made systems are carefully designed to achieve multiple purposes. Lines of inquiry – How people work together to distribute food       – Systems involved in growing and processing food The children want to make a compost for our class and put the food waste from their snack in there. They will be designing a compost bin and explaining why the class should use their design. This will tie in nicely to our persuasive writing.
Reading: We will continue with book clubs this week. The main focus for all readers will be to STOP and Self Monitor (stop and think to make sure you are understanding what you read).
Writing: We will continue our focus on persuasive writing. Writing using our OREO organizer (opinion, reasons, evidence and opinion). The children will be to persuade a member of their family to do something or let them have something. Please keep an eye out for a letter addressed to you.
Math: The children have suggested that we have a shop set up in class so that they can focus on using money. They will be make price tags for items to be sold and role playing the customer and shop keeper. We will be reviewing greater than, less than and equal to when comparing prices.
The Week Ahead: Monday: Home readers and homework go home. Camping trip letter /Permission slip will go home this week. Tuesday: Library and Swimming. Wednesday: Primary Swimming Gala Thursday: P3 French | Please return completed homework Friday: No classes (long weekend)
Well done to Eunice, Townes and Amaya for receiving a green leaf and to Joshua for winning the Book Swap estimation.
Useful websites: www.foodafactoflife.org.uk/QuickLinks.aspx?contentType=2
www.abcya.com/number_bubble_skip_counting.htm
www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/money Have a great week Clare Hibbard P2/3

What a wonderful book week! We had so much fun. We are just completing some wonderful collaborative e-books. We have started to understand that writing a book is a complex art and requires logic, creativity and persistence.
  We had great fun inviting the Early Years to have a teddy bear’s picnic with us and we even made some bear shaped cookies for them to enjoy. The students taught the students the chant We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen.
A big THANK YOU to our mystery readers who surprised us with some excellent stories. It turned out to be quite multi-cultural and we heard stories from Japan (thanks to Sanae) and also a story by a Liberian author (thanks Bob). We even had a visit from a boarding mother (Ms.Kabuje) who wanted to share her favourite book with the class.
For our Unit of Inquiry we had a guest speaker (Gemma) on Monday who came to share an example of a good business plan and talked us through the important aspects to consider when writing professionally and persuasively.
In the week up coming our groups will be coming together to start to formulate their business plans. They will complete their market analysis and begin to make financial projections.
We worked on reviewing subtraction with regrouping this week and will be continuing this next week as it is a new concept to some. For those children who are struggling in learning times tables we hope to see lots of commitment in learning these over the week ahead. Julie Bowen, (P4/5 Class Teacher)

Many thanks to everyone who gave up their time to come into class as a surprise reader: Bob Cofer, Rick Fitzpatrick, Natalie Lindsay, Priya Shah and Marieke Dekker all helped to make book week fun and interesting for the children. The P5 children were surprise readers for the Early Childhood class. We all chose a suitable book and went to EC to read to the youngest members of our community. Our other book week activities have included designing a book mark and playing book bingo. The children have listened to a variety of stories this week. When we have worked our way through the list we will discuss “What are the qualities of a good book,” and vote on which book is our favourite.
We finished our read aloud, “The Iron Man,” by Ted Hughes. We have written newspaper articles based on this book and many of these are displayed in the breezeway next to our beautifully decorated door. During one of our IT sessions the children typed an opinion piece about whether it is better to read a book, or to watch a movie about the same story. This work is also displayed in the breezeway.
We continued our investigations into energy by using elastic band powered airplanes. Next week the children will need to decide what toy or model they are going to make that shows the transformation of energy and utilization of its power. I will put together some suitable websites to provide inspiration for the children but many of them already have their own ideas and may ask you to start getting some materials together at home. In class the children will start drawing up their plans and list of materials. I have balloons, rubber bands, wheels and axles but cardboard boxes, plastic bottles etc. will need to be brought in from home. If you have any spare ones of these please send them in – even if your child doesn’t need them for his/her model somebody else might make good use of them.
In maths we have looked at different ways of displaying information on graphs and also started looking at money. We will continue with our work on money next week.
This week the children will take their ISA tests in the IT lab. The children do not need to do any special preparation for these tests but they will all benefit from a good night’s sleep. Please ensure your child arrives at school promptly as on some days we will commence work in the IT lab at 7:35 a.m. Please note that there are no lessons next Friday or the following Monday (17th and 20th February) as the school is closed for a long weekend. Homework will be collected on Thursday of next week.
The week ahead: Monday – Library, new homework packet to be sent home and returned on Thursday Tuesday – Music, PE, French Wednesday – Primary Swimming Gala Thursday – French and return homework packet to school Friday – no school Deborah Mills, (P5 Teacher)

It was great to feel the Book Week spirit in the air throughout the week. Thank you parents for making this a great success by dressing your child up and sending books for book swap.
A very special word of thanks goes to Ms Sarah (Jonah’s mum) for being our mystery reader. It was fun listening to an excerpt from “The Fun They Had” by Isaac Asimov and Shel Silverstein’s poem, “Sick.”
Discussions, brainstorms and reflections are dominating our classroom as we near the Exhibition unit. The students have shared their burning issues and identified the Transdisciplinary theme that best fits their issue. In the coming week, they will form their final groups based on the themes they fall under.
The long awaited D1 raft race is this coming Monday 13th February. Some of the P6s will be taking part so parents you are welcome to cheer and be part of the fun. It will be by the pool from 7:45 a.m.
We will also be sitting the ISA tests over the coming week. The students had the mock early this week and are confident with how the tests work.
In Unit of Inquiry, we are finalizing our models for the Summative Assessment. The students have learned a great deal about how energy is transformed and how electricity is generated. This week we will end the unit by finding out how we can conserve energy around us and use biomass more as a source of energy.
In Math, we will review concepts of fractions and decimals. The students will also continue to sharpen their skills in division and multiplication facts. In our unit of inquiry we will work out real life problems related to measurement and collecting data.
In Language Arts the students continue with the book, “The Boy who Harnessed The Wind”. We will be looking at the strategy; predicting. The students will also be writing descriptions, reflections and using unit related words in their daily tasks.
This week starting on the 13th February is a short week therefore homework is due on Thursday, 16th February. Ms Cathy.

IN THIS ISSUE