Arusha Campus News – 17 Sep 2017

The teachers at ISMAC were amongst the most competitive participants at yesterday”s Rotary ISMAC Triathlon. Here they are at the finish line after the exertions of the day were complete!

As we enter this weekend, I beam with pride a little more than usual because it marks the weekend when ISM and the Rotary Club of Arusha joined forces to host the Rotary ISMAC Triathlon. I am extremely privileged and proud to be associated with both organisations. They are not dissimilar in that they both strive to create a better world for everyone and fundamentally to ensure that we do our bit to create a fairer world.

It is no coincidence that the values of the United World College movement have much in common with those of the Rotary Club and ISM. The triathlon is a fitting event to commemorate these three organisations. A triathlon requires a team, grit and determination, the will to persevere and importantly a modesty from those that are crowned eventual winners.

I hope you enjoyed the triathlon.

Phil

P2 educating the primary school about staying healthy in the share-time today.

It is hard to beleive that we have now completed five weeks of the first quarter of the 2017-18 school year: meaning we only have three weeks until the October break.

Over the course of this quarter we have packed in a great deal of events and will continue to keep busy right up to the break. Already we have had some amazing events and activities, such as the M1 OP campcraft trip, our football and basketball teams have been in action, the M2 IDU trip to Pangani (pictured earlier), along with P5 visiting a Maasai boma this week.

Another major success from this week was the UK university fair held on Monday (above). ISMAC has been hosting university fairs for many years and this was one of the biggest we have seen for quite a while, with over 150 students from 5 schools, talking to 16 UK universities. This will be followed up on 22 September by a visit from two of the top US universities: MIT and Harvard; who will not only speak about their own programmes, but also applying to US universities in general.

As we move through the next three weeks we will continue to keep the students engaged with their learning, both in the classroom and beyond. Some of the highlights still to come are: the M5 leadership symposium (19-21 Sept), U15/U19 Football & basketball (20 Sept), U11 Rounders & U13 Basketball (23 Sept), OP Level 1B to North Pares Mountains (23-24 Sept), M4 West Kilimanjaro IDU trip (26-29 Sept), Primary and Secondary swimming galas (29 & 30 Sept) and Primary athletics (3 Oct).

We have a great team spirit here at ISMAC; one that includes students, teachers, parents and the wider community. Only by working together can we offer such a diverse and stimulating learning environment; one where we are all life-long learners.

I would like to welcome back Henry Shihemi. Henry will again be teaching maths and science within the secondary school, filling the void we have been covering internally since August. Henry taught at ISMAC last year when he covered Gina’s maternity leave. We wish him well for the rest of the academic year.

Have a great weekend,

Darren

UWC schools have identified lack of access to education as a major issue affecting young refugees. They are five times more likely to be out of school than more fortunate young people. Refugee communities need future leaders with strong abilities, social consciousness and drive for peace and reconciliation. As a result of this an average of 5% of students at UWC schools are refugees and this year in light of the escalation of many young people fleeing conflict and natural disasters they are increasing their number of scholarships annually by 100, read here:

 https://www.uwc.org/uwcrefugeeinitiative

ISM has started its own refugee initiative training secondary school teachers in Kakuma camp in Kenya in partnership with Utrecht University of Applied Sciences, UNHCR Kenya and Windle Trust who run the secondary schools in the camp. Our teachers are online mentors to the new teachers in the camp and will be running workshops to help the new teachers with skills such as classroom management, teacher and student welfare and how to break down curriculum for classroom teaching. You can read more in our Summit magazine here: https://www.uwcea.org/wp-content/newsletters/summit1706.pdf
Through this initiative we are also looking for donors to help support a number of refugee scholarships to our IB Diploma course at ISM. Please contact gemmamay@ed.ismoshi.com for more information on this or you can support us with a one off donation or monthly contribution at: https://www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/i-s-m/africanleadershipscholarship

Beautiful waterfall but freezing water!

Malou and Gaby (right) show collaboration in setting up their sleeping quarters.

The OP season kicked off with the OP Camp-craft trip last weekend. M1 students from Moshi and Arusha Campus got to know each other and completed a fantastic hike to one of the numerous Marangu waterfalls – some braved the freezing cold water for a quick swim!
Students learned basics OP skills such as setting up a tent, packing a bag efficiently for hiking, cooking outdoor meals and managing water and food intake to maintain high energy levels. Thank you to Anna Marsden, our director, who joined this trip as co-leader with Florence Larpent, OP Coordinator.

Manu (left) showing off his cooking skills

Next weekend, OP level 1 trip to Pare Mountains will take place on Sept 23-24. This trip is primarily for M2- D2 students who are new to ISMAC and are interested in trying our OP programme. The information meeting for this trip is on Monday 18th Sept and bag check will be on Wednesday 20th of Sept.

Below is an overview of OP trips for Semester 1

If anyone knows of someone in Arusha who may be willing/able to teach German, please could you pass on their contact details to Darren via darrena@ismac.ac.tz 

Many thanks