Arusha Campus News – 20 Jan 2018

ISMAC students travelled to Moshi Campus on Friday to take part in the NTAA swim gala.

The five ISMAC students, Catherine, Ghaidaa, Aliabbas, Milos and Joel together with Dr Peterson and Mr Phil

Greetings from Nairobi from where I write this whilst accompanying five of our stellar students at the Global Issues Service Summit. This week our students have mixed with 160 other students from 14 schools all across Africa. We have shared news of our own service projects while listening to the real issues affecting our world and talking with like-minded change-makers to explore solutions. It has been a privilege to work with our students here.

In the meantime our new sports season gathers pace and we are indebted to Mrs Lema and Mr Samwell for accompanying our gallant ISMAC Junior Swim team to Moshi for the NTAA Gala on Friday. Results are yet to be declared but as usual we performed heroically.

We have received plenty of new faces into ISMAC this January and we would like to welcome them all with a cup of tea on Tuesday morning courtesy of our PTA. All parents, but especially new ones (!) are welcome to our Tuesday coffee morning on 23rd January at 7.45am. We will be just outside the main office by the Tanzanian flag.

See you there.

Phil

The PTA continues to work on improvements at school. At the moment we are looking for second hand items at special prices. We would like to buy a cooker with a gas oven. This will go in the PTA Orange Hut next to the changing rooms. The Diploma social area would like a mini refrigerator. The library area could also use some outdoor furniture.

Please contact us if you have any of such items for sale.
Thanks, on behalf of PTA

Carolynn Fischer: carolynnf95@gmail.com
Maral Sarkis: Maral@maralsarkis.com

Dear Parents,

On Tuesday we hosted MYP student-led conferences for M1-5 students. Thank you to all those parents who shared the learning and excitement of Semester One with us.

This week also saw the end of the D2 mock examinations. Well done to our D2 for all their hard work over the past two weeks. Parents of D2 will receive mock examination reports in the week beginning 29 January, which will detail performance in the mocks and help guide students over the final months of their IB Diploma journey.

On Wednesday afternoon our GISS (Global Issues Service Summit) team left for Nairobi, with Mr Bowen and Mrs Robin Peterson. The team will be presenting their work and experiences in secondary assembly on Monday 29 January at 10.20.

Friday morning saw an early start for swimmers from P3 to M1, with two busses leaving Arusha Campus just after first light to travel to Moshi Campus. Well done to all the competitors and thanks to Miss Sarah, Mr Samwel and Coach Khalid.

This weekend was also the first of our Semester Two OP trips. Students are hiking  to Mandara hut on Kilimanjaro. We wish the students and Ms Larpent well on this level one trip.

Next week the P6 students will be involved in their PYP Exhibition retreat. This will be at Arusha Campus on Thursday and Friday, with students from Moshi Campus. The programme will include workshops, along with team building and camping overnight on campus.

I hope you have a great start to the new week,

Darren

The P4/5 students (Tristan and Finn pictured right) enjoyed a hands-on building experience at Twende Innovation Center as part of our forces and motion inquiry.  They planned, measured, worked together, used tools, tested, and improved to create their own spring balances to measure forces.  We also had the opportunity to check out the innovations they create at Twende which use forces to overcome challenges.  We were very inspired!Check out the video link below to see pictures of our experience.

https://youtu.be/pdWvVAqdbMc

This weekend, we have a group of students hiking to Mandara Huts in Kilimanjaro National Park. This Level 1 OP trip is the starting level of the Outdoor Pursuit programme and is offered to M1 students and any new students who have recently joined ISMAC. Please find below our OP trips offered this semester.

M5 students are reminded that the first draft of their Personal Project Report is due on the 29th of January. It is important that students check in with their supervisor and use the checklist provided in their Personal Project guide (page 16) in order to ensure they have included all necessary elements in their report. Please see below the upcoming deadlines to complete the PP journey:

29 January – First draft of the report due
26 February – Final report with appendices due
20 March – Exhibition on campus

We wish all the best to our M5 students and welcome parents and guardians to attend the Personal Project Exhibition on March 20.

At the end of Q2, M5 students focused on preparation for the May 2018 on-screen exams. They completed a two-hour on-screen exam in English, Maths, Sciences, I&S and Interdisciplinary learning in order to familiarize themselves with the format and content of on-screen examinations as well as with the IT tools required. Another set of on-screen examination will take place early in Q4 before the final exams in May.

This Quarter, M5s are focusing on their Personal Project as well as ePortfolios in Design, PHE, French, Music, Drama and Visual Arts. These willl be assessed throughout Quarter 3 and sent to the IB for external evaluation early in Q4. All assessment dates are posted on ManageBac.

The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) is an examinations board and registered charity based in London, UK, which provides examinations in music at centres around the world.

ABRSM exam dates are being confirmed for “Spring” 2018. The most urgent deadline is registration for Theory exams in March. Registration for these must happen by Friday, January 12. The May or June Practical exams will have a later registration deadline. Please contact: davidaloysngasi@gmail.com for any information concerning the registration process.

French artist Denis Plassard came to ISMAC to deliver a workshop to the M1-M3 French intermediate and advanced classes. The workshop started with a solo choreography entitled ‘Faire la leçon’ which used a puppet as a means to teach French. Students then worked in groups to create their own choreography including a puppet to tell very original and creative stories.

Denis is a dancer and choreographer on a tour in East Africa through collaboration with the Alliance Française. He is performing a dance show at Arusha Meru International School on Saturday 20th of January at 6 pm. Entrance is free and everyone is welcome to see the show.