Moshi Campus News – 12 Sep 15

The Islamic holiday of Eid al Adha is likely to fall on either Wednesday, 23rd September or Thursday, 24th September. We expect to have a confirmed date by next week and will let you know when we do. As this is a national public holiday, there will be no classes on that day. There will be activities for boarding students.

All our M5 students are getting excited about our Leadership Symposium camp this week Wednesday to Friday, 16-28 September. We will be doing team-building activities alongside working out what kind of leaders we are and how we can work better collaboratively towards a shared goal. This is a great opportunity for our students to channel their understanding of their skills and talents, helping them to be assertive and confident in voicing opinions as well as listening to others and valuing other opinions. We have a variety of presenters, so the three days look promising and we look forward to working with Arusha Campus M5 students in a retreat setting.

A representative from Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, will be visiting the Moshi Campus and talking to Diploma students on Wednesday, 16th September. Many ISM students have enrolled in Memorial in the past as it offers a good selection of courses at attractive fees.
Harvard and MIT Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will be presenting to our diploma students on Wednesday, 23rd September at 9am. For the last four consecutive years, an ISM student has won a full scholarship to Harvard, and they are hoping that more ISM students will apply in the future. This is also the first visit of MIT to Moshi Campus. They will also be presenting to our Arusha Campus students at 12:30pm the day before.

The picture to the left shows students climbing to Socialist Peak during our Mount Meru trip last weekend. A full set of photographs is available for you to view at www.uwcea.org/op-socialist15.
You may also like to see photos of the earlier M1 Camp Craft trip at www.uwcea.org/op-campcraft15

  Last week our M4 students joined their counterparts from Arusha Campus for field study in West Kilimanjaro. They returned to school on Friday afternoon and we hope to bring a longer report in next week’s newsletter.

The next PA Committe meeting is on Monday, 21st September. Parents are welcome to meet the committee in Bob Horton’s office from 8am to 8:30am to discuss any issues.
We hope to see many parents and teachers at the PA Picnic to be held at TPC in Moshi on Saturday, 26th September.

The legal driving age for cars in Tanzania is 18 years. Hence ISM does not allow any students under the age of 18 to drive anywhere on the campus (including the entrance and car park).
Students who are over 18 and wish to drive to school need permission from the Head of Campus before doing so, and specific conditions will be laid down at the time they obtain that permission.

In MYP, our young musicians are starting to wind down their first unit of the year, if it has not wound down already. M1s, in their quest to uncover and learn to use all the tools that are a part of the “toolbox of creativity”, have taken a few weeks to create their own mini-compositions which use all eight elements of music. Week by week, the M2s are slowly learning more and more about two particular musicians that they have identified as musical legends. Ultimately, they will have to be an expert on one of them and show how that legend can be defined by his or her ability to express and be innovative. The M3 musicians are focusing in on how to critically listen to and describe music from many world cultures. Their final project will be a ‘musical walk’ through the culture that they identify most with, and describe the music according to the musical elements.
The M4s have just finished up their first unit on pushing conventional boundaries of aesthetics by completing a project where they chose a piece of music, and came up with ways to musical change it so that it would challenge the idea that it is actually a piece of music. Finally, the M5 students are digging deeper into different musical eras in order to understand the history of Western Art Music better. They will then put their creative hats on and come up with and describe an ‘alternate’ era of music history, based on the various needs of audiences at the time. Musically yours, Susan Kellerman ISM Music Teacher and Program Coordinator

If you hear a SHAKE, RATTLE, AND ROLL, don’t worry – it’s just Music Fun Club. Last week the children were making egg shaker instruments in their after school club. Now they can play along each week as they sing and dance. If you’re ever on campus on a Wednesday afternoon, feel free to stop in a dance along with us.

Model United Nations strives to create tomorrow’s leaders by mentoring young people to think globally and act locally. Students learn specific communication and collaboration skills including; technical writing , debating , researching, and networking skills. In past years ISM has offered EAMUN for 14-19 year-old students. This year, we are glad to introduce the MSMUN to our CAS Program. MSMUN is for 11-14 year-old students. The climax of both programs is participation in a regional conference at the United Nations Offices in Nairobi (UNON). Without fail, this activity fosters amazing collaboration amongst students through workshops, debates, and resolution creation. Currently, the EAMUN is eagerly and collaboratively writing resolutions to be considered for use at the annual conference in February.

I am playing nicely?
M1s have settled well to MYP drama and they enjoy the workshops. At M1 students are introduced to the concepts of movement and action. The dramatic techniques such as basic role play, freeze framing or tableau, slow motions are some of the theater movement techniques that they are introduced to. These techniques help develop their personal and social skills such as concentration, cooperation and collaboration, sustaining ideas and confidence.
Can you trust me?
This is the question that the M2 drama class are exploring. It looks at basic stage combat techniques which is meant to equip them with the skills for stage fighting and theatre safety. In order to boost their confidence and building their trust, students engage in “Trust Fall” exercise. This quarter, the M2 group are learning slaps actions and reaction techniques, belly-knee punch, hair pulling and various falling techniques. They then put all these together by creating a drama situation which involves a combination of these techniques with emotions and dialogue.

MYP Design & DP ITGS Students in MYP Design and DP ITGS are well into projects that involve practical applications of their learning. In both programmes, student are learning the process of design through a variety of different projects that all involve the design cycle. This process can be applied to a wide variety of real life problems in order to find and create solutions. Here is a brief outline of what each year group is working on this term.
M1 Design How can we help students new to ISM secondary? These new ISM secondary students are researching different areas of the ISM secondary school. By creating presentations on these areas, they are learning about being secondary students while creating a helpful tool for future M1 groups.
M2 Design How can I help someone new to a place I am familiar? M2s are busy designing and creating websites that will serve guides to many different places. The students chose a place they are very familiar with as the subject of their websites.
M3 Design
How can I use computer drawing tools to design and create a cube puzzle? Lots of people love solving puzzles. Creating puzzles is also fun and challenging. The M3 students are using 2D and 3D computer drawing tools to design and build puzzle cubes.
M4 Design How can I create an educational game with Scratch? Computer games are also fun and a great way to learn. Students in M4 design are using Scratch Programming to create an educational game for a specific client or audience. Their games will be entertaining and educational.
M5 Design How can I use computer programming to create a logo? M5 students are expanding their coding skills by learning and using Processing. The have been tasked with designing and creating a logo for a specific client using Processing. This project is both challenging and engaging for the students.
Diploma ITGS D2 ITGS students are using the design cycle for their ITGS internal assessments. Each students has been working with a specific client to create an IT solution to a real life problem. These projects range from databases to multimedia solutions. The students have needed to acquire a deeper understanding and higher level of skill in many practical areas in order to create their solutions.

A busy week in the pool came to a dramatic close on Saturday, as Moshi swimmers traveled to Arusha Campus for their first competition of the year. Results were very strong considering how early it is in the season, with all swimmers achieving best times, and our M1 swimmers, Aselya, Maria, Silipa and Sanne achieving best times in all of their events.
M5 Freddy reasserted himself as the school’s fastest backstroker with a 37:28 mark – ahead of Alicia’s 39.77 mark set last year – and in 100 IM with a 1:21.22 – ahead of Chris’ 1:24.13 set last year. Freddy is edging closer to the school record in that event, Twan’s 1:16.05.
Sanne affirmed her place as the school’s fastest female in 50 free (31.15) and 50 fly (39.50). Her 1:30.09 clocking in 100 IM is knocking on the door of Alicia’s 1:27.38 top mark for the same event. Notably absent from the meet was Sally, who feel ill on Friday and could not participate, but when she returns Moshi swimming fans can expect the friendly rivalry to continue between these top female swimmers who continue to establish their mark in the pool.
Chris asserted his dominance in the pool as a twelve-year-old who towers over his competition. His time in 50 fly (41.41), the first we have on record, established himself as the fourth fastest swimmer in the pool, against competitors who are many years older. Shawn also had a strong competition, lowering his 100 IM personal best by seven seconds, to 1:26.60.
The swim of the meet, however, went to Kyle, whose 1:30.28 for 100 IM shaved 27 seconds off his personal best. Kyle looks poised for big things this year!
Upcoming Dates: Fri 25 Sept – Sun 27 Sept – Tanzanian Open Championships – Zanzibar Sat 10 Oct 2015 – ISM/ Arusha Meet #2 – Moshi Campus – 830am-1130am

Parents/ volunteers/ students needed for timing/ preparing baked goods, coffee, fruit, juice/ entries/ results entry/ marshalling/ starting/ working food table

More information to follow soon!

Team Announcement The Varsity Team – those who have completed their one-month try-out – will be announced at assembly on Mon 14 Sept 2015. Parents of swimmers are encouraged to attend this brief announcement in front of their peers. Male and Female Junior and Senior Captains will also be announced at this time as well.

New swimmers who have a background in competitive swimming are encouraged to speak to Coach Sullivan to see if the team is a good fit for you.
Work Award This month’s work award goes to Aselya, who has attended every practice since the start of the year. Her incredible dedication to the team is an inspiration to those around her as someone who has already experienced the reward that goes along with hard work.
See you in the pool! Coach Sullivan, Coach Sabini, Coach Mary

The work has now completed on the upgrading of the east end of Kiongozi building to convert the former girls’ changing room and weights room into a large new classroom for Design and Technology teaching. This will provide us with a much-needed and attractive new teaching space.

Many other developments are planned for the 2015/16 school year.

• To date an architect has drawn up a site plan for the campus to lay out locations for planned and hoped-for future campus developments. Our next step is to plan and later to construct a number of new facilities:
• A new boarding house with attached boarding parent accommodation
• Two new science laboratories for expanded teaching space
• A new multi-purpose hall to be used for a variety of events including the conduct of examinations
• An extension to the dining hall to provide greater dining space.
• A new laundry facility

After an intensive series of weeks of academics, DP students are gearing up for the Secondary Athletics Day on Thursday September 24th that should be a wonderful event as we promote good sportsmanship, healthy living and athletic competition in house teams.
D2s are in the final stretch and they completed their draft this week. Within two weeks Extended Essay (EE) supervisors will provide feedback and then they will meet on Tuesdays with their EE supervisor during guidance hour. As the final deadline for the EE submission will be Wednesday November 4th, can you as parents work with your D2 child to ensure that considerable effort is given to improving their EE during the October holiday break.
All DP students attended this Wednesday’s UK university fair which filled Karibu Hall with many universities and it was again a success.
This week D2 students electronically received their google calendar of ISM D2 Deadlines and Key Events. Time management and personal organization are key elements of a successful DP experience. This calendar should help D2s to effectively plan for their assessments.
Reminder: The first marking period concludes on Friday October 16th. Please do not plan to remove your child early as each DP day of lessons is incredibly important. If at all possible, one DP parent should come to ISM for the Parent-Teacher conferences on that morning. I cannot overstate how essential it is for parents – if at all possible – to make these meetings.
The ten IB “learner profile values” are an on-going focus for ISM students including those in the DP. The IB’s learner profile (www.ibo.org/programmes/profile) is a set of ideals that can inspire, motivate and focus the work of schools and teachers, uniting them in a common purpose”. As the IB states in a recent Learner Profile Booklet. “The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. IB learners strive to be: – Balanced, Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Risk-takers, Reflective, Caring”. Learn more at: www.ibo.org/en/benefits/learner-profile.
Feel free to write me with any questions or concerns. Rick Fitzpatrick – Diploma Coordinator

At ISM we believe it is necessary to nurture thinking in the daily lives of our young learners. We are developing a culture of thinking in order to build a strong learning community. You may have heard our teachers or students refer to the Thinking Routines that they have been building into their everyday class teaching over the course of the past year.
The Oxford English Dictionary rates the word think as the twelfth most used verb in the English language. Thinking is used to understand, solve problems, make decisions, form judgements, identifying patterns, generate possibilities and alternatives, evaluate evidence and argument, formulate plans, identify bias, clarify priorities and much, much more. Here at ISM we wish to promote engagement, understanding and independence for all our learners.
Rather than seeing learning as the passive taking in of information, we believe that learning occurs as a result of our thinking and active sense making. So we create opportunities for thinking by having the children carry out Thinking Routines designed by Project Zero from Harvard University. These routines fit well with the philosophy of the IB Primary Years Programme and are therefore used in PYP schools all over the world.
The Thinking Routines we use serve as tools to promote thinking. We always choose the right one for the job, i.e. the one which will further the inquiry. The more we use the routines, the more thinking deeply becomes routine for the students. They start to realise that learning is not a process of absorbing others’ ideas, thoughts or practices but involves uncovering their own ideas as the starting point for learning. Learning then becomes about connecting new ideas to their own thinking. As a result students, even young ones, become more self-directed, independent learners. Kate Schermbrucker | PYP Coordinator (Source: Making Thinking Visible by R. Ritchhart et al)

A reminder to parents of our birthday policy. Please inform the class teacher 24 hours before if you wish to send in a cake, then the class teacher can warn parents in advance as they may wish to change their snack preparations. Please do not send in anything else such as lollipops, sweets or party bags.
Break-time snacks: We talk a lot about eating healthily in all our primary school classes. Please think about your child’s snack in terms of good nutrition and healthy choices.
Biscuits, cake and sweets are considered junk food and contribute to poor health, teeth and nutrition.
Here are some ideas:
Chopped up seasonal fruit – banana, mango, apple, watermelon, oranges etc.
Banana bread (instead of cake)
Olives, Yoghurt, cheese & crackers
Pitta bread, Chapati, Pancake with a nice spread such as hummus, guacamole or peanut butter
Chopped up Carrots
Ricecakes, sushi.
Primary Football This Saturday, 19 Sep we have a team going to Arusha Campus for a football tournament. Letters will go home this week. Students taking the bus will need to pay 20,000Tsh for the transport. All students should wear their ISM Leopards T-shirt for this tournament, available at reception for 8000 Tsh.
Peace Day Assembly 21st September We will be celebrating World Peace Day in an assembly on Monday, 21st September. In the spirit of Peace we would like all our students to wear blue and white. The Primary students will be singing a Peace song together, Parents are most welcome. Karibu Hall 7.40 am

Unit of Inquiry Many thanks to Jocelyn (Niall’s Mum) for coming in last week to teach the children origami. Your child may now be able to teach you how to make a paper frog! This week two more parents are coming into class to share their expertise. After each learning experience the children will be asked to reflect on what they have learnt. Please consider coming in to share your talents with the class in order for them to experience learning with a variety of people; this could be a 5 minute song or a longer activity such as a craft!
Literacy Letterland characters that will be introduced this week are Impy ink and Noisy Nick. Children that know most or all of their sounds are learning how to put sounds together to make words. EC2 children who are developmentally ready will also concentrate on sight words through games such as bingo and snap. The children will continue to make books about the learning that takes place in different areas of the classroom, as well as in PE, Library, IT and the playground.
This week we will read the book ‘Each Peach Pear Plum’ by Janet and Allan Ahlberg and think about rhyming stories. We will sing nursery rhymes in our music time and retell the story in small groups.
Numeracy The children will continue to sort objects, this week concentrating on sorting 2D shapes. This will allow them to sort, compare and describe the properties of these shapes. Number work continues in differentiated groups to develop counting, recognition, estimation and counting objects. EC1 will complete a problem solving activity for their portfolio.

Swimming On Monday, EC1 will begin their swimming programme. On Friday, EC2 will swim. Please send the following into school in a separate swim bag.

• Swimsuit
• Armbands/floaties (already blown up)
• Suncream
• Towel
• Flipflops/crocs

Information for Parents This week it is P1/2’s turn to lead the primary gathering on Friday. We have been learning about exercise, so our class will be leading all of primary in some morning exercises. You are welcome to come support your child as he/she presents. We will meet on Friday at 7:35 on the lower pitch.
Swimming begins this week. We will swim each week on Friday. This will replace the Friday PE time that we have been having up to this point. We will have three teachers in the water with the children, so there is no need to worry if your child is not a strong swimmer. Please send a swimsuit, towel, and armbands (if necessary). The school does not have any armbands, so please arrange to get some this week if you need them.
I would like to remind parents that swimming is not optional. It is treated like maths and literacy, which of course are also not optional. Cold water or mildly cold weather are not reasons to have a child sit out of swimming. Since we have been learning about germs and sickness lately at school, I reminded the children that of course we don’t get sick from cold water. We get sick from germs. I would appreciate your support in teaching your child about the importance of our swimming lessons. Thanks for your help.
Language focus for the week We made great progress last week with our writing. This week we will have more of a focus on phonics. The Group 1 children will learn about initial consonant sounds. The Group 2 children will work with rhyming words.
Maths focus for the week This week Group 1 will work with numbers 11 – 20. Group 2 children will be work on number bonds for 11 and 12.
Unit of Inquiry To continue our unit on healthy living, we will learn about keeping clean this week. We will talk about taking care of our teeth, washing our hands, and we’ll learn about germs. We will also spend time preparing for the upcoming primary gathering.
What to bring to school: A hat for playtime and a healthful snack.
Timetable: Monday PE (wear PE shoes and a house T shirt) Tuesday Library (please send your books in the library bag) Friday PE (please send swimsuit, towel, goggles, and arm bands if necessary)

This week the children collaborated in small groups to make posters showing their understanding of our PYP attitudes for this unit, i.e. integrity and appreciation. After watching a video and having a discussion about the meanings, the children worked in teams of four to plan and create their posters. They then presented them to the rest of the class, explaining the different features of the poster and demonstrating their understanding of the focus words. These have now been displayed outside the back of the classrooms if parents would like to see them.
In maths the children completed their colourful kanga and kitenge designs; thinking about pattern and 2D shapes. They also investigated tessellation; experimenting with and creating interesting designs of their own. They were interested to see the mathematically inspired artwork of MC Escher; which often included tessellation.
In English the P2/3s were able to describe photographs taken in Tanzania using a range of interesting adjectives.
The children have now also decorated a Question Box for the classroom. They have already been writing down unit related questions and putting them in the box for deliberation and discussion. Already their questions have been very thought-provoking. The show the children to be good inquirers.


Unit: Transdisciplinary Theme: Where we are in place and time Central Idea: Our host country has its own unique identity As we are getting towards the end of our first unit we will start preparing for the summative assessment task.
English focus for the week: ea words
Maths focus for the week: base 10 place value system to hundreds, e.g. take a number like 435. Base ten refers to the position; the 5 is in the one’s place, the 3 is in the ten’s place and the 4 is in the hundred’s place. Each digit is 10 times the value of the one to the right of it.
What to bring to school every day: A hat, a water bottle and a healthy snack.
The Week Ahead: Monday: Homework will be sent home | Swimming lesson – please bring separate bag containing a swimming costume, towel, flip flops (or similar to walk to the pool) and goggles if desired. Tuesday: Library session Thursday: PE lesson Friday: Homework due in Kate Schermbrucker – P2/3 Teacher and PYP Coordinator

In P4 we continue to refine our research, communication and thinking skills in the various learning engagements.
Unit of Inquiry The students continue to inquire about the concept of causation and next week they will be comparing various practices from the past to the ones in present life using Venn diagrams. We are also planning to interview the teachers in order to find out about the history of our school. The interviews will run through next week and the students are really excited about this activity.
Language Arts Students will create prompts for the different elements of a story and they will role-play these stories using the prompts before they actually move on into writing them.
Math Students have become confident with adding, subtracting and ordering numbers using the hundred square. Some have gone beyond the hundreds. Next week we will look at word problems related to regrouping in addition. We will also touch on activities related to measurement using standard and non-standard units.
       

Information for Parents The students are hard at work on their summative assessments and are all working on sharing their opinions in a variety of ways. We had fun this week taking on different roles in a performance and also using different types of performance to share stories. Next week we will be celebrating International Dot Day on Tuesday and Miss Alley is planning some different activities involving dots. Students could wear polka dots on Tuesday to help celebrate, along with wearing their school shirt.
Language focus for the week We will be working with adjectives and how we can add more descriptive words to our writing. Reading groups began last week and part of the students homework will involved a review of the first chapter of their book. Students need to make sure they bring their books back to school each day so that they have it here to read.
Maths focus for the week We are wrapping up our unit on multiplication and division this week and will take a test on Monday. We will explore the concept of place value next. After a review day, students will work in cooperative groups to complete an investigation into the topic.
Unit of Inquiry This week we will be examining different versions of Cinderella and working on making connections between each of the stories. We will also use a thinking routine to introduce us for debate. We are nearing the end of our unit and will continue to work.
What to bring to school: A hat for playtime and a healthful snack.
Timetable: Monday PE (wear PE shoes and a house T shirt) Thursday Swimming (please make sure you have a swimming costume, towel, and flip flops) Friday Library (please remember to bring your books)

P6 have been drafting, editing and publishing biographies this week, focusing on using: a variety of sentence structures, past tense, third person, details within paragraphs in chronological order. In Maths we have been adding and subtracting both decimals and whole numbers in a wide range of contexts, revising place value and looking at how to tackle multi-step problems. We have been putting together our understandings on heroes in a variety of ways. Students work in UOI this week has included creating: popart, posters, timelines and action-plans.
Unit of Inquiry: Preparation for summative assessment task. This includes students individually setting up a table showing written/artistic work and speaking about their chosen hero to visitors. Students are getting excited about these presentations, which take place next Friday, 8:10-9:20am in and around the P6 classroom. Parents are welcome to visit us during this time.
English language focus: Speaking and listening. Speaking and listening is an important part of language development. We will be practise verbal presentation of our ideas, speaking clearly and projecting our voice. We will also practise listening – taking in key details and responding appropriately, for example, by asking good questions.
Maths focus: Problem solving using all four operations (subtraction, addition, multiplication, division) in a wide variety of contexts. We will revise and extend previous learning in these areas.
Wednesday 16th September: Bake Sale at 10am. Some of the P6 girls are taking action, inspired by their Caring Heroes! Money raised will go towards buying toiletries and small gifts for children with disabilities at Mwereni Primary School, Moshi. Please send any cake or cookie contributions into school Wednesday morning – they will be gratefully received and sold. Items to be sold at TSh 2,000.
Friday 18th September: Presentations on Heroes. 8:10-9:20am in the P6 classroom. Students are encouraged to dress up as their Hero.

IN THIS ISSUE