Arusha Campus News – 26 Jan 2020

Under 19 NTSAA Netball Champions – UWCEA Arusha!

Under 15 NTSAA Netball Champions UWCEA Arusha!

Under 13 Netball Champions – UWCEA Arusha!

A simply amazing accomplishment yesterday by the Arusha netballers. We managed a clean sweep of all the netball trophies this season. Unprecedented! Amazing players are pictured above but lets acknowledge our even more amazing school netball coaching team – Caroline and her friend Katie are the Jurgen Klopps of Arusha!

Mr Ratsakatika and I do our bit to prepare the soggy court for this weekend’s netball exravaganza!

There was some other news apart from netball this week, and so on to the rest of the newsletter!

We are now 6 months into our new identity as UWC East Africa and I am often asked about what is going to make ‘our’ UWC iconic. Several ideas have been mooted such as Outdoor Pursuits and Environmental Campaign. Of course, this iconicism has to be earned and will develop over time, but I think the way in which we demonstrate how to conserve our wild places and physical environment has to be at the forefront of our mission in coming years. One of our students approached me this weekend to develop an Arusha Climate Conference. I was thrilled. 

A weight of expectation sits on our young students. We are expectant of revolutionary and innovative schemes to emanate from their busy brains, when we must remember that many of these students have been here less than six months! In time, the world will know what we are, I have no doubts about that.

Phil

Habari UWC East Africa Arusha Community!

As you all know, the school hasn’t really had a major student-led journalism team for quite some time now. So, as the Journalism Club, we’ve decided to take up the initiative to organize and edit our school magazine for the benefit of you, our beloved UWC East Africa community. Thus we’re here to keep you up to date with the various events and activities that go on in and around our community, so feel free to contact us via ians21@uwcea.org, husseinan21@uwcea.org, and katanum21@uwcea.org if you have any ideas or concerns you would like to voice out. Below is our team of 12, supervised by our very own Ms. Anoek van der Vinne. We look forward to providing you with the best news we can.

The UWC East Africa Arusha Journalism Club

After a busy week at school, we continue with a weekend filled with activities. A group of students left for three days early this Friday morning on the Level 1B South Pare Mountain hike, while at school, we are hosting a two day netball tournament. A big thank you to all members of staff who also work during their weekends to make sure students can benefit from the enriching learning activities we have on offer!

With the DP2 mock examinations out of the way this week, students have an opportunity to reflect on their performance and progress once results are shared and refocus their attention on the many upcoming deadlines part of their IB Diploma learning experience. Semester 1 reports for D2 will be sent out to parents and students on February 7th, and will include information from the mock examinations.

On February 13th we are organizing on campus the student- led conferences with parents/guardians for all MYP students in mentor rooms (students present to their mentors if parents are not present), student-led reflections with teachers for DP1 and self-directed core and subject work day with the DP Coordinator for DP2 students. All parents and students have received detailed guidance on these important events through e-mail, from tutors and teachers, and on ManageBac. This is a non-teaching day for secondary students (all required to be at school as normal) and a regular teaching and learning day in the primary. 

Wishing you a wonderful and relaxing weekend ahead,

Ciprian

We have had a great week in our primary school. Many classes have been completing summative assessments related to their units of inquiry.

What is a summative assessment?

A summative assessment is when students show their understanding of the central idea and lines of inquiry explored during the unit of inquiry. Teachers are able to observe how students organize their time and to see what they have learned during the unit.

During Friday’s share time both the P5 and P6 classes demonstrated their knowledge and also shared many types of action.

The P6’s were thinking about how their actions can benefit others and thought of making a friendship bench, recycling our rubbish, making poufs for the classroom and by having free choice in class to develop creativity.

The P5’s focus was on ways to save energy (pictured above). We can walk or cycle to the shops, recycle water bottles, close our fridges quickly by thinking about what we want before we get things, turning off taps and not wasting water,  turning off the lights and devices, creating electricity with solar panels, and taking shorter showers.

Let’s all try and support them and follow their advice.

Amanda

Once again, the outstanding opportunity for attending an International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) festival is here! For those new to ISTA, it is a theatre organisation based in the UK which ties in strongly with IB concepts and learning as well as having a goal to connect young people across the world, giving opportunities to increase creativity and problem-solving skills.

This year the Cairo American College in Cairo, Egypt will be hosting a Middle School festival 12-15th March 2020. The age limit for Middle School is 10-14 years old, but minimum class level is M1. It is likely that travel dates would be 11-15th March to include travel to Nairobi International Airport via Riverside Shuttle. Students will board in homestay accommodation with families from the host school. The total cost of the trip is estimated below and includes:

1. ISTA Registration Fees (includes t-shirt)
2. Airport transfers (in Cairo and Riverside Shuttle)
3. Cultural Excursion (Khan el-Khalili Bazaar – the old sprawling souq/market in an old Cairo area)
4. Airfare return from NBO to Cairo International Airport
5. Food/Boarding + 1 night Holiday Inn hotel for arrival 11th March.

Group of 10 students = approximately $1,200
Group of 15 students = approximately $1,100
Group of 20 students = approximately $1,050

These costs are with a maximum of 20 students and 2 chaperone teachers attending. If numbers surpass 20, then more chaperones will be needed and costs may vary.

Potential extra costs may include a small fee to tour the pyramids outside Cairo on 11th March.

Please contact Mr Dixon and Ms Willett if interested by Friday, 20th December to reserve a place on this trip. Final payments will be due by Friday, 17th January.

Thank you!

Tyler Dixon
Head of Arts
Arusha Campus
tylerdixon@uwcea.org

Christy Willet
Head of Language A
Arusha Campus
christywillet@uwcea.org

The Kili Trails Festival is a weekend of trail running, mountain biking, camping, live music and more on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro taking place on Jan 31-Feb 2. Kili Trails is intended to be a festival experience and not a competitive race.

Students, parents and staff are welcome to join this event. Please find below the various options for races, cost and dates of the event. Students can join for free if they simply want to take part in a local engagement activity by volunteering for community service at the festival. Please note that the cost includes transport, 2 nights camping and registration fees but it does NOT include food. There will be food and drink vendors, basic seating areas, and various activities throughout the weekend. Additionally, participants can bring their own food and drinks. Camping will be at Simba Farm.

To sign-up, please email Flo Larpent florencelarpent@uwcea.org and pay at the accounts department by Tuesday 28 January. If you’d like to take part in 2 events, the 2nd event will be much cheaper (no camping and transport cost), please email Flo Larpent for details. Students also received an email and ManageBac message to sign-up directly on a Google doc.

The organisers have partnered with Tanzanian NGO ‘One World Sustainable Livelihoods’ to assist resource-poor smallholder farmers across Tanzania. 25% of all profits go directly to agriculture development work in the region.

Departure will be on Friday 31 January at 4 pm from Arusha Campus with the school bus. Return will be on Sunday 2 February to Arusha Campus by 3 pm.
All camping equipment can be borrowed from the OP store (10,000 Tsh deposit).
For more information about this event, please visit the following website: https://www.redknotracing.com/kilimanjaro-trails-festival/

Ngorongoro to Lake Natron hike as photographed on last year’s trip by Mr Darren

Please find below the list of OP trips for Semester 2.
Secondary students received an email with a link to Sign-Up Genius so that they can sign-up online if interested in the OP programme. In order to secure a spot on a trip, payment should be made directly at the accounts’ department asap. As there are limited places, priority will be given to students who finalized payment first.
Our trip costs are made up of transport and food costs ; teachers, guides and porters costs, WMA or National Park fees. The differing prices for Tanzanian and expatriate students reflect differing charges from WMA or National Parks. Prices below are in TZ Shillings.