Start Of A New Year

We have approximately 100 new students and their families joining us this term, so I would like to say welcome to our school and our newsletter. These newsletters are sent out weekly during school time so students, parents and other community members can see what has happened around campus and what is coming up. Below you will find a little information about the start of the year and see a few key names that you will encounter over the year. 

As we start a new school year there are always changes. This year we have been working with our computer systems with the goals to improve communication and efficiency. To this end we will be using a new program called Toddle that replaces ManageBac and adds some features of Google classrooms. This should make it easier to keep track of what is happening with students’ classes. The second part of this involves a system built for us called “UWCEA Life” that takes students from admissions through the many aspects of non-academic schooling including health, residential aspects, trips and other features.

For parents, two emails will come out soon, one is a follow up to the early released Toddle invite with more information on how to proceed. The second will be how to log into Life and the yearly request to update both the health information and if needed the parental consent form.  Please take the time to update these. It is vitally important we have the correct health information to support students. This form covers many aspects including items such as allergies and dietary requirements. It must be completed before students can take any trip this year.

Already we have eight new staff members and their families here learning about the school, Moshi and Tanzania. This coming week we have the D1 students arriving early to go through orientation as well as the returning teachers back to meet and plan for the year ahead.

Again, welcome and we look forward to seeing all the students on August 15th.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

Karibu Sana to another year of living and learning together at UWCEA. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Ben Morley and I am very proud to be entering my fifth year as Deputy Head here in Moshi. I will be supporting teaching and learning from EC-D2, working alongside the students and teachers and, hopefully, contributing in any way I can. I will strive to continue to use my little “corner” of the weekly newsletter to keep you informed about ongoing learning across the school and beyond, to highlight specific events or share details of special days. Above all, I hope to celebrate our collective achievements.

Last year was a hugely successful year for the school in spite of everything the world seemed to throw at us! Of course, a school should be measured by far more than just its exam grades but a special mention to the graduating class of 2022 and our M5 cohort for achieving such fantastic results. The grades, scholarship funding and university places secured by our graduates are a lasting testament to both them and their enormously dedicated teachers.

A particularly warm welcome to new students, teachers, staff and families to the UWCEA community. We hope your time with us is richly rewarding, full of adventure, both within and beyond the campus, and that you go on to form friendships that last a lifetime. Remember, we are all connected by our Guiding Statements. These Guiding Statements are and should always remain aspirational. They are not the end result but, rather, something we should try and move a little bit closer to each and every day. Indeed, we share a collective responsibility to do all we can to continue working towards these. What’s more, they should never become a means to judge our shortcomings. They are a lens through which all our decisions and thinking as individuals and a group should be filtered. So, in these increasingly disconnected times, let us continue to use our Guiding Statements as a way to bring us together and remember to be patient with each other, to be understanding, realistic and, above all, to be kind.

Lastly, a heartfelt thank you to all the support and ancillary staff (and leadership team/leadership team spouses!) for their ongoing efforts over the “break” to make sure everything is (more or less) ready for August 15th. We have much to be thankful for.

Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus

Karibu Sana to all,

Firstly, I would like to introduce myself as the Head of Residential Life here on the Moshi Campus and say I am thrilled to be preparing for the year ahead and eagerly awaiting our arrivals – new and old.

For the first time, our campus now has over 200 Residential Students from P4 right through to D2 and from every corner of the globe. An international family away from home.

Many of our new parents would have received emails from me regarding our residential “ins and outs” and arrival details, what to pack and of course, what to expect. If you have not, please email me on simonjohnston@uwcea.org.

We are already expecting our first Diploma arrivals soon and we officially open our Diploma houses on the 8th of August with an extensive and wonderfully planned orientation commencing on the 9th. Our D2’s have been working hard behind the scenes to prepare the smoothest transition possible for your child.

Our MYP and PYP houses officially open on Sunday the 14th of August with their respective orientation occurring the following weekend.

On a personal note, I am excited to see new and old faces and would like to welcome to our Residential Team:

• Ms Haviland taking over as Head Parent of MYP girls boarding.
• Mr Mostafa as an Assistant Parent in MYP boys boarding
• Ms Caroline as an Assistant Parent in Kijana and Kiongozi DP Boarding

Should you have any questions at all please do not hesitate to email me and ensure all arrival details have been completed on the documents sent to you and/or your child.

Simon Johnson – Head of Residential Life

Welcome to a new school year. This year I will be co-ordinating the PYP from EC to P6. Ms. Mboka will be devoting time to further studies and therefore has stepped back from her role as PYP co-ordinator. There are several new families joining us in the PYP and I hope you will be very happy with us. Below you will find a short letter from each of the class teachers. Further information, relevant to your child, will be sent out during the first week of school. Please can new and returning families check your inboxes for the invitations to log into Toddle and UWCEA Life. It is particularly important that the health forms are completed as soon as possible. School will begin on Monday 15th August at 7:30am and will finish at 1:10pm (12:30 on Friday). There will be no clubs during the first week.

Deborah Mills – PYP Coordinator

What a lovely long break we have had. It is always good to rest, see new things and go through different routines in our world.

Ms. Durriah, Neema and I are so looking forward to seeing you all again and meeting our new students and parents.

Please look out for a class email that will be sent next week before we open school. This will have a few reminders of class routines and what to expect for new parents.

Mboka Mwasongwe

A fantastic school year awaits us in P 2/3! There’s so much to learn and we have terrific units of inquiry. On Monday, information about our schedule and upcoming events will be sent home. All that is needed for the first day is a healthy snack, a water bottle, a hat and a great attitude! We will take our time this week settling into routines and getting to know each other. It would be nice if children come to school ready to talk about their summer holiday experiences. We are looking forward to the year together!

Kacey Buckley

I hope everyone has enjoyed the break. I am looking forward to meeting the P4/5 class on Monday, 15th August. Classes will begin at 7:30 am and will end at 1:10pm (12:30 on Friday). There will be no after school clubs in the first week so the children should leave campus when classes end. Please send your child with a pair of indoor shoes/slippers that can be left in the classroom. He/she should also bring a water bottle and a healthy snack. We will spend the first few days of school getting to know each other and on the first day of school we will share our holiday news. If your child has a photo from over the break that they would like to show their classmates, please email it to me on deborahmills@uwcea.org. A copy of the timetable will be sent home during the first week. Here’s looking forward to a happy and productive semester together!

Deborah Mills

The new term is ready for lift off!

I hope everyone is feeling refreshed after the break and ready to do P6.

We have a few new starters this term which is always exciting. I look forward to seeing all the new and familiar faces very soon. It’s always good to hear all the vacation stories. As part of my break, I visited Atlantic College, the original UWC College in the UK. It’s a lovely, historical campus on the coast but it didn’t have monkeys or a view of Mt Kilimanjaro! Our first unit is about plants if you want to think ahead.

Enjoy the end of the break!

Hywel Davies

Greetings from our MYP department, and welcome back to a fantastic academic year! As you all know, the IB Middle Years Programme is a framework that helps empower students within an inclusive environment and fosters authentic experiences while promoting academic responsibility and student agency with purposeful social connections. So, we definitely have an exciting journey ahead of us. This year’s focus is making the best out of teaching and learning together.

Celebration Time:
We received our Personal Project candidate results from the IB on August 1st. Our former M5 (current D1) students did exceptionally well with an average that can be rounded up to a “6”. The world average score for that was around 4.3, so a warm congrats to all our learners, supervisors and of course the school for such an achievement.

A group of our students won the MYP student innovator grant award for their “Nature’s Heater” initiative! More to come about that upon the students’ return.

Important Dates:
August 19th – MYP Orientation Starts
During the orientation days, students will catch up on residential matters, MYP matters and of course enjoy some well-prepared activities to get everyone hyped up and excited.

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Farah Fawaz – MYP Coordinator

First allow me to introduce myself, my name is Margaret Brunt and I am the Diploma Programme Coordinator. I am your contact for academic issues. My email address is dp_moshi@uwcea.org

The first D1 students have started arriving and will be moving onto campus on Monday with the D2 students organising the orientation. Over the next few days, the remaining D1 students will be arriving. The D2 students have arranged a variety of activities to introduce them to the school, Moshi and Tanzania. As part of that I will be talking to them about their subject choices. They will be given a short time to review their choices before we enter them on Toddle. More details about Toddle and logins will be shared soon. Once the school year starts, they will have a short time to make changes easily.

The D2 students have hopefully used the break wisely with a mixture of work on their EEs and IAs and a time to relax. We will meet early on to review what they have done and what they need to do.

Margaret Brunt – Diploma Coordinator