Arusha Campus News – 11 Dec 2020

Mawenzi, Meru and Kibo houses enjoy today’s House Competition Day!

Our fabulous, colourful, Christmas Market today organised amazingly by Mama Zee! Thank you!

As I write this on the evening of Friday 11th December, I look back on a year that has told tales of resilience, euphoria, bravery, tragedy and varying doses of sadness and happiness. I suppose all years are like that but of course we know that this year has been different. I think we are the luckiest school in the world quite frankly. Today’s activities – a wonderful day of house competition in glorious sunshine followed by an entertaining assembly amongst friends, all topped off with a super Christmas Fair! How many students, teachers and parents elsewhere in the world are enjoying such things? We are grateful.

With that sentiment in mind let us remember to be thankful for all the things in our school that do go right. I think there are some.

Let me wish everyone – students, parents, teachers and support staff a very peaceful Christmas and prosperous New Year!

See you all back in School on Monday 11th January 2021.

Phil

Congratulations everyone, we have made it to the holiday break! After a very busy week that included Crazy Hair Day, Pyjama Day, staff parties and scrambling to finish our first run of report cards in Secondary using ManageBac, today’s final assembly was a real celebration. As long and challenging as this semester was, we must remember how very lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place where we are able to attend a school without masks, online classes, or social restrictions. Every time I send photos to friends at home – whether a picture of our amazing Hairspray production or Thursday’s staff party – our ability to gather socially and for events at school is always greeted with longing and envy. So, I urge you all to have a safe holiday and to make sure you return early enough to isolate prior to starting classes on the 11th of January – let’s all do our part to maintain our healthy campus!

I would also like to ask parents to pay special attention to their children’s social media and communication accounts during this holiday break and beyond. Lately, we have been made aware of some very negative behaviour happening online with some of our MYP year groups. Student WhatsApp chat groups are very popular but can easily spiral into cyberbullying if not monitored by the adults who care about them. Please help us to protect all students by keeping an eye on these programs and making us aware of any behavior that might be of concern.

Have a great break everyone. See you next year!

Ms. C

A lovely final week to the year in the Primary School. Our PYP students excelled themselves in the House Competition today and it was great to see so much in the way of sportsmanship on show from our Primary students.

Tuesday’s Top of the Pops (see P6 above) was an amazing show with every perfromer from P6 all the way down to Nursery capturing the audience’s attention throughout. Even the teachers tried to dance!

As we go away for the holiday, remember to play games with your children, even in the car, and encourage family reading sessions to keep away from the screens and devices!

Have a wonderful holiday!

Amanda

The Nursery and EC classes enjoyed a Culture Food Day today to celebrate their last day of 2020!

As part of this week’s House Spirit week, there was one day when everyone came to school dressed as their twin – look at Miss Amanda and Miss Carmen!

This week’s Primary Top of the Pops, see acts above, was a hoot and all topped off with the parents singing ‘Y-M-C-A!”

Dear Parents,

As the break approaches, I wanted to share with you the accessibility to the pool during the break as many of you will be here in Arusha at some point.

The pool will close this Friday after school, and will re-open on Saturday 19th December.

During this time there will be no access for anyone to the pool. Kevin and his team are ensuring maintenance is completed, so for everyone’s safety the pool will be shut.

Once the pool reopens on Saturday 19th, there will be a lifeguard there on duty most days. The exact timings will vary depending upon jobs and tasks that need completing. We are having a sign put on the entrance that will tell people when it is open and a lifeguard present and this will be updated daily by Kevin.

During these times, people are welcome to swim and use the pool as they please.

If the gate is locked and no lifeguard is present, this means the pool is not open to anyone.

Do not jump the fence, or believe that this does not apply to you. Keys are not to be handed out and the guards have been informed of this.

Wishing everyone a pleasant break and safe use of our wonderful pool,

Matt Uffindall

Athletic Director
Arusha Campus

This book appeal will be taken into the New Year and after we return from the holidays. Please keep any unwanted vacation books for this appeal! Much appreciated.

We urgently need Cadbury Drinking Chocolate containers in 450gr pots. These pots are needed to store the daily milk rations for Savannah, Burigi, Maswa and a newcomer being cared for at Kilimanjaro Animal Rescue Centre!

Kili Trails is a weekend-long celebration of the outdoors on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro at Simba Farm. We offer camping, food vendors, live music and nine different trail events in order to ensure we offer something for everyone. One of our primary goals is to instill in youth and families a love of exercise, fitness and the outdoors; and what better way to accomplish this than through trail running and mountain biking with friends!
In order to encourage school participation at Kili Trails, we have not only created a wide variety of opportunities for competition, but are also offering special rates for students and school chaperones.
All children under 12 camp free at Kili Trails. Our 6 km Kafupi XCC (mountain bike) and our 1.5 km Rafiki Run are free as well, though they do require registration. Additionally, we are offering schools the following group rates:
Student groups of 12 or more racers
50% off camping (= $7.50 pp / night) + 2 chaperones free camping
Student groups of 24 or more racers
66% off camping (= $5 pp / night) + 4 chaperones free camping + 1 more chaperone free for every 6 additional students
Upon advanced request Kili Trails Festival will also prepare a “private” campsite for your school group, which will be further from the festival than, and separate from, the general campsite. We will supply a guard to man the entry to your campsite who will assist in ensuring only your students and approved chaperones enter into the area.
Additionally, there will be no alcohol allowed in the schools’ private campsites, even for adults and chaperones. Underaged drinking and illegal drugs are strictly forbidden at Kili Trails, and offendors will be reported to the proper authorities. There will be alcohol served at the festival, however anyone who appears to be under 30 years of age will be carded and stamped to show they are of drinking age.
We will ask your school and chaperones to be responsible for your students at all times during the festival, and to set a curfew for your students, as well as to employ tent checks in the evenings.
If you wish to register your school as a group, we ask that you appoint a single representative who will collect all required information and money from participants, complete the registration and payment processes on their behalf, and solely be responsible for all communication with Kili Trails Festival. Once selected please have this representative contact Katy Hacias (katy@redknotsafari.com) for further instructions.
For further information regarding the event itself, please see our website (kilitrails.com). Additionally, let us know if you have any questions regarding your school’s participation.
Get outside, Kili Trails team

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