Arusha Campus News – 12 Mar 2021

UWC East Africa Arusha Newsletter Friday 12th March 2021

Our Level 4 Ngorongoro-to-Natron hikers were at the Crater rim earlier this evening and from the lofty vantage point spotted three black rhinos! Great start to the trip.

Dear Parents

Hamza (M1) demonstrates his science experimental technique to a fascinated P2/3.

Our Diploma 2 students and teachers are entering that time of year when submissions start and the final push gets going in earnest. This weekend we submit our Theory of Knowledge and Extended Essays. Whilst in many ways this is a time when the pressure becomes greater, it also is a time from when everything starts to ease. Just think, no more extended essay to think about after this weekend. Must be a relief of sorts!

I was at the Primary Share Time today and Mr Ali’s P2/3 class performed magnificently. They spoke with confidence and everyone could hear every single word. Mr Ali and I agree that students are much better when they train themselves not to use microphones. Who needs a microphone when you speak as clearly as Noah, Chloe and co? Well done P2/3!

A shorter newsletter this week.

Have a super weekend.

Phil

PYP News

We have had another busy week in the Primary school. The P6 parents learned all about the P6 Exhibition which their children will begin after the Easter break. The P6 class have been learning how to take ‘action’ during their Sharing the Planet unit on Plants. Parents were treated to tea and snacks courtesy of Maral and Miss Carmen whilst listening to music performed by the class and viewing the fairy gardens that they had made outside the P6 classroom.

On Wednesday parents learned more about the MAP testing. MAP is computerized adaptive tests, called Measure of Academic Progress (MAP). These tests accurately reflect the instructional level of each student and measure growth over time.

In Swahili the P1/2 class have made traditional Tanzanian huts as part of their learning into exploring the cultural identity of homes.

The P2/3 shared their learning of their unit during Share Time. And as Mr Ali congratularedf them on Friday, they performed knowledgeably and confidently (see picture below).

P4/5 spent Friday learning through Zoom. They presented timeline posters about a natural disaster.

Enjoy the weekend!

Amanda

MYP with Mr Hamid

M5s second round of on-screen exams in the IT lab pictured above

Our M5 students sat their second on screen exam practice from Monday to Friday to prepare for the official exams in May. These sessions will give M5 an idea of what to expect in May 2021 when they will be doing the official on-screen exams. As some students were experiencing difficulty with our computers in the IT lab, we will be asking them to bring their own laptop for the official exams in May.


A big thank you to M5s, to the invigilators, and to the IT team who supported us in the successful administration of these exams.

Mr Hamid

Educational Assistants back at school with Miss Angela!

Every Thursday EAs attend sessions with Ms Angela learning how to recognise learning issues inside and outside the classroom and how to deal with them. We found it very productive because it helps us to provide more help for students’ learning.

Rose P2/3

Cyber Safety

Dear Parents,

There has been a social media site that surfaced amongst students that has raised safeguarding and online safety concerns for children around the world. The site is known as omegle, a video chat website that connects users with complete strangers around the globe. The site is currently under investigation by the Internet Watch Foundation UK, a charity based organization that aims to protect children against online abuse content. The charity has expressed concern that  children are exposed to this site via TikTok under the now very popular hashtag #omegle that currently has around 9.4billion times on that platform. Omegle now has 65 million active users globally and growing further exposing millions of child users to online abuse content against children.

According to an investigation done by the BBC, researchers posing as user on omegle were connected as young as eight and to adult users performing sexual acts, admist pornographic ads in between switiching users. Omegle host ads for pornographic websites. According to the website the user minimum age is 13 however the terms say the user must be 18 or with parental or guardian’s permission. However, the website cannot verify users’ age. According to the independent, the UK, U.S, Australia, Norway, France and Canadian governments have issued warnings against the website.

What can parents do? Parents are encouraged to educate themselves and their children about online safety, responsibility and the consequences of allowing access and use of  social media platforms to their children. As you wouldn’t allow your child to visit pornographic websites, children should not be allowed to use video chat platforms like chatroulette or omegle. The independent has reported, that in 2020, self-generated child sexual abuse has increased by 77% from 2019, due to more people and children having to work and learn online because of the pandemic. Parents are encouraged to have an age appropriate conversation with their children about their child visiting such websites and engaging with video conversations with strangers online. Predators often use such sites to groom children and also collect children’s images and video recordings for the unspeakable. Worst part is once such images/video recordings go public it’s near impossible to get those images  and video recordings back.

for more information on the ongoing investigation here is a BBC video:

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56085499

Kind regards,
Khalid,
MYP Designated Deputy Safeguarding Lead

Youtheoria: Anti-Asian Racism

Last Saturday, I facilitated breakout room discussions during a Youtheoria International virtual workshop conducted in conjunction with the Asian American Progressive Student Union. It was on the topic of Anti-Asian Racism, and the presentation that the AAPSU members gave was really striking, and made me reflect.

Generally, when someone mentions racism, people think about racism towards black people. Personally, a lot of my discussions about racism usually pivots around anti-black racism. But then, black people are not the only minority group that suffers from systemic or outright racism each week. Racism occurs across other minority groups in various ways across history, such as Irish immigrants to the US in the 1800s, Jewish communities in the 19th century and Japanese in the US in the 1940s. Concentration camps were even created for Japanese-US Americans at one point, even though they were innocent in the intercontinental war.

And today, Asians, particularly those of East Asian ethnicity are facing horrifying discrimination around the world during the pandemic, and it’s an issue that I realized is swept under the rug. When COVID-19 erupted, there was a slew of media and figures focusing on the fact that it originated from PR China. This is valid, but unfortunately many people across the world twisted this to mean that it came from Chinese people in particular. This led to attacks against people of Asian ethnicity, even if they had never visited China before, not that it is relevant anyway.

The AAPSU gave some shocking facts about violence against Asians in the United States.

·         “Violence against Asian Americans in New York has skyrocketed 1900 percent in the past year”
·         “Vicha Ratanapakdee, 84, violently shoved to the ground and passed away due to internal brain damage.”
·         “Carl Chan, the president of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, has tallied more than 20 assaults between January 28 and February 12 in Oakland’s Chinatown alone.”
·         “Bawi Cung and his son were stabbed at Sams Club last March. Although they have healed, the scars and trauma linger.”

Asian businesses have suffered as well, as many clients stayed away due to misconceived fears about getting a virus that does not discriminate. This has forced many of them to close down, implanting serious economic damage to Asian communities.

In a Central / East African context, I have seen really clear Anti-Asian sentiments expressed by everyday people in DR Congo. Whether its insults in French that I can’t repeat here or horrific facial imitations, it’s a bit of a hypocrisy. I never did anything to stop these behaviours, and thus that leads people to think that is okay to say harmful words. 

The virtual workshop ended with some advice on ways we can help fight against this, which ranged from simply educating people on this subject to engaging in more inclusive racial dialogue. If we stop the behaviour when we first encounter it, we stop it from leading to a bigger issue.

– Luanga Kasanga (D2, GCC- DRCongo)

https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/12/anti-asian-violence-us-demands-response

Counselor Corner

Going Through Grief

This has been quite a trying time for many in our community, and grief is an emotion that has been experienced in a variety of ways. From the actual loss of loved ones and friends to the loss of a way of life. As we endure grief, we all must find a way to work through it, and continue to find meaning and joy in our lives.

In the recent book, Good Grief by Granger Westberg, we are introduced to ten stages of grief, and the varying levels of complexity involved in mourning. This book highlights the fact that there is no “right way” to experience grief, but that it is important that you understand your relationship with grief, and the healthy ways that you can grow through your process since it is an ongoing aspect of life. The more we are able to handle the small losses in life, the better prepared we are for the more impactful mourning moments that can overwhelm us if we do not have ways to cope with loss. Reach out for help when needed, and know that you are never truly alone when grieving.

Sharing is caring as we all attempt to enhance our well being and social emotional learning during troubling times. We are grateful to Nicolette van Aarst for reaching out and emailing resources that can be helpful four our community. Between the Tapping technique for stress management and the Choose Love Moment Curriculum https://chooselovemovement.org we are grateful for the resources that were sent our way recently. Supporting the well-being of our whole community takes a team effort, and we welcome others to send resources our way that you think would be beneficial.

In this new month, we also want to share the new Mindful March Calendar https://www.actionforhappiness.org/mindful-march with 31 ideas to help you be more present and aware of your responses to life events.

Finally, we invite you to review this link  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PkurQYYtwz1sdX5b44r22DgdZk4F-U8g/view?usp=sharing weekly in order to view recordings of recent college/university presentations, and to sign up to attend one or two upcoming virtual events that interest you/your college bound child. Please follow up with a conversation where you and your child discuss what you learned and how this might apply to their post-secondary plans.

Have a wonderful weekend, and know that we are here if you need us to help you get through this thing called life.

Take care and stay safe,

UWCEA School Counseling Team

 

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