Arusha Campus News – 16 Jan 2021

The view of the front of Arusha Campus yesterday evening

During the vacation, two of our staff, Rajabu and Walter worked with Dunia Designs to make our very own plastic shredder (top picture) to create plastic chips. The plastic chips are fed into a deformer to exude deformed and mouldable plastic (machine in the image below). Amazing resourcefulness!

Welcome back everyone and our wishes for a very Happy 2021 to you all,

This week I will be looking at a proposal to improve our security measures on campus and I thought with a new year that it would be timely to remind everyone of what you can do as parents and students to make our campus safer still.

We welcome members of our school community visiting campus outside of school hours to use facilities, for instance parents may wish to use the swimming pool or day students might enjoy a game of basketball with our boarders on a weekend. We want our facilities to continue to fulfil this role in our community and if we all follow the guidelines below, we will help to ensure the safety of all on site.

Visitors to the campus outside school hours

If you are a day student who wishes to visit the school outside usual school hours, please inform somebody such as a boarding parent or a teacher in Primary or me, in advance about your visit. All visitors outside of school hours (7am-5pm Mon-Fri), including students, parents and staff, should sign in at the gate on entry, and sign out upon leaving campus. There is a log book at both the north and south gates.

Although the guards are reminded of this they have a tendency not to offer the book to familiar faces. If the guard does not present you with the book, please be proactive and ask. This shouldn’t be an uncomfortable task and if you do that, it will enable us to have a clear record of those on campus at any given time in the event of an emergency. This should apply to everyone out of school hours, myself included!

All vehicles entering the school premises on a regular basis should have a car sticker – please ensure that your car has a sticker. If you do not have a sticker then please could you ask at Main Reception for a sticker.

May a wish a pleasant weekend for all,

Phil

The particpants on Level 1b to the South Pare Mountains set sail this morning (above). We will read all about their exploits next week!

Unfortunately, we have had to postpone next weekend’s much anticipated ’24 Hour Run’. This annual event is becoming a ‘must’ in the annual calendar. The good news is that we will re-schedule the event for early March. Look out for communication from our Advancement Office!

Maddie, Billy, Bannen, Roan, Kajuni and Elon were the first PYP Award winners for 2021!

Welcome Back to 2021.

I hope you all had a wonderful break.

It is well researched that a child who feels safe and happy learns more. During Share Time we talked about Safeguarding. We spoke about talking to a safe adult and about how bullying is not tolerated. Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. Please see our school website https://www.uwcea.org/safeguarding/ and the NSPCC website https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/safeguarding-child-protection

for more information about ‘What is Safeguarding?’

Amanda

This week the P6 class was treated to some extra special coaching on the athletics field. Polevaulting! That’s right! We learned the basic techniques of this highly technical discipline. That we used milongoti (sisal) poles (because we were clean out of pole vaulting sticks!) did not devalue the experience one iota!

Wonderful to see Mr Kieron White (former Head of Moshi Campus) on Arusha Campus giving us a talk on University Applications

First week back at school, and it already feels that we are half way through a semester!
This week the D1 have officially been introduced to the Extended Essay during their Diploma Success Skills session. The Extended Essay is an independent, self-directed piece of research, finishing with a 4,000-word paper and is compulsory for any students taking the full Diploma. In the next few weeks, they will be brainstorming possible topics of research within the subject of their choice. It is very important that that the students stick to the internal deadlines to make the process as smooth as possible! They have also formally started their active university search and application process with a presentation by Mr Kieron White on the various tests for university entry (SAT, ACT, English proficiency tests…). The list is available on www.uwcea.org/tests/. Ms Cassandra Ford also came to speak to the students about college/university application planning.
Finally, a new cycle of university virtual presentations has started with Concordia College in Minnesota on Friday afternoon. It was attended by both some D1 and D2 students.
Some of our D2 students have already received great news regarding their university applications over the December break, while the ones who applied for regular decisions or outside the US, will be expecting responses from the various institutions in the next few months. In the meantime, they are getting ready for their mocks exams, which will start on the 25th January.
We wish them all the best of luck!

Nathalie Vignard
(IBDP Coordinator)

The extended essay is a required component of the IB Diploma Programme.

It is an independent piece of research, culminating with a 4,000-word paper.

The extended essay provides:

• practical preparation for undergraduate research
• an opportunity for students to investigate a topic of personal interest to them, which relates to one of the student’s six DP subjects, or takes the interdisciplinary approach of a World Studies extended essay.

Through the research process for the extended essay, students develop skills in:

• formulating an appropriate research question
• engaging in a personal exploration of the topic
• communicating ideas
• developing an argument.
• Participation in this process develops the capacity to analyze, synthesize and evaluate knowledge.

We invited Dr Sheetal Sharma to speak to the D1 and D2 Geography classes this week. She works for GAVI – Global Vaccine Alliance Initiative. GAVI a public–private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunisation in middle and low income countries. Together with WHO, GAVI is also leading the COVAX facility. COVAX’ aim is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.

We have only just begun this new year, and we are back to business as usual (with some extra handwashing as we go). Our students are learning to navigate their way through the school routine again, and doing so with caution and care in lieu of the realities that the world continues to bring our way. It is great to see so many smiling faces amid all that is happening around us, and looking forward to students making the most of the amazing opportunities and freedoms that they are experiencing on our campuses.

With any new year, it is a great time to think about what lies ahead, and to plan accordingly. Setting personal deadlines to complete tasks is essential to practicing self-management, which will lead to success in many aspects of life.

In this recent article https://www.youthemployment.org.uk/young-professional-training/self-management-skills-young-professional/ the importance of developing three important skills is highlighted: accountability;  initiative; and organization. These are mirrored in our IB Learner Profile and can be learned at a very young age, while reinforced throughout the educational experience. The earlier we introduce and then continually teach these skills, the more prepared our students will be for the world that awaits them upon their ascension into adulthood.

These skills were on full display during the hectic break for some of our college/university applicants. There have been major deadlines for applications since 1 January, and many students have been rushing to meet them, some at the last minute. It is so essential that the application process be a well thought out and planned event, and we strongly encourage parents to play an active role in this process. As the application process begins to wind down for many of our D2 students with another major deadline on 15 January, it is time to start actively planning for our D1 students. Please take a moment to review some of the upcoming events on this link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PkurQYYtwz1sdX5b44r22DgdZk4F-U8g/view?usp=sharing, and continue to explore the information that institutions are making abundantly available via their websites and social media. Ms. Kate Swope (Arusha) and Ms. Cassandra Ford (Moshi) will begin meeting with students to formulate and finalize their Post-Secondary plans throughout the semester, and parents will be invited to participate later this year. We encourage you to engage in conversations about your child’s plan, and ask them about the information they are receiving in the Friday Counselor Check-in emails.

Take care and enjoy this the new year,

UWCEA School Counseling Team

CLear out your Christmas reads and donate your unwanted texts to our appeal! All books will be willingly received at our Main Reception.

My name is Gabriel Kalamata with many years of experience of teaching music theory, practical piano and voice lessons.
I follow the ABRSM (The Exam Board of Royal School of Music) curriculum from the UK whereby students can learn theory of music, voice and piano grade 1-8.
Piano students can take part in ABRSM exams once or twice a year.This is not compulsory, it is up to the student and parents to make this decision.

Here are the times available at the moment.
Monday 3:00-5:00 pm
Tuesday 12:12:30 pm and 3:30-5:00 pm
Wednesday 3:00-3:30 pm and 3:30-5:00 pm
Thursday 12;00-12:30 pm and 4:30-5:00 pm

Preferably individual lessons for primary students. One lesson is Tshs 20000 and for one hour is 30000 payable at the beginning of the term.
Parents who are interested to develop the talent of their children in music can call me on 0753 341076,0786 250226 or email me kalamata734@gmail.com

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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