Arusha Campus News – 15 Feb 2026

This weekend a delegation of students attended AISA GISS in Lusaka, Zambia. This extraordinary acronym stands for Association of International Schools in Africa Global Issues Service Summit. Two years ago this event was hosted on Arusha Campus. 2026 was the turn for the American International School in Lusaka. Our students were expertly chaperoned by Mr Gift and Miss Hilary. They are on their way back as I write this so we can expect some sleepy heads in school in the morning!

Wed 18th to Sunday 22nd Feb – Peaks Adventure Ngorongoro

Thur 19th Feb – 100 Days of School!

Fri 20th Feb to Mon 23rd Feb – Mid term holiday (School closed)

Wed 25th Feb – 5pm M5 Personal Project Exhibition

Fri 27th Feb – Arusha’s Got Talent (details to follow) 

Sat 28th Feb – 6 Hour Run and BBQ lunch at Arusha Campus

Sat 28th Feb – TedX UWC East Africa Arusha (tbc)

The image above is of the breathtakingly beautiful school of UWC Red Cross Nordic in Norway on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Two weeks ago I travelled there to attend an Experiential Peace Building course. 

As we know,the pillars of our UWC mission are Sustainability and Peace. I have always found the former, Sustainability,  to be quite easy to talk about. And to plan ways of becoming more sustainable in our school has been relatively straightforward. To be a better peace builder, however, is a more difficult concept and when the opportunity came along to engage in a course at another UWC on Peacebuilding I grasped the opportunity.

Experiential peacebuilding training combines experiential education methodology and peacebuilding focused on community, trust building and conflict resolution. The approach targets local community leaders, leaders of organisations and educators. It is
based on the work of the Outward Bound Center for Peacebuilding (OBCP), which has been developing this approach since 2007. 

The Experiential Peacebuilding approach is rooted in the idea that trust and human connection are vital to advance peace and collaboration in all communities, especially those struggling with division, polarisation, conflict or violence.

As the world and its politicians lurch from one conflict to another amidst antagonism and counter antagonism, revenge and a complete disregard for compassion. It seems to me that our mission as a UWC has never been as important as it is today.

Phil

P5 thoroughly enjoyed making volcanoes explode! (see image above)

Science is fun for kids because it taps into their natural curiosity, offering hands-on “wow” moments that make learning feel like play. It encourages exploration, allows them to experiment with, test ideas, and find answers to their many questions about how the world works. It transforms abstract concepts into exciting, tangible experiences.

Hands-On Learning: Unlike just reading from a book, science allows kids to get messy and actively participate in experiments, such as building, observing, and testing.

“Wow” Factor: Dramatic experiments, like volcanoes or chemical reactions, create memorable, thrilling moments.

Fosters Creativity and Problem-Solving: Science encourages kids to “think outside the box” to solve problems, often involving trial and error.

Boosts Confidence: Successfully completing an experiment provides a sense of accomplishment, strengthening self-esteem.

Appeals to Multiple Senses: Science is a tactile and engaging experience that uses all five senses.

Resilience Building: Experiments don’t always work the first time, teaching children to learn from mistakes and persist.

Miss Amanda, Head of PYP

Science is fun! Dr. Anna (below) taught the P5 class some diploma chemistry!

 

P6 had a fun trip to Byron’s Shamba in Monduli (see image above), learning about the importance of plants for soils, biodiversity and people. We toured restored farm-land, compared biodiversity between degraded land plots and restored land and compared soil-samples.  We finished with some honey tasting

Students (below) practised some scientific sampling techniques at the farm including learning how to use quadrats.

The primary school put on an amazing Valentine’s share time to celebrate friendship, kindness and being caring. (see montage above)

It promises to be a busy and exciting quarter for the MYP, particularly for our M5 students. As part of their eAssessments, M5 students are currently working on their MYP Arts ePortfolios while also finalising their Personal Project reports (see image above). The Arts ePortfolios are digital collections that showcase students’ creative processes, skill development, and final artistic outcomes, highlighting how they explore ideas, apply techniques, and reflect on their learning. The MYP Personal Project is an independent, student-driven project based on a topic of personal interest, through which students investigate a goal, plan and take action, and reflect on their learning across the MYP. Recently, students participated in a Personal Project workshop, where they took a deep dive into the requirements and engaged in constructive peer review. Their final reports are due next week, after which they will begin preparing to showcase their work at the Personal Project Exhibition on Wednesday 25 February, from 5-6.30pm. Karibuni wote!

Miss Anoek, Head of MYP

Cat (pictured above) is one of our fantastic mums who agreed to host our M3 class at her Starfish Pottery in Usa River. Thanks Cat!

This wonderful Friday morning we embarked on a trip to Starfish Pottery to gain skills on making poetry and ceramics. We went with Mr.Rab and were taught these skills by Cat. Each of us had gained new experiences as we delved deeper into the world of pottery. All of us gained these skills very quickly as we also found new ways to express ourselves through our art. Connecting these art pieces to the nature and culture around us as we tried to incorporate these aspects into our pottery. We experimented, trying new patterns and rhythms. From plates to bowls and even fish sculptures we expressed ourselves very differently. After finishing our art pieces we left the Pottery centre, each of us reflecting on what we had learned and thinking of ways to improve our art skills for the future.

By: Ethan, Julius, Jimmy and Aden

We left school early Friday morning to embark on an exciting trip to starfish pottery. We left at around 8 am and arrived at 9am. When we arrived we were introduced to the basics of making pottery and how to make simple structures using the “coil method ” . We also had to incorporate an animal, rhythm, pattern or a part of nature into our designs. Which was challenging at first but later on proved to be fun and a way for us to develop our creative skills. We all created different designs varying from plates, bowls, vases and mugs. During the process we encountered challenges such as not working fast enough or unstable structures however we all thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with our creative sides. When we were done we let our clay designs dry and we would later on return to paint them. We would like to give a big thanks to the cat for having us and us this experience.

By: Lia, Greener, Ellen and Mink

Students (above) navigate the Themi River as they trek along its course gathering specimens and measuring them against their biotic indices which helps measure water quality.

A couple of weeks ago Mr Bryan, Miss Christabel and Miss Agnes literally went up the mountain to Napuru where, for several years now, we have sited our annual Biology fieldtrip. On this camp we practise different methods of field work and do the sort of work that real life research assistants would engage in. The hard work of data collection, whether it is checking bucket pit-fall traps, carrying out vegetation transects or staying up all night to record moth trapping, was made apparent to our budding scientists. Thank you to our Science Department for putting another successful course component together.

Below, Parth burns the midnight oil in his endeavours to record which moths visit the moth trap during the night.

Our mountain bike riders came back from Kingori after a two day ride around the outside of Arusha National Park. The school has invested in some new mountain bikes recently, so we look forward to hearing how the new machinery performed!

We should all thank Mr Stephane who accompanies every Rides trip that we put on and that’s not just because he is our cycling expert but also because he is extremely talented at passing on tips and techniques to our learners. Thanks Mr Stephane for giving up so much of your weekend time for our young riders. We appreciate you terrifically!

As you can see from the smiles in the image above, our work at Kilitrails was a lot of, lot of fun!

Last weekend we fuelled up a school bus and made the drive over to west Kilimanjaro and Simba Farm for Kilitrails 2026. This is a three day festival of running and mountain biking on the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro. Our students and teachers ran in several events and supported the event through helping out the festival organisers. 

Pictured above are students attendiing a ‘Study in Hungary’ presentation for secondary students. Full scholarships available for students from most countries for both undergraduate and graduate studies.

We are extremely lucky to have a University Counselor of the calibre of Mr Kendis at our school. The breadth of information and support that Mr Kendis offers on a seemingly 24hr basis (!) is amazing. You may wonder why his newsletter article does not appear in our weekly newsletter but that is because he actually updates his own newsletter as a separate publication.

Thank you Mr Kendis, ‘You Rock!’ as they say in your part of the world.

This weekend Miss Anoek and Miss Amanda and Miss Caroline (above) set up a stall at the Njiro Saturday Market to provide information about our school and the purpose of UWC as a movement. The morning was very successful and we met lots of interesting people with whom we were able to share news about our school!

Each weekend the teachers take a day or so to offer a weekend activity for our diploma students. All students are welcome to join in whether they are day or residential. An example of an activity is fabric painting. In the images above we can see the outcomes of Miss Amanda’s fabric painting activity. Dont those bags look fabulous!

Mr Adam (pictured above) is renonned for his senior boys basketball coaching and the inevitable successes of those Senior Rhinos as a result. As if he didnt have enough work to do (!) he is now coaching the younger generation and this week both U13 teams won their matches 4-0 this week. Hongerani!

Hello everyone,

ARUSHA GOT TALENT IS BACK!  🤸🏾‍♀️🎤🎟️🎥🪩🎪🎭🎼🤹‍♀️🤹
Get ready for AGT: A fun, high-energy, once-in-a-kind night where our community shines on stage! 🌟

AGT sign up https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeMS-xE67OvvBlgdPlokF_I-2Ka9nY_a68pZAfInwLTYlJcRQ/viewform

This will be the D2’s LAST AGT, so come perform, come watch, and come support. Let’s make it unforgettable.

Who can participate?
(M1–D2) students, parents, and teachers

Event Details
📍 Location: PA
⏰ Time: 7:30 PM sharp
📅 Date: 27th February

Sign-ups close on 16th February, please don’t miss your chance to be part of it!

If you have any questions, you can reach out to me.

Ayinza Joline, D2
Arusha’s Got Talent Host & Organizer. (ayinzal26@uwcea.org) 

Whether you sing, dance, act, or have a unique talent, we want to see it. Let’s celebrate talent together!

See you on stage or in the crowd 🎉

We are excited to announce the availability of UWC East Africa-branded hoodies. Please have a look at the link here

https://forms.gle/FdDL6zEYjga7Rp4i6

for more information about available sizes, colours, and how to place the order. Kindly note that the time frame between ordering the hoodie and collecting it is at least 2-3 weeks. Thank you for the support

Advancement Department