Moshi Campus News – 4 Sep 2020

Moshi Campus News – 4 September 2020

Contents

Upcoming

Ben’s Corner

Outdoor Pursuits

Diploma News

MYP News

From the Counselor

Sports Update

PYP News

EC/P1 Class

P2/3 Class

P4 Class

P5 Class

P6 Class

The New Normal

Over the course of 2020 we have constantly heard the phrase “The New Normal,” and with the opening of school a lot of thought has gone into what that means for us as an institution.  At the moment this means a lot of new routines and an extra focus on cleaning and health services.  It has meant more watchfulness on how people adjust to returning to classrooms and in some cases delays in those returns.  It is true that these things have changed.  However, it seems that fundamentally the new normal is the old normal. Schools are built on relationships and those established relationships on campus have quickly returned.  Of course with every new school year there are new students and staff and thus, new relationships.  Based on observations and comments these are well on the way to development.  In the classroom you can see when people get past the initial uncertain period and start to feel comfortable with each other.  So, while the school year is still young, I feel confident that the “new” normal will stop being so new and life will just be normal.  At least as normal as it ever can be.

On that vein, please notice below that we have the first Farmers’ Market of the year coming soon and spirt days, student activities, sports and OP.  We look forward to seeing everyone involved and enjoying the events.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

Upcoming

Student Voice

The Primary Student Voice is organizing two events, the PYP Movie Night on the 11th and the Spirit Day on the 18th.  Secondry students are encouraged to join in with the Spirit Day.

Ben’s Corner

At this time of year in schools across the world, students and teachers are goal setting. Goals are an integral part of success in all aspects of life and learning. Setting and, importantly, tracking goals helps us develop many important life skills such as planning, organisation, time management, prioritising, communication and so forth.

Above all, goals provide us with clear steps to follow and, in this way, our time, energy and efforts can be spent efficiently and purposefully. Often, setting realistic goals helps break down big picture items into achievable, realistic and timely targets. This allows us to stay motivated and prevents us becoming frustrated or, worse, discouraged. Personally, setting goals allows me to bring meaning to my experiences and interactions.

Again, tracking is an absolutely essential part of successful goal setting. Tracking our goals over time in a measurable way allows us to gauge our progress.

Goal setting and the format this takes might look very different in an EC/P1 classroom than a D2 classroom or, even, a Staff Room. The way the goal setting is framed may vary but the intention is the same, to constantly strive to improve and grow as individuals, learners and as a school as a whole which, after all, is why we are all here.

Of course, we all sometimes need a little encouragement to achieve our goals. With this in mind, many people have been leaving notes of inspiration on our “PYP Wall of Wishes.” You are more than welcome to add your own words…or, perhaps, create your own version at home to give you that direction. After all, if you do not know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.

Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus

Outdoor Pursuits

Last year we saw increased interest in Outdoor Pursuits trips and as a result increased the number of trips and the total number of spaces available for students.  We also streamlined costs and optimized trip numbers to reduce costs as far as possible to encourage participation.  Our efforts were more successful than we imagined and we have had an overwhelming response to OP trip sign-ups.  As a result, despite this increase in available spaces, we have been unable to meet demand.  As we look to next semester, we are looking at ways to provide opportunities for those that missed out this semester to get into trips of their interest.  This may mean increasing further our planned offerings.  I thank you for your interest in the program and ask that you bear with us as we reorganize the next semester offerings.  We will get the sign-ups for those out as soon as we can.

Last week we had our first trip with the M1 Campcraft and this weekend there are two trips.  One is the level 1 water trip and the other is the level 4 trip to Mount Meru.  A recap of these will be in the next newsletter.

Diploma News

On Sunday night we had the first cultural night of the year. The idea of cultural nights is to give students a chance to share information about their home country. A change has been made to last year and all residential students got a chance to eat the food from the countries being presented beforehand. Thanks go to Ms. Tahera and the kitchen staff for this. This week we learned about Spain and Portugal. There was a fascinating presentation on Spain with three students contributing and this was followed by a play showing a Portuguese myth. We look forward to more of these in the future.

On Wednesday we started the service groups. As part of the CAS programme we provide oportunities for students to participate in service. Students were given a chance to choose the group they wanted to be in last week. On Wednesday they met for the first time and brainstormed what they want to and decided how to structure their group. These groups are in the main student led and teachers are just there to support them. We should have more details about what they are doing next week but the groups are : Campus Beautification, Coral Reef, Educational Enrichment, Environment Club, KCMC, More than a Drop, Pamoja Tunaweza, Peer Support, Smokeless Kitchen and Simba’s Footprint Foundation.
We have an impressive list of student initiated clubs, with students teaching their peers and the younger students about things they enjoy. This list keeps growing and some details need to be finalised but can be found here. The list of clubs DP students are running for PYP students is given elswhere.

On Friday the first OP trips of the year left campus. A small group of D1 and D2 students left to climb Socialist Peak of Mount Meru, a level 4 trip. The successful students will be able to attempt the summit of Kilimanjaro later this semester. Another group with many of our new D1s has gone to Fish Eagle Point for the Water Level 1 trip. This trip is linked to the Coral Reef Service Group.

A reminder for D2 parents the deadline schedule for IAs can be found here. Please encourage your child to plan their time wisely so they can meet deadlines but at the same time to keep us informed of any problems.

Margaret Brunt – DP Coordinator

MYP News

This week we had an M1 coffee for new parents.  We discussed school and campus expectations and the MYP grading structure.  It was a good chance for me to meet the incoming parents and to understand their concerns and field questions.  I am looking forward to hosting another meeting for all MYP parents in the near future.  Our M1’s also had a successful “Camp Craft” camping trip and returned with smiles and fun stories.  In the coming weeks you will get a notification of our scheduled MAP testing. The MYP testing will be scheduled on the week of  September 21 through the 25th.  Please make sure that your student is here on time having had a good breakfast and has had a good night’s sleep prior to any of their scheduled exams.

Please note that I am always available if you should need anything.

Jeanne Aman – MYP Coordinator

From the Counselor

Wow! We are already in our second month of school, and it’s amazing to see how much we have accomplished already. This month has a special theme that was highlighted in this week’s Wellness Wednesday Weekly, which we hope you all take some time to review in order to set the stage for a healthy month ahead. Although the message was a bit delayed this week due to technical difficulties, we hope you will take some time to review it and think about how it applies to your life as you continue to thrive. In addition, we’re so grateful for all of the information received via the Mental Health and Well-being survey responses. They are providing us with some key information to guide our next steps to support our community.

On the college/university side, we appreciate the parents who were able to participate in the D2 parent meeting about the post-secondary planning process. We look forward to doing a presentation for M5/D1 parents on the planning process next semester. You can stay up to date with information in your child’s Maia Learning account, which we invite parents to request access to by emailing Counselor_moshi@uwcea.org.

This week we are gearing up for a major event for students on the continent, and invite students and parents in M4-D2 to participate. Since we are not able to have college/university fairs on campus yet, we are excited about this major event on 8 September at two different times during the day. Please visit the link below to learn more about the CIS Africa International University Fair and to register to participate. There will be opportunities to talk with representatives from institutions throughout the world, and participate in presentations that will provide you with essential information for the college/university planning process. It is important to register in advance of the event to begin planning who you will want to meet with, and learn more about the presentations that will take place. Link to learn more and register for this event

In addition, please review this ever growing list of Upcoming Virtual Visits/Presentations that D1/D2 students have access to in their Maia Learning accounts:

We wish you a wonderful weekend of self-care and enjoying the moments as they come.

UWCEA School Counseling Team

Sports Update

The UWCEA Diploma students are continuing to amaze me with their enthusiasm and energy, this week I have received a schedule of activities that several students want to offer.  I could not believe the number and variety of sports and activities offered by the students. Please check the updated student activities via this link.

Tennis with Coach Charles
Next week Coach Charles will resume his tennis program offering private and/or group lessons Wednesdays at 3:30pm to 4:30pm and Saturdays from 9.30am to 11.30am. Please contact Coach Charles at the courts at the above-mentioned times or call/message on 0710606766. 

PYP Saturday Soccer
Saturday Soccer is back up and running with Mr T and several of our skilled M5, D1 & D2 students helping to run the club.  It kicks off at 9am and finishes at 10.30am just in time for the PYP swim squad to get their laps in.

Go Leopards
Robin Marsh

Community Activities

PYP News

We have been very proud of our Mauritian students this week. Many of the children have made posters to share with their classmates and raise awareness of the oil spill in Mauritius. Some of these are on display around campus. Our thoughts are with our Mauritian community and we hope that this environmental crisis will be resolved soon. Looking ahead, our Student Voice members are already working hard and have organised a PYP movie night in Rafiki Hall on Friday, 11th September. See the Student Voice section for further details.

Deborah Mills, Mboka Mwasongwe – PYP Coordinators

EC/P1 Class

Every Friday, after break time, the P6 students join us for a time of buddy reading. The P6s take time to carefully read through books with their reading buddies, looking at pictures and building relationships. It is always amazing to see the little one’s faces light up as they see these ‘big’ children coming in to read with them. Thank you P6 for the gentle and caring way you approach buddy reading time.

This week, we used string to measure our heights. We now know who the tallest people in the class are, apart from Mr. Emmanuel. We will inquire into the size of our hands and feet next week. Our results are on our wall in the classroom.

We also took time to study our faces. We drew two pictures of our faces, one with pencil only and one with colour. Everyone tried to remember to add all the details in the picture of what they see in the mirror. Next week, we will keep on thinking of ways we can represent our faces. We will display our work for you to see once we are done.

Mboka Mwasongwe

P2/3 Class

We have learned so much this week in P2/3. Mama Luana came in and taught us how to calm ourselves when we’re excited, hurt, upset or angry through the use of tapping. She also taught us about the different food groups and helped us figure out what food group our favourite foods belonged to. Thank you Nicolette for coming in and educating us!

P2/3 students have also learned about bacteria and viruses. They’ve talked about why it is important to stay safe from them, and how they can stay safe from different kinds of germs. We’ve also talked about the importance of only taking antibiotics when they have a bacterial infection.

We completed a germ experiment last week, the investigation from the experiment can be found hanging in our classroom.

Phew. What a busy week!

Elisha Jaffer

P4 Class

It’s hard to believe that it was only the 3rd week of school. P4 has been so busy with writing and math, reading and exploring heroes. It was our class’s first chance to help in a Primary Gathering and we are looking forward to everyone participating when we lead the next Gathering on the 18th. Next week, we will press on with Rounding numbers to the tens and hundreds place and we will enjoy more hero stories from myths, legends and literature. On Monday, look for a Home Learning sheet about heroes in our communities or families.

Please remember Monday Swim, Wednesday PE and Friday Library.

Talking points with kids: favorite heroes from stories.

Kacey Buckley

P5 Class

This week the children have been inquiring into the connection between rules and responsibilities. They have considered the consequences of breaking rules and breaking laws. They have acted out dramas to show why we have rules and to consider whether rules are fair (see photo.) Next week we will explore the history and purpose of human rights. In maths we have worked on addition and next week we will practice rounding numbers. Everyone is doing a super job at bringing their reading book and journal into school each day – thank you for your support with this. On Friday we watched an informative presentation by P6 in Primary Gathering about resolving conflict by using a peace tray. This is an interesting strategy to encourage independence when solving problems and we plan to introduce it into our class next week.

Deborah Mills

P6 Class

I went home every day this week loving my job as a teacher. The class did an incredible job writing their scripts, rehearsing, and performing today for the gathering. Beyond that experience with drama was our unit lesson on types of government. Thanks to Ms. Debbie, the class was able to act out different forms of government with the task at hand of building a tower. We will turn this into a writing assignment where they try to persuade the audience on which type of government is best for the people.

If you have not yet visited our SeeSaw page this year, it is a good time to log in. There are videos of the government lesson, as well as a tour of our room. You can also enjoy the performance from today. If you did not get the invite in your email, please let me know. We have a new page for our P6 year.

Sarah Brummel