Moshi Campus News – 26 Sep 2026

As mentioned in previous newsletters we had visitors this week from CIS and MSA our accreditation bodies. They toured both campuses and talked with staff, students and parents to get a full picture of the school. This along with documents we shared with them helps guide our self-improvement process through the next few years. This process will have us select a few initiatives aligned with our school mission and values to work through in a system of continuous improvement. The two visitors, Steve and Rick, shared some initial thoughts with us on Friday as well as some of the things shared with them throughout their conversations. Overwhelmingly they were impressed by everyone they talked with and shared some things they thought were strengths of the school.

These included that the school mission and values were fully lived in daily school life; that we have deep and impactful experiential and service learning; there is a strong sense of community; and there is consistent and effective high-quality learning and teaching across the school. They also shared some ideas on ways we can continue to improve. We will be using their suggestions, along with our strategic plan and existing plans to craft the initiatives mentioned above over the next month. In about 18 months another set of visitors will come to work with us to evaluate our progress on these initiatives. Thank you to everyone who took the time to talk with Rick and Steve to share their impressions of the school.

Now, looking to next week, our MYP students will be off on their Week-Without-Walls trips at the same time our D1 students will be on Project Week. This will leave a much quieter campus for the D2 to focus on certain academic projects as well as university plans. The PYP will have the MAP test sessions in P4 to P6.

PYP parents, you should have received an invite to sign up for conferences on October 6th. Please check your email for the link and the directions. Secondary parents, your conferences will be after the October break and the invite will come out later.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

The sun came out this week and we had lots of lessons outside.

The D1 Spanish Ab Initio students sat outside putting together puzzles. The puzzles revealed a photo which they had to discuss in Spanish, linking to one of the topics.

Art students are working on portraits, taking inspiration from other well-known artists and trying to adapt their techniques. Biology classes continued working on understanding the different parts of DNA and Language and Literature students started the study of Grace Nichols’ poetry.

I had the opportunity to visit many of these classes this week with CIS and MSA accreditation team members and they repeatedly commented on the maturity and warmth of our students.

D1s are looking forward to Project Week. Ms Faiza will be their points person if they need anything.

The D2s will stay on campus this week for Catch-Up week. Many of them are feeling the pressure of Diploma so this is a good moment to pause and reflect. I will be away this week, visiting a school in Lusaka but Adnan and Elizabeth Elger will remain on campus to support the D2s.

Catherine Dowie – Head of Diploma

Our mathletes delivered a fantastic performance at the SAMTC math competition on Saturday, with three teams representing the school against strong competition. In this team competition, you needed multiple schools to compete, so the Moshi students were joined by those from Arusha campus and SCIS.

The Junior Team finished 23rd out of 69 teams, while Senior Team 1 placed an impressive 12th out of 67. Senior Team 2 also held their own, finishing 35th out of 67. Congratulations to every student who took part, and a big thank you to Ms Anna Dieter and the Math Department for their guidance, coordination and support, and for capturing the day in the photos below.
George (D1)

There is a particular kind of energy on campus when everyone knows Week Without Walls is just around the corner. Bags are being planned, last-minute questions are appearing, and the countdown has very definitely begun.

But before we swap classrooms for the adventures ahead, there was still plenty happening across the MYP this week. Here are a few snapshots from our final week on campus before WWW takes over!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. Next stop: Week Without Walls!

MYP Week Without Walls
It’s finally here! We are excited to send our MYP students off for a week of adventure, learning, challenge and plenty of memories!
Students have been informed of the Sunday packing schedule. To help us depart on time on Monday, students should be on campus at:

M1: 6:00 am | M2: 6:30 am | M3: 7:30 am | M4: 7:30 am | M5: 7:30 am

A reminder that day students need to bring a packed lunch for the first day.

Throughout the week, I will send families a daily email update at around 6:00 pm. If you need anything in the meantime, please feel free to email me.

We’re ready! Wishing all our students and staff a fantastic Week Without Walls!

M3 Design
M3 Design students have been exploring logos, branding and what makes a visual identity effective and memorable. Working through the Design Cycle, they are investigating existing brands, developing ideas and beginning to turn their own names into unique brands.

Their ideas are moving from early concepts and sketches towards designed outcomes, including their own branded stickers. A great example of the Design Cycle in action: investigate, develop, create and refine.

M4 Music
M4 Music students are getting into the Blues, working in groups to compose and perform their own pieces. They are developing lyrics, melodies and rhythm while thinking carefully about dynamics, timing and how each member contributes to the overall performance.
We were also treated to a fantastic ukulele performance of “Hound Dog” and “Tutti Frutti”, definitely a highlight of the week!

Now we’re looking forward to hearing the students’ own Blues compositions take the stage.

M4 Theatre
Our M4 Theatre students are working towards their monologue performances, using research into their chosen character, play and context to shape their interpretation.

This week, we had the chance to see their work in progress, and the development was already clear. Students are moving beyond simply delivering their lines and beginning to make purposeful choices about voice, movement, space, pace and characterisation. Through rehearsal, experimentation and feedback, they are learning to recognise what works, adjust their choices and build increasingly confident and convincing performances.

We look forward to seeing how these performances continue to develop!

M1 Creative Process
Sometimes the best part of creating is not knowing exactly where you’ll end up. Our M1 students have been exploring colour, pattern, shape and composition, experimenting with ideas and watching their work develop piece by piece.

The creative process is about trying, adjusting, making decisions and discovering what happens along the way and judging by the results, there is plenty of creativity happening in M1!

MYP Dates to Remember

• September 28th to October 2nd – MYP Week Without Walls
• October 7th – Last Day of Q1
• October 8th to 18th – October Break (Inclusive)
• October 19th – First Day of Q2

Have a beautiful week ahead!
Farah Fawaz – Head of MYP

Thank you to P1/2 for a lovely gathering on Friday morning. It was great to see the children performing so confidently onstage.

Last week, we sent a team of athletes to Kennedy House. Congratulations to all of the participants for the effort they made. The results of this friendly competition have now been shared, with special mentions for Aarefa (1st in discus), Asahi (2nd in long jump), Ewan (1st in 300m), MacKenzie (2nd in high jump), Noah (1st in shot put) and Noah (1st in 300m). Well done to everyone who took part.

Looking ahead to next week:

On Monday, 28th September, Ms. Mboka and the Student Voice have organised a Buddies Playtime, where children from different year groups will be paired up for an opportunity to play together.

Also starting on Monday, P4–P6 children will take their online MAP Growth assessments in Reading, Language and Maths. These adaptive assessments adjust to each child’s learning level and help us track progress and plan appropriate next steps. The assessments are not timed, and no special preparation is needed – just a good night’s sleep, a nutritious breakfast and a healthy snack. Results will be shared with parents on Life at a later date.

Next week is also the last week of Quarter 1 clubs. Sign-up information for Quarter 2 clubs will be shared during the first week back after the break. If you are interested in offering a club for the Primary children on a day of your choice, Monday–Thursday from 2:00–3:00pm, please let me know. I saw some very happy children on Thursday who had been working on Lego bajajis with Ms. Katie (Mama Zayn)! Thank you to everyone who has helped with PYP clubs this quarter. It is thanks to the support of parents, community members and Diploma students that we are able to offer such a varied after-school programme.

On Tuesday, 29th September, we are sending a team of swimmers to Kennedy House. The bus will leave our campus promptly at 7:30am, and pick-up will be from outside the music rooms near Rafiki Hall at 4:30pm.

On Friday, 2nd October, the P3/4 class will present at the Primary Gathering at 7:40am in Rafiki Hall. You are warmly invited to attend.

The following week, we will have our three-way Goal Setting Conferences on Tuesday, 6th October, followed by a House Challenge and Friendship Picnic on Wednesday, 7th October. You should have received information about both of these events by email. Please contact me if you have any questions.

The photos show some EC children interviewing staff about healthy habits and the P3/4 class explaining their cave building to Mr. Kotanen, one of the accreditation visitors.

Deborah Mills – Head of PYP

This week, we began inquiring into healthy habits. We shared our ideas, brainstormed together, and explored different resources to create our own list of healthy habits. We discovered ways to take care of our bodies and checked our lunchboxes to make sure we were making healthy food choices. We also decided to take regular water breaks to help us stay hydrated.

As part of our learning about asking questions, we interviewed members of our school community to find out how they take care of their bodies. We then put our learning into practice through imaginative play. We bathed babies, changed their clothes, and prepared healthy snacks for them. It was so much fun learning through play!

In phonics, we inquired into the /t/ sound and discovered that tomato, tacos,  teeth, toothpaste, and toothbrush all begin with /t/.

We also explored horizontal lines and discovered that being able to form and draw lines helps us develop the skills needed for drawing and early writing.

Manal El Dahwish

Thank you to all who came to our primary gathering. The children were very pleased with their performance.

We are now officially done with our first unit. We have already started with our second unit, but I would like to share the summary with you.

Transdisciplinary Theme: Who We Are
Central Idea: Parts of the body work together to help you live and grow.
Lines of Inquiry:

• Body Parts and Systems
• How they work together
• How they help us live and grow

In Monday’s home learning, you will receive the goal-setting sheet for your child. Please fill it in and return it to me within the week. We will use this sheet during the goal-setting conferences on the 6th of October.

Mboka Mwasongwe

It has been a very exciting week in P3/4. On Monday we had a visit from Mr Goodluck Laizer, who showed us how to make fire with sticks. The children’s really enjoyed the experience and hearing about Maasai culture. We have finished our unit on Who we are and will be looking into human migration for our next topic. We will be performing in primary gathering on the 2nd of October, we look forward to seeing you there!

Sarah Vrontamitis

The P5 children are coming to the end of their inquiry into forces and simple machines. This week, they have been working on posters to show what they have learned about the different simple machines, how they work and how they make work easier.

We have also spent some time preparing for next week’s MAP assessments. In Language, we have been exploring different types of nouns, including compound words, collective nouns, concrete nouns and abstract nouns. In Maths, we have moved on to different addition strategies and have been practising choosing efficient ways to solve addition problems.

Next week we will start our new unit of inquiry:

Central Idea:

Organisations help protect people’s rights and encourage responsible action.

Lines of inquiry:

• The challenges and risks faced by individuals.
• How organisations support rights
• How organisational systems manage resources and support people

Deborah Mills

This week, P6 explored centimetres, metres and other measurement units, choosing sensible units for different contexts. We also compared linear, square and cubic units and finished our work on the volume of prisms.

Our family stories are well underway, with students typing them up for their summative assessment. We’re excited to share them with you! In Reading, we learnt about the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. Next week, we’ll tackle Icarus—hopefully without flying too close to the sun.

Our Art projects are looking fantastic; check out Hanyah’s teaser! Remember, next week is our final full week before the end of Q1, with no P6 swimming on Tuesday.

Elisha Jaffer

Another Week, Another Adventure!

Another week of adventures! All students returned safely from our recent Reefs trip, with a full write-up coming next week. In the meantime, please enjoy a few photos below.

This week, the OP Store has been buzzing with activity as equipment returns from Reefs, gets cleaned, checked and then heads straight back out again for Week Without Walls. It’s certainly getting a lot of mileage!

Please make sure you check the timings for packing on Sunday, as communicated by Ms Farah above.

During WWW, the OP Store gets completely emptied, and it is a huge logistical operation to make sure every student collects the gear they need, every tent finds a home, and nothing gets left behind!

And just when you thought things might slow down, we’ve also got a Kilimanjaro training day on Saturday. Let’s just say the OP team has been keeping busy and there’s no summit of activity in sight!

It’s been non-stop, but the OP team wouldn’t have it any other way. We love seeing our students take their learning outdoors and into the incredible Tanzanian landscape, where the classroom has no walls.