Moshi Campus News – 27 Aug 2022

This week as you read through the newsletter you will see all of the non-classroom activities are starting to kick in as the campus ramps up to full speed. The first OP of many went out this weekend and the clubs, sports, service and other activities are starting up this coming week. For returning members of the community this bustle is the almost expected norm, but for some new members it can seem a bit wild as they try to get involved in everything. While tempting, take your time and find your own pace.

The MYP completed their orientation this past weekend and parents also had the opportunity to learn more this week on the different aspects and how the program comes together.

I thank all parents that have been signing up to Toddle and Life, if you have not done so, please do. Particularly important is the Life signup as we need to get important information into the system. The healthcare forms are needed for all students so that they can attend off campus trips. These forms make sure that we can prepare for and supply the correct support away from campus. The second is a follow up to Anna Marsden’s notice regarding up-to-date student passes. These are a governmental requirement for non-citizen attendance.

On a different note, our students planning the Farmers’ Markets are planning on the first one in September so look for the first announcement in next week’s newsletter.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

Save the Date!

This year the 24-Hour Run moves from Moshi Campus to Arusha Campus. The run starts on Friday September 16th and finishes on Saturday the 17th. Starting times and more details will be coming soon, but you can start planning your team now. Please remember this event is a fundraiser for matched scholarships so your involvement is key.

The Dare2Dream initiative will match a scholarship for each one we generate up to three a year. Fundraisers like this contribute to us reaching this scholarship goal.

There is nothing like easing yourself into a new year! As ever, we have hit the ground running and there is already so much going on in and around the classrooms with a number of events on the near horizon. Teachers and students are getting to know each other, building relationships, creating agreements, deciding classes, choosing activities, planning schedules and so on to fade. For many students, from EC upwards, these early days are a whirlwind of new faces and places, new expectations and new experiences.

As we explored in last Friday’s Primary Gathering, being new is not easy. It can be particularly challenging coming into a group of peers who are already familiar with each other and the routines and rhythms of a new community…and that goes for adults as well. Like Hedgehog in our story, we all want to find “someone for us.”

Please remember the importance of reaching out to others and using the networks that are out there to support each other. You are not alone. There are many people here with collective years of experience and expertise who are happy to help.

At times, in a dynamic and aspiring community, it is easy to forget to take the time to consider our own wellbeing and mental health. Be mindful of opportunities to step out of the fast-flowing current for a while and be still or concentrate on other things. Many people go above and beyond to provide opportunities beyond the classroom for our community. Please take advantage of these.

Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus

Thank you to everyone who attended our first MYP Parent Info Session on Wednesday, August 24th, 2022. The aim of these info sessions is to maintain an open channel of collaboration and communication within the MYP department in order to shed the light on important MYP news or updates, discuss essential elements of the programme, respond to all inquiries and above all make sure that we are all on the same page when it comes to an effective educational journey for our MYP learners.

Our session included information about:

• the general MYP framework
• the Assessment Criteria
• achievement levels as opposed to grades
• the best fit approach and what it means 
• ATL skills and Service 

Use this link to access the presentation.

I am looking forward to more get-togethers in the future.

Farah Fawaz – MYP Coordinator

This week’s Residential Update is kindly written by Austin and Alina (M5):

“Resuming school this year as an M5 was surreal. The break was honestly well deserved but once again, we are back for the new year. Some of us are still processing how fast it came about whilst others, are settling into the school itself both in the residence and academically with ease.

We had an exciting range of new students join the MYP programme and with that, came the first ever MYP orientation. Many of us know that feeling when you’re standing in a new place and every right turn you take leads you to an unknown location on campus and getting lost was seemingly the norm. In addition to this, there are lots of people you are seeing for the first time and you are trying to navigate new systems and adjust into a home away from home. It is always a daunting beginning and knowing these feelings ourselves, as experienced M5 students, we wanted to run an orientation especially for them and just like that, the idea turned into reality.

Weeks and months went into making it as friendly to everyone as possible, and it’s unfathomable to say, no one had fun. Right from the community walk that educated the whole group about our environment to the dives in the swimming pool that were rather expressive, it would be an understatement to say this orientation didn’t do it justice with the realm of activities over the weekend for all personalities.

I think the light of the whole event, for me, was everyone’s reaction to the very rocky bridge on the community walk. It really showed how much risk people can take, even for that moment. To some degree, it reminded me about all those times Ms. Farah was expressing herself across the room about how “IB students are supposed to be risk takers”. The small talks, sports tournaments, town tours and finishing with a bonfire in the community gardens enabled us to get to know our new peers and we know, they’ll fit right in.”