Moshi Campus News – 13 Mar 2021

I think if you read through the full newsletter this week, or really any week, you would see the full range of activities students are involved in.

When I first started teaching, anything outside of the classroom was considered extracurricular as if implying that it had less value. In many places, like here, this view has changed.  The definition of education and what it means for students is much broader than it ever was before.  So, while learning Math, Language, Science and Humanities students engage in activities like service.  They question, explore and present about topics they are interested in and teach each other skills in turn.  For those parents of PYP students you see this in Primary Gatherings.  In Secondary you see this through student led clubs, Personal Projects, Extended Essays and in other areas like the Outdoor Pursuits program.
As much as I would like my students to say they learned the most in Math class, I think most would actually say they will remember the out of class learning far longer.

On a more practical note, the sign-up links for Primary and Secondary Conferences will be emailed out this week for the 24th and 31st respectively.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

Our Level 4 Ngorongoro-to-Natron hikers were at the Crater rim earlier this evening and from the lofty vantage point spotted three black rhinos! Great start to the trip

Today, I am continuing with our plan to make our UWC East Africa Guiding Statements ‘visible,’ tangible’ and ‘referenced,’ across the different sections of our community. The observant amongst you will have noticed our Mission statement (in English and Swahili) taking shape in our Dining Hall. Mr. Stratan is doing a wonderful job.

This week, following their wonderful Personal Project Exhibition in K-Hall on Thursday, I asked our intrepid M5 students to share their insights on our fourth Values statement. It is a bit of a mouthful! At UWC East Africa we value “An education in a global context that promotes an appreciation and understanding of multiple perspectives and interdependence of individuals, societies and environments.”

“The environment that we learn in adds a global dimension to everything. So, we might learn about something with a local or regional focus but we discover different perspectives about it from all over the world.

I think it is important to always consider different perspectives. When we put everyone’s different perspectives and opinions together, we can come up with something great. We have students and teachers from all over the world and they all bring different points of view. We have many opportunities to explore so many problems and we can exchange opinions. We don’t have arguments about it but more debates where we can widen our own perspective.

I am friends with people from different parts of the world. This has helped me understand the difference between cultural appreciation and appropriation. Being exposed and introduced to so many different life choices has helped me understand how and why culture can have such a huge impact on relationships and, at the same time, how it is not important at all.

My Personal Project was all about this! How the mindset of students here is different to students who have been in a public school their whole life. I found that students here are much more open-minded and accepting of others. If we disagree with others, this is OK and we accept and respect this difference. Everyone also mentioned this in the comments they left after my presentation.”

Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus

On Monday we celebrated International Women’s day with an assembly organised by the students. There were speeches, videos and a dramatic presentation. This was followed up by open circles and some performance art on Thursday. This was very thought provoking, thank you to all involved.

The D2 students have had their final orals for English A and some self-taught students. The final orals for Swahili A, language acquisition and the rest of self-taught will be next week. As most of these orals involve a presentation, seeing a D2 student wandering around talking to themselves has been a common occurrence.

They have also been finalising submissions of the externally assessed components – HL Essay for Language A, TOK Essay and Extended Essay. I hope they will thank their teachers who have made time to give last minute help. For some students they will need to finalise the Internal Assessments while others are feeling the relief of having finished that as well. Now the big push is to revise for the final exams in May. There are of course still assessments happening as teachers prepare to write the final reports of the D2 students’ school career. These will be issued on Wednesday 31st March.

For D1 students, they are at the stage of thinking about their subject for Extended Essay. They should have been hearing about the EE in each of their subjects and been having conversations with teachers about their ideas. The deadline for their choice of subject is March 22nd.

As mentioned elsewhere in the newsletter the D2 art exhibition will take place the week after next. The opening for teachers and parents of D2 art students is on Sunday 21st March and it is open for public viewing on Monday 22nd March. As the viewing will be inside please wear a mask. All primary classes and some MYP and DP classes will be taken during the day on Tuesday 23rd March. The D2 students will be available to talk about their work at these times.

Margaret Brunt – DP Coordinator

We need you!

A group of 15 students from the Moshi Campus are organizing and executing a TEDx Youth Event in September 2021. A crucial step in the journey is to get speakers, performers, and MCs. If you enjoy public speaking and are deeply passionate about any topic, we invite you to be a speaker and have the opportunity to be on a large platform to share your idea with not only the rest of the UWCEA community, but the entire TEDx family.

We humbly extend this invitation to M4-D1 students, teachers, and parents from both campuses. The event will host 100 people including students, staff, parents, and local community members at Moshi Campus. More information about this event will be posted on our upcoming social media pages, website, and event page. However, if you would like to know more about the TEDx Program, you can visit this website.

We are looking for 9 speakers, 6 from the UWCEA community and 3 from the Local Moshi community. If you are interested, please fill in this application form. This form will be open until March 19, 2021, for parents only. We will not be accepting applications after the deadline due to limited spots.

After short-listing the applications, we will begin the training sessions where you will become more familiar with the event and have the chance to further develop your speaking skills and improve any weaknesses. 

For any prospective performers, MCs or audience members, we will reach out with a separate email inviting you to apply when the time comes.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at tedxmoshi@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing passionate speakers and making this event memorable.

Thank you.

Kind Regards,

The TEDxYouth@UWCEA Executive Team

Spring Break approaches and so to do our thoughts on our holiday plans. May I please remind everyone to consider our safety protocols as we approach this much needed time-off. We are asking our MYP and Diploma students to stay on campus and work with us to arrange an array of activities to keep positively active. Whilst we know that there are still many leaving, we want everyone to return from the various destinations in good health and in good spirits. To this regard, I need to reemphasize that we will be quarantining those who travel upon return – so please arrive four days before school commences for the final quarter on the 7th.

If you have any queries about our quarantine protocol upon returning from travel, please do not hesitate to contact me.

For those students remaining on campus, I look forward to working with them over the next two weeks as we stretch our minds and explore the options available for us in our incredible surroundings.

For this weekend, we have organized a wonderful outdoor movie night and I must thank Khaled and Zofia for setting up the fairy lights, projector, screen, snacks, mats/blankets and advertising it accordingly. Furthermore, Mr Marsh and Ms Hilda are boulder hopping through the river with our MYP students and our Primary students are engaging in play activities at a staff house on Sunday.

There is never a dull moment in residential life and whilst we want our students to have a restful break ahead, we want them to finish this quarter well. We want them and all of our students for that matter at Moshi, to meet their teachers’ deadlines, standards and expectation – not just for themselves but for all involved in supporting them.

When I think more of this environment, I think of our guiding statement that rings true; Residential life really is a culture of safety, collaboration, and a caring community.


Simon Johnston – Head of Residential Life

Well done to the M5 class and their Personal Project Exhibition.  A big thank you goes to Mrs. Alannah Carson for all she did in preparation with and for the students.  Her organization was amazing and her commitment unfaltering, just what the students needed to keep them focused and on task throughout the process. 
In addition to the exhibition the MYP got together for an assembly where we celebrated the arts department and all the creative things they have been up to.  We began the assembly with an introduction to the new student government process by Mr. Simon Johnson.  We look forward to an active and involved student government here at UWCEA soon.  After handing out the Honors Certificates from last term we launched into the arts presentations.  Music demonstrated an amazing array of student talents, from digital sound to a more traditional piano piece. Drama performed some of their learning by showing examples of pantomime moves and a brief skit.  The students then showed their 2-D pieces of art created in our art room with brilliant descriptions of the process and media used for each assignment as well as the learning behind it.

Next week is going to be equally exciting as the M1s are headed to Lake Eyasi.  In addition to the trip we will begin our MAP test preparation for the MYP M1 to M3.  They will have a few practice sessions on Friday March 19th and then complete the testing the following week.  Above is the schedule.

Jeanne Aman – MYP Coordinator

Going Through Grief

This has been quite a trying time for many in our community, and grief is an emotion that has been experienced in a variety of ways. From the actual loss of loved ones and friends to the loss of a way of life. As we endure grief, we all must find a way to work through it, and continue to find meaning and joy in our lives.

In the recent book, Good Grief by Granger Westberg, we are introduced to ten stages of grief, and the varying levels of complexity involved in mourning. This book highlights the fact that there is no “right way” to experience grief, but that it is important that you understand your relationship with grief, and the healthy ways that you can grow through your process since it is an ongoing aspect of life. The more we are able to handle the small losses in life, the better prepared we are for the more impactful mourning moments that can overwhelm us if we do not have ways to cope with loss. Reach out for help when needed, and know that you are never truly alone when grieving.

Sharing is caring as we all attempt to enhance our well being and social emotional learning during troubling times. We are grateful to Nicolette van Aarst for reaching out and emailing resources that can be helpful four our community. Between the Tapping technique for stress management and the Choose Love Movement curriculum information, we are grateful for the resources that were sent our way recently. Supporting the well-being of our whole community takes a team effort, and we welcome others to send resources our way that you think would be beneficial.

In this new month, we also want to share the new Mindful March calendar with 31 ideas to help you be more present and aware of your responses to life events. We also continue to invite you to access (and contribute to) the COVID-19 Counselor Resources document where we seek to provide you with information that will hopefully help you through any difficulties you may encounter as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

Finally, we invite you to review this link weekly in order to view recordings of recent college/university presentations, and to sign up to attend one or two upcoming virtual events that interest you/your college bound child. Please follow up with a conversation where you and your child discuss what you learned and how this might apply to their post-secondary plans.

Have a wonderful weekend, and know that we are here if you need us to help you get through this thing called life.

Take care and stay safe,

UWCEA School Counseling Team

Yesterday afternoon the 5km assessment run for our MYP students took place.  They have developed plans in the hope that they are able to set goals, organise their time and train toward a goal. They have been training and preparing for this event since December so hopefully they were happy with their times despite the heat.

 

Tennis with Coach Charles
Tennis with Coach Charles continues with him 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 with Mr T and several of our skilled M5, D1 & D2 students resumes this weekend.  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

Mawenzi M5-D2 basketballers really showed they wanted to be the top teams of the competition taking out the house competition comfortably. Thank you to Mr Johnston for refereeing all games. The house scores now look like this at the start of the weekend.

Mawenzi creeping closer to the top. Maybe caught up by the end of this weekend.

Don’t forget to support your team, the March Madness Basketball for M1 to M4 will be Friday 26th 2pm, the Cook offs were yesterday for Diploma (see below) and MYP next Friday. So, plenty to get involved in.

Remember 1 point could make the difference, you could earn that point.

Yesterday was the first ever Inter-house Cook Off. The theme was “Gourmet Burger”. The only recipe given was one for burger buns. Other than that, it was free reign. Excellent burger patties, sauces, guacamole were produced by all three house teams. The judges were impressed with the overall quality of the food and the presentation all in two hours with no information provided ahead of time. While the results were close the final decision resulted in a win for Mawenzi!

Well done to Matthias and Navya, as well as Silipa, Joy, Lulu and Alexis.

Congratulations to our Primary Student Voice for organizing such an enjoyable celebration of 100 days in school on Tuesday. We all enjoyed ourselves completing the different activities. The P2/3 children did a great job in Primary gathering this week. They shared their models and infographics about the solar system and spoke knowledgeably to a large audience. The EC/P1 class will be presenting in the primary gathering next Friday. Next week the P4, P5 and P6 classes will be taking MAP assessments in the IT lab. A presentation explaining what the results mean, and how we can use them to further the children’s learning, will be shared with parents later. The only preparation the children need is a good night’s sleep, a healthy breakfast and a nutritious snack to provide them with energy throughout the day.

Mboka Mwasongwe & Deborah Mills – PYP Coordinators

Primary Student Voice would like to thank everyone in the community for making the 100th Day in School such a great day. They’d also like to remind you that

• It’s always a day for kindness, and that kindness should not stop just because the 100th Day in School is over.
• The donation box for canned and dried food is still available to add to for another week. Please find some time to help us out with a kind donation.
• Tickets for the Stay Cosy Movie Night will be available soon. PYP parents, please look out for an email with more information.

On Friday the 19th, we will be presenting for primary gathering. You are welcome to attend. We will all be performing a song and a short skit.

Our class had the opportunity to participate in the Tuesday 100th day in school activities. They were very amazing, moving from class to class, listening to different teachers and carrying out various activities. The picture highlighted happened during the building activity in P5. Well done EC/P1 for being risk-takers.

EC 1s have been exploring numbers. Please ask them what they are learning and give them many opportunities to explore numbers at home or during your travels. Counting plates on the table or saying the numbers on a number plate are some examples of things they can do.

P1 stories of the week are on the wall. You are welcome to come and read them as you drop off your children.

Mboka Mwasongwe

“I love planets <3”. I have specifically been asked to start off the newsletter section with those words, and especially the heart. It’s been a little chaotic this week with P2/3 trying to get their planets paper mache’d in time for our Primary Gathering on Friday. Now, you’d think this would be a rather simple process. But no…the balloons kept deflating, the planets kept crumbling, and the P2/3 solar system was in total apocalypse mode. The day was saved by some creative thinking and the usage of clay, which allowed us to create the planets, albeit a little smaller in scale than we intended for them to be.

I think the general feeling in our classroom is that we don’t want this unit of inquiry to end. We’ve had so much fun with it, and there is still so much to learn. There’s been a real thirst and excitement in the students to learn as much as they possibly can about space.

Thank you to all the parents who came out to support us at our Primary Gathering. I kindly request you to feed all the children some ice cream to cope with the disappointment of ending our unit on space.

Elisha Jaffer

Wow- 100 Days in School! We’ve fit so very much into all these days. It was fun to celebrate the milestone together. I enjoyed having a slot with each of the classes and I know that my class enjoyed time with each of the other primary teachers. The day made me realize how quickly time is passing in P4!

Our class is looking forward to MAP next week. We talked a bit about approaching the MAP with a calm mind and remembering not to rush. The only thing that we need from home is parents making sure that kids get enough rest and a filling breakfast!

Though our schedule will be affected by MAP, we will still have both of our normal PE slots (Monday swim and Wednesday sport) and Library on Friday.

Kacey Buckley

There was an air of celebration in P5 on Tuesday as we celebrated 100 days in school! The children enjoyed dancing, building with cups, crafts and games. This week the class has been practicing using apostrophes for contractions (I’m, you’re) and possession (the girl’s hat). We have also done some writing using similes and are working on producing a class book. In maths we have been focusing on division. Next week the children will take online assessments in Reading, Language and Maths. Specialist lessons should not be affected so please send in swim kits, library books etc. as normal. We will be working on story writing and will also be getting our learning portfolios ready so that we can share them with you on March 24th at the Student Led Conferences.

Deborah Mills

As was predicted, this week was full of activity. On Tuesday, the P6 enjoyed the 100th day of school celebration. They learned some new dance moves, which I am sure they would have fun showing off. They spent the rest of the week getting their personal and group summatives ready to present today. After many speed bumps with technology, they were proud today to present their advertisements on their product as well as their news story. Topics covered included: disease eradication, ways to prevent poaching, sea turtle conservation, space exploration, and the reintroduction of animals into their natural habitats. They became news reporters on the radio, TV, magazines and a newspaper.

Today they shared their initial three ideas for their PYP Exhibition topic, and informed me of which topic they would like to use for the Exhibition experience. We will share these and their advertisements at their gathering on the 26th of March.

Sarah Brummel