Moshi Campus News – 15 May 2021

Moshi Campus News – 15 May 2021

Contents

Upcoming Events

Ben’s Corner

Diploma News

Residential Life

MYP News

From the Counselor

Sports Update

PYP News

EC/P1 Class

P2/3 Class

P4 Class

P5 Class

P6 Class

The Community Survey

This semester teachers on both campuses have started the accreditation process which will culminate in an accreditation visit in February 2022.  This self-improvement process helps us to identify our strengths and areas for improvement.  It is run through our three accreditation agencies: CIS out of Europe, USA out of the United States and the IB. While part of the process involves a review of school procedures and curriculum, part of it looks at our pastoral care and community connections.  All of this involves input from different groups from within our community. Soon we will be mailing out links to an anonymous survey for some of our different groups.  This is in segments to allow CIS and ourselves look at similarities and differences between groups.  Parents, students, teachers, non-teaching staff and alumni are involved in the data collection.  To this end, the more input we get from the community the more useful the data is.  So please, when you get the link to the survey, take the time to complete it so your voice is included.

As you can see below, we have a few events coming up in the next few weeks.  The M4 to D1 all have their exams in the next three weeks.  We hope you are able to join the student government for the blood drive and make it to some of the end of year events.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

Upcoming Events

Tiny Shop of Terrors

Congratulations to Otis in P5 whose logo design will be used for the name of the production and on the t-shirts…. ‘Tiny Shop of Terrors.’

The other winners listed below will have their logos used in the posters, tickets and brochure. Thank you to everyone that entered.

Rimon P2/3
Milo P2/3
Tejvir P4
Colin P4
Vicky P5
Solomon P5
Nadia P5
Rocco M1
Doris M5

We hope to see everyone at the production on June 9th and 10th.

Ben’s Corner

I am taking a pause from celebrating the Values embedded in our UWC East Africa Guiding Statements to focus on something just as important…the PYP Exhibition or PYPX as it is now known!

In the final year of the PYP, students carry out an extended, in-depth, collaborative project known as the PYP Exhibition. This serves as the culmination of their time in the Primary School and is an opportunity to apply all the knowledge, concepts, skills and independent actions students have developed across the grades. The experience gives the students the opportunity to identify, investigate and offer solutions to authentic, real-life issues or problems. Students create their own Central Ideas within a theme. This Central Idea should be of sufficient scope and significance to warrant a detailed investigation and is interdisciplinary in nature.

PYPX provides a meaningful and purposeful opportunity for students to demonstrate independence and responsibility for their own learning. As our P6 inquirers have discovered over recent weeks, it allows them to explore multiple perspectives and to reflect upon their learning across the PYP. Ultimately, the experience promotes the idea of taking action as a result of learning.

On Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th May, our P6 students will enjoy the opportunity to share their experience with the wider community. Throughout the day on Tuesday 25th, the P6 students will present to students, teachers and support staff from across the school (including their P6 counterparts from Arusha campus). Then, on the evening of Wednesday 26th, they will present to their parents and guardians and we invite you to join us. (see invitation above)

As with many learning experiences, the lasting impact is in the journey not the final destination but we do wish our P6 students and teachers all the very best as this journey comes to an end.

Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus

Diploma News

The D2 students’ exams are continuing, about half the students have finished and we have three subjects left to go. There are a variety of events planned to celebrate the end of their journey with their teachers, their friends and their parents. Please note attendance at graduation is only for invited guests in accordance with Covid protocols.

The D1 students are approaching the end of their first year. They have started working on their IAs and have submitted some drafts. The first reflection for the Extended Essay should have been submitted. The deadline schedule is here and will be discussed in Life Skills this week. They have their end of year exams, which are a chance to demonstrate what they have learned, at the end of May. The schedule is:

Following the exams, they will have some time to work on experiments for their science IAs. Then we will have the TOK exhibition, followed by a day to meet with teachers about their other IAs and Extended Essays. It is important they do spend some time in the break working on their IAs and EEs in order to make the first semester of D2 less stressful, but they do also need to be balanced and take a break.

Margaret Brunt – DP Coordinator

Residential Life

Things are always happening in Residential Life here at Moshi and this week is no exception. Our D2 students are either on their final hurdle with their examinations or have finished. Our D1’s are busy with their formative and summative assessments and our MYP’s hone in on their academic commitments too with wonderful support during prep time with an array of Diploma volunteers.

Kimbilio has also been busy with their studies, valuable play time and contributing to campus life with initiatives you will read below.

Academics aside, I am looking forward to the cook off event coordinated by Mr Samuel on Saturday and our Kisiwa boys hosting Kimbilio in the afternoon on Sunday for a movie experience. For the week ahead, we have a residential sports afternoon organised too.

As we come into our final week for our Diploma students, we continue to ask that any travel arrangements be coordinated with your child and me, to ensure we have a smooth transition for their departure. Should you have any queries with the departure dates, travel commitments or Covid testing, please contact me directly. 

Simon Johnston – Head of Residential Life

MYP News

I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend and if you celebrated Eid Al Fitr I do hope you were able to gather and celebrate with loved ones.

In the coming weeks there is a great deal going on, please keep an eye on the calendar for dates, times and locations of various events.  In the MYP we have M5 exams soon approaching as well as their Focus Days and Ceremony.  I have asked your M5 student to supply names of anyone attending the ceremony.  Remember, they are permitted 2 family members.  Please ask them if they have submitted the form with the names and how many will attend. 

The M3 Cultural Arts Center trip was a great success.  The students had a fabulous time and came back with wonderful stories.  They were very impressed with the facility and the program.  Here are a few images from the trip.

As you can see above we will have exams going on for M4 and M5 students.  The students will have normal school days and are expected to report to school on time.  They will be in room 32 for the entire day and be able to revise and prepare for their exams in between sessions.

Jeanne Aman – MYP Coordinator

From the Counselor

Mental Health Month Continued – Stress Release

As we watch the D2 faces become a bit more relaxed as they near the end of exams, we are also watching the faces of other students begin to become a bit tense as they are preparing for their end of year assessments. Although tests are a part of life, our relationship with the stress they cause can vary greatly. We want to encourage a healthy relationship with stress, and that begins with learning techniques to manage stress effectively. This month the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families has put together kits full of resources to begin this process. Please take a look at these documents when you have a moment to begin exploring ways to engage with stress in productive ways.

Stress Awareness Month Toolkit for primary level
Stress Awareness Month Toolkit for secondary level

In addition, we invite you to consider participating in a webinar later this month addressing the anxious feelings that we all experience at different times in our lives. On Tuesday, 25 May, psychologist and author Elisha Goldstein will do a presentation focused on ways to transform anxiety. Please take a look and see if this is something you would like to register for and attend.

Next week we have two events that we hope students and parents will attend. Please see the posters below, and link to our Upcoming Visits List with even more events that we hope you and your child will consider attending.

We wish you Eid Mubarak and hope that you are able to enjoy the holiday weekend. If you are in need of additional resources to support mental health and wellbeing, please feel free to explore the
COVID-19 Counselor Resources. Our team continues to find ways to support our community near and afar, and we welcome your thoughts and suggestions on ways to enhance the work that we do.

Take care and persevere,

UWCEA School Counseling Team

Sports Update

Plans for 2 events after we have got our D2s through their exams are on track and looking good.  Letters will be sent home next week, and a permission form will be shared with parents for students to attend the Sports Weekend Lite in Arusha. On the 28th and 29th of May we will be taking M1 – D1 students to Arusha Campus for a Sports Weekend Lite.  This will involve a mini track and field event on Friday afternoon from 3pm to 6pm with some basketball in the evening under lights. Saturday will be comprised of mainly team sports with Frisbee, Touch, Netball, Basketball and Volleyball played by U13, U15 and U19 students. Primary swim squad will have a swim meet on the 4th of June here on Moshi Campus with Arusha Campus. The meet will start at 10am and be wrapped up by 1pm. On the same day the Arusha U19 girls’ soccer team will make the trip and take on our U19 soccer girls at 1pm. So, we have lots to train for and prepare for some good competitions.  Please ensure you are encouraging your child/ren to make every training session for the sports they have registered to play over the next 4 weeks so that the teams are ready to compete. This will be beneficial at 3 levels, 1) it will help the teams to perform better 2) It will keep them active and healthy 3) It will help them with their preparation for exams as it is shown that when people exercise, they commit knowledge to long term memory better.

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. 

Go Leopards

Robin Marsh

Sports Schedule

Community Activities

Pilates
Hagit Goldberg is running Pilates for any members of the community who would like to take part on Thursdays from 7.45am to 8.45am. Pilates is a method that works on concentration, flexibility, core strength and balance.

Karate
Tuesdays for PYP students from 5.45pm to 7pm and Thursday for MYP/DP students from 5.45pm to 7pm. The cost for these lessons is TSH 20,000 per month or TSH 5,000 per session, Lessons will take place in K-hall.

PYP News

Next week is the last full week before the P6 Exhibition. Please see Ben Morley’s section for more information about the reasons for, and importance of, the Exhibition as the culminating event of the PYP journey. We hope many of you will be able to attend on the evening of Wednesday, 26th May 5:00 – 7:00pm. The invitation is above. Please wear a face mask.

Kamili is holding a bake sale on Tuesday, 18th May, to raise money to help Ugandan child refugees. Please send your child with money on this day if you wish for him/her to purchase something.

Kairi is still collecting blankets, bowls, food etc. for the cats and dogs at Mbwa wa Africa. Please send all donations to Room 16.

School Production – PYP involvement: a letter will come home on Monday with details of the production t-shirt. Please check for this in your child’s folder.

Please note that Book Week is the week after next and Monday, 24th May, will be dress as a book character day. This year the theme is African literature. The children are welcome to dress up as a character from a book by an African author or a book that is set in Africa. If this is not possible then they can dress as a book character of their choice.

Deborah Mills & Mboka Mwasongwe – PYP Coordinators

 

EC/P1 Class

Elmer is complete and is now on the board outside our classroom. The children did a wonderful job working together to complete it. Next week, we will be reading Eric Carle’s books and looking at how he created his illustrations. We will also learn how to make collages using coloured paper. There might be a surprise on our door on the 24th of May!

This week, we would like to say thank you to a few people. Thank you Nadia, Vicky and Rhea for giving up your play time on wet and rainy days to play with the children. These three students have been consistently coming into EC/P1, causing screams of joy and laughter as they play tag, help dress up princesses and anything they get asked to do.

As we come close to book week, please remember to start thinking about a costume for the children. Also, do not forget to let me know when you can come and read to the children.

Mboka Mwasongwe

P2/3 Class

This week in P2/3, we’ve been exploring and investigating different things. We started off with looking at what measurement is, how we use it and where we use it. We talked about what measurement looks like and why it’s necessary. We’ve related the measuring of objects to capacity, and have created rain gauges that we’re hoping to keep in the garden to measure rainfall vs temperature next week. The students have explored how much clean water we have in the world, as well as what happens to chocolate when you add heat to it!

Everyone should have received their long-term home learning packages. If you’ve not, please let me know and I’ll get them to you as soon as possible.

Please remember that book week is coming up fast, so start thinking think up of what your child would like to dress up as on Monday 24th May 2021. The P2/3 camp is currently being date-debated. I shall communicate more information as it becomes available.

Lastly, Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating.

Elisha Jaffer

P4 Class

It was a short but full week in P4. We’ve been moving quickly with division and with finding points on a coordinate plane. Students seem to be enjoying both! Our introduction to the new unit, Economics, is going well. It seems that we all are bringing less background knowledge to this topic than most of the other units that we’ve had this year. We’ve covered topics of Wants/Needs and Goods/Services, these were both understood quickly and students provided many examples. We will begin looking at Producers/Consumers, Imports/Exports and Supply/Demand. Let me remind you that guest speakers on these topics are very much welcome to class!

We are all looking forward to Book Week (the week of the 24th-28th) and have been discussing plans for book character costumes to be worn on Monday. Please help your children with this as it contributes greatly to the excitement. I would also love it if any parents would be willing to come in as Mystery Readers! Take a look at your schedule and let me know if you can pop in with a story.

Kacey Buckley

P5 Class

The P5 students had a great time on Wednesday. We went on a trash pick up with the P6 class and cleaned up the area behind the back of school. There was a lot of litter and a lot of mud! This week children finished their slide shows and worked on some acrostic and haiku poetry. They carried out investigations with partners, looking at ways of stopping wildfires from spreading, why airbags are helpful for people caught in an avalanche and which materials have the best insulating properties. The photo shows the children looking at a model of a tsunami. You are very welcome to attend a presentation of the children’s slide shows in our classroom on Monday at 7:40 a.m.

Next week we will be working on our new unit of forces and will be exploring gravity and magnetism. Home learning next week will focus on the songs that the children are learning for the whole school production which will be based on Little Shop of Horrors. A letter regarding the production t-shirt will be sent home on Monday.

Please read the PYP News section of this letter which shares details of Book Week. Also, take a look at the EC/P1 newsletter – well done Rhea, Vicky and Nadia!

Deborah Mills

P6 Class

In less than two weeks the class will be presenting their Exhibitions. They are all getting close to being ready, and next week will focus on their slideshow and decorating their display boards. They have requested that we also record their presentations to share with family members who will be unable to attend. Another request was that they have PYPx shirts for the in-school presentations. Please check your email for a survey to reply if you would like one or not. Please let me know the size if you would like one.

This upcoming Tuesday Kamili will be having a bake sale to support her action. Please send money so your child can support the bake sale. A big congratulations to Alvin for his Plastic Pick Up Action. The school removed a lot of litter from school grounds, and also the surrounding community. To celebrate completing the PYPx the class will be going on an overnight trip on the 31st of May in Arusha, and the following day we will attend the PYPx Arusha. Please look for further information and a permission slip on Monday.

Sarah Brummel