Moshi Campus News – 10 March 2013

Dear Parents,

We had a fantastic Soccer Sevens tournament yesterday and were thrilled with the large number of schools that took part. Congratulations to the ISM Girls’ Team who won their tournament, whilst our boys’ team made a valiant effort and came 4th. Thanks to all who took part and helped to organise, as well as to the PA who, once again, provided refreshments. This was a great end to a difficult few days.

There will be an ISM music concert this coming Wednesday, March 13 at 7:00pm. The concert will be held on the lawn in front of Karibu Hall. Admission is FREE. The groups performing are the Primary Choir, Secondary Choir – The MCs, Moshi Community Choir, M5 Class Band, and The Cassations. A bake sale will go on throughout the concert. Proceeds from the bake sale will go toward Primary Choir T-shirts. The Cassations’ CD will be available for purchase as well and proceeds from that will go toward sound proofing a room for recording. Please come and support music in Moshi and the ISM music program!

This week is Book Week from 11th to 15th March. On Monday we are asking all students to come to school dressed as a character from their favourite book. And every day we will be breaking classes to allow all to “drop everything and read”. Meanwhile the reading competition continues with students aiming to read 1000 pages in a month!

Many doors in the classroom block have now been decorated as book covers. A few are shown below – visit us in school and look at all.

Our P5 and P6 classes will be camping at Lake Chala from Wednesday, 13th March to Friday, 15th. Whilst there, they will be undertaking activities related to the Healthy Choices unit of inquiry.

Having undertaken ISM presentations in both Dar es Salaam and Arusha, our next presentation is planned for Mwanza on Sunday, 17th March at 4pm in the Tilapia Hotel. If you know of any families in Mwanza who would be interested in learning more about ISM or meeting with us, please let them know of this date or ask them to contact me on .

Our formal assessments for M4 & M5 will be held from the Friday, 15th March to Thursday, 21st March. Students have been given the schedule of the exams. These last two years in the Middle school are crucial as the students are trained to develop skills that will enable them to cope with the rigorous programme of the Diploma: managing time, devising strategies for learning content and being able to apply knowledge to answer questions are all vital skills students should have mastered by the time they reach the end of the secondary school, in our case the Diploma. The marks they score will be included in the reports they receive at the end of this academic year. For the M5 students, these grades will be considered when we send their final grades to the IB and it is important that they do their best.

Applications for ISM scholarship places for 2013-2015 have now closed and we have shortlisted 11 candidates for interview. These candidates will be travelling to Moshi for information and interviews on Thursday/Friday, 14th/15th March.

Students in D1 who need to register for any of the following should note deadlines below:
ACT Test – 13th April: Regular registration has now closed. Standby registration may still be possible at a total fee of $124. Please contact Keiron White if this is needed.
ACT classes in Dar: ACT practice classes being held by TANSAO in Dar. Cost $400 per week. Please contact Keiron White if not yet registered.
TOEFL Paper-based Test – 4th May: For nearly all D1 students except those planning to study in Europe (or the UK). Registration open until 18th March. Cost $160.
TOEFL Internet-based Test: Available on various dates in Dar es Salaam. Registration is on-going. Suitable for students planning to study in the UK. Cost $170.
SAT Tests – 1st June: Registration possible until late April. Cost $81.
ACT Test – 8th June: Registration possible until early May. Cost $81.

Our swimming gala two weeks ago highlighted some great swimmers who will be participating in the forthcoming St. Constantine’s Swimming Gala in Arusha on Saturday, March 16th; hopefully our swim team will do ISM proud. Unfortunately, the inter-house gala also highlighted a number of students who are either very weak swimmers or cannot swim at all. In many cases this may be through no fault of their own. We have many new students at ISM this year who have not attended schools that have had a pool in which to learn. ISM feels an obligation to those students to ensure that they have the Life Skill of being able to swim. A fall from a boat into the water or indeed a slip on the side of river bank into the water can have fatal consequences without this life-skill. Therefore, this week we have been putting the D1s into the pool for a Basic Water Proficiency test. If they do not pass (non-swimmers or weak swimmers) then they will be required to take our Beginner’s swimming sport in Quarter 4. We hope to continue this swim-check with all our students from M1-M5 as part of their swimming unit. In August our intention is to test all new students so that we can continue to ensure their water safety but also encourage our students to enjoy the pool and hopefully step up for their house in next year’s swimming gala.

Our D2 Diploma students will be presenting their Art Exhibition to the community soon. The opening night is by invitation only on Sunday, 17th March from 5pm to 7pm. The exhibition is open to all on Tuesday, 19th March from 11am to 4pm in Karibu Hall.

The D1 students who study Biology or Environmental Systems & Societies will be travelling to stay at the school’s house in Pangani from Sunday, March 17th to Wednesday, 20th March. They will be undertaking environmental studies at the coast.

Other D1 students who remain in Moshi will have a special schedule for those days, including a lot of Physics classes!

All parents of secondary students are invited to meet our teachers on Friday, 22 March 10.35-12.00 in Karibu Hall. This is an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress as well as their interim report (M1-D1) or full report (D2). Reports will be issued on Thursday 21 March. If you wish to be sent a soft copy please email Mrs Totty Aris, Head of Secondary on

As normal we will be having a quarterly assembly to celebrate our successes and share some of our learning journeys. Parents are very welcome to join us for this event prior to the P/T consultations at 9am in Karibu Hall.
We look forward to seeing you.

As you will know, our boarding enrolment has increased significantly this school year and we are now receiving enrolments for the new year. in order to ensure sufficient accommodation, the Board has approved the construction of four additional bedrooms in Kivuli house which will accommodate eight students. Further new rooms may be planned for the future.

If you have been to the school’s website in the last few days, you will have seen the new layout and design. Please take the opportunity to browse at www.uwcea.org. It is very much a work in progress, so if you are unable to find the information that you need, or you discover some broken links, please email us on and let us know.

Whilst the new website was being developed, we have not added many new photos to the site. However, photo galleries will now start to appear once more! P3/4 are the first on site. Please check at www.uwcea.org/photo-gallery/

The busy and demanding week for Diploma students challenged each again intellectually and the rigors of in-class tests, presentations and coursework predominated. D1s continue to make progress on their Extended Essays. Each ISM Secondary school student has a time slot every Tuesday afternoon for Guidance Hour and DP students use this for additional help with teachers or to dialogue with supervisors regarding their EE research plan.

Our teachers continue to find ways to help students for whom the DP is challenging. We again we have arranged a system whereby many teachers agreed to serve as a one-to-one mentor for students whose marks on the mock exams were particularly disappointing or for D1s who are not performing to their best capacity.

The D2 class met again to discuss graduation. Their walk-in, walk-out and the class sung have been decided as have the teacher speakers. A decision is nearly finalized on the venue for the Friday May 24th graduation dinner. The Honorable Justice Augustino S.L. Ramadhani of the African Court on Human and People’s Rights (and former Chief Justice in Tanzania) will be our keynote speaker.

Interviews with M5 students are nearly finished to ascertain future study plans for the incoming DP class of 2015.

As a parent of a DP student, this NY Times article focuses on the growth of the IB and its appeal – A Global Curriculum for a Globalized Era www.nytimes.com/2013/03/04/world/asia/04iht-educlede04.html.

As usual feel free to email or call with any questions/concerns.
Sincerely,
Rick Fitzpatrick – (Diploma Coordinator)

This week was as usual a busy one especially for our M3 students who had their Science Fair. I would like to commend our students on their effort to make this event an interesting one. We are always impressed by the amount of thought and effort that are put in these projects.

Next week will be a busy one as well marked by the book week where our students will focus on reading. On Monday, the students have been asked to dress up as characters from the books they have read and I hope we will have a very colorful and picturesque campus on that day. The day will be marked by our morning assembly.

Assessment week: By now all parents and students have received the schedule for the exams and I hope that the students are very busy organizing their revision schedule. Like we always hear: “proper preparation prevents poor performance”; we hope that our students of M4 & M5 will bear that in mind. It is important that they leave some time to relax a little just before the day of the exams – if they try to cram everything in one night, they might get very tired on the day of the exams and not be able to perform well. We have also set aside time for them to go over their subjects during the assessment week and they should make good use of that. CAS activities during that week will be optional for the M4 & M5 students.

Parents’ conferences: On the last Friday of the term, 22nd March, we will have our assembly as usual which will be followed by the parent-teacher conferences. We hope to see as many parents as possible; this day gives us the opportunity to meet you and discuss the progress of the students and how we as a team can help them improve their performance.

At ISM, we aim at developing the ‘holistic’ student – we want him/her to develop qualities that will help them cope with the challenges of the 21st century. To be able to take risks and think out of the box are qualities that our young generation will have to master. As a school, it is our duty to encourage such development. This is in line with IB philosophy and our aim at ISM.

“The IB learner profile is the IB mission statement translated into a set of learning outcomes for the 21st century… The attributes and descriptors of the learner profile define the type of learner the IB hopes to develop through its programmes. The learner profile is a profile of the whole person as a lifelong learner.” (IB learner profile booklet 2009)

As you may know every end of term we recognize the students who have developed specific qualities during the term.

Thought for the week:
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
Albert Einstein

An excellent week to All!!
Jaimala Quinlan
MYP Coordinator

Afternoon Clubs
Please note that because of the P5/6 Camp there will be no Football on Wednesday and no Yoga on Thursday. As Mr Matt is in England, there will be no Tennis on Wednesdays from now on. Also note that afternoon clubs will end on Wednesday 20th March.
We are busy designing next quarter’s afternoon programme. Please contact Miss Cindy if you are able to offer a club.

Lice Outbreak
This has unfortunately spread to all our primary classes. Please keep checking and treating your children’s hair.

P5/6 Camp
The P5/6 class will be camping at Lake Chala from the 13th to 15th March. As I’ll be away on camp any urgent primary matters can be given to either Mrs Aris or Mr White.

St Constantine’s Swim Gala
Several of our primary students will be participating in this gala in Arusha on Saturday 16th March. We wish them every success.

Student-led Conferences
These will be held on Thursday 21st March. There will be no regular classes for primary students on this day. Your child will be given a conference time.

Book Week
Please make sure your child dresses up as their favourite book character for our special assembly to launch Book Week on Monday 11th March.

Cindy van den Heuvel
Head of Primary/PYP Coordinator

Early Childhood Preview

Over the next two weeks I will be continuing the summative assessment of this unit as children make up or retell well-known stories. They will choose how to present them to the class.

Book week will start on Monday. Everyday at 10.35 the whole school will drop everything and read (DEAR time). You should be able to hear a pin drop on campus! Don’t forget to dress your child up as their favourite book character on Monday and please stay to watch our assembly at 7.30am. Please also take a look at our Rainbow Fish Door display this week. This is part of a competition for book week and the children worked very hard on it. If you don’t know the story ask your child to retell it to you.

Most of our other work this week will be assessments and preparation for our portfolio conferences on March 21st. Children will be self-reflecting on some of their portfolio pieces and looking through their work. They will be preparing other activities that show the inquiry process and how young children learn best.
Have a wonderful weekend
Annalee

P1/2 Preview

We are busy preparing portfolios of work ready to show parents on Thursday 21st March.
Don’t forget to come dressed as a book character on Monday.

Language focus for the week
Writing:
Recount of the weekend. Using the language of time. (At the weekend…Then I…Next I…Later…At the end). Using adjectives, (amazing, fantastic, wonderful, scary, huge…)

Write sentence captions to match different types of land use. (Linked to UOI)
Handwriting: Patterns, writing numerals and a focus on the Caterpillar family of letters (c, a, d, g, o, q) Some children are joining letters together.

Phonics:
1. CVCs (middle vowels) Focus on at, ad, an and am words.
2. Consonant Blends, ‘S’ blends, scr,spl,spr,squ and str.
3. Introduce er as in ladder, ur as in nurse and ir as in bird.

Maths focus for the week
Mental skills will focus on doubles, near doubles and counting on and back. Also quick recall of the addition facts of 10 and 20. All children will learn about addition and subtraction.
Group 1:
Practise the skill of counting on as a strategy to add. Practise the skill of counting back as a strategy to subtract. Identify near doubles from doubles already known (eg 6+5). Solve addition and subtraction word problems.
Group 2:
See Group 1. (Use numbers higher in the number system.)

Unit of Inquiry
New Unit: Land Ahoy!
Central Idea: People interact with, use and value the natural environment in different ways.
Lines of Inquiry:
1. How land is used.
2. Local land use.
3. Actions that benefit and harm the local environment.
To introduce this unit we will walk around school campus and look at how the land is used in different ways. Children can also talk about their house and garden. Some children may grow fruit and vegetables. We will look at pictures of how land is used in different ways. We will begin to learn how to draw simple maps and plans and start with drawing a plan of a classroom.

Art – Collage made of natural materials
Create a picture of your favourite book character. (Paint, pastels, crayons…)

What to bring to school:
A hat for playtime and a healthy snack. (No hat, no play!)

Timetable:
Monday
New reading books and homework pack issued. Character day
Tuesday
Swimming (swimming costume, towel, flip flops, sun cream, swim aids such as arm bands if required)
Library (bring library bags ready to return books and choose new ones)
Thursday
New reading books issued
Friday
PE
Spelling Test (Hand in yellow homework pack)

P3/4 Preview

Week 9 and into the second last week of term we go. Unbelievable!

I neglected to congratulate Silipa in last week’s newsletter. She has also been selected to represent ISM at the inter-schools swimming gala at St. Constantine’s on March 16. Apologies for this oversight.

This is what our learning in class will look like this week:
UOI – “Exploration”
Our new unit will begin in earnest.
Central Idea: People explore their world; their methods and reasons are constantly changing.
Lines of Inquiry: Who explorers are
        How people explore
        Why people explore
        Consequences of exploration
We will be unpacking the central idea and assessing our current level of knowledge and understanding of this topic.
We will inquire into what makes an explorer and how do/have people explore(d) their world?

Writing – We will continue delving into the difference between fact and opinion and writing some factual information about explorers.

Spelling Groups 1) CVC words -ot and -od (e.g. pot and nod), 2) words containing -oo (hook, spoon), -ake (lake), plus some commonly used words 3) words ending in -er that make the vowel before it says its name and not its sound (e.g. paper, later ) 4) words ending in -tion (e.g. action).
Language/grammar – past, present and future tense.

Maths – P3 Assessment on money and fractions. Grids and coordinates – the 8 points of a compass, direction. Time – o’clock, half-hours and quarter hours (digital and analogue).
Tables 2x, 5x, 10x 11x 3x, 4x. Basic facts up to 10/20 (+ and -).
P4 Decimals. Converting fractions to decimals. Multiplication and addition – halves and doubles. Assessment on money and fractions.
Tables – 2x, 3x, 4 x, 5x, 6x, 10x , 11x, 12x . Basic facts up to 20 (+ and -).

REMINDERS:
Student led conferences will be held in week 10. More information to follow this week regarding dates and times.

Every day: Hats and polo shirts/t- shirts
Zip bags, homework folders, reading books and reading logs
Healthy snack for break time
MONDAY
Come to school dressed as a book character as we launch Book Week.
Special Book Week assembly
Homework – Reading, spelling, Maths and Language sheets.
P.E. – wear house t-shirts, shorts and trainers.
THURSDAY
Library – Remember books and book bags
Swimming costumes and towels for P.E.
FRIDAY
Spelling test
SATURDAY
Inter-schools swimming gala at St. Constantine’s, Arusha (selected students)
Looking forward to another great week together
Miss Jann

P5 Preview

For the bulk of the week we’ll be away learning about making healthy choices at our special P5/6 Sports Camp at Lake Chala.

Maths
We’ll continue with data handling and learning about different strategies to collect and record information.

Language
We’ll be finishing off and publishing our adventure stories we started last week.

Art
We are working on an incredibly intricate cycle of life.
UOI
It’s all about leading a healthy lifestyle and what makes up a healthy lifestyle.
Miss Cindy

P6 Preview

Thank you so much to all parents who, in whatever way, contributed to such a successful trade fair last week. We raised, with a few added donations, an incredible TSh 578,000/- for the day care centre! My apologies for not writing to tell you this in last week’s newsletter. In all the excitement it completely slipped my mind. Last week saw the P5/6 class split. Both classes have begun to look at the new Unit although P5 have done this more with Miss Cindy as here in P6 we have also been discussing and listing the issues and concerns the children have recorded in their thought journals over the previous three weeks. We have already had some incredibly mature discussions which I hope are the foundations for some in depth inquiries as we begin to focus on the Exhibition which we will start after the Spring break. Of course this week we will go to Lake Chala and the nature of activities I have planned will see us integrating the ‘Healthy choices’ unit throughout the programme.

UOI – Continuation of Unit
Central Idea: Our health is affected by the choices we make.
The children will be engaging in several activities aimed at boosting physical, emotional, mental and spiritual welfare whilst at camp as well as assisting in the preparation of all, mostly healthy, meals with our cook.

Reading, Writing and Drama
The children will be expected to make a diary / journal whist at camp to write up in greater detail on their return the following week. In addition to this they will prepare a cabaret evening for our last night at camp!

Maths
The children will continue with some data handling activities in the early part of the week and record bird sightings at camp using tally charts which can be used to present information visually on their return.

P.E. – there will be no PE this week.

Library – is on Tuesday. Please remind the children to bring back books for exchange/renewal.