Moshi Campus News – 4th August 2013

Dear Parents,

In this first newsletter of the new school year, I would like to welcome the 87 new students who will be joining us and their families joining the wider ISM community. For those students who are returning to ISM this term, we hope you had an enjoyable and productive holiday and look forward to seeing you again in a week’s time.

Boarders will be starting on Sunday, 11th August and we would ask all to be in school by 6pm on that day if possible. For new students joining boarding for the first time, please aim to be in school by 3pm.

There will be a tea in the dining hall at 4pm for the families of new boarders (and also families of returning boarders if you wish to join us). This will be a good opportunity for you to meet boarding parents and other school staff and to meet other families. We look forward to seeing you there.

Boarders are reminded to return with their new Parental Consent forms.

If your child needs transport from Kilimanjaro or Moshi airports, please let Rosemary Bango (Head of Boarding) know as soon as possible on . We charge each student $30 for transport from Kilimanjaro on the first day of term and this is added to the school bill.

Day students should be in school before 7:30am on Monday, 12th August. The first part of the day will be to introduce students to the new timetable and orient them to the school. There will also be a school assembly before classes start later in the morning. M1 and D1 students will have a special orientation programme. There will be no CAS or Primary Club activities on Monday or Tuesday afternoons and students will have opportunities to choose their activities. More details will be given in next week’s newsletter.

The enrolment increases on Moshi Campus have continued over the holiday and we will be almost at full capacity for the start of this term. We expect over 150 boarders and well over 300 students in total. The increase in boarding numbers has also meant a small re-allocation of boarding places and we will be using both Kisanduku house (Diploma boys) and Kipawa house (M4 girls) (formerly a staff house near the south gate) as additional boarding houses this year. Kivuli house (M1-M4 boys) has been extended with four new rooms being added. An additional bedroom has also been added to each of Kiongozi (M1-M5 girls) and Kijana (D1-D2 girls) houses.

In many classes we are no longer admitting new students and are now placing applicants on a waiting list. We have also received some applications already for August 2014!

International Baccalaureate Diploma results were issued in early July and you can view a summary of these on the school website at www.uwcea.org/results. 88% of the diploma candidates obtained their diploma. Special congratulations to Samwel Emmanuel who obtained 41 points – he is clearly ready for Harvard!

This is a reminder that the first instalment of fees for this school year was due to have been received by us on 1st July 2013. If you have missed this date, please make an immediate payment of the fees.

Any students who still have fees overdue from 2012/13 will not be permitted to return to school this year and may unfortunately lose their places in the school.

Ms Charlie Reilly who taught Drama and English and was to be our MYP Coordinator has had to resign from school for health reasons. In her place we are very pleased to have appointed Mr George Juma as our new Drama and English B teacher. I am also pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Dombkins as the MYP Coordinator.

Other new teachers joining us are as announced last term: Eric Barrows (Technology), Ruth Barrows (Kiongozi boarding parent), Kacey Buckley (P2/3), Ingrid Chavez (ESL and English B), Marika Farrell (PE & Sports Coordinator), Merijn Mook (Dutch), Tiana Rozencwajg (French) and Valérie Veillon (French).

Details of who will be teaching which classes are given on the school website at www.uwcea.org/about-us/moshi-teachers/.

A small number of D2 students will be returning to school early to resit their first year diploma exams in some subjects. Students are required to maintain a minimum number of points in order to continue enrolment in the IB diploma programme and this may be their opportunity to ensure their diploma status for the new year. If your child has been asked to take re-sit exams, please ensure that they are in school at the right time, as these exams cannot be taken later.

Primary afternoon Clubs will take place this year on Mondays to Thursdays from 2pm to 3pm. If you would be willing to help by running any type of primary club, could you please email Totty Aris, the Deputy Head of Campus, on as soon as possible?