Moshi Campus News – 18 August 2013

Dear Parents,

The first week of school has gone very successfully – our many new students have mostly settled in well and classes have got underway. It is encouraging to see how 80 new students can establish themselves in a new school with relative ease. We can now focus on ensuring that our teaching and learning is strong and that we maintan a high standard of boarding care.

Each campus of ISM has a Parent Association with a small committee of four elected parents who meet regularly with myself (Keiron White, Head of Campus) and the Director (Bob Horton). Whilst we would always strongly encourage parents to discuss any issues or concerns about your child directly with those responsible in school, you may also from time to time wish to raise general issues with the Parent Association (PA). The PA Committee will be in Bob Horton’s office in school this Monday, 19th August from 8am to 8:30am and are happy to meet with any parent who would like to see them.

We are very proud to host a concert performance by internationally renowned Dr. Mi-Jung Im. This will be held in Karibu Hall on Thursday, 22nd August starting at 7:30pm and is a rare opportunity in Moshi to observe and hear such exceptional talent on the piano. Admission fees will be used to support the Music 4 One Foundation and the Rotary Club of Mwika. We hope to see many parents and others from the community at this event. A biography of Dr Im is available at www.pianoteachers.com/mijungim/index.html.

On 9th October, we will be holding music theory examinations in school. These exams are set by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and are available from beginners level (called Grade 1) to the demanding Grade 8 exam. Registration for these exams will close on Monday morning (19th August). If you would like your child to register for these exams, please contact Susan Jacob immediately on

The first week is over and all our ISM students are settling into their routines. New friends are being forged and the academic lessons are now in full swing. Parents, please take the opportunity this weekend to discuss with your child what their clubs, CAS or Sports options are. Perhaps a chart on the wall would help remind them of what they are doing every afternoon.

In Secondary our students are expected to attend all of their CAS and sports unless they have a medical note. If they miss a CAS or Sport without a valid reason a detention is issued as it is like missing a class. Equally they need to ensure they have the correct equipment for all their classes. The student time-table is in the front of the student planner and in the back you will find the M1-M5 homework time-table. If you would like a softcopy of your child’s time-table I am happy to send that to you via email just write to

In Primary the students have now chosen their clubs which will take place on Monday – Thursday from 14.00 to 15.00. Please ensure that they have a hat for any outside activities and are picked up promptly at 15.00. Thank you very much to the parent volunteers who have contributed to our programme which allowed us to offer extra clubs.

All students should by now have their House T-shirts. Secondary students should wear these for PE, and Primary students should wear them on their PE day. On other days for primary any colour from the ISM T-shirt range is suitable.
Totty Aris
Deputy Head of Campus

The following regular sports activities are being offered to secondary students in this first semester:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
Junior Touch Rugby (M1-M3)	Senior Rugby (M4-D2)	Utimate Frisbee (M1-D2)	Junior Boys Football (M1-M3)
Senior Boys Football (M4-D2)	Girls Football (M1-D2)	Netball (M1-D2)	Hockey (M1-D2)
Senior Girls Basketball (M4-D2)	Senior Boys Basketball (M4-D2)	Junior Basketball (M1-M3)	Senior Volleyball (M4-D2)
Beginners/Intermediate Swimming (M1-M3)	Advanced Swimming (M1-D2)	Beginners/Intermediate Swimming (M4-D2)	Advanced Swimming (M1-D2)
	Yoga (M1-D2)

We are in need of extra backgammon boards for the backgammon club. If you have any you could lend, please let Totty Aris know on . Other board games would also be very helpful.

Our first Outdoor Pursuits trip of the year is this coming weekend: the M1 Campcraft trip to Marangu will be on Saturday and Sunday, 24th and 25th August. This trip is designed to introduce M1 students from both campuses to our Outdoor Pursuits programme by helping them learn some of the basic skills and enabling to try some trekking with walking boots and a back pack. They will be camping overnight in Marangu and we would like to thank Marangu Hotel for their support with this. If your child is in M1, he/she should already have given you a letter about this trip. If you have not received this and would like your child to take part, please let us know as soon as possible. The cost is TSh 30,000/- for day students; a bit less for boarders.

In addition to the OP trip announced above, there will be a range of Outdoor Pursuits trips this semester. All students must initially join a Level 1 trip and, if sucessfully completing that trip, may move through the levels subsequently joining Level 2, Level 3 and so on. OP trips are available to secondary students only, but some of the higher altitude trips are limited to students above the age of 16. The draft schedule for this semester is as follows – any changes will be announced in this newsletter:

• M1 Campcraft – August 24-25 – An introductory trip around Marangu for M1 students only.
• Pares Mountains – September 7-8 – Level 1: Hiking and camping in the Pares Mountains. This trip is recommended for older secondary students who are new to the OP programme.
• Ngorongoro – October 2-6 – Level 2b: This hiking and camping trip in the Ngorongoro area is not at altitude, but is recommended for older students who have successfully completed Level 1.
• Mandara Hut – November 2-3 – Level 1: This trip is to the first hut on Kilimanjaro and includes one night’s stay in the hut. It is recommended for any student who wishes to get involved in the OP progamme and is well suited to younger secondary students. So far there has been a high demand for this trip and we are exploring opportunities for an additional Mandara trip.
• Rongai Route – November 7-10 – Level 4: This trip on Kilimanjaro involves walking and camping at altitude and is available to students who have successfully completed level 3.
• Mawenzi Hut – November 21-24 – Level 3: Mawenzi Hut is at about 4600m on Kilimanjaro.
• Uhuru Peak – December 4-8 – Level 5: This demanding trip will aim to reach the summit of Kilimanjaro.

Students planning to apply to university in the USA will need to take various tests in addition to their IB Diploma. Both SAT and ACT tests are available to take in Moshi, but we are advising students to take the ACT where this is possible.

D2 students have probably already taken the ACT test in June, but there is the opportunity to re-take and obtain a higher score. If your child wishes to register for the September 21st ACT test, he/she must let Keiron White know of this by Tuesday, 20th August at the latest. The cost is $85.50 (plus 8% charges if you wish the school to pay for the test on your behalf).

D2 students – SAT Subject Tests. Some D2 students applying to the more demanding universities will be required to take specific subject tests. These will be held in school on Saturday, 5th October. Students in D2 who wish to register for these tests should see Keiron White before the end of August.

D1 students can plan ahead to take the test in June 2014 – there is no need to register yet. However in preparation for this, D1 and M5 students can take the ACT PLAN test in school in December 2013. There is no charge to you for the ACT PLAN as the school covers those costs for D1 and M5 students. We will be holding classes on Thursday afternoons throughout this semester to help M5 and D1 students get ready for the ACT PLAN. Your child may opt out of these classes only if he/she is absolutely certain that he/she will never apply to a university in the USA.

M5 students will not take the full ACT until June 2015. However it is beneficial to start preparation now and we therefore advise D1 and M5 students to take the ACT PLAN test in school in December 2013. There is no charge to you for the ACT PLAN as the school covers those costs for D1 and M5 students. We will be holding classes on Thursday afternoons throughout this semester to help M5 and D1 students get ready for the ACT PLAN. Your child may opt out of these classes only if he/she is absolutely certain that he/she will never apply to a university in the USA.

Another requirement of many universities and immigration authorities around the world is for student to take a specific test of their English language ability. Students who do not have USA, Canadian, UK, Australian or New Zealand nationality will normally be required to take English language tests (although EU citizens applying to the UK may be exempt). A number of different tests are available and we normally recommend that students take these at the end of their D1 year or the beginning of the D2 year.

TOEFL PBT – Test of English as a Foreign Language (paper-based test). This test is accepted for students applying to the USA, Canada and Australia only. The test is held in school here in Moshi and our next scheduled test date is on 16th November 2013. D2 Students must register at least one month before the test date.

TOEFL iBT – Test of English as a Foreign Language (internet-based test). The TOEFL PBT is not accepted by immigration authorities in the UK and hence UK applicants may need to take the internet-based version of the same test. This test is currently only available in Dar es Salaam but many different dates are possible. If your D2 child needs to register for this, they may see Keiron White for advice and help in registering.

IELTS – International English Language Testing System. This UK-derived test is accepted by immigration authorities in the UK and elsewhere. It is available in both Arusha and Dar es Salaam on specific dates. The next available IELTS in Arusha is on Saturday, October 26th and interested D2 students should consider registering soon.

This weekend our boarding students from Kivuli, Kimbilio and Kiota houses enjoyed an overnight camping trip to Lake Chala – a small crater lake on the Tanzania/Kenya border north of Taveta.

Last week we took passport-type photos of all students in the school and we will be using these for a number of internal purposes. Over the next couple of weeks we plan to issue ID cards to all new boarders and all new secondary students as well as those returning students whose old ID cards have expired. The first issue of an ID card is free. If a replacement card is needed (after loss or damage of the original ID card) we will make a charge of TSh 10,000/-.

There is a group of parents, teachers and volunteers who play netball every Tuesday from 7.30am to 8.30am. All ages, men and women and levels are welcomed. If you have any questions about the group, please contact Maria on . They really hope to have a great turn out as we really need the numbers so we can charge a small playing fee which will go towards subsidising a netball coach for the M1-D2 girls.

You are very welcome to contact me at any time if you wish to discuss any issue of your child’s education in the school. Some issues I can deal with directly, and in other cases I may refer you to the teacher or person most responsible. As my working day can get fairly busy, it is often better to phone or email for an appointment. However this semester, I will be available in my office every Tuesday morning from 8:30m to 10am if you would prefer to drop in without making an appointment.
Keiron White

It’s been a wonderful start to the 2013-14 school year in the Middle Years Program. With so many new students to ISM, there is a very positive vibe in our community and everyone is eager to get into the swing of things.

M1 have enjoyed their first week in Secondary and I have been impressed so far with their enthusiasm and openness to the new challenges ahead in MYP. It is a truly diverse class of individuals and they are to be congratulated for the effort they have made to make new friends and welcome those students new to ISM.

The M5 class have been hard at work throughout the summer break in preparation for their MYP culminating activity – the Personal Project. We met together earlier in the week and I was delighted with the level of commitment they are showing. There is a wide range of issues being considered and I look forward to seeing how these projects evolve over the next 6 months. Each student has now been paired with a staff supervisor who will guide them in this process.

On Thursday we welcomed a number of parents to our MYP information evening. Thanks to those that came and participated throughout the night.

If you have any questions at all regarding the MYP, or would like to discuss specific details regarding your child’s academic program, please don’t hesitate to contact me at .
Mark Dombkins (MYP Coordinator)

D1s participated in an engaging two-day orientation program that provided them a sense of all the DP Courses on offer, a chance to bond as classmates and an opportunity to figure out all of the components of the holistic program ISM offers. Three highlights of the D1 orientation may have been the informal hour-long sharing of advice from D2 students and recent graduates. All D1s also enjoyed our field trip off campus to two ‘successful’ enterprises and the “Defining Success: My Work, My World, My View” roundtable discussion with a renowned medical doctor at KCMC hospital, the first Tanzanian to climb Mt Everest, the world record-holder for the race up and down Mt Kilimanjaro, a top D2 student, our School Director and one of the world’s foremost experts on homeopathic medicine. With this list of accomplished speakers, not surprisingly the 90 minute session provided DP students some fantastic tidbits of advice related to their path to success on the ISM DP course of student.

This week the DP Coordinator also met with D1 students regarding the ISM Diploma Retention Policy that was established several years ago. “Full diploma” students take six DP classes (include three higher level classes and three standard level classes). Each must obtain a minimum of 24 points in the official end-of-D2-year IB May exams. Included in the total of twenty-four points are three possible bonus points drawn from the TOK and the EE. Given that the “full diploma” status is not the ‘right fit’ for all and, in the interests of the well being of each young person, the ‘ISM Diploma Retention Policy’ guidelines articulate the minimum acceptable benchmark total number of points that students need to obtain in order to continue as “full Diploma” students. These scores are the bare minimum, are well below the desirable level of achievement for a full diploma student and are calculated by taking the sum of the grades in all six Diploma classes. The guidelines state that D1 students must reach a total of nineteen points by the end of the first quarter from their six classes and nine points in total in their higher-level (HL) classes. By the end of the second quarter, the D1 student must reach twenty-one points total and ten points in the HL classes. At the end of the D1 year, each student must obtain twenty-two points total and 10 points in their DP HL classes. We also advise – though it is not in the Diploma Retention Policy – that during the D2 year students who fall below 22 points total and 10 points on their HL classes seriously consider moving off the full diploma course-load. Each D1 student signed an agreement that they understand and will follow the Diploma Retention policy. Similarly, each D1 student (as D2 students did last year) signed the Academic Honesty Policy whereby they agreed to follow the guidelines on always being honest in academic work.

D1 students met with the DP Coordinator to discuss their individual course programs. Students were advised that we should aim to finalize the schedules within the next two weeks. It is expected that in the coming week or so there may be some flux.

This week D2 students were again reminded of the imminent deadline for the full 4,000-word draft of their Extended Essay (EE) – it is Mon August 26th. Since first learning of the EE guidelines in January students have researched and written their EE. After receiving suggestions from their EE Supervisor on their draft, the final version of the EE is due on September 16th.

A number of ISM DP students will be taking on-line DP courses through our partner Pamoja Education. We are looking forward to another year cooperating with this well-organized IB “school without walls” as our students team up with experienced DP teachers in the study of DP Psychology SL or DP ab initio (means “Beginner” in Latin) Spanish, or DP ab initio Mandarin. Learn more at www.pamojaeducation.com.

The UK daily the Telegraph recently produced several interesting article highlighting differing positive aspects to the IB DP. Read them at: www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/clearing/10226498/Clearing-why-Scottish-and-IB-students-have-the-edge.html and www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/10180995/International-Baccalaureate-no-government-intervention-no-grade-inflation.html.

Feel free to contact me regarding any issues that bear on your son or daughter’s experience as an ISM DP student.
Sincerely,
Rick Fitzpatrick
Diploma Programme Coordinator

It has been a busy and happy first week in EC. Everyone settled into the class extremely well and it has been a remarkably calm week, getting to know each other and the routines of the classroom.

Parents of new children please check your communication book for a personal note about your child. Also inside the communication book is the class timetable letting you know when PE and Library are. Don’t forget to return library books on both Tuesday and Friday so that your child can change them. On Monday and Friday children should come to school dressed for PE in trainers, shorts and house T-shirts. We are now practising for our Sports Day coming up on September 27th.

Many thanks to all the parents who attended the back to school night on Thursday evening. I hope you found the information useful. All handouts are in your child’s folder if you were not able to make it. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Unit of Inquiry
Central Idea: Learning is an important part of our lives
Lines of Inquiry:

Places we learn

Our school as our learning place

Learning areas inside and outside our classroom

How I learn best

Last week we did not have a chance to tune into this unit so we will begin to think about the first line of inquiry, ‘Places we learn.’ If you have a chance to talk to your child/ren about the different places they learn, then that would be a great help. Next week I will be asking them this question, “Where do you learn new things?”

Maths Focus
Next week I will finish my maths assessments of the new students. Children will also be working on number sense through songs, puzzles and games. This will be differentiated to suit the needs of individual children.

Language Focus
Our work on phonemic awareness began last week using the Letterland Scheme to introduce the letter sound a (made by Annie apple!). I intend to introduce all the letter shapes and their sounds over the year. Children may already know letter names but we feel it is important that they know the sounds to help prepare them for reading and writing later on. I will also continue to assess language skills to plan differentiated activities. Developing fine motor skills through threading beads, playing with play dough and manipulating small construction toys is also a major part of the EC programme and ongoing throughout the year according to the needs of the children.

Art
Last week we made our class birthday chart, used leaves to print with and made pictures of Annie apple so we didn’t get onto our self portraits. We will work on these over the coming week so please look out for them displayed outside our classroom.
I would be very grateful if you could collect the following so that I can build up my craft resources:

• Cardboard boxes such as cereal boxes,
• Wool/yarn
• Material scraps
• Plastic containers such as yoghurt pots
• Buttons
• Old newspapers and magazines
• Used wrapping paper
• Toilet and kitchen rolls

Many thanks and have a wonderful weekend
Annalee

Information for Parents
I am a very lucky teacher! What a wonderful start to the year. The children have settled so well.
Thank you to all parents who attended the PYP evening. If you were unable to make it, I have put together a summary of my talk and will send this home with your child.

Reading Folders
Reading folders will come home on Monday. If any of you have bought the lovely colourful ISM folders with the velcro opening, could your child please bring them to school on Monday. Please do not be concerned if you see reading books that your child has had before. It is good consolidation and builds confidence.

Unit of Inquiry
Our Unit of Inquiry is ‘Healthy Living’. We will focus on the first line of inquiry and consider the elements of healthy living. We will learn about hygiene, exercise and rest.
Draw pictures of how we like to exercise.

Language focus for the week
Write a recount of the weekend.
Write labels and sentence captions for pictures about healthy living.
Handwriting: Patterns, own name, numerals and the Caterpillar Family (cadgoq)
Phonics: Revision of initial sounds (ingope) and words with a as the middle vowel (eg man, can, bash, lamp, tank, sand etc)

Maths focus for the week
Count sets of objects to 5, 10, 20 and 100. Find one more/less than a given number. Compare and order numbers. Read and write numbers. Learn to play various maths games.

What to bring to school:
A hat for playtime and a healthy snack.

Timetable:
Monday

PE (wear trainers and a house T shirt if you have one, I will inform new children which house they are in on Monday)
Tuesday

PE (wear trainers and a house T shirt)
Thursday

Library (we will choose new books).

Our first week of school was wonderful- what a great group of students in P2/3! We enjoyed taking some time to build our sense of community, as I was not the only newcomer to ISM in our class. We’ll continue with assessments in the week ahead and pick up the pace on our written work.

Language – We will be practising Reading Strategies to use during ‘Read to Self’ time. I will continue to assess student’s reading in order to make reading groups. Students will write a recount. We will start our Spelling groups.

Math – We are working on numeracy and using the Hundreds Chart for adding/subtracting by 10s. We will look at labeling numbers using word names, tally marks and tens charts.

Unit of Inquiry – Our Unit is “Transportation” with the central idea of “Transportation meets the needs of the community.” We will be considering these things:

The range of purposes for transportation

Changes over time of different transportation systems

Advantages/disadvantages of various modes of transport

Homework – Students will review the sheets together in class before bringing them home in plastic pouches. Please return the whole packet on Friday.

Library and PE – Our class goes to Library on Monday so please send books back to school. We have PE on Wednesday and Thursday. Students should come in good running shoes and remember their water bottles.

Hats – This week, students will be told that they cannot participate in PE or playing outside during Break unless they are wearing a hat so please make sure students bring them each day! kaceyb@uwcea.net

We have had an excellent start to the term and I am enjoying getting to know the students. Next week we should finally be a whole class and can all begin to enjoy our learning and our time as a team.

This is what our learning in class will look like this week:
UOI – Our first Unit of Inquiry, “Heroes”.
Central Idea: We look to heroes to show us who we can be.
1) What is a hero?
2) What qualities define a hero?

This week I asked the children to draw and list their own “heroes” with some interesting results. I also asked them to write their own questions that we could inquire into during the unit with some even more interesting conclusions. “Do role models drink beer?” inquired one. Next week we will consider what it is that makes us admire heroes. What do they do that impresses us? How, if at all, do they differ from us? By the end of the week the children will begin to pinpoint different qualities that heroes possess and to study heroes from different times and places.

Reading and Writing
I will begin to integrate the language genre with the unit through the reading of short biographies of certain “heroes”. We will identify the common features of these biographies. The children will begin to put this learning into practice by reconstructing biographies of other heroes with similar information. These skills will later be used to plan and write their own biographies of chosen heroes.
I will also carry out reading assessments next week in order to determine reading groups.

Maths
We will begin the week by focusing and consolidating knowledge on place value. Following that we will revise multiplication of numbers by 10, 100 and 1000. This we will extend to better understand the connection with dividing by the same numbers and how both dividing and multiplying like this relates to place value.

Homework – this will be given tomorrow and will be due in on Friday. This will include spellings, Maths and UOI. Please encourage your child/children to complete a little each day, so that it is not all left until the last minute. Spellings can be practiced on Mondays. However Maths homework is better left until later in the week so the children have the benefit of class lessons before using the homework as a means of revising acquired skills.

P.E. – is on Wednesday and Thursday. Please ensure that your child/children are dressed in or bring the appropriate clothing to school on these days – house t-shirts/school shirt, shorts and trainers.

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

Hats – The policy in primary has been established with no exceptions – no hat; no play! Hats may be brought to school each day or kept at school in the children’s individual trays. If your child does not have a hat please try to purchase one this weekend.
Scott Hawkins
scotth@uwcea.net