Moshi Campus News – 7 Sep 2014

From September 9-12, the M4 classes from Moshi and Arusha campuses will be going to Simba Farms in West Kilimanjaro, for their Mathematics and Science Field Study Trip. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this trip, please speak to Ms. Farrell or Mr. Buck, who will be the Moshi staff members accompanying the students.

There will be a BAKE SALE on Thursday, 11 September at 10.15 in the Breezeway. Delicious cakes and cookies for sale. All proceeds to the Girl Guides Club. Thank you!

(Photo taken at the primary Cookery Club)

On Saturday, 13th September ISM Arusha Campus hosts an under-19 boys’ & girls’ football tournament as well as an under-14 boys’ & girls’ basketball tournament. Moshi Campus students will be competing with ISM Arusha, Orkeeswa, Braeburn, St. Constantine’s and St. Jude’s. We wish all the athletes a successful day of sports.

ACT tests will be conducted on Moshi Campus this Saturday, 13th September for those who have already registered. There will be more ACT tests in Moshi in December.

On Monday, 15th September at 2:30pm, there will be a presentation from UK universities in Karibu Hall. This is an excellent opportunity for M5 or Diploma students to learn more about the UK university application process and to ask questions about individual universities. The universities represented will be:

There will be a Parent Association Committee meeting on Monday, 15th September. Parents who wish to discuss any issues with the PA Committee are welcome to meet them in Bob Horton’s office from 8am to 8:30 that morning.

It has been decided to postpone the fund-rising event planned for the end of this quarter to the 2nd semester to allow more time for preparation. The provisional new date for this is Friday, 27th March 2015.

The secondary school (M1 to D2) will be holding an inter-house Athletics Day on Tuesday, 16th September. There will be no formal classes on that day, but all secondary students will be fully engaged in supporting their house and ensuring the event goes well.

A letter and permission slip is going home this week regarding our forthcoming M5 field trip: ISM’s M5 Leadership Symposium which is being held from 17th to 19th September. This three-day event has been designed to be a fun and challenging opportunity for M5 students to learn skills and grapple with issues relevant to young adults as future leaders in our local and world-wide community. The theme of the Symposium is “Is the World Ready for You?” – Exploring Concepts of Leadership. The symposium will offer students a variety of activities, from small-group “hands-on” workshops to whole-group plenary talks. The purpose is to help students become more accomplished and knowledgeable and to assist them in developing skills for success in school and life. We look forward to our camping trip at Marangu Hotel, where we will use their facilities to run our sessions throughout the three days. Arusha Campus M5 students will be joining us for this exciting and inspiring workshop. This trip will be accompanied by Mrs Aris, Mr Sullivan and two Arusha teachers.

Our new Secondary Student council for 2014-2015 is evolving. Last week the classes voted for a student representative from each class. This group will be meeting with their Student Council advisor, Ms Gullickson every week. Out of this team, nominations for the forthcoming elections for the executive committee will ensue. Anybody wishing to stand must already be in the student council and must give a speech to the student body explaining why they wish to be president/vice-president. A member of the executive committee will attend our Campus Management Meetings to ensure that the student voice is heard. This week in assembly all the student council members will take their oath of commitment to this respectable community role.

The planned assemblies for the remainder of this semester are as follows:

Date	Assembly
Sep 8	M1-D1: Student Council Introduction & Oath Ski Trip Presentation
Sep 22	P6-D2: Student Council speeches
Oct 3	End of Quarter 1 Assembly
Oct 27	United Nations Day
Nov 10	M1-D2: Individuals and Societies Presentation
Nov 24	EC-P6: Unit sharing assembly and presentation for parents
Dec 1	M1-D2: World AIDS Day
Dec 8	M1-D2: Art/Drama School Production excerpt
Dec 17	End of Quarter 2 Assembly

The students who were in our M5 class last year received their MYP official results from the International Baccalaureate last week. We are very pleased that every eligible candidate has successfully passed the MYP Certificate representing a 100% success rate this year. The average grade received by students in their subjects was also the highest that we have achieved on this campus. Congratulations to Felicity and Roos for their particularly strong showing in the results. Many thanks to all our MYP teachers who have helped our students to achieve these results.

In about one week’s time work will begin on the current boys’ changing rooms building. The plan is to completely renovate this building so that it will house both boys’ and girls’ changing rooms, public toilets, swimming pool storage facilities, PE equipment storage, a sports department office, and a fitness room. Unfortunately there will be some inconvenience whilst the constuction is taking place. The site will be fenced off and alternative temporary changing facilities for boys will be opened. The temporary arrangements will not be ideal, but we would request your patience whilst the work takes place over the next six months. Ultimately we will have significantly improved changing facilities for all.

After much consultation, we have now set our school calendar for the 2015/16 school year. This calendar is available to download from:

• Calendar 2015/16: www.uwcea.org/wp-content/docs/archive_documents/calendar1516.pdf
• Calendar 2014/15: www.uwcea.org/wp-content/docs/archive_documents/calendar1415.pdf

ISM is an accredited international school which meets the standards set by international accrediting bodies: The Council of International Schools, and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Later this month (23rd to 26th September) we will be hosting a visit from two members of these organisations who will be conducting a preliminary review of the school and helping us to prepare and undertake the work needed for our full accreditation visit in early 2016. During their visit, our visitors will speak with administrators, board members, teachers, parents and students and will also conduct workshops for the teachers.
On Tuesday, 26th September, ALL classes (including primary classes) will finish at 12:35pm, so as to enable all teachers to take part in the CIS/MSA workshop. There will be no afternoon Guidance Hour on that day. Some clubs, CAS and Sports activities will take place, but a number will be cancelled for that day. Full details will be provided later.

Coming back from long holidays is always challenging for students learning a second language. It is generally easy to work on reading and writing skills – as many dedicated students do – however, it is often difficult for students to find opportunities to practise their oral skills. It is now the end of week four and students are really getting back to speaking the French language.
In D1, students are adapting to new challenges in their study of the language. We have started the year by studying vocabulary around the core theme of ‘social relationships’ and more specifically family, friendship and love. They had opportunities to conduct debates and role-play situations. In grammar, it is the time to revise the major tenses in French and consolidate their understanding of these in order to improve the quality of their writing skills.
In D2, we worked on traditions and we just started health issues in which we are mainly focusing on addictions. We are studying texts around these topics but also having discussions, debates and role-plays. In grammar, we do revision and consolidation of the major points. Higher level students started the study of “l’Etranger” from Albert Camus, a challenging but very interesting piece of literature.

I observe – as is common at this juncture each school year – rising stress levels among D2 students. The reason is simple. The D2s already routine rigorous academic program is further challenged as this and the upcoming several months are when coursework assignments are due. These coursework assignments are an essential part (about 25% of the final grade on average) of each of the six IB DP courses. While it may be unavoidable that additional pressure be felt at this time of year, DP students can lessen the effects of the stress by developing a healthy daily routine that includes adequate sleep, consumption of plenty of water and exercise. Parental reminders of DP students in this regard would be invaluable.
Parents of D1 and D2 students ought to enquire of their children about their results of recently taken assessments as on many days this week tests were administered.
More DP students are slated to be participating in the Outdoor Pursuits trips this school year that are a wonderful complement to the rigors of academic life at ISM. Parents will want to encourage their sons/daughters to get involved in this aspect of our program.
Initial scheduling plans are getting underway for the mock IB exams for all D2 students in January 2015. Plans for the December/January break for all D2 students need to include considerable time dedicated to review for these critical practice exams that are often a key indicator of how the May results will be. Again, this is a reminder to parents not to undermine your child’s education by removing them early or returning them late after holidays as every day of DP lessons is essential. Your cooperation in this regard with our ISM faculty is appreciated.
The healthy athletic habits of many of our DP students and the nutritionally balanced meals our borders receive appears to match what is happening globally which mimics developments outside as research is showing that: Teenagers Are Getting More Exercise and Vegetables: www.uwcea.org/dip33
As their D1 Life Skills teacher, this week I raised the issue of sleep for teenagers and referred to this informative article on the subject – www.uwcea.org/dip34. We also addressed again the tips that are provided in the invaluable text – 7 Habits of Effective Teens – www.uwcea.org/dip35. This article makes one understand the importance of physical activity www.uwcea.org/dip36.
Feel free to contact the ISM IB DP office if you have any questions or concerns. Rick Fitzpatrick – DP Coordinator

Primary clubs A big thank you to the parents who have given up their time to enhance our primary clubs programme. Ms Stephanie, Coach Noah, Ms Kacey and Coach Nick have been enthusiastic and committed to their clubs and we are very grateful to them for their time. Looking forward to our clubs programme in quarter 2, please email me on if you have an idea for a club and would be willing to volunteer an hour a week from Mon 20 Oct.
Primary Three Way Conferences On Thursday, 2nd October we will run our Parent-Teacher-Student meetings and therefore there will be no formal classes that day for primary children. A letter will come home beforehand with your child’s goals for the year which will be discussed in the conference.
Primary Athletics Day – Wednesday, October 1st We will be running our Primary House Sports Day on Wednesday, 1st October. Parents are welcome to come and cheer on their child that morning.

Unit of Inquiry Many thanks for the family photographs and the objects that you sent in to represent your child’s hobbies. Please spend some time with your child this weekend thinking about your culture(s) and send in an object(s) to represent it/them. You could also include other countries that you have lived in that your child feels part of. Any of the following would be suitable:

• A flag (which you could make)
• A special object
• A photograph of an animal/place that shows where you are from

Information for Parents We had a great time swimming on Thursday. It was nice and “refreshing” (that’s the nice word for cold 🙂 ). Please remember that we will swim each Thursday, so it is helpful for you to send the proper equipment for your child. Thanks for your help with this.
We are continuing to train for our Sports Day which is October 1st. Hopefully many of you will be able to join us to cheer for your child and his/her house.
Please be reminded that we need photos of your child emailed to me at . We need them by Monday, as we will be using them on Tuesday. Thanks for your support.
Literacy focus for the week We will continue to focus on handwriting this week. We will also continue to write in our journals. The P1 students will be working on letter sounds and reading short words. The P2 students will be doing a lot of reading and working on blends bl, cl, fl, and gl.
Maths focus for the week We will be working on making “fact families” this week. We will see how addition and subtraction sentences relate.
Unit of Inquiry What to bring to school: Children need a hat for playtime and a healthy snack every day.
Timetable: Monday: Library (we will choose new books) Wednesday: PE (wear PE shoes and a house T shirt) Thursday: Swimming (please send swimwear)

Last week we explored the most important people in our lives and our families. Thank you for all your parental support with this. The children have been keen to find out their personal histories and the meanings of their names. We have enjoyed designing our own family Coat of Arms and I was impressed by the way the children reflected on the values and characteristics of their own family-group in order to choose their colours, designs and images appropriately. The explanations of their choices were fascinating and I hope you are able to take some time to enjoy looking at our corridor display.
Language Focus for This Week: We will be expanding our recent learning on simple and compound sentences, verb tenses and time connectives, ensuring that we are considering these when writing our own personal recounts. We will also be discussing how emotions are conveyed in recounts.
Maths Focus for This Week: We will be recording numbers in expanded form, recalling multiplication facts and solving lots of problems.
Unit of Inquiry: This week the children will be exploring how environment (place) affects people, and how their own environment may have impacted on who they are.
Please Remember that: Monday: PE and homework folders sent home. Thursday: Swimming and Library. Friday: All homework folders to be handed in.

Information for Parents We have been on the move in P4/5 last week. We were touring the campus and working on creating maps that show how the land is used. We also discovered that the M4 art students are also learning about idioms, so we visited their class and talked with the students about what they are learning and creating. The kids now have some great ideas that we can try this week!
Language focus for the week We will continue our study of idioms. You can help your child by pointing out idioms as you read, or mixing them in to your conversations. Students were asked to find 5 idioms over the weekend that they can use in our studies next week. They are welcome to bring in idioms from the first language, as well as in English.
Maths focus for the week Group 1 and 2 are both going to be finishing their study of addition and subtraction strategies. We will be having a paper and pencil test on Wednesday to show what they have learned, so you may want them to focus on the math homework next Monday and Tuesday. At the end of the week, we will start our study of using coordinate grids.
Unit of Inquiry We are focusing on the ways that people use or change land to meet their needs. Next week we will work on creating our land use maps of the campus and discussing what types of action we can show for this unit.
What to bring to school: A hat for playtime and a healthful snack.
Timetable: Homework packets will come home on Monday and are due on Friday. The expectation is that students will read at least 15 minutes daily, as well as practising their spelling words daily. A good strategy for completing the rest of the packet is to do one page each evening.
Tuesday PE (wear PE shoes and a house T shirt) Thursday Swimming (bring swim costume, towel, flip flops) Library (we will choose new books)

Last week the students have been collaborating in small groups to produce a book about their home countries. They have been in charge of all the decision making processes, for example, which countries to research, allocation of jobs, what to include, organisation, presentation, design etc. The books are taking shape nicely with the inclusion of images, maps, flags, anecdotal and factual information and lots more. This has been an excellent opportunity for the students to demonstrate their Transdisciplinary Skills for this unit, i.e. their social, communication and thinking skills. It’s great to see them all so motivated and interested in finding out about not only their own home countries, but also those of their classmates.
Maths focus: Last week the students learned how to find out the area of rectangles and triangles and considered how to find out the area of their desk/classroom/school/home country. This week the students will be using these skills in order to figure out the area of various spaces around the school.
Language focus: Last week the students learned how to set the scene for their stories. This week they will be considering how to include metaphors and similes in their writing.
Unit of Inquiry: This week the students will continue and finish their group research projects about their home countries. They will also finalise their ideas for action and begin these.
Monday: Homework will be set for the week | Library session Wednesday: Swimming lesson Friday: This week’s homework is due to be handed in | PE lesson
What to bring everyday: Please bring a bottle of water to keep on the desk. A healthy snack for break time. A hat for break time, lunchtime and sports lessons.

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