Moshi Campus News – 14 Sep 2014

This 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 or their parents 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.

Go KIBO!, Go MAWENZI!, Go MERU!.
WEAR YOUR HOUSE COLOURS T-SHIRT

All our M5 students are getting excited about our Leadership Symposium camp at Marangu Hotel this week Wednesday to Friday, 17-19 September. We will be doing team-building activities alongside working out what kind of leaders we are and how we can work better collaboratively towards a shared goal. This is a great opportunity for our students to channel their understanding of their skills and talents, helping them to be assertive and confident in voicing opinions as well as listening to others and valuing other opinions. We have a variety of presenters, so the three days look promising and we look forward to working with Arusha Campus M5 students in a retreat setting.

The Outdoor Pursuits trip to the Pare Mountains will take place next weekend from Saturday, 20th September to Sunday. It is fully subscribed and no additional places can be offered unless somebody drops out.

We have now removed all items from the old boys’ changing room/PE store block, and the contractor will be starting renovation and construction work tomorrow. The project is expected to last up to 6 months. During this time, sports equipment can be obtained from the PE office (next to the OP store). The current Girls’ changing rooms has been temporarily divided into two with girls using the front (playground) entrance and having the use of only two showers. Boys will use the Weights Room entrance and also have access to two showers. This is likely to be a bit congested and not very satisfactory, so we apologise for the inconvenience during this construction period.

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. From 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, 23rd 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.

I have the pleasure of working with the Diploma students in Life Skills classes, during CAS sports activities, and in an advisory capacity as the school counsellor and college advisor.
D2 Lifeskills classes have begun to explore personality and mindset, employing many of the same teaching points as might be used in a Psychology course. The aim here is to engender in our students a routine of reflection in their lives that leads to a greater sense of purpose, values and individual character. Reflection is regularly used by teachers and counsellors, to think about what worked, and what could have been improved, and as such is equally as valuable to Diploma students who will soon embark on their own career or life path.
It has also been a good three weeks on the sports field, with the softball group and the volleyball team. Tuesday and Thursday evenings, as the light begins to fade and Kilimanjaro’s peaks are visible from the pitch…well, it is a special time to be a student or teacher out there, and one that we all look forward to all week.
This week – UK University Fair on Monday 15 Sept @ 2:30pm.

As of August this year, the Humanities subject in the MYP is now referred to as INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETIES (I&S). The latter incorporates disciplines under the general term “the humanities” (such as history and geography), as well as disciplines in the social sciences, such as Economics, business management, sociology and political sciences. All these subjects are integrated in the units at M1-M3 level, while in M4 and M5, the main focus is on Geography and History.
The M1 class have been studying early civilizations with a focus on ancient Greece as well as a brief introduction into I & S subjects. The students have been learning a variety of skills such as mapping, creating timelines and researching.
M2s have been studying coastal processes and their management; and are looking forward to the field trip to the Pangani coast on the 29th of September to 2nd October. Permission letters and other information shall be communicated to parents/guardians next week.
M3s started on a unit on Exploration, where they have studied the exploits of different explorers such as Christopher Columbus. This has culminated in the Columbian exchange, where different plants, animals and diseases were exchanged. The class is currently researching on the exchange and also writing a play on Christopher’s expeditions. To the left is a poster project they were involved in.
M4 are covering the Industrial Revolution and are examining how a revolution in one country can affect other governments in the world.
M5, on the other hand, are looking at issues of development focusing on disparities between rich and poor and are currently writing a research paper on the progress countries are making towards achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

On any given afternoon, the ISM Moshi Campus is alive with creative and service activities. ISM boasts a rich CAS program for secondary students with creative activities including Street Dance, Drama, Steel Drum Band, School Choir, Mural Painting, Filmmaking, Woodwork, and Model United Nations. Our service programs are equally varied and provide ISM students with genuine hands-on service learning opportunities. Our local partner organizations include WATU Secondary School, Mkombozi Center for Street Children, Kidachini Primary, Karanga Primary, Sokoine School, Moshi Kindergarten, Mjipia Roots & Shoots, and the Bahath Center for Orphans.
This year, the program aims to go digital. With the assistance of our newly formed Secondary Student CAS Council, our students are playing an active role in moving the ISM CAS program into a digital and student-centered program. We warmly invite parents to come walk the campus to see first-hand the wide range of activities our students and staff are actively engaged in!

The photo shows ISM and WATU Secondary School Students actively engaged in Debate and Dialogue.

Thank you to all who have signed their child up (or approved their child to be signed up) for private music lessons. We have many children involved and more that want to become involved. As such, we are still in the process of finding qualified teachers. Please check back in at any point if your child becomes interested in taking a private lesson on a musical instrument; if we didn’t have space available one week, we just might have it the next week with a new teacher!
As well, I have received several inquiries from parents of our younger students who are interested in learning an instrument. There is much research that has been conducted on the neurological impact of music lessons and musical exposure to children of all ages, which has given us some very valuable information. In a nutshell, the research says that from birth to age 7 or 8, it is the optimal time for children to make large increases in their music aptitude (one’s capacity for being musical) simply by being exposed to and participating in any type of musical activity – singing, listening, moving, reflecting, etc. This happens when you make more connections between specific neurons in your brain. Because of this, from EC-P3 is the best time to simply get kids excited about and experiencing music in a very low-risk environment. Often times adding in private music lessons on an instrument starts the musical achievement process – striving to accomplish something, which often times come with right/wrong or good/bad judgments, and not simply increasing one’s capacity for being musical. Not to mention, at these young ages, often times a child’s gross and fine motor skills are still developing – two very important things needed to play musical instruments. As such, I normally suggest that parents wait to enroll students in private instrument lessons until they are about 8 years old, and before that, simply expose your child to as many musical activities and experiences as possible. This way, when it’s a better time, developmentally, to start achievement-based musical activities, you have set your child up for success by helping them to create a capacity for being musical that is as large as possible. There are exceptions to the rule, however, as there are in many cases. I absolutely welcome the chance to chat about these ideas and any other questions you may have; feel free to get in touch via email: . Susan Kellerman

I hope that all parents of secondary students received the news of the Ski Trip last week from Mr Rafael Holt. If you did not receive any details, please let me know and I will forward these to you. Payment of the initial deposit is due by 3rd October in order to reserve a place on the trip.

We are putting together the programme for the Q2 clubs for primary. If a parent would be willing to run a weekly club from Tues 21 Oct to Thurs 4 Dec we would be very grateful, anything goes – creative or sporty. We will provide a teaching assistant to help with the club. If you are interested and have an idea please contact .

After an intensive week of academics, DP students and others are gearing up for the Sports Day on Tuesday September 16th that should be a wonderful event.
D2s are in the final stretch to completing their Extended Essay as the deadline has been pushed back until October 22nd and this will allow them to take advantage of a number of Guidance Hour Tuesday discussions with their EE supervisor. Additionally they can leisurely work on it during the upcoming October break.
Earlier this week we marked the end of the first month of school. D1s were reminded that the drop/add period is essentially over. Though we will make exceptions, we like to aim for the plan that from this point onwards students stick with the classes selected.
All DP students should attend this Monday’s UK university fair (Sept 15th) and last week in Life Skills the D1s and D2s were working on their own reflection and research related to their post-ISM academic plans.
Reminder: The first marking period concludes on Friday October 3rd. Please do not plan to remove your child early as each DP day of lessons is incredibly important. If at all possible, one DP parent should come to ISM for the Parent-Teacher conferences on that morning. I cannot overstate how essential it is for parents – if at all possible – to make these meetings.
The ten IB “learner profile values” are an on-going focus for ISM students including those in the DP. The IB’s learner profile (www.ibo.org/programmes/profile) “is a set of ideals that can inspire, motivate and focus the work of schools and teachers, uniting them in a common purpose.” As the IB states in a recent Learner Profile Booklet. “The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. IB learners strive to be: – Balanced, Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Risk-takers, Reflective, Caring.”
Regarding the holistic development of these adolescents we work with at ISM and as an interesting contrast to this angle (or perhaps as a complement to this), the ideas proposed in this lengthy article may be worth implementing more (by you all as parents and us as teachers). The article is entitled “What if the Secret to Success Is Failure?”: www.uwcea.org/dip37. It focuses on seven character traits – zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism and curiosity – that may be crucial contributing factors to successful students (and to success later in life!) See if you can carve out some time and read this thought-provoking piece.
The challenge for you as parents and us as ISM educators is helping the young adults develop these seven admirable “character” attributes. It would be worthwhile to also encourage (to quote the article again) the other “traditional noble traits, like bravery, citizenship, fairness, wisdom and integrity; others that veer into the emotional realm, like love, humor, zest and appreciation of beauty; and still others that are more concerned with day-to-day human interactions: social intelligence (the ability to recognize interpersonal dynamics and adapt quickly to different social situations), kindness, self-regulation, gratitude.”
This next article I would like to share highlights the key differences between the IB DP and Advanced Placement courses – a key element in US high school education. www.uwcea.org/dip38.
Feel free to write me with any questions or concerns. Rick Fitzpatrick – DP Coordinator

Unit of Inquiry The class museum is looking fantastic. Here is a list of what should be in each museum space so far. Please send in items or photographs that are missing.

• Family photographs
• Artefacts to show what your child enjoys doing as hobbies and/ or their favourite toy
• Photographs or artefacts to show your culture(s)

Information for Parents We had a good time starting our family power point projects last week. This is the culmination of our unit about families. Thank you to those of you who sent in photos for your child. Please email me photos if you have not done so on , or if you only sent in one. Each child needs 4 or 5.
Thank you for helping your child with homework each week. Remember, it would help greatly if you could go over all of the answers with your child. Then he/she gets immediate feedback on the work. Also, don’t forget to continue to have your child read each night and study for spelling as well.
Literacy Focus for the Week In our journals this week, P1 students will work on proper sentence structure. P2 students will work on telling a story. 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 ch, sh, th, and wh.
Math Focus for the Week We will be doing a lot of measuring this week. We will measure length with non-standard units, as well as centimeters.
**Your child will need a ruler to complete his/her homework this week.**
Unit of Inquiry We will continue to study “My Family”. We will focus on our own families, and we will continue to learn about holidays around the world.
What to bring to school: Children need a hat for playtime and a healthful 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)

Highlights: Last week we have been busy investigating place value in Mathematics, using lots of hands-on resources and problem solving, as well as ice-creams and cupcakes, to help keep it interesting and relevant. In English the children have shown me last week that they are now able to write a range of sentences with accuracy. During our PE lessons we are gearing up for the big sports day on the 1st October, which is very exciting, whilst swimming lessons are now well and truly underway and the majority of children (as well as myself) are enjoying the water. In our unit work the children enjoyed a walk together around the campus before settling under the shade of a tree to reflect on how the environment affects our character and mood. One of the keywords from that activity was “relaxing” as we all started dozing! Thank you to Sara from M5, who came into the P3 classroom as part of her personal project: Psychological Benefits of Nature. She found that the children individually choose photographs of the beach and sunset as their relaxing environments and afterwards told the children how important it is for humans to experience nature regularly in order to feel calm and happy. Fortunately we have such a perfect campus and part of the world for just that!
Language Focus for This Week: We will continue to look at how we can convey our emotions in verbal and written recounts. The children will be reading diary extracts and practicing their comprehension skills, as well as speaking and writing to each other in order to retell an event.
Maths Focus for This Week: We will be securing our understanding of the basics – recalling addition and subtraction facts, as well as multiplication facts, through a range of activities including games, drills, mini-tests and problem solving.
Unit of Inquiry: This week the children will be summarising and reflecting on what we have covered over this unit.
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 I cannot believe how quickly the school year is going! We are already into our last week of our unit. The students have been brainstorming ways that they can show action based on what they have learned about human settlements. We also enjoyed putting a story in sequence using a comic strip format.
Language focus for the week This week we will study words in English that come from different languages. We will look at their origins and how we can use context clues to help figure out their meanings. We have also started our reading groups and the kids are enjoy-ing working on some literacy-based activities during this time.
Maths focus for the week We will be taking a closer look at coordinate grids this week and looking at how they are used when reading maps. We will practise identifying places on a coordinate grid, as well as using map scales and indexes. We will wrap up the study by creating our own map on a coordinate grid and writing some questions to go along with it.
Unit of Inquiry This is our last week of the unit, so we will be busy working on the summative assessment. We will also finish our imaginary narratives that focus on physical ge-ography. Partners are continuing to work together on PowerPoint presentations.
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 completed their collaborative research projects about their home countries. These took the form of small books and are on display on a table outside the classroom and I would encourage parents to come and have a look. Please also feel free to come into the classroom and take a look at the unit board and inquiry cycle. These show the process of inquiry that the students have been on and include photographs and other examples of their learning.
Maths focus: This week the students will be collecting data and drawing graphs.
Language focus: This week the students will be learning about punctuation for dialogue.
Unit of Inquiry: This week the students will be completing their summative assessment timelines and reflecting on the unit as it comes to an end.
Monday: Homework will be set for the week | Library session Tuesday: Students will come to school dressed in clothes from their home country and interviewing each other about them. 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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