Arusha Campus News – 25 Aug 17

We wish everyone in our community a very happy Eidd-al-Adha. This is an Islamic festival to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim (also known as Abraham) to follow Allah’s (God’s) command to sacrifice his son.

Eidd will take place on Friday 1st September and ISMAC will be closed to respect this day.

On Monday we will be having a Secondary Assembly at which I plan to disucss the imortance of collegiality in our school. As we strive to become a UWC school we must strive to create an environment where responsibility and authority is shared equally by all of us. This means positively looking for qualities in our colleagues. I deliberately don’t say ‘friends’ because that is easy – we can all identify attractive attributes amongst our best pals. That is why we have chosen them to be our friends. Our lives will be enhanced by discovering hitherto unnoticed attributes in those we don’t always play with or choose to work alongside. Why should we do this? Well, in adopting the ideology of Kurt Hahn, the founder of the United World Colleges, we may go some way to achieving his vision.  Kurt Hahn thought that if we could educate young people from around the world together, we could prevent future conflicts. ISM can be a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. That must start at Arusha Campus, in every class and by each indicvidual. Let’s give it a go.

Phil

This week saw the secondary school host two open days for the IB Diploma Programme and an M5 transition day in D2. Those who took part experienced life in the IB DP and also had sessions about university application processes and subject/course choices. Over the coming weeks ISMAC will also be hosting university information sessions featuring universities from the UK, Canada and the United States. Parents are welcome to join us for these sessions (listed below).

Monday 11 September – UK University Session (representatives from 17 universities)

Friday 22 September – US University Session (MIT & Harvard)

Monday 23 October – Canadian University Session (representatvies from 9 universities)

Managebac Parent Introduction Session
Managebac is our Virtual Learning Environment, with areas where teachers can post work and resources, students can submit work, and parents can track grades.

All parents in secondary have access to Managebac. New parents and M1 have been added, and should have received a welcome email to set a password. If you have not received this/cannot access Managebac please email darrena@ismac.ac.tz

On Wednesday 30 August, at 14.30, we will be offering an introductory training to Managebac for parents. If you would like to attend please reserve a place by emailing me on the address above.

We have had welcome meetings for all our PYP classes over the past week, with these being very well attended by parents. We hope that these meetings have clearly set out our vision for the year and helped you to connect with the class teachers. To follow on from these meetings we will be hosting a PYP Workshop at 08.00 on Wednesday 30 August, which will be led by our PYP Coordinator, Liz Acomb.

Being collegial doesn’t mean we have to abandon the healthy competition which we are trying to develop this year in our Houses. To start the new year off, we met at Friday Assembly to show off our house chants. A frightful din was made and we heard three terrific chants. Now we look forward to competitions in our houses from House Quizzes, to Art Competitions and of course our Sports contests. Good luck everyone!

Mawenzi House

Meru House

Kibo House

Each week for the next few weeks we will introduce one of our new teachers. This week we get to know our new Humanities teacher, Anoek van der Vinne.

My name is Anoek van der Vinne and I am very excited to join the ISMAC team as MYP Teacher.

I was born and raised in Groningen, the Netherlands and this is also were I completed my first degrees in International Relations and Philosophy. My travelling life started in Venice, Italy and then Belfast, Northern Ireland, where I completed a degree in Human Rights and Democratisation. Via Malawi, I found myself in Tanzania in 2007. Together with my husband and four children, we have made Arusha our home and we are proud to be part of this diverse and caring community.

In Tanzania, I started in tourism and the last three years I have worked as programme coordinator for an NGO, providing support to the Parliament of the East African Community. Keen on a career change, I am currently doing a PGCEI programme to prepare and qualify as a teacher. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, camping and exploring.

Tell us if you like the new look.

https://www.uwcea.org

The ‘new’ library at ISMAC

Our wonderful PTA, led by Chair Maral Sarkis, spent much of the holiday period improving our reading space. Look at these great photos and read the quotes from our students.

“If my children see this they will never want to leave” A new parent who was being shown around the school on Thurssday

“It feels like there is more space” M2 Student

“It feels more airy” M2 Student

 “I don’t want to get too spiritual but it has a better vibe.” Sarah Aggarwal

“Wow! What happened?” Jack (D2)

Zarine never wants to leave now!

The ECHO team, our ISMAC Gardeners and Neel Aggarwal pose after a hard afternoon’s work

On Tuesday three Trainers from ECHO; Adive, Rosie and Malvery, came to our campus to teach our head gardener Julius as well as Ruben, Douglas, Moses and Juma to compost using layers of sticks and small branches, dry folliage, fresh grass, cow manure and water. The compost bed, pictured here, will take about three months to decompose. It will then be ready to use on our school garden. Neel of M2 joined the group during CCA time to help assemble the layers, more students will join next week. The ECHO trainers also taught us how to create a portable planting bed from an old tire. We are happy to learn these techniques and will in turn teach others. Thank you ECHO, we look forward to your next visit.

Compost Recipe
Base: small branches and sticks to help oxygen get to the mass.
Topping: Layers of dry foliage, fresh grass with cow manure layered in to speed up decomposition.
Water each layer to help heat the mass.
The recommended minimum size for the completed compost heap is 1m x1m x 1m
When complete push a large stick vertically into the center. It can be used later to gauge the temperature of the mass during the composting process.

The Outdoor Pursuits programme at ISM provides students with opportunities for healthy outdoor recreation, leadership development and experiential learning. Currently the OP programme consists of a graded hiking programme intented to allow students to progress progressively through challenging levels, starting with an overnight Camp-Craft trip for M1 students to learn OP basics followed up with trips from Level 1 to Level 5 – a six day trip to summit Mt Kilimanjaro. We are also planning to introduce an OP Mountain Biking trip this semester- watch this space!

Signing-up for an OP trip:
Sign-ups for OP trip will start on Monday 21st of August. OP information with cost and dates has been emailed to students and posted on ManageBac. It will also be presented to students through tutors on Monday and throughout next week as well as posted on the OP notice board at school. To sign-up, it is the students’ responsibility to inform Ms Larpent, the OP Coordinator, of their interest in an OP trip, upon which they will receive the sign-up letter for parents. Payment can then be made directly at the accounts’ department in order to secure a spot for the trip. As there are limited places, priority will be given to students who are the first to make full payment.
Please note that the Tanzanian government is applying the VAT tax on tourism activities and unfortunately this tax is affecting the cost of our OP trips. The differing prices for Tanzanian and expatriate students reflect differing charges from the National Parks.
Please do encourage your son/daughter to take this opportunity to experience the wonderful environment here in Tanzania.

Below is an overview of the OP trips for Semester 1:
 

Arusha Medivac provides Tanzanian citizens, residents and visitors with medical air evacuation within Tanzania and to Nairobi, Kenya. We are the only service provider with our own aircraft and professional medical team in Tanzania.
Utilizing a fixed-wing aircraft configured with life-saving medical equipment and supplies, Arusha Medivac is regulated by the TCAA and runs in accordance to all civil aviation regulations. Behind every call for service is a team of professionals driven by compassion. Arusha Medivac is dedicated to delivering the best possible care.
Arusha Medivac offers a variety of memberships ensuring everyone is covered while living and traveling in Tanzania. We also offer a fee for service option to enable anyone in a medical emergency to receive assistance when they need it most.
For more information about getting yourself or your family covered email info@arushamedivac.org