Arusha Campus News – 9 Feb 2019

The ISM Level Four hikers attack the final push to the summit of Mt Meru last weekend.

Last weekend the Under 13 basketball took on all-comers at Orkeeswa – and were brilliant. What a super photo of unity in sport!

My goodness, what a busy time we are having at the moment. I have just got back from Moshi with the footballers and basketballers. At the same time, the Primary swimmers have been performing at Kennedy House in an NTAA gala. The team was somewhat depleted because some of our swimmers flew to Dar es Salaam on Friday morning to perfom in today’s Tanzania Lifesavers Society gala. I hear from Carolynn (Mama Siri) that our swimmers have excelled themselves and new personal bests have been set left, right and centre!

As if the sport commitment wasn’t enough, many of the M1 students set off at the crack of dawn this morning to head for the South Pare Mountains and their Level 1b trip. Best of luck to them.

Our DIrector, Anna has been no less busy with a recruitment trip to London. She is back now but very soon she will be flying out again, this time with Tine Hemelings (Chairman of the Board) to attend the UWC meeting in Canada that will confirm (or otherwise!) our inclusion into the UWC fold! Fingers crossed!

All of this makes me very proud and privileged to work with such committed students and parents. Thank you for attending all of our sports events and outdoor pursuits. I also feel extremely lucky to work with such committed staff. The number of teachers who have given up their Saturday today to supervise our children, is remarkable. Thank you.

Everyone will have deserved their short week this week! Please remember that next week is a shorter week, with Friday 15 February being a holiday.

Have a restful weekend….

Phil

The top class in Primary joined forces with the top class in Secondary for our 100 day celebrations – and dint they have fun!

After another busy week, we find ourselves past the 100 day mark and way past halfway through the academic year. It is hard to believe that it is February already and that most of the year is behind us.

Our 100 day celebrations saw all sections of the school come together to share in activities, all relating to numbers and one hundred. It was amazing to see PYP, MYP and Diploma students enjoying both the activities and each others’ company. This highlights our students’ cooperative skills and the sense of community we have within ISM. Look at the picture above of Damian (M2) with his younger colleagues in P1!

CCAs continued throughout the week, with our students demonstrating cricket skills, along with their rugby prowess against Kennedy House. Please remember that students should be collected from school as soon as their CCAs are finished at either 15.30 or 16.30; all students should be off site well before 17.00.

Wishing everyone a great weekend,

Darren

Ravi and Matilda rehearse ahead of the M4 production next week. All welcome!

We are delighted to announce that ISMAC will be hosting an International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) festival from 10th-12th May, 2019. ISTA is a fantastic organisation which brings professional actors and directors to work with students over three days to create a final performance. Schools will be coming from all over the world. If your son/daughter is interested in drama and theatre, this is an opportunity which should not be missed!

Please see the website for more details: https://ista.co.uk/ There is also a video available, which gives more insight, here: https://vimeo.com/271338526

We are hosting a middle school festival which will be aimed at 10-14 year olds. The cost for participating students from our school will be approximately 600,000tsh, which includes all of the workshops, transportation to and from trips, and food, plus a t-shirt. We will also require students who take part to host two students from visiting schools. This will most likely be from 9th-12th May. During this time, some of their meals will be provided by school but some will need to be provided by their host families, as well as transportation to and from school for rehearsals (which your own child will also be attending).

We have 20-30 places available and these will be filled on a first come, first served basis. If you would like to register your child(ren), please email Miss Arora at amya@ismac.ac.tz .

We are so excited about this amazing opportunity!

Congratulations to our M5 and DP students who reached the summit of Socialist Peak at 4 566 m on Sunday morning last week.

This OP trip is a trek to the summit of Mt Meru in Arusha National Park and, arguably, is the hardest trip of our Outdoor Pursuits programme. Day 1 was an enjoyable hike to the first hut at 2 500 m. There was a bit of rain which meant some snow on the summit! On Day 2, students hiked to Saddle Hut at 3 500 m for lunch and continued to Little Meru at 3 800 m in order to acclimatize to the high altitude. An ‘alpine start’ at 1 am on Day 3 was needed as well as stamina to sustain a long physical and mental effort to reach Mt Meru summit for sunrise. The weather was fantastic, not too cold, with clear views on Kilimanjaro and Mawenzi. The return on Day 4 was all downhill with a stopover at a waterfall to freshen up and a walk back to Momela Gate with great sighting of zebras, buffaloes, giraffes, warthogs, baboons and blue monkeys!

On February 26-28, M1 students will be visiting Lake Eyasi for their annual Interdisciplinary Learning trip involving the subjects Design and Individuals & Societies. In class throughout the unit and on the trip, students are focusing on the statement of inquiry “Communities can develop strategies for living in harsh environments and responding to everyday needs.” This will be an exciting trip with various activities such as hunting with the Hadzabe and learning about weapon making and shelter building as well as seeing how the Datoga and learning about their metal work (melting down scrap metal to create new products).

One of the key features of the MYP is its emphasis on interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Interdisciplinary learning is the process by which students come to understand bodies of knowledge and ways of knowing from two or more disciplines or subject groups and integrate them to create new understanding.

The importance of interdisciplinary teaching and learning emerges as a consequence of the challenges and opportunities of educating students in, and for, a complex and highly interconnected world. Even though secondary education organizes learning into disciplinary compartments/specific subjects (as a response to increasing specialization), an ever-changing world also demands education that empowers people to integrate disciplines in novel and creative ways.

At ISM, interdisciplinary trips are organized with Moshi Campus in order bring together two or more disciplines to foster interdisciplinary understanding.