Moshi Campus News – 25 Aug 2019

As we finish the second week of classes the new school year starts to settle into a familiar groove.  Friday was our first Farmers’ Market of the year and the first Primary Gathering.  At this point the D1 students have all but finalized their course selections and the D2 students are into the swing of Extended Essays and Internal assessments.

As noted below Wednesday afternoon was an interesting day as the MYP, DP and PYP all had service projects going on from 2pm to 4pm.  Many of these are continuation of past years’ projects, but a few are new.  If you know of any worthwhile sustainable projects that we could have an impact on please contact Sanna at sannajartsjo@uwcea.org so she can follow up with the group.

Thank you to the parents that came Tuesday to the Coffee Morning.  It was one of our largest to date.  It seems that I left the date out of the last newsletter, so anyone who missed attending due to that I am sorry.  We will have the dates for the next 3 up on the school calendar soon.

Next weekend many of the teachers will be involved in Wilderness First-aid training.  This training helps us to provide the service and outdoor pursuits programs with a high level of safety.  Teachers involved in the outdoor pursuits take this course every two years to update their certification.  After Sunday about 75% of the secondary teachers will have had the training.

In two weeks, we had the 24-Hour run.  While most everyone has a team now, if you are interested and do not have one please see the display board need the front entrance. The run should be a great time with music food and fun.  If you need a pledge sheet, they are available at the front desk. I look forward to seeing you there.

I hope everyone has had a smooth start to the new school year.  If you ever have questions, feel free to come see me or email me at bobcofer@uwcea.org.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

If you are interested in finding out more about being a “Link Parent” for our new D1 students that are far from home, please come to an informational meeting held at the Social Center on Tuesday September 3rd at 7:45am.

Saturday September 21st is UWC Day in conjunction with World Peace Day.  This year the theme will be “Climate of Change.”

A group of students is currently looking at the structure of the day.  Stay tuned here for more information.

The September session for MAP testing will be from Monday September 16th to Friday September 27th.  The testing will start with the P3 to P6 classes and the M1 to M3 classes will follow. If you have any questions please see a Coordinator, Ben or Bob.

There is nothing like easing yourself into a new year! We have certainly hit the ground running at UWCEA and there is a real buzz of activity and excitement across the campus. Teachers and students are getting to know each other, building relationships, creating agreements, deciding classes, choosing activities, planning and scheduling events and so on to fade. It is a real juggling act and requires the staff to wear many hats!

For many students, from EC upwards, the last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of new faces, new places, new expectations and new experiences.

As we explored in Friday’s Primary Gathering, being new is not easy. It can be particularly challenging coming into a group of peers who are already familiar with each other and the routines and rhythms of a new community…and that goes for adults as well.

This year, we are very fortunate to have Ms Cassandra Ford with us at UWCEA as a full-time member of staff. She has met with many students over these opening weeks to explain her role and expand on how she can support all of us going forward.

Ms Ford talked in detail to the Diploma students this week about the importance of reaching out to others and using the networks that are out there to support each other. This applies to all of us and I would like to reiterate her message here. You are not alone. There are many people here with collective years of experience and expertise who are here to help.

At times, in a dynamic and aspiring community, it is easy to forget to take the time to consider our own wellbeing and mental health. This year, there are many opportunities for all members of the community to step out of the fast-flowing current for a while and be still or concentrate on other things. Many people go above and beyond to provide opportunities beyond the classroom for our community. Please take advantage of these.

Across the school, we have completely restructured the way we support residential students and residential life at the school. The idea being that each Residential House now has a group of 5-6 teachers attached to it along with the Residential Parents. This group will share pastoral responsibilities and, hopefully, nurture smaller communities within the whole. UWCEA is a more than a school. It is a home. Let us all try to make each other feel at home.

Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus

The focus this week with both D1 and D2 has been CAS. Both groups had a session in Life Skills where we talked about the requirements of this core part of the Diploma. CAS stands for Creativity Activity and Service and during the two years students need to take part in experiences that fulfil one or more of the strands. They create a CAS portfolio to record their experiences and their response to the learning outcomes and talk about these in a series of interviews. All students started a compulsory service project this week the options available include environment club, working with students at a local hospital and building smokeless kitchens. There was a real buzz in all the projects which was a pleasure to see. Students have also started playing various sports more details of which will be given elsewhere in the newsletter.

The D2 students have also received the final version of their IA deadline schedule this can be found on Google Calendar here and will be meeting their supervisors soon for their Extended Essay feedback. Next week they will have CAS interviews where we will review their progress and then make plans for the rest of the year. Students also heard from Ms Ford, the college counsellor about the procedure for college applications.

The D1 students seem to have settled in well, are making friends and working hard. I hope this continues. During Life Skills they were able to give informal feedback on their time here so far by positioning themselves around the room. The vast majority thought the orientation was fantastic – a big Thank You to everyone involved. Students also heard from Ms Ford, the college counsellor to give some ideas about what their next step could be. Some are still considering their subject choices and have till next week to finalise them.

Margaret Brunt – DP Coordinator

M1 and New MYP Students Orientation
The M1 students did activities that introduced them to how their assessments will be graded during this year. Next week, they will do activities involving key words (command terms) used in their assessments. The new students in M5, were introduced to the Personal Project. They are writing their project goals for submission and review by the PP coordinator.

Languages
Students have now completed the language placement tests and they have been assigned their correct language classes.  Since we have noticed that some of the students need support in English to access the curriculum effectively, the languages department has begun working on modalities to accommodate those who need support.

Service Learning and Action in the MYP
Wednesday marked the launch of voluntarily chosen Service programmes by students this academic year. Those who have chosen Day Care Centre visited their hosts, met the staff and embarked on creating reading charts for the students. Karanga River team trekked to their location to familiarize themselves with some of the urgent needs and intervention requirements. The Gardening and Bee Keeping teams were on campus surveying their sites and so was Eco-Club.  Pamoja Tunaweza will be visiting their project site this coming week.  Kili orphanage team will spend some time in school this coming week as they deliberate on their next steps.

M2 IDU Trip
As from September 17 to 20th, the M2 class will be off to Pangani for an Interdisciplinary learning trip coordinated by the Mathematics and the Individuals and Societies departments from both Arusha and Moshi campuses. In Mathematics, students will cover scale drawing, estimation of cliff heights using special equipment and graphing. In Individuals and Societies, they will study the rich history of Pangani Coast and learn coastal features.

David Ochieng – MYP Coordinator

Now that we have a full week of school under our belts, it is a great time to ensure that routines are established and schedules are in place to create consistency and normalcy to start the school year. It has been wonderful to have a chance to work with M5, D1, and D2 in their Life Skills classes and in meetings throughout the week, and I am learning so much about their interests as we begin to plan for the future.

As I shared with the D1 and D2 students this week, it is important that they are starting to become much more aware of deadlines in order to effectively plan to meet them without undue stress or delay. This year promises to be a busy one, but can also be very rewarding if students use their time wisely as they become acclimated to the demands of this school year. Although many of our teenaged students are residential, they all could benefit from some routine setting conversations at home and/or at school. Here is a link to an article with some ideas for helping teenagers get organized to start the school year.

In addition, with so many activities occuring at school it is important to help students at all levels begin to keep track of everything they are doing in order to reference it in the future. No matter what level, all students would benefit from a log that can be written, pictorial, or video to help them remember what they have done and reflect on it as they consider the benefits they gained from the experience.

I am looking forward to getting to know the students (and their parents better) in order to provide support both academically and socially throughout the school year. Remember that you can always reach me at cassandraford@uwcea.org if you have any questions or concerns.

Cassandra Ford

University & Socio-emotional Counselor

It seems incredible that we are now completing our second week of this first Quarter in school and the staff and students of Residential Life have been as busy as ever settling into their daily routines.

Resident students have settled in really well to their academic and residential routines. The students’ day begins early with breakfast in the school Dining Hall from 6.45 until 7.15am with classes then beginning at 7.30am and running through to 3.05pm.

Students are then kept very busy after classes with creative, sporting and service activities. There are even early morning activities before breakfast for those students who are early-risers including cross-fit and swimming. The weekend activities programme for resident students is also beginning to take shape.

The members of each Residential House are being encouraged to develop the communal areas both inside and outside of their Residential Houses. With ideas such as murals, barbeque and seating areas and kitchen and floral gardens just some of the ideas so far discussed. There is huge potential in these communal areas, and it will prove interesting to see how these ideas develop over time. We fully intend to tap into the diverse skills, experience and creativity of our resident students this year!

The school campus looks amazing at the moment and is a credit to the team of gardeners who have done a lot of new planting of flowers and shrubs this year. It would be great if our resident students could add to this excellent work by developing the planting and growing in and around their residences.

We also have plans to try and integrate our residential year groups through weekend activities which could include sports and fun events, tea parties or the cooking and sharing of food cooked via barbeques, our residential house kitchens or the school’s classroom kitchen. It would be wonderful for our Primary residential students to mix with our MYP and DP students during some of these planned activities.

Our D1 students this weekend embarked on a rural walk of around 9km out in the Sanya Juu/Meru area of Arusha. Arusha D1 students will walk from one direction and Moshi students the other, with both groups meeting in the middle for an overnight stay at a local school. It promises to be an interesting experience for all!

It has been an extremely busy but enjoyable week, and I’m sure that there will be many more to come!

Ian Horne – Head of Residential Life

Wednesday after school was a joy to behold, the school was buzzing when every student in Secondary was engaged in service activities and after that the fields and courts filled up with soccer teams, volleyball and tennis all running. Tennis is so popular that we are going to have to split the group in order to facilitate our students getting enough court time.  A huge thank you to the coaches and PE staff for making this possible.  Below is a copy the secondary sports timetable (note changes to Badminton and Volleyball due to huge number of students) for Aug-Sept, the Q1 primary clubs list and the Community and Student Activities timetable for Aug-Dec.

Secondary Sports Schedule

Secondary Activities Schedule

Community Activities

Primary Clubs Q1

Saturday Soccer

For the football fans out there don’t forget that Saturday soccer is back on from 9am to 10.30am for PYP students.

Thank you to all the staff, parents and students who have volunteered their time to continue build on the successes of last year.

Robin Marsh
Sports and Activities Coordinator

The children were tuned in to their new units and I noticed lots of work, lots of play and even more smiles around the school during the week. The children are getting more familiar with new teachers and new classes.  We had a great Primary Gathering where we learned about the Power of Friendship especially towards people around us who might be new and feeling lost. I have to say from personal experience that in this community, both adults and children are great at making new families feel welcome.

Clubs
The first week of clubs has gone very smoothly. Students are allowed to change their club in the coming week, however after that, they will have to stay in their chosen club until the end of the quarter. Seeing that the quarter is not very long, if parents would like to offer a club next quarter, kindly write to robinmarsh@uwcea.org. Updated club lists with students’ names will be up on the Quarter 1 Clubs notice board.

Friendly Reminder
Please be reminded that the ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening’ is on the 29th of August from 6:30 p.m. We will begin in Rafiki Hall and after introductions move to the classrooms for the teacher presentations.

Cathy Wambua-Saha – PYP Coordinator

Last week was very busy with lots to remember and learn about our routines, resources, classroom and new friends. The children have enjoyed a very relaxed week with plenty of space for free play. During this time we have been interacting, learning English and Kiswahili, practising our numbers in our little shop and, importantly working out how to share and play with others using the teachers and each other as role models.

At some times during the week we have had five teachers playing and working alongside our ten EC children. What an amazing opportunity for them, you really couldn’t hope for more attention and time from a skilled team of professionals. Just wonderful, a real privilege.

We’ve begun to make a dental model, and next week we’ll be thinking about brushing our teeth.

Have a fantastic weekend, I am off walking in Sanya Juu with the secondary students.

Owain Evans

Robots have been the talk of the week. Everyone is coming up with so many ideas of how to make them that it is becoming a project worthy of our time. We finished the week with a promise to each other to search for knickknacks in our houses to add to our creations. Please help us collect little bits at home.

Everyone has been counting this week. Some to 10, some to 20 and some to 100. We have been looking at words such as before, after and between. Next week, we will add on to our learning by comparing our numbers using greater than, less than, 1 more, 1 less and ordering.

Thank you Mama Milo for coming to share your day with us. It sparked some great discussions on how we can spend our day helping other people more. I am looking forward to hear how the children choose to help more at home. Next week, we will look deeper into our day, looking for things we all do and how they impact our lives.

Mboka Mwasongwe

We have had a very busy second week into this semester in P3. The focus this week has been on place value, and introducing the new unit to the students. Students have been getting into the groove of writing and editing their work using the word wall and spelling cards. We have learnt about nouns and differentiated between common and proper nouns. The students went on a hunt around school to find different people, places and things that they saw. We then determined what needed capital letters and what words used lowercase letters. Students have also been thinking about how different people like to have leisure time. They have created questions for which they will gather and graph data in the coming week.

Our unit for this semester is:

Transdisciplinary Theme: Who We Are

Central Idea: There are many ways we choose to work and relax.

Lines of Inquiry:

Differences between work and leisure in many countries.
The importance of the outdoors.
Impact of technology on leisure time.

Elisha Jaffer

This week, we had some great discoveries about how different numbers work and how they are connected to other numbers.
We will continue with number talks as part of our Mental Maths, look at numbers to the nearest 100 and 1000 and learn about different words and what operations they represent e.g. (difference, sum, subtract, total, etc.)

In the coming week, we will be interviewing members of staff that are specialized and special in what they do. We have prepared some questions we would like to ask them and will compile all this information into booklets. We are learning new words and how to spell unfamiliar words using patterns from the word families and will continue working on this over next week.

Thanks to all of you for sending back the medical forms and Parent Surveys. I am hoping to see as many of you in for the “Meet the Teacher” evening.

Cathy Wambua-Saha

The P5 spent time this week creating and revising their Classroom Agreements. After a few meetings, and changing negative speech into positive, they have come up with this list below. Please go over it with your child, and then ask them why they think this agreement will benefit their learning experience.

To have an excellent year in the P5 class we agree to:

• Respect personal space and feelings of our classmates.
• Take care of class equipment, by putting it away when finished.
• Think about word choices before speaking.
• Be an active listener when others are speaking or reading.
• Be honest and kind. 
• Respect the environment by picking up trash and limiting what we use.
• Practice using manners by saying please, thank you, and excuse me.
• Move slowly in class and be aware of what is around us.
• Use quiet voices when inside the classroom, and limit blurts.
• Resolve conflict by using the peace tray when there is a problem.
• Respect work in progress, by using positive language about work.
• Be a good role model to others in our school.
• Practice being a team member and support other’s growth.

Sarah Brummel

In maths this week we have looked at function machines and have started some basic algebra. We have used vocabulary such as equation and variable. We have also looked at scale which links to our mapwork in our exploration unit. We will continue with both of these areas next week. Each week we have short “minilessons” on aspects of English grammar to improve the quality of our written work. This week we revised proper nouns, common nouns and verbs. Next week we will look at the subject and object in a sentence. Our exploration unit has got off to a good start. We have taken brief notes on different explorers and will continue to do this next week. When we have a good overall picture of the history of exploration we will each select an explorer to study in detail. As a grand finale to our work based on the book “Martha Blah Blah” (see our display outside our classroom) we made our own alphabet pasta soup. The children agreed that it was delicious! I look forward to seeing many of you at the Meet the Teacher evening next Thursday at 6:30pm.

Deborah Mills