Moshi Campus News – 13 Sep 2019

After last weekend with everyone on campus for the 24-Hr Run it seems that this weekend all the residential students are on their way off campus for one thing or another. First up we have the Outdoor Pursuits trip to North Pare Mountains leaving bright and early.  Then, as mentioned below, a group of diploma students are heading off to the “hot springs” about an hour away.  Closer to campus we have students on a local mountain bike ride and river hopping on the Karanga. Some of our primary students are off to see Mr Owain and Ms Mary.  I suspect that trip will involve a lot of music. And for those looking for possibly a quieter time, we have both primary and diploma students off on home visits.

Looking ahead, you can see in the news below some of the upcoming events over the next week. In particular please see that Monday has a Sparkling Elephant Bake Sale; the Peace Day Assembly; the university visit; the start of MAP testing and the Link Parent evening.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

Please remember that on Monday there is a Peace Day assembly starting at 10:30am.

As part of the Peace Assembly on Monday, we are hoping to take a photo of a peace sign filled with people. The M1 students have been busy measuring the Green, making scale drawings and marking out the field. This photo will be more effective if everyone wears blue or white.

Come help the Sparkling Elephant project this September to raise funds to:

• fix the elephant Tumaini that needs repairing before the opening ceremony,
• to design and build shades and water storages for the bees to gain easy access to water and protection from the hot sun.

The Bake Sale will be on Monday 16th of September

Duka Area Monday 16/9 19:00

For all Moshi families who would like to be linked to a newly arrived Diploma student, being a home away from home, and for all Diploma students who are far from home and may want to be part of such a family for a meal, a walk, a camping weekend, or have a place to stay for part of the holidays: this is for you!

Being a link family or a link student is something you can fill in yourselves entirely. There are no instructions, commitments or obligations from either side. There can be one or more link students per family. A family can offer cosiness and homeliness, and a link student can give back with their presence, sharing things about their own background and culture.

In other UWC’s, link families are a longstanding tradition, and students may stay in contact over many decades.

There will be a meeting with lovely cupcakes and desserts where you can meet some of the families and sign up if you want.

UWC Day is the annual global celebration of the UWC mission and values, which takes place on 21 September every year, to coincide with the UN International Day of Peace. Every year, UWC communities (schools & colleges, national committees, alumni etc.) celebrate this day under a specific theme. Previous themes for UWC day were such as; power of diversity, live the mission and connect-challenge-celebrate.

Recently, one of the hottest (literally and figuratively) topics of discussion has been climate change. Melting ice sheets, global temperature rise, decreasing snow levels and many other phenomena have continued to showcase the occurrence of global climate change. Yet, not enough actions and policies have been put in place to address this global crisis.

In line with the UWC mission statement “to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future”, UWC has dedicated this year’s UWC day to exploring creative, thoughtful and meaningful ways to raise awareness on climate change and encourage people, communities and authorities to take action. Hence, the theme for UWC Day 2019 is “CLIMATE OF CHANGE”.

A group of students at UWCEA Moshi, have planned activities for and around Saturday, 21 September 2019. UWC Day will be celebrated in two parts:

Reviving the Community Garden

The day will start with a school assembly followed by weeding and cleaning of the community garden to prepare it for planting trees and vegetables. After some refreshments and a visit to the Farmer’s Market, some members of the community will continue to work on the community garden while others create a UWC hedge at the front of the campus.

Work on the garden will start on Monday 16th September and build up to UWC Day. We need this to be a continuous community effort. Therefore we encourage all to sign up to be volunteers of the garden. There are sign up sheets around campus (Dining Hall notice board, Staff Room notice board and the notice board next to the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf quote) for those who want to become volunteers of the garden.  Please contact Mwegelo or Adbul if you need more information about this.

Volunteers will continue working on the garden on Wednesdays from 2.15 to 3.30 PM and every 3rd Saturday of the month from 10.30 to 12 noon.

An afternoon of fun activities

After a vegetarian lunch in the dining hall, there will be many fun activities such as photo taking, face painting and freshly made mocktails at the green. All funds raised through these activities will go to supporting a sustainable cause at the school.

Post UWC Day Walk

On Sunday 22nd September, after UWC day, there will be the “Day for Tomorrow” walk. The Day for Tomorrow is an initiative of the International Spinal Cord Association and the World Health Organisation to raise awareness of the difficulties people with disabilities face due to harsh changes in the physical environment.  The 2km walk around Moshi will start from the Shree Hindu Mandal Temple at 07:30 AM . The Primary and Secondary UWCEA students who are involved in the KCMC CAS will be at the forefront together with Motivation and KASI NGOs.

We hope to see many of you there on both these days!

“If I cannot fly, let me sing.” Stephen Sondheim

According to Professor Sarah Wilson from the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne, singing offers a range of neuro-protective benefits, acting as “a form of natural therapy.” As well as activating a range of networks associated with movement, listening, planning, memory and language, singing triggers the release of the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine. According to Wilson, the benefits of singing can be triggered by both singing and, even, simply thinking about singing.

As you walk around campus over the coming weeks, you may be fortunate enough to hear the sound of many voices united in song. Throughout the school, the students and teachers are working hard to put together a whole school song worthy to showcase during the UWCEA Opening Ceremony in October. Ms Pantlin and Mr Swai are working their magic with the students from EC all the way through to D2 and EVERY student is involved.

On Wednesday, after being introduced to Professor Wilson’s ideas, the D1s were the first group to sing the chosen song through from start to finish…and the results were fantastic! I do not want to give too much away but, when the whole school comes together, it promises to be truly memorable.

Being part of the rehearsal on Wednesday was so uplifting. This reinforces research recently published by the University of East Anglia, that singing in groups can make you happier. The research found that people who took part in a community singing group maintained or improved their mental health. In addition, the combination of singing and socialising promoted an ongoing feeling of belonging and wellbeing.

If you have not yet experienced the joys and, evident, benefits of communal singing, why not come along to the UWCEA Community Choir who meet every Wednesday from 5:00-6:00pm in the Music Room. After all, as they say, the only thing better than singing is more singing.

Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus

This week sees a group of D1 students going off on their first OP trip to North Pare, they have been seen walking around campus with back packs and boots. Pictures of the trip and more information will be in next week’s newsletter. Earlier in the week most students have had a chance to meet with me, Mr Cofer or Mr Morley for their CAS interview. The remaining ones will be next week. This gave them a chance to check they understood the requirements of CAS (Creativity, Activity and Service) as well as discussing their plans. We expect each student to meet each strand at least twice while in the Diploma Programme and in addition they need to take in a CAS project (this is collaborative and over a period of time). The ideas they talked about were inspirational and I hope they will follow through. Students also had some time to discuss how they were doing and it was good to see how many were happy. The D2 students have been working hard with IAs, TOK presentations and assessments as they have reports coming up soon.

All students had an opportunity to meet with UK universities on Monday and there was an amazing buzz in Rafiki while this took place. Next week we have a visit from some Ivy League Colleges. More details in the counsellor’s section.

Margaret Brunt – Diploma Coordinator

It has been another busy week in Residential Life with students recovering from the involvement and exertions in the 24-Hour Run.

The week began on Monday with most resident Diploma students attending a very successful University Fair, during which students were praised by the visiting University Representatives for their mature and attentive attitudes.

This Saturday a number of our resident Diploma students will be involved in ACT tests, which are one of the entry requirements for a number of oversees universities.

Other exciting events involving some of our resident students this weekend include a walking trip organised by our Outdoor Pursuits Department, to the North Pare Mountains, and a student-led trip of over 50 student residents, to the local Hot Springs or ‘Maji ya Moto’ as it is locally known.

Mr Ally our new Art Intern has been busy this week working with our PYP residents to create works of art for display around their Kimbilio House.

Could I please remind Parents/Guardians of our resident students to make sure that their contact email address recorded at school is up-to-date and working.

Please also ensure that you forward your child’s travel plans/flight tickets for travel during the October Break in plenty of time, either to one of their Residential Parents, or directly to me. This will enable me to organise timely school transport for their departure and return back to school. Please send these no later than September 27th.

Ian Horne – Head of Residential Life and Pastoral Care

M2 IDU Trip
From September 17 to 20 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 Moshi and Arusha. 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.

MAP tests
The MAP tests for M1-M3 are scheduled to begin on the week of Monday September 23, 2019.

MAP Tests are computer-based tests where students are tested in English reading and language in addition to Mathematics. M3 students also do Science in addition to the subjects above.

MAP Growth tests are unique in that they are adaptive. This means the test becomes more difficult when a student answers a question correctly. However, when the answer is incorrect, the test becomes easier. Ultimately, the students take a test specifically targeting their learning level.

M5 Personal Project Supervision
The M5 students now have their PP supervisors. They are encouraged to book appointments and meet their supervisors. Some of the projects involve parental support both materially and financially. The M5 parents are encouraged to hold candid discussions with their children/wards and plan accordingly.

David Ochieng – MYP Coordinator

Habari,

Are you taking time to check in on how things are REALLY going both academically and socially?

These weeks appear to be flying by, and yet the increasing workload is slowing things down a bit as students are adjusting to the realities of their courses/extracurricular activities, and the need for good time management skills. In the midst of everything that is happening on campus, we are noticing stress levels beginning to build. Our students have high aspirations, and are learning how to balance with a lot on their plates. Learning strategies to manage their time and developing healthy ways to deal with stress can go a long way with preparing our students for adulthood. One of the easiest things to overlook is the importance of sleep. Our M5 Life Skills class delved into this issue as a result of discussions after watching this video:
https://www.boystownpediatrics.org/knowledge-center/good-sleep-habits-teens 

One stressor that we are hoping students are starting to alleviate is the college application process. As we continue to invite guests to campus this month to educate students on the application process and their university options, we are hoping that this information helps to decrease their stress levels regarding applying to university. We received a lot of positive feedback from the UK university representatives who were on campus Monday about how well prepared our students were for the fair. This was wonderful news, and we want to keep ensuring that our students are ready to engage the representatives who have come a long way to meet them. Please discuss this tool with your child to help them prepare for upcoming presentations and fairs coming their way this month.
Preparing for University Fair (ACT)

For families in Dar Es Salaam: If you are interested in hearing from the U.S. Universities that will be visiting with our students on Monday, there will be a special presentation in Dar Es Salaam on Sunday afternoon at 3:00PM at the Golden Tulip Hotel.  This event will provide you with an opportunity to ask questions directly to these university representatives while they are on our side of the world.

We have so much to look forward to, but it is just as important that we are taking care of the needs in the immediate moment. Breathe, plan, and rest to ensure that each day is a much more enjoyable experience.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend and calm start to the new week!

Cassandra Ford
University and Socio-Emotional Counselor

Good luck to the students going to UWCEA – Arusha for the first Triathlon of the year.  Below is the finalized list of events we will be participating in this semester for NTAA and of course our Sports Weekend date.  Note: Secondary teams will be required to play at least 3 friendly matches against other schools in order to qualify for the one tournament that they will have for their chosen sport.  This means there will be regular games happening throughout the semester in order to meet this requirement.

Next quarter we are looking to change the Primary club system and allow students to choose 4 clubs instead of 3, on the condition that one of those clubs is a service based club.  Being an IB and UWC school we are expected to take part in and promote service as one of our core values.  As privileged members of the global community it is not just an expectation but also a necessity. This being said we are looking to increase the range and style of service we are able to offer for the clubs and will need some community members to model service by giving their time to run a club which will help promote service to student.  Please contact robinmarsh@uwcea.org if you have ideas and/or would like to run a service club for the PYP.

Sports Fixtures

Community Activities

Robin Marsh
Athletics & Activities Coordinator

On Monday 16th, at 10:30 AM, there will be an assembly in K Hall to mark Peace Day. Some of the PYP children will be presenting. We hope that you will be able to attend. Please encourage your child to wear blue and white clothes on this day.

The online MAP assessments will take place for P4, P5 and P6 students in Reading, Language and Maths next week. No special preparation is necessary but a good night’s sleep, a healthy breakfast and a nutritious morning snack will help your child to stay focused throughout the day.

The P6 children will be presenting in Primary Gathering on Friday, 20th September. All are welcome to attend. On Saturday 21st we will have our very first UWC day. Beatrice has sent out an email with details and there is further information in this newsletter. It looks like being a fun and educational day and we hope to see many of you there.

Class teachers are collecting the names of PYP children who are interested in auditioning for a part in the UWCEA Opening ceremony on October 25th. Please encourage your child to put his/her name forward if they are keen to perform. We are looking for performances that are of a high standard and appropriate for the occasion.  We will be holding auditions for PYP during the day on Thursday 19th of September. One performance will be selected. This can be a group or an individual performance. The other acts will be able to present to the PYP on another occasion (details to follow).

Fired up by our 24-hr Run, we set up a 100m racetrack and used it to practice counting by tens to 100 and back. Interested in what ‘infinity’ meant we gave our ideas “is it as old as the Earth?”, and used the infinity symbol in our music lessons to practice cross-lateral coordination.

Favourite themes this week have been agency, collaboration and serendipity. The children have continued to ‘do more for themselves’ by finding ways to pursue their specialist subjects.

Whilst finding out about people’s favourite colour we bumped into our new art teacher Janet again. This has led to regular trips to show her our progress and receive a new ‘challenge’- this week warm and cold colours and the palette of the rainbow. Another child has been supported by friends in P2 in writing and reading numbers. Miss Sarah in P5 has taken a fellow US ‘scientist’ under her wing to find out more about the human body. Miss Grace is learning about dinosaurs from one of our young palaeontologists and I am slowly working through the solar system with a budding astrophysicist. Another student produced a fantastic multi-coloured unicorn using a variety of 2D shapes.

This makes for a busy and varied learning environment. Other children dip in and out of the activities being pursued by their peers and by the end of this unit we’ll hope for the children to provide some of their own ‘mini-lessons’ for others.

Owain Evans

This has been a week of movement for us. We have been asking questions such as, ‘Why do we play?’ and ‘Why do we move?’ Our discussions led to some interesting areas. We looked at how the heart helps our body and what colour blood was. Next week, we will look more closely at why we eat and what we eat. A project will be sent home for the children to work on.

P2s have been reading and sorting words with ch, sh, th and wh sounds this week. They will continue next week with a small home project as well. P1s are continuing their review of consonants sounds. They will come home with a poster of sounds. Please place these where they can frequently see them.

After our look at numbers, counting and place value with base ten blocks, we will now move on to addition. Each of us will be approaching it from where we are at. We will explore different strategies for addition adding to the ones we already know.

Mboka Mwasongwe

This week in P3 we have been looking at the importance of being outdoors. We have watched informative videos on what being outside does for humans. We learnt that it allows us to be more sociable, makes our bones stronger, and helps with our mood. We have been collecting information on what we enjoy doing outside, and comparing this with a friend. We have also been collecting information on various other topics that we are turning into bar graphs. In language, students have created an informative booklet on why it’s important to be outside, as well as finished publishing their stories.

The P3 children really enjoy celebrating each other’s birthdays and it is always a happy occasion when they have the opportunity to share a birthday cake.  To enable me to fit these celebrations into our schedule, please could you give me at least 24 hours’ notice if you plan to send in birthday treats.

Elisha Jaffer

Our UWCEA hero posters are now complete and can be seen on the breezeway. Please pass by and learn more about these heroes. In the coming week, we will continue looking at different heroes and the impact they have had on society, considering negative and positive impacts.

In language this week, the P4 have been looking at verbs and tenses. They wrote different verbs in the present tense and past tense, moving on to making sentences out of them. They will continue with this work in the coming week focusing on their usage in texts.

In Math, we have been expanding numbers and rounding up 3 digit numbers to the nearest 10 or 100s. In the coming week, we will be looking at prime numbers, ordering, doubling and halving.

Please remember that MAP tests begin on Monday.  A good night’s rest and a healthy breakfast / snack is all that is needed.

Cathy Wambua-Saha

The P5 class had a full week of learning and activity. From crafting and dancing to posters and poetry, they have been showing their skills in all areas. I had fun teaching them the Virginia Reel, a dance I learned in my youth. We started the week removing litter from the upper and lower pitches. Then, we created a bar graph to show how much trash was left after the 24-hour run. It felt good to do some community service for our school after such a great event!

We are midway through Charlotte’s Web, and the class is helping me read it aloud. When finished the class will form book groups to read Roald Dahl literature. We would love support during this time from  parents. If you are able to join us, we read daily from 11:30- 12:00. Please encourage your child to read out loud at home for one of their daily reading times. For the Peace Day Assembly we will be taking a photograph as a school in a peace sign design. Please wear white and blue.

Sarah Brummel

This week the P6 children have been completing their research on their chosen explorers. Next week they will organize their findings into a piece of information writing and a timeline. They will also make a map and finish the portrait of their explorers. On Friday, 20th September, in Primary Gathering, the children will give a short presentation on their explorers, hopefully wearing their costumes. The following week they will give a longer presentation to the PYP, and parents that are able to attend, as part of their summative assessment. In Maths this week we have looked at brackets in equations and using exponents.  The children have been working on free writing (a long piece of writing on a subject of their choice) which they shared with a friend this week. Over the next two weeks they will present their writing to the class in the author’s chair. This work will form the basis of a writing conference which I will hold individually with the children and this will help us set learning goals. Next week the children will have MAP testing in Maths, Reading and Language. There is no special preparation needed for these assessments. Please note that there is a Peace Day Assembly at 10:30 on Monday, 16th September and that the children should wear blue and white clothes.

Deborah Mills