Moshi Campus News – 9 May 2020

This week I had the opportunity to sit with some of the D1 students from both campuses to discuss the start of next year and the orientation plans for our new intake of students. We had a 90 minute planning session looking at the new D1 students that will be joining in August and how we can welcome them to the UWC East Africa Community.  Looking at the initial lists of incoming students it was great to see the excitement on students faces and to hear that some students are already communication with expected students from their home country.

The discussion was quite fun, and funny, as we talked about all of the fun things they have done and all the things they have learned about the area since they got here.  As they kept adding to the list, it became very clear there was way too much to share in just a couple of days.  At this point I think orientation may run two months with everything on the list.  As the student body is spread all over, they are reaching out to other D1 students to be part of the planning.  If you miss their email, please email me so that we hear from all students that want to be involved in the preparations.

On Thursday we had our second Virtual Parents’ Coffee.  Thank you to all those that joined us from all over.  As an update, the final scheduled Board Meeting of the year is on May 14th and a financial update will come from them after.  We are looking to schedule a D1 parent specific meeting this week as there are some program specific questions we will address.  An invite will come out soon for this.

Bob Cofer

Thank you to everyone that got involved and a special thank you to Ms Elisha, Mr Morley, Ms Ford and the Primary Student Voice for this.  You can see the video here.

Firstly, on behalf of the whole UWCEA community, a huge “asante sana” to all health workers across Tanzania.

I hope that everyone is keeping well, staying safe and remaining positive. Well done to those who took part in Crazy Hair Day this week. It was wonderful to see all of your amazing creations and a great way to reconnect with each other. I hope you enjoy viewing Ms Elisha’s slideshow.

The observant amongst you will have noticed on the calendar that Friday 8th May (today!) was scheduled to be Moshi’s Got Talent, our annual showcase of creativity across our community. Of course, meeting in Rafiki Hall or elsewhere is not possible at the moment but this does not mean we cannot get creative! With this in mind, you are hereby invited to our first ever virtual talent show…

This is open to everyone! Students (EC to D2), teachers and parents. All entries must be no longer than 60 seconds (if they are, they will not be considered!). Entries can include anything…singing, dancing, playing an instrument, monologues, poetry, juggling, jokes, magic tricks and so on. Anything you can think of! Feel free to dress up for your performance, think carefully about background noise and lighting and, remember, “no vertical video!” In other words, film in landscape.

A reminder that the audience for this will range from EC all the way through to adults, so please bear this in mind. Anything that is rude or too “silly” will not be included. If you would like to be involved, please note the following:

• Entries must be emailed to me (benmorley@uwcea.org) as mp4 files
• Deadline for submissions is 12:00pm on Sunday 17th May
• One solo entry per person and/or one group entry per household
• House points may well be awarded to entrants

As H.E. Luccock so rightly noticed, “No one can whistle a symphony, it takes an orchestra to play it.” Let us use this as another opportunity to stay connected, have fun and remind each other what a special, talented community we are all part of!

Ben Morley

I have spent most of the last week reviewing the D2 CAS portfolios and listening to their recordings as they talk about their experiences. I have been amazed at the passion shown. The students who went to SIMBA foundation all talk about leaving a smile on the faces of the students, students talk about the skills they have learned for life from the sports they have played and how they have become better collaborators. I still have some to look at but hope to share some with the D1 students when I have finished. Plans are being made for the D2 graduation and I will share these soon.

The D1 students continue with the new normal of distance learning. Except for the classes such as Visual Arts where the focus is very much on individual work there is a regular online slot scheduled. Please see here for more details. While we recommend students attend these sessions, we understand that time differences and technical problems may make it difficult. Where possible they are recorded so students can watch them later. In many subjects, students have been introduced to the internal assessment and will have started their research for them. This is an independent piece of work and so it makes sense to do this now. Students should however keep in contact with their teacher about this.
Parents will receive an invite to a session for D1 parents to ask questions next week and I look forward to seeing you there.
During these difficult times there are still some opportunities for students to get involved in outside projects, such as the Young Aurora project. We are looking forward to hearing from students interested in participating. The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is about explaining a Maths or Science concept and students can join the world’s largest IB student Virtual Choir.

Margaret Brunt

Greetings UWCEA Family,

As we wrap up another week of learning and growing in new ways, I am appreciative of everyone who took some time on Wednesday to read, and practice strategies found in the Wellness Wednesday Weekly. We will continue to find ways to meet the mental health and well-being needs of our community during this pandemic and beyond.

Friday’s newsletter will continue to be a place to focus on the post-secondary planning component of my role. I would like to send a shout out to Director of Global Enrollment and Student Success Lukman Arsalan for the excellent Trinity College presentation that was done for interested students. It was so wonderful to see the students who were able to tune in to learn about this UWC Davis Scholar Partner Institution in Connecticut, USA. I know that some students (and parents) who wanted to attend were unable to at that time. If you are interested in receiving the presentation information, please email me and I will share what Mr. Arsalan graciously shared with me about his institution. 

This week has been full of fascinating and engaging presentations that many students have participated in. In this time of great uncertainty, there has been a tremendous amount of outreach by Admissions staff from higher education institutions around the world. This has led to more opportunities to engage with representatives and specialists in ways that have not been possible before. We have been the beneficiaries of an abundance of information to assist with post-secondary planning. Below is the current list of presentations/virtual fairs that students in M5 and D1 can access in the College Visits section of their Maia Learning account college planning account. Please review the list below, and consider attending a few of these events to learn more about some of the opportunities that exist around the world.

Thank you to the M5/D1 parents who have completed the survey on this link indicating that they would like parent access to their child’s Maia Learning account. I will be setting up parent accounts within the next couple of weeks, but want to give more parents a chance to respond. In addition, D1 parents, hopefully by this weekend your child will share with you (and me) their Post Secondary Plan Presentation (in draft form) that is due 8 May.

Finally, this week I was able to participate in three days of webinars related to the college/university planning process during a virtual fair listed on the chart above. One webinar that I think parents might find beneficial was titled How to Support Your Teen Through the College Search. Here is the link to view this presentation from 5 May 2020.

Have a wonderful weekend/week ahead, and feel free to schedule a virtual appointment with me via my calendar link if you would like to discuss any of this information in more detail.

Cassandra Ford

Distance Learning
As we continue with distance learning, things for both MYP parents and students seem to be running more smoothly. If however you have enquiries and/or clarifications please contact me at myp_co@uwcea.org.

M5 Career Project Week
The M5 students will have their last distance learning sessions on May 29. Details of their research framework have already been dispatched to them. They will present their research online on June 4.

M5 Timeline

Assessments in MYP
All MYP assessments will continue this quarter with tasks and results being listed on Managebac. We encourage parents to access these and feel free to contact teachers as and when necessary. This quarter we are likely to issue very short reports outlining grade summaries for the year and therefore parents/guardians are encouraged to check Managebac as often as appropriate for assessment comments from teachers.

David Ochieng

Thank you PYP parents for supporting your child with the Crazy Hair. A huge thank you goes out to Mr. Morley, Ms. Elisha and the Student Voice for putting it together. It is always great to experience the fun and positive energy going around in our community. We have had the Dr. Seuss rap, Crazy Hair Day, and are looking forward to the upcoming “Moshi has got Talent- minute to win it.” Mr. Ben has shared more details on that so please let us try to join in the fun.  I hope the physical packs are working well for those that opted for them and that all the children are settling into routines and finding the learning enjoyable. A big shout out to Ms. Debbie and the Exhibition class for making it all happen remotely. They are working hard behind the scenes and getting so much done under these unique circumstances. I would like to wish all the Muslim families ‘Ramadhan Kareem’ as they continue fasting.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend.

Cathy Wambua-Saha

Dear Teachers, Parents and Students,

I am Tanya (P6) and as part of  my action for my Exhibition, I am encouraging people to make compost in order to reduce the number of people burning their trash. Many people burn trash because:

• It is easier than hauling the trash to a local disposal site,
• Avoid paying for regular waste collection service.
• In Tanzania, some people think it is bad hauling their trash

To start this, I made my own compost and I thought it would be great if you could join me by making your own compost at home?

Instructions:

• You can either make your compost on land or dig a hole and do it there.
• Gather: sticks, fresh leaves, dry leaves, horse droppings (if you have), charcoal (if you have), ash (If you have), food scraps (any type of vegetable or fruit peels), white card or white paper plates and whatever is available in the kitchen that can decompose.
• Put the material in the compost hole/ground: 1 layer is sticks then the other layer is dry leaves then carry on putting the materials.
• Mix the compost with a large stick
• Carry on doing these steps until 2 months are done because that’s when your compost will be done
• Send me a photo of your compost at deborahmills@uwcea.org!!!

Plastic Action Challenge!

With your plastic waste I want you to make something creative out of the plastic and that you can use!

Some ideas are:

• Plastic broom
• Plastic holder for things or plants
• The Best ones will be posted!!!

Those of you who read the Wellness Wednesday e-newsletter will have seen this wonderful poster made by Reuben in P6. As part of his Exhibition action Reuben has asked us to think about what we can learn from the Maasai and Hadzabe tribes in today’s challenging times.

Most of the P6 Exhibition Google Slides presentations are now finished and the children are learning how to record them with a commentary on Zoom so that they can go on the school website. Learning these sorts of skills would require some effort face to face in the classroom; but having to learn them through instructions on our online platform Seesaw has added another layer to the challenge. Well done P6 for your enthusiasm and commitment! The photo shows Ivan recording part of his presentation.

When the Exhibition page on the website is ready to go live we will send you an invitation which includes the link to the page and information about the Question and Answer sessions. At the moment it is envisaged that most of the presentations will be pre-recorded and that the Q and A sessions will happen live on Zoom with written questions (not spoken) happening through the chat.

Elsewhere in this newsletter you will find Reuben’s poster showing what we can learn from the Maasai and Hadzabe tribes and Tanya’s composting and recycling challenge. Eunice has sent each of her classmates a tree to plant in their yards as part of her inquiry into deforestation. The photo shows her tying on the labels. Mr. Ben Morley tweeted this week: “Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out,” and our P6 children are most certainly doing that.

Deborah Mills

The P5 class is working on their scheduling and remembering Zoom times. They just talked about how it is challenging to remember times for Zoom, so suggestions were to write it down somewhere or hang up the Zoom schedule. I also offered to send an email in the morning to remind them. For our unit they are working on their summative slide show to share with the class via google slides. They had a practice run through with their questions about the unit. The first round of slideshows were impressive. This generation is going to be even more talented with technology due to this extended home learning experience. 

We have an opportunity to have foreign language zooms weekly. They will alternate weeks though, so next week Kiswahili will start on Mondays at 10 am. We have French underway meeting at 8 am on Wednesday.

Please email any questions or concerns that come up at home. Thank you all very much for your support with your child’s learning.

Sarah Brummel

I hope you have all had a wonderful week and that the packs have worked well for all students. Thank you for sharing your Crazy Hair photos, that was great fun.

It was really nice to catch up with your children on Zoom and hear them share their news with each other.

Next week we will be looking at our responsibility in protecting animals and action we can take and will hopefully start preparing for our Summative Assessment. The Language and Math sheets have been shared and more guidelines will be posted on Seesaw.

Cathy Wambua-Saha

I have spent most of last weekend watching the amazing puppet shows that P3 has created for their last unit of inquiry. The shows were excellent, I was so proud of the effort that the students have put into the puppet shows. Many of the students had family help them out, it was lovely seeing people come together and showcase their creativity! You can find the puppet shows here.

P3 has spent this week being introduced to their new unit on the Solar System. There’s lots of excitement, and we’re all ready to learn about the planets in our Solar System. Please let me know if you’d like to be a “guest lecturer” over Zoom and talk to the students about anything Space related.

Elisha Jaffer

Thank you to all who were able to post their summative assessments on Seesaw and for all the encouraging and kind comments the students have posted. Please keep on commenting on all shared work as they come in. If you haven’t been able to post the summatives, please do so as soon as you are able.

I hope all the children enjoyed their reading assessments as much as I did. Some of the books they chose to read were very funny and entertaining. We enjoyed them together.

We are now moving into our last unit of the school year and it is going to be an exciting one to complete especially during this time of being at home. Where we are in place and time is our next theme. Our conceptual idea looks at how our journeys through history help us make connections between past and present. This is the time to dust off all the old albums and share family histories with your children. Video call all aunties, uncles, grandparents and so on to start sharing their journeys.

Mboka Mwasongwe

This week we continued our unit on stories. The children worked on number bonds in addition and subtraction. Crazy hair day was a great success and we ended the week with producing recycled musical instruments. Thanks to everyone who is working so hard to continue the highest standards in teaching and learning during these unusual times.

Owain Evans