Moshi Campus News – 12 Sep 2020

It is hard to believe that we have only three weeks left before the October break.  Time has been moving very quickly since we returned. 

Next week we will be starting the MAP testing for grades P4-P6 with M1-M3 in the following week.  These tests are online adaptive tests that allow students the appropriate challenge needed to determine where they are at this point in time for Math, Reading and Language. These tests provide more information to teachers so they can shape the best lessons and provide the differentiation needed to support individual learners.

This week as well we have our first Inter-Disciplinary Unit trip of the year as the M2 students from both campuses will head to the school property in Pangani to learn more about the costal area and apply their math and geography skills. 

As the service projects are starting up again, you can read a little about some of what students are involved in with more projects to be highlighted in the future.

Please take note of some events such as the Coffee Morning, the Farmers’ Market and UWC Day which allow you to get involved with what is happening on campus.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

We invite you to join us on Wednesday September 16th for the first Coffee Morning of the year.  Anna, Ben and I will be there to talk about the year to date and looking ahead.  Unlike past events this one will be under the tent on the green beside K-Hall so we have an outdoor venue.  We will start at 7:45am and look forward to seeing you then.

Bob Cofer

UWC Day is the annual global celebration of the UWC mission and values, which takes place on September 21 every year, and coincides with the UN International Day of Peace. Each year, UWC Day has a different theme which helps to provide a central focus for the planned actions and initiatives. This year’s theme is “United We Can”. It is particularly relevant, considering that divisiveness, tension, and walls have been building around the world over the last few years. The global crises we face – whether the current health crisis or the longer-term climate crisis – make that same mission more urgent than ever. Only through being united can we solve climate issues, inequalities, and conflict.

This special event in our school will be celebrated by various activities over three days – from September 19 until September 21. On the first day (Saturday, September 19), a video welcome will be shared with students. It will be followed by the Campus Clean-Up (this is tentative), as well as by the Restoration of the Cob Bench in the playground with recycled materials. The afternoon activity will be the Music Workshop, where PYP students will be building and playing musical instruments made out of recycled materials. The afternoon of the second day (Sunday, September 20) will be marked by the National Dress Parade (everybody from the UWCEA community is welcome), and the Talent Show.

The culmination of the celebration (Monday, September 21) will be marked by three assemblies, each for PYP, MYP, and DP. Blue and white must be worn, as it is the UN International Day of Peace. Lastly, do not forget to participate in UWC Day Peace Challenge!
We are also planning a United We Can wall by the advancement office, where everyone will write United We Can in their own language. More details to follow,

Kristaps (D1) on behalf of the UWC Day Planning Committee

To quote from our own Guiding Statements, at UWC East Africa we value “A holistic and diverse portfolio of learning experiences.” Many of these experiences require students who are “motivated to embrace personal challenge and reflection.”

Ever since I joined the UWC Movement (many years ago!), I have always seen the UWC experience as consisting of five interlinking elements, namely academics, activities, outdoor pursuits, personal, social and emotional education and, last but by no means least, service. As is often espoused by UWC educators across the globe, while students do not spend an equal amount of time on each of the elements (for much of the year, the academic element takes up most of their day), we should place equal value on them. It is only through experiencing these different elements that students can nurture the qualities and skills needed to realise our Mission to develop “balanced global citizens who are empowered to act responsibly in a complex world.”

Of course, this is challenging. This is why “personal challenge” is also explicitly identified as one of the UWC Core Values. The academic demands of an IB education are significant, for students of all ages. Add service learning, activities and OP trips into the mix and it becomes even more demanding. However, if we choose to embrace the experience, we can see challenges as opportunities and opportunities not to be missed.

This is why it is so heartening to see our OP trips oversubscribed! Students (AND, importantly, staff members!) remain willing to give up their weekends to take part in trips all over the region, even if this means they will have lots to catch up on. As we welcomed back our Mount Meru conquerors and Fish Eagle swimmers, I encourage you to take advantage of all that a UWC experience has to offer. Stop using being “busy” as an excuse for missing out and shift your mindset to seeking a sense of fulfillment.

Lastly, on a completely different note, I cannot write Ben’s Corner this week without mentioning the comprehensive victory of the staff football team over the Boys’ U19 hopefuls. After all the pre-match hype, I am sure the 5-1 scoreline was quite a surprise. Still, kudos for being so humble in defeat (!) and we are all looking forward to the rematch.

Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus

Parent Conferences
On Friday October 2nd we will finish classes early to allow for physical parent conferences. You will be sent an email for the sign up for these. You will have the opportunity to make 10 minute appointments with the teachers to discuss your child’s progress. We strongly recommend your child accompanies you to this appointment. If you wish to meet with me, on that day either email me to make an appointment or just drop into my office.

We realise that for many of you coming to campus is not possible, so please contact your child’s teacher directly and arrange a mutually convenient time to talk to them via Zoom. If you would be more comfortable with a conversation by email that is also possible. If you log into ManageBac and click on a subject the teacher’s email will be shown.

Service
As I said last week we have now started the Wednesday afternoon service groups, each week I hope to let you know about what each group is doing.

Campus Beautification: Our service group as a whole has the aim of making the campus look better. Since a lot of people signed up for it, the class had to split up into smaller groups to work more effectively. Each group is now working as a whole separate unit to suggest different ways that the students could work with the school on projects around campus.  Ideas at the moment includes changes to the DP study room and murals on campus.

KCMC: “Love is all about putting meaning into small things.” This is what Magreth said during one of our KCMC meetings. We’ve definitely putting love and meaning into our work. This week, we started making cards for the children and plan on making cookies for them. Next week we are planning on going to KCMC to drop off our cards, assisted by Dr. Marieke and respecting the social distancing. We are all incredibly passionate to make a difference even if it’s as small as making a child at the hospital smile.

More than a Drop: More Than a Drop is an organization that empowers young women who come from unfortunate backgrounds. Some of whom were forced into marriage almost underwent female genital mutilation and did not have access to proper education. The main aim is to empower these women by giving them a one-year course mainly in the hospitality sector, and our role as a service is to assist them in the best possible way. This would include giving them English lessons, teaching them social etiquettes, or running fundraisers to help them buy necessities like sanitary pads.

This week we were fortunate enough to converse with the Director of the foundation, Miss Etropia, who gave us a detailed overview of what these women will be like, and the more beneficial ways in which we can work together with them. Unfortunately, this quarter we will not be able to meet them in person due to the current circumstances. However, we are making efforts to write personal letters to each one of them to get better acquainted with them.

Margaret Brunt – DP Coordinator

The UWCEA community is full of readers from the EC level all the way to the diploma together with Parents and staff. Books are a very prime Key to our lives as they help strengthen our reading, creative thinking and language skills.

We are conducting a book drive for Village of Hope orphanage in Mwanza (Lake zone of Tanzania). The books collected shall be aimed at reinforcing their orphanage library as the kids have not been really exposed to fun and interesting books other than their national curriculum subject books. This shall be very valuable for them, and as the UWCEA we community we shall be looking forward to contributing at least 150 books to them.

Please donate on September 15th and 17th.
Your donating a book shall help in spreading knowledge and skills to Tanzania’s future workforce.
Play your part and SHARE YOUR BOOKS!!!

All types of books from EC picture books to high literature books are welcomed, but we please ask they be in English.

Locations to drop off the books.
The administration office. (Miss Grace)
The school Library.

This month we are focusing on self-care in the Wellness Weekly series. In order to determine the most effective care for oneself it is important to build your self-awareness. In a recent D2 Life Skills class, students were asked to reflect on the questions below, as they become more aware of who they are after experiencing a challenging situation. We encourage you to take some time to reflect on your responses to these questions as you consider the best way forward with your own self-care regimen.

Reflecting back on the last six months of your life…

• What is one thing you learned about yourself?
• What is one new thing/skill you learned?
• What is one thing you learned about the world?

We hope you will continue to explore the information shared in each  Wellness Wednesday Weekly, but also reach out for support if you find it difficult to access healthy self-care practices in your life. It is essential that we continue to emphasize the importance of utilizing mental health resources and taking time to learn from challenges faced in the past to continue to grow as we go.

University preparations also continue, including the D2 Parent Presentation that took place last week. If you were not able to attend, you can visit this link to watch the recording and view the slides filled with links to additional information for your planning/supporting purposes.

On Tuesday, many of our Diploma Students took part in the CIS – Africa International Fair, which provided students (and parents) with an opportunity to engage with admissions representatives from around the world.  There are many more opportunities to engage with university admissions staff from around the world, including those listed below:

Take care and continue to persevere,

UWCEA School Counseling Team

Another exciting week for MYP students.  Services got underway last week, and the students were very much engaged. Campus Beautification took a thorough inventory of ideas during a campus stroll and we all look forward to seeing what they can work with the school on to improve.  Next week I shall provide a paragraph outlining each club and their future goals and plans of action.  Service is a vital part of what makes our school and curriculum unique, this year is no different.

Our M2s are off on an adventure this week to the coast and will be missed on campus.  Another invaluable aspect of our MYP curriculum is our commitment to Inter-Disciplinary Units, IDU’s.  This trip is a culmination of work done across our curriculum between math and Individuals and Societies.  We look forward to details and photos from the experience. The OP experiences are also in full swing and it is wonderful to see so many MYP students participating in the outdoor pursuits activities. 

Please mark your calendars for a few future MYP events.  On Friday the 18th of September we will begin preparing the MYP students for MAP testing, Friday is when M1 and M3 will do a practice run, M2 shall practice on Monday after they return.  Monday the 21st through Thursday the 24th MYP 1-3 will be testing in the mornings in the IT lab at different times, there are makeup opportunities but please try to have your child is in school if at all possible.  They should be well rested and have eaten a good breakfast.

Finally, we are offering parent conferences on Friday October 2nd for the MYP.  There will be a signup email out soon and it is encouraged that you sign up for the classes in which you have the greatest concern.  The appointments are for 10 minutes only and there is a limited number. Please do not sign up for back to back meetings as it will be impossible to be prompt and it will interfere with others who allowed for the proper amount of time in between meetings.  If you wish to meet all your student’s teachers, you can always arrange for another time to do so after the October holiday

Have a fabulous week and reach out with any questions.

Jeanne Aman – MYP Coordinator

Water Level 1

Early Friday morning on 4 September, a group of excited students set off on a 10-hour drive to Fish Eagle Point. We arrived a few hours before sunset, with just enough time to go for a swim in the ocean, set up the tents, and take a look at the beautiful place we were going to spend our weekend.

The OP trips are famous for their early mornings, and this was no exception. The teachers woke us at 5am to prepare breakfast and get ready for the day. Our days were filled with exciting activities, and the most memorable was snorkeling in the mangroves, with the coral reef just underneath us as we enjoyed seeing fish and creatures of all different colors and shapes. We also went hot-dog tubing, snorkeling in the sea (we saw some impressive coral reefs there too), mangrove kayaking, trash pick-up, and played beach volleyball that quickly turned into water volleyball when the tide came in. Unfortunately, some of us got stung by sea urchins and jellyfish, but unexpected challenges are a part of the experience.

After a long day, I personally enjoyed the quiet moments, just lying on the beach looking at the sky, seeing brighter and clearer stars than I had ever seen before. It was relaxing to get a break from the IB, and just enjoy the moment.

Early on Monday morning, we packed the camp and got on the bus back to Moshi. We were tired and looking forward to taking a long, hot shower at home, but could now look back at a trip filled with memorable experiences, lots of fun, challenges, excitement, and new knowledge and skills.

I would like to thank our fantastic teachers and staff for organizing this trip. Without them, this unforgettable weekend at Fish Eagle Point would have been impossible!
Ane D1

Socialist Peak

Hakuna matata and njia ile ni nyembamba iendayo mlimani

This is an encouraging and spirit statement that describes our trip to Socialist Peak. An exciting, strong, helpful and welcome team worked together on everything to have an amazing trip that saw everyone reach the summit.

The tour took advantage of the diversity of Arusha National Park around Mount Meru which allowed us to see a wide array of animals as we hiked including buffalo, Colobus monkeys and giraffe. Having the ranger with us gave an added sense of comfort. Although the windy weather made it a bit dusty at time we will not forget  Momella Gate, Marikamba camp, Saddle camp, Little Meru, Mgongo wa Tembo, Rhino Point, on our way to the top.

Special thanks to school administration community activities coordinators, op coordinators and rangers from Arusha national park.

Our first sports competition has been timetabled for the year.  We are starting cautiously with a U19 boys and girls Soccer (or Tsu Chu as the Chinese called a similar style game 3000 years ago) mini tournament against UWCEA Arusha on Saturday the 26th Sept.  Our teams are large, there is enough players for 2 teams from Moshi in each category which means they should get at least 2 games with 3 the likely result.  Also, although not given a date yet but likely in October, we are currently looking at a 3 school PYP cross country and rounders friendly meet at Kennedy House with UWCEA Arusha joining us again.

Tennis with Coach Charles
Tennis with Coach Charles continues with him offering private and/or group lessons Wednesdays at 3:30pm to 4:30pm and Saturdays from 9.30am to 11.30am. Please contact Coach Charles at the courts at the above-mentioned times or call/message on 0710606766. 

PYP Saturday Soccer
Saturday Soccer is back up and running with Mr T and several of our skilled M5, D1 & D2 students helping to run the club.  It kicks off at 9am and finishes at 10.30am just in time for the PYP swim squad to get their laps in.

Go Leopards
Robin Marsh?

• MONDAY  17:45 – 18:30
• TUESDAY  07:00 – 08:00 & 16:30 – 18:00
• WEDNESDAY 15:00 – 16:30
• THURSDAY 07:00 – 08:00 & 16:30 – 18:00
• FRIDAY  07:00 – 08:00 & 14:00 – 18:00
• SATURDAY & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS – 14:00 – 18:00
• SUNDAY  11:00 – 13:00 & 14:00 – 18:00

Congratulations to the student voice on a very successful PYP Movie Night. Many thanks to Ben Morley and Elisha Jaffer for supporting the organisation of this event.

Next week our P4, P5 and P6 students will be taking MAP online assessments. MAP assessments are adaptive – if a child answers a question correctly they are presented with a more challenging question, if they answer incorrectly they are presented with an easier one. The results of these assessments will enable teachers to plan the future steps for the children’s learning. There is no preparation necessary for MAP – just a good night’s sleep and a nutritious breakfast. All children should bring a healthy snack and a water bottle to school.

On Friday, 18th we have a “Dress as your hero” spirit day and P4 will be presenting in the primary gathering. You are very welcome to attend. Please note that visitors to campus should wear a face mask when they enter a building, as per the Board’s directive.

As mentioned elsewhere in this letter Monday, 21st September is UWC Day and the children are invited to wear blue and white clothes to school.

Deborah Mills, Mboka Mwaasongwe – PYP Coordinators

Primary Student Voice would like to thank everyone who came to the UWCEA PYP Movie Night! We hope everyone had a fantastic “night” out.

A reminder that on Friday 18th September 2020, PYP Student Voice has organized a Dress Like Your Hero day. We’re hoping to see you all dressed like your heroes! MYP and DP, this means you too!

Sticks, mud and feet.

We created face portraits using sticks, leaves and rocks. It was interesting how each one tackled their ideas in different ways. Some used stones for eyes and others used sticks. But the outcomes were great! Next week, we will use oil pastels to create our portraits. We will be building on making keen observations and adding more details to our art pieces.

Thank you Baba and Mama Trinity. We are grateful for the strawberry plants you gave us and for the time you took to help us plant them. We now have two beds of strawberry plants that the children are looking after. They do remember to water them and are looking forward to eating some strawberries soon.

After tracing the size of our hands and measuring their heights using blocks and 2cm squares, we transferred this knowledge to our feet. The children independently traced their feet and measured them using multilink blocks. Next week, we will complete this activity by measuring them using 2cm squares. Already, they are beginning to see the link between their heights and the lengths of their hands and feet.

Mboka Mwasongwe

Sprite, juice, Coke, water and eggs. These items have been at the centre of attention in our P2/3 class this week. We’ve been keeping an observation journal to see what happens to an egg in each of the four liquids, in order to see the effects of them on our teeth. Any guesses what the worst is? My guess is you’d assume Coke. Ask your child what our discovery was, and you’ll be horrifically surprised!

We’ve been working on patterns this week. We’ve associated patterns with letters, and created them using unifix cubes and finger paint. You’ll see these patterns around our classroom or the board outside soon!

A big thank you to Mama Ezra for coming in and discussing different kinds of bacteria and viruses with us! Here’s hoping we haven’t turned all the children into hypochondriacs!

Also, a big happy birthday to Tiago who’s just turned 8!

Elisha Jaffer

We are looking forward to the week ahead with 2 special things for our class- the MAP will be Monday-Thursday and our class’s turn to lead the Primary Gathering on Friday. We had the chance to practice the MAP during our IT class on Friday. Students became comfortable with the format of the tests and with using the laptops. It should all go well. You are welcome to come to the Gathering on Friday as we have the chance to share about our learning. Friday is also a Spirit Day and we look forward to dressing up as Heroes. We will wrap up on our latest art project next week- a look at Pop Art. POW! What a great class.

Talking points with kids: favorite heroes from history

Kacey Buckley

What a great turnout of P5 children and the PYP movie night – it was wonderful to see so many in attendance. Next week the P5 children will carry out MAP assessments in language, reading and math. Please make sure they eat a good breakfast to give them energy throughout the morning. In class we will use our rounding skills to estimate the answers to addition and subtraction equations. The children have chosen a Human Rights activist to research and are putting together posters which they will share with you at a later date. We will be using dictionaries to learn unit related vocabulary. Please note that Friday, 18th is “dress as your hero” day. This could be a fictional superhero or a real life individual that the children find inspiring.

Deborah Mills

We have completed our first book as a class this year, and it was a great success. They all loved the story, and the bravery of the characters. If you have not had the chance to read Number the Stars, there is a copy in the library. Your child can give you their own personal book recommendation. We have started reading Roald Dahl’s, Danny: The Champion of the World.

On Monday, their long term personal summative projects are going home. They will be able to choose which option of four best reflects their understanding about types of government. This is a time for them to work independently at home to improve their skills with research, practice time management, and create an educational presentation. We will share the summatives on October 2.

Please make sure your child is well rested and fed for next week’s MAP testing. They can show you the practice test this weekend if you are curious about the approach.

Sarah Brummel