Arusha Campus News – 13 Sep 2020

Some of our students walked to a waterfall on the slopes of Mt Meru on Saturday. Here are some braving the chilly water after a long, hot walk.

We have had some fantastic Outdoor Pursuits going on this weekend – at one point on Saturday morning we had all our vehicles heading in different directions in Northern Tanzania to take our children to the most amazing locations for walks, rides and swims. One trip, to North Pare, is still wending its way home so I have decided to dedicate next week’s newsletter to a celebration of OP at UWCEA. 

This week’s word on campus has most definitely been ‘Creativty’. Check out Mr Ali’s class and their amazing still life drawings in charcoal. Lower down, the P1’s have been testing out their senses through art while in Swahili the kitenge traditional clothes and their models have simply been spectacular. There are lots of photos in the newsletter this week, and quite unashamedly they are biased toward PYP Art. What could be better?

Plenty going on this week and nothing more so than MAP Testing. As an IB school, you may be surprised to see that we are investing time in a series of standardised tests. Our reasons for conducting the MAP tests (and you can find out more about MAP here https://www.nwea.org/the-map-suite/family-toolkit/) are two-fold. They enable us to benchmark ourselves as an international educational institution against other similar schools around the globe. Also, by conducting the tests twice annually over successive years, we are able to build up a helful picture of how your child is progressing, which areas they are finding difficult and thereby helping us to identify new focuses for our teaching.

FInally, don’t forget to sign up for the Community Brunch at Schwari if you are interested. See flyer in this newsletter. I will be walking with some adventurous students along the korongo to Schwari, doing a river litter sweep as we go. Everyone is most welcome to join us!

Have a super week.

Phil

Just look at the work produced by Mr Ali’s talented young artists. Here they are looking at creating a range of tones, line and light & shadow.

The spectacular display on show outside Miss Ann-Joyce’s Swahili Classroom this week!

Creativity
Creativity is the freest form of self-expression. There is nothing more satisfying and fulfilling for children than to be able to express themselves openly and without judgment. The ability to be creative, to create something from personal feelings and experiences, can reflect and nurture children’s emotional health. www.pbs.org/wholechild/providers/play.html

Our Primary school is full of amazing art pieces. Please feel free to have a look around at all the students’ wonderful creativity.

Dont forget to come along to our PYP Parent Workshop on an Introduction to the PYP on Tuesday 15th September at 8am in the Primary Art Room.

See you there,

Amanda

Our amazing M4s (above) did a great job of making some mini news bulletins and presenting it to the class based on the events from the novel “Noughts and Crosses”. Below is the link to those interesting videos:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1i5TMhiodLfT7E0ErRNkYXgxj22xUCX0I

A big THANK YOU to parents, teachers, and our fabulous PTA for attending the “Meet Secondary Teachers” event.

On Thursday, 3rd September parents had the chance to meet all Secondary teachers, which was hosted by our PTA. Also, there was an MYP M5 information session for both students and parents regarding the M5 expectations and e-Assessments. I would like to inform those parents who could not attend the event that you are always welcome to come and meet me if you have any questions or concerns.

Hamid Rezayi

MYP Coordinator

hamidrezayi@uwcea.org

This weekend 35 of our diploma students hiked to the Mt. Meru waterfall.  Both residential and day students enjoyed the hike along the Tema river on the way to the stunning falls.  Even though the weather remains a bit chilly, a number of students enjoyed a refreshing dip at the falls.

At the moment our residential numbers, composed of both D2 and D1 students, stands at 90 students.  We still await nine residential students working on flight and entry visa issues.  If any day families are interested in meeting or inviting any of our residential students for a meal, we will host a Link Parent meeting at school before the October break.  Our Link Parent program provides opportunities for our local families to get to know our residential students from all over the world.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact me.  Regards

Chris Green
Head of Residential Life
chrisgreen@uwcea.org

Ravi (above) getting the run-around at the hands of his younger PYP colleagues

Indubitably, the pictures above show pleasurable moments shared between our zestful D1 students and our adorable PYP students during a merry Friday afternoon. Diploma Students had the opportunity to organise and plan fun activities for the lovely primary children last Friday. The aim of the interaction was for the diploma students and the primary students to get acquainted with each other and have fun. Profuse activities were offered by our rising D1s and the primary students went around all the stations, doing fun activities with the D1s for roughly ten minutes before moving on to the next station. The activities done encompassed musical chairs, freeze-dance, duck-duck goose, scavenger hunts, art, hula hoop game, number race, skippy roo, just to make mention of a few. At the end of the day the PYP students were so entertained that they didn’t want the exciting and fun day to end. The little ones were so zealous and cooperative that it left our D1s completely gratified. D1s even got some of the primary learners out of their comfort zones because some of them were initially shy, but at the end left with big smiles on their faces. This fun experience has taught our students and teachers that we can never be too young to have fun. It was a great time for the D1s and the primary students and both parties not only amused and enjoyed themselves but made memories to be cherished for centuries to come.

Atkins Dube & Mark Makongoro
DP1
Journalism Club

…and more images from the PYP-DP afternoon

An image of the mountain taken on this weekend’s OP Level 1 Flatlands Trip to Monduli

OP Level 4 trip to Mt Meru
The OP trip to Mt Meru this weekend was, simply put, awesome beyond all expectations. Out of the ten students, five from Moshi, five from Arusha (Cody (D1), Kim (D1), Mathilda (D1), Ida Marie (D2) and me, Nenya (D2)), who participated, everybody summited. Incredibly enough – it rarely happens – we all matched each other pace-wise, hiking briskly all four days and needing water breaks at the same times. The weather was amazing and so was the mood with the divide between Moshi/Arusha campus quickly blurring and fading. We were all  UWC East Africa on this trip.
By hiking all the way from Momella Gate (1514 m) to the very top of Mount Meru (4566 m), you pass through many different types of terrains, from plains through forests to cliffs. Something that struck me as particularly beautiful were the trees we hiked among on the second and fourth day; old, crooked giants hung with the white mossy lichen known as “old man’s beard”. It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale, especially when the foggy clouds shrouded them on Monday. Regular animal sightings contributed to the maintenance of high spirits. We saw zebras, baboons, and warthogs, and on the last day, Monday, we were even lucky enough to see 6-8 giraffes all up close (distance 10-15 meters!). For a Dane who has never been on a safari that was almost as exciting as reaching the Meru summit. But only just almost.
Mt Meru summit is at the altitude of 4566 metres above sea-level and you literally have to climb rocks to get there. Such an altitude is also comfortable above the point where altitude sickness can start kicking in and it is safe to say that the air at the summit was not exactly rife with oxygen. The night/morning we submitted was also freezing. Imagine having to wake up at 00:50 to a strenuous 5½ hours hike in air thin enough to send your heart racing while lying down, almost literally freezing your fingers off in the process. Then imagine standing at the very top of the mountain you have been struggling up the past three days (albeit in nice weather and good company) and you know how we felt that Sunday morning. A huge THANK YOU! to our four amazing trip leaders, Mr Isack, Mr Isaac, Ms Angela and Mr Jeremiah, without whom we never would have reached the summit. Your calm support and confident planning made us all feel safe and gave us the mental energy to focus on the personal challenge climbing a mountain as tall and tough as Meru inevitably is. A special shout-out to our very own Mr Isack Igenge who chose to spend his 42nd birthday with us summiting Mt Meru! Happy birthday! – we were all grateful to have you with us.

Nenya, D2

Mohammed and friends take a moment to contemplate the ‘un-flat’ nature of their flatlands hike!

This trip has just got back into School as I write this and so we will hear more about the jaunt in next week’s newsletter. In the meantime I leave you with one of Mr Uffindall’s arty pics of the buffet table!

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.

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