Arusha Campus News – 13 Nov 2020

Meet Ali, Lydia, Mariam and Jube – the winners of the 2020 Global Aurora Prize. What Champions!

A packed house enjoyed this afternoon’s outstanding Swahili Assembly – expertly composed as usual by Miss Ann-Joyce

I said in last weekend’s newsletter that I hoped to have a positive outcome to report on our week long CIS Accreditation Visit this past week. Well, having listened to the Evaluators comments, I am pleased to say that the words resounding in my ears are ‘committed teachers’ and ‘happy children’. I am not sure I think there are any features in a school that are more important than those two listed right there! I would like to say a big thank you to parents, teachers and students for making the CIS visit so productive.

The big story last week was the amazing news that UWC East Africa had won the Young AUrora Prize for the second year running. This time, Arusha Campus were victorious, following up on Moshi’s success last year. You can find out more about this prestigious humanitarian award at this link here https://auroraprize.com/en/

If you are living far away from Arusha and receiving this newsletter, we have the exciting news that the rain has arrived and we come to school in the morning with puddles to splash in and rainbows over Mt Meru to gaze at. Not a day goes by at the moment when I don’t wonder how lucky we all are here to live in such a place.

Have a super weekend.

Phil

Young Aurora is part of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and for the past four years it has provided students from UWC schools and, since 2018, the African Leadership Academy with the opportunity to design and implement projects that will make a positive impact by addressing an area of humanitarian concern in their local school community.

Due to the issues of global and local significance affecting both Aurora and UWC in 2020, this year’s competition involved additional challenges and changes. Aurora Humaitarian Initiative were delighted to report on the final three project presentations and announce the winning team: Beehive Divide from UWC East Africa. The team will be awarded with a grant of $4000 to take the next steps in their project’s development.

This year, students from UWC East Africa, UWC Mahindra College and UWC South East Asia dialed in remotely to present their projects at the 2020 Aurora Dialogues Online event titled “Responding to Change: New Horizons in Education” to a combined Facebook and Zoom audience of more than 3,200 people, and a jury of notable and experienced humanitarians

The humanitarian concerns addressed were as far-reaching as the ingenuity that fueled the implementation of the student projects. The UWC East Africa team presented their solution to protect the crops of villagers in Sanya Hoyee, Tanzania from dangerous elephant raids in a way that did not put the endangered species at risk by building a chili and beehive fence that would then have the added effect of providing an additional source of income. The UWC Mahindra College team concentrated on healthcare, presenting their diagnostic and preventative approaches to empowering people in rural Mulshi-Taluka to make independent and informed decisions about their health, and by subsidizing and increasing the availability of medical check-ups. For UWC South East Asia, the focus was on Foreign Domestic Workers in Singapore, who they aim to help empower by making information about their rights more readily available, giving them a platform to share their stories and helping the general public to empathize with their struggle.

In the end it was the UWC East Africa’s Beehive Divide team who secured the funding to take the next big steps towards making their project a reality and for helping to transform the wellbeing of both the people and elephants of Sanya Hoyee village, enabling them to live peacefully side by side.

The amazing models created by students in P4/5 and P6.

The P4/5 and P6 classes have both been inquiring into How the World Works. We have had a great time creating models and structures as part of our learning. Trial and error are an important part of the learning process and help us to understand how our world works. Both classes will be sharing their learning next week.

Why Science Matters in Daily Life
Science, directly and indirectly, influences all aspects of everyday life. From the food we eat to the way we get around, science is everywhere. Once you begin to see all the opportunities to learn, the relationship between science and critical-thinking skills become apparent.

Beginning when children are very young, science helps shape their development. As they learn to ask questions, make predictions, observe, test, and then communicate their findings, they are developing critical science skills

This information came from this website. Please follow the link to find out more.

https://www.learningliftoff.com/how-to-teach-kids-science-and-why-its-important/

Amanda

The Learner Profile
The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.

The IB learner profile represents 10 attributes valued by IB World Schools. We believe these attributes, and others like them, can help people become responsible members of local, national and global communities. As IB learners (young and old!), we strive to be:

The following link gives an overview of the IB learner profile:

https://www.ibo.org/benefits/learner-profile/

Our MYP subject units are designed in a way that students are encouraged to acquire the learner profile attributes. The picture below is a good example of an I&S lesson where students learn to become Knowledgeable and Inquirers.

This quarter the M3s are learning about the impact of disease on societies. For this experiment, the students will be exploring germ theory that we carry germs in our unwashed hands. Certain germs cause illness thus unwashed hands help spread disease. As part of their service as action they will create a poster or electronic information page on the dangers of unwashed hands. They will use the experiment as evidence. Khalid Salewa/ I&S teacher

A big thank you to our M5 hardworking students who sat their first on screen exam practice from Monday to Friday 2nd-6th of November.  I would like to thank the invigilators and the IT team who supported us in the successful administration of these exams.

This was the first on-screen exam practice for our M5 students. The aim of the on-screen exam familiarization sessions is for M5s to practice using the IT tools and to familiarize themselves with the type of questions and format of an online exam to manage their time in a 2 hour exam. This was a formative assessment and therefore their grade will not count towards their report. They will also do an official mock on-screen exam in Quarter 3. These sessions will give M5 an idea of what to expect in May 2021 when they will be doing the official on-screen exams.

Students’ feedback:
Sehra: So far, I think the on-screen exams have been going well. I have gotten used to the structure over the course of the week and I definitely feel more confident for the final exams. The only issue/challenge I have come across is the timing of the exams as it is a bit overwhelming to have exams then class right after.

Mohveer:  I believe these on-screen exams have really had a positive impact on me. I really enjoyed them. I believe a lot of work still needs to be done. We still need to acquire the skills to achieve the highest grade. Overall, I enjoyed them and they were really helpful.

Remembrance and Healing
With a challenging week of technology hopefully far behind us, there was lots of time to reflect and think about what is important in life. This has also been a time of remembering those we grief and some of the difficult days we have had to overcome. In order to build resilience it is important to be able to have a healthy way of dealing with grief, but also developing special ways to celebrate as we remember the past.

A creative strategy for thriving through grief is to understand T.E.A.R.S. This anagram by Dr. Christine Hibbert was introduced in an article titled Healthy Ways to Navigate Grief https://psychcentral.com/blog/healthy-ways-to-navigate-grief/ 

When you are going through a time of loss, it is important that you allow time for your T.E.A.R.S., which include: Talking; Exercise; Artistic expression; Recording emotions and experiences, and Sobbing when the actual tears come. It is also important to find ways to honor the lives of those who are no longer with us, or the challenging season we have come through. We encourage everyone to find the strategies that work best for them, and/or work within the community to create special ways to commemorate and celebrate what you have come through. If it is too difficult to do this, we always welcome you to reach out for help from the counseling team if it becomes too difficult to access strategies at any time.

There is another side to life, and that is continuing to be optimistic about what the future holds. This inevitably leads to exploring university options, and there are quite a few to consider in the upcoming months. This past week we had an excellent presentation about applying to the UK. The representatives from two UK universities delved into the many options available in the UK, completing a UCAS application, and tips for writing a Personal Statement. If you missed this presentation, please reach out to Ms. Ford Counselor_moshi@uwcea.org for a recording and the slides.

Next week the focus will be on universities in Canada, with three days of presentations just for our community from a range of institutions across the country. On Monday we will be visited by Memorial University of Newfoundland, on Tuesday we have five institutions from different provinces presenting on their institutions and the different processes for applying to Canadian universities. Then on Wednesday, we will be visited by the University of Alberta. Please take a look at what is coming our way, and register today.

In addition, on Wednesday, 18 November, there will be a fair sponsored by EducationUSA in sub saharan Africa that will allow students (and parents) to connect with a range of institutions throughout the US. The registration deadline for this free event is 14 November.

List of upcoming College/University Virtual Visits:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PkurQYYtwz1sdX5b44r22DgdZk4F-U8g/view?usp=sharing

Wishing you a weekend of wellness, and a wonderful week ahead.

Asante sana na wekiendi njema,

UWCEA School Counseling Team

Our very own Aala Somji (D1) stunned the international golfing fraternity that turned up at KiliGolf last weekend to compete in the Open Diplomatic Golf Tournament. Aala was the overall Ladies winner and beat a strong field of over 120 golfers to win the title. Congratulations to Aala – we are so very proud of you!

Most of you probably know of Rotary, the charity organisation that organized the triathlon last weekend. Perhaps you have also heard about Interact, the youth branch of Rotary. An Interact branch run by students has just been started up on UWCEA Arusha Campus. Our first meeting was only last Thursday but our first project has already been decided on:

The Christmas Project will focus on an orphanage in Arusha with approximately a hundred children. Interact will collect donations to buy each child a box of basic necessities, including a toothbrush, toothpaste, and soap; a personalized gift of the child’s choice (a toy, a pair of socks, a colouring book, etc.); and treats.

We hope you will take a moment to consider if you have cloth or toys your child has outgrown or if you know someone who might. A cardboard box has been placed by the reception for you to drop off items you think would be suitable for our Christmas project. If we get toy donations too “large” to use for individual gifts, we will donate them to the orphanage’s common playrooms. If you would rather make a money donation, Ms Caroline can receive those at the reception as well.

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