Arusha Campus News – 28 Feb 2021

This weekend we have two Outdoor Pursuits trips out! Our Level 3 Flatlanders are in Mkuru on the northern side of Mt Meru whilst the Level 3 Mountaineers (pictured above) are enjoying the beauty of Mt Hanang, Tanzania’s 4th highest mountain at 3417m above sea level.

I am very pleased that as a school we have managed to keep our Outdoor Pursuits trips running. We have made some changes – campus students now travel in separate buses and sleep in campus specific tents – but the main benefits of these important excursions are still accomplished. Namely the familiarisation of our beautiful host country, as well as practising healthy outdoor camaraderie. We have several references about OP in this week’s newsletter. Read Collins’ (D1) hugely inspiring account of his recent trip to the Usambaras in this newsletter.

Mother Tongue Day took place just before our mid-term break and it was fabulous. Well done Miss Coralie and Miss Amanda for organising such an inspiring event.

There was a sweet ending to the week in Arusha on Friday (see above) when we were treated to a fundraising bake sale. The money raised – over TZS400 000 –  will be used to purchase a sewing machine for a community service project being run by the Young Women’s Empowerment CCA.

A quick word of acknowledgement to Miss Emmyrose who is responsible for many of the amazing photographs in our newsletter. Emmyrose is an intern in our Advancement Office and her contributions are simply amazing – thank you Emmyrose.

A reminder that ALL health updates are available on our website at https://www.uwcea.org/coronavirus/. I will also continue to send you a Monday update to our protocols which are reviewed on a weekly basis. Please feel welcome to send me a message if you have a view on the School’s practices – your ideas will always be listened to  as we try to make the right decisions for the community.

In the meantime, I think this week’s newsletter goes some way to deliver evidence of how well our teachers, support staff, students and parents are doing to make the school a happy and inspiring place to be, in the face of all the difficulties. Thank you.

Phil

A stunningly beautiful Blade-horned Chameleon from the West Usambaras photographed on last week’s OP trip. This creature is endemic to Tanzania and is endangered. Did you know that with over 4 million wild animals in its biodiversity profile, Tanzania has the largest concentration of animals per square kilometer in the world. However, the country is among 15 globally registering the highest number of threatened species, with at least 900 threatened species under the IUCN Red List, 2013 including this handsome fellow (above).

You may recall that, just before the December break, I shared a mailshot with the whole community regarding the UWC East Africa Guiding Statements. I explained how, in 2020, the Board of Governors approved our new, revised Guiding Statements. This was a long process which involved feedback from parents, students in all classes, teachers, support staff, administrators and alumni. In this way, our Guiding Statements represent the aspirations of all our stakeholders. In creating the revisions, the Guiding Statements from our former school, International School Moshi,and those of the UWC Movement were taken into consideration.

The next stage of our Action Plan related to our Guiding Statements is how to make these ‘visible,’ tangible’ and ‘referenced’ across the different sections of our community. In light of this, each week, Ben Morley (Deputy Head Moshi Campus) and I will ask a member or members of our community to explain what each value means to them.

It makes sense to start at the beginning, so, this week, our Primary Student Voice representatives will explain what “A safe, collaborative and caring community” means to them:

“If the school wasn’t safe, then lots of children would be getting hurt. More and more kids would be leaving and the parents wouldn’t keep their children here. Feeling safe is also about your mental protection. We promote kindness”

“It is important to care for other people. One day, you might find yourself all alone and nobody else will do anything about it. Treat people the way you want them to treat you.”

“If we were rivals and did not collaborate, we’d probably make no friends in school and be alone all the time. If you don’t work together as a team, you won’t learn to work with other people when you are bigger and get a job. When we are by ourselves, it will never be as good as when we are together. Being together is our greatest fore. We can do anything. If you don’t collaborate, you will never accomplish anything. Life is easier when we work together.”

Jack Rejman and his girls Lulu, Ella and Kasia belt out a Polish folk song as part of this amazing dayl Also, Fisiola (bottom left) sings and dances from Indonesia, Miss Parisa and Mr Hamid (centre) recite some beautiful  poetry from Iran and Candy (right) tells us a Chinese limerick! A big thank you to Miss Coralie for organising the day!

We had a fantastic day celebrating World Mother Tongue Day last Thursday. Our school is so lucky to have so many languages on campus and our D1 students did a fantastic job at their respective stations (see below)

Research has shown that speaking more than one language improves children’s critical thinking and literacy skills. Being able to speak more than one language is becoming increasingly more important in today’s world and it increases the opportunities available to our students. If you have the time, read this fascinating article on the subject of mother tongue.

https://ie-today.co.uk/people-policy-politics/the-importance-of-mother-tongue-in-education

Amanda

P6 have been learning about plants this Unit and this week they went outside to create their own flower gardens. (see above) They also grew vegetrables under the expert supervision of Ekko (Baba Lydia). Thanks Ekko we had great fun and learned so much!

The students put their new found knowledge into action. Pictured below is Dalida teaching P2/3 all about growing new plants.

Well, who said Maths couldnt be fun? This week P6 have been scurrying around using co-ordinates to locate waypoints around campus. Not only has it got everyone outdoors but practised our collaborative and communication skills (above)

Last Friday, a group of 15 D1 students set out for their Level 3 mountain hike trip to the Usambara Mountains (pictured above). We took a detour to Moshi campus to get the Moshi kids and then took a tiring 6 hour bus ride to Lushoto. Lushoto is a town in Tanga surrounded by the Usambara mountain ranges where the Germans established their very first stronghold in by then Tanganyika. We arrived in the evening and set camp and later had a short tour in a part of the town. Early morning on Saturday after it rained heavily, we started a 10km hike to one of the summits and saw amazing scenery from a hut at the peak. We set camp there and enjoyed a nice evening of vibes with each other.

Sunday was by far the most tiring. Not only were we descending, but we were supposed to get to the other peak and the bus would get us from there to finish off the hike. Word was that it would only be 9km. We got to the other summit quite exhausted but because of the rain, the buses couldn’t get us down because of the road being slippery. We had to walk all the way down again and we ended up walking 20km on the day, which angered most people. We then had a tour near the administrative area of the German rule by then and we finished the day off with getting to have the best scenes imaginable from a view point. The dinner that day was as good as the walk too. On Monday, we thanked the tour guides and had the bus ride back to school. Most of us are eager to do Mountain Meru next!

Collins Castro, D1

Calling all book lovers and extreme readers…

As part of the many book week activities next week, UWCEA is launching an extreme reading photographic competition.

Students, teachers and parents are encouraged to take a picture of themselves in the most extreme place. There will be prizes for the following categories, PYP, MYP, DP and Whole School Community which include teachers and parents. Prize winners will be announced in assemblies.

If you would like to enter the deadline is Thursday 4th March.

To enter the PYP category please email your picture to Miss Amanda  amandabowen@uwcea.org

To enter the MYP, DP or Whole School Community categories please email your pictures to Miss Amy Uffindall; amyuffindall@uwcea.org

Good luck and have fun!

Building Resiliency

This week, Dr. Michele Borba participated in a presentation titled Reduce Anxiety and Increase Hope. The presentation may viewed here. https://characterstrong.com/webinar/110/reduce-anxiety-and-increase-hope-with-dr-michele-borba

 During the conversation, she introduces her new book Thrivers and provides strategies and resources to enhance the ability to thrive during challenging life events.

During the recording linked above, Dr. Borba touches upon the seven traits of thrivers based on decades of research. The traits briefly described in the chart below are critical for success as stepping stones to build resiliency. Given the increase in mental health concerns among young people (and the people who care for them), enhancing these traits can help change the levels of anxiousness and self-awareness that appear to be more prevalent due to our current circumstances.

These traits correlate well with the UWC East Africa `guiding Statements that we are embracing and exemplifying as a community throughout everyday activities.

In addition, as we bring Black History Month to a close this weekend, there are tremendous tales of Black people who found a way to thrive throughout history that can serve as sources of inspiration for our young people. From the Kings and Queens of many centuries ago on this continent, to the recent successes of Vice President Kamala Harris and Naomi Osaka, there are many stories of thriving that can be used as examples of perseverance through trials and tribulations. Life has a way of placing adversity along our path, but those who have the tools to thrive find a way to keep moving onward and upward. We look forward to finding ways to foster resilience in our students and community through a collective effort.

On the university side, we continue to celebrate with our D2 students who are receiving offers of admission to institutions around the world, and some with significant scholarship money. We will share detailed information later this semester. In the meantime, we encourage families of students in M4-D2 to learn more about colleges and universities by attending upcoming virtual events that are constantly updated on College/University Virtual Visit link.

Take care and thrive,

UWCEA School Counseling Team

After review of the different possibilities and consultation through the board we are releasing the UWCEA school calendars for the school year 2021/2022 and 2022/2023.  The pdf versions will be available soon on the publications page on our website.

We feel the versions are the best compromise of the needs of our community and maximizes the learning for all student groups including the M5 and D2 who may take external exams. Given the long breaks in December/January and June/July we will be also offering day camps for younger students during part of those holidays.  We will work with the separate campus communities to determine needs and what is cost efficient to the parents.

Please click on any date below to be taken to the website calendar