As you look through the newsletter below you will see that the students are starting to cautiously get out and see more of Moshi and Tanzania. This ranges from the P5 field trips to the residential and OP trips. Service has also started to selectively move back off campus this week. I think in all we had nine different groups traveling this past week across these parts of our curriculum and on Friday we had a school visit us to play football.
You will note below as well we had a night fire drill this past week to make sure everything runs smoothly with the new reconfigurations of the houses. In the upcoming weeks we will have a similar one during the day to assess the impact of the new building as well. For parents of P4 to P6 you will see we have the MAP tests starting with a practice on Monday and continuing through the week. Students in M1 to M3 will have these starting Monday the 27th. These tests are really here to help our teachers with additional data to assess student progress and better support individual learning needs. They are just one snapshot in time.
Primary parents you have the PYP Goalsetting Conferences on October 7th, and we should have the email about signing up for times to you this week.
Please see below for many other items coming up including the PTA meeting, UWC Day and the Farmers’ Market.
Bob Cofer – Head of Campus
Upcoming Events
UWC Day– “Reimagine Tomorrow”
UWCEA is pleased to invite all families and community members to our official UWC Day celebration this Saturday, 25th of September. Whilst the official day is honoured on Tuesday the 21st, we have decided to make this an occasion to remember. After seeking multiple perspectives, our student government and student voice from PYP to DP have developed 6 pertinent themes of which they hope, will be their tomorrow.
Please join us from 10:30am on Saturday for our official assembly to open the occasion and join the thematic presentations across campus. We hope they are engaging, inspiring and educational for all ages. From 2:30pm we will be participating in service and uplifting our school and community.
Further to this, we welcome Arusha on our campus for a night under the stars the Friday before and have an open invitation for all to watch or sign up for our musical talent concert. This also serves as a fundraiser for our coral reef project and encompasses many of the values UWC stands for.
Much more information will follow over the coming days and on the 21st of September, we ask your child to wear white and blue to symbolise, peace, unity and belonging.
PTA Meeting
Parents are invited to a PTA morning on Thursday September 23rd at 7:45am in the Social Center. This will be led by our PTA representatives who hope to see you there.
Ben’s Corner
What is the true meaning of home? P5 has been unpacking this idea as part of their inquiry into rights and responsibilities. In their Primary Gathering today, they articulated how “all children should be able to live somewhere where they are healthy, happy and comfortable.”
Much of what they shared was informed by their visit earlier in the week to the wonderful Amani Children’s Home, here in Moshi, a trip I was fortunate enough to join them for. This small, grassroots organisation is a place where street children and orphans are given a chance to heal, learn and grow. Their ultimate aim is reunification with family but, if this is not possible, this facility gives children loving long-term care. It gives them a home.
Today’s Primary Gathering was held in the garden of the new look Kimbilio, the residential house AND home for our Primary students. Kimbilio means refuge. As the P5s explained this morning, “A home and a house are slightly different…A house is just a building but your home is where you belong. It is a place where you can relax and feel happy.”
As they proudly toured their classmates, their parents and teachers around, it was fantastic to see that our Kimbilio residents are evidently very happy and relaxed in their new home…and we all raised a glass of finest apple juice to them!
“A flower’s at home in a garden, A donkey’s at home in a stall, Each creature that’s known Has a home of its own And the earth is a house for us all.”
(A house is a house for me – Mary Ann Hoberman)
Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus
Diploma News
For the D2 students the deadlines are starting to come now. The schedule is here. It is important that students plan their time wisely so that they can meet all deadlines. We know that sometimes there are problems meeting deadlines and so it is also important that they communicate with us about any issues in advance. The schedule is displayed in the residential houses and around school. Residential parents and mentors are there to help students organise their time.
I have written in previous newsletters about CAS, which is part of the core of the diploma. Today I would like to focus on another part, TOK. TOK or Theory of Knowledge is an integral part of all classes and also a taught subject. It is the study of how we know and what we know. In D1 students are studying the Core Theme of Knowledge and the Knower which is an introduction to the course. In D2 they are either studying the Areas of Knowledge of Arts or Mathematics. Discussions include what is Art, how we can judge Art and is Mathematics invented or discovered. The course includes a lot of discussion and guided writing. The D2 students will be writing an essay on prescribed titles later this year. Students are expected to use the skills from the taught class to think about knowledge in each of their other subjects.
Margaret Brunt – Diploma Cordinator
Ujafamily Update
Thank you to everyone who came to the Ujafamily meeting on Tuesday. It was lovely to see you all and be able to share our philosophy. We are always looking for extra families so please let us know if you are interested.
On Thursday students and families were notified of the matches. There was great excitement on campus, a PYP student said “it was like they got presents but they just got an email!”. The emails then sent by ujaparents to their ujachildren were lovely. Many students are meeting their ujaparents at the weekend.
Thank you to everyone involved, the students, their parents and the school really appreciate the support.
Residential Life
Staying true to our guiding statements, I wanted this update to focus on the happiness and well-being of our community. As Margaret mentioned above, we are thrilled to now have our Uja Family programme underway and are so fortunate to have so many families from within our community commit to being another ‘home away from home’ for our students. We are truly grateful for this and indeed have been overwhelmed by the engagement already underway.
On Friday, we also officially opened our Kimbilio home with a wonderful primary gathering with students, parents, and staff. The morning consisted of a wonderful presentation and private tours through Kimbilio with our youngest of residential students. Last weekend, we had numerous activities that involved our Diploma Students river walking, canyoning and engaging in mindfulness and individual self-care.
In the weekend ahead, we explore our beautiful back yard with a full MYP trip to Maji Moto Hot Springs, a unique trip to the leather factory for our Diploma students and our primary students will tackle a new playground outside of our gates.
I think it is also pertinent to note that we practiced our first night-time fire drill of the year and we successfully evacuated all 183 residential students out safely in under 3 – 4 minutes. We will continue to practice drills over the course of the year and at different times.
Thank you to all our students engaging in our community in all year levels to ensure everyone feels at home, welcomed, and has their own sense of belonging within our international and local community.
Simon Johnston – Head of Residential Life
MYP News
Are you willing to “fail well”? Growth Mindset Episode #2
As part of our learning journey and exploration into developing our growth mindset in the MYP, I would like to introduce the idea of “failing well”. Let’s take a moment to think about that as the MYP team (students, teacher and parents) here! Do we “fail well”? Do we know how to “fail well”? Can we “fail well”?
Moving away from stereotypes and the way we are prompted to view the idea of failure as active participants in the world of education, MYP is all about embracing failure as a milestone towards success. There is no negative connotation to the term. As a matter of fact, failing well simply means having an intelligent approach to failure, acknowledging that it is the “first attempt in learning”, accepting that it should happen to everyone and building the skills needed to learn and grow stronger.
So, now that we have the permission from ourselves to fail well, how do we do that?
This is where our affective skills come in handy in our MYP journey. Affective skills are part of the MYP ATL Skills category: Self-Management.
The IB approaches to learning (ATL) are essential elements of the MYP programme. Students are slowly progressing with confidence in a developmental way throughout all MYP years. They are acquiring the learning skills through implicit and explicit teaching of specific strategies and techniques. What’s the difference?
Implicit teaching is all about embedding development, progression and practice of the ATL skills within the subject and through planned learning engagements, accurate subject content and constant reflection.
Explicit teaching is all about what happens “outside” the subject area in terms of ATL skills, with a direct focus on strategies, good practices and techniques which are not “content driven”.
So, our homework for this week is to explore how we can collaborate in exploring the affective skills necessary to shift our mindset about the idea of failure.
Farah Fawaz – MYP Coordinator
From the Counselors
This week I am glad to share some information from the UWCEA Peer Support Group. Building and being part of a supportive and safe community is key to this amazing group of Diploma Students and I will let this introduction tell you more!!
The Peer Support and Listeners group (P.E.A.R) is a collective established with the objective of promoting and uplifting the mental health and well-being of the residents and members of the school community, with an emphasis on students. The Listeners are a specially trained group of students primarily concerned with listening and empathizing with students on a wide array of personal issues. They are expected to be attuned to the overall socio-emotional temperament of their peers and can be approached at set times by anyone needing support or a person to talk to. There are also weekly supervision sessions that take place on Wednesday under Mrs Frida’s oversight where each peer listener provides a brief account of their progress and PEAR-related actions over the past week. The members of the group who are not part of the Listeners group are hence, for the most part, responsible for organizing activities meant to uplift and maintain general well-being and a sense of positivity across the community. This function is performed in conjunction with events meant to commemorate and celebrate the multitude of cultural and national milestones our community has the privilege of housing.
So far, some of the more senior PEAR support group members have attended a day-long workshop intended to impart important empathetic skills that are intended to guide them with the “Listening” aspect of our service. The group was also formally introduced during last semester’s Mental Health Awareness Dinner. Furthermore, we also have an Instagram page where upcoming events as well as weekly motivational posts are displayed for the community to view and interact with.
This year, the PEAR support group will also be participating in the annual UWC Day celebrations with a variety of planned wellness activities that more information will be shared about in the coming week.
Weekly service meetings are held on Wednesday from 3:15 to 4:30 under the supervision of Ms Frida and Ms Mwegelo, and the leadership of our very own Yambaleka (D2).
We look forward to working with you all, wikiendi njema.
PEER SUPPORT GROUP!
Virtual College Fairs
This week was full of opportunities to attend college fairs. This week the first session of the Davis College Partners Fair was held on Tuesday, September 14th. UWCEA had 147 students registered to attend the fair from both campuses. I received positive feedback from D1 students as they began researching the Davis schools; whereas, D2 students attended more to ask questions of specific schools. Additionally, students could attend 15 on the 15th, hosted by Claremont McKenna College. This virtual event is an opportunity for students to learn more about US liberal arts colleges. A 15-minute presentation on general college tips is presented by a different liberal arts college each month as well as a 1-hour virtual fair that is held with liberal arts colleges across the country. Lastly, this week St Lawrence College hosted a 1-hour special session for UWCEA students, with the international admissions representative, Musa Khadli, on Wednesday, September 15th. We had 25 students attend this event representing both campuses.
Parents and guardians, please encourage your diploma students to attend the college fairs. College fair information and registration links are sent via email. If there are specific schools M5 students are interested in speaking to, have your son or daughter contact the University Counselor for more information. It is vital that D1 students attend the virtual college fairs because now is the time to do research on potential colleges. If your student waits until this time next year to begin attending college fairs he/she will be behind in the college planning process. As your student engages in conversation with college representatives, it is good for them to have an idea of your family finances so as they ask questions about scholarships your student can have in mind how much of a scholarship they are in need of from a particular institution.
Upcoming College Fairs for the week of 9/20/21
Davis Scholars Partner Fair-Monday, Sept. 20th from 4-6 pm & 8-10 pm EAT
Colby College special UWCEA session -Thursday, Sept. 23rd from 8-8:30 pm EAT; this is a good liberal arts college in the northeast of the US.
Save The Date
Harvard, Pomona, Wellesley, and Standford -Monday, Sept. 27th at 4 pm EAT
American Talent Initiative – Monday, Sept. 27th or Oct. 22nd at 9 pm EAT- The American Talent Initiative consists of Bates College, Claremont McKenna College, Lehigh University, and the University of Chicago.
Canadian University Info Session for Applicants from Africa, Thursday, Sept. 29th at 8:30 pm EAT; York University, Concordia University, Memorial University, and the University of Alberta will have admissions representatives available to speak to.
Yale, University of Pennsylvania and Brown Universities Fair on Monday, Oct. 18th.
Another 2 fantastic trips occurred over the weekend with the 2nd Plains Level 1 trip taking to the flatlands of Monduli. This had a mixture of students from M1 up to D2 and all reports were that the Moshi Campus students were superbly behaved while presenting exemplary hiking and camping skills. Some of the D1s had their first taste of the Peaks Mountain hiking program taking on the North Pare Mountains Level 1B trip. Again, reports for Moshi campus students were outstanding. See what our students had to say about the trips.
Robin Marsh – Experiential Learning Coordinator
North Pare
“Never in my sixteen years of living did I ever imagine that at some point I’d be trekking up a mountain, ever. It was an exceptionally different experience for me, and it definitely pushed me to my limits and even further. I am not what you consider to be an athletic or a physically fit person, so the climb was challenging to me. And it is no exaggeration when I say that I had made up my mind mid-climb that I didn’t want to do it anymore. But with the support of the amazing people whom I went with, my fellow colleagues and my teachers, it became less daunting, so I persevered.
In looking back on the experience, I am so glad that they encouraged me to go on. When we got to the top of the mountain, everything about it was exhilarating. The view, the sky, the clouds. All these mundane things that I see every day, but in a different lens. We camped at the top, and I got to spend time with all the people that I went with, got to know everyone a little bit better. And this experience absolutely, without a single doubt in my mind, was worth the struggle and the pain.” Justina D1
Plains Level 1
“Last weekend was wild- from hiking in the middle of nowhere to camping under the countless stars: everything was perfect. We hiked about 10km in the Monduli region. It was easier than the Pamoja walk, considering that we walked less but the view was also stunning. It did not matter that we had to wake up at 5 in the morning to catch the bus and drive 2 hours to Arusha campus before driving another hour to Monduli or even walk under the scorching sun – we enjoyed every single minute of it. We met and formed bonds with the students from Arusha campus in a place that looked out of the ordinary.
Something that caught us off guard was that the place was not as flat as they claimed it to be, after all it was a Plains Level 1 trip – but it was nothing we could not handle together as a team. It was heartwarming that whenever one of us would get tired or hurt himself/herself, we would all stop and wait for one another. Lunch time was also interesting as we shared and exchanged our food with students from the opposite campus.
We arrived at our camping site at around 2:30pm and were greatly surprised at how much of a height we were at. We had a panoramic view of the entire Monduli region. It was such a nice feeling to be surrounded by pure nature.
We set up our tents – it was personally my first time so my tent-mates taught me how to set it up. Once finished, while people were out chatting, my tent-mates and I sneaked in for a quick nap. Once awake, we ate some snacks before preparing dinner. I have never had so much fun cooking food in my life – the prepping team was simply amazing. Most of us had no idea what we were doing but it was so much fun and I think we ended up doing a great job. One heartwarming moment was when I taught the others how to cut the green beans in the ‘Mauritian way’ and everyone started doing it- this moment took me back home in the kitchen with my mom.
After eating dinner around the bonfire and spending the night gazing at the endless stars, it was time to sleep. Surprisingly enough, although we were tired, we just wanted to stay awake and keep admiring the stars, but we had to be up by 6am the next day so the choice was quickly made.
Our feet were exhausted on our way back, but personally, the view was so astonishing that I completely forgot about the pain. We were also focused on making the most out of the little time we had left with our friends from Arusha campus. Although we did not get the opportunity to see any wild animals, it was an experience of a lifetime and I cannot wait for the next trip! Yeldy D1
Sports Update
Teamwork and Fair Play One of the core values of Physical and Health Education in the Middle Years Program (MYP) is to foster learning about and through physical activity. Not only do our students learn the technical aspects while doing physical activities, they also enhance their life skills, also known as Approaches to Learning (ATLs). Social and self management skills are integral in instilling a sense of teamwork and fair play.
While we empower our students to give maximum effort at all times, it is just as important that they understand the importance of working with teammates to accomplish goals, learn as much from winning as they do from losing, and how to see failure as an opportunity to grow. However, this is often easier said than done.
As we prepare to start participating in tournaments and host the Sports Weekend, we will consistently reinforce positive behavior among our students. We will need the support of our students, parents, teachers and instructors in helping our students to act responsibly at all times, manage failures and positively channel their emotions when results or decisions do not go their way.
Upcoming events
Friday 17th of September: Under 15s Mixed Football friendlies with Hope International School at UWCEA Moshi
Monday 27th of September: Under 15 Boys and Girls Football friendly with Rafiki School at UWCEA Moshi
Tuesday 5th of October: UWCEA Moshi Secondary Athletics Day
Wednesday 6th of October: UWCEA Moshi PYP Athletics Day
Saturday 23rd of October: Under 19 Boys and Girls Football friendly with UWCEA Arusha at UWCEA Moshi
Friday 5th of November: NTSAA Secondary Athletics at UWCEA Arusha
Saturday 6th of November: NTSAA Secondary Athletics Day at UWCEA Arusha
Friday November 19th to Sunday November 21st: UWCEA Sports Weekend at UWCEA Moshi.
Gilbert Kaburu – Sports & Activities Coordinator
UWC Leopard Sharks Updates
We are happy to share with you the following dates to save in your diaries:
1st October, Friday afternoon Mini gala for swimming team members only (primary & secondary combined) The children will compete against each other according to their times
29th October, Friday – times to be confirmed Inter-campus gala (Moshi vs Arusha) for secondary swimming team members
For those who have not paid last year’s swimming fees, please kindly do so as we will be handing out the tshirts and kikois to the swimmers next week and we don’t want any children disappointed as they cannot receive their outfits. More children are now coming to the swim training sessions but, in order for them to receive the best outcome, it’s imperative that they attend the sessions on a regular basis. Sooner or later, life will return to normal and then we can participate in national galas again.
Please keep encouraging them to swim! Also, if there are some D1 students who would like to join in, please speak to Coach Sabini so he can advise you the times which suit you best for training.
Annual swim fees: $120 for secondary students & $40 for primary students
PYP News
What a lovely spirit filled week. Thank you to all who helped our children dress up. The twins day had our heads turning and quite a few yawns escaped people’s mouths on pyjama day. On Friday, students dressed up as astronauts, rally drivers, princess doctors, artists and many more. It was great to see what a diverse group of upcoming professions we will have amongst our students.
Thank you P5 for an amazing primary gathering. The actions you took to impact our community have inspired us all to be more aware of the needs of those around us.
Thank you also to Kimbilio residents for giving us a tour of their dorm. As P5 reminded us, a home is somewhere we can feel safe, happy and comfortable. The Kimbilio home on campus looked very welcoming.
MAP online assessments will take place for P4 – 6 next week. No special preparation is necessary. All the children need is a good night’s sleep, a nutritious breakfast and a healthy snack.
Dates for your diaries
PYP athletics day – October 6th
Goal setting 3 way conferences – October 7th
Halloween (optional after school event) – October 29th
We have been learning how to communicate our thoughts and feelings in a clear way so that others around us can understand what we mean. What do you say when you want to play with a toy that someone else is playing with? What do you say when you want to go somewhere? How do you speak to your friend? Next week, we will talk about words that make us happy and words that make us sad. Please help us to have these conversations at home as well. We will be role playing some scenarios in class.
Thank you to all who helped the children dress up on Friday. We can’t imagine that we are learning with future astronauts, rally drivers, safari guides, doctors and many more. It is a privilege and a reminder that we can make a difference in our community.
P1s have been busy ordering numbers from greatest to smallest or vice versa. They have become pros at this. Next week, we will be learning about ordinal numbers to 20. If you have the opportunity to do so, play a few games or point out items around the house and ask questions related to this.
Mboka Mwasongwe
P2 Class
What a packed week!! We’ve been learning about the importance of keeping our teeth clean, and even had a class wide activity where we practiced brushing our teeth. I hope there are many children telling their parents how they must brush their teeth. The students have also been working on writing an instructional piece about how to brush their teeth, which they plan on sharing with other PYP students. In math, we’ve been learning how to read graphs, and tackling the art of place value. Next week, we look forward to writing some rather interesting letters to the parents!
Elisha Jaffer
P3/4 Class
Spirit Week brought a lot of smiles to our class this week. Pajama Day was particularly comfy and fun! We also recognized a “holiday” that was new to me- International Dot Day. We are lucky to have Mrs. Kay (Mama Malaika) visit the class. She has a background in teaching art and she led an activity with our class based on the children’s book The Dot. The emphasis of the book is that we are all creative and we need not be hesitant to express ourselves. The students’ creations are on display in our room now.
Next week will be interesting for our class as the P4s will be busy with the MAP assessments and P3 will have lessons with Ms. Catherine. (These sessions are just about an hour a day Tues-Thurs.) We will be able to keep our normal schedule for most things (notably, Monday-Library, Tuesday-Swimming, and Thursday-PE). The only thing that we ask students to do in preparation for MAP assessments is get enough rest and enough breakfast!
We are looking forward to sharing our Hero posters with one another in the week ahead. We will also tackle an interesting Line of Inquiry- what is the difference between a celebrity and a hero? Feel free to discuss that at home!
Kacey Buckley
P5 Class
Thank you to everyone who came to the P5 primary gathering. The children enjoyed presenting their learning to an appreciative audience. We have had a week of experiential learning in P5. On Tuesday we went to the Amani Centre for Street Children and learned about the work they are doing to reunite homeless children with their families. The P5 students had a lot of fun playing with the children in the playground and on the football pitch. On Thursday we went to the Mwereni Integrated School to look at the technology that is used to support children in the program for low vision and blind children. The P5 students used the braille typewriter to write their names – it was a lot more difficult to read braille than we thought it would be! Both of these activities helped us to answer our line of inquiry: ”What are the ways in which individuals, organisations and nations work to protect individuals from risk?” Next week our unit regarding rights and responsibilities will draw to a close. We will take MAP online assessments next week which provide useful information as to the next steps for each child to move forward. There’s no need to do anything special to prepare for the MAP assessments – a good night’s sleep, a nutritious breakfast and a healthy snack are the only preparations that are necessary.
Deborah Mills
P6 Class
The P6 enjoyed starting two new units this week. For our Unit of Inquiry they began looking into Media. The class made a Digital Citizenship Agreement together before receiving their school emails and passwords. They also were tricked by a fake website in order to prove a point that they cannot trust everything online. We discussed today how they will spread the word about the Peace Tray to the school community. They will begin working on this next week. They also started thinking about what product they will want to create packaging for and advertise. This will be mainly a home learning activity.
Since most advertisements contain sales with percentages off, we started a new math unit about parts of a whole. They started with percentages, then moved into fractions. With helps of fraction kits they have been reviewing and exploring the value of fractions. Next week we will move into adding, subtracting, and multiplying fractions. Also next week is the MAP testing. Each child in encouraged to get a good night of sleep and a healthy breakfast before coming to school.
