Arusha Campus News – 15 May 2022

The Plains Level 4 hikers pictured on the shores of Lake Manyara under impossibly endless plains and even bigger skies.

Diploma Pond dippers on their Bio/ESS fieldtrip last week

Its been a while since my last newsletter. Since then I have had the privilege to take part in the ESS Field trip followed by Plains Level 4 OP.  These types of trips, including the fabulous PYP trips that you will read about in this newsletter, are a timely reminder if ever we needed one, about the beautiful country that we live in. Especially at a time when some of our Diploma parents are making preparations to visit their child’s graduation on Friday, Whether you are coming from Venezuela or Dar es Salaam, Zambia or Austria we welcome you with open arms and hope you like Tanzania as much as we do!

The Primary school have been busy too and I am thrilled to see your children getting out to see Arusha and more parts of the country. A constant thought in my mind is that we, as an instiution live in a bubble of privilege. We are currenty trying to evaluate our impact on the environemnta and looking at our water usage, meat consumption, fossil fuel purchasing etc and on every front we undoubtedly exceed the average consumptive figure per capita in Tanzania. Of course we do. In spite of this we get cross that ‘people across the road’ don’t care about where they drop their plastic bottles! For this reason I champion any initiative from our teachers to get our children outside our garden of eden campus and give them an opportunity to open their eyes and form their own opinions.

A final word on safety in vehicles. I shall be sending a bulletin out later this week to remind everyone that we as a school feel we play a part in educating our children about the importance of seat belts, crash helmets and driving at the legal age in Tanzania. 

Have a super weekend.

Phil

Saturday 14th to Wednesday 18th May  – Reefs Level 5 to Tanga

Monday 16th May – D2 and M5 exams continue

Tuesday 17th May – 12.00pm Vaccination session in Staff Room

Friday 20th May – Diploma Graduation Arusha Campus 2.45pm

Thursday 9th June – PTA Cheese and Wine evening

Friday 17th June – Last day of the year

From left: Michal, Juan, Olivia, Roos, Olivia and Yeldy represent the Diploma contingent on the recent Plains Level 4 Trip to Burunge.

My week started off with an 18km walk across the plains with wildebeests, giraffes, zebras, and more!

Value #7 – Opportunities to engage with the culture and nature of East Africa.
Value #8 – A shared responsibility and collective duty of care for ourselves, each other, and the environment
Value #9 – A healthy lifestyle and active pursuits
On Plains Level 4 I saw so many of our values in action which many of you may not be aware of. Experiential Learning and OP have worked hard over the past year to decrease our impact on the environment. I saw this in action this past weekend and can compare it to my former OP trips. For example, we now have reusable lunch containers where we used to use bagged lunches. The amount of foil and plastic wrap has decreased impressively, although there is still a ways to go. I noticed that all of the ingredients we brought with us were also in individual reusable containers. We sorted our garbage carefully, separating trash from recyclables and compostables – this was a new habit for many of the younger students on the trip so was a great learning opportunity for them.

I also saw a lot of care for ourselves and each other on the trek. Students and teachers alike supported and encouraged each other, raised the spirits of those who were struggling, helped each other set up camp, and more.

Our WMA Burunge guide, Cornel, was fantastic and with the combination of his knowledge and Phil’s (how lucky to go on an OP with Phil!) we had four days of up close and personal interaction with the natural and cultural environment.

Value #6 – The ambition of students to demonstrate initiative and take on leadership roles
Once back on campus, preparations for Graduation continued with the leadership and initiative of a dedicated group of D1 students. Plans for orientation in August for our new cohort of D1s are in full swing under the leadership of Ms. Coralie and her team of M5 and D1 students and the organizing committee for the 24Hour Run, which will be held in Arusha next year, is recruiting team members to ensure a well-organized event. M4, M5, and D1 students are invited to apply to be part of the planning committee: bit.ly/24ComApp

Thanks to all for continuing to maintain silence around the exam centre. I know the D2s appreciate it!

As always, I am blown away by the work ethic and positive attitude I see on a daily basis in our community – staff, students, and parents. We ask a lot of you, please know that we see you and appreciate your commitment to making this the best school it can be!

Have a great weekend,
Ms. Christy

Are you ready Migombani? The excited P4/5 class make their way to Mto wa Mbu for their Class Camp

There have been a few exciting events in PYP this week. The P2/3 class went camping at Kahawa WIldtracks and the P4/5 visited Migonbani. These overnight camps are amazing opportunities for the students to collaborate and to show responsibility for themselves. Trying these new experiences is a vital part of developing confidence, independence and organisation.

At Share Time  P6 hosted a collaborative art activity during share time. Every child had the opportunity to draw a picture of themselves or something they enjoyed doing. They were asked to make their house colors stand out.  Green for Mawenzi, blue for Kibo and Yellow for Meru. The students showed individuality as well as teamwork and the creativity was fantastic.

Amanda

Another exciting event in Primary. This time the house teams met to collaborate across year groups to create a piece of callaborative art as explained above.

Nursery EC1 and 2 visited the library at the Braeburn school. Here they are pictured above having a story read to them

This was linked to our unit of inquiry on how we express ourselves through stories and rhymes. They enjoyed a wonderful story and enjoyed snack and play time with their fellow class mates.

EC’s have also been doing some free choice activities on rhymes and independent drawing and writing. This is some of their work that they are so proud of on the muffin man and the bee hive (below).

Aren’t P1 lucky to have a teacher like Miss Nangini! Earlier this week P1 carried out a hugely successful trip to TGI work shop. Thank you so much mama and baba Ayaan for your time and for this amazing experience. We learned so much on the day. Here the class are pictured above learning about the haulage trucks at TGI.

P2/3 put down their cups of coffee for a few secomds to pose for this picture by the river.

First we all went in the bus it was a fun 45 minute drive to the camp. Then we put up our tents it was hard but fun. After that we ate tasty lunch and in my lunch was one wrap, two slices of pizza and an egg. Next we went for a walk to the farm and learned about biogas we also learned about different plants. Later we had tent time and played football. Finally we had dinner after that we got to sit next to the fire and had tasty hot chocolate and then played torch tag and then we went to sleep.

The next morning we woke up and changed our clothes. Then we packed our bags and put them in the school bus. After that we ate breakfast and after breakfast we went for a long hike to a waterfall. Then we played and climbed up big and small rocks and touched the water which was freezing cold water from the waterfall. Then we went back a different route.

Then we went back to the school bus all the way to the coffee factory which was surprisingly tiny. Then we split up into two groups one group was making coffee and drinking it and the next group was learning how coffee powder is made. After that we finally ate lunch. My favourite part was making tasty coffee.

Ranbir, age 8

 

First we had a fun bus drive. Then we put up the tent and put our stuff inside. After that we went on a long walk. We saw coffee beans, banana trees and different plants. Next we had dinner and hot chocolate abd a fire and then played torch tag. The next morning we had breakfast. Later we hiked up a tall hill and then we drank coffee. Finally we drove to school. The most exciting thing was drinking coffee.

Sam, age 7

M5 students are entering a busy time of the year with many important events taking place. On-screen examinations, which are a two-hour computer exam in French, Individuals and Societies, Mathematics, English, Sciences, and Interdisciplinary learning, will take place on 10th-20th May. We wish all our hardworking students the best of luck for the exams.

Hamid

MYP Co-ordinator

Five students locked in deep conversation about the morning’s activities

For three days last week, the Diploma 1 Biology and ESS students made the short expedition to Dorobo to conduct their fieldtrip. The fieldtrip constitutes a component of their courses which enables the teaching of field techniques including insect trapping, population estimates, nocturnal nature walks, vegetation profiles, biomass studies as well as a study of the abiotic factors in our environment such as soil and water analysis. Three action packed, hard-working days in the field also enabled the group to spend priceless time chatting around the camp fire and dinner table! 

Click on any month (below) to link to the live School calendar on our website