| | A walk around campus This week while walking through campus I have talked with P4/5 about their simple machines, watched debates in multiple MYP and DP classes and seen students of all ages involved in group projects spread around the grounds. Sometimes it looks like students are just “hanging out” but when you stop to listen you find out the quite serious topics being discussed. UWC Day on Wednesday was full of art, poetry, discussion, music, photography and more. It was centered around the theme of peace and included students from age 3 up through the D2. On Friday I personally was able to go to the first Farmers’ Market of the year, get “dunked” for charity, watch PYP football matches, attend a planning meeting for the Halloween extravaganza and in the evening attend the very fun PTA new teachers’ event. (Thank you to the PTA parents that set up this great event.) As you can see below that was just a little of the week and there is more to come. For parents of students in M1 to M3 please remember that this week is the first MAP test of the year for them. This is an adaptive test in Math and English that helps teachers support students at the appropriate level. The P4 to P6 students finished this past week. As noted in the MYP section below we have a Zoom meeting on Monday at 5pm for parents of M5 students to discuss the optional e-Assessment for the IB. The link was mailed and is below under MYP news. Bob Cofer – Head of Campus | | | Ben’s Corner Peace Begins With Us.” This was the unifying theme for UWC Day across the world this week. UWC Day is the annual global celebration of the UWC mission and values, which takes place on 21st September every year, to coincide with the UN International Day of Peace (and one of my son’s birthdays!). Each year, UWC Day is celebrated by thousands of people worldwide, including students and staff at UWC schools and colleges, National Committees, UWC alumni and friends. |  | | | | |  | | | | Indeed, it was heartening to hear from our alumni this week as they celebrated all over the globe. Last year’s Student Government Co-President, Navya, contacted me on Wednesday to tell me (and I quote) “I’ve met around 100 people from other UWCs. It’s such an honour.” She went on to say, “We will be having a food feast, presentations, movie night and creating a mural for all the UWCs who joined St. Lawrence.” UWC Day is a moment to celebrate the strength and diversity of the movement and our shared mission for a more peaceful and sustainable future. It serves as a chance to spread the word about UWC, our work and values. As we joined in the Gathering of Peace or any one of the afternoon activities, I hope you felt this connection to something bigger than ourselves. Something important. For me, UWC Day is also a timely reminder to reflect on what we do as a movement, to determine how to be more effective changemakers and to continue to challenge ourselves. Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus | | | MYP News The first quarter is almost over, and we are very excited to celebrate all the learning in our MYP division. Students are highly engaged in learning experiences in their subjects and are working towards celebrating their learning through the summative assessments. | A few reminders…
Summative assessments: - are criterion based
- are not norm referenced
- evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit
- support learning with timely feedback to student
- measure the learning process
- help students with reflection and self-evaluation
- are awarded achievement levels and not grades
- provides an indicator of student achievement in a particular unit against the MYP objectives for that particular subject.
MYP Unit Spotlight:
In their I&S class, our M2 students have been busy creating a “more sustainable Moshi”. As part of their unit about settlements and the push and pull factors of migration, sustainability was identified as a key element to consider in making a settlement more appealing. They have been working hard on their research and testing their ideas while having various conversations with many community members on campus. We are excited to see the final outcomes and will share them soon! | |  | | | | MYP5 Personal Project:
The personal project is a student-driven project where students choose a topic to explore through learning a new skill and creating a product. The personal project formally assesses students’ approaches to learning (ATL) skills for self-management, research, communication, critical and creative thinking, and collaboration. The project is divided into three elements: - Product or outcome—evidence of tangible or intangible results: what the student was aiming to achieve or create
- Process journal—ideas, criteria, developments, challenges, plans, research, possible solutions and progress reports
- Report—an account of the project and its impact, to a structure that follows the assessment criteria. The report includes a bibliography and evidence from the process journal that documents students’ development and achievements.
Our M5 students are working very hard on their Personal Projects. They have come up with very creative learning goals and some wonderful product ideas. We are very excited for the process! Please M5 parents remember the online meeting about the optional M5 e-Assessment Monday at 5pm. Use the link that was emailed to you to join. Farah Fawaz – MYP Coordinator | | | Residential Life This week has been ‘eventful’ as the newsletter has no doubt outlined. For residential life, I thought it pertinent to hear from one of our Diploma Students to give her personal insight into what it is like to give back to our community through helping organize our first Residential Dinner which was arranged to thank our orientation committees and older ‘brothers and sisters.’ “As D1, we had the wonderful chance on Tuesday to contribute to the preparation of the first residential meal and thank our D2 for the outstanding and tireless work they put in to make our orientation week so incredible and full of memorable experiences. It was also special to acknowledge our MYP students for their work they did in helping with their own mini, MYP orientation earlier in the term. From my perspective, I think that these types of events bring us together and help us realize that there are many more people involved in the UWC experience than just the people we spend time together with on a daily basis. You might sit next to someone you’ve never met before, and you get to see every member of the school, from PYP to staff at these events. I believe that we still have a lot of experiences ahead of us that will strengthen our bonds and help us identify our special friends, teachers, or staff members, making UWCEA a second home to which we want to return to even after spending the winter and summer holidays with our families and friends back home! To make each other’s stay here memorable, special, and empathic, let’s be nice and compassionate to one another.” Tina D1: Tina’s words resonate throughout all ages, and I am always in awe of the activities we run week in and week out and more importantly, our students desire to be involved and facilitate these from PYP, MYP and DP. Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents to send through their October break plans for your child to myself or the appropriate residential house parent so we can coordinate a smooth departure for all. Simon Johnston – Head of Residential Life |  | | | Sports Update Dear Parents,
We are delighted to invite you to our Annual Athletics Day on Tuesday, 4th October (Primary School) and Wednesday, 5th October (Secondary School). Students will be participating in their desired two track and two field events. Students are given the opportunity to show case their achievements and play alongside students of their age. The excitement of students is also on the peak, as they have come to know that we are getting closer to the event. So come join us at UWC Moshi and cheer your youngster on doing their best! Yesterday our students in the primary had the opportunity to play football against PPA in for some students their first ever actual game. Thank you to all the parents that came and those that coached and refereed the matches. I know students from both schools enjoyed the afternoon. Mostafa Rihan – Sports & Activities Coordinator | | Diploma News Next week the D1 students will have their first CAS interview. Creativity, Activity and Service, or CAS, is a core part of the diploma. Students are required to take part or organise experiences that meet all the strands. They could join the community choir or write poetry for creativity. They could climb Kilimanjaro or play basketball for activity. They could organise UWC Day or run a PYP club for service. There is a wide range of what they can do, and students are encouraged to challenge themselves. An important part of the process is reflection where students think about what they have learned and how they can improve. The first CAS interview gives them a chance to clarify doubts and make plans. They have been asked to complete their goals and to list all the experiences they have so far and write their first reflections on Toddle. There is also a summary document which makes it easy to track what they do each quarter. Along side CAS, we introduced the D1 students to Project Week on Thursday. While this has a large overlap with CAS it is something different. Students have been asked to come up with proposals for what they would like to do. It is a chance for students to demonstrate their learning outside of the classroom. They will spend a week in February carrying out their project which they will have organised. They might decide to go and help in a school, or to clean a beach or to create a video about the school. These are all some of the ideas from last year we look forward to seeing what the class of 2024 come up with. On Wednesday we had an amazing UWC Day which many DP students helped organise. This weekend we have DP students on Arusha campus participating in a Model United Nations, we have other students on the reefs trip and others preparing for the trip to the summit of Kilimanjaro. Margaret Brunt – DP Coordinator | | Outdoor Pursuits Over 220 student’s have experienced OP in the first Quarter!
We have had an incredible start to our Outdoor Pursuits Program, In two short months we have had 6 successful trips this quarter traveling across the country. We have seen over 220 students getting out into nature, challenging themselves and exploring Tanzania through our uniquely designed Outdoor Pursuits Program. Our UWCEA students have seen the country through our Reefs, Rides, Plains, and Peaks categories within the OP program. Students learn so much about themselves, how to live outdoors, how to care and support themselves and their fellow adventurers in the great outdoors. | |  | | |  Meet the team behind the OP program:
Mr Isaac Foya is our Trip Leader for Moshi Campus. He ensures relationships with outside service providers, permits, convervations fees are obtained for safe and legal entry into the protected lands in Tanzania that the OP program visits..
Mr Salimu Ismail is our Equipment & Trip facilitator based in Moshi, he ensures OP equipment such as hiking packs and boots are maintained so that every student is equipped to accomplish any of our OP trips. Mr Olivier Edmond is our Experiential Learning Coordinator based at Arusha Campus, he ensures that all administration and communications to staff, students, parents and teams for every trip are a successfully delivered. Mr Isack Igenge is our Trip Leader for Arusha Campus. He ensures vehicles are booked and meal menus are prepared. He also ensures students on every trip are physically and mentally prepared for the adventure.
Mr Baden Dowie is our Experiential Learning Coordinator based at Moshi campus, he ensures all communications for trips are delivered, received and post trip information is recorded, documented and reported back to the community. Baden Dowie – Experiential Learning Coordinator | |  | |  | | There was a lot of excitement in the primary school on Friday, as the children anticipated their friendly tournament against Paradise Academy. At the time of writing the final score is unknown but I hope the children had a great afternoon. Many thanks to Coach T and Mr. Patrick for organising the event. Congratulations to our PYP presenters in the UWC Day assembly – we were proud of your performance. The sewing club visited Ms Sarah this week. She showed them her sewing machine that she uses with or without electricity as well as the materials she works with. The children were amazed to know that she sews the sofa covers, mattress sheets and curtains, as well as many types of clothes. Ms. Heloise is collecting resources for Creativity Club. If you have any cereal boxes, cardboard tubes or any other materials that you think would be useful when creating models, please send them to Mr. Morley’s office. On Friday, 30th September, the P2/3 class will present their Primary Gathering. At 11:30 the PYP children will visit Ms. Anna’s garden to spend the final hour of the school day celebrating with a friendship themed garden party. PYP Sports Day will take place on Tuesday, 4th October. Please see the Sports Update section for more details. Please check your mailbox later this week for an email giving instructions regarding signing up for the 3 way conferences on Wednesday, 5th October. Advance notice that the PYP Halloween celebrations will take place on the afternoon of Friday, 28th October. Please note this is an optional event and will take place outside of the regular school day. We are a small school so we need as many parents as possible to sign up for the trunk or treat (decorate your car and hand out wrapped candy). The sign up sheet will go up during the last week of the quarter and will be on the breezeway during the 3 way conferences on Wednesday, 5th October. This quarter has gone fast! We are down to the last 2 weeks. The final day of classes will be Thursday, 6th October and we will finish at our normal time of 1:10pm. Deborah Mills – PYP Coordinator | | Thank you to all who took up the challenge and spent time doing the math talk homework that went home this week. The children shared their ideas in class with us and their peers. It is a great way to see how our minds work and how we can all look at one thing and approach it in different ways. We will look at one more before we close for the quarter. This coming week, the children will seek to learn more about the people who help us in the PYP community. We will be meeting and interviewing a few of them to learn more about what they do. We will soon be having student led conferences. Please start thinking about a goal or two that you would like your child or children to work on for the coming quarter or school year. More about this will be sent to you in the coming week prior to the conferences. Mboka Mwasongwe | |  | | | | Our week was busy as usual in the classroom. Students were particularly excited about the UWC Day activities on Wednesday and the football tournament on Friday. We had a good turnout for both events. Thank you for being so flexible with your schedule to allow for these extras. A few of our classmates had become very interested in string games and were pulling out their yarn in any spare moment. The interest spread so we took the last 20 minutes of the week to try to learn a few tricks. You can look up some easy tutorials (try String Trick Tutorials on youtube), if your child comes home eager to learn more. We hope to see lots of parents on Friday at our Primary Gathering. Children have been talking about different ideas for sharing our learning about Friendship. I’m looking forward to their ideas taking shape early next week. We have also been given permission to host a Friendship Hour in Anna Marsden’s garden at the end of the day on Friday! Our class will host the other PYP classes and lead them in activities to promote a sense of togetherness. It will be a wonderful way to wrap up our first unit! Kacey Buckley | | The children completed their MAP online assessments this week. In class the children have been considering how people in the past have used simple machines to overcome challenges. On Thursday and Friday the class had an enjoyable time designing and constructing creations featuring wheels and axles, levers, pulleys and inclined planes. We hope to share our learning with the P6 class next week. In maths we have been focusing on subtraction. Next week we will look at different mental arithmetic strategies. The photo shows the children all in blue and white for UWC day on Wednesday. Deborah Mills | | We all enjoyed UWC Peace day this week with artwork and poetry to celebrate this theme. We also wrote haiku poems. As our plant unit draws to a close, we finish with a trip next week to a local family fruit and vegetable garden; then onto an irrigation project that shows effective and efficient ways to water crops. We are also planning a Plant Based Feast for Monday October 3rd: please send in a dish if you can, we will all share. In mathematics, we have been working at rounding and problem solving with numbers up to a million. Most of our class represented the school in a football match with P.P.A. yesterday: there was a lot of good football played, well done. Our athletics unit in P.E. is building towards the Sports Day coming up – high jump this week: our highest jumper, Scarlett, in action! Hywel Davies | | | |
