Moshi Campus News – 29 Nov 14

I wanted to bring you up to date with developments regarding our strategic planning process.
As many of you will remember, during the 2013/14 school year, the Board of Governors and Senior Management Team worked with both internal and external stakeholders to create four scenarios for the future of international education in Tanzania. These were used to test the strength of each key objective as we worked with the community on the five-year Strategic Plan, which was recently ratified by the Board. We are now creating a community brochure, which will outline the key goals within the plan and I will forward a copy of this to you soon.
Over the past few months, the Senior Management Team have been developing action plans for the five-year period 2014-19 and these will be reviewed by the professional staff on both campuses before being submitted to the Board for review.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been involved in our strategic planning process in any way. Your support has been enormously appreciated. As soon as I have further information for you, I will contact you again.
Bob Horton
Director

Keith Haring was an American artist and social activist in the 1980s New York street culture scene. His graffiti art often showed simple and colourful characters in motion. An example of his art is pictured above. M4 covered a unit on Keith Haring last year; the main aim was to design a mural to represent the various sports we do here at ISM. Sadly, we were not able to complete our mural last year, but our Art teacher, Ms. Anine Pier, initiated a creative CAS this year to complete it. The aim was to create a mural/graffiti art work in which we showcase the variety of sports that are offered at ISM. Our other aim was to complete it before the big annual inter-school sports weekend. We wanted to use this mural to make the sports area even more lively and colourful.
We started the project with sketches and brainstorming, using both sketches from last year and new sketches. In order to accomplish the task, we used bits and pieces from all the sketches of the people in the CAS group. The first half of the semester was used to make final compositional and colour sketches and the second half of the semester was used to go out and paint our final design on the wall. It was a real team effort. The work is shown at the top of this newsletter.
Our final art piece is inspired by Keith Haring’s work and uses a lot of bright colours to grab people’s attention. This colourful piece of work expresses successfully the sports we enjoy doing here at ISM, such as football, softball, basketball, hockey, tennis and rugby. Sameer and Rajvir, M4

Recently, we the boys football team participated in the Arusha football tournament. The tournament took place at ISM Arusha and many schools participated in this tournament. The likes of Braeburn and St Jude were present. It was a grueling tournament with many great teams and it was also the first tournament that we attended as a team. We started off on a high note by winning the first match with a 1-0 goal difference followed by a second win. This put us through to the semi-finals. Through these games we learnt how each individual in the team played and also got a rough picture of the team layout and positions. Sadly we were then kicked out during the semi-final match through penalties. This I believe, for the first tournament we had, was an amazing result, although losing is a bit disappointing and the team was quite disheartened. In all learning experiences there must be some failure but what we learn from it is what is important. Mr. Holt and Mr. Brandon pointed out that for our first time we were a very good team and he was confident that if we tried harder in the next tournament we would win for sure and I believe that if we use this tournament as a learning point we are sure to win. As a team we are anticipating the next tournaments in the hope of going home on top.
We then had another tournament in Arusha; this time it was at St Constantine’s School. Our first match was against Braeburn and it was definitely the most challenging match in the whole tournament for the team. We lost the game (0-1) during sudden death penalties; we were then pushed to the bottom bracket in the tournament. This meant that we would have to fight through 5 matches without losing again to get to our goal of finals. We won our next match and things were looking up though the whole team was tired. In the match that came after we discovered that we were to face Braeburn yet again due to the fact that they had also lost a game and been pushed to our bracket. We scored a goal in the first half and sadly then conceded two in the second half meaning that we were out of the tournament. We played better as a team during the tournament though. It was very unfortunate to return home without a win for the second time.
Last Saturday we attended our third Arusha football tournament. This was a smaller tournament and it took place in Braeburn. Very few schools attended compared to the last tournaments in Arusha. We drew on our first two matches and managed to progress to the semi-finals yet again. Though we then lost 0-1 and were eliminated.
I think we are improving overall as a team though we have been quite unlucky during the tournaments. I believe that we will work hard to get our deserved win during sports weekend. Katumba Mukasa, D1

There will be no more swimming training on Saturday mornings. We are very grateful to Coach Noah and Coach Sabini for taking the time to train our primary students. The swim training will commence again at the end of January, however will be limited to the students in the swim team who are training for the IST Dar competition in May.
This Friday our swimming squad will be having a mini competition, 11.35-12.35pm. The rest of primary will join them to cheer on their houses, so please dress your child in their house T-shirt on Friday. We will also see some of the synchronised swimming they have been practising. Parents are welcome at the pool side , Friday 11.35 onwards.

Our Q2 primary club season is drawing to a close with the final club session on Thursday, 4th December. A big thank you to the parents who volunteered their time for this quarter. We are now putting together the programme for Q3 Jan 19 – Mar 24. If you are willing to run a club for these 9 weeks please email tottyaris@ed.ismoshi.com. Once we have an idea of the range of clubs we can offer we will send an email to parents with the choices and link to the google sign up form.
The following week (Dec 8th – 12th) we will have a special schedule to prepare our students for their primary production. Please note when your child is required:

Mon 8 Dec, 14.00-15.00 Drama club students & EC & P1/2 Weds 9 Dec, 14.00-15.00 Drama club students & P3, P4/5 & P5/6 Thursday 10 Dec Drama club students AND all P1 – P6 students Sunday 14 Dec – Dress Rehearsal 14.00 – 16.00 All primary students Monday 15 Dec – Primary Show: Around the World in 80 Minutes Please give your child their supper early so they can be at school at 17.45 The show will start at 18.30

With the second quarter academic grades due in a short time DP teachers are completing marking and calculating the August to December semester grades that will appear on the report card students will receive by December 17th. Be aware that the grade received in each DP subject at the completion of the two-year course of study provides the clearest picture of how students have done. Nevertheless, these preceding grades do provide a good indicator of progress.
This is another reminder to all parents of D1 students regarding the ISM Diploma Retention Policy which states: “At the end of the second quarter, all full diploma students will be expected to have a minimum of 22 points (obtained by adding the reported achievement grades from their six subjects excluding ToK and EE). Any student achieving fewer than 22 points at this stage (or achieving fewer than 11 HL points) will be required to undertake a reduced programme with either fewer subjects or with fewer higher levels in consultation with the Diploma Programme Coordinator.”
In D1 Life Skills class this week, each student completed a self-evaluation of their work and calculated their predicted grade for each DP subject. Enquire of your son or daughter in the DP about what they wrote as that will provide parents with an interesting view of their academic work to date. Regarding the D1 students situation vis a vis personal habits, too many commented that: (1) their self-discipline regarding getting enough sleep (8 hours!) was weak (www.uwcea.org/dip58); (2) their collective sense that they are not consuming enough water (www.uwcea.org/dip59); and (3), their tendency to not find the time to get adequate exercise (www.uwcea.org/dip60).
It is incredibly important for the parents of DP students to organize time to ‘check-in’ first-hand in terms of your son/daughter’s progress. There is no better way to do this than attendance at the quarterly parent-teacher conference. Please find time to be at ISM on the morning of Dec 17th (10:35am to 12 noon) for these meetings and enjoy watch your child compete in the ‘boatloads of fun’ D1 Raft Race too!
One cannot overstate how memorable and how much fun this Sports Weekend each year is for DP students. On a competitive athletic level as well as in terms of social aspects, ISM DP alumni always remember with fond memories this event.
D2 students should now begin review work for their mock exams that take place from Friday Jan 16 to Monday Jan 26th. We return to classes on that Wed Jan 14th so there will be two-days of lessons before these seven days of D2 exams.
The IB and particularly the DP continue to receive excellent coverage from the media worldwide as one can see from this selection: www.uwcea.org/dip61.
Feel free to contact me with questions or concerns about ISM Moshi’s DP. Sincerely, Rick Fitzpatrick – DP Coordinator

Unit of Inquiry
This week the focus will be on pets and the responsibilities people have to look after them. I will also be carrying out the summative assessment for this unit for your child’s report.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
If you have a pet we would welcome you and your pet into visit the class. Your child can help you talk about how you look after the pet such as what food it eats, where it sleeps and what exercise it needs. Please let me know on Monday if you would like to come and visit.

This week we will be practising every day for the school play that will be held on Monday 15th December at 6.30pm. Primary clubs finish this week and EC will have an extra rehearsal on Mon 8 Dec from 2pm til 3pm. The dress rehearsal is on Sunday 14 Dec from 2pm til 4pm. We would love everyone to attend these rehearsals please.

Literacy for EC1 this week will be reviewing all the sounds learnt so far and EC2 children will be making booklets on how to look after a pet of their choice. We will read fiction and non-fiction books on pets.

Numeracy

• We will be continuing with weighing activities.
• We will survey favourite pets around the Primary classrooms and think about how to present the information we collect.

Information for Parents Thanks to those of you who were able to make it to our Sharing Assembly last Monday. The children did a great job singing and speaking about what we have been learning.
This week will be the last week for Primary Clubs. On the week of December 8th, each class will be asked to stay until 3:00 to practise for the upcoming drama performance on the evening of the 15th. P1/P2 will need to stay at school until 3:00 on Monday, December 8th and Thursday, December 11th. You will need to arrange a lunch for your child on those days just as you do on their club days. There will also be a dress rehearsal on Sunday, December 14th at 2:00 pm. Thanks for your help with this.
Literacy Focus for the Week We will continue to read in our reading groups this week. Thank you for continuing to read with your child every day at home. P1 children will work forming CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words, and P2 children will work on “sn” words.
Maths Focus for the Week The Group 1 students will work on adding facts to 12 and making stories for those facts. Group 2 will be introduced to multiplication. We will learn that it is repeated addition, and we will also be making stories for the twos multiplication facts.
Unit of Inquiry This week we will continue to work on seeing stories from multiple characters’ points of view. We will also start to organize our thoughts for writing our own stories. We will use a graphic organizer to accomplish that.
What to Bring to School: Children need a hat for playtime and a healthful snack every day.
Timetable Monday: Library (we will choose new books) Wednesday: PE (wear PE shoes and a house T shirt) Thursday:Swimming (please send swimwear)

We sadly say goodbye to Mr Owen this week. He has had a very positive impact on the P3 class, as well as the school in general, and he will be sadly missed. We wish him well on his journey back to Europe and with his final year of studies. Who knows, maybe we will meet him again one day!
In English this week the children have been reading, writing and following instructions to do with PIRATES. They are really getting to grips with the features of instructions now. They have followed instructions in order to complete a treasure hunt, produced a series of diagrams to instruct on how to make a pirates hat and created their own written instructions on how to find treasure on their own tropical island.
In Maths we have been solving problems, using all four operations, realising how maths relates to our everyday life.
In Kiswahili the children dressed in their National costumes and made flags.
Language Focus for This Week: Relating instructions to our unit – reading, writing and verbally instructing how to carry out experiments that test the properties of materials.
Maths Focus for This Week: Problem solving that will involve the four operations, as well as measurements. They will be measuring different material properties.
Unit of Inquiry: Properties of materials. Getting to grips with the language used to describe scientific material properties, and testing material properties out using simple experiments. Recording scientific experiments and drawing conclusions. Then asking more questions!
Please Remember That: Monday: PE and homework folders sent home. No spellings. Thursday: Swimming and library day. Friday: All homework folders to be handed in. No Spelling test next week.

Information for Parents We are hard at work, finding out more about poetry and songs and beginning to sort out information. The next few weeks are going to be very busy in primary. The students have been busy practising for the drama performance. Our class will need to wear white shirts for the performance. Children have a dress rehearsal on Sunday, December 14th at 2:00. They will need to have their shirt by that day. Our performance is Monday evening, December 15th. Students need to be here in their shirts by 17:45.
Language focus for the week The students’ flip books are really turning out nicely as they continue learning about figurative language. Next week we will learn about hyperbole and alliteration. The students did very well with learning their vocabulary words. Next week we will review the words learned so far. Students will have a review vocabulary test on Friday, but no spelling test. We have enjoyed learning how to preview books this week and will continue to look at our attitudes about reading next week.
Maths focus for the week We will finish our current measurement unit. Students will learn about measures for weight and capacity and continue to practise converting units. The end of the week will include a review of rounding whole numbers.
Unit of Inquiry The kids are very passionate about the poetry unit and are bringing in lots of poems from home to share with the class. We will start to look at the characteristics of English poetry next week, focusing on characteristics such as: lines, rhythm and beat, rhyme, images, and alliteration.
What to bring to school: A hat for playtime and a healthful snack.
Timetable: Tuesday: PE (Wear PE shoes and house shirt) Thursday: Swimming (bring swimming kit) Library (bring books)

The students have been learning about the difference between wants and needs. We discussed Buy Nothing Day and watched a thought provoking film about the impact of a consumerist lifestyle www.youtube.com/watch?v=__9-VgvZYWM. We also looked at the meaning of supply and demand and what factors might affect them. To help solidify their understanding the students took part in a trading game. In another investigation they were given a salary (sweets) but then had to pay the government tax, e.g. to fix the roads, build schools, look after national parks etc (by painfully giving back sweets). Some said they were willing to pay it back if it was being put to good use.
The students have continued to enjoy playing rounders in sports lessons and have become better at both batting and fielding. We can now play rather more skilful, competitive and enjoyable matches.
The P5/6 students have decided that they would like to wear cowboy / cowgirl outfits for their song in Around the World in 80 Days. Please continue to work at trying to find or borrow cowboy hats, boots, blue jeans, neckerchiefs etc.
Unit: Transdisciplinary Theme: How we organise ourselves Central Idea: Systems of exchange serve the needs of the community Maths focus: percentages of an amount – especially in relation to money, e.g. 20% off the original price English focus: The layout and contents of formal letters and emails
Monday: Homework will be set for the week | Library session Wednesday: Swimming session Friday: Homework due in | sport lesson
What to bring everyday: Please bring a bottle of water to keep on the desk. A healthy snack for break times. A hat for break times, lunchtimes and sport lessons.

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