Moshi Campus News – 10 Oct 2015

Mzungu Kichaa will be playing a special concert in Karibu Hall on Tuesday, October 13th (the evening before a public holiday) to support Mension, a mental health NGO working in Tanzania. Mzungu Kichaa is a well-known player on the Dar es Salaam music scene playing the Tanzanian style of Bongo Flava that mixes reggae, rap, afrofusion and traditional Tanzanian music. He has been nominated twice for a Danish World Music Award – in 2009 in the category “Best World Album” for “Tuko Pamoja” and in 2012 “Twende Kazi” was a candidate for “Best World Track”. This concert will be open to the public as well as to ISM students and our community. Tickets will be on sale on the door although entry to ISM students is being offered for free. Please tell your friends and others of this great opportunity to hear a superb musician – Did I mention that he is also an ex-ISM student?.
Check out his videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QnrVJkBKkM or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yKjBD9wxXU.

Please note that Wednesday, 14th October is a national holiday marking the day of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s death in 1999. There will no regular classes on that day.

Thursday, 15 October Times for parents to attend their child’s Three Way Conference have gone home this Friday. The Goals sheet will be issued on Tuesday 13 October; please bring them to your child’s conference. A reminder that there is no formal schooling for Primary on Thursday as the whole day is dedicated to our Three Way Conferences which take place in your child’s classroom.

Quarter One ends on Friday, 16th October and students will be free to leave school after 10:15am on that day. Some end of quarter details are as follows:

• Thursday 15 October: Primary 3-way Conferences – no classes for primary children
• Thursday 15 October: Secondary reports issued. These will be brief interim reports for all classes except D2 who will receive full reports.
• Friday, 16 October: 9:30 – 10:15am – End of Quarter Assembly in Karibu Hall. Parents are very welome for this assembly. The CAS Glee Club, the Primary Music Fun Club and the Primary Dance Club will be performing.
• Friday, 16 October: 10:30am – 12 noon – Secondary Parent/Teacher meetings in Karibu Hall

Parents of boarders: Please ensure that your child’s boarding parent is fully aware of your child’s travel arrangements. If he/she will need transport to the airport, please contact Rosemary Bango on as soon as possible.

There are many school trips, such as trips to sports events in Arusha, or Outdoor Pursuits trips, that are not a formal part of the required curriculum but are available to students to enhance their activities, but we do usually need to charge to cover the costs of these optional trips. I know that it can be very difficult for children to repeatedly ask their parents for small additional sums of money for such trips, and especially difficult for boarding students; parents also do not really want to be asked for small sums on many different occasions. Children who do not have money for such trips will not be able to join trips.
We therefore request that all parents of boarding students deposit $500 per child with the school that can be used for such optional school trips or other approved expenses. Please do ensure that this money is deposited with the school before the start of the 2nd quarter. [Many families have already done so].
If you are in Tanzania, payments of small sums can be made by MPesa to 0767-534766: Please follow any payment with an SMS explaining the purpose. From outside Tanzania, small payments are more difficult, but can be arranged by credit card through a Paypal payment to paypal@uwcea.org.uk [8% admin charge].

We are getting closer to the end of the first quarter, and boarders are counting the days. We close on the morning of Friday 16th October, and boarders can leave immediately after the assembly at 10:15. Thank you to all those who have already sent us transport details for the boarders. We remind others, particularly if they are taking flights and need transport to the airport, to get in touch as soon as possible on .
Boarders have continued to enjoy different activities, planned by the boarding activity council, the boarding parents and the volunteers Kevin, Geerte and Shaheen. It was fun to have all boarders get involved in a hide and seek activity, Sardines, as well as other sporting activities last weekend. This weekend we have a lot planned to keep the boarders busy until Sunday. Town trip on Friday want well although we only allowed boarders to go to Nakumatt supermarket and back in the school bus because of the political rally in town. There will be a special town trip on Sunday morning after church for boarders who could not make it on Friday.
We are happy to inform you the Diploma Girls (Kijana) boarding parent Ms. Val, resumed duty last Tuesday and is back in charge of the dorm. We are also pleased to welcome back Ms Jocelyn, the MYP (Kiongozi) girls’ boarding parent, who resumed duty in the dorm on Friday 9th October after maternity leave. We appreciate the boarding assistants who held these positions while they two were away. Special thanks goes to Ms Joyce Mmole, Ms. Elizabeth Tarimo, Ms. Delphine Riziki and Ms. Elizabeth Kimario.
On Wednesday 14th October there will be a special end of quarter lunch for boarders at 1.00pm. Awards will be given to boarders on that day for the following categories: Most Respectful, Tidy/Organized, Most improved and the boarder with the highest number of Poas (positive points). Rosemary Bango
Head of Boarding

We are very proud of the 17 students from ISM who summited Kilimanjaro last week on Monday Oct 5 at 09.17 am. After a gruelling ascent that started at 11pm towards Gilman’s Point and then along the ridge battling against altitude and blustering winds they all made it and completed the final stage of the OP programme. All our OP students have to work their way through the levels of the OP programme to gain experience of camping, hiking and build the inner grit of triumphing over adversity that comes with a lack of energy when hiking a long, long way upwards. This group were a delight to summit with, throughout the 6 days they remained positive and upbeat. Even a night of pouring rain that turned into sheets of ice on day 3 did not deter them. Every day was a new day, full of hope and a good sense of humour amongst the whole group. Congratulations to you all – we will be giving out the official Kilimanjaro certificates at our Quarter assembly on Friday 16 October.

Many thanks also to all the staff who supported this group. From Moshi Campus this included Isaac Foya, Salim, Totty Aris, Merijn Mook and Coenie Wesselink.

This week marked the beginning of two weeks of intensive training where swimmers will be challenged with higher mileage, specific stroke work that targets specific breakdowns in each swimmer’s technique, test sets, and most importantly, continued emphasis on team building.
Friday morning, the atmosphere was electric! The practice started with an incredibly inspiring video about swimmers of all abilities and how consistent hard work and ‘not giving in’ when things get tough will eventually get you to where you want to be as a swimmer. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG6c3fEv5so). From there, we were joined by several volunteer timers for our second test set, 10x100IMs, completed by all in the pool with strong results. A big thanks to all those who helped out! Of particular note were Lianne, Freddy, and Shawn, who had only a few days earlier come down from the mountain after their successful summit trip.
The character that is beginning to emerge out of this ecclectic group of kids is truly inspiring, from individuals who are committed in a way that allows them to push through the discomfort of practice, and not give in. These are the characteristics that over time, shape an individual into someone who is strong, able to cope with life’s challenges, and succeed despite the odds.
Next week is our last week before the break. Swimmers should speak with their parents about how they are going to maintain swimming fitness during that two week period. Most high school or club swimming programs will not take a full holiday away from swimming, but rather swimmers and full-time coaches will attend an intensive training camp where training is doubled.
Will you be near a 25m or 50m swimming pool where you can continue to practise? How many swimming practices have you attended in the past month? Will taking two weeks off of swimming keep you on track with your monthly goals? If swimming is not possible, then how will you ensure you maintain the fitness you have achieved this year?
Saturday practice will be taken by Juma, as Coach Sullivan is away at a conference, Coach Sabini is away at a Tanzanian Swim Association vote, and most athletes are in Arusha for the Athletics competition. See you Monday at the pool! Coach Sabini, Coach Sullivan, Coach Mary

Many exciting things have been happening in PYP music classes over the past month. As the first round of units have come to a close, classes are bringing together all the knowledge they learned.
Our P1/2 class showed off the work they have been doing with dancing in the all-school assembly. Not only does dancing to music help us all to be better, more artful musicians, but it definitely does get the heartrate up and gives everyone a workout! The P5 and P6 classes have really enjoyed working with Ms. Geerte, our new music volunteer, who is helping to guide them through a fun activity on composing, all centered on their unit of inquiry. The P5 class decided that they wanted to create their own musical composition which showed their own ability to express and communicate their ideas. They have come up with a fun musical story which includes movement, speaking, singing and body percussion. To complete their unit on musical heroes, each student in the P6 class was asked to create their own musical hero. Now, the class is putting together these musical heros and making a composition that is based off of their hero names and the combine ‘powers’ that all these heroes contribute to the class. The end composition will be a combination of a class ‘theme’ alternating with small group themes which the students have created. P4 students will be able to get in on the composing action with Ms. Geerte during the third unit of inquiry, when they will also focus on the arts being an avenue for creative expression.
We are so very grateful that Ms. Geerte has chosen to spend time with us and provide such enriching activities for our young musicians!
Lastly, a reminder that this week, there will only be individual music instrument lessons on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, as Wednesday is a national holiday and Friday is not a full day of school, being the final day of the quarter. Private lessons will resume on Monday, November 2nd. Musically yours, Susan Kellerman (ISM Music Teacher and Program Coordinator)

This quarter diploma students in several science subjects, including biology, attended a two day in-house course entitled “The World of Microbiology” which was delivered by a guest team of researchers from Aston University in the UK. The course content included the areas of Infection Control, Methods of Disease Transmission and the sources of Foodbourne Infections. Each section included a presentation and activities or laboratory work for the students and the feedback from students at the end of the course was extremely positive.
In biology classes, the D1 students have been getting to grips with molecular structures and learning about the remarkable properties of water. They also performed a class practical to collect data for an investigation into enzymes.
The D2 biology students have been occupied with their individual investigations this quarter and the diversity of topics ranges from studies of the growth rate of plants to the analysis of yeast respiration.
Zoe McIvor

Save the date – ISM Hallowe’en Parties will be held on Friday, November 6th ISM will once again hold Hallowe’en events for Primary and Secondary day students and boarders.
Primary Event – 3.30-6.30pm (approx.) Have you ever been to a ‘Trunk or treat’? Well now is your chance! We are looking for parents, friends and teachers of ISM to decorate their car trunks (boots!) in a creative way and provide tricks or treats for the children. Check out ‘trunk or treat’ websites for lots of fun ideas. Cars will be parked at ISM and the children will visit your car to get treats/play games/be tricked in some way! It’s up to you. Prizes will be given for the most creative car boots. After this there will be games, food and a fancy dress parade. Prizes will be given for the most creative costume.
Secondary Event – 6.30- 10.30pm (approx) The secondary students will go on a trick or treat bus tour around Moshi. Day students will have to travel with their parents due to limited spaces on the bus and truck. There will be a disco and other surprises back at school.

Parents are invited to discuss their child’s club choices with them for Quarter 2. We have a good range of clubs and are very grateful to parents who have volunteered their time. Please submit via the google form at www.uwcea.org/clubs. Each student can do three clubs out of the four days offered. Please note that the Primary swim squad is by invitation only and currently the team is the same as in Q1. Students who attended Brownies in Q1 will also be expected to continue with that club.
Totty Aris

As part of our Animal Rescue Club we would like to help out Kilimanjaro Rescue Centre, which rescues, cares for and tries to find homes for stray cats and dogs. Help us to help “Peanut” just one of the 30+ strays
We need:

• Old towels/blankets
• Old mattresses
• Collars
• Leads
• Dog/cat toys – balls, squeaky toys
• Food – tins of cat/dog food, bags biscuits, rice

Many of these animals have suffered abuse and if you feel able to offer a home, that would be great too! Please bring your donations to Ms Debbie’s room (room 1). Debbie Garbett

I would like to remind all parents who are paying fees in quarterly instalments that the 2nd quarter fees were due to have been received by us by 1st October. If you have not yet made the transfer, please do so quickly and advise our accounts office on of the details of any payment. It is important for the running of the school that fees are received in time as we depend entirely on fee income for our operations. Please note that overdue fees will be surcharged, and that students whose fees are not paid for the 2nd quarter will not be allowed to return to school after the October break.

The national elections will be held on Sunday, 25th October and results are expected to be released a few days later. Our boarders are scheduled to return to school on Sunday, 1st November and classes for the 2nd quarter will start on Monday, 2nd November. We hope that all will allow us to keep to this planned schedule. However should circumstances require any changes, we will let you know by email and/or by messages posted on our website at www.uwcea.org.

All D1 Theory of Knowledge students participated on Thursday morning in a wonderfully engaging theoretical debate on the question – Can Machines Think? and its success was due to the organizational skills and hard work of the three-person organizing committee of Sarah K, Sakina, Angel M and Eric.
ISM students start at the end of this coming week a well-deserved two-week vacation and resume classes on Monday November 2nd in which they face the challenges and rigors of ISM’s holistic world-class education.
The second quarter (November-December) of the D2 school year typically challenges students immensely. Innumerable coursework deadlines, university application work, regular assessments and preparation for the January D2 mock exams all combine to make the 2nd academic quarter of the school year particularly trying for DP students. Very regular parent contact is recommended.
D2 full diploma students are in the final stages of their Extended Essay that will be submitted on Wednesday November 4th. D1s will start work on their Extended Essay in early 2016 and should start these months pondering potential subjects and topics.
A class of 2015 DP graduate now at university wrote me this week and it was quite pleasing to read her comments: “The IB and ISM prepared me so well for university. I honestly can not stop appreciating the fact that I did the IB.”
We hope to see most of you at the parent-teacher meeting on Friday Oct 16th. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns regarding your son/daughter studying in our DP program. Best regards, Rick Fitzpatrick – Diploma Coordinator

PYP Attitudes: At ISM we guide our students towards becoming internationally minded people, i.e. we do not believe it is enough to just teach knowledge and skills. It is also vital that there is a focus on the development of personal attitudes towards people, the environment and learning. These attitudes contribute to the overall well-being of the individual and of the community.

• Appreciation: Appreciating the wonder and beauty of the world and its people.
• Commitment: Being committed to their own learning, persevering and showing self-discipline and responsibility.
• Confidence: Feeling confident in their ability as learners, having the courage to take risks, applying what they have learned and making appropriate decisions and choices.
• Cooperation: Cooperating, collaborating and leading or following as the situation demands.
• Creativity: Being creative and imaginative in their thinking and in their approach to problems and dilemmas.
• Curiosity: Being curious about the nature of learning, about the world, its people and cultures.
• Empathy: Imagining themselves in another’s situation in order to understand his or her reasoning and emotions, so as to be open-minded and reflective about the perspectives of others.
• Enthusiasm: Enjoying learning and willingly putting the effort into the process.
• Independence: Thinking and acting independently, making their own judgements based on reasoned argument, and being able to defend their judgements.
• Integrity: Being honest and demonstrating a considered sense of fairness.
• Respect: Respecting themselves, others and the world around them.
• Tolerance: Being sensitive about differences and diversity in the world and being responsible to the needs of others.

Kate Schermbrucker (PYP Coordinator)
Source: IBO – Making the PYP Happen

Many thanks to Mr Sullivan for coming into class last week to teach the children ‘The wheels on the bus’ in French. Next week Ms Kacey is coming to teach a song too. We also went to watch and listen to a middle school maths lesson and used a thinking routine to reflect on what we saw, heard, thought and wondered. Many thanks to Mrs Gullickson for welcoming us into her M2 maths lesson.
This week is a very short week due to the public holiday on Wednesday, conferences on Thursday and end of quarter assembly on Friday. We will finish our summative assessment of the unit and carry out some other assessment tasks.
Our literacy work will continue to have a focus on stories by Julia Donaldson and in numeracy we will explore patterns for the final week.
Swimming as usual for EC1 on Monday/ PE for EC2. There will be no swimming or PE on Friday.
I look forward to meeting with you all on Thursday for your child’s Three way conference. Please remember that your child is expected to attend the conference with you.

Information for Parents Next week is the last week of the quarter, and as always, the schedule is different than normal. Here are the highlights: Oct. 12 We will have library on Monday instead of Tuesday this week. Oct. 13 Goals go home. Please go over them, write any comments you have, and then bring them on Thursday to your conference. Oct. 13 Last day for clubs. Oct. 13 Field trip to Oasis Young Plants Farm Oct. 14 No school – national holiday. Oct. 15 No school – attend your conference with your child at your scheduled time. Oct. 16 10:15 dismissal. Have a good holiday.
Language focus for the week We will continue our focus on writing complete sentences with Group 1 and writ-ing paragraphs with Group 2.
Maths focus for the week We will continue to focus on relating adding to subtracting this week.
Unit of Inquiry We will continue learning about the parts of a plant.
What to bring to school: A hat for playtime and a healthful snack.
Timetable: Monday PE (wear PE shoes) Library (please send your books in the library bag)

On Monday the children enjoyed presenting their adding machines to the P1/2 students. They had worked together in small groups to design these before testing them out on groups of the younger children. They showed a good deal of maturity and responsibility when displaying their machines.
On Tuesday and Wednesday the students carried out science experiments. First they tried to answer three questions relating to levers and then they investigated inclined planes. They made careful observations and were able to form conclusions based on their findings.
On Friday the children enjoyed listening to Mirik Castro (Fedya’s Father) speak about machines he makes and distributes in East Africa. These are plastic biogas digesters which families and businesses can use as a way of getting energy to run stoves and lights from the gas of manure and other organic matter. They are environmentally friendly and save people the cost of buying firewood or charcoal. Mirik explained the design of the digesters which were invented by his brother. The children listened attentively and asked a series of well thought out questions.
Unit: Transdisciplinary Theme: How the world works Central Idea: We use simple machines to make work easier
What to bring to school every day: A water bottle and a healthy snack.
The Week Ahead: Monday: Homework will be sent home | Swimming lesson (swimming costume, towel, flip flops/crocs, goggles if desired, cap if desired) Tuesday: Library session | Final day of clubs for this quarter Wednesday: Public holiday. No classes Thursday: No classes. 3 Way Conferences. Please bring your child and their goals at the pre-arranged time. Friday: Homework due in | Final day of the first quarter
Kate Schermbrucker – P2/3 Teacher and PYP Coordinator

This week has been rewarding as students continue to explore various concepts and discover new findings.
Unit of Inquiry Next week the students will be involved in various experiments showing different forms of energy and the forces exerted by them. It will be a short week but filled with a lot of hands on experiences.
Language Arts Students have done a wonderful job with their first drafts of their explanatory writing. Over the next week, they will be looking at definitions of various vocabularies in the unit, practise ways to organize facts into paragraphs and continue to use correct punctuation.
Maths Students will be reviewing the various concepts they have covered over this quarter through games and other problem solving activities. They will also practise the mental strategies they covered.

Information for Parents We will be leading the Assembly on Monday, October 12th. I hope you can all attend to see what the children have been learning about. I can’t believe that we are already at the end of the first quarter. I am looking forward to meeting with each of you on Thursday to discuss your child’s goals for the school year.
Language focus for the week Everyone is really enjoying their reading group books and actually asked for extra chapters to read over break. Please try to help them remember to work this into their schedules, they don’t have too much too read. This week they will begin writing the first draft of their personal narratives.
Maths focus for the week The students have done a fantastic job on their study of place value and the base 10 system. They have learned many new things and can connect how to use rounding as part of their daily lives. We will be wrapping up our place value unit this week and moving into data collection after the break.
Unit of Inquiry The students have been researching various natural disasters and learning more about what causes them. We will have one of the school volunteers, Mr. Julian, visit our class on Monday to talk about typhoons. On Tuesday we will have two special guests (my children) who will be talking about the Japan Earthquake from a child’s perspective. The children will develop questions that they would like to ask to learn more about these experiences.
What to bring to school: A hat for playtime and a healthful snack.
Timetable: Monday PE (wear PE shoes and a house T-shirt) Wednesday National Holiday (no school) Thursday 3 Way Conferences (no lessons or clubs for primary, but students should attend the conferences with you)

This week we have focused on finding out about Peace and Conflict. We have used dictionaries and thesaurus to define words related to the unit, and have conducted a range of surveys and interviews to discover other’s people perspectives of peace. Atlases, online news and related websites were used by students to find out about current conflicts happening around the world.
In English the students have been watching and listening to the short animation by Aidan Gibbons titled “The Piano”. The students identified changes in time and place, as well as mood, by paying attention to the detail in music, graphics and camera-work. They were able to identify themes, sequence events and write the story in their own words. In Maths we have been learning about different types of angles, relating these to 2D shapes. We used protractors to measure and draw angles.
We welcome Mr Tumaini to our classroom as the P6 Teaching Assistant. He is a newly qualified teacher and we are very grateful to have his help.
Unit of Inquiry: we are continuing to find out about other’s perspectives of peace and conflict. Students will work in groups of three and design a way to find out this information in a different Primary Classroom.
English language focus: Students will be focusing on verbs and verb tenses to extend thinking on the short story “The Piano”, which flicks between the past and the present.
Maths focus: Students will be revising symmetry and reflecting on what they have learnt in total about 2D shapes.
Notices: I will be out of lessons of Tuesday as I am taking the Swim team to Braeburn school in Arusha. Mr Tumaini will deliver the lessons planned. I look forward to meeting you on Thursday at our Three-way conference, to discuss your child’s successes, progress and goals for the year.

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