Moshi Campus News – 23 April 2017

We have had a lively start to Quarter 4 with the P6s working towards their Exhibition presentations, P1 – P5 classes working on their summative assessment tasks and EC children beginning their final unit of inquiry.
Many thanks to all the parents who have been sending their children to school with appropriate footwear for the rainy season. All primary children need one pair of outdoor shoes (e.g. wellington boots) and one pair of indoor shoes each day. This is important when there is so much mud around. Thanks for helping to keep the classrooms and verandas clean.
By now you will be know which clubs your child is registered for. Primary clubs will begin on Monday from 2 – 3pm. The first set of homework will also be sent home this Monday and is due back in to the class teacher on Friday.
Please ensure your child arrives at school on time each morning. It’s best if they can arrive by 7.20am, so that they have time to catch up with their friends, ready to begin lessons promptly at 7.30am. We thank you for your cooperation with this.
Please note that Wednesday 26th May and Monday 1st May are both public holidays. There will be no primary lessons held on these days.
Advanced Notice: PYP Muffins for Mums and Dads Assembly: On Monday 15th May all primary parents are invited to a special assembly in Karibu Hall, starting at 7.40am. All primary children will all be showcasing their learning at this event.
Kate Schermbrucker, Head of Primary / PYP Coordinator

Friday was our last day of classes for the D2 students, this next week will be a study week in preparation for the IB exams starting on Monday May 1st. This weekend we have an OP trip out at Ngorongoro and next weekend there is a swim meet in Mwanza.
Monday, we have an assembly presented by our Arts Department. Please also remember that we have a holiday on Wednesday for Union Day and Monday May 1st is a holiday as well. Bob Cofer

Two national holidays are approaching: Wednesday, 26th April is Union Day in celebration of the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar – there will be no classes on this day
Monday, 1st May is Workers’ Day. There will be no classes on this day, although scheduled D2 exams will take place.

On the evening of Friday May 5th, ISM will be hosting a Variety Show open to all students, parents and teachers.
We still have a limited number of spots available… and
WE KNOW YOU HAVE TALENTso if you can tell a joke, sing a song, bust a move, play an instrument, belly-dance, juggle, stiltwalk, freestyle, act…. we want to know about it !
Please SIGN UP with Mary in the Music room, or Mr. Evans in P1/2…. and welcome aboard for a fun and enjoyable evening of talent! With thanks, Your PTA.

HOME OF THE LEOPARDS The ISM Sports Department would to thank all of those who participated in the Annual Sports Banquet. It was great to see all the success of the Leopard Student-Athletes and teams. Great job.
Congratulations to those five students who were selected by the coaches as the ISM Sports Department Special Award Winners. They are the following students:

Sportsmanship Award – Gladys M (D2)

U15 Male Athlete of the Year – Christopher F (M3)

U15 Female Athlete of the Year – Sally D (M4)

U19 Male Athlete of the Year – Luis C (D1)

U19 Female Athlete of the Year – Nora S (D2)
These students demonstrated athleticism, dedication, enthusiasm and leadership throughout the sporting season and their accomplishments and successes are celebrated with these awards. Once again congratulations to those five students.
The ISM Sports department would also like to congratulate those students who were selected by the coaches as Team Award Winners – Most Valuable Player, Most Improved Player and Coaches Awards. Please check back here in the next newsletter for the complete list of Team Award Winners.
ATTENTION ALL SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS: As the school year approaches the end please be reminded that Sport Practices will continue until Thursday May 25th, and the following Secondary School Sports will practice on their regular practice day: Ultimate | Netball | Indoor Football M1-M3 | Indoor Football M4 – D1 | Rugby | All Swimming Clubs
Starting on Monday April 24th will be the Co-Ed Basketball Tournament, games that were scheduled this week were postponed due to the short week. Please click here for the Updated Schedule: www.uwcea.org/sportschedule.
Finally, plans are being put into place for next year and the ISM Sports Department is looking for volunteers within the ISM Community who could lend their expertise in a sport to our students, and be a coach for one of our Secondary School teams. Interested people should contact Scott Hibbard ().
Activities As always the ISM Sports Department wants to advertise three excellent after-school activities, so please find below information regarding swimming, tennis and horseback riding.
Swimming lessons for beginners, intermediate and advanced with Coach Sabini. Those students and parents who are interested in arranging lessons are kindly requested to contact Coach Sabini in person.
Tennis Lessons for beginners, intermediate and advanced players with Coach Charles. Those students and parents who are interested in arranging lessons are kindly requested to contact him at 0757606766.
Horse riding is also available and those interested need to contact Mr Priva at 0758053280 for more information regarding times, prices and requirements.
As the year progresses please keep up with all the info, news, and sports reports by reading the Moshi Campus News.
Go Leopards Scott Hibbard, (Head of Sport and Physical Education)

Dear Athletes and Parents, Quarter Four kicked off this week, with several classes starting their unit on territorial games and how they are connected to the world outside of sport. Our ‘tuning in’ conversations made connections between the animal world and territory in sport and battles where a territory has to be defended and games like football, which has defending positions.
Classes who take PSPE with Coach Ryan should remember that we have completed our swimming units in Quarter 3 and Quarter 4. We will now have two land PSPE lessons, primary in Karibu Hall. Clean shoes and water bottles are needed.
Coach Ryan will be away next week on an OP Trip and traveling to Mwanza with the Varsity swim team for their last competition.
Primary Sports Weekend is in Dar at IST this year. It is a two-day competition involving swimming and football. We are sending the 10 best players who are U11 and U9, and all of the junior varsity swimmers. Parents will receive letters of invitation and will be responsible for paying for flights, food, ground transportation and entries.
The Indoor Football Tournament is nearly completed. The P5/6 teams in the final are: Superstrikers vs Green Coconuts The P3/4 teams in the semi-final, to be played on Monday 24 April at 1:30pm are: Captain Kibo vs Green Strikers, P3/4 Team #5 – Yellow Bananas vs White Shadow Well done to the other teams, but only the teams listed above will continue to play. Parents are invited to watch the final of the tournament, on the outdoor tennis courts, with the rest of the primary students, on Tue 2 May 2017 at 12:15pm.

Dear Parents and Swimmers,
The end of the season is upon us, but before we reduce our workouts, we have lots of new developments to share from the pool.
Our Swim Camp that we hosted during the Easter Break was truly amazing. We hosted close to 30 swimmers from Kennedy House and ISM Moshi, over a 5-day swim camp, Monday to Friday, from 8-230. Even with rain and clouds, the kids were energetic and keen to start the camp each day. Coach Khalid from Arusha and Coach Ryan, with help from Sabini and Patrick, did video feedback for all strokes, land training, and pool work. When asked at the end of the camp if the swimmers would recommend the camp next year, 100% said they would!!!
A message to parents whose swimmers are attending Mwanza. Please ensure you have paid our accounts office TSh 825,000. Students will not be allowed to travel without this payment.
Upcoming Workouts for Varsity members: Saturday 22 April 2017 – 8-10am Monday 24 April 2017 – 315-515pm Tuesday 25 April 2017 – 530-650am Wednesday 26 April 2017 – 530-650am Thursday – NO WORKOUT
See www.uwcea.org/swim for details of the Mwanza meet.

D1 students now need to start preparing for their university applications and getting ready for the tests that are required by universities in many countries. D1 students planning to study in the USA (only) must register for the ACT test which will be held in Moshi on 10th June 2017. Students must register online before 30th April 2017. The fee is US$109.50 (if paying with your own credit card) or US$ 118 if you ask the school to process payment on your behalf. Please contact Keiron White if you need more details on payments.

For some time now we have required all secondary students in M4 to D2 to have their own laptop to use in class and for private study. From August 2017 we will be expecting all students in M3 to D2 to bring their own laptops to school. If your child is currently in M2 and does not have his/her own laptop, please arrange to get one before August.
It is expected that students will have a laptop with its own keyboard running Windows 7 or higher, or Mac OS X 10.6.1 or higher. Please note that Android tablets, iPads, Chromebooks, and Windows RT laptops are not capable of running software required by some courses. Both current anti-virus software and Microsoft Office (2010 or higher) should be installed. It should have wireless connectivity and, preferably, be able to operate for 4 hours (or more) on battery.

  Friday was the last day of D2 classes and they celebrated in a rather raucous celebration just before lunch. The D2 now have a week of private study before starting their formal written exams on 1st May. During the study week, teachers are available to assist the students as needed. Boarders may remain in school but are expected to keep to normal school expectations, or they may choose to travel home for the study week if they wish.

Although the school organises celebrations for the D2 graduation, the students have usually additionally opted to arrange their own private parties off-campus. These are likely to be on 20th May after the official ceremony. These student-organised parties are not school events and we cannot, as a school, take responsibility for them. Invariably, there is alcohol available at these parties and minimal, if any, adult supervision. We are concerned about the inevitable, and potentially serious risks that arise from these situations, particularly for many of the younger students who frequently receive invitations to attend and we have endeavoured to deal with such issues from an educational point of view in our Life Skills lessons. We also need to be especially confident that parents are aware of the nature of these events, and are happy with their own children’s involvement. We would therefore offer the following requests and guidelines.
For parents of boarders: Boarders staying in school that weekend will NOT be allowed to attend any unsupervised parties. If boarders do want to attend, they can only do so if their parents agree and they have been taken out of the school’s care by staying with another family for the weekend. Even if you have already indicated on the Parental Consent form that your child may sign out to friends at weekends, we would like to further confirm that it is acceptable on this particular weekend. If you have children intending to sign out for this weekend, could you please contact us with that confirmation? You may contact either the boarding parent or Mrs Bango on by whatever means is most convenient (telephone, letter, or email). Boarders will be expected to remain in school for the weekend if we have not heard from you before MONDAY, MAY 15th.
We would also suggest on this occasion, that you contact the host family directly to discuss what you feel would be appropriate arrangements, curfew etc for your children on the evening of the party.
For parents offering to host boarders: Boarders signing out on these weekends will need to sign out for the whole weekend from the Friday afternoon until midday on the Sunday, although they may of course attend the Graduation Ceremony if invited. We would suggest that before you take on the responsibility for the guest students over this period, you are confident of their own parent’s expectations in terms of curfew, supervision etc.
We do not in any way wish to curtail the students’ opportunity for well-deserved celebration on these occasions, but we are concerned for their safety and their parents’ full consent and understanding.

Parents are reminded of the upcoming triathlon that will take place at Kennedy House on Sunday 11 June 2017. Participants may race on a team of three, as individuals completing all disciplines alone, or in a 5km fun run.
Forms must be completed and submitted to Kennedy House:

Team Entry Form – www.uwcea.org/tri_team

Individual Entry Form – www.uwcea.org/tri_indiv

Fun Run Entry Form – www.uwcea.org/tri_fun

The ISM Brownie guides will be organizing a garage sale on Saturday, May 27th from 10am to 1pm.
If you are leaving Moshi this summer this is an ideal opportunity for you to sell items you do not wish to take with you. It’s also a great place to pick up some bargains; toys, books, shoes, kitchenware and bedding, etc
You can support this event by hiring a table to sell your goods or by coming to buy from the stalls. Refreshments will be on sale throughout the morning. Tables must be paid for in advance at the main school office. The price for a table is 20,000 TSH. Please see Annalee Horton if you have any questions about this event.

Update:

D2s completed on Friday their last full day of classes and then celebrated.

D1s’ weekly ‘Research and Writing’ continues to serve as an invaluable foundation for DP coursework assignments and the Extended Essay.

The incoming ISM DP class of 2019 steadily advances to our expected number of 45 students and each of these students is preparing their D1 course selections which each of them with one parent will discuss in a face-to-face or skype meeting with the DPC in the coming period.

All class of 2017 students met their Community, Activity and Service (CAS) learning outcomes.
Upcoming:

D2 IB official exams commence on May 1st and conclude on May 19th. These will occur in the brand new purpose-built multi-purpose examination hall. On July 6th the IB will publish the results which each D2 student will access with their own username and password.

D1s will take their important end of D1 year exams in a month and these will serve as a key benchmark to assess progress in their six academic subjects.

D2 Graduation weekend events:
a) Decoration of Karibu Hall (parents/D2s) – Fri May 19th – 9am-noon;
b) Graduation Friday evening dinner at AMEG Lodge in Moshi at 6:30pm;
c) Graduation Ceremony – Saturday, May 20th with arrival at 2:00 for a 2:30pm start;
d) Tea in the Director’s Garden 4:30-6:30pm.

Thursday June 15th will be the last day of school for D1 students and parents are encouraged to attend the parent-teacher conference that morning. School recommences for the new academic year on Monday August 14th. Rick Fitzpatrick, (Diploma Coordinator):

Dear Parents,
The new unit of inquiry has got off to a great start. We carried out a thinking routine ‘Think, pair, share’ to answer this question, ‘What is a story?’ Answers included:

It’s a thing that your dad reads to you (Michael)

Sometimes books are poems and tell stories (Mariza)

It’s for reading (Anais)

A story is something you only use talking for (Janieck)
Next week we are going to tune into the unit a little more; there will be some surprises in class as the week goes on!
How can you help?

Please see me if you would like to read a story to the class – you can make up a story or read your favourite book. How about getting a group of parents together to act out a story or do a puppet show? The children LOVE having their parents visit the class!

Please send in Story CDs for us to listen.
Literacy As you can see from the above, this unit is literacy based. We will continue to develop recognition of letter sounds, reading, handwriting, fine motor skills and word building where appropriate. This week the EC2 children will draw and write about their favourite story. Please have a chat this weekend about your child’s favourite story and why they like it. If you have a copy of it please send it into school on Monday or Tuesday. The children will also make a literacy goal this week to work on for the last 8 weeks of the school year.
Numeracy

Estimation activities

EC2 will practise skip counting in 2s. We looked at the 10s pattern last week and counted in 10s to 100!

EC1 will practise counting in 1s and compare two given numbers of objects and day which one is more or fewer.
Reminders

Library on Monday and Thursday; please return books on these days

PE on Tuesday and Friday. On Tuesday we will do gymnastics in Karibu Hall and on Friday games on the field so please send in appropriate footwear on these days.

Maths Last week the children have been practising telling the time to ‘o’clock’ and ‘half past’. We looked at both analogue and digit clocks. The children also enjoyed exploring the campus to find different devices which tell us the time, e.g. clocks, watches, computer screens, mobile phones etc. I wanted them to make this connection and start looking out for time telling devices when they are out and about. This will encourage them to be more aware of time, and the role it plays in their lives, in general.
UOI / Literacy P1/2 had a fantastic talk this week with Ngomi, father of Josephine. The children learned that although our National Parks are the most protected form of land in Tanzania, we also need to protect the areas around the parks- those boundary areas where government rangers cannot always be deployed due to limited resources and distances involved.
The children discussed the effects of human encroachment on these border areas- we found that the main human activities are land clearance for building, cattle grazing and large scale farming, shooting game for meat or to protect crops or grazing stock, and the production of charcoal.
We learnt the importance of animal movement in search of food. The children shared many stories about their own experiences in National Parks and we talked about why these important areas mean so much to us.
We enquired into actions we can take to protect our environment. The children came up with smaller and better built housing, leaving trees intact, informing on poaching activity, and talking to people or educating them. The children discussed taking just a few fruits from a tree, or killing just a few animals for their meat and leaving others as part of a more sustainable system.
Ngomi also introduced us a little to the complex idea of limited hunting concessions in areas bordering the parks in order to protect them privately and supply more money to the government for National Park resourcing. The children found this concept quite new and surprising. Opinions will always vary- but to have the P1/2 children begin to question, to think more deeply and to discuss openly such issues is exactly what our PYP curriculum is all about.
The children finished up by showing their animal artwork and asking a series of questions about their favourite animals. We found out that an elephant flapping his ears does not always mean he is angry- just hot, and that elephants can be ‘righties’ or ‘lefties’! We learnt that a gazelle can regulate the temperature at which it sweats and that the facial markings of a Cheetah act as a natural sunblock.
My favourite quotes for the day were: “When we build a house, Cheetah run straight into the glass doors and bang their heads…” “Are the park rangers like the Power Rangers?” “We can stop farming and killing animals and go shopping instead!”
You’ll see from the last of these quotes that we might benefit from looking into our own human habitat, and where our basic requirements actually come from. We’ll be continuing into next week by working to understand that our own species also has a habitat, and that we share many of our basic needs with other animals. Later in the week we will begin to think as a class about how we can best reflect upon and measure what we have learned in this unit. I’ll send out some new homework on Monday and clubs will begin. Have a wonderful week! Mr. Evans

Dear Parents,
The children have settled back in to school very well these past three days. They have made a wonderful start to their summative assessment for this unit and are working well together. Their animal migration books are coming along nicely and the research the children have made has been a key element writing these books.
The Week Ahead in class Unit of Inquiry This week we will be finishing off our fifth unit and completing our summative assessment. How the world works Central idea: Life on earth is directly related to how the solar system works. The children are designing games that quiz others knowledge about our central idea. They are also showing what they have learned through the questions they have chosen.
Our final unit will be: Sharing the Planet – Water is essential for life on earth.
Reading: This week the children will have the opportunity to change their book club characters or continue with the one they have chosen. We will be looking at the way the character acts and how the author uses their words to show the reader. The children will also be working on their presenting skills ready for our Primary Gathering on Friday.
Writing: The children will be participating in a combination of writing styles this week, as they finish off their unit summative assessment. They will be writing How to Questions, Non-fiction information and facts. Whilst writing all this they will be focusing on correct use of punctuation, checking spelling through editing their work and peer editing and writing in complete sentences.
Math: This week the children will be review subtraction facts of two digit numbers. We will also be introducing subtraction with borrowing. The children will be shown a variety of different strategies that they can use to solve these types of math problems and they will choose the one they feel most comfortable using. The class will be review gathering information for different graphs and interpreting this information.
The Week Ahead: Monday: Homework will go home Tuesday: PE Wednesday: Holiday Thursday: P3 French, Indoor football (house T-shirt) Friday: PE | P2/3 Primary Gathering | Homework to be returned
Useful websites: www.softschools.com/math/games www.kizphonics.com/learn-to-write-alphabet
All the best Clare Hibbard P2/3

We are into our final week of our Unit of Inquiry and the students have learned a lot. We even had the opportunity to meet with one of the foremost volcanologists in our region via Skype. The students learned a lot about how Dr. Beeckman is putting sensors (seismographs) around the Mountain to monitor the activity of this volcano. He has helped us understand how technology can play a role in lessening the impact of natural disasters.
The students’ understanding of the responsibility/role humans play in minimizing the impact of natural disasters will be assessed next week as the students create virtual cities using an online simulation tool. This tool will help them apply the understandings learned in the unit by having them set up a safe community.
In English (and UoI) students will be writing in the style of a newspaper to show some of what they know about their chosen topic. They will also be asked to consider how we can use this to take action in the week ahead.
In Math (and Art) we are exploring shape and learning about lines, apex, vertices and edges and how to draw these shapes to represent objects in real life. We are also reviewing adding/subtracting in 3 digits.
Next week students will finish off our summative assessments and present their personal interest projects on Natural disasters to the class.
Reminder: Please send indoor shoes with your child as the weather is getting increasingly mucky.

It was lovely to see the children return to school last week full of excitement and news about their break. The children wrote letters in the I.T. lesson to send to Mr. Marvin in Denmark to keep him up to date with their recent adventures. In Maths we have been working on converting hundredths into decimals and percentages. The children have practised these skills on snappymaths.com and might enjoy using this website at home. Our Unit of Inquiry is drawing to an end and the children are busy researching and writing books on different governmental systems. We have some new reading books in our classroom – picture books about life under repressive regimes and biographies of world leaders – which the children are enjoying reading. In P.E. Coach Sullivan introduced a new unit about territorial games (see photos.)
Next week the children will continue working with decimals and also review multiplication and division. They will continue with the books that they are writing as part of the Unit of Inquiry. We will look at the use of apostrophes to show possession as this is an area that many of the children find confusing. We will practise inference when reading.
Now that the rainy season is upon us it is important to keep the classroom free from mud, especially as the children spend a lot of time sitting on the carpet. If your child does not have a pair of indoor shoes to wear in the classroom please send in a pair as soon as possible – slippers, crocs or flip flops are all good options for indoor shoes.
The week ahead: Monday: Library and new homework packet will be sent home Tuesday: French, Music and P.E. Wednesday: Holiday – no classes Thursday: French Friday: Swahili, Music and P.E. (note that class swimming has finished for the quarter.) Please send the homework packet back to school. Deborah Mills, (P5 Teacher)

It was great to have the children back in school and being a short week, it has been quite intense in our class. It was a productive 3 days and the students are demonstrating such a calm and positive attitude as they catch up on their pending work.
Most of the children continued working on the Exhibition during the holidays too. Thank you to all the parents for your support and for being part of their action.


We have started practising for our presentations and I would like to encourage all the students to practise talking in front of an audience even if it is reciting a poem or sharing their daily news. This helps to boost their confidence as they prepare to share their knowledge with the school community.

Invitations for the Exhibition evening have been sent out to the respective P6 families. We look forward to having the P6 parents join us for this celebration of our learning.
 

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