Dear Parents,
It has been a busy but rewarding week as our Accreditation visitors have gathered information through interviews, meetings, class visits, reports and documents so as to assess our school. We expect to receive their response and full report in about eight weeks and look forward to receiving much constructive advice that will guide the school forward. I would lke to thank all members of our community, students, parents, teachers, staff and Board members, who helped in this process through the production of our self-study and the meetings with visitors.
This week sees a holiday on Tuesday (no classes), our M4 students are taking e-Assessments, and our D2 students have their final week of study before their exams.
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Union Day
 This Tuesday, 26th April is Tanzania’s Union Day celebrating the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964. We will have no classes on that day, but there will be a programme of activities for our boarders.
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D2 Classes
 Our D2 students have now finished their last ever high school class and will this week be undertaking private study in preparation for their exams. During the Study Week, day students may stay at home to study if they wish, or they may come to school to meet with teachers for advice. All D2 teachers will be available at the normal D2 class times and at pre-arranged alternative times to help students in their preparation. Boarders may remain in school and study in their bedrooms but, if they choose to do so, they will be expected to follow normal wake-up and curfew times, attend all meals, and meet regular school expectations. Boarders may also choose to return home for the study week – in this situation, we request that parents inform your child’s boarding parent of any travel plans well in advance.
Formal diploma exams begin on Monday, 2nd May. Day students will only be expected to come to school for their actual written examinations, although they may, of course, come at other times to see teachers for advice. Boarders should remain in school during their exams, but may travel home once their exams are over if parents have confirmed this with their boarding parents. All D2 students will return by 20th May for the Graduation Dinner.
20th May: Diploma Exams end
20th May: Dinner for D2 Graduands, their parents and teachers
21st May: Graduation Ceremony at 2pm in Karibu Hall, followed by tea.
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D1: Tests
 There are a number of tests taking place in school this quarter and many of our D1 students will need to register to take these. The deadline for registrations in school is this Thursday, 28th April:
TOEFL PBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language – Paper Based Test)- Saturday, 28th May
Students who are applying to universities in the USA, Canada or Australia, who are NOT nationals of the UK, USA, Canada or Ireland should register for this test
Registration for the TOEFL test can only be done through the school on the paper form provided. Parents can either provide their own credit card details and make a payment of $170 on their own credit card, or may pay the school TSh 410,000 to process their child’s application on their behalf.
ACT – Saturday, 11th June – Students applying to universities in the USA should take this test
Students must first set up an account at https://services.actstudent.org/OA_HTML/actibeCAcdLogin.jsp. The fee costs $96.50 if using your own credit card or $104 if paying through the school.
SAT Reasoning Test – Saturday, 4th June – Students applying to universities in the USA should take this test only if they are not taking the ACT.
Students must first set up an account at https://sat.collegeboard.org/register. The fee costs $89.50 if using your own credit card or $97 if paying through the school.
IELTS-UKVI: Students applying to universities in the UK who are not nationals of the EU, USA or Canada will need to take an IELTS for UKVI English test for immigration purposes. These are not available in ISM and can only be taken in Dar es Salaam or Nairobi. The next tests in Dar are on 4th June or on 16th July or on 4th August and cost TSh 685,000/-. Early registration is advised as places fill up quickly. Students must first set up an account at https://ieltsukvisas.britishcouncil.org/#/select-country. Again, you may either pay yourself online, or may ask the school to process the payment for you at an additional 8% charge to cover costs. When registering, please be careful – the “IELTS” test is NOT the same as the “IELTS for UKVI” test and it is easy to accidentally register for the wrong test. Only the “IELTS for UKVI” test is valid for UK immigration purposes.
Please note that the school charges an additional 8% when processing credit card transactions on a student’s or parent’s behalf. This is to cover various charges involved in the transaction including exchange rate charges.
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M4 Assessment Week
 25 – 29 April: This week our M4s will have their M4 examination week. This will be a combination of written assessments in an examination setting and a chance to take an E-assessment (online examination) in some subjects:
- Monday – Swahili, French (Paper 1), Science
- Wednesday – French (Paper 2), English Language & Literature, English Language Acquisition
- Thursday – Individuals & Societies
- Friday – Mathematics
During this week some study periods have been allocated or other classes continue as normal.
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M5 Assessment Weeks
In a few weeks M5 have two weeks (9 May -20 May) of online MYP E-Assessments in Mathematics, Science, English Language & Literature, and Individuals & Societies. In the meantime their other work continues and contributes to their end of year grade. The Swahili examination component will take place on Friday, May 6. The last E-assessment is the Inter-Disciplinary Unit (IDU) exam which finishes on Friday, May 20 at 3.30pm. CAS/Sports activities continue for M5 until Monday, 9 May, after which they are voluntary according to their schedule.
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M5 Work Experience
 During the week of 23- 27 May, our M5 students are required to participate in a work experience study programme. They participate in this programme as part of their Life Skills course. The goals of the programme are:
- To take risks in a new and challenging environment
- To operate independently of friends and family
- To interact professionally with adults
- To experience a professional work environment from the perspective of an employee
The programme runs for five full working days and students are expected to be at work during what would be our normal school day, from 8am to 4pm. They should be kept busy doing useful activities for the organisation or workplace they are working in. I will be contacting the workplace during the course of the event to see how our students are faring. Students will also complete an in-depth journal related to their experience.
The students must secure a placement for themselves, and we will do our best to assist them in this manner. ALL PLACEMENTS MUST BE FINALIZED BY FRIDAY APRIL 29. I have had meetings with the students, and some students have made initial contacts to the various enterprises where they would like to have their work experience. Students will be writing letters to potential employers, and when contacting an employer will give them their letter. Students will also have their employer complete a company information form so that I can ensure the work/study requirements are being met.
Marika Farrell
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M5 Important Dates
 Apr 29 – Work placement to be finalised
May 6 – M5 Swahili Exam
May 9 – First M5 e-assessment
May 9 – Last day of compulsory CAS or Sports activities for M5
May 20 – Last M5 e-assessment
May 23-27 – Work Experience Week
May 30 – June 2 – Special programme of classes
June 3 – M5 Ceremony at 2pm. All M5 parents invited.
M5 students will be expected to travel home with their parents after the M5 Ceremony
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Diploma News
DP Update: D2 students celebrated the last day of school (see photo of last DP History HL class) with an afternoon lunch at La Fuente Mexican restaurant near ISM.
D1 students analyzed recently in Life Skills class the Habit 4 (Think Win-Win) and Habit 5 (Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood) in Sean Covey’s Bestseller Seven Habits of Effective Teens (www.seancovey.com/books_7habits.html)
Most D1 students show solid progress on their EE. Parents could help with further prodding on this key area.
The preliminary verbal report by IB visitors this week Andrew Watson and Fidelis Ndenge reported that the ISM IB DP is in ‘very good shape.’
ISM’s class of 2018 / the new D1 class starting in Aug 2016 – spots in this class are steadily filling up – kindly spread the word to friends and relatives who might have a student who would be keen to join our outstanding program and please share with them our web details – www.uwcea.org/academic/diploma or twitter.com/uwcea or www.facebook.com/ISMoshi.
Upcoming DP key dates:
April 25, 2016 – First day of the D2 study week
May 2nd – IB official exams start and these end on Friday May 20th
May 20th – morning – Parents assist with Karibu Hall Decorating
May 20th – 6:30 pm Graduation Dinner – Tsh 30,000 for extra tickets – Parents free
May 21st – 9am – Graduation Rehearsal – compulsory attendance for all D2 graduands
May 21st – 2pm – Graduation with key notespeaker Honorable Saidi M. Sadiki, Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner
May 21st 4:30pm (approx.) – ISM Director-hosted Grad Tea in Garden
May 23rd to May 31st – End of D1 year exams
Early June (date to be defined) – Career Day for M5 and D1 students
June 17th -Last day of school, assembly, Parent-Teacher conference (10:35-noon)
July 6th afternoon – IB official diploma exam results released
Valuable DP-related web links for DP parents
1) “Facing IB exams with confidence” by Oxford Study Courses (a group that does IB DP exam training during holidays) – Includes great tips to IB DP parents on how to support/encourage exam-taking students – https://blogs.osc-ib.com/2014/01/ib-student-blogs/facing-ib-exams-with-confidence
2) The link between exercise and improved academic results – www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-24608813 and www.independent.ie/life/health-wellbeing/fitness/regular-exercise-makes-for-better-exam-results-31027465.html
Rick Fitzpatrick, DP Coordinator
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Boarding News
 Boarders reported back to school for Q4 on Sunday, 10th April, and are now fully settled in to their normal routine. We appreciate parents for making arrangements for the smooth return of the boarders. The boarding team has been work earnestly and we hope the quarter will run smoothly. The D2 students marked the end of classes last Friday, and will be on study leave the whole of this week, before they begin exam on 2nd May 2016. During their study period, D2 boarders will be allowed to study in their rooms during the day, but must observe all other boarding rules. They will be expected to go for meals in the dining hall at the scheduled times. This privilege will continue until they finish their exams on May 20th 2016. A number of weekend activities were planned this weekend, including the usual town trips, sports like basketball, baking sessions for all ages, and a pool party. Tuesday, 26th April will be a public holiday (Union Day). As usual, we shall have normal study hall on Monday evening. The boarders will have activities planned from 10.30am on that day.
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Outdoor Pursuits
 The last Outdoor Pursuits trip of this school year is the Level 2 trip to Little Meru on 13-15 May. There may be a place available for an eligible student – please check with Isaac Foya for details.
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ManageBac
 ManageBac is our online curriculum software that we have been gradually implementing this school year. Secondary teachers have been entering their teaching plans for their curriculum as well as assssment details and results. The academic portion of secondary reports has also been stored on ManageBac over quarters 2 and 3. Secondary students have had access to ManageBac for class information for many months now.
Over the next week we will be emailing login details for ManageBac to parents so that you can also look to see how our curriculum is planned, taught and assessed. However the content is still in development and some aspects may not yet be fully online. You will also find that there is currently very little uploaded for the primary school. As the quarter progresses, the information on ManageBac will become more complete and we hope to be fully operational for the 2016/17 school year. Please do log in after you receive your details and start to get used to the platform in readiness for next school year.
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Sports Banquet
The ISM Annual Sports Banquet took place on Thursday April 21st, to recognize the achievements of our teams over the year. It is an early celebration, but we like to be able to include the D2s before they leave for their final exams. We were lucky this year to have members in the ISM Community sponsor our event with gift certificates for our coaches, as well as some door prizes for the athletes.
We would like to thank the following people and businesses for their generous donations:
- Moivaro Lodges and Tented Camps,
- Hatari Lodge,
- Honey Badger Lodge,
- Bristol Cottages,
- Gemma May,
- Aleems,
- AMEG Lodge,
- KPL Coffee Plantation,
- Marika Farrell,
- Simon Mtuy,
- TPC,
- ISM PE Department,
- Maria Chauhan,
- Coach Charles,
- Terri Emmanuel,
- Mr. Feng’s Chinese Restaurant,
- Panone Football Club,
- Bob and Annalee Horton,
- Bodytalk Studio,
- Oasis Young Plants
  
The captains of the teams gave lovely passionate speeches regarding the season, the accomplishments of the teams over the year. The coaches then presented awards to the Most Valuable Player (MVP), Most Improved Player (MIP), and Coach’s Award. The winners are listed below:
Sport | MVP | MIP | Coach’s Award |
| U12 Girls Track & Field | Silipa S | – | – |
| U14 Girls Track & Field | Sally D | – | – |
| U14 Boys Track & Field | Malinga Z | – | – |
| U16 Girls Track & Field | Sanne K | – | – |
| U16 Boys Track & Field | Michael K | – | – |
| U19 Girls Track & Field | Oputjo R | – | – |
| U19 Boys Track & Field | Martin K | – | – |
| U19 Tennis | Joshua B | Jackson A | Sil K |
| U19 Ultimate | Sahil A | Magreth B | Ida V |
| U19 Volleyball | Max S | MJ M | Sharon M |
| U19 Softball | Freddy A | Michael K | Darryl F |
| U19 Netball | Lisa M | Maggie L | Valencia L |
| U19 Rugby | Tony R | Daan K | Bliss M |
| U14 Girls Basketball | Alicia H | Vailet S | Lamiyah B |
| U14 Boys Basketball | Christopher F | Kyle D | Rama M |
| U19 Girls Basketball | Lisa M | Lianne D | Suzanne B |
| U19 Boys Basketball | Toran W | Freddy A | Louie C |
| U14 Girls Football | Sally D | Ida V | Navya A |
| U14 Boys Football | Jerry BB | Ambe F | Sasha T |
| U16 Boys Football | Edward M | – | – |
| U19 Girls Football | Nora S | Janeth K | Ndashi C |
| U19 Boys Football | Louie C | Shivam M | Jackson A |
| U12 Varsity Swimming | Maria B | Aselya G | Silipa S |
| U14 Varsity Swimming | Kyle D | Christopher F | Alicia H |
| U16 Varsity Swimming | Sanne K | Freddy A | Shawn B |
| U19 Varsity Swimming | – | Felicity A | Roos D |
We finished off the evening by recognizing the U14, U16 and U19 Athletes of the Year. These awards are given to a female and male athlete, at each level who best represents the school with their contributions to the sports program. This incorporates more than skill, ability and talent. This trophy embodies what it means to be an athlete – skill, attitude, sportsmanship, commitment and leadership both on and off the court, field, pool and track. It was the coaches who submitted their choices for these awards and I am happy to announce that the choices for the winners were very consistent and unanimous across the categories.
- U14 Girls Athlete of the Year: Sally D
- U14 Boys Athlete of the Year: Kyle D
- U16 Girls Athlete of the Year: Sanne K
- U16 Boys Athlete of the Year: Freddy A
- U19 Girls Athlete of the Year: Lisa M
- U19 Boys Athlete of the Year: Ricky T
We still have Netball, Rugby and Tennis tournaments throughout the next 8 weeks, so lots more Leopard action to come. Congratulations to everyone!
 
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Early Childhood Preview
 We finished tuning into our new unit of inquiry last week under the transdisciplinary theme of ‘How we express ourselves’.
Central Idea: Expression through art takes many different forms.
Lines of Inquiry:
- Expression through art
- Different Art Media
- Art interpretation
Teacher questions:
- What is expression?
- What are the different art media?
- How and why do we interpret art in different ways?
 The Art Gallery was very successful last week. Many thanks to all parents who sent in art work; we had a great variety of art pieces and the children carried out a thinking routine to explore them, answering the questions;
1. What is it?
2. What is it made from?
3. Does it remind you of anything?
4. How does it make you feel?
The children helped to find things that can be used for art in our classroom. They wrote lists to help them remember what we have. They also brainstormed what art is.
This week the children will present their puppet shows in small groups to show how they express different emotions. This is to help them understand what expression actually is so that they can begin to express ideas and feelings about pieces of art.
 Literacy
We will continue writing lists; many children have discovered how useful they are to help them remember things. They wrote shopping lists in the house and showed an interest in setting up a shop, so we will do that this week and encourage role play and writing for a purpose. Those children at the early stages of writing are finding other ways to make their lists such as drawing pictures or using stickers! The children will also write about what makes them happy, sad, surprised, etc.
Numeracy
The children explored patterns last week by looking at a variety of art posters. These featured patterns on fabric, stained glass windows in churches and wooden statues. We then found a variety of objects in the class to make our own patterns. We will continue to explore pattern in art, with a focus on 2D shape patterns.
ArtThis week the children will explore the medium of paint and find out how paint can be used in many unusual ways to produce art.
SwimmingPlease send swimming costumes next week. (Monday EC1 and Friday EC2) If the weather continues to get a little warmer we will swim as usual.
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P1/2 Preview
 Language focus for the week
We will learn about verbs this week. Both groups will be reading and writing verbs and contrasting them with nouns. We will also focus on finding verbs in our writing. We will continue to read each day in our reading groups.
Maths focus for the week
Both groups will learn about fractions this week. We will work on the concept of “less than one”. We will learn the words “numerator” and “denominator”; and we will cut, color, and make different fractions.
Unit of Inquiry
We will finish up our study of endangered animals this week. Last week we came up with ideas of what we can do to help endangered animals, and this week we will work on those ideas and share what we’ve done with the P5 students.
 What to bring to school:A hat for playtime and a healthful snack.
Timetable:
Monday: Wear proper clothes and shoes for P.E.
Tuesday: NO SCHOOL
Friday: Bring swim bag.
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P2/3 Preview
 I thought the students did a fantastic job of presenting in our Primary Gathering. As usual they wrote and performed almost every aspect of the gathering themselves; with just guidance from the teacher. I felt the audience got a clear idea of what their unit was all about. Great job P2/3!
This week the students continued to express themselves in various ways – including through mime, poetry, guided imagery and the one they most enjoyed – paper clip art. They were able to write some well thought out reflections about these experiences for their student portfolios.
  
Unit of Inquiry:
Transdisciplinary Theme: How we express ourselves
Central Idea: Images and ideas from our imagination can be expressed in many ways
As this is the final full week of our unit the students will start their summative assessment task.
Mathematics Focus: graphing data
English Focus: poetry
What to bring to school every day: A hat, water bottle, a pair of indoor shoes and a healthy snack.
The Week Ahead:
Monday: Swimming session | Homework will be set
Tuesday: Public holiday – no lessons
Wednesday: Ms Kate will be meeting with the Head of Primary ISMAC. Ms Catherine will teach non-specialist lessons today.
Thursday: PE lesson
Friday: Homework due in
Kate Schermbrucker
P2/3 Class Teacher and PYP Coordinator
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P4 Preview
 Visiting team:
The visiting team from IB, CIS and MSA graced us with their presence during class visits. The P4s excitedly showed off their learning as they answered questions with ease and confidence. A big thank to all P4s and especially to Paige and Dominic for representing our class during one of the interviews.
Action:
We also had a great time at the ISM Daycare Center on  Thursday when we went to visit and donate a few learning materials. The P4s donated paper, games and flashcards they had made. They demonstrated utmost love and care towards the little ones as they sang and played together. The P4s were so pleased they kept talking about the lovely experience all the way back to our class.
Shopping activity:
Thank you parents for allowing your child to bring items for the shopping activity. The students  loved it and I hope they will keep the inquiry happening even at home.
Math – the concept of measuring using capacity has taken off well. In the coming week the students will be inquiring into the units used in capacity and carry out some estimating and measuring activities.
Language Arts – this week we managed to do our autobiography drafts. Next week the students will use this information to finalize their writing. Our spelling focus for next will be on some high frequency words as well as looking at hard and soft “c” sounds i.e. when “c” makes the hard sound “k” and sometimes it makes the soft sound “s”.
Unit of Inquiry – next week students will start working towards their Summative Assessment. They will choose a humanitarian, write a mini biography on them and share how their hero has inspired them. They will be assessed on the knowledge, skills and attitudes covered during this unit.
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P5 Preview
 Information for Parents
This week is a short week with a National Holiday on Tuesday. Enjoy the extra day off! We are working on our summative assessments and will be wrapping up our current unit the first week in May. We will continue to swim until the weather gets too cold, so please send their swimming kits on Thursday.
Language focus for the week
We will continue to work on our biography projects this week. Students are currently completing graphic organizers with their notes. The next step is to record our personal responses to the information that we found. The final product will be an essay that includes both facts and our responses to them.
 Maths focus for the week
We will explore triangles this week. We will classify them according to lines and angles and work on finding a missing angle when 2 values are given.
Unit of Inquiry
The group projects are coming along nicely and the children are learning many fascinating facts about ancient civilizations. We will use these as a foundation for our summative assessment as we examine how these ancient cultures have affected our current society.
 What to bring to school:
A hat for playtime and a healthful snack.
Timetable:
MondayPE (please wear house T-shirt and trainers)
TuesdayNo School
ThursdaySwimming (Please bring swim kit)
FridayLibrary (please return library books)
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P6 Preview
 This week we have been getting ready! The P6 students are now in four groups of four. Within each group there is a mix of personality and skill, but they are all united by one of the following passions:
- Protecting Endangered Animals
- Pollution and its effects
- Recycling Rubbish
- Helping others to enjoy exercise
We have been matching these passions to one of the Transdisciplinary Themes, creating  Central Ideas and Lines of Inquiry. We now have four members of the ISM teaching staff to help us as Mentors, and I would like to thank Mr Rick Fitzpatrick, Mrs Totty Aris, Ms Cathy Wambua and Ms Doreen Ogello for volunteering to Mentor our P6s.
Next week we will begin Finding Out! Each student has been given a school email account, which we will practise using next week.  They will also use the library and IT resources to find information, while creating surveys and setting up interviews/talks with experts in areas relating to their inquiry.
Please note that Tuesday is a public holiday.
Also, please take time to look at our corridor display which shows some of the activities we have done during week 1 and 2 of the Exhibition.
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CONTACT US
International School Moshi
PO Box 733
Moshi, Tanzania
Tel: +255 27 2755005
Fax: +255 736 605320
Email:
Mobile:
+255 767 534766 |
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