Moshi Campus News – 26 Jan 2019

As you read through the newsletter this week you may notice a distinct thread of service. In the Diploma there are notes about the work with the Simba Foundation and their clothes drive. There is an update from the Eco Club with their desire to make ISM a more sustainable school. Though not mentioned blow, I have also talked with students this week from the D1 class that are still looking at different stove and fuel options that are more environmentally friendly and produce a cleaner cooking environment in the house.

In the MYP there is an update from the M4 class on what the money from the recent bake sale is going to.  I would also direct you to the picture below. It has Ben with some of the PYP students who have started visiting children in the KCMC spinal unit. This photo shows a prototype of the weights they are designing for the patients to exercise with.

Speaking of service, please come on February 8th to donate blood and plan to be with us on the 23rd for the Khanga Gala as we have a fun filled night to raise funds for scholarships.

Please also remember book week.  The organizing group have put a lot of effort into the event this year complete with a visiting author.

Bob Cofer

ISM is organising the second Khanga Gala to raise funds for the ISM Scholarship Program. We need your help!

The Scholarship Program has made it possible for many exceptional Tanzanian students to do the IB Diploma at ISM and proceed to achieve great things. We intend on continuing this tradition, but we need your help to make it bigger and better! Please contact Mwegelo Kapinga (development@ed.ismoshi.com) if you would like to be part of the planning team or offer your skills and time to make this a successful fundraising event.

As well we are always looking for new and exciting items for the silent auction and raffle, so please contact us if you have an item or service that you would be willing to donate.  We thank you in advance for your generosity.

Mwegelo Kapinga

On March 14th we will have our annual Career day.  If you are interested in giving a short presentation and answering a few questions about your career, we would be interested to hear from you.  The more variety we have, the better it supports the students are they plan for their future careers.

If you are willing to present, or would like more information, please contact Mr Ochieng.

As I am sure you are aware, a significant percentage of our students on Moshi campus are boarders and we currently welcome boarding students aged 7 years and above. We believe our quiet and secluded campus offers an excellent residential environment which, combined with a high level of care from our staff, helps to ensure that our residential students have the maximum opportunity to achieve success and develop as future leaders. You may or may not also be aware that our Arusha Campus will be admitting boarders for the IB Diploma Programme from August 2019.

Bringing students together from across the world is part of UWC’s commitment to deliberate diversity and, as we move towards becoming a UWC, we are acutely aware that being a boarder can bring with it particular challenges, such as relocation from a different home context or language acquisition.

At the moment, we are reviewing our current practices, procedures and policies and considering where we might improve. There are many people involved in this process and, of course, any changes will take time to reach fruition. Much of our shared dialogue at the moment is exploring how we can continue to promote and engender intercultural understanding within our residential community and respect, celebrate and recognise our differences and similarities at the same time.

This ongoing focus has incorporated a plethora of different areas, including activities, trips, study hall, food, cleaning, laundry, outside spaces, staffing and so on to fade. It is important to recognise that much of what we have in place already is working really well and any new initiatives will be carefully considered and introduced in a timely, thoughtful manner so as to make sure they are sustainable and have a long reaching impact. All the while, we are continually exploring ways to build connections between residential and non-residential school life.  It is an exciting time to be at ISM.

Ultimately UWC hopes its campuses are guided by one overarching principle: respect for others. The simple idea being that, if a student is happy, safe and secure then they are in a position to succeed in the classroom and the community.

Ben Morley

ISM Book Week is nearly upon us! Book Week takes place from Monday 4 to Friday 8 February. More information below and on our Book Week notice board next to room 17.

Book Week at a glance:

Activities running throughout the week:

• Secondary buddy readers visiting Primary
• #GetCaughtReading
• Short Story Competition
• Library Guessing Games
• Mystery Readers
• Kilimanjaro Book Award
• Donations of second-hand books accepted

Monday 4th February

• 7.35-8.15am Book Week Assembly
• 8.15am onwards Nahida Esmail with students and parents
• Primary ‘dress-up’ as a book character
• Library Guessing Games begin

Wednesday 6th February

• Second-hand book sale all day (tbc)

Thursday 7th February

• 7.35am-9am Ben Morley book signing for Primary
• Second-hand book sale all day (tbc)
• Final day for submissions for #GetCaughtReading
• Final day for Library Guessing Games

Friday 8th February

• Midday deadline for submissions for the short story competition
• Winners announced for #GetCaughtReading
• Winners announced for Library Guessing Games
• Kilimanjaro Award results announced

Click for more information: Book Week in detail

Laura Webb

The first week of the D2 mock examinations came to a close on Friday afternoon when our 3 HL mathematics candidates left Rafiki Hall. It was a very successful week; the attitude and engagement from our D2 students was exemplary. Over the five days we held 15 examination sessions, consisting of 57 examinations in 21 subjects. A total of 490 examinations were completed by our D2 students.

The mock examinations finish on Tuesday 29th January. After this, marking and assessment will be completed and results shared with the D2 students by 8th February. On the 11th February, a Mock Examination report will be shared with all parents of D2 students via Managebac.

Well done to all our D2 students. But keep up the hard studies, the ultimate finish line is still some way off.

This Thursday, January 31st between 2:30 and 4:00, in Rafiki Hall, the ISM EduCanada Fair will be held with representatives from 16 Canadian universities available to inform you about their institutions and to answer your questions. All M5 and D1 students will be required to attend this event to learn more about the opportunities available to them for higher education. Everyone in our community is welcome to attend this event, so please come and take advantage of this visit from the Canadians.

Anthony Hemmens

A request from a student group on campus:

Simba Foundation is a community within Moshi that enables children and families to develop academically, socially and emotionally. As a CAS we have chosen to visit them weekly and bring different activities that will enrich their lives. This includes : dancing, board games, reading or maths. Our constant ambition is to ensure that after the time spent at Simba we are able to leave knowing we have given the kids the gift of a smile. This quarter we are aspiring to provide items for the school and so we have decided to start a clothes donation for Simba. If anyone has any clothes or shoes that don’t fit or they don’t wear, we would encourage you to donate the items for this cause. Please ensure that they are not in a poor condition. We will be keeping a bag outside Mr. Morley’s room to store all the clothes but if the bag cannot be found then feel free to give it directly to Mr. Morley.

Eco Club Update
Our members who aren’t doing D2 mocks have been repairing books this week with an aim of reducing waste and paper consumption. We’ve also kept up our washing and collection of plastic from the canteen.

Due to D2 mocks, we will open our plastic recycling to the ISM community from Monday 4 February. We welcome all types of thoroughly clean plastic in the cage in the car park.

M5 Personal Project
The final PP reports are due on Tuesday January 29, 2019.  The exhibition will follow on Tuesday February 12th from 10:35am to 2:30pm. We wish to invite all members of the community and friends to attend.

M5 Mock Examinations
The M5 students will take Mock Examinations from February 20 to 22, 2019. The schedule and details will be sent to the respective parents soon. Students will do on-screen examinations in English Language and Literature, Integrated Humanities, Integrated Science, both Extended and Standard Mathematics and the interdisciplinary examination. They will also take a paper-based Kiswahili Language and Literature exam. 

Canadian University Presentation
The M4 and M5 students will attend Canadian university fair with the DP students on Thursday January 31, 2019 in Rafiki Hall as from 2-4:30pm. Parents/Guardians are encouraged to attend in order to help their children/wards in making informed decisions with regard to career and university choices.

M1 IDU Trip
M1 students proceed to Lake Eyasi for an educational trip as from February 26-28, 2019. This trip involves Design and Integrated Humanities (I&S) subjects. Details of the trip will follow soon.

David Ochieng

M4 Service Project

The M4 students have been working this year with the Kili Orphanage. There are two main parts to this. The first is their students come here and interact with our students. The older boys have been playing football and the girls have played netball and tennis. The younger children have been painting and playing in the playground. The second part is raising money to build some facilities at the orphanage. Thank you to everyone who came to the bake sale on Monday, we raised over 400 000 Tanzanian Shillings. This money, with the funds from a previous sale, will allow us to buy a swing set for the orphanage. Today the man who will make the swing set has been to the orphanage to see the site and will start making the swing set this week and it will hopefully be installed next Saturday.

Margaret Brunt

Our U15 boys and girls soccer and U19 boys and girls basketball teams competed in the first tournament at Braeburn International School on Saturday with some excellent results.  The U19 boys and girls basketball both came away with 1 win and 1 loss, but most importantly really enjoyed the games.  The U15 boys soccer had 1 loss and 1 draw and the U15 girls are currently on top of the table with 2 wins from 2 games. They do have a big ask next week as they will play 4 games straight, but we hope they will be able to keep their winning streak going.  The 2nd round of the tournament is on Saturday the 2nd of February at ISMAC and the final round will be held at ISM on Saturday the 9th February so make sure you have blocked out the morning on your schedule and come down and support our students.

Primary and U13 swimmers will be representing the school at the Kennedy House swim meet on the 9th of February.  On the same day we will be hosting U13 & U19 basketball, U15 Soccer; an OP trip to Pare Mountain will be out and there are swimmers in Dar for the TALISS gala.

We are very light on numbers for chaperones and would be very grateful of any teachers or parents who would be able to chaperone the trip with Coach Sabini.

Sports Celebration afternoon
On Wednesday, February the 13th we would like to invite all our athletes and parents to a celebration of their efforts during the first half of the year.  The event will start at 5pm and conclude at 6pm in Rafiki hall.  Light refreshments will be provided.

Kilimanjaro Marathon – https://www.kilimanjaromarathon.com/

Don’t forget the Kilimanjaro marathon is coming up and it is not too late to sign up, check the website.  The MYP students have all submitted their training plans for the next 6 weeks and should be out there getting ready to take part in the 5km event and some brave souls are signing up for the 21km. 

If you are looking for training opportunities and some company or just looking to keep fit, there are several things happening on and around campus to help you prepare for the Kili Marathon.  There are the following:

• Monday 3.15pm Mr Foya run session,
• Tuesday 5.30am Cross fit and 4.30pm Mr Melhado run session,
• Wednesday 3.15pm Cross fit,
• Thursday 5.30am Cross fit and 4.15 Sports fitness club,
• Friday 5.15am run interval training,
• Saturday 7.15am Campus run with Ms Jaime/Marieke.

For the football fans out there don’t forget that Saturday soccer is back on from 9am to 10.30am for PYP students.

Robin Marsh

The week was filled with a lot of buzz as the students prepared for and presented their Summative Assessments. We also had a fun Spirit Day. The creativity that went into dressing up as twins varied from matching hats to matching shoes. Thank you for parents for your great support. The coming week will be busy with Book Week door preparations and the stary of a new unit. The P4s will also have their gathering on Friday 1st Feb.

Parents are reminded to sign up to be a mystery reader in any of the Primary classes, it does not have to be your child’s.

I would also like to congratulate the P6 for hosting the ISM Arusha students for a night. They were having their PYP Exhibition retreat over two days. the bonding activities included team building games, hiking and creating skits about the key elements of the PYP they had looked at over the two days.

Kindly find upcoming events in this link to the calendar.

Cathy Wambua-Saha

A varied and hands on week ending in Twins day. Lovely.

Thanks so much to the Goldbergs for coming in to share with us some Hebrew letters and words. The children enjoyed painting their own names and labels for their light and dark displays in this ancient language.

We used our little dark room, a globe and a torch to learn about day and night and the rotation of the Earth and went on to find out just why the moon looks as it does. By simulating meteor strikes by dropping stones from a terrifying height into a mixture of wood ash and flour we… well you can see for yourself. The children went on to produce some beautiful paintings of the moon.

Next week we will look at some famous stories about the sun and moon, light and darkness, including the Ancient Egyptian myth of Horus (light/day) and Seth (dark/night).

Owain Evans

Inspiring creativity and imagination has been so enjoyable for us and this proves to be an ongoing unit that we will be dabbling into throughout the coming quarter. We had an exciting Friday of sharing all our creative endeavours. We welcome all of you to join us early Tuesday morning as you come and drop your children. Please come and view our art work.

This coming week, we will be starting our new unit with the transdisciplinary theme: How We Organize Ourselves. Our central idea is Communities thrive when people are interdependent and take mutual responsibility. We will be looking at the following lines of inquiry:

• Investigating interdependence in everyday situations (RESPONSIBILITY)
• Working in groups to plan a community event (FUNCTION)
• Identifying our strengths as a community member (REFLECTION)
• Teamwork and cooperation (RESPONSIBILITY)

We will be having an exciting time of exploring various people in our community and thinking of ways we can impact their lives in a meaningful way. Please feel free to share any ideas with us.

Mboka Mwasongwe

We kicked off this week in search for the lunar eclipse. After much searching, we gave up and instead spent the next while following the live stream of the lunar eclipse from Morocco and the United States. The students asked fantastic questions about what a lunar eclipse is and arrived at many conclusions about why it was difficult to see the eclipse from Moshi.

We spent a bit of time making decisions and working as a class to come up with an idea for our door for Book Week – any parents wanting to spend Thursday and/or Friday decorating the door with us are welcome!

The students have spent the last couple days this week looking at how drought and pollution affect human and animal activity. There are a range of informative products that will appear soon for you to learn about these impacts.

A reminder that we’re still looking for mystery readers for Book Week, should you be interested, please send me an email and we can fit you in!

Elisha Jaffer

The P4s have been super busy with their Summative Assessments, Book week door designs and as if that was not too much, they were also working on their gathering presentation. Thank you, parents, for the guidance you offered your child when making clocks and sand timers. In the coming week, we will be starting our unit on exploration as a means of looking at the past and present.

We will continue to learn about the concept of time, design timelines and work on word problems related to days, months and years. We will also look at various map skills and forms of record keeping to document the past.

The P4s will have their gathering presention on Friday the 1st of February, P4 parents you are welcome.

Cathy Wambua-Saha

Group presentations took place today, and a big thank you to all the parents who were able to come in and see them present their posters and projects. The children informed the class with their new knowledge about power and electricity. Each group made a model or machine that illustrated their power source. The pinwheels spun, water splashed, and apples swung with the help of a magnet. Nachos are cooking in the solar oven now, and a birthday cake awaits for our snack before dismissal. We have had many birthdays this month. Thank you all for sharing your celebrations with the class.

Next Monday students will be sharing their individual summative projects to end our unit. Parents and family are welcome to join us at 9:35. We will take a break at 10:15, then continue at 10:35. Students should come to school prepared to present. Book week is the following week, and we would love to have guest readers. Karibu!

Sarah Brummel

This week the P6 children have focused on using the Animoto website to produce some high quality advertisements of their cereal boxes. There were so many skills to learn, such as choosing photographs, adding music, adding text and adding a voiceover that it took several edits to achieve the desired result. The children are delighted with the end products which are shared on Seesaw. Our cereal boxes are now displayed in the cabinet on the breezeway just past Ms. Rosalia’s resources office. Please take a look when you are next on campus. In Maths the children have been using their multiplication and division skills to calculate the volume of cuboids when the measurement of one of the lengths is missing.

Next week we will work on our door decorations for book week, start inquiring into human body systems, read some poetry and measure angles. Please note that on Monday the P6 students are joining with P5 for a badminton tournament and should wear appropriate footwear.

Deborah Mills