Arusha Campus News – 28 Nov 2020

The Arusha Campus Sports Weekend Team prepare to leave for Moshi ahead of last weekend’s sporting marathon!

The Arusha contingent of the Mt Hanang OP trip enjoy the moments after the descent

You have waited TWO weeks for the latest edition of the newsletter and for that I have to apologise – finding time at last weekend’s sports weekend to find a quiet corner to write the newsletter proved beyond me!

A great weekend was had by all and I would like to thank the Moshi Campus and all their staff for welcomng us and hosting such a memorable event. THANK YOU!

There are plenty of pictures in this week’s newsletter – of the sports as well as the trip to Mt Hanang and of course photos of the ever active Primary School.

Dont forget that tomorrow we host the massive Arusha Christmas Fair so I hope you are able to come along and enjoy the occasion.

Next weekend we will inject culture into our recreation and enjoy the  school production of ‘Hairspray’. More on that to follow.

Finally, if you are a Primary parent and would like to join the Director for a cup of coffee and discussion about the impact that the transition to UWC has had on our Primary School, then please join us at 8am on Tuesday 1st December in the Perfromance Area.

Have a super weekend!

Phil

Wow what a busy coupke of weeks in the Primary School! P6 shared their electrical art with parents last Tuesday afternoon. The art was well explained and showed a great understanding of different circuits. P4/5 showed their simple machine creations on Friday morning with a variety of pulleys, wedges, inclined planes, wheels and axles, screws, and levers. Last Friday afternoon the P1/2 class shared their water filters and knowledge about water with their parents! Finally the lower primary classes shared their Swahili learning at Share Time. A great range of knowledge was presented. Thank you Miss Ann- Joyce.

Communicating our learning is an important aspect of the PYP philosophy and students are encouraged to show this in a variety of ways. The confidence our students have shown is fantastic. They also enjoy celebrating their achievements and sharing their work with others.

We have an amazing Primary School!

Amanda

Today’s PYP House Quiz set by Mr Ali was a hugely entertaining affair – the eventual winners?  MAWENZI!!!

The U13 squad celebrate a vctory in style!

At tomorrow’s Christmas Fair please look out for Shaheen, Jude and Tamutenda who are leading a reusable sewing pads project. Our main aim is to teach orphans how to sew reusable pads. To purchase materials needed for this project, We have decided to raise funds by selling tote bags on Saturday during the Christmas fair. 

Thank you!

Our U15 Ultimate Frisbee team proved unbeatable over the weekend!

APPROACHES TO LEARNING
Through ATL in IB programmes, students develop skills that have relevance across the curriculum that help them “learn how to learn”. ATL skills can be learned and taught, improved with practice and developed incrementally. They provide a solid foundation for learning independently and with others. ATL skills help students prepare for, and demonstrate learning through meaningful assessment. IB programmes identify five ATL skill categories, expanded into developmentally appropriate skill clusters as shown below:

What do we do here at UWCEA to promote the Approaches to Learning Skills (ATLs)?
Our MYP subject units are designed in a way that students learn to use one or two ATL skills in every unit. Also, our mentors and life skills teachers focus on these skills by providing some real life tasks. Picture below is an example of thinking skills (creativity) in the M4 English class where students need to use their imagination to draw the characters in the novel “Noughts and Crosses”.

All our ladies football teams – U19 pictured above – went through the weekend unbeaten – an amazing record!

Climbing the fourth highest mountain in Tanzania was a great experience. It was exciting for me at each point from the bus ride to the camping site, to walking/crawling on the slippery rocks and getting to wait for six hours after the bus got stuck in the mud. At the time the bus got stuck, we were already so exhausted and our muscles were sore. The last thing that we could do was to walk for almost an hour with the “hope” of getting the bus to use another route.
Unfortunately, we had to wait for six hours.
All these unlucky situations, it helped us to figure our way out when unplanned events arises and make us more patient.”

Cherish Nyakoon, D1

The U15 ladies netballers not only won their netball but went on to win the basketball too!

Simba SC were welcomed to UWCEA this week, as they prepared for their Central African Champions League tie against Plateau United in Nigeria on Wednesday. The players, cheered on by an enthusiastic group of students, staff and parents were put through their paces by the coaching team on a warm Monday evening.

Elite preparation, regardless of the sport, always allows people to see the bigger picture than just the game. A number of drills designed specifically to prepare for this game and the opposition, gave our student athletes an insight into how a squad works together for a goal and purpose.

After the session players happily signed autographs and posed for selfies. We look forward to welcoming them back the next time they are in Arusha, and good luck on Wednesday!

Creativity, activity, service (CAS) is one of the three core elements that every student must complete as part of the Diploma Programme (DP). CAS involves students in a range of activities alongside their academic studies. It is not formally assessed. However, students reflect on their CAS experiences as part of the DP, and provide evidence of achieving the seven learning outcomes for CAS.
CAS is all about learning through experience. The focus can be on creativity (such as taking part in our school production or debate club) activity (for example playing a team sport or learning how to swim) or service (making a meaningful contribution to our community). It provides opportunities for student initiative and collaboration with others.
In addition to shorter experiences, students have to engage in a CAS or Self-initiated Project once per DP year. We are proud of our recent and ongoing CAS projects. You may know that many of our students lead CCAs in both primary and secondary school. There is a long list of other projects, and I can only share a few unfortunately. Tamutenda, Shaheen and Jube have initiated a re-usable sanitary menstrual pads initiative to support girls here in Arusha. Another group of students is involved in translating and making our school’s Safeguarding Policy more accessible to young and old in our school community. A special congratulations to Mariam, Lydia, Ali and Jube who won the Young Aurora Humanitarian Award with their CAS project!

A special congratulations to Mariam, Lydia, Ali and Jube who won the Young Aurora Humanitarian Award with their Beehive Divide project, focused on establishing peaceful co-existence between elephants and villagers in Sanya Hoyee village in Siha District. The Aurora Initiative aims to encourage UWC students to engage in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable and practical manner with current humanitarian issues affecting a community. Our students will receive a $4,000 grant towards the further development of their project.

Miss Anoek, CAS Co-ordinator

As you might remember, before the October break I wrote to you informing you of the swimming lessons planned for our wonderful local team here on site. Well, as we close in towards the holiday, I felt now was a good time to let you know how they are getting on.

We regularly have fifteen or more swimmers in the pool every Friday, and it has been such a privilege to be in the water with these people. The energy, the laughs, smiles and jokes have been brilliant, but ultimately, they have also all improved so much in the water! We in fact can celebrate that Gregory and Silas, from complete beginners have swam a width now, and Nuru completed 25m this week! A truly incredible achievement by them!

The sessions normally wind down with a ‘friendly’ game of water polo, but let me tell you that the rule book goes straight out of the window as you can tell by the photos! Let me tell you, that the ladies are probably more aggressive than the guys in the game as well, but it is such so much.

We hope to continue after the holidays and keep your eye out for some more aquatic adventures on the horizon, but for now I am sure you will join me by congratulating all the swimmers, and thanking the teachers who have given their time too help, along with Coach Kevin and Mr. Samwel who have been brilliant.

Matt Uffindall

Attitude of Gratitude

With the world continuing to create uncertainty and worry for so many, it has not escaped our small community. Many of the students have been contemplating the challenges of traveling outside of Tanzania as the pandemic continues to impact many parts of the world, and there are those who are resigned to the fact that they will not have an opportunity to see their loved ones during this break. These circumstances have led to students responding in a variety of ways to the lack of control they feel, and the possibility of not being able to enjoy certain traditions in the same way. For this, we offer a simple solution, practice the attitude of gratitude.

Gratitude continues to be highlighted as one of the most basic elements of a rewarding and resilient life. The more effort that is put into reflecting on what you are grateful for, the less time is spent focusing on the aspects of life that are not as enjoyable. In this article https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/what-are-you-grateful-for-2/ not only does the author emphasize the health benefits of infusing more gratitude into your life, but there is also a challenge for  young people to think about ways that their lives have been enhanced by expressing and receiving genuine appreciation. Some of our students have created gratitude journals, while others have spent time throughout the semester writing notes of appreciation to their peers and teachers. It truly is the little things that mean a lot, as a little appreciation can go a long way. Try practicing some today!

On the university side, we are extremely grateful for all of the institutions from around the world who have presented to our students throughout the month of November. We have enjoyed a global collegiate experience, and appreciate the multitude of options that have been presented to students without having to leave campus. Some of the presenters were up at extremely early hours of the day in order to engage with our students. We started off in the US and ended this week in Africa with the African Leadership University. Although we are scaling back for the end of the year, there are still a few opportunities to participate in upcoming events to help with the post-secondary decision making process.

One last note of gratitude is for the grassroots initiative put forth by a growing group of US colleges and universities. If the US is on your radar for international study, please be sure to take a look at the new scholarship program called #YouAreWelcomeHere

This is an effort to show international students just how much they are appreciated on the campuses of US institutions. Consider attending an institution where you will be welcomed as an asset to the community, while receiving scholarship funding throughout your educational journey.

Wishing you a weekend of enjoying all that you have to be thankful for.

Asante sana na wekiendi njema,

UWCEA School Counseling Team

Most of you probably know of Rotary, the charity organisation that organized the triathlon last weekend. Perhaps you have also heard about Interact, the youth branch of Rotary. An Interact branch run by students has just been started up on UWCEA Arusha Campus. Our first meeting was only last Thursday but our first project has already been decided on:

The Christmas Project will focus on an orphanage in Arusha with approximately a hundred children. Interact will collect donations to buy each child a box of basic necessities, including a toothbrush, toothpaste, and soap; a personalized gift of the child’s choice (a toy, a pair of socks, a colouring book, etc.); and treats.

We hope you will take a moment to consider if you have cloth or toys your child has outgrown or if you know someone who might. A cardboard box has been placed by the reception for you to drop off items you think would be suitable for our Christmas project. If we get toy donations too “large” to use for individual gifts, we will donate them to the orphanage’s common playrooms. If you would rather make a money donation, Ms Caroline can receive those at the reception as well.

We urgently need Cadbury Drinking Chocolate containers in 450gr pots. These pots are needed to store the daily milk rations for Savannah, Burigi, Maswa and a newcomer being cared for at Kilimanjaro Animal Rescue Centre!

Registration opens next week!!

Registration for Kili Trails 2021 will open on Saturday, 28NOV. Online registration will be available by credit card payment via our website’s registration page. But we are excited to announce we will also be at the Arusha Christmas Fair, where you and your family can register via cash or mobile money.

Our early bird pricing will be live Saturday, and we encourage you to register early in order to ensure you receive finisher medals.  Check out our website for more details.

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