Arusha Campus News – 8 Mar 2020

Mts Meru and Kili as seen from this weeks Biology and ESS Fieldtrip Camp in Monduli

I think ‘water’ has been my theme for the week. The heavy rain and muddy roads which made the Diploma Biology fieldtrip so much fun on Monday (see picture right)  to the rather more welcome watery world of our swimming pool for the two NTSAA Swim Galas that we hosted on Friday (Primary) and Saturday (Secondary). The galas were amazingly well organised by Mr Ratsakatika and the swimmers prepared to perfection by Coach Kevin. The immaculate preparation was rewarded by a double win – Arusha Campus winning both the Primary and Secondary galas outright!

In between, the watery start and end to the week, we have been having conversations about how to use water to help stop the spread of germs around school. We are reminding students, particularly the younger ones, to wash their hands well and regularly. Please try to remind your chuldren to do the same at home!

Finally, we have agreed to allow our friends from Christ Church School to use our pool for their swim gala. This will happen tomorrow on Monday 9th March from 8am. Apologies for the inconveninece.

Phil

The successful Primary Swim Team with Miss Amanda

The amazing 16+ Relay Team that won the final race of the day in a thrilling finish. From left, Ian, Caedmon, Lea and Tony

Book Week was quite special here, with assemblies and a variety of activities both in the primary and the secondary. Thank you for the fabulous costumes and the work that has gone into making this unforgettable for the students!

I am pleased to let you all know that Jube John in D1 has been awarded a $1,000 grant to help towards implementing her project “Books for Success”. A number of 62 project applications were submitted this year across various schools and colleges from the UWC community.  Jube should be very proud of her winning project, which will no doubt have an positive impact and make a difference! This project is to provide books to Saint Daniel Comboni Secondary School in Juba, South Sudan. Due to lack of books, students lack knowledge about the changing world of sciences, arts and literature. The plan is to buy books of sciences, arts and literature in order for them to acquire knowledge and become open minded students and researchers. Hopefully we can engage our school community to donate books and further enhance Jube’s impact! More information about  GoMakeADifference can be found at  www.gomakeadifference.global

On a different note, the subject-based (Environmental Systems and Societies, Biology and Languages B) field trips for D1 students were a success, despite the rain at the beginning of the week and we are now excited about next week’s P5 overnight trip to Moshi and the OP Level 3 trip to Ngorongoro-Natron. Have a wonderful weekend!

With best regards,

Ciprian

This week the primary school has celebrated ‘Book Week’. The students  performed a short skit, song or rap on stage in Thursday’s dress up character parade. The theme was an environmental story and this was reflected in the classroom doors, all of which were made from recycled materials.

Reading and storytelling with your child promotes brain development and imagination, teaches your child about language and emotions, and strengthens your relationship.
You don’t always need to read books. Try looking at picture books, singing rhymes and songs, or telling stories from your culture.
Children often enjoy books, songs and stories with good rhyme, rhythm and repetition.
Anytime is a good time for a book or story! Try to share at least one book or story each day.
Source raisingchildren.net.au/ 

Some students participated in the interschool swimming gala on Friday. The team performed amazingly and fully deserved their first place. It was great to see the improvement in students strokes and speed.

We will celebrate our school swimming at the inter house ‘fun gala’ on Friday 20th March. Please come and watch.

Amanda

Our new Scholastic Book Club is up and running! Go to https://world-schools.scholastic.co.uk/int-sch-moshi-arusha-campus to browse the latest books and order online. For every $1 you spend on this month’s Book Club, our school will earn 20¢ in Scholastic Rewards. Feel free to share this information with anyone who would like to order through our club, and the books will be delivered to school.

Please place your order online by April 15th, 2020.

Tembo takes a group selfie from the roof of a Land Rover

This week the D1 Biology and Environmental Systems and Societies students set out to Monduli Juu for the inaugural field trip to implement some of the techniques we have learnt in the classroom. Monday’s journey to the campsite was one to remember with several obstacles along the way. However, once we arrived, the sun shone and the mountains were in full view. The students worked extremely hard to complete a nocturnal species observation, pitfall traps, river transect (see picture below) and biomass studies. This was all topped off with the students designing their own research project in preparation for their IA’s next year. Of course, we did have some fun free time around the campfire and wildlife viewing, including; gerenuk, giraffe, Thomson’s gazelle and Grant’s gazelle. A big thank you to Ms Anoek, Mr Phil, Mr Issack and our amazing drivers who also accompanied our students.

Miss Ellis, Head of Science

On 20th March 2020, from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm, Arusha Climate Change Conference, a first of its kind, will be hosted at our very own UWCEA Arusha campus. It is being organized by WeInspire, a network of resourceful students who, led by Husseina Nurbhai and Paul Ochen, discuss and address looming global issues, climate change being our first global topic. The key objective of this conference is to raise awareness about climate change and challenge people to take necessary action in a bid to respond to it. There will also be student-engaging activities through the week leading up to the conference. Two expert speakers have been invited to give their views on how best climate change can be addressed in the 21st century. Also, people attending will be designated into groups of five through which they will discuss and develop simple yet informative proposals for a climate change response project, which will then be implemented with the proceeds from the conference. Tickets for the conference go for Tzshs 3,000 before the 20th of March, and Tzshs 5,000 on the 20th of March. Interested in attending? – make your payment and get your ticket through Ms Caroline Munishi at the reception. For more information, please feel free to contact WeInspire network through we.inspire21@gmail.com

I know that there are a number of you who have heard through the grapevine that I will be leaving at the end of the academic year. I would like to say that this is in fact, true. As the D2 students have been applying to university, I have been going through the same process. This has been a very stressful process and has been one that has been weighing on me.

This past week I received an offer from Queens University in Kingston Ontario which I have accepted. Here, I will be doing my Master’s in Education. I cannot begin to describe to all of you, how excited I am.

For me, this is a culmination of the last 8 years overseas. Starting out teaching PHE in Dar, moving to Kazakhstan, and back to ISMAC/UWCEA where I have become a part of this wonderful community. As mentioned above this decision is an exciting one, but I also feel a great deal of sadness. Arusha is not just the place where I live and work, it has become a second home. Arusha has become a big part of who I am, and I feel that I have been given a number of opportunities to grow both personally and professionally.

I would like to thank my family, extended family, and the community here. You have always been there to support me when needed and I hope that I have done the same. I will never forget my experiences, friends and everything that comes with living in such a spectacular country.

Next year will bring about a number of new challenges that I am looking forward to. Not only will I be furthering my education, but I am also currently in talks with the Queens Golden Gaels Football team. I will be joining their coaching staff in August and cannot wait to coach at this level.

Thank you all for your support and if there are any questions please feel free to ask.

Sincerely,

Mr. Reed Anderson

UWCEA  has a school membership at the Alliance Française providing benefits to school community members such as free use of the library to borrow books, movie and cultural evenings and discounts on some  other events such as the DELF.

The DELF (Diplôme d’Études en Langue Française) is an internationally recognized diploma awarded by the French Ministry of Education to certify the competency of candidates in the French Language. There is an opportunity to sign-up for a DELF session in June with the Alliance Française of Arusha.

This event is for non-native French students who would like their French skills to be recognized for personal or professional purposes. Sign-up will take place between March 2-April 2 for Secondary students and April 2- May 23 for Primary students. 

Cost varies according to the certificate level students register for (starting from 120,000 Tsh). If you would like more information, please speak to me or contact Aude Hertzler from the Alliance Française directly: training@aftarusha.org

Anyone who’s interested, please let me know either via email http://davidratsakatika@uwcea.org or in person. Also, for those who would like tennis coaching, Arusha Campus has access to the best tennis coach in Arusha in Lembris. He’ll be on the tennis courts with his coaching team every Tuesday from 4:30pm-5:30pm. All UWCEA-Arusha parents and teachers are welcome to attend coaching sessions, all abilities welcome. Lembris charges a 10,000TSH pay as you play service so karibuni.