Moshi Campus News – 20 Jan 2023

The campus is in full motion again as activities have kicked off. At all levels, students are engaged in a wide range of experiences that suit their interests. I thank the volunteers, staff and students leading the different activities. One of those activities is the production which will open in two short weeks and tickets are on sale now. Please see Agnes in the front office.

Next week, we have a few events as you can see below, but I would like to highlight that Shelby and Gale Davis are visiting the Moshi campus on Friday 27th January and Arusha on Monday 30th January. They are huge supporters of the UWC movement and this will be their first visit to UWC East Africa. We will have a short welcoming assembly at 10:00am on Friday, which you are welcome to attend. They will also be meeting students, staff and touring the school. Due to the assembly, the Farmers’ Market will start at 1:00pm so please make note.

For MYP parents, please note Ms. Farah’s upcoming meeting on the MYP programme and please also be on the lookout for the trip information for the upcoming Week Without Walls which will be shared through Life.

Bob Cofer-Head of Campus

This list is not exhaustive and changes are highly likely. External sports events and OP trips are not included here.

Whole School Events

Friday 27th January-Shelby & Gale Davis Campus Visit

(Whole School Assembly-10:00-10:30am)

Friday 27th January-Farmers’ Market 1:00-4:00pm

Thursday 2nd February-6:45pm-Beauty and the Beast

Friday 3rd February-6:45pm-Beauty and the Beast

Friday 24th-Monday 27th February-UWCEA Long Weekend

Tuesday 28th February-Friday 3rd March-Book Week

Saturday 4th March-UWCEA International Festival (tentative)

Friday 31st March-Last Day of Q3

Saturday 1st–Sunday 16th April-School Holiday

PYP Events

Tuesday 7th March-PYP Swim Gala

Thursday 16th March-PYPX 2023

Thursday 23rd March-Student-Led Conferences

MYP Events

Monday 23rd January-MYP Parents Check-In 4:30-5:30pm & 6:00-7:00pm- Room 6

Friday 27th January-3:30-5:30pm-Secondary Spelling Bee-Rafiki

Monday 6th February-10:30am-MYP Assembly (students only)

Monday 13th-Friday 17th February-Week Without Walls

Wednesday 15th March-Final Drafts of PP Reports due

Wednesday 15th March-MYP Swim Gala

Friday 17th March-‘Le Cabaret’ Talent Show-7:00-9:00pm-Rafiki

W/B Monday 20th March–M5 e-Assessments Mocks/Summatives

Wednesday 29th March-M5-D1 Career and Skills Symposium

Thursday 30th March-Secondary PTCs

Thursday 20th April-M5 deadline for submission of Design e-Portfolio and all Personal Projects to the IB

Thursday 20th April-M5 Personal Project Exhibition

Monday 8th-Friday 19th May-M5 e-Assessments (there will not be assessments every day)

Friday 2nd June-M5 Ceremony

DP Events

Friday 27th January-3:30-5:30pm-Secondary Spelling Bee-Rafiki

Wednesday 8th-Friday 17th February-D2 Mock Exams

Monday 13th-Friday 17th February-D1 Project Week

Monday 6th-Friday 17th March-D2 Final Oral Exams

Friday 17th March-‘Le Cabaret’ Talent Show-7:00-9:00pm Rafiki

Sunday 19th-Tuesday 21st March-D2 ARTX

Thursday 30th March-Secondary PTCs

Friday 21st April-Last day of classes for D2 students

Friday 21st April-Prom 2023

Friday 28th April-Thursday 18th May-D2 Final Exams

Friday 19th May-D2 Graduation

Monday 29th May-Friday 2nd June-D1 End of Year Exams

Wednesday 7th -Friday 9th June-D1 Group 4 Project 

Monday 12th-Tuesday 13th June-D1 TOK Exhibition 

University and College Events

Friday 24th February-Deadline to register for Saturday 11th March SAT 

Tuesday 21st March-CIS University Exploration Day Africa-1:00-4:00pm

Wednesday 29th March-M5-D1 Career and Skills Symposium 

Residential Events

Thursday 26th January-7:00pm Kisiwa Residential Dinner

Please keep checking the school calendar for the most up to date information

 

The much anticipated whole school production of Beauty and the Beast is now just around the corner. Many people are working very hard to make sure everything is ready for the performances to be a huge success and a true reflection of the enormous community effort involved.

Tickets are available NOW from Ms. Agnes in the Front Office so please do take the time to drop in and book your seats. Remember, tickets cost 5,000TSH for students and 10,000TSH for adults. The performances are on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd February in K-Hall from 6:45pm. DO NOT MISS OUT!

Ben Morley-Deputy Head of Campus

This week in residence has been what we call, ‘returning to the norm.’ This has involved transitioning back into our routines, mentoring our new students in MYP and PYP, and thinking ahead about the quarter that awaits. Such thought involves creativity, listening to others, collaborating with peers and staff, and exploring how we can improve the feeling of happiness and well-being of our community- one of our key Values.

To this regard, I would like to extend our invitation to all MYP parents to a virtual and physical meeting with myself and Ms. Farah, our MYP coordinator, for an informal catch-up to review the MYP curriculum, share important dates and to discuss the initiatives we are putting plans in place regarding mentoring and inclusive activities throughout the semester. We would also value your feedback and insight into our programme. The link to the related survey can be found here: MYP Parent Check-in – Google Forms

In a fortnight, I will also extend the same invitation to our Diploma parents and, then, our PYP parents to ensure that you all feel involved and included in our school from afar. More importantly, we want you to feel comfortable reaching out for any assistance or with any queries you might have.

I am also pleased to announce that we have our new Student Government for 2023 and they are already working on insightful proposals to lead our student body. Their enthusiasm, excitement and critical thinking has already uplifted us in so many ways.

Looking ahead to next week, we await the curious residential dinner hosted by Kisiwa involving each house solving an intriguing mystery at set locations around the campus. Who will solve the mystery first?

Thank you to all those involved in our Residential Programme, the second largest in the UWC community.

Simon Johnston-Head of Residential Life

Two weeks into the semester and it does not feel like we were ever away. Everyone is already back into the routine.

On Monday, we had an assembly where we thanked last year’s Student Government and introduced the new members. Congratulations to all of them but especially Deogracious and Amalia our new Co Presidents. Honour Roll certificates were also presented.

On Wednesday, the D1 students were introduced to the Extended Essay. This is at the core of the IB Diploma and is a continuation of the PYP Exhibition and the MYP Personal Project. Students will review the presentation in Diploma Success Skills and will also hear from their subject teachers about the Extended Essay in the different subjects. They will need to carry out some research and then pick the two subjects they are interested in. It is important they justify why they want to explore a particular subject as we use that when allocating subjects. They have until March 1st to submit this form.

A lot of time has been spent this week with D2 looking at the remaining deadlines. I have had many fruitful conversations and email exchanges about this. The students know what they need to do and have plans in place. There are four months left and everyone needs to make the most of the time. On Thursday, we talked about Graduation and are organising groups who will plan the various components. We also discussed the arrangements for residential students around Graduation and we will be emailing parents about this next week.

On Friday, Shelby and Gale Davis will be visiting the school. They are major donors to the UWC movement and sponsors of many of our students here and at university. There will be an assembly at 10:00am to which parents are welcome.

Margaret Brunt-DP Coordinator

Part of the MYP programme is allowing the students to experience interdisciplinary learning through which they transfer skills across subjects in order to:

*Make connections between knowledge and the world around us
*Gain perspective
*Organize multiple tasks
*Demonstrate agency
*Create opportunities to be open-minded

On Wednesday, the M1 class went on a trip to Mr. William and Ms. Marissa’s house as a launch to their first IDU (Interdisciplinary Unit) between Design, French and Math about housing. Students are tasked with designing a house, using calculations, and then pitching their products to potential French-speaking buyers.

As Mr. William and Ms. Marissa are currently building their own cob house, with their original design, our team thought it was an excellent opportunity for our students to broaden their conceptual understanding in this area.

Some feedback from the trip:

“I was surprised that you can build house walls out of clay, sand, water and straw only.”
“Mixing it with our feet, stamping and dancing, was good fun!”
“A cob house is actually strong and cool inside when outside is warm.”
“C’était très amusant et très bien.”

Mr. Julien, Mme. Pearl and Mr. Baden

Have a beautiful week.

Farah Fawaz-MYP Coordinator

This week, we have a very excited group of students heading out to Mkuru for Plains Level 3. We wish them well on this epic adventure.

Next weekend, we have two trips going out, namely Rides Level 2 to Pamoja and Peaks Level 3 to Usambara. If you are still interested in joining either of these, please see Mr. Isaac or Mr. Baden as soon as possible.

…and in bigger news! Make sure you look out for our second Level 5 trip this year! Yes, you guessed it…Plains Level 5 to Ngorongoro Conservation Area to walk with the great wildebeest migration. This trip is taking place from 23rd-27th February over the long weekend. Get your name on the list fast as spaces are limited to 25 students. Signups are open through the UWCEA Moshi Life platform.

Baden Dowie-Experiential Learning Coordinator

Early application decisions are all in and the Moshi campus faired well. We have just under 70% of students who applied either early decision or early application receive an offer. This is great news as the competition among early applicants has increased significantly again this application cycle making an acceptance letter a valued item. Many students across the world received deferred or rejection status. Great Job to our seniors who were accepted!

Please take note of the upcoming University and College Events listed at the start of this newsletter. We have just begun to schedule visits for this quarter, so stay tuned for more visits coming our way!

Andrea Kitomary-University/College Counselor

The Primary and Secondary clubs got off to a good start this week with teachers, students and members of the community offering a variety of options. First and foremost, we would like to thank Dr. Volker for his ongoing efforts in renovating the volleyball courts. He has been working on this project for many months. We would also like to thank Mr. Caleb for his support with the Primary rugby club and for assisting the students in learning, growing and discovering touch rugby.

The students are looking forward to a few exciting sporting events. Please see the list of upcoming NTSAA events below:
Saturday 4th February-U15 Boys and Girls Football; U17/Open Boys and Girls Basketball and Volleyball friendly matches-UWCEA Arusha Campus
Saturday 11th February-U15 Boys and Girls Football; U17/Open Boys and Girls Basketball and Volleyball friendly matches-UWCEA Moshi Campus

The upcoming semester promises to be just as exciting as the last one. More updates will be shared soon.

Mostafa Rihan-Sports & Activities Coordinator

Last weekend, five swimmers took part in the very first Mid and Long Distance Festival hosted by Red Knot Racing. The shortest distances covered were 200m, the longest, 3km. Our team won 6 x 1st place medals, 3 x 2nd place medals and 5 x 3rd place medals, as well as the Overall Female Winner trophy. Six swim clubs from Dar es Salaam, Mwanza and Arusha took part and there was some steep competition with Tanzanian national team members taking part!

Kudos to Delhem Rashid, Hugo van Zwetselaar, Aaron Bachmann & Maria Bachmann (alumna) for their incredible performances.

Debbie Bachmann

Many thanks to everyone who has purchased a production t-shirt. If you missed the deadline and still wish to purchase one, we are still taking orders until Monday lunchtime. Aduits are welcome to purchase a t-shirt too!

Rehearsals for the production are entering the final stages. There is a whole cast and chorus (P2–P6) rehearsal this Saturday 21st January, 10:30am–12:00pm in K-Hall. There will also be whole cast and chorus rehearsals on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th. Please check your inboxes for an email with morel details later this week. Beauty and the Beast tickets are on sale in the front office–the scenes that I have glimpsed during rehearsals look great so be sure to buy tickets for an entertaining evening out.

As you will read elsewhere in this newsletter, Mr. Shelby Davis, the largest single donor to the UWC movement, will be visiting our campus on Friday 27th January, with his wife, Gale There will be a whole school assembly on that day at 10:00am in K-Hall. You are very welcome to attend.

Deborah Mills-PYP Coordinator 

We looked at the difference between living and non-living things this week. The children came up with an easy list that they could use to tell the difference between the two. They have put the list to good use in class and they will come home with the list on Monday for their home learning work.

Last week, the children planted beans as a whole class growing project. They are responsible for watering their own plant and taking good care of it. If you would like to do the same at home with a quick growing plant, it will be wonderful. You can use the living things checklist which will be coming home on Monday to illustrate that plants are also living things.

We would like to visit a farm in the coming few weeks. If you know of any farm that is near school that has a good mix of animals and plants growing and that we can visit and learn from, please let us know.

Mboka Mwasongwe

Another busy week in P2/3! The class was very excited to start Clubs for the Quarter. It has been hot in the afternoons so it is advisable to send in a hat for outdoor clubs-the clubs on the pitch are very sunny!

We combined our Imagination play about robots with our study of shapes and the class enjoyed creating robots and writing stories about them. We had stories about football-playing robots and robots who are able to do homework or make pizzas on demand. Mr. Emmanuel and I could use an extra robot teacher as we have moved to having split Math classes every day.

 

P3 has started working with multiplication while P2 is making strides with fact fluency in subtraction and addition. It is going very well! We also finished our wonderful chapter book on Friday-Nim’s Island. We started to watch the film adaptation and will continue it next week. We will be sure to compare and contrast the book and the film. It has been a class favorite!

Kacey Buckley

This week, the children have been performing Readers’ Theater in class. Ms. Catherine and I are very impressed with the effort they have been making to put expression into their voices. The children enjoyed sharing some of this work in our Primary Gathering on Friday. Thank you to all who were able to attend.

 

We have been learning to write and identify similes where two things are compared using the words “like” or “as.” We have started writing two class books and are looking forward to sharing these with you at our Student-Led Conferences later this quarter. In Maths, we have been practicing division with remainders. Some children are working with counters and others are using their knowledge of times tables to calculate the answers. Next week, the children will focus on using voice to inform and will put what they know about effective public speaking into practice. All of the P4/5 children have returned the production t-shirt order form and money. Thank you for your support at getting this completed so quickly. Please check your inboxes regularly for information regarding production rehearsal times in the coming week.

Deborah Mills

The PYP Exhibition is officially underway: preparations have begun! The week started with our Retreat. Everyone worked hard in class but then also had time to relax, playing football or rounders before a dip in the pool to cool off. We slept at Kishari and enjoyed flashlight tag.

On Tuesday, we completed a 2 hour hike and we spoke about journeys being hard work sometimes but good when finished: this foreshadows our PYPX! Our motto this week was, “Find something you like doing and it won’t feel like work!” This is a key component of the exhibition: the students get to choose what they want to learn about. This should engage and inspire them. All students have chosen a Central Idea now and, next, we will narrow that down by working on our Lines of Inquiry. Please feel free to discuss this with your child: we are all part of their learning community.

I’ll be sending out dates for a parent meeting re. the PYPX very soon.

Hywel Davies