We have come to that point in a regular year when we would have a buzz of activity around campus. Looking at the calendar we have sports days, project weeks, focus days and others that were missed. These are important to the school for educational reasons, they are also important to us as they allow us the time to make memories and say goodbye during the holiday or beyond. For most of us, we plan to be back in August and resume these relationships built over time and shared experiences. For some students and families who are moving on, this time has been more difficult. For you, please know that we will miss you, but with today’s communication tools we know that distance will not stop us from connecting with you in the future. I hope you stay connected with our community. We will have a little bit more of a goodbye in the assembly on Thursday at 10am.
This week we also have report cards coming home. Due to the disruptions since March and our missed conferences then, we are looking at Zoom conferences this week for those that wish to schedule one. You will see more information below from Coordinators and teachers.
This is our last regular newsletter of the school year. We will have focused updates through the break on specific topics and a pre-opening newsletter in late July.
As we head into the holidays, I always remind people to stay safe as they have fun, I dare say this applies more than most years. No matter where you are right now and your plans for the next few months, I hope that you enjoy yourself and have time to relax. For those returning I hope to see you in person looking ready for school in August.
Bob Cofer
Farewells
At this time of the year we need to say farewell to some staff as well that will be leaving us. First off, we have 7 members of staff that have worked at the school for an average of over 30 years. This experience will be missed as we continue our journey. I have talked with them already and we will be inviting them back in the new year to give them the proper goodbye they deserve for all they have done for the school.
In addition, like every year, we have some teachers leaving us, Ian Horne, our Head of Residential Life; David Ochieng our MYP Coordinator; Cathy Wambua-Saha our PYP Coordinator; Zoe McIvor in Science, Mary Pantlin in Music; Owain Evans in EC; Will Melhado in Science and Elena Gallego in Languages. As well Delphine Riziki will be relocating to Arusha to lend her experience to their residential program.
A large heartfelt thank you to everyone that is leaving us this year. While the circumstances of the goodbye are not ideal, please know that you have meant a lot to the school and the community.
Bob Cofer
Ben’s Corner
As the end of the year draws nigh, I am reminded of the UWC Mission, to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. I have always been struck by the notion of education as something forceful. Something significant, powerful and important. Looking back on this unprecedented year, I am once again struck by the important role a school can play in shaping our collective future. Our richly diverse community is a celebration of otherness. Here, we strive to value and celebrate every voice and recognise that every individual contributes to the success of the group.
Over the coming weeks, please find time to cherish being part of a genuine global community and a culture of respectful, responsive listening. UWCEA is and must always be far more than a place of academic learning. I hope UWCEA helps nurture a shared sense of belonging that is so evidently missing in the world today. Take these values with you.
These last few months have been enormously challenging for everyone. I wanted to say a particularly heartfelt thank you to all the staff here on Moshi campus for your togetherness, flexibility and enormous commitment during these strange, disconnected times.
I would also like to thank the parents and guardians, for giving us your trust, support and positivity. I am a father too and, believe me, I know what a strain online learning has been at times.
To all the families that are moving on, I am sorry that your time at UWCEA had to end like this. Please do stay in touch and we hope a little piece of Moshi travels with you. Similarly, to all the teachers whose time with us has come to an end, asante sana for your passion, time, energy and support. All the very best in your next adventures.
Lastly, as always, thank you to you, the students. Thank you for your energy, resilience, curiosity, sense of fun and kindness. Remember, as Anthony J. D’Angelo once said, “Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.” Above all, thank you to each and every one of you for your commitment to care. The empathy, support and friendship at UWCEA is deeply heartwarming and gives me hope that our Mission remains a realistic possibility.
Enjoy a safe and restful break and I look forward to seeing you all again, in person, in August. Hope springs eternal. Stay safe and look after each other.
Ben Morley
Diploma News
We have come to the end of the teaching year. It has been a challenging year for both students and staff and I would like to commend everyone for the hard work they have put in and the resilience they have shown.
To our D2 students It has been lovely to see those of you who have popped in to collect your belongings from the residence and to drop off your textbooks and I look forward to seeing a few more next week. I am sorry that I will not get to see some of you. I wish you the best of luck in your future. Your results will be available on the 6th July. I have sent you the code so you can access them. Please let me know if you have any questions about this. We look forward to seeing you next year, when you pop in before leaving for further studies and for a celebration at some point. Please make sure we have a way to contact you.
To our D1 students Congratulations for completing the first year of the diploma. It has been tough for you but you have survived. I will be sending a list of work for the vacation early next week. This is not about learning new content, unless you have got behind, but about consolidation and preparing for next year. You will need to do research for IAs and EE but do not need to be writing them up. I will also resend the deadline schedule.
It is really important you take some time to relax and recharge. This year has not been easy and next year will also be hard so come back with some renewed energy.
Teachers have been working on the reports and we aim to issue these on Monday 15th June. We will then have virtual parent and teacher conferences. If a teacher has concerns, they will arrange a time to meet with you. If you would like to meet a teacher or me please send an email and that can be arranged.
To all students and parents We look forward to seeing you at our virtual final assembly on Thursday 18th June at 10:00 am (EAT). My apologies to those of you for whom this means waking up early, we will make a recording available. Learner Profile and Honour Roll certificates will be announced. The actual certificates will be handed over next year.
Margaret Brunt
MYP News
MYP Distance Learning Most classes ended on Friday June 12. Congratulations to all members of the school community who made virtual learning a success. Your pragmatism and ability to embrace the ‘new normal’ during this period have been encouraging. We wish to express gratitude to the teachers and students who spent hours together in these sessions interspersed with assessments delivered through various platforms and tools. We salute parents who sacrificed to provide infrastructure and logistics to make this happen. Thank you all for your resilience, zeal and commitment to ensure the success of this programme.
Reports and Parent Teacher Conferences Teachers are working through this weekend to ensure reports are released early in the week beginning June 15. This is deliberate to enable parents and students go through the brief and succinct reports and decide on any necessary virtual conferences with teachers immediately. Requests for parent teacher conferences can be made by either the teacher or parent and scheduled for a mutually agreed time in the course of the coming week.
Thank You After four short years, this is my last newsletter. Allow me to say how thankful I am for the dedicated support I have received from you in the last four years. It has been a privilege to work with such a supportive community who doubled up as great friends. It gives me great satisfaction that the children you entrusted to me have blossomed like flowers and their sweet aroma in sports, service, social or intellectual growth have wafted not only locally but also across borders. At no time did they disappoint me in words or deeds. Those I was privileged to teach went on to cherish and enjoy my subject while others saw in me a model and they didn’t hide it at every opportunity or occasion. They understood what the three virtues of honesty, justice and fairness meant in our daily interactions.
I am very thankful and indebted to you parents. In the immediate last two M5 graduations, some of you literally decorated the ceremony hall (Rafiki) from your own resources. You accompanied your children voluntarily on trips and never turned me down when I sought your support in organizing service or any activity. I have fond memories of how you donated your time in the last two years to facilitate robust Career days for D1 and M5 students every April. I won’t forget how you opened your doors wider for students to work in your companies, businesses and institutions generously and without question during M5 Work Experience weeks. Working together, we resolved issues that arose in the MYP family with respect and understanding. We exalted the welfare of your children and guarded their wellbeing. When your children were happy, we celebrated and when they were sad; we empathized together. It is time to pass on the baton, please extend this goodwill to others too.
As for what we have been able to achieve, they are in the annals of UWCEA history and we better leave them to the chroniclers.
David Ochieng
From the Counselor
We made it to the end of a school year filled with enough ups and downs to be an amazing roller coaster ride. The key is that we have made it through, and as we prepare to disembark from this school year, I hope you will take some time to reflect on this wild ride. As you reflect, be sure to ensure that you consider the positives along with the negatives, and who you are as a result of all that has happened. Growth does not happen without some “growing pains,” and although uncomfortable they help lead us to a much better version of ourselves. In addition, it is a good time to express gratitude to the people in your life who helped you thrive during the challenging times and enrich your life in spite of it all.
I hope that you were able to read this week’s Wellness Wednesday Weekly and continue to find things in your life that give you hope for a brighter future. In the newsletter, there is a link to the survey we are conducting on enhancing the way we provide mental health services to our school community. This survey is for staff, students, parents, and other vested members of our school community. Please take a moment to complete this survey by Friday, 19 June at 3:00 PM EAT. Thank you to those of you who have already responded. Your insights are tremendously valuable as we continue to improve the way we support the mental health and wellbeing of our school community, especially as we prepare to open again after a quarter+ of Distance Learning and the long break.
Over the long break, I encourage you to have a family talk about the cost of college/university and the application process. This will be essential to creating a realistic plan moving forward. Most institutions in the US have a section of their website that is the Net Price Calculator and the College Board also provides a section on planning to pay for college they call the College Cost Calculator. In addition, I encourage parents who are preparing for the process of letting go, I want to share this excellent presentation about building a RAFT or RAKE to ensure smooth sailing for your child as they prepare to launch. Lastly, for those of you who have students preparing to go to the US this coming academic year, I have scheduled a meeting with the US Consular in Tanzania for Wednesday, 17 June at 4:00PM. Invitations have been sent out to students, but I welcome any others who are interested to email me to receive the invitation.
Finally, as we wrap up the year, I encourage everyone to continue to explore the wealth of resources available in the following places:
Maia Learning (Current M5 or D1 parents: If you still want Parent Access, please email me so that I can send it to you).
UCAS, Common App, or Coalition Application websites (They are the most popular application websites for UK and US and offer a variety of planning resources.)
Visit the websites and social media of the institutions and programs that you are interested in exploring. They are all working to increase their online resources given the impact of the pandemic on their ability to provide in person meetings and tours.
The last of the events that we are promoting for this year shown above.
Most importantly, create time to enjoy the things that are meaningful in life, and that give life purpose. Have a wonderful break!
Cassandra Ford
PYP News
We have come to the end of our year! Congratulations to all the families, teachers and the rest of our UWCEA heroes. We will be sending out the report cards on Monday, 15th June.
You will notice that the attainment grade for each subject area, has not been included. Assessing children during distance learning needed flexibility and more of observational comments, rather than grading the students’ performance. Putting a grade against the children’s performance would not be accurate, as there were new challenges they faced adjusting to this different mode of learning.
The teachers are available to discuss the children’s progress through scheduled Zoom meetings this next week. Please contact your child’s teacher to book an appointment.
To all the families that are leaving us, I would like to wish you all the best and happy summer holidays to everyone!
Cathy Wambua-Saha
P6 Class
The P6 class kept working up until the “final bell.” We finished off our unit on puberty with a “Who wants to be a millionaire?” style quiz on Friday morning. There will be no further online classes for P6 – they now have the opportunity to take a well deserved break. Many thanks to all of the parents who worked so hard to ensure that the online learning tasks were completed and submitted. The children might not fully understand how much time and effort it took on your part, but I certainly do! Please can all families send school supplies (reading books, rulers, protractors etc.) back to school on Tuesday between 10:30 and 12:00. I will email you a list of the materials that need to be returned. Next week we will have a virtual final whole school assembly. This will include a slideshow to celebrate the end of the P6 students’ time in the PYP. I wish the children the very best as they move into the MYP and am looking forward to seeing most of them on campus in August. Ian, Julian and Reuben – good luck in your new schools and please stay in touch.
Deborah Mills
P5 Class
The P5 ended the year with a week full of compliments, gratitude, and fun. We had the first ever online Rock Party today to celebrate everyone’s hard work and commitment to their education for the past few months. Together with the help of Zoom, we took a tour of bedrooms, enjoyed a dance party, and watched part of a movie. It was a lot of fun to dance with the class! I think they all had fun too.
Next week, talent show entries are due by Monday at noon. On Tuesday at 1:30, we will join with the P5 of Arusha on Zoom to watch the talent show on Zoom. I will also email the link for the video.
You are invited to sign up for an end of the year conference next Wednesday or Thursday. I will share a google doc with you all to sign up if you would like to meet for a Zoom talk. We will have our Closing Circle on Wednesday.
Sarah Brummel
P4 Class
The P4s have made it through the year. Congratulations P4 families!
The children have created amazing presentations on systems they adopted in order to cope with distance learning. I appreciate all the support from parents and thank all the families for this great year.
I will be receiving class resources on Monday and Tuesday as well as connecting with parents who would like to conference about their child’s progress (on Tuesday from 10:30 to 12 noon). Zoom invites will be shared through email.
I wish you all a wonderful summer break and all the best to Josephine and Jasmijn as they move on to new beginnings.
Cathy Wambua-Saha
P3 Class
We’ve wrapped up our online learning this week with presentations and STEM challenges in P3. Since it’s the last week of online learning, it only made sense that the students have fun! The students have been making bows and arrows, paper benches, transferring water, designing clothing inspired by nature, and building rafts that float. If you find any of these ideas inspiring, check out Upstudio’s Facebook page and check out what challenges you can complete.
Along with having fun with STEM challenges, students have also been presenting their favourite activity from our last unit.
I’ve taught some of these students for 2 years now. It’s a bittersweet end to the year knowing we couldn’t throw the party of the year in our class. However, it’s reassuring knowing that the students will only be next door, and I shall have to keep yelling “you’re too loud, we’re having DEAR time” at them out the window!
High fives, and virtual hugs to you P3 kids! Good luck next in P4, watch out Ms. Kacey!
Elisha Jaffer
P 1/2 Class
The children shared excellent and meaningful family books this week. They were full of information. The effort put into creating them was so evident. Well done P1/2!
This coming week, we will be focusing on wrapping up any last items and conferencing. On Tuesday between 10:30am and 12:00pm, please drop off any school items at the gate. These will be library books, class readers, number squares, laminated sound cards and anything that belongs in school. If there are any items that your child left in class, you will find them in a bag waiting for you to pick up. These will be items like hats, indoor shoes or used exercise books.
We do not usually have parent conferences at the end of the school year, but you are welcome to communicate with me if you wish to discuss the progress of your child. I will be available on Monday (11am to 12:30pm) and Tue/Wed between 10am to 12pm.
We will have our final zoom class meeting on Monday at our usual time of 10am.
Mboka Mwasongwe
EC Class
It is with an outbreath of air and more than a little sense of sadness that my time working with the fabulous children of EC has come to an end. What a talented, kind and loving crew they have been. Congratulations to all the families for the way you’ve responded to the last 8 weeks as well as the support you continue to give to our littlest.
I am very happy to see that the children will be moving onto a new chapter of their learning with the skilled and committed hands of Miss Mboka at the helm.
This is me then, signing off… and wishing you all the very best for the future,
