Moshi Campus News – 25 Jan 2025

This week it seems that summer has fully kicked in. The heat however has not stopped the activity around campus. This week our first outdoor pursuits trip of the semester is climbing Mt Meru currently and the production is in full swing. Service started this week with some planning for the semester. Clubs will be kicking off soon as well.

As always, we recommend keeping an eye on the school calendar to see what is happening. In the next newsletter we will also be sharing the timetable of the upcoming Market days on campus this semester.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

The much anticipated whole school production of The Bucket Tree 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. Furaha 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 30th and Friday 31st January in K-Hall from 7:00pm. DO NOT MISS OUT!

Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus

This week’s DP update will be short as I am climbing Mount Meru with some diploma students this weekend. The OP program at our school is an amazing opportunity to take learning outside of the classroom and I’m excited to cheer them on (and up) as we climb the 5th highest peak in Africa.

A reminder that we have a DP Parent Zoom this Wednesday at 9am. I shared the link in an email earlier this week. If you did not receive it, please let me know. We will focus on academics, residential life, health and safety and university updates. Looking forward to seeing you then.

As you know in November our D1 students went off into the wild for project week. At the end they produce a product – a video, a magazine etc which sums up their experience.

Here are the products along with a combination of all their presentations.

Catherine Dowie – DP Coordinator

As we kick off another exciting year, we are a to hand over our responsibilities to trusted hands.

A big congratulations to the new committee leaders — Marta, Alvis, and Anderssa!

We are excited to see the energy and ideas they bring to the team. We anticipate a seamless transition for the new committee members. It is with hope they continue to strengthen our initiatives, implement further actions and enhance community engagement.

Next week the remaining 7 new members will be announced, as we reach the end of the selection process.

Thank you to the M4/5 Environmental Service Group for taking on the compost and recycling responsibilities this week.

Here’s to another year of impactful progress and collaboration! Let’s make it our most sustainable yet.

Sharon

This week our campus is bursting with energy and excitement! The highlight, of course, is the much-anticipated school production that we’ve all been eagerly waiting for. It’s a moment that showcases the incredible talent, creativity, and hard work of our students and staff. But that’s not all…there’s so much happening across our learning spaces… Even with assessments in full swing, there’s a vibrant buzz because, let’s face it, even those aren’t that boring!

M4 I&S
The M4 students have been studying a unit called ‘Why do countries go to war and why is peace making difficult?’ They have studied what led to the First World War and how it ended. Today they took part in a mock debate of the Treaty of Versailles, roleplaying the different countries (including some lovely British moustaches) which took part. There were some excellent arguments from each country and some difficult decisions were made on who was to blame, what reparations should be made and how Germany should be treated. They learnt just how difficult peace making can be and the reality of the different needs of different countries.

M2 Art
This quarter we have been studying nature in art. We have been learning how to draw different textures. Last quarter we looked at frottage which helped this week when we practiced drawing and tracing flowers to learn more about line and form. It was a super fun way to continue the unit. – Jane

M4 Language and Literature
In Mr. Gadi’s M4 English Language and Literature class, we are studying a novel called “Lucky Broken Girl,” written by Ruth Behar. The book narrates the journey of a Cuban-Jewish immigrant, Ruth Mizarhi, living in New York, trying to adapt to her new life in the US. Once she finally acclimatizes, an unexpected event happens, derailing everything. This book covers the themes of identity, relationships, resilience, and transformation. Various activities have been undertaken to explore the themes. The latest activity was that we had to create 6 questions: 3 debatable questions and 3 conceptual questions based on the themes found in the book and have discussions to understand and share similar circumstances in real life. This helped us reflect on our experiences, complexities of situations, emotions, and human nature! – Jedidah

Caught in the Act
Our M1s were in for a special treat this week! They had the chance to catch Mr. Cofer in action in the kitchen, preparing some chicken for his class. We’re hopeful that the M1s will get to learn some valuable cooking skills from Mr. Cofer soon, and maybe even enjoy a taste of the dish themselves!

MYP Dates to Remember

• January 29th & 30th – School Production
• February 12th to16th – AISA GISS Conference
• February 20th to 24th – Long Weekend
• February 26th to 28th – M5 Mock Assessments
• March 3rd to 7th – Book Week
• March 8th & 9th – MYPX Setup
• March 10th – MYPX (Personal Project Exhibition)
• March 18th to 21st – M5 French Final Orals
• April 2nd – M3 Science Fair
• April 5th to 21st – Holiday
• April 22nd – Classes Resume Q4

Farah Fawaz – MYP Coordinator

Visit by environmental speaker

On Monday we were fortunate to have Dr Ehsan Khalefa, a research fellow at the School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Portsmouth talk to the children and listen to their views regarding the importance of Mount Kilimanjaro to our region and how it has changed and might continue to change (see Milo’s drawing).

“The Tin Bucket Tree” rehearsals and performance

Well done to all the primary students who attended the Saturday rehearsal for “The Tin Bucket Drum” (see photo). The children did a super job with singing and joining in with some of the actions on stage. We have another rehearsal on Sunday 10:00 – 12:30 and one on Wednesday afternoon 2:00 – 4:00pm. The children should arrive 7:00 – 7:15 for the evening performances on Thursday and Friday. They should wear their production T-shirt or a black T-shirt and ideally dark shorts, pants or skirts. The production T-shirts should arrive early next week.

Production tickets

Tickets for “The Tin Bucket Tree” are on sale at the front office. Don’t miss out – it promises to be a great performance. The tickets are 10,000 Tsh for an adult and 5000 Tsh for children.

Optional late start on Friday

We anticipate that the P2 -6 children will feel tired on Friday morning after a late night on Thursday due to the production. We will be starting classes at 9:40am on Friday to allow the children to sleep later. If you wish to send your child in for the regular 7:30am start that is fine – we will organise some quiet and restful activities for them.  The EC – P1 class will start at 7:30am as normal but if you have children in the older PYP classes we understand that you might want to bring your EC/P1 child in at 9:40 too. If that is the case, please could you email Ms. Mboka to keep her informed.

Clubs next week

After school clubs will run according to the schedule on Monday and Tuesday. There will be no clubs on Wednesday and Thursday due to the production. On Wednesday the P2-6 children have an afternoon rehearsal and on Thursday we would like them to go home for the afternoon to rest before coming back to school for the evening performance. Minecraft and Cooking Club have limited spaces and are oversubscribed so some children will be unable to participate in these clubs. Coach Pickell will be contacting the parents of any children affected shortly so that you can help your child choose another club. These children will have first refusal of a place in quarter 4. Many thanks to parents, Diploma students and community members who are running clubs for the primary children.

Deborah Mills – PYP Coordinator

Lions can be 3.5m long from head to tail. We could fit all of the children into a 3.5m line. Lions are amazing. This week, we learned quite a lot of lion facts. Please ask the children at home three questions: Where do they live? What do they eat? What do we need to do to help them? These are good questions to ask when talking about all living things on our planet. You can visit us in the classroom to see some of their lion artwork.

Like last year, we will receive a visitor next week from the Univerity of Adger. Susann is a student teacher joining us from this Norwegian university. She will be working with Ms. Neema and I until February 19th. We are very much looking forward to working with her and creating lasting memories with the children. Please help us make her feel welcome, as she will be involved in all aspects of the class.

Mboka Mwasongwe

The Water Cycle goes round and round and round. If your child has not told you about the water cycle yet, please ask! We’ve talked and drawn and watched and experimented this week with the amazing cycle that our water makes though precipitation, collection, evaporation and condensation. We will be shifting our focus next week to the uses of water and water conservation. Such an important topic!

Everyone is looking forward to start of clubs on Monday. And we are especially excited about the play on Thursday and Friday! It is so special to have activities that bring the primary and secondary together. Even if your child does not want to participate with the choir, please consider bringing the family along to enjoy watching. 

Kacey Buckley

Thank you to everyone who attended our primary gathering last Friday. The children were very proud to share their slideshows about natural disasters. Thank you to Ms. Grace and Ms. Catherine for their help with downloading the slideshows, technical support and furniture moving! I hope you liked the calendars that the children brought home on Friday – they have done a great job of learning the number of days in each month. In the coming week the class will be writing poetry, publishing their books on similes (we hope to read these to a younger class) completing subtraction equations with missing numbers  and learning how to translate shapes. We also have rehearsals for the production on Wednesday morning during the school day and in the afternoon (2- 4pm). I have only set home learning for Monday and Tuesday as the rest of the week will be busy with production related events. Please be sure to read the PYP newsletter for information about clubs, the production and an optional late start on Friday morning.

Deborah Mils

This week, P6 focused on writing their Key Concept questions, which will serve as the foundation for their Lines of Inquiry. They also moved into the research phase of their PYP Exhibition preparation. The children sent introductory emails to their mentors, who will guide and support them throughout this journey. In Maths, we focused on adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions. Our photo this week shows the fabulous tie-dye t-shirts that the P6s made last week at their PYPX retreat!

Looking ahead to next week, I invite you to attend the PYP Parent Information Session on Wednesday from 3:00 pm to 3:40 pm in Room 15 (P6 classroom). This session will provide a great opportunity to share the goals and expectations of the PYPX with you. If you are unable to attend, I will send the information electronically.

Clubs will begin next week, and we are eagerly looking forward to the performances of The Bucket Tree on Thursday and Friday.

Natasha Berri

The OP team are away this weekend and as you can see successfully hiking up Mt Meru. Full details to follow next week.