This week has been short, but full of sprit. From the Book Week activities to the Student Government’s spirit days and International Day flag hunt, this week has seen tremendous involvement in so many activities.
I would like to thank the students and staff who put together the different activities, got involved in book doors, DEAR, “get caught reading”, fear factor and everything else. Below you can read more about some of these activities and see some photos.
As I write this, community members, parents, students and staff are getting ready for today’s International Day. At last glance we had about 45 tables set up for different countries/regions and a slate of activities and performances. And when all else fails a bouncy castle for the littlest ones.
While the newsletter is not short, please do read through to see student reports on EAMUN and Outdoor Pursuits trips. Also please remember that we do have a few upcoming events. The P6 students are preparing to wow us on March 16th with everything they learned in their PYPx. The invite is with the PYP section.
Some other things to keep in mind this month, the Swim Galas, Chess tournament, DP Art Exhibition and student conferences. I hope to see many of you today and we will share pictures in next week’s newsletter.
Bob Cofer – Head of Campus
Ben’s Corner
Over the long weekend, I had the pleasure of leading the Plains L5 OP Trip across the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. It was a genuine privilege to spend time in such an incredibly beautiful and untouched landscape. The students and adults involved were an absolute delight, positive, supportive, helpful and enthusiastic. For those of you who have not yet experienced our OP Programme, please make sure you take advantage of this singular opportunity. As we discussed many times during our adventure, these are the memories that will last a lifetime. These are the unique experiences that you will struggle to find in any other school. For me, this strand of the UWC education is just as valuable as the academic element. With that, I shall hand the floor to Anna R (D2) who wanted to share her reflection of this once in a lifetime experience…
Plains Level 5 took place over the long weekend in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We spent four days hiking through the expansive plains, seeing giraffes, zebras, hyenas and so much more incredible wildlife. On day 1, we visited the Olduvai Gorge Museum, where we learned about the ancient humans who had lived in the area.
It was really interesting to see life size models of the ancient people and to compare how we sized up! We also visited the Shifting Sands, a gigantic half moon dune of magnetic sand which ‘shifts’ 17m every year! On day 2, we hiked to Nasera Rock, which gave us a beautiful view that stretched to the Serengeti. This was my favourite campsite by far, as we camped underneath acacias and played frisbee under the shade of the rock.
On day 3, we hiked our longest distance (with a siesta in between!) to a campsite above Olkarien Gorge. This hike took us through the stunning plains of Ngorongoro, where we spotted plenty of giraffes and zebras. On day 4, we hiked down into the gorge as vultures swooped above our heads. We finished our hike at a campsite with a stunning view of Ol Doinyo Lengai. We celebrated with goat for dinner and a campfire under the stars. To end our incredible trip on day 5, we drove down into the Ngorongoro Crater, where we were blown away by the quantity of wild animals, such as elephants, lions, wildebeest, grey crowned cranes, elands and so many more. This was an incredible experience that was enjoyed by everyone. After several amazing hours in the crater we began the long drive back to Moshi. All students were truly grateful to the supportive teaching staff from Moshi and Arusha, as well as our incredible drivers who took care of our bags and ensured we got home safe.
Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus
Diploma News
As you know a few weeks ago we were visited by Gale and Shelby Davies. The group Humans of UWCEA were able to interview them. Here is the interview.
The D2s have been focussing on submissions as some components have to be submitted to IB in a couple of weeks. The final orals have started with Swahili ab initio. The English ones follow next week and then the other non-English ones. These orals will be marked by the teacher and moderated with a colleague. A sample will then be sent to IB for further moderation. For Language A students they have to present about two extracts from the bodies of work they have studied and relate them to a Global Context. For Language B they have to talk about a stimulus either a picture or an extract from a book they have read and then talk more generally in the language. They have been practising these skills throughout the course. The mock reports will be issued next week.
The D1 students have selected their Extended Essay subjects and we are working through the choices and allocating subjects and supervisors.
In addition to the academics Tuesday saw a cultural night where our students from Eswatini presented information about their country. On Friday the student government ran the Fear Factor Challenge and the KCMC service group ran a blood drive. On Saturday many students are involved in the International Day celebration.
A reminder of some dates
D2 Last day of classes: Friday 21st April
D2 Final Exams: Friday 28th April to Thursday 18th May
D2 Graduation: Friday 19th May
D1 End of Year Exams: Monday 29th May to Friday 2nd June
D1 Group 4 Project: Wednesday 7th June to Friday 9th June
D1 TOK Exhibition: Monday 12th June to Tuesday 13th June
Margaret Brunt – DP Coordinator
Student organized “Fear Factor” show with the teachers as the contestants
Residential Life
They say a picture paints a thousand words, so for this week in Residential Life I want to display it in the visuals attached. We truly had an amazing long weekend filled with an array of adventures, inclusive activities between all ages and many moments that encapsulate our mission as a UWC. Thank you must also be extended to Mr Emmanuel, Ms Grace Y, Ms Grace M, Ms Neema and Ms Agnes for assisting me.
In addition to International Day this weekend, Kijana and Kiongozi have banded together to generate the first inter-house diploma residential competition of rounders, culminating with a picnic on the bottom pitch to watch the sunset on Sunday.
In line of our theme of diversity and inclusion, I was thrilled to see our first cultural evening of the year take place with Hlelelwe and Luyanda enlightening us about their home country, Eswatini. I am proud to announce that this will continue each fortnight and extend our invitation to all community members to join and learn about the vast array of cultures and nationalities we have on our campus. We will be sure to advertise this accordingly moving forward as Lithuania prepare for their evening in two weeks’ time.
Simon Johnston – Head of Residential Life
Student Government
Warm greetings from the student government, here at UWCEA Moshi Campus. It is always a constant sprout and bloom of activities that keep spelling out our mandate as a government, essentially to make our campus more inclusive and celebrate our deliberate diversity. This past week has been no exception; hence we greatly appreciate our Well-being, Safety, Health and Guardian committee for organizing the spirit week. Personally, my favorite day was fictional character day. I believe that it was a beautiful opportunity for each of us to dream and be that creative. Additionally, our cultural nights have started off strong! On Tuesday, we hosted the Eswatini cultural night, which was a lovely opportunity. Thank you to all who showed up, and we look forward to having you join us on the 12th of March as we showcase Lithuania culture.
The student government has also been rather busy as we continue to organize different events, one of them being the International Day alongside the PTA, which will be happening this Saturday the 4th of March. We do encourage you to join us from 2 – 6pm as we celebrate our different cultures. Lastly, in conjunction with the prom committee, we encourage more M5 – D2 students to sign up for this memorable event. (The sign-up link has been attached just below).
We continue to appreciate your support in every capacity, thus feel free to reach out to the student government with your awesome ideas so that we continue building our potential to serve you.
As the recent Syria-Türkiye earthquake left thousands of people in both countries in dire need. We started our campaign to offer help to those in need back home. All forms of donations will be accepted whether financial or material. You can find us at the Syrian and Turkish stands on the international day this Saturday. All help is welcome, and it would truly make a difference.
Zain and Merve
MYP News
M2 are Really Cool Documentary Filmmakers
Our M2 class has combined their knowledge of film and literature with the scientific understanding of the cycles that influence life on Earth to create captivating documentaries. They explore how droughts and over fertilizing can create issues that affect the ongoing living cycles of Carbon, water, and Nitrogen.
They have been working on making documentaries which reflect all of the above. The students have been enjoying this IDU and exploring how skills are transferable accords disciplines! Their results and hard work will be showcased this coming Friday in K-Hall!.
Come join us anytime from 8am – 12:00 pm!
Thank you Ms. Catherine Dowie and Ms. Jamie Strattan for this awesome collaboration!
M3 Science Extravaganza
M3 students have been working hard using the scientific method to create their own unique science experiments. They have explored concepts and questions such as:
How does the sugar content of fruit affect the fermentation process?
How does the pH of water affect watercolor paints, and is the placebo effect real?
That’s just a sneak peek!
The rest will be waiting for you in K-Hall on March 10th, 2023 from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm as part of our Science Fair!
Our Special Visitor Our campus hosted the TISA meeting – Tanzanian International Schools Association meeting on Friday, March 3rd,2023. The MYP department had the pleasure of having Ms Lister, deputy head of Black Rhino school in Karatu, in some of the classes. The students were wonderful hosts and enjoyed her presence and interaction with them!
Important MYP Dates to Keep in Mind:
March 6th – Mock Orals Week (M5 French)
March 10th – MYP Science Fair (8:00 am- 12:00 pm)
March 15th – Final Drafts of PP reports
March 20th – e-Assessments Mocks Week AND Final Orals (M5 French)
April 1st – 16th Easter/ Spring Break
May 8th – 19th – MYP5 e-Assessments (official)
June 2nd – M5 Ceremony
Farah Fawaz – MYP Coordinator
Book Week
“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” – Margaret Fuller
We had a fantastic week celebrating the books we read. Many of the classroom doors have been beautifully decorated to look like the cover of a book; we dressed up as book characters on Thursday; we wrote our own adventure stories for the school wide competition; we got caught reading in some unusual places and we celebrated our reading community in the book week assembly. The assembly included a musical performance of Julia Donaldson’s Jack and the Flum Flum Tree by Baden and Jack D, a quiz tested students’ knowledge on famous books and we watched a quirky collection (edited by Coy Buckley) of student book recommendations.
We were also so fortunate to have Jeremy Sherr, a published author, come and speak to us about his new novel “The Noble Adventures of Carol and Beryl” and the process of writing a novel. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our own published authors, including Ben Morley and Wade Morris.
Thank you to everyone who got involved and keep on reading!
Kacey Buckley and Catherine Dowie, Book week organisers
Sports Update
We are delighted to announce that our students have been honing their swimming skills for the past 8 weeks in preparation for the upcoming Primary and Secondary Swimming Inter-House Galas! Our sincere gratitude goes out to Coach Sabnini and the PE department for their tremendous effort and dedication in preparing our students for these events. We are also grateful to the PTA and the swimming community for their help in organizing these exciting inter-house competitions.
We invite you to come and show your support for our students on Tuesday, March 7th for the Primary Swimming Gala and on Wednesday, March 15th for the Secondary Swimming Gala. These events are sure to be fun and competitive, and your presence would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your support!
We would like to inform our community that our students are taking full advantage of the wide range of after-school activities available to them. The schedule below outlines when the football field, volleyball court, swimming pool, tennis court, and outdoor basketball court are in use by our students. We kindly ask that members of the community refrain from joining in these activities as this could lead to potential injuries to our students. However, the football and basketball courts are still available to the community during times when these activities are not taking place. We invite you to use these facilities for competitive sports when the space is available thank you for your cooperation and understanding. Please contact me to confirm times and provide names of those coming onto campus
Monday 2:00 – 6:00 Swimming Clubs
Monday: 3:30 – 4:30 Football
Tuesday 2:00 – 4:30 Swimming Clubs
Tuesday 3:30 – 4:30 Frisbee
Tuesday 3:30 – 4:30 Hockey
Tuesday: 4:30 – 6:00 Football
Wednesday: 4:30 – 6:00 Rugby
Wednesday: 4:30 – 6:00 Volleyball
Wednesday: 4:30 – 6:00 Swimming Club
Thursday: 3:30 – 4:30 Swimming Club.
Thursday: 3:30 – 6:00 Frisbee
Thursday: 3:30 – 6:00 Football
Tennis Court: Daily 4:30 – 6:00
Basketball Outdoor Court: Daily 4:30 – 6:00
Mostafa Rihan – Sports & Activities Coordinator
PYP News
Many thanks to Ms. Kacey and Mrs. Dowie for organizing such an enjoyable Book Week. The assembly was particularly enjoyable with activities that entertained all ages. On Monday we have an assembly for International Women’s Day which will celebrate women’s achievements and highlight some of the challenges they face. The PYP will participate in the first part of the assembly. You are very welcome to attend (Karibu Hall 10:30am)
On Tuesday we have our PYP Swim Gala. An email with information has been sent home. If you have any questions please contact me or your child’s class teacher. The gala will start at 9:00am and will finish before lunch. We hope to see many of you there.
On Wednesday the children will have their photographs taken for the yearbook. Please send your child to school in a school T-shirt on this day.
On Friday the Swahili department will present in the Primary Gathering on the grass outside the PYP classrooms (7:40am start). You are warmly invited to attend so that you can see what the children have been learning in their Swahili lessons.
Also on Friday, there will be a friendly football match against Kibo school. Letters have been sent home.
On Thursday, 16th March, at 5:00pm, the P6 class will present their PYP Exhibitions, starting in Rafiki Hall. Please come along and watch our oldest group of primary students share the results of their inquiries into mining, sport, animal welfare, women’s empowerment, Hinduism, transportation and so much more – see the invitation below for more information. It promises to be an informative evening.
Deborah Mills – PYP Coordinator
PYPx Invitation
EC/P1 Class
What a wonderful week. Thank you to all who participated in dressup days and the culminating dress up as a book character day. The children were very excited and they enjoyed explaining their costumes to each other. Thank you also to parents who were able to come in and read to the children. If you were not able to and you still want to come, please let me know as you can come even this coming week.
Our class assembly will be on the 17th of March, we will start practicing little bits this week. Please look out for Toddle announcements concerning ideas for practice for the different age groups.
Mboka Mwasongwe
P2/3 Class
Once upon a time, there was a wonderful class who LOVED books and they spent a week focused on the celebration of reading! They delighted in visiting Mystery Readers who surprised them with fun stories. They devoted themselves to writing their own adventure story with interesting characters and exciting plots. They wore costumes to represent book characters and did a good job explaining who they were dressed like and why. And they read- every day the class cheered when told it was time to DEAR (Drop Everything and Read)! It was a fabulous week and each child in the class truly believed that he or she is making strides in reading. And they are all right. The class plans to continue reading together happily ever after. The End.
Please note Swim Gala announcements and send in the Football permission slips if your child will play in the Football Friendly match on Friday.
Also, if you missed the chance to read to class, come any time- it’s so easy and the children do love it!
Kacey Buckley
P4/5 Class
Book Week was a big success in P4/5. We had lots of mystery readers – thank you Nicolette, Megan, Heloise and Kacey. All of the children entered the short story writing competition – we await the results with excitement – and we also decorated the classroom door in the style of “The Silver Crown” by Robert O’Brien. Jeremy Sherr, our visiting author, stopped by and told the children some funny/interesting facts about the process of writing his book Who knew that penknives are frowned upon in children’s literature or that some names are deemed to be old fashioned and therefore unsuitable for a book character? Everyone dressed as their favourite book character on Thursday. Our maths work this week was related to books too. We read, “Just a Second” and followed up with some time related activities. We also read, “Less than Zero” and looked at negative numbers. What a wonderful week! Next week we will return to our inquiry into body systems and will work on adding and subtracting fractions in maths. Tuesday is the swimming gala – we hope to see many of you there! Yearbook photos will be taken on Wednesday – please remember to wear a school T-shirt.
Deborah Mills
P6 Class
This week P6 have been inquirers and communicators. Researching online can be good; but it’s usually a secondary source- where someone else has summarised information from a primary source. By going on visits to relevant sites we get to see and experience things for ourselves and ask the questions we want answered. This week, our students interviewed, amongst others, a miner and a Tanzanite salesman, architects at their building site, a local soccer coach and a musician. This firsthand interaction allows them to personally investigate their lines of inquiry and inform the feedback for their PYP exhibitions. We also looked, in maths, at area and a book week based maths investigation. In language, they wrote an adventure story based on a short animation we watched as well as reading and discussing a range of books; thanks to our mystery readers for coming in and adding variety. Finally, the swim gala preparations stepped up with our final practice: there will be some good times next Tuesday!
(The picture is of Ida interviewing Max, a local musician, about Tanzanian music)
Hywel Davies
Outdoor Pursuits
Peaks level 4 trip ‘Ngorongoro to Natron’
At 5:45am on February 23rd, Dorry the lorry took a group of us students, alongside faculty members, to the Ngorongoro national conservation reserve in order to complete level four of our peaks outdoor pursuits program. After Arusha, our adventure really began as we started our long and bumpy drive towards Ngorongoro. We arrived at our destination, a village home to the Maasai tribe, just before the sunset and immediately pitched our tents.
The next morning we departed at 6am. We hiked up through the hills and high grass, passing by numerous zebras and donkeys, and after 5 hours we reached Lolmasin’s peak! The summit was a beautiful area in which we had an endless view of the plains and mountain ranges that stretched for hours throughout the park and villages. We stayed at the summit basking in the beauty, and having a photoshoot not even Vogue itself could strategise but began to descend down the mountain as the weather was freezing cold! Soon we reached the camp again, but it wasn’t long until we were on the move again.
Our second camp was set up right beside the Empakaai crater. We set up the tents again and headed across to the viewpoint. It was here many of us seized the opportunity to be inspired by the nature around us and took the time to reflect in our journals or sketch in our art books (except Mrs. Val, who saw it as the perfect opportunity to ‘improve’ our French speaking skills). That evening the donkeys and their drivers arrived and we all sat around a bonfire eating our meals, but the night took a diversion with half of the group becoming an Adele tribute band and singing ‘someone like you’ into all hours of the night.
We arose the next morning ready and prepared to get going, little did our feet know of the kilometers they were about to endure. The crater was truly breathtaking. We gathered at the near edge of the lake and immediately saw a troop of baboons. Then as we walked further down the strip of grass we saw a flight of flamingos take off, it was like witnessing a clip from natural geographic but with your own eyes. We then hiked back up the crater and packed up our equipment. It was during this time in which I was preoccupied with applying the 6th layer of factor fifty sun cream (again, thank you Ms. Val) that I didn’t hear the part where we were told to put all unnecessary equipment on the bus as we’d been hiking the last two days with our day bags. A note to anyone reading this that ever plans on doing a hiking trip: it’s not fashion week, and even if you think it is, at least remember to bring your hiking boots…
It was now time to begin our hike towards the third camp. Much to my, and others’, frequent delusions of OP trips strenuous activity, we assumed this was going to be a 5-6 hour activity, and in the words of some current D2s ‘ it’s grand, it’s like a plains trip’ (It was not like a Plains OP trip). But despite the near 9 hours we walked in the scalding heat, our second day of hiking was truly magnificent. We walked in unison through beautiful fields of green grass, we discussed all of the world’s problems and beyond, and met many companions who walked alongside us all the way to our camp located in a beautiful acacia tree region that really captivated the beauty of Tanzania’s nature.
The next day we awoke at an hour early enough to enjoy the last of the night stars and the sunrise, all at the same time. We began our descent down the mountain ranges and towards our beloved destination – Dorry. The last day of hiking was by far one of the funniest days of the trip, and involved us hiking alongside an active volcano, parkouring between its still prominent crevices, and ‘skiing’ down the slabs of stone. After finishing what felt like the Alpine world cup, we celebrated our achievement in a pool! Here we relaxed our muscles, debriefed the events of the past few days, and stayed long enough that our fingertips began to resemble prunes. Our last group dinner was had, and we slept until our departure at 6am. While driving out of the park we unfortunately had to say goodbye to the last of the Zebras, however, we did see gazelles and giraffes, which for most of us was a first-time experience!
The trip was truly an amazing experience in which everyone that attended, including myself, will remember for life. It was a demanding challenge, but the memories made, nature we witnessed, and bonds established while in Ngorongoro are truly unforgettable. On behalf of everyone that attended, I would like to thank those who made this experience a possibility, we would not have been able to do it without you! Here’s to our amazing accomplishment!
– Laura (D1) & photos by Megan (D1)
EAMUN
The 9 students of our school, delegates of Ireland – Gurtej, Kwagala and Nojus, delegates of Laos – Dhruva, Nailah and Tara, and delegates of Syria – Alina, Larkin and Karigo participated in 41st Annual EAMUN conference in UN headquarters in Nairobi. This year’s theme for the conference was ‘’Ubuntu – I am because we are’’, as to show the focus on looking out for one another in a codependent world. EAMUN was attended by 58 schools from all over East Africa.
Students began preparing months before the actual conference, in order to write resolutions and prepare for active debate. The resolution written by Gurtej and Nojus about housing access for refugees in Ireland got passed into the debate agenda in the Human Rights Committee!
First day of the conference, for everyone, was the observing day, as it was the first in-person conference after a 2-year hiatus. Delegates spend most of the time lobbying and asking questions before going to the formal procedures for the remaining conference.
Getting more familiar with the EAMUN procedures, the second day was full of adventures!
In the Human Rights Committee Nojus presented a resolution of Ireland, which became one of 8 resolutions passed out of 17 discussed overall.
On the third day, delegates became much more encouraged to debate, as multiple delegates raised points of information, Dhruva delivered an excellent speech speaking against the resolution in the Economic and Political Committee and Nojus successfully passed amendments for Chile’s resolution in the Human Rights Committee.
Fourth and last day was the most exciting day! Alina, Dhruva, Larkin and Kwagala had the opportunity to participate in the International Court of Justice session, where all of them delivered great speeches and participated in active debate discussing India and Pakistan.
Friday was also the day, where for the first time in 41-year EAMUN history, a new special session was introduced. During the session, delegates had open crossfire between each other discussing the topic, based on their country’s position. During that time, Gurtej made an outstanding speech on countering the rise in global protectionism culture from an Irish perspective.
The Conference concluded on Friday afternoon, where all of the delegates attended the closing General Assembly. The memories, new connections and skills gained from this experience were essential for all the delegates, who are eager to take MUN to the next level in the upcoming year.
This is what some of the delegates had to say about the conference:
‘’At first, I was utterly confused in the Economics and Political Committee. Yet in the end, I was able to lobby with fellow delegates, answer terrifying ‘’Explain vote’’ questions and speak to a crowd of over a hundred delegates. EAMUN pushed me to be more confident and to shift my understanding of various issues. I will never forget the valuable lessons nor the incredible people I met at EAMUN.’’ – Gurtej
“At EAMUN, I learnt how to properly vote and write resolutions. Being in the ecology committee taught me how to use the country I am representing to solve global climate problems. I was also fortunate enough to be a judge in the special summit committee. Overall this was a great experience and I learnt a lot of new things about how the UN works.” – Nailah
‘’EAMUN was such a fun experience, built off of cooperation and unity. I had an extremely wonderful time debating, making connections, amending and strengthening resolutions, and gathering support. The UN Headquarters in Nairobi were welcoming and surreal to be in. I enjoyed my experience, and I wouldn’t change a single thing.’’ – Karigo
‘’I think MUN was an enriching and life changing experience that deepened my knowledge in public speaking and helped me to gain more confidence. My favorite part about it was ICJ, where I debated the conflict between Pakistan and India, which gave me a feeling of what MUN actually was. The passion of delegates while debating, as also keeping formality and focusing on morals were the key moments why ICJ stood out for me from other committees’’ – Kwagala
