As this goes out people around the community will be preparing for International Day. It is a great afternoon for students, parents, staff and community members to come together and learn more about each other and of course share food. This year we are expecting 43 booths representing Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe. Photos will be shared in next week’s newsletter but I would like to take this opportunity to thank the PTA and the Student Government for all of the work that they have put into organising this event and also to thank everyone who is sharing aspects of their culture be it food, singing or dancing.
As you read through the newsletter you will see that today’s event is just one of many events this week. I would like to especially point out the Book Week and thank Ms Dowie and Ms Buckley for leading this. Reading really is magical. I would also like to thank those that were Mystery Readers through the week or contributed in many other ways.
Yesterday the parents of secondary students should have received the email regarding conference sign ups. Please join us on the 19th or 21st. For parents of primary students this will be coming on Monday to sign up for the 27th.
To keep track of all the events for the campus please keep an eye on the school calendar.
Bob Cofer – Head of Campus
Upcoming Events
Ben’s Corner
Every six years, the UWC global community gathers for Congress. Inspired by words from our shared Mission, ‘Education as a Force’, the UWC International Congress 2024 brought together UWC’s educational and governance leaders, alongside partners, supporters and representatives of various stakeholder groups. Over two very intense days at UWC Thailand, the delegates discussed the future of education and the alignment of our educational model to the greatest needs of our time. The collective thinking of hundreds of delegates, both in person and online, was fed back to UWC International who will now wade through the feedback and, in time, this should inform our combined strategic direction moving forward.
As Bob mentioned last week, the Congress was divided into five areas. I was part of the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning track. Alongside teachers, students, NCs, parents and alumni from across the world, we looked at how UWC might play a more active role in promoting peace and sustainability through education, enabling a new generation of young people to connect learning to action for the advancement of life, work, nature and society.
From our particular position as a ‘through school,’ we considered the kind of academic environment and learning culture we want to foster and how we can deliberately transmit our values and interpret the UWC educational model from EC all the way through to the DP.
Two questions that I have been thinking about in line with this are:
How does the UWC educational model translate in through schools?
Is the UWC educational experience fully optimised to meet the needs of the world today and in the future?
I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such innovative and forward-thinking conversations around education and look forward to sharing feedback here over the coming months as the movement continues to rethink what we do, mobilising our ambition to develop shared solutions to shared challenges and contributing towards shaping a future-fit education for our students.
Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus
Diploma News
The deadlines are becoming serious for D2 students, and some are really feeling the pressure. Next week we also have the final orals for English for all students. The following week will be the orals for Kiswahili A and ab initio, Spanish ab initio and French B.
On Wednesday 13th they will present about their legacy letting D1 and some MYP students know how they want to be remembered.
Today is International Women’s Day. There have been some activities by students and there will be more in mentor time on Monday.
For D1 it has been life as normal. They have submitted their choice of subject for their Extended Essay and we are working on who will able to do what.
As you know a few weeks ago was project week. Here are the descriptions from some groups of what they needed. The slideshows they put together are here.
Margaret Brunt – Diploma Coordinator
Sustainability Committee
Hello everyone!
After some weeks, the sustainability committee came back full of energy from these past breaks to start to work towards a more sustainable campus. This last week our committee did the composting around the school, so everyday someone from the committee went to gather all the compost from the bins and put it together in the big piles, and we can say that difference is being seen in recycling and composting in the school. This is already a big step for our goal, however we need to remind everyone NOT to put juice boxes in recycling and to put it instead in general waste, because that product is often in the wrong bin and it takes seconds to make this choice. Furthermore, on Thursday our committee worked together with the amazing Kilele and Kipepeo circus residential dinner and brought sustainable practices to the event, providing a compost and general waste bin next to each table with food. Not only that as we are bringing the same practices to the International Day on Saturday, so remember to throw your waste in the right bins!
We wish everyone a wonderful International Day and a good week.
Thank you, Sustainability Committee
Blood Drive
Every drop of blood has the potential to save a life and all the students in the KCMC service have been busy over the past few weeks planning for the first Blood Drive of the year 2024. Technically, the Blood Drive takes place twice a year in collaboration with the National Blood Bank of Tanzania and KCMC, namely in March and October.
On the 1st of March, we welcomed our first donor at 8.30 am sharp. It happened to be one of our D2 students, Damien while our first teacher donor was Mr Julien. The KCMC service is a student-led service group with Anne and Verus as our leaders and with Ms. Stephanie guiding us.
The whole event went by very fast and was quite fun because we were on the lookout for the fastest donor which kept changing every now and then. This actually kept all of us entertained. This year, we reached 87 donations which was fantastic. It has been a rewarding event which is very helpful to the Tanzanian Community because of the long-term blood shortage in Tanzania. This has been successful with the help of all the KCMC service students, Ms Stephanie and Ms Val as well as the volunteer doctors from KCMC.
Hopefully we will ‘beat’ the record this October but for that to happen, we need your continued donations.
Thank you for your support and see you soon!
Kheertika (D1, KCMC CAS)
MYP News
In light of Book Week’s theme “reading is magic”, I would like to end this week with a confirmation to myself and others that children are the best story tellers!
The more time I spend with the students, and not only in class, but in any activity, event, break, dorm duty and so many other moments, the more I am amazed by their creativity, infectious sense of humor, and their ongoing enthusiasm to share and make even the simplest things interesting, sometimes even with a hint of theatrical performance!
These are what I would like to call the “un-teachables,” (It is definitely a made-up word that it absolutely worth it!)
These the valuable moments that help us understand our students better by showing us what they enjoy, what makes them laugh, and how they express themselves. This connection helps us become better educators on step at a time! So, as Book Week comes to a close, let’s celebrate the incredible storytellers among us, our students who remind us that the magic of storytelling is not only found in books but also in the everyday moments we share with them!
We LOVE to talk about MATH all day! Lots of real-life applications happened this week!
In M2, students were working on making a scaled-down model of a real-life 2D shape of large dimensions that they have at home. The main idea is for them to apply the mathematical concepts to a real-life situation and produce a poster to show their work.
In M3, students were making a scaled-down model of a real-life 3D shape of large dimensions from campus. They had to choose one of the three water tanks lying on the top pitch and find a safe way to measure it. They did some research about the importance of water storage to understand why we see so many elevated water tanks here in Moshi! The main idea was for them to apply the mathematical concepts to a real-life situation, create a scaled-down model of the water tank and produce a poster to show their work.
In M4, students explored the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest of the seven wonders of the Ancient World, and, on one hand work with its volume to find how many 20cL glasses of water would be needed to fill it (if it was hollow) and, on the other hand, come to a conclusion of how heavy each stone block is, out of the 2.3 million blocks that the pyramid is made of. Then, they produced a scaled-down 3D model of the pyramid, using an appropriate scale to keep its proportions, and produce a poster to show their work.
Really cool! Thank you, Mr. Joao and students! I wish I had studied Math like this back in my ancient times !
March 9th, 2024 Where I come from (Lebanon), March 9th is Teachers’ Day. So, a very Happy Teachers’ Day to all the MYP team and a big thank you for all the efforts and hard work in making our students excited to learn and keeping them happy!
Reminder: M5 Mock Assessments/ Formative Assessments are next week.
the mocks are not summative assessments, we will consider them formative assessments
the mocks are going to be marked and feedback will be given and shared on Learn so that we can identify strengths and work on what students might need to work on to ensure success in the actual assessments in May
the grades WILL NOT be reported as part of the semester grades, they will however be reported on Learn for parents/guardians and students to know how the students performed
the mocks are going to simply give the “real feel” of what to expect and what is expected
those not sitting for e-assessments in May, will also use the mock assessments as a formative tool.
NB. When students are not sitting for the mock assessments, they are to attend their normal classes as per schedule.
MYP Dates to Remember:
March 12th to 14th – M5 Mock Assessments (for all)
March 19th – Secondary PTC Day 1 (1:00-5:00)
March 21st – Secondary PTC Day 2 (7:30-11:00)
April 17th – All day set up for PP M5 (Please do not plan for any assessments)
April 18th – PPX
April 30th to May 3rd – MYP MAP Tests Round 2
May 6th to 17th – MYP e-Assessments (details and plans to follow)
May 24th – M5 Ceremony (Apologies for last week’s mistake)
Farah Fawaz – MYP Coordinator
Residential Life
Dear UWCEA Community,
We are almost at the end of the quarter. As in previous weeks, students have been planning and delivering a multitude of events and activities on campus. I believe today, there were events on the calendar until about 8:00 pm. Below is a brief overview of the past couple of weeks. Enjoy the photos and please reach out with any questions.
UWC Congress in Thailand Visit
Our students Ian (D1) and Emira (D2) represented the school at the UWC Congress in Thailand last week. They had the opportunity to connect with other students from all over the world and all of the UWC schools. Together with other students, they initiated a UWC-wide Student Group whose aim will be to connect students across the different schools.
Kilele & Kipepeo Residential Dinner
Last night, the two dorms welcomed the rest of the school community to a Circus-themed dinner. We were surprised by students’ juggling, plate spinning, slackline balancing, and unicycle riding skills. Clowns and face-painting stations accompanied by fortune readings were a hit as well! Thank you for a great night!
Women’s Day
To mark International Women’s Day, our students organized a sit-in-protest and a Minute Of Noise to bring awareness to issues that women across the world continue to face. In addition to this, Monday Assembly time will be dedicated to specific workshops organized by the students with the help and support of our staff.
D2 Theater Performance
Our D2 Theater students performed their final pieces tonight to the audience of their peers and teachers. Despite some technical difficulties, they impressed with the selection of topics, performances, script, and acting skills. Well done Kseniya, Ines, Nina, Clara, and Yousra! And thank you Mr. Alastair for the guidance.
UWCEA International Day Please join us tomorrow on the Green, in front of K-Hall, to celebrate the variety of cultures we have living together on campus. International Day promises some good food, entertainment, and fun. I hear there is going to be a bouncy castle as well.
Ramadan on Campus Our Muslim students are preparing to fast the month of Ramadan. They will be supported by our Dining Hall staff throughout the month with meals prepared for them to break fast in the evenings and take to their residences for their morning meals. We will have discussions around healthy eating habits during Ramadan, but please do have those conversations with your students as well.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Best, Adnan Mackovic – Head of Residential Life
Sports Update
On Saturday the 16th the semifinals and finals for the NTSAA U-19 basketball and U-16 football will be occurring. Congratulations to both the boy’s and girl’s teams for basketball for finishing 1st in the east and heading to the semifinals on Arusha Campus. We wish you the best of luck in your games.
On the 23rd we have an invitational sports day on campus which will feature ultimate frisbee, netball and volleyball. We hope to see you there.
On Monday the 25th we also have the PYP swim gala. If you are able to volunteer on that day we would greatly appreciate your support. Please sign up here.
PYP News
Many thanks to Ms. Kacey and Mrs. Dowie for organising such a lovely Book Week for us. This past week the PYP children have enjoyed dressing up as book characters, listening to mystery readers, choosing which of our new picture books should receive our very own literary prize, the Kilimanjaro Award, and decorating their classroom doors to look like a book. Thank you to everyone who supported the book week activities by volunteering to be a mystery reader for the classes and helping to source costumes for the children. A special thank you to Ms. Gabi for lending us a variety of books in foreign languages for the children to try to identify. These are on display in the library. The photo shows the winners of the story writing contest. Well done to everyone who took part.
The Smarty Party on Friday afternoon was a big success. Our children were perfect hosts and made the Daycare visitors feel very welcome. There were games plus lots of dancing with prizes for the best dancers and the smartest outfits. Congratulations to the Student Voice for organising such a fun event.
The PYP swim gala will take place on Monday, 25th March. Coach Pickell and Coach Sabini need a lot of volunteers to work as timers in order for this event to be a success. It would also be very useful to have someone who has worked with the Meet Manager program before, or someone who is confident using a computer, to enter the times of the swimmers. A sign up form is available here. Please be sure you are looking at the Primary page. If you need clarification about the what each role entails please email joshpickell@uwcea.org. The children are encouraged to wear their house T-shirt to the swim gala. These are available from the Development Office.
On Friday, 15th March, there will be a football tournament against Neema School which will take place on Moshi Campus. The matches will be 2-3pm. The children should be on the field by 1:45pm. Coach Pickell has emailed parents with the details. The children should be sure to bring a water bottle as the weather is hot and long lines at the water fountains will slow down the games.
Also on Friday, 15thwe have a French themed Primary Gathering in Karibu Hall (Rafiki is out of use for exams). All P3- P6 children will be presenting. This will take place at 7:40am. You are warmly invited to attend.
Please make a note in your diaries that Student Led Conferences will take place on Wednesday, 27th March. Sign up information will be shared with you later.
Last, but most definitely not least, our P6 classare almost ready to present their PYP Exhibition. This promises to be a wonderful event. Please come along to Rafiki Hall at 6pm on Thursday, 21st March. The class is small – just 8 children – and they would love to have a large and enthusiastic audience. I am sure that their parents will attend but we also need members of the wider community to come along to support them.
Deborah Mills – PYP Coordinator
EC/P1 Class
Thank you to all who came to be mystery readers this week. If you were not able to and you would still like to come please let me know and we will make time for you.
Thank you to all who came to watch the Dinosaurs Gruff. The children enjoyed performing it. They have decided that they would like to have a dinosaur party day on the last week of the quarter. Please watch out for that day.
This week, they were digging for dinosaur bones. They were working on being ever so careful not to break bones like a real paleontologist. Next week, they will come home with a copy of T-rex bones to show you how they put them in order. They will also continue with dinosaur art and make a clay model of a dinosaur.
Mboka Mwasongwe
P2/3 Class
Book Week was a wonderful week! Our class had so much fun celebrating reading: fabulous costumes on Monday, delightful books for the Kili Book Award contest, and marvelous Mystery Readers! Thank you for all the support from home to make this week a success. We had some wonderful teachers pop in to read: Ms. Haviland, Ms. Jamie (music), Ms. Jaime (science), Ms. Irene and Mr. Alastair. Children were delighted to see the parents who made it in: Mama Harjeet, Mama Kenaëlle, Baba Coy, and Mama Lennox. We were also incredibly proud of our book door!
A big thank you to Madame Pearl as well. It was a memorable class on Wednesday when she hosted a birthday party for the P3 class- all in French!
Don’t forget that students need to return their Planet Reports by Wednesday. Please let me know if they need any in-class support on Monday or Tuesday. Also, be sure to send in Swimming Kits every Tuesday. We’ve been missing a couple of swimmers every week and Coach Sabini wants to see everyone in the pool!
Kacey Buckley
P4/5 Class
We had a lovely book centred week in P4/5. Thank you to our mystery readers: Ms. Frida, Mr. Will, Mr. Cofer, Ms. Megan, Mr. Buckley, Zuhri and Ms. Rachel. The children enjoyed listening to you read them a story. We had a lot of fun making our book door on the theme of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The story writing contest generated a lot of enthusiasm and several of the children asked to take their writing books home at the end of each day so that they could continue working on their stories. Everyone made a super effort. All entries were judged anonymously, and no story was judged by a parent or class teacher. Congratulations to our winners:
P5 First place: Louise Runner up: Milo Honourable mention: Anne
P4 First place: Luna Runner up: Alyssa Honourable mention: Jeremy
Next week we will start our new unit of inquiry.
Central idea: The design of buildings and structures is dependent upon the environment and available materials.
Lines of inquiry:
Considerations to take into account when building a structure
How building impacts on the environment
Indigenous and local architecture and its connection to the needs of the community and availability of materials
If you know of any interesting buildings in the community that we can visit, please get in touch. Also, if you know of any architects that might be willing to come and talk to us, I would love to hear from you.
Deborah Mills
P6 Class
Book Week was so much fun. Our mystery readers – Ms Rachel, Ms Jamie, Mr Alastair, Ms Mboka, and Madame Pearl – made it special as they ‘randomly’ popped in to read their favourite books. We enjoyed attending the whole school assembly and Book Week parade; and choosing our favourite class picture book provided some lively debate! We also enjoyed decorating our door and writing our magic themed stories.
P6 also continued their research on their Lines of Inquiry for their PYPX preparation and created surveys related to their PYPX topic, sending them out to the teachers and students at UWCEA Moshi. There was much excitement as the survey answers started coming in. P6 will analyze and present their survey findings next week. We also took on the role of MC’s for the EC/P1s at this week’s Primary Gathering. Well done, P6 for speaking so clearly and confidently!
Natasha Berri
From the Counselors
D1 Parents – Post-Secondary Planning Part I on 13 March at 7:30 PM
Now that most of the D2s have a clearer sense of their plans for life after UWC East Africa, the focus has shifted to the D1s who are underway with their post-secondary planning process. D1 students have begun their one-on-one planning meetings, and reviewing documents along with conducting research that will allow them to finalize their next chapter early next school year. This takes time and a collaborative effort that includes families who are an essential part of this process. In order to ensure we are all on the same page, parents and guardians of the Class of 2025 are invited to participate in part one of a two-part series to guide you through the next year and a half of your child’s IBDP journey. Looking forward to seeing many of you at this virtual event, and feel free to bring lots of questions.
Please see information about how to join this event on the UWCEA Careers website calendar, and feel free to reach out at counselor_moshi@uwcea.org if you have any questions.
In the meantime, here’s what else is coming your way…
UPCOMING College and University Events
13 March: 7:30 PM EAT D1 Parent/Guardian meeting: Preparing for the pursuit of post-secondary opportunities (Part I) – virtual
14 March: 11:30 AM EAT Hong Kong Baptist University Presents a virtual overview of their free online summer program (link on UWCEA Careers website calendar)
21 March: 7:45-10 AM M5/D1 Careers Symposium and D2 hosted Post-Secondary Planning Fair
