Moshi Campus News – 6 Dec 2020

This past week we had a fantastic event celebrating the arts with a little MYP Shakespeare and an evening Drama performance. Mixed into this we had individual and group music and displays of student artwork. Thank you to Alastair, Samuel, Jeanne, Penny, Laura and all the other students, parents and staff that made this possible. 

This week we have semester reports issued for EC to D1 and conferences for PYP on Thursday and Secondary on Friday.  You should have received an invite to sign up for face to face conferences and please contact teachers directly if you need to arrange a Zoom call.

We are heading into the last week of the semester and this will be the last newsletter until January, so let me wish everyone a happy and restful break.  Please be safe wherever you are and whatever you end up doing.

The end of semester is often a time for goodbyes. Sadly, on this occasion, we are saying farewell to our science teacher, Emily Otieno. We would like to thank Emily for all of the support she has offered to our students and the contribution she has made to life at UWCEA. We wish her success as she moves on to the next stage of her career.

Classes resume on Monday January 11th.  Please remember if you are traveling back into Tanzania to arrive on the 5th/6th for isolation purposes.

And lastly, while we are just having a break in the year, most Tanzanian schools are completing their school year. On Friday Anna, Ben and I were able to join the Daycare located on campus (UWCEA supports this initiative and some of our students work with the children) for their graduation. Please see the pictures below.

Bob Cofer – Head of Campus

The 24-Hour Run is a wonderful tradition of our school which was established by our African sister UWC Waterford Kamhlaba of Southern Africa. The main purpose of the event is to raise funds for UWCEA scholarships. The 3rd annual event will take place on the Moshi campus on the 22nd and 23rd of January 2021 on the bottom pitch.

As much festival as sporting event, the general idea is that teams work together to have someone “running” at all times for 24 hours.  The running can really be running but also walking, skipping, dancing, and more. Each team consists of 20 individuals and is welcomed to create its own theme and outfits.

The team sign-up sheets will be found by the breezeway next to the staff room. We are looking forward to having as many teams as possible! Get up and sign up now!

Wednesday’s “Evening of the Arts” was a fitting end to the semester. It was such a privilege to see students from across the school showcasing their learning in drama, music and visual art. The Shakespeare vignettes were fabulous, the musical interludes were lovely, the art on display was very impressive, the inaugural performance of the UWCEA Community Choir was a triumph and the play was a roaring success.

The Arts are an integral part of a holistic IB education. In the MYP, the Arts stimulate young imaginations, challenge perceptions and develop creative and analytical skills. The hope is that exploring art in context supports the development of an inquiring and empathetic world view. In this way, studying the Arts challenges and enriches personal identity and builds awareness of the aesthetic in a real-world context.

As students move to the DP, the subjects in the Arts continue to allow a high degree of adaptability to different cultural contexts and the emphasis is on creativity in the context of disciplined, practical research into the relevant genres.

Wednesday was certainly a showcase of this learning but, for many, the enduring takeaway from the evening was how much everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, both the performers and the audience. The festive market only added to the ambience and, all in all, it was an unmitigated success. People are already talking about the next event! In the words of the Bard, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”

Ben Morley – Deputy Head of Campus

Over the last week Diploma Students have been having their CAS interviews. For D2 students this was the second one and was a chance for them to check they had met their requirements and to reflect on what they had learned and what they will remember in future. It was really enjoyable listening them talk about the skills they learned, so many talked about collaboration and communication but also what they had learned about themselves. For some what they have done in CAS has changed their lives. For D1 it was an introduction, making sure they are aware of what they need to do. It was interesting to hear their plans and I look forward to hearing what they accomplish.

Meanwhile classes have continued. The D2 students have been submitting IAs. When they return after the break, they will have a couple of weeks before their mock exams. More details about these will be shared next week. The D1 students have been finalising assessments before reports are issued next week. They should use some of the break to catch up on any work missed.

It is really important that all students take time over the holiday to rest and relax so they come back ready for semester 2.

Margaret Brunt – DP Coordinator

D1 Spanish Ab Initio Class Spanish Tortilla Cooking Session

Learning a new language is not only about acquiring new vocabulary and grammar but also finding out about the people, culture and especially the culinary delights of the target language countries.  To this end, as a conclusion to the food topic, the D1 Spanish Ab Initio class spent a lesson in the student kitchen preparing, cooking and eating Spanish tortillas, which are Spanish potato omelettes.    It made a change from being in the classroom and the smell of frying garlic and onions was oozing from the student kitchen!  The Spanish tortillas were a success and very tasty!  Thank you to Navya for taking the lead and for organizing the ingredients from the school kitchen.

Thank you all for a great first term.  This year has been interesting, to say the very least, but we made it and are still going strong.  The past few weeks have been busy with school work as well as school related activities.  “The Evening of the Arts” was a big success and people are looking forward to the next one.  Shout out to M1, M2 and M3 for being bold and brave on stage with their performances.  Students have been on many different O.P. trips and we always enjoy seeing their tired smiles and entertaining stories when they return.

This week is our final week and it is shortened due to a holiday on Wednesday.  If you have signed up for conferences please be on time and respectful of those that follow you.  Reports will be released on Thursday for the MYP students so parents can access the information during the conferences.

It has been my pleasure to serve the families as the MYP Coordinator and look forward to returning in January fresh and ready to do the same.  Please encourage your child to read over the holiday and rest.  The students worked hard and are ready for a much earned break.

I wish you all a safe and restful break; take care of yourself and each other.

Jeanne Aman – MYP Coordinator

Research of saplings to plant

When we started our research, we decided that we wanted to plant a tree or crop that not only could revive the natural area of Kiladeda but also provide economic wealth to the local people who live there. We were mainly thinking of a tree which provides a fruit. The plants that we came up with were: mango trees, avocado trees, banana trees, coffee plants, guava trees, jackalberry trees, pepper trees, and sausage trees.

Our sports weekend money making scheme

After a long and exhausting sports weekend, the Kiladeda service group was able to raise over 54,000 TSH. With the help of the school community and a few diligent students, hours of hard work paid off in just a matter of minutes. The firm favorite; coconut coated chocolate balls. We sold one tray full of chocolate balls. 2 energy balls were sold for 1000 TSH. Our energy bars were not as successful as our energy balls but we did manage to sell two pieces for 1K each. We received good reviews for the ones we did sell. Our items were reasonably priced. We just sold them too late, we sold them on Sunday. We could have yielded far better results if we had started selling them on Friday and Saturday since there were more matches on those days, and more people would have seen our stall.

We have to give a big thanks to Mrs. Sanna for sharing her exclusive Swedish energy bar recipe, Miss Penny for allowing us to use the student kitchen to bake our snacks and Mr. Ian for donating 10,000 TSH to the cause. Some members of our group also made posters to showcase our products but we did not use them in the end because we decided to walk around the campus selling our products.  We feel that it was a success overall!

Plans for January

We had planned to visit the Kiladeda River area sooner but we are still awaiting permission from the local authorities, so hopefully this will happen in January after the holiday.

By Alex, James, Ari, Fabio

Rest. Relax. Reflect. Repeat

What a year it has been!

It’s amazing to realize that we have almost reached the end of 2020! Hopefully we will all have time to press pause as we consider all that has transpired before making preparations for what we are anticipating in the new year. Our community has been quite a busy place over the past month, and we can all use some time to step back, and reflect on lessons learned, while also preparing for what the future may bring. Please take some time to think about what you have learned and gained from this unbelievable year, while also using that knowledge to guide your planning process for the new year. Be sure to consider ways to enhance your self-care routine because it will be essential for thriving through whatever comes your way in 2021. As a quick recap, and way to jumpstart your planning, here is a quick slideshow of ideas for you to consider.

The end of the year is bringing a flurry of activity in the college and university planning realm. We continue to have opportunities to engage with admissions representatives and students from institutions around the world, and hope that this time of exploration will continue to ensure students, and families, are truly aware of the vast array of opportunities that exists for careers and institutions of higher learning. Please take a moment to review some of the upcoming events on this link and continue to explore the information that institutions are making abundantly available via their websites and social media.

The D1s and D2s have received information to help them make the most of the break, and guide their ongoing work regarding their post-secondary planning process. For the D1s, this time can be used learning more about how their interests and strengths can lead to career choices that will guide their university application process. Many D2s are finalizing their applications for admission and scholarship, as well as starting to receive offers. There are a large number of institutions with deadlines over the break, and thus our D2s will hopefully continue to work diligently to finalize their applications, and submit well in advance of their deadline. Resources on Maia Learning and the weekly Counselor communication to students are available to assist with their work over the break. Ms. Ford and Ms. Swope will be available via email, but please be mindful of a delay in response time.

Wishing you a wonderful last weekend of this semester.

Take care and see you in the new year,

UWCEA School Counseling Team

What a strange semester we have had on the sports pitches, if you were to look at the fields every afternoon you would think everything has been running as usual.  The sports weekend was a welcome competition for those students who need to test themselves against others and gave a much-needed boost to the focus of their training sessions. Unfortunately, next semester is looking like it may continue in the same vein, with limited opportunities for interschool competition however we will aim to make more regular trips to UWCEA Arusha Campus and host them more often for some sports.  We are also planning to continue with the UWCEA Cup which was started at sports weekend this year.

Remember over the holidays to keep hydrated while we approach the hottest time of the year (particularly if you are staying in Tanzania) and take time to go for walks/jogs with friends or family every day, both for your physical and social wellbeing.

There will be no sports training next week.

Robin Marsh

Water Level 3, the comic tragedy

By Sofia S

(Fish Eagle Point, deep (18… more like 14 meters) down into the blue water of the Indian Ocean. Divers swimming)

Noga: (checks her oxygen levels and anguishes to the glance of a round fatal zero.  As she processes the worrying news, she DESPERATELY (though in a controlled manner) signals her buddy “out of air”. The two divers share air and immediately ascend, but not too fast, otherwise they would suffer from lung overexpansion. As soon as Noga and her buddy reach the surface, she inflates her Buoyancy Control Device and observes the horizon intermittently covered by the rhythmic waves. As the current bounces the raft-type boat which took the divers to their promising adventure, Caya feels her breakfast oats and watermelons ascending through her esophagus)  

Caya: *onomatopoeia for vomiting*

Virag and Galia and Mr Carson and Mr Marsh: (while underwater regenerating coral reefs, contemplating Caya’s breakfast gracefully floating next to Fien, whose eyes could shout for Mathias’s help, who was distracted fixing her weight belt, which was no longer pushing her to the bottom)

Instructors and fish (in unison, thinking to themselves): We must believe it is all right. We must believe it is all safe and fun but thrilling, for sure. It is all fine but for that peculiar individual – Mr Marsh- wearing an Australian Christmas themed rash shirt and occasionally matching shorts.

Narrator: Indeed. Safe, amazing, but thrilling. After this adventure no more deadly cuts from sharp oysters, fast and irregular breathing underwater, hurtful chafing thighs or desperating blisters will terrify Water OP-Trippers. No more Sweet Hamlet, No more!!

*intermission time: This play has been sponsored by the OP-Tripper’s trusting parents. A big thank you to the team responsible for the regeneration of the coral reefs:  Virag, Galia, Mr Marsh, Mr Carson and the Fish Eagle Point Team. We wish the audience a pleasant evening*

Thank you for your support regarding sending the PYP children to school with a hat and a water bottle. The children have done such a good job with regard to wearing hats at break time that on Friday we rewarded them with 5 minutes extra play time.

We are now entering the final week of the semester. The children are looking forward to the Peace Out 2020 disco on Tuesday evening. Tickets are still available for 5000 Tshillings from Ms. Elisha.

The end of semester reports will be put on Managebac next week and you will have the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress with the class teacher at the conferences on Thursday. Please note that an R grade shows that the child is reaching the expectations for the class. The B grade indicates the areas that need growth and attention. The E grade indicates that class expectations have been exceeded – the E grade is the exception and is not commonly given.

P6 are on a field trip on Monday and should come with appropriate clothing.

All of the PYP staff wish you and your families a happy holiday. We look forward to seeing the children back in school on Monday, 11th January.

Deborah Mills & Mboka Mwasongwe – PYP Coordinators

We have had an interesting week looking at animal classification. ECs talked about how animals are the same and different. Some very interesting conversations were taking place about how some animals live in the savannah and some in the ocean. Some animals also lived long ago and some animals can live in our homes.

 

The P1s watched videos about animal classification and decided to stick to only vertebrates. They were each assigned one group to work on. With support, they used YouTube videos to look for 2 or more facts about their group. They wrote these facts down and created drawings to go with their facts. Next week, they will finalize their work and make a simple poster about animal classification.

Thank you Opa for coming to read to the children. They were thinking about Humpty all day.

If you have not done so already, please do sign up for conferences. I hope to see you all on Thursday.

Wishing you all happy holidays and safe travels during this Christmas/New Year season.

Mboka Mwasongwe

It’s the end of the semester! I think everyone is ready for a holiday, and mostly just for 2020 to come to an end. We’ve been looking at lines of symmetry in shapes, in patterns and in images. Some of the students have used a line of symmetry to draw Christmas trees and snowmen.

Next week, we’ll be learning about how different cultures celebrate this holiday period. In order to complete some of the craft activities, we require empty toilet paper rolls, we kindly ask you to please send those in on Monday.

Parent teacher conferences are scheduled for Thursday, please book a time slot to come see me at. Should you be unable to come for the conferences on Thursday, I am happy to reschedule an alternative time for us to meet.

I look forward to partying it up with your children next Tuesday at the Primary Disco, tickets are still available for purchase from me.

Have a wonderful holiday, and I hope all of us come back relaxed and with smiles on our faces!

Happy New Year!

Elisha Jaffer

The days are flying past as we wrap up this semester. We spent time reviewing some of our math concepts from the year like rounding and word problems. The whole class is making strides in their times tables memorization – keep it up over the break, kids! It has been fun to look at Christmas traditions from around the world. Mama Hagit will join us on Tuesday to share about Hannukah. Monday and Tuesday will be normal school days (so don’t forget swim suits on Monday) but then we have 2 days without classes. I am looking forward to the parent teacher conferences on Thursday- there’s always so much to talk about. Friday will be a short day and the kids have asked if we can celebrate a busy, learning-filled semester by bringing in snacks to share and playing games.

Talking points with kids- your favorite foods that you eat on special occasions or holidays

Kacey Buckley

This was our last full week of classes as next week will include a day’s holiday and a day of parent-teacher conferences. In maths the children have been having lots of fun using the polydron equipment to build 3D shapes. We have been consolidating understanding about prisms and pyramids (these two shape families are often confused). There will be no home learning next week but the children will bring home a sheet with the names and properties of common 2D and 3D shapes. It would be very beneficial if they could review these over the break as we will be continuing with our geometry work in Semester 2. We have been inquiring into our new unit on the interconnected nature of our body systems. This week the children have been familiarizing themselves with the basics of our different body systems and later in the unit they will choose one system to research in depth. Thank you for all of your support this Semester. I wish you and your families a restful and enjoyable break.

Deborah Mills

The P6 have started their new unit about ancient civilizations. In teams of two they are looking into a civilization to teach the class about after we return from break. We have finished our book clubs this week with the class thoroughly enjoying a variety of Roald Dahl novels. They are all developing as readers, and it was great fun to visit each group and read with them. Next week they will enjoy watching the movie versions of these fabulous stories.

Next Monday is our trip to Mweka to plant trees, and in order to enjoy our time each child needs to be prepared. They are required to have good walking shoes, a hat, water bottle, healthy snack, and clothes that are okay to get dirty. We will return before lunch. Please make sure they are prepared, otherwise they will need to stay here with another class. If it is raining, we will go on Tuesday. I look forward to seeing you all next Thursday for conferences.

Sarah Brummel