Moshi Campus News – 17 Apr 2022

I hope everyone had a lovely break and is looking forward to this final term of the year. Like it seems happens every term we have new people joining the campus, so I hope they enjoy this time with us.

While last term may have seemed very drawn out and consistent, I think this term will be a bit quicker and bouncy. It is important for all our parents, students and staff to keep an eye on the calendar this term as there are a few holidays, a few exams as well as a number of other events that will keep us on our toes.  Starting off with the holidays, please remember that we start classes on Wednesday the 20th and then have a holiday on Tuesday the 26th for Union Day. The following week we will have Eid and those dates will be announced soon.

As far as events go, this Friday we have the last day of classes for our D2 students who will start exams late the following week. We have the prom as well on Friday and as you can see below, we also have International Day on Saturday.

In the next three weeks we also have our P4 to M3 students taking the second round of MAP testing which is one of the tools we use to measure progress, OP trips for Plains and Reefs and M5 Personal Project Presentations.

Some other dates for your planning include:

• Graduation: May 21st
• M5 Summary Assessments: Start May 25th
• M5 Ceremony: June 3rd
• D1 Final Exams: Start May 30th
• M4 Summary Assessments: Start May 31st

And the last day of classes is June 17th

I hope everyone has a great last term and will see many of you in the next few days.

Bob Cofer

This Saturday April 23rd is the Moshi Campus International Day hosted by the parents and students on campus. It is an opportunity for us to celebrate the diversity and commonality within our community. Please see the posters above and join us for the day. Please also see the poster below concerning the Fashion Show and join us for that as well.

We are excited to announce that the UMOJA Short Course will once again be taking place this year physically on our Moshi campus. Please see the details on the poster and spread the word. Here is the link to the website for more details https://umoja-shortcourse.uwc.org/.

I trust you all enjoyed a safe and restful break with family and friends and, like me, are looking forward to another fulfilling and dynamic quarter of learning at UWCEA. For our D2 students, the coming weeks have added significance. Be sure to give everything you can to ensure your results are a true reflection of your efforts, abilities and understanding. Do not procrastinate. Be strategic and focused. Take time for yourselves as, forgetting to, is counter productive. Listen to and look out for each other. Be mindful. At times, it will not be easy but make sure it is worth it and, as I have said to many of you, remember that this too shall pass.

Quarter 4 is (thankfully?) shorter than Quarter 3 but, rather unsurprisingly, there is a huge amount happening in the next 8 weeks or so. The upcoming International Day and the associated Fashion Shows look set to get us off to a flying start with the school production of “10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse” coming the week after…be sure to get your tickets for both of these events!

Then, over the coming weeks, we have MAP testing, the Prom, Personal Project presentations, the TOK Exhibition, Focus Days, numerous sports fixtures and OP Trips and, of course, the small matter of exams, summative assessments and, not forgetting, the M5 Ceremony and D2 Graduation. Please be sure to keep up with all the latest happenings through this newsletter and the school calendars.

Looking forward to it already?

Ben Morley

Congratulations to all the classes that decorated the doors so beautifully. Ms Janet and Ms Val had a tough time judging this year’s winners. Thank you to both of them for helping to select the winners.

Congratulations to the following doors/teachers/classes:

For PYP
Most creative: Ms Debbie’s class with the ‘Pied Piper of Hamelin’
Most recycled: Mr Hywel’s class with ‘Mortal Engines’

For MYP/DP
Most creative: Ms Stephanie’s class with ‘Barbe Bleue’ & Mr Alastair’s class with ‘The Hobbit’
Most recycled: Ms Julia’s class with ‘The Gilded Ones’

This year the judges also added a new category:

Most sophisticated: Ms Penny’s class with ‘Narnia’

Thank you once again and we look forward to next year’s doors. Please see the winners below.

What an amazing quarter we have just had, and I am excited for the final push that awaits us. As I reflect on times past it often brings me to one of our guiding statements; ‘An education in a global context that promotes an appreciation and understanding of multiple perspectives and interdependence of individuals, societies and environments.’

It is the term we have just journeyed through that truly brought this to life. We had so many activities, so many trials and tribulations and in each moment we as staff and students broadened our perspective and empathy for others. It was fittingly finished with a well planned Kivuli residential dinner with MYP residential students from all nations bonding together to plan a sports themed dinner for all outside with games and entertainment overlooking Mount Kilimanjaro with delicious food.

Looking ahead to term 4, please ensure your child’s travel details have been sent through to me so I can coordinate the appropriate airport or bus transfers.

I am very much looking forward to our students finishing well and supporting each other in the weeks ahead.

Simon Johnston

Blue Sand Basketball Tournament

Our U19 Boys Team participated in this inaugural basketball tournament on the 26th of March. Over 10 teams were represented, including schools like Braeburn, St. Jude, Orkeeswa, St. Connies, Arusha Meru and St. Jude. The boys played some fantastic basketball and had many memorable highlights. Andre and Mapalo did a commendable job as stand-in coaches for Mr. Simon. Our team finished a close and respectable third place. Well done, boys!

For Quarter 4, we can look forward to another session of clubs and activities. Please note that although the secondary and community activities will stay the same throughout the quarter (see schedule below), the afternoon clubs for primary and secondary sports schedule will change. Please see the sign up schedules and deadlines below:

Wednesday 20th April: List of PYP afternoon sports and secondary sports online
Thursday 21st April at 7pm – Friday at 9pm: Sign up
Monday 25th April: Activities and sports start.

It takes time to get the activities sorted, so if you could adhere to the deadlines, that would be much appreciated from the organizational point of view.

Gilbert Kaburu

What a trip, students worked tirelessly to help make huge leaps forward in our service work on the Tanga coast. An artificial reef was created, a huge swim through which will one day become an artificial reef was built and placed at 16m deep, Coral Nurseries were cleaned and repopulated and we have some great progress with the growth of some of our corals on these nurseries, a very rewarding trip indeed. We also had 3 D2 students, Ane, Anais and Sophia, aka the “A Team” successfully complete the PADI Rescue Diver qualification. Here is what one student had to say about the trip.

Disclaimer: This article is a bit fishy – you will sea what I mean

This trip might sound like a beach holiday, but if you ask anyone who went, they will shorely tell you it wasn’t. Most of the time was spent working on the Coral Reef Project; moving concrete domes out in the ocean so that coral can grow on it, building a new dive-through, cleaning the already existing coral nurseries and domes and installing two new coral nursery tables. Whilst this was hard work, it was a load of fun. During our free time, some played spike ball, read a book or went paddleboarding.

We arrived at Fish Eagle Point on Friday afternoon and after setting up the camp, immediately started working. Group 2 went diving to clean the coral nurseries. Everyone else moved concrete domes further out into the ocean, so that they were ready to be moved with the raft. After a fintastic dinner, we lay on the beach, admiring the stars. However, this did not last long as we had to go to bed early, to get ready for the next day.

Mr. Marsh made shore that we worked effishiently, so the first group got up at 5am. We loaded the between 300kg and 800kg coral domes onto the raft, pulled it out by boat and lowered them 13m deep into the ocean. Group 2 stayed on land, cutting and welding metal, to build a new dive-through. The youngest divers were the third group and went on 2 recreational dives. The fourth group was composed of the oldest divers, who have already done 6 reefs trip but love it so much that they decided to do a 7th one and get their Rescue Diving License. At lunch we stayed out of the sun and exchanged our experiences so far, but not wanting to be too shady, we got out and were working again soon. More welding, cleaning, exploring and learning was done. In the evening, we were all so exhausted that, after a cooling bucket shower, we fell into our tents quickly (or our hammocks, where the heat was not as intense).

On the second day, we did similar activities. Group 1 did their 2 recreational dives and in the afternoon put the 2 new nursery tables in place – this involved concreting underwater, which is one of the many things I thought I would never do. Unfortunately, the raft had floated into the mangroves over night and was now stranded, so group 1 could not move coral domes and did a recreational dive instead. Being IB learners, we came up with a creative solution; after having fried Calamari and great Haloumi for dinner, everyone took a short nap, and got up for the high tide at 11pm to move the raft out again and anchor it. The water was full of phytoplankton that night and we were amazed by the water glowing around us – another thing I thought I would never experience.

By Monday, Sophia, Ane, Anais and Cody had successfully completed their PADI Rescue Diving Course, congratulations to them! They then guided group 3 in finding baby corals to plant onto the nurseries. The other 2 groups had the choice of doing 2 more recreational dives or more coral dome moving. The service group successfully created a whole cluster of concrete domes, attached some corals and by the time we had finished, numerous fish had already made it their new, offishial home. The recreational divers were rewarded with the sighting of a stingray, a turtle and some dolphins. In the afternoon we packed up the camp so that we could leave by 5:30am on Tuesday.

Everyone ended up with either cuts and scrapes, jellyfish stings and/or sea urchin stings, or a sunburn. All these proved that we spent a lot of time in the ocean and worked hard every day.

For the D2s this was their last Outdoor Pursuits trip, and they sadly watched as the ocean waved its last goodbye.

Ben D1

Next quarter our Peaks Hiking trips take a bit of a break and our Reefs ramps up again. We will have a Level 1 and Level 2 Reefs trip as well as the 2nd ever Level 5 Reefs trip where we hope to do much more of the good work we have been doing in Level 4. We will also run a Level 4 Plains trip along the edge of Lake Manyara, where students will be walking amongst all types of game in preparation for the Level 5 next year.

Robin Marsh

Welcome back for Quarter 4. We hope you had an enjoyable break and we look forward to seeing the children on Wednesday, 20th April. Please note that there are no after school clubs this coming week and the children should leave school at 1:10pm. If your child is  planning to eat lunch at school he/she should leave campus by 2pm as there will be no supervision provided after this time. Please look out for an email from Gilbert Kaburu with the sign up details for this quarter’s clubs which will begin on Monday, 25th April. We are looking forward to a happy and productive quarter with the children.

Dates for your diary:
Week beginning 25th April – MAP testing for P4 – P6
Tuesday 26th April – Union Day holiday
Friday 29th April – Primary Gathering (Student Voice)
Some time during the week beginning Monday, 2nd May we will have the Eid holiday but the date for this has not yet been set.

Deborah Mills & Mboka Mwasongwe

Ms. Grace (a teacher at the Daycare Centre) would like book donations of simple reading books with just a few words on each page. If you have any such books please consider donating them. There is a collection box in Ben Morley’s office.

I hope you have all had a restful break.

We will be starting off this quarter with a new, exciting unit with the transdisciplinary theme: How we express ourselves.

Central Idea: We can communicate our emotions through the arts 

 

Lines of Inquiry:

• Vocabulary for emotions
• Exploring different art forms
• Emotional expression through music, drama, dance and visual arts.

This is a fun and interactive unit and we will be calling on you to join us in some class activities. We will work on building our communication and social skills so you can also work on these in your home space.

We always focus on all learner profiles but for this unit, we will specifically look at how we can be communicators, open-minded and balanced.

We are looking forward to seeing all the children on Wednesday.

Mboka Mwasongwe

Welcome to Quarter 4. I hope everyone had a much deserved and restful break. We’re at the 2 month race to finishing off our current Unit of Inquiry and beginning the next one in May.

We’ll resume spelling tests beginning this week. If you need an updated list of your child’s spelling words, please email me and let me know.

I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Elisha Jafer

Quarter 3 has been busy and wonderful. We’ve done so much and learned lots. This break from school is well-earned by all of the students!

Book Week 2022 did not disappoint. Our class loved the chances to celebrate reading and books. Dressing up as book characters was fun! We are grateful for Mama Baraka and Mama Luana who came as Mystery Readers. We are proud of our book door that depicted the chapter book we’ve been reading for the past 2 months in class- Howl’s Moving Castle. After a book door tour to see all the great doors around campus, our class still thinks our door is amazing!

I hope you’ve had a great break- remember that road trips are a great time for practicing Multiplication Tables! Quarter 4 is going to move fast but there’s lots to fit in so I hope students come back well-rested and eager to learn.

Kacey Buckley

The P5 students enjoyed Book Week in the week leading up to the break. We dressed up as book characters for the whole school assembly, were entertained by the author Maria Biswalo who read us her book Mama’s Magical Kanga and, best of all, we won the most creative door design! Many thanks to Ms. Jackie O’Brien in the secondary science department who made time to lead us in a heart dissection which reinforced some of the information the children covered during our body systems unit earlier in the semester. In the coming week we will continue with our inquiry into earthquakes and will revise some of the language and maths skills we have covered this year in preparation for the MAP tests the following week. We are happy to welcome two new students to P5. Alix and Carl will be with us for the next 3 weeks – karibu!

Deborah Mills