International School Moshi Moshi Campus News - 14th February 2009
Dear Parents,
Our M1 students have returned from a highly productive field study trip to Lakes Eyasi and Manyara. Many D1 and D2 students will be spending this weekend at Kidachini undertaking yet more community service hard labour. And our boarders are planning to dance away Saturday night with a Valentine's Dance. Just another week at ISM!
ISA Tests
The P5, M1 and M3 students took ISA standardised tests last week. These have now been sent to ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research) for assessment and we expect to receive results in a couple of months time. These standardised tests are intended to help us measure our students and our teaching programmes against those of other international schools. If you would like to read more about the tests that we took in 2008, please go to www.ismoshi.org/isaacer.htm.
M4 Desserts
As part of the M4 Design Technology the students spent Tuesday morning (3rd February) creating the nutritious dessert that they have been designing over the past 5 weeks. The morning was very successful and the desserts were enjoyed by all of the judges who tasted them. The desserts were not only judged on taste but on presentation and how nutritious they were.
Here is a list of what was created:
Lemon Cake: Flo and Maraim
Strawberry Moon Cake: Brain and Jonathan
Apple Strawberry Yoghurt Rainbow: Irene
Falooda: Mustafa and Mustafa
Nutty Cupcake Fruit Twist: Nancy
Helen Pudding: Hubert and Harveer
Chocolate Strawberries: Kathleen and Katie
Chocolate Cake: Mocksha
Pineapple Cake: Philippa and Khushbu
A huge congratulation to all of the M4 students for their original designs and tasty products!
Simon Mainwaring Design Technology
Food Survey
Some issues concerning food in the dining hall were raised by the Parent Association at their AGM last term and, as a result, the Food Council in school (composed of boarding students) undertook a survey of the boarders to determine their feelings about school food and the changes that they would like to see. In general about 35% of the boarders rated the food and services as excellent or good. In total 75% of the responses rated as satisfactory or better and about 25% described the food as poor.
The favoured food items to be served were chicken, chips, hot dogs and hamburgers. There were a wide variety of suggestions for improvements and a list of strengths and weaknesses. The Food Council is now working with the catering staff to adjust menus and implement improvements. If you would like to read all the survey results, please go to www.ismoshi.org/food_survey.pdf.
Kilimanjaro Marathon
On Sunday, 1st March, the Kilimanjaro Marathon will be held in Moshi together with a Half Marathon and a 5km Fun Run. We are establishing Team ISM to join any one of these races and are trying to raise sponsorship funds through this for our Scholarship Programme. Any student aged 10 years or over can join the Fun Run and we hope many parents and other community members will also join Team ISM. For a fee of TSh 20,000/- you will get a Team ISM T-Shirt, refreshments on race day, transport to/from school to the race and the amount remaining will be donated to the Scholarship Fund.
I-Pods are being offered as prizes for the top fund-raisers in Team ISM
The Tanzanian national form four examination results were published earlier this week and this is our signal to start our search for the two students who will join the D1 class in August with a full tuition and boarding scholarship. We are seeking students with demonstrated academic excellence and a record of active involvement in co-corricular and/or community service activities. If you know of any suitable Tanzanian student, please encourage them to apply. Further details are given at www.ismoshi.org/scholarship.htm with a closing date for applications of 8th March.
ABRSM Practical Exams
The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) will be sending an examiner to Moshi/Arusha in May to examine any of our students who wish to take practical musical instrument examinations. If your child would like to take these tests, please let Mr Khari Lee know as soon as possible before 23rd February. The fee will be US$50 per student per examination.
Life Skills Curriculum
Following on from recent events in the campus, a few parents have asked about our teaching of Life Skills. As with all our MYP subjects, the Life Skills curriculum for M1 to M5 students is included in the MYP Handbook available to download from our website by clicking here, or the summary can also be accessed on our MYP Curriculum pages at www.ismoshi.org/myp_curric2.htm. We would ask all M1 to M5 parents to read through this curriculum and to discuss certain topics with your children before or after they have been covered in the programme. With issues such as alcohol, smoking and sex education covered within the course, it is beneficial for students to come to the classes with a family context to support them.
Search for a New Director
The Board's Search Committee has now produced a shortlist of eligible candidates and three candidates are due to come to Moshi/Arusha on 22nd February for a few days of meetings and interviews. There will be a "Town Hall" in Moshi on Monday, 23rd February to which all parents are invited and at which any parent can ask questions of the candidates; a similar event takes place in Arusha on 24th February. Interviews take place on 25th February, including interviews with a parents panel and with a student panel. More details will be published next week.
P5/P6 Field Study
The P5/P6 classes from both campuses will be going on a field study trip to Magara from Monday 23rd February to Wednesday 25th February. During the trip they will be climbing the escarpment, interviewing people from different tribes in the area and camping at the site. All parents of P5/P6 students should find a letter attached to this newsletter. If you wish, this letter can also be downloaded from www.ismoshi.org/p56trip_letter.pdf.
P1/P2 Trip to Arusha
P1/2 students had a great time during their sleepover in Arusha . As part of developing independence and life skills through our units of inquiry our students are very fortunate to have these learning opportunities. Thank you to Narelle, David and Grace who accompanied the students and to Betty Brown and the Primary team from Arusha campus for the successful joint learning experience with P1/2 Arusha students.
P3/4 at Imara
P3/4 students enjoyed visiting Imara Furniture Factory in Moshi to see how primary resources were used to make furniture. They also got first hand experience at TPC of how sugar is made. Pictures will be posted on the website later.
P6 Exhibition
Thank you to all the P5/6 parents who attended the information evening on Wednesday concerning the upcoming P5/6 trip to Magara. P6 parents had a glimpse of what to expect and look forward to with this year’s P6 exhibition as students confidently explained different aspects of the process involved to portray their learning and understanding of the Primary Years Programme.
Students explained the purpose of the exhibition and what the five essential elements of the programmes were. How they would be applying, developing and showing their understanding of these elements in their presentation during the exhibition. Parents were also challenged by the students to share their understanding of the Key Concepts and familiarise themselves with the Learner Profile, Attitudes, Transdisciplinary Skills, Knowledge and Action components of the PYP. Some of the feedback from parents included how impressed they were with the students’ presentation and their understanding of the essential elements of the PYP. Parents were keen to find out what their roles were to support their child’s investigation as most students were keen to get started. The exhibition will be in Term 3 and parents will be updated through newsletters or meetings at different stages during the term.
PE & Sports T-Shirts for Primary
White sports T-shirts are now available for purchase at the main office for TSh 6000/-. The sizes available are:
Size 26 - KG 1
Size 28 - KG 2/P1/2
Size 7-8 - P3/4
Size 9-11 - P5/6
Primary Assembly
Thank you to Narelle and the P1/2 students for leading the assembly last week, particularly for sharing some valuable life lessons through the different fables dramatised by the students. This week we would like to welcome everyone to attend our P5/6 assembly.
Library Book Sale
The Library will be having a Second Hand Book Sale of non-fiction books from Wednesday, February 25th to Friday, February 27th. All books will be only TSh 500/- each. A second hand fiction sale will follow shortly after that.
Outdoor Pursuits Trips
The dates of Outdoor Pursuits trips for the rest of this school year have been determined as follows:
21-22 March - Mandara (Level 1 trip to the first hut on Kilimanjaro)
18-19 April - Mandara (Level 1 trip to the first hut on Kilimanjaro)
25-27 April - Little Meru (Level 2 trip to the smaller peak on Mount Meru)
1-4 May - Mawenzi (Level 3 trip to the base of the lower Mawenzi Peak on Kilimanjaro)
9-12 May - Socialist Peak (Level 4 trip to the summit of Mt Meru)
Dira: Heartbeat - Ya Piga Ya Moyu
Secondary students on Arusha Campus are gearing up for their production of Dira/Heartbeat on Friday, 27th and Saturday 28th February on Arusha Campus. All are welcome to this celebration of dance, rhythm and song from around the world. We are also hoping to arrange transport for our boarding students to join the fun.
MYP Minute - Technology
This week's MYP Minute has been attached for all parents with children in M1 to M5 and is also available for download from www.ismoshi.org/ParentNews090213_myp.pdf. This edition looks at Technology as a subject within the MYP and how it differs from the technology classes that we previously taught within IGCSE.
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