International School Moshi Moshi Campus News - 14th November 2008
Dear Parents,
We are looking forward to tonight's music concert in Karibu Hall and also hope that all the students on the Outdoor Pursuits trip on Kilimanjaro using the Rongai Route this weekend are having a succcessful trek.
Music Concert
Many of our students will be performing in the Music Concert in Karibu Hall tonight Friday, 14th November at 7pm. All parents and friends are welcome to come and support our performers.
Outdoor Pursuits - Mawenzi Hut
On Thursday, 20th November, a group of students and teachers from both campuses will be climbing to Mawenzi Hut on Kilimanjaro. This four-day trip involves nights in Mandara and Horombo huts and a day walk from Horombo to the small tin hut at the base of Mawenzi Peak - an altitude of about 4500m. It is sad that Mawenzi is currently in the news after last weekend's plane crash into Mawenzi Peak in which four people lost their lives.
There are still two more OP trips planned for this month as follows:
Nov 13-16: Rongai Route - the students are expected to return to school on Sunday.
Nov 20-23: Mawenzi Hut - a level three trip on Kilimanjaro to Horombo Hut and then taking a day walk to the small tin hut at the base of Mawenzi - the lower peak.
Nov 26-30: Uhuru Peak - a challenging level five trip to the summit of Kilimanjaro.
Full details of these OP trips are shown at www.ismoshi.org/opcal.pdf. If your child is participating in these trips, please check this calendar for details of pre-trip meetings, and times to collect and return equipment. With so many trips taking place, it is important that all equipment is both collected and returned on time ready for re-issue.
Webpage Workshops
An ISM parent has kindly agreed to offer workshops for parents and others who wish to take a crash course in web page creation. The programme of workshops will be on five consecutive Saturday mornings in the Computer Centre on Moshi Campus as follows:
Nov 22, 10-12 am: Basic Priciples of ICT and Web Technology
Nov 29, 10-12 am: How to create a personal webpage
Dec 06, 10-12 am: Principles of Design I
Dec 13, 10-12 am: Principles of Design II
Dec 20, 10-12 am: Finishing Touches
Participation is free, and limited to individuals connected to ISM (parents, teachers, students, etc.).
The ISM Parent Association is pleased to welcome you to the PA Annual General Meeting to be held at KIA Lodge on Wednesday, 19th November at 3:45pm. All parents with children currently enrolled in ISM are warmly invited to attend.
Agenda
1. PA Report
2. ISM Annual Report 2007/08 by the CEO
3. Questions and Answers
4. Election of new Committee Members
Free transport will be available from the Moshi Campus to KIA Lodge, leaving the campus at 2:45pm. If you wish to make use of this transport, please send an email to me, Keiron White, on before Tuesday lunch time. We look forward to seeing you on 19th November.
Presentation in Dar es Salaam
On Friday, 21st November at 6pm, ISM will be making a presentation for prospective new families/students at the Movenpick Hotel in Dar es Salaam. It would also be a great pleasure to meet parents of current ISM students and I hope that you may be able to introduce some new families to us on that occasion. Currently our boarding houses only have a very few places available, but we are planning to expand our boarding facilities in the next few months and hope to welcome more new students at the start of the school year in August. I hope to meet some of you next Friday.
Play On
Rehearsals of the ISM Players production of Play On are wrapping up. Anyone with used makeup (foundation, rouge, eyeshadow, lipstick, etc.) that they would like to donate to the ISM Players is asked to drop it off in the Main Office. Play On is a hilarious comedy which follows the mishaps of a community theatre troupe whose performance goes terribly wrong. It will be performed on December 4th and 5th on the NEW Karibu stage. Tickets will be available in the Main Office in a couple of weeks time.
M1-M5 Life Skills Classes
Further details are now available of the Life Skills curriculum in the M1 to M5 years. If you wish to read these, please download the MYP Handbook (revised) from the school's website.
December Public Holidays
In order to assist families with planning for the upcoming public holidays, ISM will definitely celebrate Idd el Hajj on Monday, 8th December and will celebrate Independence Day on Tuesday, 9th December. Classes will therefore take place as usual on Friday, 5th December and will then resume at 7:30am on Wednesday, 10th December. There will be a programme of activities for boarders over the long weekend, and those boarders who wish to travel home for the weekend may do so but should return by Tuesday afternoon, 9th December. These arrangements will not change even if later official government announcements indicate different days for national holidays.
Primary Assembly
Last week we enjoyed the P5/6 assembly where students shared their learning through the presentation of their projects on Landforms and Landscapes. Parents, teachers and students had an opportunity to ask students questions and learn a lot of new and interesting facts.
PYP Assessment Workshop
Thank you to all parents who attended the assessment workshop last Wednesday. Parents were able to learn a lot more about how we assess students and assessment strategies that are used to identify student learning.
On arrival parents were asked to choose and use resources to construct a model of their choice. It was interesting to hear discussion on how parents graded the models which were constructed without a set of criteria. People had to grade each model on a scale of 1-4, one being the highest and four the lowest possible grade to achieve. As a result of this activity two parents were then asked to design a rubric to assess the models. Everyone agreed that using a rubric made it a lot easier to identify performance and quality of work. Some of the reasons why parents gave a certain grade to a model were the complexity of the structure, it looked good, nice colours, and I like the person and creativity.
One of the important clarifications made was when and how evidence of student learning is presented.
gallery walks
assemblies
projects
class presentations
portfolios
work displayed in the classroom or around the school.
At the end of the session parents were able to walk away with a copy of the new reporting format which the primary team presented in response to feedback from parents on the following principle that effective reporting
reflects what the school community values
is comprehensive, honest, fair and credible
is clear and understandable to all parties
Term 1 Primary reports will be going home on 5th December.
Kindergarten Class Visit
Students from Moshi Chapel Kindergarten will be visiting KG on Monday 17th November. We are looking forward to including them in a number of cooperative learning experiences.
Christmas Fair
Gaspard and Aline Knops, parents of ISM students, are baking loaves of Christmas Bread and selling them at Neriscia Blacquiere's Christmas Fair at her house which runs this weekend on Nov. 14 and 15. Each loaf is TSh 5,000/= and all proceeds will go to the ISM Scholarship Programme. A map to the house is shown on the website at www.ismoshi.org/neriscia.jpg. [This event is privately organised]
Primary Reminders
All updates on events happening at school during the week will be posted on the PYP board on the pathway near the KG playground.
Hats:Students can leave their hats in designated areas in their classroom and take them home over the weekend to be washed. This is one way we can help them to have their hats at school.
Water Bottles: Please ensure that your child has a water bottle particularly on sports days and when they have swimming.
Indoor Shoes: Students are encouraged to keep a pair of indoor shoes (slippers/ flip flops/ malapas) to wear in their classroom during the rainy season, or when they are walking to the pool on their swimming day.
Lost and Found: Please check with Anita at the main office for any lost property. If items are labelled it makes it a lot easier to return them to their owners.
Dance Classes: Amanda Kirk is offering Dance classes for adults every Thursday evening at TSh 5,000/- per session. Latin Dancing is 6pm to 7pm and Ballroom Dancing is 7pm to 8pm.
This newsletter has been sent to you from International School Moshi. Please advise me on if your email address changes or if you would like me to add another email address to this mailing list.
