This is the first newsletter for some time and I apologise for the breaks in communication. I aim to be able to keep you informed on school events and news on a regular basis from now on. Much has already happened this quarter including field study trips for P5/P6 and M1, mock exams for D2, ISA tests for P4-M1 and M3, PSSS tests for M5, a Hard Labour weekend, the primary swimming gala, and a basketball tournament. More is yet to come.
PYP Evaluation
As a school authorized to teach the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate (IB), we are evaluated every three years. This evaluation process is in two parts - the first part is a self-evaluation conducted by the school and the second part is a visit by two IB representatives who will look at all aspects of our implementation of the PYP and make recommendations for how we can develop the programme. Our two visitors will be in school on Monday-Wednesday, 15th-17th February and will be vsiting classrooms, meeting with teachers and holding discussions with parents and Board members during their stay.
Meet the Director
You are invited to a general Parent Meeting on Wednesday, February 17th at 6pm on the Moshi Campus. This will be an information meeting with some opportunity for dialogue. The purpose of the meeting is for the Director to review some of the major points from first semester meetings, questions that were put before the Governing Board and the responses, as well as a short review of the structure of ISM. The review will be designed to clarify the context or structure of our school community environment which determines how we interact.
We hope to see you there!
Robert Woods, Director
Maulid Holiday
The Islamic holiday of Maulid is provisionally scheduled for Friday, 26th February, but will officially depend on the date of sighting the moon. In order to help the school and families with planning, ISM will definitely celebrate the holiday on Friday, 26th February and there will be no classes on that day. This date will not change even if the national holiday eventually falls on a different date.
PYP News and Views
Parents with children in primary will find this week's PYP News and Views attached to this newsletter. Others may download the PYP newsletter from www.ismoshi.org/pyp100212.pdf.
Secondary Swimming Gala
This will take place on Friday, February 19th and will involve all secondary students from M1 to D2. Classes will be held as normal for the first two hours on this day, after which the three houses, Kibo, Mawenzi and Meru will compete in our secondary swimming gala. The gala will be followed by a lunch barbecue at the pool - tickets for lunch will be the regular meal tickets which are available from reception in the main office for any day students (or parents) who wish to eat.
Blood Drive
ISM, in conjunction with KCMC and Duke Women's Health Collaboration, will be holding a second Blood Drive in KCMC at the new multi storey KCMC College building on Friday, 19th February from 1pm to 5pm. The last Blood Drive was so successful that we would like to do one every 3 or 4 months so please donate your blood as it really does save lives.
Library Week
The week of 22nd to 25th February will be a Library Week on the Moshi Campus. Details of events will follow soon.
Kilimanjaro Marathon & Team ISM
The Kilimanjaro Marathon is coming on Sunday, 28th February and, like last year, we are building a Team ISM to compete and raise awareness and support for ISM's Scholarship programme. Details of this programme can be found at www.ismoshi.org/scholarship.htm.
Anyone can join Team ISM and can choose to take part in the 5km Fun Run, the Half Marathon or the Full Marathon. Students are strongly encouraged to take part in the Fun Run. To join Team ISM, please collect an entry form from Tina Moyale, Development Officer, in the main office and pay TSh 20,000/-. You can also collect a sponsorship form at the same time. By joining Team ISM, you will get:
Entry to the race of your choice
Transport between Moshi campus and the race start
Breakfast on race day (a packed breakfast for you to eat when you reach the finish)
a Team ISM T-shirt, stating that you are supporting the ISM Scholarship programme
A sponsorship form for you to collect sponsors to support your participation
The chance of a prize. We have an Ipod shuffle to be awarded to the student on each campus who raises the most money through sponsorship
All entrance fees and funds raised through sponsorship (less costs) will be donated to the ISM Scholarship Fund.
Higher entry charges may apply for non-Tanzanian residents
Scholarship Students
ISM is now seeking two new students to join our D1 class in August as full scholarship students. Applicants must be Tanzanian citizens who have recently completed national Form Four examinations. In order to award the scholarship to the very best students, we are encouraging those with 7, 8 or 9 points in Division One in the Form Four exams to apply. Applications will close on 28th February 2010. Further details are available at www.ismoshi.org/scholar.htm. if you know of any suitable candidates, please do encourage them to apply.
ABRSM Practical Exams
The practical music instrumental exams will take place in May this year, and Mr Lee has compiled a list of students registering to take these exams. If there are any last minute registrations, please let Mr Lee know by Monday February 15th. Exam fees vary between TSh 46,000/- and TSh 98,000/- depending on the grade of entry.
M5 Personal Projects
Our M5 students will have submitted their final work for their Personal Projects today - this is the culmination of many months of work and represents a major achievement for the students. We congratulate them for all that has been achieved.
IB Diploma Programme 2010-2012
We will shortly be meeting with M5 students in Moshi to clarify the school's IB Diploma programme with them and to answer questions they may have about the future. If you would like to read the school's 2010-2012 Diploma Handbook, please download this from www.ismoshi.org/diphbook.pdf.
M4 Field Study
The M4 field study trip which had originally been scheduled to take place in January, has now been rescheduled for 23-25 March. Parents of students in M4 will receive more details nearer to this date.
Fees
A number of families are presently overdue with fee payments and this is starting to cause us some financial difficulties. It is school policy to surcharge all overdue payments by 5% and any parents in that position will be expected to also pay the surcharge promptly. If you anticipate problems with paying fees, please arrange to discuss this with us in advance of any due dates. If fees remain overdue for some time, we may be forced to require students to remain at home until financial matters are settled.
I would also like to remind families paying by quarterly instalments, that the final quarterly instalment of this school year is due by 1st March 2010.
World Maths Day
Great News!
World Maths Day on Wednesday, 3rd March 2010 is just around the corner, nearly here, almost upon us! However, like professional basketball players who need to train to become really good, our Mathletes need to start their training now so that we can regain our title of being the NUMBER ONE School of Mathletes in all of Tanzania.
World Maths Day is celebrated by many schools all over the world. Students go online and compete against students in other countries. So, to help train our Mathletes, ISM has managed to register our students and procure usernames and passwords for them. It's easy, although they do need the internet. Just go to www.worldmathsday.com and let your child sign in. Let your budding Mathlete start their training today!
Outdoor Pursuits Trips
The Tanzania National Parks Authority allows us to undertake school trips in the national parks from the middle of March. Our planned schedule of OP trips for this semester is as follows:
12-16 March: Uhuru Peak - this climb to the peak of Kilimanjaro is only available to students who have previosuly successfully completed a Level 4 trip with the school.
18-19 April: Mandara Hut, Kilimanjaro - this Level One trip is ideal for younger secondary students and those entirely new to our OP programme
24-26 April: Little Meru - a Level Two trip to the smaller peak on Mout Meru.
29 April - 2 May: Mawenzi Hut, Kilimanjaro - a level Three trip to the base of Mawenzi - the lower pesak on Kilimanjaro.
8-11 May: Socialist Peak - a demanding level Four trip to the summit of Mount Meru.
Staffing Notices
Congratulations to Jaimala Ramchurn, the MYP Coordinator, who got married last year in Moshi. She is now to be known in school as Mrs Jaimala Quinlan
We welcome Rachel Marshall who has joined us for this second semester as a music volunteer
Unfortunately Madhu Chibber is unable to work in the school for the next few months. During her absence, Mrs Elizabeth Tarimo has joined us as the Kiongozi boarding parent. Mrs Tarimo is a science teacher in another school in Moshi and worked last semester in ISM as an assistant boarding parent in Kivuli.
Students Travelling by Air
If your child is returning to school after a holiday by air, please advise us well in advance of the due arrival time. We had great difficulty last month meeting some students when we were not told of arrival times until an hour or two before! We do understand that there can be delays and cancellations in flights and appreciate the need for short notice in these circumstances, but please tell us well in advance of the expected arrivals.
Wanted - Host Family
A family in Germany is considering sending their 16-17 year old son to ISM as a boarder next school year. However he will not be able to travel back to Germany during school holidays (particularly Christmas or Easter) and his parents are asking if there is any family in the community who might be willing to host him for the school holidays. They would be prepared to cover costs involved. If you may be able to help, could you please let me know on ?
Online Credit Card payments
Many will be aware of increasing bank charges and our fees in accepting online payments via PayPal have now risen due to the application of unfavourable exchange rates. We are therefore sorry to advise you that we will need to make an 8% charge on all payments received online through PayPal at www.ismoshi.org/paypal.htm. Lower charges can apply on transactions carried out solely in £ Sterling.
Some parents also request us to make credit card payments online on behalf of their children when applying for various overseas tests or in making university and college applications. We are happy to continue to assist in this way, but will similarly need to charge a fee of 8% simply to cover our own direct costs in these transactions. Lower charges can apply on transactions carried out solely in £ Sterling.
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