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International School Moshi Arusha Campus News - 15th January 2009 |
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Dear Parents, Letter from the CEO
I wanted to write and wish you all a Happy New Year now that Term 2 at ISM is well under way. I hope you had a very relaxing time with your family during the break. Our teachers and students appear to be well-rested and are already well into their work. I want to wish the M5 and D2 students the best of luck during their assessment week next week and I know many of our students wisely used part of their holiday to prepare for these examinations.We start Term 2 with good news on many fronts. Here are just a few of the highlights:
The Search process to replace me as Director (the Board has decided to change the CEO title) is also well under way and the Board is meeting to clearly define the search process to allow them to select the best possible candidate. I expect that a group of Director candidates and their spouses will be invited for interview around the last week of February, but that has yet to be confirmed by the Board. We will keep you posted on the process as it evolves. Welcome back to school! Best Regards, Barry Sutherland Chief Executive Officer International School Moshi Welcome Back!
Welcome back to all parents and students and I hope that all families enjoyed the holiday period and wish you all well for the New Year. We are pleased to have 13 new students join us on campus this term and we warmly welcome our new students and parents to the ISM community.Student Teachers
Welcome to TCNJ students Ryan Lee in the primary school, and Tim Jump who will work with Special Needs.Fee payments
We would like to remind parents that fees for term two were due to have been received by 1st November 2008. For many parents, the payment for term three fees will be due by 1st February.Instrumental Music - ISM
2009 Instrumental music will give your child the opportunity to learn Piano and Music Theory, Classical/Electric guitar as well as bass and drums. Classes will be offered as part of after school activities and are also available at lunch times. Fees this term are Tshs 8,000/= for half an hour and Tshs 15,000/= for an hour. Please ensure you register your child on the after school activities sheet and negotiate a time with your instrumental teacher.Drums - Paulus Livetti Tel. No. 0784 769 680 Piano - Gabriel Kalamata Tel. No. 0753 341 076 Guitar bass - Emmanuel Swai Tel. No. 0754 414 440 ABRSM Theory Examination
A reminder that the ABRSM Theory Examination is on Thursday, 5th March. Registration for this examination is now closed.M4 Parent/Student Personal Project Introduction Workshop
The M4 students have begun the process toward the completion of their Personal Project, which is a compulsory requirement in gaining the MYP certificate. On the evening of Tuesday, 27th January from 5:30 - 7:30 pm Steve Brown will be running a workshop for parents and students which aims at making all more aware of the Personal Project in terms of the process and requirements of its successful completion .The workshop will cover the following points:
Search for a new Director
Applications for the position of Director of ISM, to take over from Barry Sutherland in August, are currently being received by the Council of International Schools. The closing date for applications is 16th January.New Generator
We have installed a new generator over the Christmas break. We expect that this will sort out power fluctuations and provide the campus for its power needs when TANESCO is not operating.Dates to remember
Adrian Moody Head of Campus Secondary NewsKaribuni!
A big welcome to our new students in secondary. Louis Shyers is joining M4 class, and Gift and Sara Wado are joining M3. Karibuni!!Reports
Semester 1 reports were sent home at the end of last term. If you did not receive your child's report, please let me know. Also, if you have not yet returned the parent comment form, please do so. Even if you have no comments to make, we appreciate the form being return to acknowledge you have received the report.Assessment Week
Next week is Assessment Week for all secondary students. The M5 class has a full modified timetable of formal assessments. These will be rigorous examinations, designed to assess their skills and knowledge and prepare them for the IB Diploma programme and examinations. Students have been given timetables and revision guides for each subject. M4 students have a modified timetable, with regular classes, and slightly less formalized examinations. M1-M3 students have regular timetables and assessments assigned by teachers as appropriate. We have tried to design an assessment process that is of
increasing intensity from M1 to M5 to help prepare our students for the IB Diploma programme and the formal external examinations at the end of the D2 year.Revision
Parents, please help your students revise for their assessments appropriately. They should have a good work area set aside, with their revision materials handy. They should spend a good amount of time on revision, but should also balance it with some rest and physical activity. Studies have shown that students who get sufficient rest (a good night's sleep), eat healthily and exercise will do better on tests than students who don't.Homework
All secondary students have been given homework diaries for the 2nd semester. They are to use those to write down assignments, projects, tests, etc. that they need to prepare for. They have pasted in their class schedule and their schedule for homework assignments. Parents, please help us by checking your child's homework diary regularly. Every weekend, we ask you to sign it. If you help your child by checking their assignments, and asking about what assignments they have, it will help them be successful in school. If you have concerns or questions for your child's tutor (say, for example, that your child's homework diary is completely blank!), you could write a note in the diary for the tutor. Also, we have sent home again our expectations for secondary students. I'll include it again below:All secondary students are expected to:
Class Trips
The M4 class will be going on a trip to Kolo/Babati the first week in February (2-6). The M1 class will be going on a trip to Lakes Eyasi and Manyara the following week (9-13 February). Parents should expect to see information about those trips soon. Regards John Iglar Head of Secondary Primary NewsWelcome backWe would like to welcome back all families to school and know that you will be looking forward to a semester of many new accomplishments. We would like to welcome the following new students and families into primary.Early Childhood: Robbe deBoer, Lulu Nyiti, Bram Gerrits P1/2: Jay Jones-Bearcroft, Otis Nyiti, Mitia Andrianaivo P3/4K: Charlie Nyiti, Thimo de Boer P3/4H: Koloina Andrianaivo P5/6N: Jorrit de Boer Early Childhood StaffingThe recruitment of a new teaching assistant to join Samantha, Ann-Joyce and the children is still in progress. As this appointment needs the consideration of both the class teacher and current assistant we will be interviewing applicants this week. In the interim our P5/6 TA: Ruth with be working in the EC class.P1/2 StaffingWe would like to welcome Ishbel Brydon who will be working with Diana and Faraja in the P1/2 area on a part time basis. For many of you who have spent time in Diana's classroom you will know how organized, structured and settling it is for our students entering the classroom. Through small group facilitated word work, writing workshops, reading labs and math inquiry programmes the children are being provided with a sound foundation upon which to continue growing and developing. Having Rosemary on board to support our ESL students has enabled our ESL students in this room make great progress in all aspects of their language acquisition.P3/4 StaffingWe welcome back Ms. Kara Kirby and her family to school and our ISM community. We welcome Sylvia her dad Manase and grand ma into school for a short visit on Friday morning.P5/6 StaffingWe would like to welcome Mr. Ryan Lee who is a teacher trainee from New Jersey who will be working in our P5/6N classroom with me whilst Natalie is in Australia attending a PE in the PYP workshop. Whilst Mr. Curley has been away this week we have been fortunate to have both Mrs. Rosemary Davidson and Mr. Brown enthusiastically covering his lessons.Primary & Secondary PE Teaching AssistantThe students have enjoyed getting to know and welcoming Mr. Wilbert Kombe to our primary PE lessons this week and we all looking forward to enjoying many sporting skills and celebrations to come.Units of Inquiry this termOur teachers and teaching assistants enjoyed a productive day planning with our Moshi counterparts on Tuesday. This resulted in many cross campus events to look forward to this term.EC - Tell me a story. Through this unit the students will be sharing and hearing many stories being told in different ways. They will be developing skills in being an effective communicator through the taking of many risks in order to gain confidence. They will also be going on a mornings excursion to Fini Strebel's farm next week. A formal notice will go home with all students tomorrow with more specific details. P1/2 - Messages from Stories. Through this unit the students will be discovering how stories carry messages which can help them learn about life. They will be sharing fairy tales, fables, myths and legends. P3/4 - From Land to Hand. The P 3/4 classes will look at how we as human beings use various processes to turn primary resources into products. We will find out what primary resources are, and will be trying our own hand at creating processes that can convert them into products that are useful. Most exciting of all, we will be camping out during this unit! More information to come! P5/6 - X Marks the Spot / Work and Play. I would like to congratulate David Rechsteiner on his readiness and enthusiasm for our next units. David has already designed his own map of the Tanga coast line which identifies different species of fish that can be found there, he has also included a ‘Key'which is very impressive. Interpreting and understanding different kinds of maps which provides us with information about the world is what are working on over the next few weeks. We will then be looking into how we divide our time between work and play which include our field trip to Magara in later February. - Watch this space! Attitude of the week: TOLERANCEBeing sensitive about differences and diversity in the world and being responsive to the needs of others.Betty Brown Head of Primary Co-Curricular ActivitiesLook out for an activity list and sign up sheet going home this Friday. Student lists will be finalized and posted by Thursday next week January 22. Quarter 3 CCAs start on Monday January 26 - Wednesday March 11 a total of 7 weeks.Please note that production rehearsals for cast members start next week. Members of the cast know who they are and must sign up for an activity to replace production when it ends so that they finish this session with everyone else. Lunch swim training starts next week, Monday January 19 with P5/6 training on Mondays and P3/4 on Wednesdays. Time trials will determine the team for the St. Constantines swim Gala on Saturday February 21. We are very pleased to have Mrs. Nonnie Batchelor back for these sessions as her schedule allows. Outdoor PursuitsStay tuned for a possible level one trip at the end of this quarter.SportsCongratulations to all sports participants, coaches and supporters on a very enjoyable and successful first semester. There are a number of fixtures this quarter so get ready for more exciting action.Sports Fixtures: January - March 2009
Charles Schofield Sports and OP Coordinator | Available on the web...
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. Adrian Moody Head of Arusha Campus International School Moshi inspires individuals to be lifelong learners in a global community.
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