International School Moshi Arusha Campus News - 6th November 2009
Direct from the Director
Dear Parents,
Thank you to all who were able to attend the parent information sessions this last Tuesday and Wednesday on both campuses. Your perspectives and ideas are very much appreciated. As was mentioned, the ideas and views expressed at these and previous meetings have been recorded and forwarded to the Governing Board and management team. They are reviewed regularly and where possible acted upon. We will be scheduling more meetings to continue dialogue as we work for the betterment of ISM.
Primary Production
The primary production team would like to make an appeal to the ISM community. We need a donation of some building materials in order to construct a ramp for our upcoming Circus production. The children have their levels at the ready, their saws in their hands. All we need is some wood! What we are looking for is the following:
2 pieces of block board (48" by 96")
7 pieces of 2" by 4" (4 meters long each).
If you are able to help out with any part of this, however small, we would much appreciate it. Please contact Marcello Mongardi for more information ().
Security Stickers
The 2009/10 car security stickers are now available from the front office. Please collect one and place it on the right hand side of the front window of your car. In a week only cars displaying this sticker will be permitted on to campus.
Outdoor Pursuits
Upcoming Outdoor Pursuits trips are as follows:
13-16 November: Rongai Route - a demanding trip on Kilimanjaro following the Rongai route.
20-23 November: Mawenzi Hut - a Level 3 trip on Kilimanjaro to the hut at the baseof Mawenzi.
25-29 November: Uhuru Peak - a trip to the summit of Kilimanjaro - only students who have successfully completed a Level 4 trip may join this group.
The next set of OP trips will start in March 2010.
Dates to remember
Saturday, October 31 - OP Trip (Mandara)
Monday, November 2 - Start CCAs
Thursday, November 5 - U16 football/netball v SCIS @ ISM
Saturday, November 7 - OP Level 2 Little Meru
Friday, November 13 - OP Trip Level 4 (Rongi)
Friday, November 20 - OP Trip Level 3 (Mawenzi)
Tuesday, November 24 - Primary Portfolio's go home
Wednesday, November 25 - PA AGM, OP Trip (Uhuru Peak)
Thursday, November 26 - Primary Parent Teacher Child Conferences
Friday, November 27 - Idd Holiday
Thursday, December 3 - End CCAs
Wednesday, December 9 - Independence Day Holiday
Friday, December 11 - Sports weekend - Moshi
Monday, December 14 - M3/4 Maths Challenge - Arusha
Tuesday, December 15 - M3 Culm. Activity- Survivor Arusha, M4 Personal Project Orientation
Wednesday, December 16 - Secondary reports go home, Primary Production (Arusha)
Thursday, December 17 - M5 Personal Project Presentations
Friday, December 18 Quarter 2/Semester 1 ends, Inter-House Swim Gala (Arusha)
Regards,
Adrian Moody Head of Campus
Secondary News
What do we mean by internationally-minded?
The term 'internationally-minded' is becoming more and more widely used within the communities of international schools to the point that we may need to sit back and examine what it really means. The International Baccalaureate recognizes the naivety of trying to come up with a simple definition although it has come up with a profile of attributes which describe the international-minded person. These attributes are of course those of the Learner Profile - communicators, thinkers, inquirers, and being caring, reflective, open-minded, principled, risk-takers, knowledgeable and balanced. We at ISM have added being committed and accomplished to this list.
Perhaps we need to clarify what an internationally-minded person actually does. There are two important aspects to international-mindedness. One is the importance of self-identity - who am I? Second is seeing diversity as a virtue rather than a problem when seeking peaceful resolution. These two aspects make it easier to define an internationally-minded person. For example, we could say that an internationally-minded person tries to learn about the values and beliefs of their own culture so that they can better understand those of other cultures, with the aim of looking for commonalities instead of differences and so bridging cultural divides. Here at ISM, we attempt to celebrate the diverse ways that people think, act and look.
Expeditions
Last week there were two trips: the M2 went on a curriculum trip to Pangani and there was a level 1 outdoor pursuits trip to Mandara Hut on Kilimanjaro. This weekend, Steve Brown leads a level 2 group to Little Meru.
Football and Netball
Our senior boys football and senior girls netball played against St. Constantines on Thursday 5 November. The boys were narrowly defeated while the girls came away victorious in their visit.
Parent Community Workshop - Growing up Online with Carl Love
This will take place on Tuesday 17 November from 0800-0930 in the Drama room and offers a wonderful opportunity to explore the virtual world that our children live in.
Visual Arts with Linda Willms
Make sure not to miss the exhibition hosted by our M4 and M5 students on Thursday!
M4 & M5 Visual Arts Invites You to an Exhibition
Kuona na Kuelewa
Thursday 12 November 6.00 pm
Please Bring your Friends
Reminder to parents of M4 & M5 Visual Arts students: Students will stay at school after 2.30 on 12 November
Regards
Éanna O'Boyle Head of Secondary
Primary News
In our primary classes we are very proud that learning happens in lots of different ways. By connecting learning to what is real, significant and meaningful for the students, they in turn are able to celebrate their knowledge, skills and understanding in a way that inspires them to know more! This is a snapshot of what inquiry looked like in our classes this week.
Early Childhood Minibeasts
The EC students would like to thank Mr. Jo Anderson (Solomon and Chloe's dad) for coming into school and introducing them to a number of common and rare minibeasts we have on campus. Students were able to identify and share their knowledge about a wide variety of minibeasts describing their movement, colour, shape, body parts, food preferences and even how they made them feel. Thanks Jo!
P1/2 Vegetable Garden
The P1/2 students would like to thank Mrs. Lisa Peterson (Anne's mum) and the Dorobo staff for showing them around the vegetable garden they look after. The students have recreated their own vegetable garden outside their classroom. If you take a look you will see that the bean and sunflower seeds have already sprouting. Today the students described the size, shape, colour and texture of a number of known seeds they have in their class. The students would like to thank Mr. Ekko Oosterhuis (Anthony's dad) for donating seeds for the students to investigate and grow.
P3/4 Wind Energy
The P3/4 students would like to thank all their parents for listening to them share their growing understanding and discoveries about 'What the best design would be for a boat using wind energy' would be. Using the scientific process of trying, modifying, trying again, re modifying and trying again, students practiced their skills as scientists as they predicted, collected their materials, decided on the steps they needed to take, drew designs, and uncovered whether their prediction was in fact true or not. After this process some students were excited, frustrated, disappointed and pleased. This experience gave the students an opportunity to learn from their attempts and show perseverance as well as to learn from their peers in order to feel success.
P5/6 Exploration
The P5/6 students would like to thank Mr. Alli Remtulla (Simren's dad)for the welcomed snacks and refill of water after our exploration through the coffee to his house this morning. In groups, the students navigated the route to their unknown destination, added to a directions map, counted the number of paces it took to get from one landmark to the next, recorded and observed wildlife and collected significant objects along the way. They would also like to thank Mrs. Jill Shipway (Georgie's mum)and Mr. Reece Matthews (Jack's dad)for accompanying them on this very enjoyable field study walk. Next week the students will use this information to recreate their own scaled maps.
PE Skills / Swimming
This term as planned we will be making the most of the warm weather, therefore students will be required to bring their swimming costume on both their scheduled swimming day as well as their PE Skills day. They are also asked to wear their PE kit on both days in case the weather does not permit swimming. Your support in helping to organize your child's clothing the night before is appreciated.
Regards
Betty Brown Head of Primary and PYP Coordinator
Parent Community Workshop
Tuesday 17th November - Arusha Campus Drama Room
'Growing up Online'
Hosted by Mr. Carl Love (ISM IT/DT Teacher)
8.00 - 9.30 a.m.
As more and more kids grow up online, parents are finding themselves on the outside looking in. "I remember being 11; I remember being 13; I remember being 16, and I remember having secrets," mother of four says. "But it's really hard when it's the other side."
At school, teachers are trying to figure out how to reach a generation that no longer reads books or newspapers. "We can't possibly expect the learner of today to be engrossed by someone who speaks in a monotone voice with a piece of chalk in their hand," one school principal says.
Fears of online predators have led teachers and parents to focus heavily on keeping kids safe online. But many children think these fears are misplaced. "My parents don't understand that I've spent pretty much since second grade online," one ninth-grader says. "I know what to avoid." "You have a generation faced with a society with fundamentally different properties, thanks to the Internet," says Danah Boyd, a fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. "It's a question for us of how we teach ourselves and our children to live in a society where these properties are fundamentally a way of life. This is public life today."
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