9 May 08 (20:07 EAT)

Moshi Primary News: 31 August 07

Dear Parents,

The students have now completed three weeks of the school year and they are busily involved in their first Unit of Inquiry for the year. The Programme of Inquiry is displayed in the Parents board at the back of the primary classes and the current units being studied are shown in greater detail there. If you feel that you can contribute in any way to one of the units, (even if your child is not in that class), or you know of someone who could come and speak on one of the areas being studied, please let us know and we can arrange a time for a visit from the individual concerned. We are very keen to involve parents and other members of the community in the primary school so please be brave!

Meet the Teachers

Many thanks for attending the Meet the Teachers sessions in the first week of term. This is an important time to meet as it gives the class teachers a chance to inform parents of the routines of the class so that they can support their children at home. This was the first time we had arranged these meetings for straight after the school day and the general feeling was that it was a good time. I appreciate that the parents of Kindergarten students had to come back at 1.30pm when their children had finished at 11.15am, but I feel that it was beneficial as it enabled them to meet all the new staff of the primary school.

Each teacher gave out a copy of the class timetable at this time and I would ask you to retain these so that your child has the appropriate equipment or clothing for Library day, Swimming lessons and P.E.

Goal-Setting

The Goal-setting sessions that have been held over the last two weeks appear to have been very rewarding for all concerned. The students now have their goals to work on for the term and these will be reviewed as part of the Student/Parent/Teacher Conference on November 29th. At that time there will also be an opportunity to set the students goals for the rest of the year.

PYP Parents Workshop – Wednesday 5th September at 6.30pm in Room 6

On Tuesday this week an A5 flyer was sent to all families advising you that there will be a PYP Parents workshop next Wednesday at 6.30pm. This will take part in Room 6 and we urge you all to come along so that you can share the knowledge you have about the PYP and hopefully learn something new too! Please sign and return the slip at the end of this newsletter if you will be able to attend this meeting.

Postcards and Artefacts

During the long break I sent an e-mail to all parents asking if they could send me postcards from any country they were visiting and bring back a small artefact for us to create a display in the primary school. Many thanks to the parents and staff who participated in this idea and I did receive a few postcards from different countries. I would ask that whenever you travel out of Tanzania, or even to different parts of Tanzania, that you remember we are making this collection and send us a postcard and/or buy us an artefact. I am arranging for these items to be displayed and would ask whether any parents have a suggestion as to what, where and how would be the best way to do this. Please contact me if you have any suggestions.

After School Clubs

After school clubs started on Monday August 20th and the students completed their ‘Trial Week’ by Thursday August 23rd. All sorts of revisions have been made following the trial week, including the promotion of some students from Beginner swimming to Intermediate swimming. Please retain your child’s selection sheet for reference. I ask that you now support your child so that s/he understands they are committed to attend all the sessions of their club up to Thursday December 13th.

Polo-shirts

I have received the order of polo shirts and now have all colours and all sizes available. I also have black P.E. shorts available in all sizes up to 10/12 years for TSh 10,000/-. P.E. t-shirts are available in the 3/4yrs, 5/6yrs and 7/8yrs sizes at TSh 6,000/- and the two larger sizes have been ordered by Mr. Wiggins. I shall inform you when I receive the 9/11yrs and 12/14yrs sizes.

Mother Tongue Books

I have received a number of French, Dutch and German mother tongue books and these books have been added to the Mother Tongue section of the library. The students who speak languages other than English do enjoy sharing these books with their peers and I would ask that you continue to send any contributions into school as and when your own children finish with such books.

Parent Volunteers

We would really like to encourage parents to volunteer their help in the primary classrooms. This could be for a regular time each week or for specific times such as coming to do some cooking with a class. Please contact your child’s class teacher if you would like to volunteer your help and s/he can then arrange a suitable time and activity for you to assist with.

I would also like to ask for two parents from each class to act as parent representatives (parent reps) for that class. This idea was discussed in a PCM meeting at the end of last term and if anyone is interested in fulfilling such a role please contact me and I will arrange a time for us all to meet to discuss what the role of these representatives would be.

Parent E-mails and Telephone Numbers

Thank you for providing your e-mail addresses and telephone numbers for me. I have updated my lists now but would ask you to keep me informed if any of these change during the course of the year. Please be advised that as I now have this information all newsletters will be sent digitally.

Hats

Please provide your child with a hat for hot days as some of them have been complaining that their heads are feeling very hot. Mr. Macha has also requested that the students participating in the Rugby session on Mondays have hats, as it was very hot on the bottom pitch last week.

Indoor Shoes and Shoes for Swimming Times

Please send your child with a pair of indoor shoes. It is a good idea if these shoes can also double-up as shoes to wear to the pool for swimming sessions. Many of the students are walking to the pool barefoot and this is not allowed, as it is potentially dangerous.

Class Contributions to Newsletters

This year primary newsletters will be sent every two weeks on Fridays and there will be a contribution from different classes to share with parents some of the activities that are happening at school. Work from the P1/2, P3/4 and P5/6 class has been included and is available by clicking here.

News from P1/2

Dear Parents/Caregivers,
Hello from P1/2. We have had a very busy start to the year and already produced a lot of exciting work. My favourite so far has been the children’s interpretation of some pieces of classical music. They have listened to ‘Peer Gynt – Hall of the Mountain King’ and have told their stories through paintings and dance/drama performances. As we have our assembly next week we hope you will be able to join us to appreciate some of the work we have been doing.

Other than that we have been concentrating on patterns, symmetry, counting and modeling numbers as well as listening to sounds in words and ‘having a go’ at spelling these words.

I will share with you a piece of writing that one of our P1 students did recently, as all the adults in the room were very impressed and pleased with the risk-taking and communication skills he demonstrated.

Thank you to all the parents for your support with the home reading programme and your contributions and thoughts during the goal-setting meetings.

Kind regards,
Narelle

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