SCIS Chronicle The Official Publication of St. Constantine’s International School, Arusha, Tanzania The Hellenic Society of Tanganyika V OLUME 8, I SSUE 1

T ERM 1 - FIRST HALF , 2014-2015 D ATES TO R EMEMB ER

Round Square Membership Begins

The whole school community were delighted last term to receive the news that, following our application to, and visit from, the Regional Director of Round Square, we have been admitted into the organisation. St Constantine‟s is the first school in Tanzania to gain membership. For us it means extending our existing commitment of service to others so that it permeates the entire ethos,

philosophy and curriculum of our school. Situated as we are, in one of the most beautiful, biogeographically diverse environments in the world, and surrounded by villages where basic education is lacking, we see a need to involve ourselves in the communities around us. Membership of the organisation also opens up the opportunity for our students to go on exchanges to schools all over the world. We intend to broaden our curriculum to enable students to prepare for life by having them face it head-on

and experience it in ways that demand courage, generosity, imagination, principle and resolution. The Round Square approach promotes six IDEALS of learning: · · · · · ·

Our Round square coordinator is Mr Jeff Schwartje and he is assisted by Ms Emily Barry. If you have any ideas, get in touch at [email protected] .

R O MA N A R TEFA CTS ‘D IS CO VER ED ’ On Tuesday 9th September, 2014, Year 4 students went to an archaeological dig on our school campus, next to the school tennis courts. We wanted to discover if Romans came to Tanzania and we were also learning about how an archaeologist works to uncover ancient things. We went to dig for artefacts in a place where Mrs Marandu and Mrs Gorringe had a lready su rv ey ed the area. We collected spades,

Internationalism Democracy Environment Adventure Leadership Service

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trowels and rakes to dig for anything that could have been Roman. The items we found were: a sword, an old padlock with a key, a few old keys, a frying pan, a cup with JC on the bottom, a terra cotta tile, a skeleton with a tooth, some rope and metal pieces. We had to think about which ones could be Roman and which ones were modern rubbish. We enjoyed the dig and learned about how archaeologists work. Antonio Kipkorir 4M

Year 4 Students dig and discover various „Roman‟ artefacts.

Parents’ Day on Tuesday 28th October (no school that day for students) Boys and Girls U14 Basketball and Open Football Tournament at Braeburn on Saturday 25th October ISM Arusha Campus InterSchool Track and Field Meet on Saturday 1st November ISM Moshi Sports Weekend from Friday 28th November Sunday 30th November School closes for December Holiday on Friday 5th December I NSIDE THIS ISSU E :

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News from St. Constantine’s Town Campus (SCTC) What a great start to the year we have had out at the Town Campus! We all can‟t believe it is half term already.

with recount writing, reading, learning about their senses and becoming number whizzes.

Our grownups of the school have taken on the new role with confidence. With Ms Jessica, they have made Ms Aly feel very welcome in our school. At this stage they are all very used to working in small groups and are quite independent and in control of SCTC students making use of their learning. their new school laptops Both Year 1 and Year 2 are now using the new laptops in Our new little Nursery stutheir classes for both Literacy dents settled in surprisingly and Maths groups. It is amazwell. Ms Sushila and Ms Rose ing to see how confident they know just how to make the are already. children feel at ease and motivated. The tears lasted for a After half term we will have our first ever SCTC Student week only. Council made up of students Last year‟s little ones made a from both Year 1 and 2. From smooth transition into our that council, two members Reception class which is now will be chosen to represent full. The children have been our campus at Main Campus busy learning about themmeetings. We are hoping that selves and are now ready to most of these meetings will learn all about Tanzania. They be able to be conducted via were even the first SCTC Skype. class to head out on a school trip. Ms Christina and Ms Our Assemblies are taking on Beatrice are our Reception a Personal Development and International approach. So stars! far, we have had assemblies Year 1 who are led by Ms on New Beginnings, EID, Maryam and Ms Pauline have Helping Hands, Manners and settled into their new class Julius Nyere. very well. They are now staying at school for the whole We all look forward to an day and seem to have made exciting year ahead as we the transition quite well. prepare our little ones for Their days have been filled their future lives!

Our new Head Girl, Simaloi Sikar, and our new Head Boy, Happy Mbaleni, pose for a photo after their appointment.

Upcoming Values Concert All Upper primary students at members are invited to attend from 6:00 - 7:00 pm. and enSCIS are preparing special joy an uplifting evening. songs on the theme of "Our School Values" for their concert to be held on Tuesday, December 2nd. Students will be singing, playing, dancing, and acting out the qualities of respect, courage, cooperation, integrity, responsibilOur school values on display ity, kindness, and motivaoutside the Primary School tion. All parents and family

V OLUME 8, I SSUE 1

Bird Club

around Arusha. During our walks around the school Bird Club was introduced as a grounds, some of the pupils new initiative this half term to have begun to show great foster the pupils‟ interest and promise as future „twitchers‟. knowledge of the wonderful Sharon in Year 5 has the eyes bird life of East Africa. Our of a hawk, letting the group k n o w (quietly of course) when she has a bird in her sights. Ariana in Year 3 is always keen to find the birds in her binoculars and happily shares Friday activities are varied her bird book with the other and fun, from scouring the pupils. Devine in Year 3 school grounds armed with quotes, “ bird club is special binoculars, monoculars and because we get to watch bird books in search of new birds, make birds and know species for our ever growing how to help birds.” With the exciting prospect of a „bird mural‟ in the second half of Term 1, all bird watchers should be on the look out for new species bird list, to making 3D paper of birds to add to the mural. mâché birds while paying close attention to getting the One of the challenges that shapes of tails, body size and Bird Club faces is finding arwings as close to their chosen eas where the birds are active in the heat of the afternoon. bird as possible. Our recent trip to Shanga was We have been delighted by an attempt to try a new area the response to bird club where there is a permanent from the pupils who have water source and, as a result, embraced the club, finding there may be a permanent any moment of the day to bird population. We were share their stories of birds fortunate to find a new spethey have seen in their gar- cies of sunbird for our list, dens at home and in and the Variable Sunbird and a

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Our Eyes are Set to the Skies

Blue Monkey in the trees but we are still on the hunt for other possible sites near to school. Please let us know if you are aware of some good sites that we can visit in the coming half term. Bird List so far: 1. Pied Wagtail 2. Lilac Breasted Roller 3. Pied Crow 4. Black Flycatcher 5. Yellow Billed Kite 6. Silvery Cheeked Hornbill 7. Variable Sunbird 8. Scarlet Chested Sunbird 9. Hadeda Ibis 10. Dark-capped Bulbul 11. African Yellow Whiteeye We look forward to adding to this list next half term. Keep twitching in the mean time birders! Miss Lucy and Miss Tucker

SCIS has two mountain summit hiking trips planned. This month, we will hike Mt. Meru, and in March we will hike Mt. Kilimanjaro. The year nine students take their training seriously and hike each Sunday to build endurance and team bonding. The pictures above show some of the practice hikes in action. We are always open to suggestions for new locations to hike in – please let us know your ideas! - Emily Barry Any content for inclusion in the next edition of the SCIS Chronicle should be submitted to: [email protected] by Monday 1st December 2014.

S CIS C HRONICLE St. Constantine‟s International School P.O. Box 221 Dodoma Road, Burka Estate Phone: 555-555-5555 Fax: 555-555-5555

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Year 3 - Cultural Heritage In Social Studies the Year 3s have been learning about the history of farming and discussing the hunter gatherers‟ nomadic lifestyles. Last week they visited the Cultural Heritage Centre on two separate outings. While viewing the artwork they were encouraged to look for evidence of the tools that hunter gatherers might have used and some activities they might have taken part in. In Art, the Year 3s have been learning about the colourful and unrealistic style of Tinga Tinga art. We walked around the gallery and viewed the collection of modern and historical art and crafts from throughout Africa. The students identified hunters with their spears in a hunting exercise; meanwhile the women carried calabashes to transport water necessary for different household purposes. Upon seeing a range of realistic and abstract artwork, the students came up with stories. One story was about the baboon with mumps, one was about how the Maasai got his cool shades and another about the lost warthog at the Baobab tree. Some also enjoyed taking pictures by the “cross” crocodile outside the gallery at the end of the visit. During the last week the students have been producing some interesting write ups about their trip. Below is an account from Lolo in 3L. On Tuesday I went to the Cultural Heritage Centre with 3B. First we went on the bus and we had to wait for others to get on the bus and then we had to go over the instructions so we could not touch anything. Then we left. When we arrived at the cultural center we looked for a place to eat our lunch. After that we got put into three groups. One was with Miss Bowen another one was with Miss Liz and the last one was with Miss Lucy.

The thing I liked most about the Cultural Heritage center is I learnt new things about art and one day I wish to go back with my family.

Then in our three groups we went into the art gallery. In the art gallery my group saw a picture of a Baobab tree, then I saw a picture of a fabric that was painted over and it looked so beautiful. We went to see a picture of camouflaged giraffes and it was hard to find the giraffes. Later we saw Tinga Tinga artwork.

Both outings were a big success! The teachers were delighted to see how well the students experienced what it was like to live as a hunter and gatherer, and how they responded to the art that was on display. Miss Lucy was especially pleased that students from Bird club were able to identify some of the East African birds.

Year 10 – 13 Pepsi Tours

Over the past two weeks, our Years 10,11, 12 and 13 have had visits to the Pepsi bottling factory in Arusha. The main purpose of the visits was to see in action the uses of sensors, computercontrolled motors through actuators, and how robotics and automation are used in modern companies. The students enjoyed themselves and, judging by the number of questions asked at the end, managed to make the most of their visit. This was topped, of course, by a free sample of the drinks being made that day. Some of the students even managed to get a taste of the undiluted syrup before water is added: they all agreed that water was an essential ingredient to temper the richness! In addition, Pepsi also kindly donated footballs and a clock to add to the school's resources. They were all very satisfying trips and our students behaved immaculately. Many thanks to Mr Lalit Kumar, of Pepsi, for helping to organize these tours.

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News from the Web – www.scis.sc.tz Reception Trip to Snake Park and Maasai Museum On Wednesday 1st October, 2014, the Reception classes from Town Campus and Main Campus went to the Snake Park and Maasai Museum together. All Year levels do activities together each term to build their friendships across town so that they will be comfortable when the Town Campus class joins their peers at the Main Campus for Year 3. Next week Reception classes will begin a unit on Tanzania, so the trip allowed the students to preview a Tanzanian tribe and some animals found in Tanzania. The trip will also be used as a Recount activity, which is the current text type they are working with in English class. The students will retell the events of the day using time sequence words and past tense verbs. In the Snake Park, the students were de-

lighted when curious snakes came close to the windows! They were very interested in the way that snakes are able to move. Upon seeing the skeleton on display in the lobby, many students had hypothesized that a snake has many legs. The teachers enjoyed the students‟ comments and discoveries. For many of the students, their favourite activity was petting a snake! In the Maasai Museum the students were surprised to see houses and clothing so different from their own. Many of them said that their own mothers could build their houses as well! The students enjoyed dressing and dancing, listening to the rhythmic sound of the beads and bells as they moved. They will review these and have many more exciting experiences with Tanzanian culture over the next few weeks! For more photos please go to our Reception album on our St. Constantine's International School - Town Campus Facebook Page.

AS / BTEC Trip to Shanga On September 2nd, 2014, the AS Business Studies and BTEC Business classes went on a joint excursion to visit the great „Shanga‟ work station and store. For all those whom are not aware of the Shanga community, let me brief you; Shanga is a business that deals with producing different types of jewellery, accessories, dishes, vases, shawls, and much more using only recycled material, mainly glass. The glass material is usually collected, or donated by large firms, such as hotels. Not only that, but what else makes Shanga a special, yet unique place to visit, is the fact that 55 out of 90 of its employees are disabled individuals. Shanga deals with equality, and helps provide equal benefits to those less fortunate in our community - in this case the disabled. Other than casting them out, they provide a source of finance, as well as treat them as equal members of a work force. During our visit to the Shanga work shop, not too far from our school, we saw seven different sectors. On our arrival, we were welcomed by two of Shanga's employees, who also aided us in the sign language to be used for those whom are of mute and deaf nature. We first visited the furnace exhibition. As fire blazed from all corners of the machines, we found out that only the best of the best got to use such equipment due to its risk quartile. It was extraordinary. We had finally unveiled the mystery of how glass was made. After that, we visited the weaving station. Over there we learnt how the Shanga comrades made casualties such as scarves, table mats, and shawls, as well as discovering how they change colors using dye. At the same area we discovered the talents of a local artist, who had expertise in‟ tinga-tinga‟ art. We saw all types of paintings, which were indeed breath taking.

Two of our reception students in traditional Maasai dress at the Maasai Museum

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More news from the Web – www.scis.sc.tz Continued from page 5... Further on we visited the iron and sewing room. Over here we saw women work on adding the final touches to all the clothes that had previously been made, as well as create masterpieces for resale. They were very friendly and welcoming too. A few of us tried on some of their garments, including kanga hats, and bags. One of the boys quoted “I wish they had boy things for me too”.

Onwards, we went to the beading section. Over here we met women who specialised in making fine jewellery and accessories. We also found out that we had been stepping on the same ground as famous actor George Clooney, who visited earlier this summer. One of the women who briefed us, personally explained to us about her experience with the beloved actor, as well as how he purchased a necklace from her bare hands! We then went on to see the metallic steel work area. Here, we were welcomed by a man who showed us how the steel was recycled and made into desirable items like; bracelets, house decorations, wind chimes, designer glasses and breath-taking chairs. On our sixth venture, we visited the refining section. We saw how the recycled glass was transformed into literal

BTEC Travel and Tourism trip to African Walking Company On Wednesday the 24th of September the BTEC Travel and Tourism class went to the African Walking Company. Located in a very isolated and extremely private area, the African Walking Company‟s headquarters is in Ilboru, Sakina. They rent the land, which is owned by Mike Metili, who also owns a lodge nearby. We embarked on our journey at 8:30 and got there at 9:00. As we got off the bus, a kind looking man was smiling at us. His name was Jon; he was extremely welcoming, and straight away started with a joke, to set the mood. Jon had some chairs set out for us, so we sat down and he told us a little about the company, which is a well respected climbing company. African Walking specialises in helping tourists climb Kilimanjaro. They are the leading „mid-priced‟ trek providers. They also do safaris to national parks, but that‟s not what they specialise in. The company was started by an English man named Jim Foster, who opened it in 1999,

and their main aim is to provide the best service possible to customers, and make sure they get them up and down the mountain safely. The African Walking Company has received a lot of glowing feedback from their customers. Jon then gave us a tour of the premises. The first thing we saw was all the employees cleaning the tents, cutlery, chairs etc. The company does well to maintain their equipment as this is a regular process. Jon then walked us around to another area, where we saw a shed where they keep the ordered equipment that was ready to be taken to the mountain. We then went inside the building where we saw some of the faculty, including Peter whose job was to make tents and fix any damaged ones. We had also met the finance department, who explained how they calculate the costs of all the equipment that they buy and then rent to customers. Finally we spoke to Mama K, or Mama Porter as they refer to her. She joined in 2006 and

sand, and converted onto medium sized beads. We also learnt that the capital goods were also recycled. The bead-making machine was made of a recycled bicycle tyre and a tractor motor! Last but certainly not least, we visited the ever so famous Shanga gift shop. Over here we saw wonders of all kinds. We saw $4000 valued azul tanzanite rings, cool African tshirts, kanga attire, Shanga-made chandeliers, home based wine glasses and vases, and so many more wonders. Overall the whole experience was amazing and we would like to thank Mrs Murray for taking us. We got to see things we would have never seen on our own, and best of all, we got to experience it as a class. As for anytime you happen to have a wondering glass at home, be sure to pass it along. Somewhere, it might just be valuable! Nellissa Soka (Yr 12) since then she has come up with, and managed, a porter schedule that works excellently. She is also there for her faculty as a mother figure, and is very important to the operations at African Walking Company After teaching us so much, the African Walking Company was kind enough to serve us some tea and coffee, where we all laughed and shared the information we learnt. We are very grateful for the time that Jon and his staff gave us and we look forward to further opportunities to extend our learning in the workplaces of the many travel and tourism component industries that Arusha and the surrounding area has to offer. Nahdi Kassim, Yr 12

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Why Focus on English? One of the breakthroughs in the evolution of the human species was the ability to communicate by speech and writing. Literacy – the ability to communicate using words is vital to becoming a well-educated person. Literacy includes the ability to speak audibly and clearly using appropriate words which can written down with correct spelling and with handwriting that is legible. One of my chief academic concerns at St Constantine‟s is the poor standard of literacy among our students, particularly in the secondary school. It seems that whatever good habits were developed in the primary school, they fall off during the transition through secondary. Literacy is a fundamental human right entrenched in the UN Charter. It is the foundation for life-long learning. It is fully essential to social and human development in its ability to transform lives. For individuals, families, and societies alike, it is an instrument of empowerment to improve health, one‟s income and one‟s relationship with the world. The uses of literacy for the exchange of knowledge are constantly evolving, along with advances in technology. From the Internet to text messaging, the ever -wider availability of communication makes for greater social and, as events during the Arab Spring showed, political participation. A literate community is a dynamic community, one that exchanges ideas and engages in debate. Illiteracy, however, is an obstacle to a better quality of life, and can even breed isolation and violence. The metonym, “The pen is mightier than the sword”, is a truism. This phrase occurs throughout literature. Although attributable to Edward Buller-Lytton, an English author in his play, “Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy” in 1839, references go back many centuries. Greek philosophers make refer-

ence to the power of the spoken and written word. The prophet Mohammed is attributed with stating, “ The ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr". How we wish Islamic terrorists would heed His advice. Shakespeare too, never to be outdone, makes reference to the power of the word, as Hamlet proclaims in Act 2; Scene 2, “… many wearing swords are afraid of goosequills [pens].” The power of books has transformed our world both for good and for bad. We think of how many millions of good people have been killed over the years, inspired, or deluded, by individuals misinterpreting such books as the Bible; the Koran; Karl Marx, “Das Kapital”; Adolf Hitler‟s, “Mein Kampf”. As Staff, we wish for all our students to focus at all times on the quality of their written and spoken word, not just for the three days of “English Focus”, but throughout their time at St Constantine‟s. Wilf Stout - Headmaster

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Getting to know you. Getting to Know you better…. Ms. Suzanne Maxtone was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and is the Secondary English coordinator at St. Constantine‟s. Before coming to Tanzania, Ms. Maxtone taught in four other countries: Scotland, England, Lesotho and Egypt. Ms. Maxtone spent one year in Egypt and taught the I.B. curriculum when she was in Lesotho, near South Africa. When asked about her reasons for coming to teach in Tanzania, Ms. Maxtone stated that she wanted to return to the „Real Africa‟ and its people. She has loved her time so far in Tanzania because she loves people and she finds the people here to be very friendly. As for her feelings about working at St. Constantine‟s, Ms. Maxtone is very happy and believes that the current staff make a great team and is full of intelligent people who are energetic and always willing to help. When not teaching, Ms. Maxtone loves playing sports and trying new foods. She is a huge rugby fan and loves sailing, kayaking, golfing, horseback riding, and skiing. She also loves Indian, Chinese, Italian, and Scottish foods. Aamena Taypa & Arisa Hussein Miss Emily Barry comes to St. Constantine‟s from Chicago in the United States. She was teaching at a school in Chicago before she came to our school to teach swimming.

When asked about her best and worst experiences since arriving in Tanzania, Miss Barry really had something to say. For her best experiences, she said it was meeting the new staff and making new friends but for her worst experience… she had a monkey enter into her kitchen! She had been so excited to see the monkeys at the school when she began but having one in her kitchen was a little too close for comfort. Miss Barry said that her friends would describe her as positive and motivated and that Mr. Stout, the headmaster, would describe her as a happy person and a hard-worker. Miss Barry said that she would definitely recommend working in Tanzania to her friends back home in the United States. Karishma Patalia & Hannah Joshua

Ms. Upendo Njisya is a Kiswahili teacher at St. Cons tantine ‟s Inte r n ati on a l School and hails from Tanzania. She used to work here at SCIS before leaving, but now has returned. She left the school to complete her Masters degree at Mount Meru University. Ms. Upendo first came to SCIS as an undergraduate from the University of Dar Es Salaam. When she came to SCIS, she says she learnt how to interact with other people. Ms. Upendo shared both the best and worst thing that has happened to her while at SCIS. For her, the worst thing that happened was when Mr. Njonjo passed away. Her best memory was

when she was able to present a student of hers, Lucky Yona, an award as the best student in Tanzania. Ms. Upendo chose to work in Tanzania because it is her home country and she wants to influence the next generation of Tanzanians. In her spare time, Ms. Upendo likes to cook, especially chapati, and likes to spend time with her family. She has two pets - a dog and a cat. The cat is called “Shimmie” and the dog is called “Packo”. Ms. Upendo has a good sense of fashion but she hates shopping. She also loves listening to music and counseling. Tidiane Khan, Elizabeth Naitaka & Maliha Rizwan

Mr. Geoffrey Namulala has been teaching Art for a long time now in Kenya, but this is his first time working and being in Tanzania. He moved here with his wife and three children and is very excited to work in a different environment. He finds the locals friendly and humble. When he isn‟t teaching he‟s designing. He would definitely recommend working in Tanzania to his friends, because the environment and the people here are nice. Plus, he says it‟s a beautiful place. PS: He wants to add a splash of bright colors around the school and make the school lively. Maureen Amon

V OLUME 8, I SSUE 1 Mr. David Owen (ICT) is from Pontypridd, Wales. Apart from the UK he has also taught in Togo, Nigeria, Malawi, the Caribbean, the Lebanon and Abu Dhabi for two years. He previously worked in the University of Manchester and chose to work in Africa because he loves the continent and its culture. It‟s his first time to work in Tanzania and he has been pleased to find such a friendly group of students. He liked them when he first came and has liked them even more the longer he stayed. Since he came to Tanzania, he has been to Arusha National Park – he loved seeing the animals there and climbed 4,000 ft of Mt.Meru. His hobbies include writing and photography. He also plays rugby and has been on television before. He is pleased that the school are currently updating all the software and hardware and looks forward to making great progress after the mid-term break. In ten years‟ time he thinks he‟s probably going to be retired, writing novels and taking photographs. PS: He owns a red tuktuk, which definitely deserves a mention. Maureen Amon Mr. Andrew Austin (Music) is from Lymington, England. It‟s his first time in Africa and he can‟t wait to explore the Tanzanian game parks and coasts. He finds the staff and students very friendly, and the local staff really nice and welcoming. However, the lan-

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guage barrier is a bit of a challenge. He finds riding motorcycle taxis and being in tuktuks exciting and he would like to learn Kiswahili. If he weren‟t a teacher he‟d probably be playing in a band or doing something with geology. In ten years, he‟s hoping to be retired, composing music and teaching piano back in England. PS: He‟s worked in Malaysia, Dubai, Spain and England before. Maureen Amon We are going to introduce you to our SCIS geography teacher Mr. Jeff Schwartje, who has recently joined our school. We interviewed him and he told us some interesting things about himself. Mr. Schwartje is from Toronto, Canada. He has worked before in Peru and Russia. He chose to work in Tanzania as there are many opportunities to carry out field work on his subject , and also his goal is to live in every continent. He got the job at SCIS after seeing an online advert on a recruiting website. His first impression of SCIS were “cool monkeys” and “large green fields”. He finds ways to improve the results of his students very challenging. The best thing that has happened to him is that he was able to establish round square (see front page) and he also says he has met interesting people with interesting stories and experiences. Mr. Schwartje said he sees himself in South East Asia, Peru or South America in ten years‟ time, and he would also recommend staying in Tanzania. His friends will describe him as generous, down to earth and free spirited. He said that Mr. Stout will describe him as hardworking and deter-

mined ,and when he is not teaching he babysits the kids in the dormitory. Here are some very interesting things that happened in his life: “I was in the Brazilian Amazon with 72 students and we were in the middle of a gold robbery where 5 armed men shot 15 bullets and stole $2 million worth of gold”. He has also competed in the world‟s longest race, for three days over 120 km, on self-made raft. These were some of the interesting things that happened in his life. We are glad that he came to SCIS. Zainab & Hamza, Yr 7 Miss Burton is a lovely teacher in our opinion but we think every one thinks she‟s a great teacher too. Miss Burton is from England, but born in Jamaica . Miss Burton chose the job to work at SCIS because she saw an advertisement for the job. She has taught in Kent, London, England, Norwich and Cyprus. Miss Burton got her Biology job at SCIS by applying for the job and getting interviewed on the internet. Her first impression was daunting because her former school was a catholic school, much smaller than SCIS. What surprised her was the paintings everywhere. The most challenging thing is that she cant order stuff like in England. The best thing that has happened to her was meeting all the students with nice smiley faces, and the worst thing that has happened is that someone stole her pens . Some of the people she‟s met are Mrs Singh, Mrs Boakes, Mr Austin, and Mr Kearney. She sees herself as a Head or Continued on Page 10...

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More getting to know you. Getting to Know you better…. ...continued from Page 9 Deputy in future. Miss Burton would recommend friends back home to work in Tanzania because there are lots of monkeys. She said that if she wasn‟t a teacher she would be a research scientist. She said that maybe her friends would describe her as calm and easy going. She said that Mr Stout thinks she‟s a pain, but we think she was joking. Miss Burton looks after her children, runs, swims, and plays the flute when she‟s not teaching. Ilunga and Doreen, Yr 7 Miss Becky Gray is from London, England and is our Humanities coordinator. She chose to work in Tanzania because she finds Africa really interesting, saw some awesome pictures of Tanzania and likes to teach Tanzanians. Sha has taught in England and the Bahamas, and got the SCIS job after she saw it advertised on a website in England. She applied and had an interview with Mr. Stout (headmaster) on Skype. When she first arrived at SCIS she noticed that everyone was super friendly and the school was having work done, which shows that people care about their community. She was pleasantly surprised by the range of knowledge students have, as well as their enthusiasm, which is really good, but she does struggle with the power cuts and has resource difficulties. She invites anyone to come and watch her classes if they disagree about the students‟ knowledge and enthusiasm. She thinks the teachers are very nice and

have worked at many different places so many ides get shared. She would definitely recommend working in Tanzania to other people back home. If she was not a teacher, she would be a sports-commentator or a travel photographer. She also has a passion for improving education Her friends would describe her as opinionated and motivated, while she thinks Mr Stout would describe her as naughty and a team player. When she isn‟t teaching, Miss Gray goes hiking, goes on safari, works out in the gym and plays with her puppy. She has a gold award in The Duke of Edinburgh, as well as a silver and bronze. Akshat Chaturvedi and Abraham Girma

Miss Nzinga Ebron (Maths) is from New York City, a major city in the United States. She chose to work in Tanzania because she has always wanted to live in Africa and Tanzania seemed like such a beautiful and peaceful place to live in. She thinks SCIS has such a beautiful, landscaped campus. The monkeys are kind of fun too! She has lived and worked in New York City, as well as in Tianjin, China, but has to admit that life in Tanzania is very difficult to manage when the current and the internet goes out. Yet in spite of this, she would recommend living and working in Tanzania to her friends. There are so many opportunities available to start a successful business and to live a good, comfortable life. “I love it here!” she exclaims. In 10 years‟ time, Miss Ebron sees herself married with children, living in a

coastal city in Africa. If she was not a teacher, she‟d probably be a Chef or Fashion Designer. Cooking and fashion are her two favourite pastimes. She thinks Mr. Stout would describe her as “hardworking and brilliant!” Awurafua Afari-Sefa, Anne Ngarahsta & Yuki Omori Miss Kim Tucker (Year 5/6 Science) is from Johannesburg, South Africa. She preferred to work in Tanzania because she wanted to view the national parks and all the animals and much more. She worked in South Africa for one year and then taught Science in London for 10 years. She saw a vacancy advertised on the SCIS website, applied and attended the online interview and got the job. Her first impression of SCIS was of the stunning nature all around her and the hard-working students. The things that surprised her at SCIS were the diversity in the school and the great culture. She finds some things challenging due to the unavailability of resources and the cost of them. The best thing that has happened to her was meeting the children and making new friends. The worst thing that has happened is actually nothing so that is an advantage for her. The people she met so far are the students, staff and all the teachers. She sees herself in 10 years hanging off the back of a Landover taking pictures of a leopard. She would recommend working in SCIS to her friends at home. If she wasn‟t a teacher she would like to be a wildlife photographer. Her friends

V OLUME 8, I SSUE 1 would describe her as friendly, outgoing and honest. Mr. Stout would describe her as enthusiastic and very sporty. In her spare time she likes socialising with friends, taking photographs, bird watching and reading books. Jerald Elias, Yr 6 Ms. Livingstone (Year 6) is from Scotland. Sh e chose to work here because she has visited before and really enjoyed herself in Tanzania. She previously taught in Sterling in Scotland. The way she got the job is that she saw the job on the school website and applied. She thought SCIS was very green and beautiful when she first arrived. The thing that surprised her the most is when monkeys came into her classroom. The thing she finds challenging is when people speak Kiswahili, but she's learning. The Best thing about Tanzania is getting to ride a piki-piki. The worst thing about Tanzania is getting bitten by red ants. She's met lots of nice teachers and students. She said that she still sees herself teaching in ten years‟ time, but she does not know where. Ms. Livingstone would recommend working in Tanzania to her friends back home because she loves the sunshine. If she wasn't a teacher, she would be ridding a piki-piki. She said her friends would describe her as fun, silly and a bit forgetful. Mr. Stout would describe her as (hopefully) not silly or forgetful. Ms. Livingstone enjoys reading, watching movies, and taking walks when she isn't teaching. The hardest thing that happened to Ms. Livingstone when she was small was she had to move from her city and make new friends. She is happy when she goes

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In the next issue:

to visit family, friends and when she goes dancing. She is afraid of bungy jumping. Ms. Livingstone has three siblings: two Vivienne Hambleton - Director of Admin brothers and one sister. It was difficult living with them when they were small, Evans Temi - History and Sociology but now they are best friends. Olivier Muhoza - ICT Sanita Cunningham, Yr 6 Ciara McCarthy - Girls‟ Boarding / Music Mme Lynette Odhiambo is a very good primary French teacher. She learned French in school back in Kenya and enjoyed learning a language which mostly nobody in her country speaks. She is really kind and she‟s nice and fair to each and every student she teaches. She is really friendly and is targetting to do her job well and seriously. Mme Lynette has a husband who is from Tanzania, so that`s why she decided to relocate and come to teach in Arusha. Before she came to Arusha, she used to teach in Kenya in a school called Chania Girls. She got the job at SCIS by replying to an application on the school website. Her first impression of SCIS was the high quality education of International standards. What suprised her most about working at SCIS was the rich mixture of culture. Her most challenging thing about working in Tanzania has been people‟s attitudes. The best thing to happen while teaching at SCIS was seeing Year 3 being able to speak French. She‟s found friendly and cooperative people while working at SCIS. In the next ten years, she would like to become a Professor. She would recommend working in Tanzania to her friends back in Kenya .If she wasn‟t a teacher she would be a business woman. Ian Rugari, Yr 6

Aly McDonald - Year 2 (Town Campus) Kevin Gorringe - Year 2 Liz Underwood - Year 3 Victoria Gorringe - Year 4 Jaclyn Pettitt - Year 6 Lucy Glover - Primary Art

Request for Support St Constantine‟s is very pleased to be offering the BTEC Level 3 Travel and Tourism course to a very keen group of Year 12 learners this year. The course is designed to be vocational in nature and this provides the students with the opportunity to explore the Travel and Tourism sector in great detail. I am looking for your support in enabling the students to gain as much as possible from their learning in this area and would very much appreciate it if you could contact me at [email protected] if you work in the sector and would be able to provide support for the course. Many thanks. Miss B Gray.

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Community Service Secondary Report The community service team this half term has been very busy doing service projects within the community and in our own very school.

living conditions, education, food and assurance that they will not have to sell their bodies in order to live. However, there are some girls at the house who have come to seek refuge not due to prostitution, but due to the fact that they

Environmental Council The school's Environmental Council worked with the Roots and Shoots club this term and began by prioritizing local and international initiatives. Students created a water awareness campaign to encourage people to use water more efficiently. They hope the campaign goes global - you can join in our challenge on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook by using the hashtag: #nodrip.

#nodrip SCIS Students visiting Pipi House home for girls Our first trip was to Samaritan Home, which is an orphanage located in Mashono. The orphanage has 150 children and caters for children from birth to 18 years of age, when the children can fend for themselves as they go to university, get a job, etc. The children at the centre are often abandoned by their parents; some are found in paper bags while still young, while others are street kids that have been picked up and brought in. The community service team was very touched by their stories and is planning to organise another trip to the orphanage so that we can properly help them. Our second trip was to Pipi House, which is a prostitution home for young girls who have been engaging in sexual acts to get money to support themselves. Pipi House will provide them with better

are homeless. The community service team got a chance to talk to the girls and get to know them. On our second trip, we presented them with clothes that had been donated by students from St. Constantine‟s International School. The community service team has also been working in our own school by cleaning classrooms and corridors, helping out in the kitchen, and helping prepare the boarders‟ dinner and the next day‟s break snacks. Last, but not least, we cleaned plastic bottles which were destined to become part of the Primary greenhouse – this gave us a chance to interact with the primary students. We have been very active this half-term and hope to do more next term with your continued support.

On campus, students began composting food scraps from lunch, and continue to plan for a secondary garden.

Secondary students learn composting by using food scraps from lunch The primary and secondary school collaborate each Wednesday to de-label, decap, rinse, sort, cut, and assemble water bottle totem poles that will serve as walls for the school's up-cycled green house. Thank you to all who contributed.

V OLUME 8, I SSUE 1

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Primary School Ideals Afternoon: Community, Recycling and Teamwork The children who are in the Community Club this term have done many things to assist in our school community and our wider community. We started a partnership with St Gemma Galgani Pre and Primary school at Mateves last year. This has continued this term with a group of SCIS Primary students visiting a class

craft, shared reading, games and literacy tasks. Our students have been excited to meet some other students the same age from a different school, and have been happy to share their ideas and time with the St Gemma students. While one group has visited St Gemma, the other groups at school have been involved in looking after our school environment by litter picking, sweeping, raking and even cleaning some teachers‟ cars! The community

The Primary Car Wash

SCIS students working with St Gemma students each week for a 45 minute program on Wednesday afternoons. Some of the activities our students have been involved in are singing, paper plane and paper

aspect of our Ideals afternoon is a great way for students to think about helping others, looking after their surroundings and making friends with other people less fortunate than themselves. We look forward to the program continuing with more ideas in the second half term. Miss Cindy and Miss Victoria's Community Service Groups found the time and enthusiasm to wash the teachcars this The Recycling group organized themselves into teams, e r s decapping, de-labeling, cleaning, rinsing, cutting and week! Without telling the teachers the exthen stacking the plastic bottles “factory-style”. cited pupils rushed

about with buckets, sponges and soap to surprise their favourite teachers. Not only was it fun but everyone felt that they had improved their environment as well as helped out. It may have been a little soggy but there were smiles all round! All that was left were clean cars with a message saying 'cleaned by Community Service! Finally, the recycling group have been collecting used plastic bottles and are in the process of turning them into a school greenhouse. Check back here in the next issue to see how they get on with this – the sides are just about to go on as this is written!

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Parents and friends are cordially invited to

THE SCIS 10th ANNUAL SCIENCE FAIR Date: Thursday 4th December 2014

A celebration of Science, communication and the Scientific Method Identify a problem. Research and formulate a hypothesis. Conduct experiments. Communicate results. Reach a conclusion. More than 80 original research projects, carried out by SCIS students on display

Science themed refreshments and entertainment.

V OLUME 8, I SSUE 1

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Primary Athletics Carnivals On Friday 26th September, our Lower Primary Athletics Carnival took place at the main campus. All of our students from Nursery, Reception, Year One and Year Two, from both campuses, took part. It was great fun for all and everyone had a chance to take part in all of the events. These included parachute, long jump, sack race, basketball rolling, obstacle course, softball, high jump, bean bag race and 50m relay. Refreshments were on hand and many parents turned up to support their little ones as they moved around the different events. Many thanks to Mr Kevin for organising the whole event with such efficiency.

This was followed, on Friday 10th October, by the Upper Primary Athletics Carnival. All of our students in Years 3 - 6 took part in this and, although the spirit of taking part was still most important, there was a little more competition among the students. Events included 100m sprint, long-jump, discus, shot-put, 200m sprint and tug-o-war. Students were able to enjoy juice and fruit as part of their rotations and each group had a communal basket in which to carry and store their individual water bottles between events. Miss Cindy organized another excellent event and our sincere thanks go to her for making it all happen.

Primary School Buddy Reading On Friday 10th October, Year 2 – 6 students got involved in some Buddy Reading. This involved students from Years 5 and 6 visiting the classes of students from Years 2 to 4 and listening to them read. The older children really enjoyed offering guidance to their younger counterparts, while the younger students benefitted from an extra opportunity to read and get to know the “big kids”. All in all it was a really successful initiative and we hope to expand it further in the second half of term, including some trips to Town Campus for Year 6.

SCIS: Founder Members of the Northern Tanzania Athletics Association

Secondary School Athletics Carnival On October 3rd, 2014 the BTEC sports students, with the support of the St. Constantine‟s International School (SCIS) sports department, held the annual interhouse athletics competition. This competition is a great way for our students to represent their houses as well as the school by competing in track and field events, and some goofy games to end the day. This year the video scavenger hunt was introduced as part of the day, and was a huge success. Each house was given a list of about twenty tasks to complete around the school and city. They then had to film as many tasks as they could complete and edit them in a creative way to present to the school. The videos were then shown to the whole secondary school at the beginning of the athletics sports day. This served as a great spirit-builder to get the students competitive juices flowing for the track and field events. The track and field events this year proved to be great examples of our SCIS students‟ great athleticism. Each student, in all of the races, showed great heart and effort

as they competed for the house title. Other than a couple of hiccups in the rules of the relays, the students‟ abilities shined amid the early afternoon sun. The day ended with a BTEC student-led activities hour. This hour consisted of fun games such as an egg toss, sack race, four legged race, dizzy race, and a dala dala challenge, to name a few. This hour was full of strategy, fun and a lot of laughs. Of course, it all culminated with the tug-o-war challenge, which was won by Athens. Unfortunately, Athens then had to face the real champions, the teachers, who beat Athens handily in the final tug-o-war battle. The day was one of great fun, competition, and spirit. All houses showed that they had pride in their house and the school. The final standings after the day were as follows: 4th place- Sparta 3rd place- Olympia 2nd place- Delphi 1st place- Athens Congratulations to Athens on their win. They were an extremely organised team.

The 2014-2015 school year has gotten off to a great start academically and also athletically with secondary sports at St. Constantine‟s. This year, St. Constantine‟s (SCIS), International School of Moshi-Moshi Campus (ISM), International School of Moshi- Arusha Campus (ISMAC), Braeburn School, Orkeeswa Secondary School, and St. Jude‟s School, as well as Kennedy House in primary sports, have joined together to form the Northern Tanzanian Athletics Association. This conference promises to ensure a unified league of healthy and unified competition, and it has already proven effective. Already in the first term SCIS has participated along with the

aforementioned schools in two super tournaments of senior football and junior basketball, as well as an athletics clinic. Scattered amongst the tournaments have also been friendly matches in football, volleyball, rounders and t-ball. The Titans of SCIS have made the school proud with some convincing victories, but have also suffered some unbearable losses. This is the joy of sports though, and as we continue along throughout the season our athletes will learn and grow through friendly and intense competition amongst their peers at the other international schools.

The Northern Tanzania Athletics Association in action