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FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER
Hello! We are pleased to present to you our first newsletter for 2021.
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In our monthly newsletters we will be sharing articles on the many areas of school life our pupils are engaged in. We will focus on Academics, Community, Culture, Sport and news from some of our Alumni. The articles in our newsletters are written by a group of Upper Six pupils who applied for and were appointed as Digital Media Liaisons, as part of the Servant Leadership programme at Chisi. Our thanks to them for the insightful pieces they have produced.
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This term has started well, albeit with a lot of online admin for everyone, but we are grateful to have the opportunity to teach and to learn that so many are not afforded. There has been much joy around our impressive A Level, AS Level and IGCSE results, and our pupils and staff are to be commended on maintaining high standards even in an unprecedented year like 2020.
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Our Form One pupils jumped straight into online learning at Chisi and have tablets to assist them in this endeavour. We trust that the first half of their first term at The Green Machine has been fun and innovative and we look forward to witnessing their progression this year.
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We wish all members of our community a safe, happy and restful
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Welcome New Staff and Form One Pupils
As much as we would have liked to welcome our new staff and pupils to the school in person, they have been obliged to begin their year with us online. Although there are challenges, our new staff have loved getting to know their students and both them and the students are trying very hard to make the distance learning work well.
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The induction and training programmes have helped the teachers settle in well and the new Form One pupils have been fully engaged in their classes and extra-curricular programmes and have been working exceptionally hard.
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We are looking forward to their achievements in the future.
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Online Fitness
Having school online is not easy, and many aspects of our school life have been affected, including our sports and fitness. However, Chisi is a school that does its best to excel even in difficult circumstances and has found a way to keep its students fit and healthy even while at home.
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According to our 2021 Games Captain, Kee-Vonne Hunda, she thinks ‘it’s really beneficial...and we still need to be working on our bodies all the time, we can’t lose track so that when we actually come back, we’ll be ready to go and we can keep our strength. Working out and fitness help to clear your mind, it’s therapeutic in a way...’
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She’s not the only one who has seen the benefits of doing online fitness. Volleyball Captain Chido Chikomo also had positive things to say, calling online fitness an ‘interesting experience,’ and the training sessions ‘quite effective.’ She expressed that many pupils participated in their training sessions and would consistently upload their training videos. She also went on to speak on behalf of the volleyball members and said, ‘we all appreciated having some time set aside to be active and reconnect with the sport we all enjoy.’
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The Form One pupils have found online fitness a great way to connect with their sports teams and settle more easily into the Chisi environment, as well as strengthen their connection to the school.
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While some sports teams like Volleyball have done their online fitness over video call, other team captains have sent their teammates workout and fitness routines to do from the comfort of their rooms. The Athletics team have done fitness exercises concerning their core, strength and maintaining their stamina. The Basketball team have also found a way to keep fit away from the court. Drills are sent every Thursday and are sent with thoughts of home in mind to make sure that these can be done in the limited space of a home setting.
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An example of a workout that some teams do is the Darabee Superhero Endurance exercise, which is made up of a squat hold, raised arms hold, calf raised hold, elbow plank hold, side elbow plank hold and a superman stretch hold, with each exercise being 2 minutes long. It may sound simple, but it certainly is a lot of work and allows the girls to remain as fit as possible.
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Stretching is encouraged, to ensure that no-one receives any injuries from the stretches; and everyone is urged to repeat their fitness exercises if they do not find them challenging enough the first time, to make sure everyone is pushed out of their comfort zone and remains as fit as possible.
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Our Millennium Pavillion looks out over one of our sports fields, patiently waiting for the action to start again.
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The Music Department
The Music Department welcomes Miss Asres as the Head of Department along with Mr Njogu for Orchestra and Mrs Moyo for the African Instrumental and Vocal Choirs. The musicians have started on a high note with preparations for the upcoming Virtual National Institute of Allied Arts (NIAA) Music Eisteddfod. Even with these unprecedented times, the Music Department has kept going strong with entries for Orchestra, Senior Choir, Glee, String, Quartets, Vocal Solos, Duets, Ensembles and many more. In preparation, the music teachers, along with the Heads of Music Ratidzo Mayenzanise (Head), Nandi Nleya and Carissa Smuts (Deputy Heads) and other respective leaders, are working in preparing for the upcoming musical events through online virtual sessions for choirs and instrumental groups. The department is very optimistic and hopes to use their passion and enthusiasm to see them through the year.
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We reached out to Mrs Moyo for some of her thoughts on how the year has started.
“With technology taking the better part in the new turn of our singing we miss hearing our voices blend or sometimes not even blend in harmonies. We miss making friendships, laughter and sharing our frustrations and tears. The amazing team of U6 leaders are determined to keep the green machine engine roaring in the face of social distancing, face masks, potholes and sink holes.”
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The beautiful Cassia Fistula trees in bloom over
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In addition, we got in touch with Ratidzo, Nandi and Carissa for their thoughts on the term ahead.
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What are your plans/goals for the term as a department and as leaders?
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Ratidzo: Hopefully, before the term ends, we are hoping to come up with a virtual eisteddfod concert, which may include both instrumental and vocal performances. And as leaders, to be able to work together in creating a positive influence on our school’s music department.
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Nandi: For the term, a plan and goal is to expand the music department and energise it, especially during this time of lockdown due to corona. Music has always been a big part of the school and it would be amazing to continue that ‘tradition’. As said by Mrs. Wright (a previous teacher for Chisipite), “Music is a gift,” and we’d like to give, not only music in general but the hope, comfort and unity it provides.
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Carissa: This term as a department I think we are determined to keep moving forward together and keep learning. I think our goal as leaders is to continue encouraging the members of our various groups and remain optimistic throughout the process.
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Anything interesting about the upcoming NIAA Music Festival.
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Nandi: It’s virtual! It’s definitely a new challenge, but it’s a welcome one. It’s a new and exciting ball-game for those who have entered
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Carissa: We will continue to press forward and do our best to enter the NIAA festival with the same enthusiasm we would have in any other year. Hopefully we will fill the festival with green the way we always have.
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Are there any interesting things that have happened in the music department so far?
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Ratidzo: So far, we have been joined by new and vibrant teachers in our department. We have been working together with them and the music department has been growing stronger. We have started online sessions for both ethnic and classical choirs. We have also tried to keep the instrumental groups running through online practices and tutorials, which so far have been quite an interesting experience.
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Carissa: We have been lucky enough to start meeting online. Our sessions are laid out very differently with much of our focus being on actually understanding and appreciating the music we are doing which should help us connect more to the songs in the long run.
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Anything you would like to add?
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Ratidzo: I am looking forward to seeing how our department will continuously grow and develop, especially now that we are doing it virtually. It would be wonderful to see it flourishing under such circumstances and still bring out the potential of each musician here at Chisi.
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Carissa: I am very grateful to be able to continue music and believe that this is one of the best ways to stay connected and not feel so isolated. I look forward to what we can achieve together.
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Alumni Helly Acton shared her thoughts on how Chisi impacted her life and career
Helen Acton, who attended Chisipite School from Grade One until Form Three (before moving to the UK), in the late 80s to early 90s, has gone on to do great things, with our school as a solid foundation. Her first novel, ‘The Shelf’ was published in July 2020, and her second novel, ‘The Couple’ will be out in May this year. The following is a recapitulation of the interview conducted with her.
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Q: When did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
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HA: I don’t think I really ever made that conscious decision exactly. I’d been in the creative industries for some years now, and part of my job had always been to think of stories. So I lived in my imagination a lot, always thinking of these possible stories. And then a conversation with friends about reality TV shows sparked the idea for The Shelf. So many of these shows are about finding love and finding “the one” but there’s never really any about finding yourself. So the idea was born and I just started writing it when I had time outside of my day job. I never really hoped to become an author, I just had a story that I wanted to tell. To be a writer, there’s no real trick, you just have to write the book.
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Q: You’ve said your time at Chisipite was some of the best years of your life, could you expand on that?
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HA: Yes definitely, I remember everyone being very supportive and friendly, it is really like a sisterhood.
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Q: Do you have any particular favourite memories of the school?
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HA: Even though I’m not a sporty person, I used to love the gala and all the festivities surrounding it. I also used to love the art block which was amazing and always very inspirational. I liked that we did Cooking lessons- which also reminds me that we had to do compulsory secretary classes, something that makes me laugh now. We learnt how to type on these huge, old fashioned typewriters and that’s something that has actually come in handy with being able to type my work very quickly, even though the concept of secretarial lessons just because we were girls is obviously very outdated and quite funny now.
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Q: Do you feel your time at Chisipite has contributed to your success?
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HA: Absolutely. The social side of it and being surrounded by all these wonderful girls- I write a lot about strong female friendships which is definitely shaped by my time there. Some of my characters may even have been influenced by those women. I’m sure the English classes helped too, though my work is very different to the Shakespeare type of work we would study.
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Q: On the topic of strong female characters, did you base the main character, Amy, on yourself or someone you know at all?
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HA: I’d say Amy is about 70% based on me, but more so in terms of her insecurities and preoccupying thoughts. And I’d say she represents a past version of myself, and the journey she goes on in the book is similar to an emotional journey that I have been on. I’m hopeful that women your age are having these realizations much earlier on- that life doesn’t have to be all about getting married and having kids, that you have many options and so much potential as women.
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Q: Did your foundation at Chisipite as an all girls school influence your choice of genre as 'contemporary feminist fiction'.
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HA: I’m sure Chisipite had an influence on my entire personality, all the people I met there and what I learnt there definitely moulded me to be the person I am today. There were all these very inspiring women that I had as teachers and I looked up to a lot of them, and I think that whole environment has had a domino effect then where that spilled into my message and tone.
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Q: And finally, moving forward, do you imagine your books will be in a similar vein, or explore something completely different?
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HA: Yes I think they will be similar. It’s what I like, to explore fairly serious topics - female-centric ones usually - in a light-hearted and very accessible way. I try to make my writing easy reading.
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