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June Newsletter
It’s been a whirlwind couple of months with many noteworthy events and achievements, as well as preparations for upcoming examinations. Our pupils have been working hard both in the classroom and in the cultural spheres of the school, with lots of energy and enthusiasm being displayed in the sporting arenas.
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As we get back into the swing of things, all our staff have been working around the clock to ensure the smooth running of the school and the success of the pupils’ academic and holistic endeavours.
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Encapsulated in this newsletter are a handful of stories to reflect the rich and rewarding past two months as experienced by the community of Chisipite Senior School. We will be back with the next newsletter at the end of July and we wish our readers a restful and rejuvenating June.
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'Thereby Hangs a Tale': Creative Writing Course
‘Thereby hangs many tales’ in the English Creative Writing course. After months filled with creativity the English Creative course guided by Mz McLaren has come to an end. The course began in mid-October of last year and ran to the end of March 2021. This writing course had it all, from micro-stories, prose, poetry to spoken word pieces, mirror mantras and riveting new vocabulary. The group of girls who attended this course found it an invaluable experience whether it was exercising their creativity, learning new skills, or simply being able to share their creative work with others.
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The Creative Writing course was a place to share, exchange and challenge ideas, and as one of the participants, I feel I am equipped with a more creative lens and perspective which has led me to challenge myself in both my writing and generally in life.Here are a few words from some of those involved in the Creative Writing Course:
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I found this English writing course very insightful, and I feel as though it’s taken my hobby of writing stories and elevated it to a place where I am able to confidently share it with others. I thank Mz McLaren for putting forward this idea and am ever grateful I was in form period when I was, as without that, I would have never taken part in this enriching experience.
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The writing course was an incredible experience it gave me a chance to experiment and explore a more creative side of myself. I enjoyed the creative freedom we were given to interpret the assignments in any way we would like to. I found it fascinating to see the different ways that everyone thought of things. It was truly an experience I will cherish and hold onto for the rest of my life.
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I found the creative writing course not only beneficial but immensely eye-opening and thought-provoking. It introduced me to forms of writing I would not normally engage with, and it rekindled a passion for writing within me.
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RAZ Junior Squad
Race to Gold!
Three of our pupils Tapuwanashe Matizanadzo, Runakorwashe Dzapata and Elaine Muchato were selected for inclusion in the South African Rowing Championships as part of the RAZ (Rowing Association of Zimbabwe) Junior Squad at the start of May.
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The RAZ Junior squad was presented with a rare opportunity to travel out of Zimbabwe after restrictions on local and international sporting competitions due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
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After months of online learning and social distancing Tapuwanashe, Runakorwashe and Elaine were ready and excited to showcase their team spirit out on the waters of Roodeplaat Dam, near Pretoria.
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The activities began on Saturday, 1 May 2021 where the JW 18 2x crews raced two heats.
Elaine and Runakorwashe came 5th in their heat and Tapuwanashe and her partner finished 3rd in their heat, qualifying for a position in the final.
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The girls rowed an excellent race against the other crews and finished the final in 5th position closing off the activities for the first day of the championship.
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On Sunday, the three girls competed in different quads against 5 other crews in the 2000m final. Competition was fierce throughout the race, and in the last few hundred metres, all eyes were on Tapuwanashe’s quad in lane 4 and the PGRC quad in lane 5 as they raced neck to neck until just before the finish when Tapuwanashe’s quad shot ahead into first place - winning gold!
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Skip to 8:21:35 to watch the Final.
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Serving Others: The Listeners' Programme at Chisi
Chisipite Senior School offers a variety of influential clubs and societies, including the Listeners’ Programme. “Listeners is the term given to a group of Upper Six pupils who participate in weekly training in basic counselling skills, a brief study of some psychological theories, and discussion on issues of mental health that are most likely to affect the pupils in our own community.” This is one of the most valued groups at the senior school, as it focuses solely on mental health and encourages teenagers to become more comfortable in discussing issues to do with their mental health and to feel comfortable enough to reach out for help. To find out more, we spoke to Mrs Sas Kirk, the head of the Listeners’ Society.
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Q. Why was the listeners’ society started?
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SK. The society was initiated to meet the need of the increasing demand for counselling support in the school. It was acknowledged that pupils often turn to their peers or others close in age for opportunities to talk about issues that disturb or stress them.
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Q. What was the initial aim of the society?
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SK. The aim of the training is two-fold; it equips individuals to become trained listeners for their peers at school and it offers a basic understanding of simple elements of psychology, to those interested.
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Q. In your opinion, do you think that the aim has been/is being fulfilled?
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SK. To be honest, the Listeners have not been used as much as I had hoped when the programme was started years ago. Some trained Listeners have been approached and have shared their learnt skills successfully, but some never have the experience of listening in a formal capacity at school. However, many of the listeners over the years have shared that they grew as individuals and became much more self-aware as they went through the training. I like to see the discussions and training as a Sixth Form life-skill. It is also a boost to Psych I offered in the first year of universities or colleges!
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Q. What has been the most memorable/touching moment you experienced as the society’s head?
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SK. I have had occasional feedback mostly from pupils who have left school, telling me how the Listener's programme shaped their decisions and attitudes in their lives. That is hugely rewarding. Which teacher would not want to hear that what she has experienced with individuals in her classes has had life impact? But a profound moment occurred several years ago when a parent of one of the previous Listeners contacted me to tell his daughter's story. She was studying at a university and was called out to a crisis situation. When she asked why her, she was told that there was a record of her Listeners' training from her application form. Despite being daunted by the situation, she found that she could help and that night she was instrumental in helping a young person choose life instead of death. She may very well have helped just as profoundly without her past training but it's nice to think that Listeners was instrumental in placing her there and that her courage to help came from a point of confidence in her ability.
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Q. What kinds of people do you like to work with?
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SK. I am a relational teacher. Most of the joy I experience in teaching comes from the relationships I build with people. I love working with people who see education as a gift that is only fully realised when you use what you have learnt to serve others. 1 Corinthians 13 verse 2 reads, "If I ...can fathom all mystery and knowledge but do not have love, I am nothing." While this verse is in reference to the gift of spiritual knowledge, I believe it is echoed in knowledge as a whole. We learn, gain knowledge so that we can serve others.
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Growing Through Servant Leadership:
Interview with Rachel House
Rachel House left Chisipite Senior School at the end of her Upper Sixth year in 2007, a year that she found instrumental in her personal growth largely because of the Servant Leadership system. Her parents donated the Rachel House Trophy for “The leader who has grown the most in her role”, which makes acknowledgement of the great opportunity that the system presents. After finishing high school, Rachel went to read for a Communications Degree in Journalism and Marketing in Perth, after which she eventually moved back to Zimbabwe. She currently works for an accounting firm, and we congratulate her on her recent wedding that she had in our very own beautiful Chapel.
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Do you feel that Chisipite influenced your pathway in life, with what you have ended up doing?
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Yes, in that I think Chisipite really allowed me to explore the things that I was strong in, and that helped me to have a clearer idea of which direction to head. Also, I made such good friends there and I still have a lot of those friendships to this day, so that aspect of my pathway has been guided by Chisi in a way.
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Do you have any favourite memory from your time at Chisi?
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I had such a wonderful time at Chisi, just all together it was so amazing. I think particularly my Upper Six year was truly a turning point for me, in life, actually.
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- and a favourite subject or sport or club?
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I loved swimming and was Captain of the team in my final year so that was sort of the sporting area where I was very passionate and involved, and I enjoyed that. In terms of subjects- I enjoyed Geography and English Literature as I had such amazing teachers for those and found that those were stronger suits of mine.
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Is it correct that you experienced the shift from the previous leadership system to the new Servant Leadership one in your time at Chisi?
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Yes, it was implemented during my time there so by the time I got to Upper Six that was the system in place. It was really wonderful I think, because to be honest, with the old system I probably wouldn’t have been made a prefect, and without that opportunity to have responsibility and lead I would never have grown the way I did, been able to learn all that I did and experience the wonderful thing of serving others in that way. I think the reason my parents donated the trophy is because of that, that there was this new opportunity for everyone to grow and for some people that would be a really big thing.
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What are your thoughts on the Servant Leadership system?
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I think that the approach of everyone having to do their part is so accurate to the way the world truly works because everybody does in fact have things that they are responsible for and need to lead in. So it’s such a good set of skills to learn early on in life as everyone will use it in some way. It also creates this amazing system of team-work between the pupils in the form because everyone is contributing and is integral to the overall system, and can support each other.
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How did you grow in your role as a leader?
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Well I was originally quite shy and I actually started off my roles very scared of everything they encompassed, but as time went on I learned so much about how to adapt to the role and I grew in myself so much in terms of confidence in my abilities, and that’s a huge thing that’s helped me in life.
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Is there something learnt in your time as a leader that you’d like to share with the current leaders?
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I think it would be the concept of allowing yourself to step into your role as it comes and adapt to its demands accordingly, rather than trying to take the role and shape it according to how you are. Naturally you’ll learn what the demands are and if you let yourself just lean into that you’ll find yourself growing with the role and rising to the occasion. Also, to truly take full advantage of this amazing opportunity, to let yourself fully immerse yourself in it and embrace the growth it will bring.
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And if you could go now and tell anything to your Upper Six self, what would it be?
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I think it would be that once I became more confident in myself and what was happening, I would be able to really get the most out of the experience of that year. It did happen eventually, but to have known that earlier would help to create an assurance and would encourage that full experience to perhaps happen sooner.
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