A unique new school in Worcester, Zwelethemba High School is going from strength to strength.
This school opened its doors with only 144 Grade 8 learners in 2017. This year, 180 new learners from local primary schools joined as new pupils.
With the first bell ringing at 07:30 and the last one at 16:00, the school has interesting features, challenges as well as big plans for the future.
The school offers seven one-hour lessons per day, with a reading period in-between.
Each year, before end-of-year examinations, learners at Zwelethemba High are taught for 1 190 hours.
That means the school offers 255 hours more than the standard policy, which states that learners must be taught for 935 hours before end-of-year examinations.
The school boasted a 100% pass rate in 2017 and hopes to maintain this standard. It has adopted a “no homework” policy, and each learner is expected to set targets for each subject, in which they are expected to improve by at least 3% a year.
Akho Mbana and Liyema Pikoko, both in Grade 9, agree that at Zwelethemba High they receive quality education, and teachers always make sure their learners understand the work in order to reach their targets.
Teacher support is certainly a factor, and the learners say they strive to do their best not to disappoint them.
Educator Phumeza Njoli added that she has high academic expectations from her learners and always tries to ensure they are able to do their work comfortably.
As part of ensuring that learning is fun, teachers are required to make at least one lesson a week a “fun lesson”.
But like any new school, challenges are inevitable. “We could not participate in any competitive sports codes, because there was no one to assist with coaching,” principal André Claassen pointed out.
“Therefore we ask any member of the community to come to the school on a voluntary basis and assist us.”
The school has started participating in smaller sports codes, such as chess. It also has a strong choir, which participated in a choir competition held in the school hall last year.
