CEO’S YEAR IN REVIEW Twelve months ago I sat at my desk, sharing the Christel House dreams and ambitions for 2020. We introduced our “Future Focus” theme to build preparedness for 2030. We announced our plans to work towards a 1:1 device ratio, expose more learners to robotics and coding, and build selfreliance as a key character strength. Little did we know what challenges the year 2020 would bring. COVID-19 became a household word, masks became a daily accessory and not shaking hands became a sign of respect as new social contracts were crafted. Sadly, COVID-19 claimed many lives in 2020, and we would like to express our heartfelt condolences to those who lost their loved ones. Counterintuitively, working from home happened seamlessly, for ourselves and our children. While we remained focussed on our core work in social transformation through education, we sharpened the focus of decision making through our #peoplefirst lens. Despite the devastation that the coronavirus had on the world, we decided early on to view the realities the pandemic brought as an accelerator for our work in social change, as opposed to a disruptor. Our classrooms became Zoom rooms,
4 | CHRISTEL HOUSE SA 2020 ANNUAL REPORT
our kitchens issued food parcels, rather than food, petrol money became personal protective equipment (PPE) money. When we educated ourselves about how a non-living, microscopicsized thing (a virus) can replicate and control our lives, we called that the living curriculum. We learnt about zero-based websites, how to optimise data usage, we put intention to the development of Ziva, our custom-built Learner Management System (LMS) and our students were thrown in the deep end as “self-reliance” was not a goal anymore, but a survival tool. Mid-year, we received another blow in the form of news that our founder and chief philanthropist, Christel DeHaan, passed away after an extended illness. We found strength in knowing that our greatest gift was being enabled to continue her vision and legacy. Our teachers and support staff did not stop to draw breath. They worked harder than ever to ensure as seamless a transition as possible for our learners as they received their tablets, data and workbooks, ready to enter this unknown world. Our “new normal” included a committed parent body who jumped in to become teaching assistants in our virtual classrooms. As we entered a very uncertain world, we received so much support from our funders, our Board and
