EXCITING PROJECTS UNDERWAY

GRADE RR

For the first time in Christel House SA’s 20-year history, we will be welcoming 60 grade RR students (4-year-olds) to the school. As is widely recognised, the formative years of a child’s life are the most important. Therefore, expanding our Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme to include Grade RR classes is an important step towards removing the many barriers to success that our students face. Construction of our three new Grade RR classrooms was completed at the end of 2020.

SIYAKHULA (‘WE GROW’)

In partnership with Tsebo Group, we are relocating a small-scale farming project, Siyakhula, to our campus. Launched in 2017 as a social enterprise initiative, the project consists of 15 tunnels and a pack house, which employs 10 to 15 employees (the majority being students’ parents) and produce vegetables to be supplied to the local market. The farming project will also be integrated into our curriculum and once it is profitable, Christel House and our immediate community will benefit.

MATRIC STUDY INTENSIVE

Our Matric Study Intensive focuses on preparing our Grade 12 students for their final year examinations by offering a comprehensive and structured learning support programme and a space where they can study. For many of our students living in the poorest townships in Cape Town, finding a safe, quiet space to study at home can be a serious challenge. This is why we are repurposing our multipurpose hall to include suitable and functional ’pop-up dorms’ to host our grade 12s. We received Council approval in December and construction of the project will start in Term one (2021) with the hope of housing our grade 12s for their final year exams within the facility as soon as April 2021.

SOLAR PROJECT

Our school received a generous donation of a new solar power system by CHEP, a leading international supply chain solutions company. The purpose of the photovoltaic solar system, which includes 110 solar panels – powering 45-kilowatts of energy – is to reduce our school’s carbon footprint, to save on electricity costs and to provide back-up power during load-shedding. In conjunction with the roll-out of energy-saving LED lights across the school, we estimate to save approximately R15,000 per month on our energy bill. This is a considerable step towards improving our own sustainability and lessening our impact on the environment.

ZIVA

A Learning Management System (LMS) is a powerful educational platform designed to give educators and students a ‘living curriculum’ that is accessible anytime, anywhere on any device. Our very own, customised LMS, called Ziva, is under development by Christel House SA and Steltix, an international IT services and software company with a passion for e-learning.

The LMS is unique to Christel House SA as it offers our comprehensive character-based and careerfocused pedagogy – which are vital components when positioning the platform as a solution for students from under-resourced communities. The system combines Microsoft Office 365 tools and functionalities to provide educators, students and administrative users with an integrated system to create personalised and collaborative learning environments.