Luthando Willaims, Former Christel House SA learner

Our former 2009 matriculant learner; Luthando Williams graduated on 20 August 2010 from a gruelling 8 months of military training in Saldanhah which is located just outside of Cape Town. He was visited by his family once a month as he endured, physical, mental and emotional challenges throughout the military training. He is currently part of the Logistics Department.
Luthando’s mother Cikizwa Williams, is overwhelmed by his achievements and is extremely proud of the responsible, strong minded man he has become.
Quote: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome a Alumni who acknowledges his Alma mater as one who was instrumental in his success.”
Ronald Fortune
~ High School Principal of Christel House SA

Christel House SA is exceptionally proud of Luthando as he continues to embrace the four Christel House values ~ Respect, Responsibility, Integrity and Independence.
WE SALUTE YOU!

The school recently undertook such a project when 62 Grade Seven students, along with four teachers packed their bags and headed for the leadership camp called High Noon, a centre built by Bishops Diocesan College and situated near Villiersdorp in the Western Cape.

According to Midge Hilton-Greene, former headmaster of Bishops Preparatory and now the junior school principal for Christel House, Bishops sponsored the use of the facilities as part of their corporate social responsibility programme.

“The key objective of the camp was to get all of the Grade Seven learners, as the senior students of the junior school, together in order to build team spirit and to provide them with leadership and business tutorials. The aim was to help them develop their leadership abilities,” said Midge.

During the weekend they spent on the camp, learners participated in several workshops, including gaining insights into the type of skills companies today look for in new recruits. They were given a tutorial on entrepreneurship and asked to come up with ideas for a long-term entrepreneurship project, which will see each child develop a business idea and implement a business plan. Teachers also discussed with them South Africa’s unemployment statistics to show the status of employment in the country and the importance of a good education.

“We were taught the importance of discipline and what we need to do to get ahead,” said one Grade Seven learner, Jolene Damons.

The camp was also not just about hard work. During the course of their stay, learners also swam, took hikes and competed against each other in outdoor activities. Keith Griffiths, the coordinator for the Bishops Wildlife Club was also there to assist the learners in the many activities they took part in and to help them see the value in working as a team.

Midge commented that the camp formed part of the much bigger vision that Christel House has when it comes to developing youth.

“This camp was part and parcel of introducing, more formally, the vitally important ‘soft skills’ that will complement academic results and ensure that our learners will be able to achieve success in the working world. Leadership is one of the most critical skills young children can learn. Added to that we also aim to teach them skills like problem solving, time management, critical thinking, self assessment, goal setting and forward planning,” he said.

“All the projects and leadership exercises we do revolve around the four Christel House Values - respect, independence, responsibility and Integrity. Our aim is to build character and to produce well-rounded, passionate, socially responsible, employable adults,” added Midge.

Grade Seven learner, Gugu Ncapayi said that for her the camp was a brilliant experience. “I have learnt that anything is possible and that even I can become a millionaire with the right approach! I also realised that in the outside world Christel House won’t always be there, we have to take what we have learnt and find our own way in the world,” she said.

Midge concluded that, with the holistic teachings of Christel House, he is confident that learners will be more than prepared to take on that world all by themselves.

Ends

For the Grade R learners of Christel House playtime has just become a lot more interesting. The school recently received a brand new jungle gym, unlike any other and its fascinating architecture combines both fun and essential learning in a safe way.
The organically built jungle gym, which learners look forward to playing on during every interval, was developed by a company called Dream Weavers. Owner of the company, Jay Dreamweaver, said that his jungle gyms are made to be a magical place for children to climb, play and daydream, free of harsh poisons.

“Jungle gyms, particularly in South Africa, make use of CCA treated timber. The CCA stands for Chromium, Copper chloride plus Arsenic – these are all quite toxic chemicals,” said Dreamweaver. He added that his jungle gyms are built using organic wood and is coated using only natural oils, making it a much safer alternative.

But what makes Dream Weaver jungle gyms even more special is the fact that it has a very unconventional design.
Dreamweaver commented that most jungle gyms are built using straight lines, which doesn’t require a child to think much about how to get from point A to point B.

“Our jungle gyms are designed more like a huge tree – with branches in all directions. This really gets the child exercising their hand-eye coordination, gets them thinking faster and improves their problem-solving skills,” he said.

Dreamweaver said that with this jungle gym children are also able to touch, feel and navigate their way around and this develops their gripping and climbing skills, which in turn develops their fine and gross motor skills.

Teachers of Christel House are just as excited by the jungle gym as the learners, they agree that it is exactly the kind of playing equipment ideally suited for Christel House since the school is big on unconventional methods of teaching and learning.
They are thus very grateful to Kerry Oelz, daughter of well known philanthropists Ernest and Bendalyn Stemple, for sponsoring the jungle gym for the school.

The Ernest and Bendalyn Stemple Foundation has for many years been making a significant contribution to charities in South Africa, specifically focusing on children’s and education organisations.

According to Oelz, she came across Christel House while on a search to find a school that was doing something different and which operated only on donations. During her visit to the school and learning about the schools unique approach to education, she was convinced that her donations were going to a worthy cause.

“This school does so much for underprivileged children. They provide them with holistic learning, feed and nurture them and at the end of the day make a real difference in improving their lives and futures. I am so happy that I could do my bit for the Grade R’s who are now starting their Christel House journeys,” she said.

Oelz plans to be involved with the school for years to come, she said her contribution is small change compared to the real difference Christel House is making for future generations of children.

Christel House educates its learners through the generous donations of individuals and corporates in South African. For more information you can contact the school on 021 704 9400 or visit www.christelhouse.org.

as seen in the People’s Post

Christel House South Africa, a non-profit school for disadvantage learners in Ottery, recently welcomed a generous sponsorship of sewing machines from sewing company Emphisal.

Theo Theodorou, marketing director of the Johannesburg based company, handed over ten sewing machines and five overlockers on Wednesday 15 April, making it possible for the school to get one of its long awaited development projects off the ground.

According to Sharon Williams, director of development and marketing at the school, it has always been the vision of Christel House to launch a “Parents of Christel House Sewing Project”, but the school lacked the resources to do this. “The Christel House model is focused on empowering children, but to create a safe and sustainable environment of growth for these children, we felt it was important to turn some attention to the development of parents as well. “One of the ways to do this was to teach them a skill that would not only help them earn a living but also instill in them a sense of empowerment and responsibility so that they could be examples to their children.”

With the help of Rugaya Abrahams, a community worker and Christel House volunteer, the school is currently teaching ten mothers how to sew and produce the school’s uniforms, as well as its sports and cultural clothing. Says Abrahams “The mothers have been wonderful about learning and developing themselves. They make my job easy, and I have a lot of faith in them.”

Says Theodorou, “I was told about this fantastic parent development projects that they wanted to start but had not made much progress on because hey didn’t have the resources. “I am looking forward to seeing the fruits of our sponsorship, and can’t wait to see the children of CHSA looking smart in their brand new uniforms, and the parents being responsible for that is a wonderful thing.

by Irma Titus

Sixteen year old Shane Barnes returned from a three-month voyage through the waters of experience to hit the ground running – straight into the exam room..

Barnes and nine other youths made the Western Cape proud when they hit the high seas in April to spend ten weeks of their school year learning aboard the floating classroom that is Canada’s SV Concordia.

The students had found themselves a part of Class Afloat, a Canadian learning project that takes students from all walks of life on a voyage of cultural explorations.

This time around, the students, all between the ages of 15 and 18, watched over by their team leaders, traveled from Cape Town to Bermuda via Namibia, St Helena, Brazil and Trinidad. The South African contingent was brought together by the Cape Windjammers Education Trust (CWET), a youth development organization that offers sail-training voyages for the purpose of youth development.

The group returned Wednesday 17 June, when they were welcomed by friends and families at Cape Town International Airport. “It was a life-changing experience; I feel inexplicably different,” says Barnes. Between catching up with family and friends, this Grade 11 learner of Christel House South Africa (CHSA) is also diligently writing his exams. The exams started just a week after the aspiring doctor returned.

“I’m happy to be back home,” Barnes says. “The long time away from home made me feel how much I really love my parents and sisters. I know now I will do anything for them.”Although Barnes dreams of becoming a surgeon, his experience on the Class Afloat programme has given him a definite interest in sailing.

Recalling Bafana-Bafana’s 1-0 loss to Brazil on Thursday, he says that among the highlights of the programme for him was the visit to Brazil.

“There is a lot I want to do, and I still need to think hard about it. I also want to play professional soccer – play for the national team and take Bafana to new horizons. “I love Brazil and I love soccer.” On Sunday 28 June, the youths met up at the CWET offices in Woodstock. Here they delivered feedback to Cape Windjammers about their experiences. Barnes now gears up to do the same on Thursday – in front of the whole school.

Christel De Haan with Cape Town Mayor, Helen Zille cutting the ribbon at the Christel House SA Inauguration.

Christel House South Africa (CHSA), a not-for-profit school for disadvantaged children in Cape Town, opened its brand new state-of-art school in Ottery Cape Town on the 17 March. The new premises was officially opened by the school’s founder Christel deHaan and the Honourable Mayor of Cape Town, Helen Zille.

Since its foundation in 2002, CHSA has been doing extraordinary work in helping to break the cycle of poverty by transforming children and their communities through education.

The new school premises have been a dream of Christel deHaan and the board of CHSA for many years as they were previously operating from premises in Athlone that were too small for the burgeoning school. The project was finally made possible last year when CHSA was able to negotiate a partnership between themselves, the Ottery Civic Association, Building Engineers Jakoet & Associates and the City of Cape Town who provided the eight hectares of land at a reduced rate needed to errect the school.

Ronald Fortune – Principle of the school said that since the first foundations were laid back in July of 2008, all the organisations involved have invested vast amounts of time, effort, money and love into the project.

“We could not have done it without the help of those partnerships and in such a short time, it is a truly amazing accomplishment.

“All of us at Christel House are extremely excited about this new beginning and we are raring to get the actual teaching and learning started. If all goes well all 690 students will be settled and ready to go by the 18 March,” said Fortune.

The brand new school encompasses both primary and secondary learning and has special facilities that include an impressive multipurpose hall, multimedia centre, biology, science, mathematics and technology laboratories, music, arts and dance studio as well as a huge sports field and a fynbos nature area for the children.

Mansoor Mohamed, the City`s Executive Director of Economic, Social Development and Tourism, said, “The City of Cape Town is pleased to be associated with Christel House School, an institution that helps many children and families to break the cycle of poverty. It has leased land in Ottery to Christel House for a few hundred rand per annum over an effective 50-year lease period and will continue to use its land to increase economic and social development opportunities for the residents of Cape Town.”

Sharon Williams – Director of Development and Marketing at the School explains that the Christel House philosophy is about empowering children through longitudinal work that prepares them in every way to be functioning members of society. “The school is going to help us to better achieve these goals.”

“It has been built with classrooms that are bigger than the standard size in South Africa. Seventy square meters compared to the average size classroom which is only about 55 square meters. At Christel House we believe that our children literally need the room to grow and the space to express themselves, especially given the lack of space in the communities where they come from,” explained Williams.

The building also has high ceilings and ventilated classrooms that will also provide for a more comfortable environment to teach and learn in.

Williams said that all in all the school has been built to optimise efficient and effective learning.

Christel deHaan proudly thanked each and every donor and investor who contributed to the building and infrastructure of the new school. “This school is a result of the hard work of so many people,” said DeHaan, the building is now complete but an enormous task still lies before us – the task of making this building a school that is a functioning and sufficient place of learning that will achieve the intended result of providing a ‘pipeline’ of learners ready to pave their own way into South Africa’s workforce,” she said.

She added that the School still needs to raise more than R5 million to meet the costs of building the new facility. Anyone who is interested in supporting the initiative can contact Sharon Williams on 021 696 9005

This article was written by Elspeth Donovan - Learning Design Consultant & Chairwoman of Christel House SA- we would love as much feedback as possible, so please leave a comment, link us, email this article to your friends or just @ us on Twitter !

The results from matric 2008 have prompted the usual flurry of debate around educational standards in South Africa with the DA leading the pack in calling for an independent enquiry into the exams.

Falling pass rates and departmental blunders along with concern that the new OBE model is in fact taking us backwards, top the agenda. Political point scoring aside, there are some facts that are inescapable. First, pass rates continue on a downward trend - 62, 5% this year (although this with 50 000 results outstanding) down from 65% last year. And second, the poorer you are the less likely you are to pass go. Pass rates were worst in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga – two of South Africa’s poorest provinces with just 50.6% of learners in the Eastern Cape getting through – of which just 8662 (14.3%) have met the requirements for admission to tertiary education. Even less of these have the coveted maths and science marks needed to boost the numbers of engineers, scientists and doctors in our country.

This is what people mean when they talk about the cycle of poverty and the difficulty of escaping from poverty and it is at the root of why transformation is chugging along at a less than satisfactory rate in the country. As Mamphele Ramphele, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town has remarked: the current system is “failing 80 percent of its poor, young people”. And in doing so, the idea of black inferiority is being reinforced, because the majority of those being failed by the system are black.

Quite simply, if we continue down this path we can look forward to a future where major divisions between rich and poor and black and white, continue to dominate our social agenda. Understanding and acting on what is contributing to this impasse is going to be one of the major policy challenges of the next few years.

Fortunately there are some pointers. Pockets where people are getting it right. One such is Christel House South Africa – an independent school in Cape Town that caters for disadvantaged children. One hundred percent of the School’s 700 odd learners come from families that fall below the poverty line and yet they have a 99% retention rate year-on-year. The school enjoys a 96.8% attendance record from learners and 98% from teachers. Statistics that are above average even in the best resourced schools.

Started just seven years ago, Christel House South Africa is part of the global Christel House network – a non-profit organisation set up by travel entrepreneur Christel deHaan in 1998 to help children break free from the clutches of poverty.

What the organisation does differently is that it takes a holistic approach to problem of poverty. Recognising that poor children come to the classroom not just without the ability to read and write, but with social problems, often hungry, living in dysfunctional families and so on.  Lack of education is just one of the causes of poverty. Lack of opportunity, lack of dignity, lack of good health and a lack of positive role models all play their role in keeping young people from achieving. Thus, in South Africa, Christel House ensures that children are collected from their homes and dropped off again every evening. While at school they get plenty of food and plenty of opportunities to get a feel for a world that is different from the one they are growing up in. Social workers are on hand to identify at risk learners before it is too late, class size is kept below 27, and for the first two years Xhosa and Afrikaans teaching assistants work alongside English teachers to ensure that by the time they reach year three they are fully bilingual. Children come to the school because it is a safe and nurturing environment. From art therapy to nature walks, HIV awareness, life skills and community service initiatives (in addition to the usual curriculum of course), the learners at this school are being groomed to be tomorrow’s star students and employees and ultimately – leaders.

Teachers (whose salaries are benchmarked with WCED salaries) are kept engaged through staff development initiatives, peer review systems, and exposure to innovative teaching methods.  The School also works with parents to equip them with better parenting skills and to help them identify their own opportunities for finding work and supporting their children as they progress through the school.

Of course it is all quite a lot for a small outfit to manage. Hardly surprising then that Christel House takes a collaborate approach to solving these complex social problems. More of a cross sector social enterprise than a school, it works with government, civil society and the private sector to find the funds and the energy needed. It is an expensive model, costing roughly five times what government currently spends on each child. Although this is still considerably cheaper than what is spent on a child in private education, the kind of education the children get is comparable to that of a private institution.

Policy makers might balk at the cost, but with some reorganisation of budgets it is not such an impossible target. All that is needed is a shift in thinking so that education and poverty are not addressed in silos but as part of one, co-ordinated effort.

Financial support from corporates – and individual donors – is also an essential part of the model and Christel House is on a mission to increase its sponsorship from local sources so that it can continue to refine and improve its model. In addition to its mandate to educate, the School sees itself as an experimental think tank in deriving new and exciting models for what works in education in a South African context.

This year, Christel House will move into new, purpose built premises in Athlone and will graduate its first matric class. The 27 learners in that class joined the School as youngsters in Grade 5 when it opened its doors in 2001. Based on past performance, a 100% pass rate is expected which will put Christel House in the league of some of the Provinces best resourced private schools.

The ultimate business and economic benefit of the Christel House model is that these learners are going to emerge from the School ready for further education and as highly employable individuals. In a country crying out for skills, this has to be an attractive prospect.

I can only say that I am very grateful for the support and attention that Cape Town is receiving from international humanitarians. The work that is being done benefits our disadvantaged communities, and it is an inspiration to us all.

As mayor of this City, I am acutely aware of the developmental challenges we face. We have a serious wealth gap in Cape Town, and we are experiencing social decay in parts of our city. A combination of poverty, broken homes, and rampant substance abuse have made living conditions intolerable in many communities.

In the City of Cape Town our key strategy to tackle these challenges is to encourage economic growth so that more job opportunities will be created for our people. We want to make Cape Town a more attractive city for investors by providing better infrastructure, better services, and creating a cleaner, safer public environment. These are the main services that our municipality offers in terms of the Constitution, which sets out the different roles that different spheres of government perform.

However, as former MEC for Education in the Western Cape Provincial Government, I often wish the City could play a direct role in education too. Because education is a key element that is necessary for the realisation of our vision as a government. Kodak founder George Eastman once said that “the progress of the world depends almost entirely on education”. Nowhere is this more so than in South Africa.

Our people need jobs, yet critical sectors in our economy are desperately in need of suitably qualified employees. Too few in our country have had the opportunity to gain the skills that would make our region more competitive in the global knowledge economy. Too many have been left unable to support themselves, and are forced to rely on the state to feed and house them. Yet, even the state is unable to provide adequate social support services, because it too suffers from the general skills shortage, with a lack of capacity in key public service areas. This is the single biggest challenge we face as a nation.

Christel De Haan and her organisation have given us the rare opportunity as a municipality to contribute toward the education of our people. Today we sign a lease that will make schooling available to hundreds of disadvantaged children in this community. Christel House has pledged to spend around R30 million on the construction of school buildings, sports facilities and recreational areas.

This project will also provide a stable environment with adult supervision and recreational opportunities to children who may otherwise have been exposed to a harsh life on the streets. We will be seeing the establishment of a community development centre, a business development centre, a skills development centre, an aids orphanage and a substance abuse centre. Children will be able to learn about discipline and values, about deferring gratification and about taking responsibility.

This complex will also offer healthcare and other services that are often out of reach to disadvantaged communities. Given the massive value that this project will add, we have agreed to lease this 8 hectare piece of land to Christel De Haan for up to 50 years. The property we are standing on today was set aside as a school site when the community of Ottery was first established, so we are putting it to its intended use.

To my relief, this has also meant we have not had undue red tape in releasing it. I would like to thank Councillor Grindrod, his Executive Director, Mansoor Mohamed, and the officials in his department for the role that they have played in helping to make this possible. And I would like to thank Christel De Haan for her dedication to this and other projects of this kind. Like Oprah Winfrey, she has realised that this is the best form of international aid that can be offered to a developing economy like ours. Giving people the tools to empower themselves and become agents of their own destiny is the only way that we can really address the developmental challenges of this country. A society of skilled, independent and responsible people is the kind of society that we want South Africa to become.

Christel De Haan, founder and President of Christel House, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Development, Simon Grindrod, councillors and officials of the City of Cape Town, ladies and gentlemen. It is an honour to be a part of this groundbreaking ceremony for Christel House.”

We would like to thank the amazing “South Africa -The Good News”  for featuring us right on the top of their February newsletter!

The article is called “Christel House: a gem in SA education” click here to read the article!

“Creating a sanctuary at Christel House” 

- was written by Raphael Wolf & appeared in the Southern Mail on the 11th of February 2009

The Ottery-based Christel House Academy’s staff and learners took a giant step towards making their newly-built but incomplete primary school; the first ever urban school fynbos reserve in the Western Cape when they and supporters planted 98 indigenous trees on the school’s premises.

“Yesterday (Friday January 30) we planted 44 trees and today we planted 54 trees,” said Principal Ronald Fortune. “This was a formal tree planting ceremony, starting in the school’s garden. Christel House is about using the environment optimally and that’s what we want to teach the children – to optimally use the space without destroying the environment. We are planning to have the whole school grounds declared fynbos sanctuary.

“We will also have an approximately eight metre long walkway and running track installed around the inside of the school’s premises as well as wooden benches for resting and enjoying the scenery. We will teach our children that they can live off the soil – we’ll teach them to plant vegetables because some of them live in flats and area where they don’t have the opportunity to plant vegetables.”

Excited at the idea of the school becoming an indigenous fynbos sanctuary, Mr Fortune said: “We feel the idea is unique and the project worth crowing about to the world. And we feel it’s something that people will be interested in to partner with us.”

Kevin Cochrane, who is passionate about creating indigenous plant sanctuaries and manager of similar projects on behalf of the City of Cape Town in recent years, is leading the fynbos and indigenous tree planting at the school. He said this was the first time a school has commissioned his help on a project of this scale. “Plans have been set to make this fynbos reserve a truly magnificent resource of plant, insect and bird life which the children, teachers and the surrounding communities will greatly benefit from,” he added.

The children have been involved from day one in the tree planting project and Mr Cochrane predicted that the school’s sanctuary would become a big part of the education curriculum. Mr Fotrune encouraged potential partners to join in bringing the school’s sanctuary to fruition.