Chisipite Junior School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, preparatory,

day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

school for girls in

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. The school was founded in 1929 by Maisie Jenkinson as a small farm school. Chisipite Junior School is a member of the Association of Trust Schools (ATS) and the Head is a member of the

Conference of Heads of Independent Schools in Zimbabwe A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

(CHISZ).

History

In Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now

) a land surveyor named Mr. Jenkinson bought a farm for his retirement and named it "Chisipite", a

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people ** Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today ** Shona languages, a wider group of languages defined in the early 20th century ** Kingdom of Zimbabwe, a Shona stat ...

word meaning "water from below" or "spring". He and his family moved into the house in 1922. When he died, his wife Mrs. Gertrude May (Maisie) Jenkinson (a teacher by profession) decided to educate Betty, her only daughter, at home, as she felt she was too young to go to boarding school. Thus, Chisipite was opened as a farm school with Betty Thomas, Molly MacIlwaine and Sue Ludgater as the first pupils in 1929. By the end of the year there were twenty pupils. The school was government aided and still had to conform to government regulations. Maisie Jenkinson retired in 1943, and the school bought by Tom and Beryl Anderson. Mrs Anderson, an alumnus of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and a teacher at

Prince Edward School Prince Edward School (or Prince Edward, commonly referred to as PE) is a public, boarding and day school for boys aged 13 to 19 in Harare, Zimbabwe. It provides education facilities to 1200+ boys in Forms I to VI. The school is served by a grad ...

prior, became headmistress and her husband took care of the school’s maintenance and the building of additions. The school at that time had 23 pupils, boys and girls, and the term’s fee for boarders was £22. By 1950, the enrollment rose to 100 and many additions made: a new dining room, more classrooms and dormitories. Mrs Anderson became aware of the need for a senior school and in 1951 a number of girls stayed on for the Form One year. Mrs Anderson formed a private company to take transfer of additional land and started the building of the senior school. By means of a loan and funds raised by parents and friends, the buildings were started, and in 1954 the first section of

Chisipite Senior School Chisipite Senior School (or Chisipite) is an Independent school, independent Single-sex education, single-sex Secondary school, secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school for girls, located in Harare, Zimbabwe. The school is si ...

opened. Mrs Anderson retired after 21 years as headmistress and was succeeded by Mrs Kay Purvis in 1965, during economically challenging times in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

. The school houses – Bluebird, Blackbird, Robin and Sunbird were born. Mrs Purvis retired in 1973, being succeeded by Joan Howard. In the early 70’s the viability of the school was threatened due to the dwindling number of pupils from

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. Because of the political isolation of

then, the Zambian border was closed. The school at this time had 120 pupils of whom only 20 came from this country. Major changes took place in the school. A bank of cypress trees was cut down, the skating rink was demolished thus expanding the Jubilee Field. In 1982, construction of the school hall commenced. In May 1993, Allan Mayger became the first male headmaster of Chisipite Junior School after the Mrs Howard's retirement. Mr Mayger’s own aim has been to develop the facilities, without threatening the character of the school. In spite of a harsh economic environment much refurbishment and construction has been achieved, with the help and support of the stakeholders involved with the school.

Academics

Class sizes are limited, and apart from the classroom teachers, the school is staffed with specialists in art, computers, Shona, sport, music and remediation. The overall pupil: staff ratio is 20:1, and this allows a variety of activities and interest to be actively pursued.

List of Chisipite Junior Heads

* 2014- Head girl: Anesu Nyachiya * 2014- Deputy Head Girl: Kate Mason * 2015-Head Girl:Hannah Mae Mitchell * 2015-Deputy Head Girl: Hannah Van Rooyen * 2016-Head Girl: Sinead Higgins * 2016-Deputy Head Girl: Matipa Nkomo *2017-Head Girl: Molly Honey *2017-Deputy Head Girl: Anesu Mhembere

Notable alumnae

* Janine Murray - Australian gymnast

Notes

References

External links

Chisipite Junior School
Official website
Chisipite Junior School Profile
on the ATS website {{Authority control Schools in Harare Private schools in Zimbabwe Girls' schools in Zimbabwe Day schools in Zimbabwe Educational institutions established in 1929 Member schools of the Association of Trust Schools 1929 establishments in the British Empire