Ruzawi School is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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 ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

, preparatory, boarding school for children aged 6 to 12. It is located near the town of

Marondera Marondera, originally known as Marandellas, is a capital city of Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe, located about east of Harare. History It was first known as Marandella's Kraal, corrupted from Marondera, chief of the ruling VaRozvi people who li ...

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 ...

. Ruzawi, which was founded by Robert Grinham and Maurice Carver, has a pupil population ranging from 205 to 220 depending on the balance of boys and girls and the number of pupils in each age group. In the Infants' Department there is one class each for Grade One and Grade Two. An additional entry point at Grade Three enables there to be two classes from that level up to Grade 7. The school is situated some five kilometres south of

in extensive grounds surrounded by many hectares of indigenous miombo woodland and exotic eucalyptus plantations. Ruzawi 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 (CHISZ).

History

In 1926, Robert Grinham and Maurice Carver decided to establish a boys' school in Southern Africa. South Africa was a possible venue but eventually it was decided to establish the school in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia). Various sites were visited in and around the capital but the most suitable venue was a few miles south of the then village of Marandellas, now

. The old Ruzawi Inn, for many years a staging post on the carriage and wagon route from the capital to the eastern border, was up for sale. Neither the new road nor the recently built railway passed close to the Inn, which was no longer, an essential stopping place for travelers. The bedrooms, dining room, kitchen and ancillary buildings proved ideal as both accommodation and classrooms for the newly established boys' boarding school. An important use was found for the old stable building close to the inn. It was appropriately converted into the School Chapel. The building, now over a hundred years old, is equally appropriately in use as the School Museum. The founders of Ruzawi enlisted academic and domestic staff to help convert the Inn to a boys' boarding school. At the time, the boys attending Ruzawi ranged in age from seven to fourteen years. From 1932 to 1934 plans were discussed and finance arranged to replace the old buildings with the present large dormitory block. It became known as the Birchenough Building in recognition of the work Sir

Henry Birchenough Sir John Henry Birchenough, 1st Baronet, (7 March 1853 – 12 May 1937) was an English businessman and public servant. Early life and education Birchenough was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, the second son of John Birchenough, a silk manufa ...

did on behalf of the school, particularly in the field of raising funds for the new buildings. Other major events in the school's history include the building of the Robert Grinham Hall and the Maurice Carver Music Centre, the establishment of the Computer Centre. In 1955, the School Chapel was built. The Chapel is a memorial to the Ruzawi boys who died in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1978, The Grinham Carver Trust was founded by the Ruzawi Old Boys Association (now the Ruzawi Old Pupils Association) on the occasion of its 25th anniversary and in honour of the school's founders. In 2003, Ruzawi School became co-educational with the acceptance of girls into the school's student body. In 2013, Ruzawi became a registered

Cambridge International Examinations Cambridge International Education (abbreviated CIE, informally known as Cambridge International or simply Cambridge and formerly known as CAIE, Cambridge Assessment International Education and CIE, Cambridge International Examinations) is a pro ...

centre and adopted the Cambridge Primary curriculum.

Motto

Academics

Ruzawi School, alongside the ZIMSEC Primary curriculum, adopted the Cambridge Primary curriculum which was developed by

Sports

Ruzawi School offers the following sports:

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, cross-country,

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

, rugby,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Clubs and Societies

Ruzawi School has the following cultural and extramural activities:

Ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, Conservation Club,

Cub Scouts Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with some Scouting, Scout organizations, for young children, usually between 8 and 12, who are too young to be Scouts and make the Scout Promise. A participant in the program is called a Cub and a gro ...

, Design and Technology Club,

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, Guitar, Music & Drama, Squash,

Table Tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

, WildLife Quiz.

Houses

Within the school, students are divided up into two 'houses' that compete along academic and sporting lines. The houses are named Grenfell, represented by olive green and named after Julian Grenfell the first born of William Grenfell – Baron of Desborough; and Fairbridge, represented by light blue and named after Kingsley Fairbridge, a South African educator and statesman. The link between the houses, comes from the apt and fierce competition between Julian and Kingsley at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in the sport of Boxing.

Notable alumni

* Andy Blignaut - former Zimbabwean

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

* Ryan Higgins - former England under-19 cricketer * Kennedy Tsimba - former Zimbabwean

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player * Guy Whittall - former Zimbabwean

References

External links

Ruzawi School
Official website
Ruzawi School Profile
on the ATS website {{Zimbabwe private schools Educational institutions established in 1928 Anglican schools in Zimbabwe Private schools in Zimbabwe Cambridge schools in Zimbabwe Co-educational schools in Zimbabwe Boarding schools in Zimbabwe Marondera Buildings and structures in Mashonaland East Province Education in Mashonaland East Province Member schools of the Association of Trust Schools 1920s establishments in Southern Rhodesia 1928 establishments in the British Empire