The Sunday Mail
Bridge Correspondent
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation.”
The above quote from well-known Greek philosopher, Aristotle, aptly sums up the narrative of Wonders Christian Junior College as far as academic excellence is concerned.
So interested is the school in its’ pupils’ abilities that they are promising to send their best French performers to France on school scholarships.
“Beginning next year, we will be offering scholarship to students who would have excelled in French, to study in France once they have finished school
“We try to balance our pupils by offering them a good learning environment and sporting facilities in equal measure,” declared Wonders Junior headmaster Mr Bauren Matemayi in an interview in Harare recently.
Nestled in the mountainous terrain of Chishawasha Hills, Wonders Christian Junior College is slowly becoming a force to reckon with in the academia field after it attained a 100 percent pass rate.
Despite being Wonders Christian Junior’s debut public examination, the junior school scored a first when 95 percent of its students attained nine units and below, earning the school pole position in Harare.
“Although we are still new in the education sector, we have carved a niche market for ourselves, as one of the best junior schools with high standards both in academic and co-curricular activities,” said Mr Matemayi.
It was probably because of this feat that hundreds of parents and students visited the school’s exhibition stand at the just ended Harare Agricultural Society, where the institution exhibited under the education cluster at the annual agricultural fete.
“There was a huge turnout of parents who came to our stand, enquiring about enrolment, our curriculum and just general information on the school.
“As a result, on October 6, we want to present these parents, with yet another opportunity to make an informed choice about their children’s future by inviting them to our school.”
Established in 2015 with only 36 students, the private school defied all odds and produced stellar results, earning itself a position among the country’s high performing schools, barely two years after its establishment.
The academic excellence of the school is also hinged on a well-modelled curriculum and robust e-learning model which encourages and promotes engagement between pupils, parents and the teaching staff.
“The e-learning platform that we have entails the extensive use of the internet during learning. Students go into the computer labs to research and sometimes make use of platforms like YouTube to further enhance their understanding while in class.
“The learning process does not end in the classrooms, but it also extends to the parents, when we send them videos of the whole learning process, so that they also conceptualise the teaching methodologies they can use when assisting pupils with homework,” he said.
“What makes our teaching model unique is that we also combine the Zimsec curriculum with a learning methodology called Christ-centred learning method where we apply biblical principles so that pupils can fully understand the subject.”
With a class of 20 pupils at most, Mr Matemayi said the teaching staff have enough time for each pupil, ensuring that learning becomes an enjoyable exercise than a mundane task.
The school also offers French lessons, in addition to a coterie of sporting activities that include cricket, hockey, basketball and tennis, and is a member of the Educational Primary Schools in Sports Association.
Apart from its feat in academic excellence, Wonders Christian Junior College also has a robust corporate social responsibility programme of assisting talented but disadvantaged pupils from the surrounding schools and communities.
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