20th Anniversary Celebrations

Posted Jan 01, 2009

Sunday 27th July – Friday 1st August 2008

It was a joy to have many visitors during the week of celebration and thanksgiving to God. Former staff and pupils joined with us in a week of events and activities which climaxed with Sports Day and a Drama production on Thursday and a Thanksgiving Celebration on Friday.

 

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us but unto your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.

Psalm 115:1

 

Here is a flavour of the week's events:

 

Sunday 27th July

Morning Service

The whole school and guests gathered at the grandstand to give praise to God. Our guest speaker was Mr Melvyn Nolan who was the first Head of the Primary School. He and Mrs Nolan are still very involved in the life of Chengelo although they are now based in the UK.

 

Fusion

In the evening we gathered again with a more informal atmosphere for Fusion. Led by Mrs Annie Lubwika, there was a message from Mr Ian Richardson, former Physics teacher, houseparent, Secondary Head and Principal.

  

 

 

Monday 28th July

Rockridge Challenge

The Rockridge event starts traditionally at Barton Young’s farm (Rockridge) has been very popular over the years, with the option to run, cycle or walk 18km of sandy road. The Primary School event starts at crossroads, 7.4km. It was a hard-core run with lots of sand en route but a great spectator sport. Competitors came in all shapes and sizes - the smallest Grade 1, the biggest Sixth Former and the oldest staff members! We also had an impressive number of visitors and members of the wider Mkushi community. After we'd all been transported to the Young's farm at 07:00 for a 08:00 start.

All the vehicles we could find were used to transport the large number of competitors!

Cyclists off first!

 

Mr Barton Young fires the starting gun, runners in the foreground, walkers behind.

  

Winning cyclist, Neil Parsons, Form 5, beat the previous record by 1 min with his time of 44 min (above centre), with Steven Reeve 2nd and Mr McMaster 3rd!

1st Runner Wales Madden, Form 6 who drew with Moses Mpanga (PE Groundsman) (above left). 

 

Ist Female Cyclist Miss Houghton (above left) 2nd Runner Andrew McAdam Form 6 (above right)

  

Mrs Misao Heald was the first female runner to come in (above right).

  

The pain and relief at the line (above)! 

We were all rewarded at the finish (above)!

 

Presentations by Mr Barton Young to Winning Cyclist Neil Parsons Form 5 (above left) and Winning Runners: Girls - Lubanji Maseka Form 4 and Boys - Wales Madden Form 6 (above right)

 

Tuesday 29th July

Climbing the Hill

Climbing the hill has always been an integral part of the Chengelo experience. At 07:30 on Tuesday morning 450 of us climbed to the top for a meaningful assembly at the cross, with messages given by Mr David Moffat, Mr Colin McMaster and Mrs Ruby Braumann, wife of founding Headmaster. Not only did we all make it up (including the 5yr olds who had walked Rockridge the previous day!) but we also managed to sing the school song, originally written by Mrs Braumann, before descending. 

 

  

 

 

King of the Sprints

On Tuesday afternoon a 'new tradition', which commenced last year for the first time took place. Boys from any year group are invited to take part in a 100 metre sprint race to determine who is the current Chengelo's King of the Sprints. Nawa Simakoloyi Form 6 (below centre) was crowned this year with a time of 11.7secs.

  

 

Ndubaluba Adventure Afternoon

Meanwhile visitors attended an exciting event at Ndubs where they had hands-on experience of a variety of activities. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, followed by a braai and a moving time round the campfire to reminisce on life at Chengelo and consider the value of Adventure Education.

 

 

   

   

 

Wednesday 30th July

Assembly at Grandstand and Raising the new Chengelo Flag

Guest speaker Mr Roger Allen, who was on the staff at Chengelo as a History teacher and pioneer of the now popular Development Studies course told some funny stories about his time at Chengelo and challenged students in their faith. We moved on to a flag-raising ceremony, where Mr Cowling, Head of Secondary, spoke about the significance of the Chengelo flag (see picture at top of page). 

Departmental Open Day

Visitors were given a chance to see what goes on in the classrooms on a daily basis, both in primary and secondary. As well as wall displays the morning included English debates, historical figures wandering around, exciting Science experiments, an authentic French Cafe and  School Drama Wednesday 30th July 17.30 at GrandstandThis will be " Love in Idleness" which is Midsummer Night's Dream with a difference.

  

  

  

 

 

School Play " Love in Idleness" 

This was a most enjoyable evening with our adapted version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, "Love in Idleness". It was an excellent production with some hilarious moments and stunning costumes and set. Well done to all the actors, and a big thank you to Mr Roff for all his hard work as director.

 

  

   

 

 

Thursday 31st July

Sports Day

In addition to the usual track and field events in which Kaimbi, Mukwa and Ndale houses battled for first place, this year we saw some of our former pupils and staff take part in events like the tug-of-war and the relays, especially the exciting 4 x 100 meters.

  

 

   

 

 

We were honoured to have present during the sports day the Honorable Minister of Education, Prof Geoffrey Lungwangwa and Dr Peter Green who each gave addresses, and presented certificates to those who had broken school records during the morning's events.

 

The Honorable Minister finally presented the Cup to the winning House: which this year was Mukwa.

 

Thursday 31st July

Variety Show

Chengelo pupils love performing and being entertained. The Variety Show gave ample opportunity for staff and students, past and present to take the lime light! A big thank you to Miss Delwyn Houghton for coordinating and organizing this event which included sketches, musical items, vocal, instrumental and dance or a combination.

  

  

 

 

Friday 1st August

Twentieth Anniversary Service

This was the culmination of this special week when the focus was on giving thanks to God for Chengelo. 

  

Mrs Alison Richardson led us in prayer, followed by some musical items by Primary & Secondary pupils.

  

Mr Russell Wyatt gave an address entitled "Chengelo: the Future".

  

Long service awards were presented to Mr Kennedy Siame (Building Supervisor), Mr Emmanuel Mukoti (Kitchen Sales) and Mr Siame (Carpenter) by Mr Barton Young;

 

  

and to Mrs Michelle Cantlay, Mrs Florida Mutambo and Mrs Anne Wyatt, by Mrs Ruby Braumann, with gratitude for their dedicated long service to the School.

 

Mr David Moffat made a presentation to Mr Wyatt who will soon be stepping down as Chairman of the Board of Governors, and finally Mr Ian Richardson, former Principal of Chengelo, gave a stirring message based on the book of Joshua.