New Catholic High School, St Augustine’s College hosts Open Day

Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter

A new Catholic High School St Augustine’s College perched in the tranquil environs of Bulawayo’s Sunnyside suburb hosted an Open Day and Form One Entrance Assessment on Friday 12 July 2024.

The College, is a Catholic co-educational Day and Boarding School that enrolls boys and girls from Form One to Upper Six for both local and foreign students and enrolment is still ongoing, while the boarding facilities are set to open in January 2025.
Pupils will sit for the Cambridge Assessment International Education examinations at St Augustine’s College.

The College opened its doors to pupils in January this year. The first term started off with 40 students spread across different classes. The college has the capacity to enrol 400 students including the boarders.

Part of the college’s distinct infrastructure is its Chapel, computer and science laboratories among others.

The college’s vision is to be the hallmark of quality education and extra-curricular activities for students. Apart from an internationally accredited curriculum, some of the subjects the college offers include Mathematics, Computer Science (ICT), Geography, History, Design and Technology, Art and Design, French, Ndebele, IsiZulu, English Language, English Literature, Commerce, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Business Studies.

On the sports side the college has athletics, netball, soccer for boys, soccer for girls, golf, basketball, tennis and swimming.

The college also has a number of clubs and societies. Among those are chess, media, drama, choir, business studies, interact and etiquette among others.

Giving a brief history of how the college came about, the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC) Secretary General Fr Tryvis Moyo C.Ss.R. who also is the College Principal said, “the school premises were previously a seminary, training priestly students in philosophy.”

As a seminary St Augustine’s Seminary, was built to support the formation of local priests at a time when there was a vocation boom.

When the vocations declined St Augustine as a seminary was closed in 2016. Following the closure of St Augustine’s Seminary, the whole faculty of philosophy was moved back to Chishawasha Major Seminary in Harare.

At that time there was a realization that the expenses involved in running two half-empty Seminaries were prohibitive.

“At their Administrative meeting held in August 2023 in Masvingo, the bishops decided to turn the former seminary to a private college,” said Fr Moyo.

“St Augustine’s College offers holistic education, informed by the Catholic ethos the institution is guided by the motto, “Sapientia, Amor et Veritas” which speaks of hope, love and truth,” values that are lasting and true everywhere in the world.

Fr Moyo went on to say, ‘the school fulfills the church’s goal to provide quality education that targets integral formation of the whole person.’

According to Fr Moyo a lot of work was put in from September 2023 last year to ensure the college opened its doors to students in January this year.

He said: “ln September when we started our preparations to open the institution we had no single teacher, no student and no administrator, so we had to find a consultant in the education sector to assist.

Thus, in January 2024 when we opened our doors, some people were disappointed because the number of students we got were not what they expected.”

In January the college opened with only 24 students spread in different classes. For example some classes had four, five or six students. This however did not deter the college authorities. For, even with low numbers they decided to enroll the Lower Sixth Form students. 16 lower sixth form students enroled bringing the total number of students for the first term to 40.

“We believe it is also good to start small and grow the college.”

“At the beginning of the year, there were so many people who came applying saying they want to learn at this college. We said to them, in this school we have our own demands and values that we uphold can you match them? At that some fell by the wayside,” he explained.

Fr Moyo said their goal was to ensure that the education offered at the college is centered around the student and the smaller number of students ensured that there is a strong relationship between the students and teachers, bringing about that teacher and student engagement.

He said, “It would be easier to assess the students and push them to greater heights for them to excel both in the academia and sports.

“I am proud of the teachers and students. There is a lot of hard work already going on. This defines us and distinguishes us. We strongly believe that we are not just like any other school, we are different. Here we thrive through teamwork.

Turning to the parents of prospective students Fr Moyo posed a question “Parents think of this as you discern the future of your child: Are you ready to be part of the team? Think seriously about this, here we not only enrol your children. Once they are part of the school, there is no way you will be left out. We will make sure that you are heavily involved in their schooling. For example, we will inform you on everything pertaining your child and if need be, we will evaluate them together,” added Fr Moyo.

St Augustine’s College Head, Mr Thomas Khumalo added his voice in his address. He said, “they offer a warm and supportive family atmosphere where students feel valued and cared for.”

Mr Khumalo underlined that, “St Augustine’s College is founded on Catholic education ethos. Therefore, we foster spiritual growth, nurture character development, embrace diversity, engage with communities and collaborate with parents to educate our students. We employ an integrated approach to education.

Seeking to form a whole rounded person, thus, guided by Catholic principles, the Catholic social teachings and our shared faith we seek to prepare students for responsible global citizenship,” said Mr Khumalo.

Khumalo went on and said, the college strives for academic excellence and discipline, with the academic programs that are based on the internationally recognised Cambridge standards to equip the students for success at global universities.

Mr Khumalo said their qualified and experienced staff tend to a wide range of subjects in Sciences, Arts and Commercials, while their curriculum will keep on expanding as enrolment grows.

“The decision you make this year is one of the most determining ones you will ever make for the future of your sons and daughters. I hope as you stand at the crossroads, we as St Augustine’s College can help you as you make the right decision,” he added.

During the Open Day, students were given an opportunity to showcase their talents in various performances such as singing, dancing and reciting poems.

Some also did presentations about their journey and experiences at St Augustine’s College so far. This is what they had to say:
Head boy, Mthabisi Ndebele and head girl, Nandipha Dlamini said, they have been tasked to promote a positive school culture while working together with all the students.

They said they have been able to achieve great success through the support of their great teachers, the college staff, management and Head.

Chapel Captain, Rumbidzai Vitto said the Catholic education ethos has fostered spiritual growth in them as students and nurtured character development. She said they have daily morning prayers and attend services at the Chapel on Wednesdays to strengthen their faith and relationship with God.

Speaking on their Form One journey, Nadine Mabhena, Blessing Moyo and Munashe Munjanja said they were appreciative of being enabled to undertake their secondary education at St Augustine’s College.

They students said, the institution has made their transition from primary to secondary school much smoother, while they are excited about the journey they are to experience at the college and exploring a number of programs offered both in the curriculum and extra-curricular ones.

Over 100 pupils from different primary schools wrote entrance assessment examinations to secure places for Form One in 2025. These pupils and their parents were taken on a tour of St Augustine’s College to have an appreciation of the institution.

In the Science Lab, pupils interacted with the visitors in the midst of experiments. The IT Lab, Art and Design Lab including the Design and Tecnology were all demonstrated in practicals by the pupils.