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Our Story.
Zithulele Independent School was founded in 2016 by a group of parents and community members from a remote village in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. We serve a diverse range of families - probably quite uniquely so among South African schools - with 60% of our children coming from the local community and the balance from families working at NGOs or the nearby hospital. This mixture of language, race and socioeconomic backgrounds makes for a wonderfully rich, vibrant teaching and learning context.
Zithulele Independent School is focussed on providing a safe, stimulating environment where children can discover their individual strengths and interests while learning to function well as part of a team and community. The classes are intentionally small to allow learning to be individualised and experiential.
Given that most South African children come from multilingual contexts, our aim is to support this existing asset in the classroom. Each class has both an English-speaking and isiXhosa-speaking teacher so that children are taught, can access help and express themselves in both languages. The aim is to foster confident bilingual communication, valuing of of multilingualism and respect for diversity.
Zithulele Independent School is focussed on providing a safe, stimulating environment where children can discover their individual strengths and interests while learning to function well as part of a team and community. The classes are intentionally small to allow learning to be individualised and experiential.
Given that most South African children come from multilingual contexts, our aim is to support this existing asset in the classroom. Each class has both an English-speaking and isiXhosa-speaking teacher so that children are taught, can access help and express themselves in both languages. The aim is to foster confident bilingual communication, valuing of of multilingualism and respect for diversity.
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The school currently consists of grade R to grade 4. The intention is to add a class each year up until grade 7.
The school is registered as a Non-Profit Company with CIPC, as a Non-Profit Organisation with the Department of Social Development, and with the Eastern Cape Department of Education. It is in the process of being registered as a Public Benefit Organisation with SARS. Fees are charged on a sliding scale based on each household's income. All families contribute towards fees. Currently, 70% of learners have a fees subsidy.
The school is registered as a Non-Profit Company with CIPC, as a Non-Profit Organisation with the Department of Social Development, and with the Eastern Cape Department of Education. It is in the process of being registered as a Public Benefit Organisation with SARS. Fees are charged on a sliding scale based on each household's income. All families contribute towards fees. Currently, 70% of learners have a fees subsidy.