Staff - Zenzeleni

Zenzeleni Teachers and Support Staff

Lulama Mtuzula, 2008 Class 1

Lulama Mtuzula joined Zenzeleni in 1998, teaching grades 1, 2 and 3 until 2007, when for the first time she taught grade 4. She was a Teacher Training student at Centre for Creative Education in 1994 – 1996, where her favourite subjects were Maths and History. After graduating she taught at Noluthando creche in Khayelitsha in the school readiness class, and then was an Assistant Teacher for grade 1 at Constantia Waldorf.

Lulama was born in Butterworth, Eastern Cape, and moved to Cape Town do her high school education. She is the oldest of 5 sisters, and now has two sons of her own. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gospel music and going out with friends.

Lulama says that the education provided at Zenzeleni is special because teaching focuses on each child as a whole person, and not just concentration on the child's thinking:: Head : Thinking; Chest : Feeling; Limbs : Willing
We are able to teach children with love and respect.

Nobuhle Gusha, 2008 Class 2

I am Nobuhle Gusha; I was born in Lady Frere in September 1969. I did my lower classes up to Standard 8. In 1989 I came to Cape Town. I did my Standard 9 and 10 in Malizo High School, which is now known as Matthew Goniwe Memorial School.

In 1992 I registered as a BA student at the University of the Western Cape, and graduated in 1996. In 1997 I did Higher Diploma in Education. I heard about Waldorf education and became interested. I registered in 2003 with the Centre for Creative Education. Due to some certain circumstances, I dropped. I started my first year again in 2005 and now I am doing my second year. I also joined Zenzeleni staff in 2005.

Tamara Zumana, 2008 Class 3

Nobuhle Mbatani, 2008 Class 4

Nobuhle P. Mbatani has been with Zenzeleni since January 2005, when she began as Grade One Teacher. She trained at the Centre for Creative Education, and received the Primary Teachers Diploma enriched with Waldorf. Previously she was a state school teacher for five years in the Eastern Cape, where she trained at Arthur Tsengiwe Teachers Training at Cala near Queenstown.

Nobuhle arrived in Cape Town in 1990 to join her husband who was already working here. She applied for a teaching post and, after a long wait, decided to look for another job. she worked in the funiture industry as Sales Advisor for 16 years. Her job entailed customer service, ordering of stock, and sales administration work.

Nobuhle has been married for 24 years and has 5 children (four boys and one girl ... and one grandchild!) She is a Christian and member of the CPSA. Her hobbies are reading, church, television and cooking. She likes nature trees and flowers. She is a secretary of a mothers' union organisation in church, and a council member of the church board.

Zukisani Festile, 2008 Class 5

Since 1999 Zukisani Festile has been teaching at Zenzeleni School. He was born in Eastern Cape where he and his 3 brothers and 3 sisters were raised by their mother, until he moved to Western Cape in Khayelitsha for better chances of education and employment. His favourite subject is Maths, and his hobbies include music, drama films and parties.

Zukisani feels that the education children receive at Zenzeleni is different, in part due to the Waldorf influence:

The approach is more practical with movements, and because of this learners understand much better.
We work with stories, pictures and images, and teach each child according to his or her develoment.
Waldorf develops children's will, feelings and thinking.
Crafts and Arts are taught as serious subjects; games are allowed, not only sport.
Children are never scared of the teachers, but they still show great respect. They are taught to respect each other and help each other.
Teachers always share their ideas and help each other.

Oliver Matsika, 2008 Class 6

October 2007 Class Report

Class 5 is composed of children from various social and economic backgrounds. Its enrolment is made up of pupils whose average age is 11 years. The class experienced some challenges which grossly affected the children's academic work.

The total class enrolment is thirty-five pupils. Of these, eighteen are girls, making it a well-balanced class. Most of the children come from single-parent headed families. They either stay with their mothers or grandmothers. As a result many of them find difficulty in meeting their children's financial school obligations. The class was greatly inconvenienced by losing their former teacher who resigned unexpectedly. A temporary replacement was made whilst efforts were being undertaken to take the class up to 2009. This saw the coming in of the current teacher who has 17 years of teaching and educational administrative experience. The teacher possesses MBA and BEd. Degrees, as well as a Certificate in Education.

The departure of the former teacher resulted in the disruption of the smooth execution of the intended Class 5 curriculum. Furthermore, the civil servants' strike in June 2007 worsened the pupils' situation. However, when lessons resumed in the third term we have been able to cover the following main lessons - Greek History, Plant Study and Fractions. Currently we are covering the Geography of South Africa. This main lesson will be followed by Decimals and English Language Structures. Various other concepts have been covered during the running lessons.

The children's performance levels have been affected by the changing of teachers. The situation is aggravated by lack of appropriate reading material and meaningful home support. This is evidenced by failure to do given homework and the claims made by the pupils. Despite these challenges the teacher is trying his level best to overcome them.

The pupils also participate in extra-mural activities such as volleyball, netball and soccer. The execution of these activities is not motivational as the school has no proper playing fields. This limits the activities to the development of only basic skills.

Tinashe Mahachi, 2008 Class 7

October 2007 Class Report

The class 6 at Zenzeleni School for Creative Education has a total enrolment of 33 students. They are 12 girls and 21 boys. The average age of the class is 12 years. All the pupils come from around the Khayelitsha area, which is a black-dominated area.

The academic level of the students is average. Most students struggle with English. I think this is because English is not their first language. The first language for all the students is Xhosa. So far we have covered quite a number of main lessons and running subjects. The subjects are: Roman History, Geography of Africa, and Geology, where we looked at minerals in our locality and the country. Also we have covered Plant and Animal Study with special emphasis to adaptation. In Maths we have covered fractions, percentages and decimals. Most of the maths topics have been covered in the running lesson. In English they have also started letter writing and the parts of speech.

The children in the class have great potential, if given the necessary support financially, morally and academically.