Kyle College

Kyle College is an independent, co-educational, boarding and day school situated about 6 km from the centre of Masvingo on Capota Road on the Eastern side of the Shagashe river. It has views of the Ruvure, Nyuni and Nyanda hills to the South, and the Mangwandi granite dome in the North West.

Kyle College
Kyle College Logo
Address
Capota Road Masvingo Zimbabwe
Information
Type	Independent, boarding and day school
Motto	Veritas Vincit (Latin: Truth Conquers)
Founded	1996
Headmaster	Corrie Odendaal
Gender	Co-educational
Number of pupils	405 (2015)[1]
Tuition	US$2,205.00 (day) US$4,800.00 (boarding) [lower-alpha 1]
Feeder schools	Kyle Preparatory School
Affiliations	ATS CHISZ
Website	kylecollege.com
Termly fees, the year has 3 terms.[1]

Kyle College is a member of the Association of Trust Schools (ATS) and the Headmaster is a member of the Conference of Heads of Independent Schools in Zimbabwe (CHISZ).[2]

The School is known for its Rugby. They have been co-opted into the Super 8 Rugby Schools.[3]

School history

Kyle College was founded in 1996 and the concept was formulated between Mr. D. Jansen and Dr. E. Layard at an informal meeting in February of the same year. There was very wide consultation on the idea of establishing an Independent secondary School for the Masvingo Region and meetings were held in the Lowveld and the Masvingo areas. The initial plan was to put money into Victoria High School where many of the prominent persons in Masvingo had received their education. The idea did not materialize because the then Victoria High Headmaster advised them that there was very little chance that the school (Victoria High) would change its policy of getting students with very good passes as was the case then. This simply meant that it was going to be very difficult for some children from Masvingo to get places at the school. Those who were behind the project were advised to start a private school instead of their initial plan of pouring resources into Victoria High. As a follow up to this, there was an undertaking to find out from the residents of Masvingo if the idea of a private school would be a feasible one.

The journey had already started and the two men were again not ready to part with their families at the time and wanted them to attend school locally. The dreamers were the Chair of the Board Mr. Donald Jansen and Dr. Eric Layard who in March of the same year held a public meeting of the prospective parents in the (D.R.C.) Dutch Reformed Church Hall. There was an overwhelming response from the public. At this meeting a steering committee was put into office. It was this committee that was transformed into the formally constituted Kyle College Board of Trustees. These were the Chairman Mr. D. Jansen, Dr. E.R. Layard, Dr. I.W.C. McGregor, G.W. Hill, P. Zographos, M.Addenbrook, S. Chireshe and Mrs. J. de Bruyn who would later on resign from the Board due to family commitments. The Board was formally constituted in June 1996 and the Trust was formed at the same time. It was this board that reported back to the parents that in their opinion the idea of the college was feasible. The Board worked towards a school for the 1998 scholastic year. In order to accommodate parents who needed 1997 Form One places, an Interim Form One was started at Kyle Preparatory School with the support of the Kyle Board. The Masvingo Community had shown their support for this project and aid was given in many ways. Winterton, Holmes and Hill would give their legal advice free of charge during this budding period for the school. The Preparatory School Board gave its advice from the beginning and would continue to do so up until the College was able to stand on its own.

1997 was the Interim Year for the College and the children were taught at the Kyle Preparatory, School in the Video Room, which had been furnished by the College as a classroom. The classes started on 14 January 1997. The subjects on offer then were English, Mathematics, General Science, Shona, French, Divinity, History and Geography. The first Headmaster was Dr. McGregor and the founding members of staff were Miss J. Erasmus, who later became Mrs. de Kock, Mr. N. Muvavarirwa and Mr. J. Millar who started off as a part-timer. The first day of the College started with two Form one Streams and 1 Form two Stream. Ninety pupils and many families attended the first formal assembly. The hostel first opened its doors to eight pupils under the supervision of Mrs. Naidoo with the ninth pupil joining in the second term. The construction of the present site had started in June 1998 and the Kyle College Construction Company that had been formed under Mr. Doug Hampson did the job. The first buildings were Block A (4 classroom block), a Laboratory (Block B) and a Boarding Hostel, the present day Sabi. It had 57 boys and girls with Mr. J. Millar as the Housemaster. The boys and girls initially were sharing this hostel, boys on one side and the girls on the other without any problems. Sadly the College has lost the man who was behind its initial construction Mr. Hampson who died in 2005, though he had since left the College to pursue other interests. It was also in 1998 that Mrs. M.Addenbrook who together with Mrs. E. Kriek was responsible for the planning and planting of the first trees formed the gardening committee. A. Bingham was responsible for planting the first grass with the first garden bed laid out by Mrs. S. van Rooyen.

At the first assembly, was the Head, Mr.Levin and the staff was Miss Erasmus, Mr. J.Millar, Mr. Muvavarirwa and Mrs. P.Knottenbelt. The part timers were Mrs. N.Rosselli and Mr. E. Mataruse. The Head had been appointed to start at the new site in 1998 after very careful consideration by the Board. Mr. Levin had previously been an employee of Hillcrest College in Mutare from 1987 and had been appointed Deputy Head from 1997. He, however, left the College in the third term of 1999. The matrons were Mrs. S,. Coetzer, Mrs. Naidoo and Mrs. J. Kloppers. Mrs. Naidoo later on resigned from the College to pursue other interests. The maintenance of the College was in the hands of Mr. G. Watridge. He and his team would carry on with the maintenance work up to the present day. The staff in his team included Shacky Gambinya who started off as a construction worker and later moved to maintenance department. The uniforms were first designed and sourced by Alicia Bingham and Karen Jansen together with M,. Addenbrook, Mary Layard and Jane de Bruyn. The work is presently in the hands of Karen Jansen.

Notable alumni

• Tafadzwa Chitokwindo (Zimbabwe Sevens Rugby Player 2010-Current )

See also

• List of schools in Zimbabwe
• List of boarding schools

References

1. "ATS CHISZ KYLE COLLEGE » » Schools Directory". ATS CHISZ. ATS CHISZ. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
2. "ATS CHISZ Senior » » Schools Directory". ATS CHISZ. ATS CHISZ. Retrieved 31 January 2016.
3. http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77943:super-8-rugby-league&catid=83:coo-llife-style#.UY4gXtuF-vw

External links

• Kyle Preparatory School
• Kyle college official website