Sinenjongo High School

Sinenjongo High School
Isiseko senkcubeko The foundation of development
Location
Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton, Cape Town, South Africa
Coordinates	33°52′25.68″S 18°30′34.56″E / 33.8738000°S 18.5096000°E;[1]
Information
Type	Public and paying;[2] mixed gender
Headmistress	Mrs Khuselwa Malinga-Nopote
Staff	27 teachers
Grades	8–12
Enrollment	more than 800
Houses	No residence halls
Colour(s)	Blue and grey

Sinenjongo High School is a high school in Joe Slovo Park, Milnerton, Cape Town, South Africa.

History

In 1993 Elda Mahlentle started a school (the Elda Mahlentle Primary School) in the informal settlement called Chuku Town opposite the racehorse stables in Milnerton. Grades 1 to 4 were housed all in one small shack. By the end of 1994 the school had expanded up to Grade 9 and consisted of eight container classrooms. The Department of Education subsidised the school through payment of ten teachers' salaries.

In 1996 the new houses were being built in Joe Slovo and so the school moved there with 16 educators. After lengthy negotiations the school finally became a public school in 2004. Elda Mahlentle Primary School became Sinenjongo High School and Marconi Beam Primary School.

Gaining recognition

External video

Malinga Nopote - Excellence Through Trust, TEDx

Rabie Property Group has taken on Sinenjongo High School as the major beneficiary of their Corporate Social Investment Programme.^[3]

Malinga Nopote was appointed as the school principal in July 2010, and spoke at TEDxCapeTownED in 2012 about the remarkable improvement in the pass rate of the school.^[4][5]

The school received an award for being one of the 10 most improved schools in the Western Cape in 2012 from the Western Cape Education Department.^[6]

Resources

A classroom at Sinenjongo High School

As of 2012, the school had:

• 1 prefabricated science laboratory^[7][8][9]
• 1 small garden^[10][11]
• 2 prefabricated computer laboratories (with less than 40 working computers in total)^[12][13]
• More than 18 prefabricated classrooms, with 27 teachers (in addition there are 4 Maths-and-Science and 1 English teachers, hired by the private sector^{[13][14][15][16]}) and more than 800 learners.^[17]

Academic results

Learners studying in Sinenjongo High School

From 2010 the school has obtained a high pass rate^[15][18][19] and has been graduating students who matriculate to a university level.^[20][21]

Year	Pass Rate	Number of learners	Bachelors	Bachelors Rate
2008	27%	71	3	4%
2009	44%	66	3	5%
2010	98%	44	7	16%
2011	88%	87	19	22%
2012	95%	92	32	35%
2013	93%	91	30	33%
2014	89%	137	33	24%
2015	91%	149	49	33%

Extramural participation

• Athletics
• Choir
• Chess
• Debate
• Drama and dance
• Netball
• Soccer
• Rugby

Other programme participation

• Star Schools^[22][23]
• BBN^{[24][25][26][27]}
• ASSET^[28]

Free access to Wikipedia

Grade 11A Class who penned the open letter for free access to Wikipedia on their cellphones, (photographed in May 2013 as the 12A class) reading their open letter

A sample from a Cape Town radio interview between Kieno Kammies and Pam Robertson, Maths and Science teacher at Sinenjongo High School about her class and their campaign for free access to Wikipedia on their cellphones.

In 2012, the 11A grade class at the school lobbied South African cellphone network operators to provide free access to Wikipedia to assist students with research.^[29][30] FNB Connect (a South African ISP) was the first to respond by offering free Wikipedia browsing during certain hours to their own clients. While this offer is not available to cellphone users, it will put more pressure on the cellphone network operators to offer the same.^[31][32]

In May 2013, the school was visited by Victor Grigas and Charlene Music from the Wikimedia Foundation to shoot a documentary about the school and this campaign.^[33][34][35]

External video

SA #NekNomination: Free Access to Wikipedia, (3:09), response from the MTN Group, February 14, 2014

Plus, in June 2013, national, provincial and local newspapers, published the students' letter and had articles written about it, especially on the week preceding the South African national holiday of June 16 "Youth Day". The letter has received a voice beyond its home-province, the Western Cape, to provinces like the Gauteng and the KwaZulu Natal and continues to strengthen it through the Free Access to Wikipedia from Cellphones Facebook page.^{[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45]}

On February 14, 2014, in response to a NekNomination challenge from Five Roses Tea, the cellphone operator MTN Group announced via a YouTube video that they would provide access to Wikipedia without data charges. A NekNomination is an internet craze that started as a drinking game, but developed into an online challenge to make a positive difference in South Africa.^[46][47]

The Gr 12A learners have written a number of articles for the IsiXhosa Wikipedia. 'Ukucinezeleka kwamanina' (Oppression of Women) by Sinako Mtakati took first prize in a competition held in August 2013. In 2014 grade 11A learners joined WikiAfrica and started editing and creating articles. Nicholas Dodo, Sinoxolo Cotyi, Esethu Dudumashe, Asiya Bucwa and Sesethu Mdikane joined Lead SA in association with WikiAfrica at an Edit-a-thon.^[48]

WikiReaders being used in Sinenjongo High School

In late 2013 Sinenjongo learners received more than 95 WikiReaders with mixed funds from a Wikimedia individual engagement grant^[49] and an Indiegogo campaign.^[50]

Yearly events

There is a Careers day for the Grade 8s and Grade 9s where people from different career fields speak to the learners and let them know about those career fields. This is done because the learners in Grade 10 have to choose subjects that they'll major in until matriculation. The other grades' pupils get included too.^[51][52][53]

Annually there is an academic awards ceremony for the Grade 12 class. It is also their valedictory.^[54]

A month before the valedictory, the school has a social farewell celebration for the Grade 12 class known as the "Matric Dance" or "Matric Ball"^[55]

Photo gallery

• 

  Murals at Sinenjongo

• 

  Class in session

• 

  Chess 2014

• 

  A Vetkoek served at the school

• 

  First Aid 2015

• 

  Sinenjongo 2014 Wikipedia competition winners

• 

  In memoriam Ntsika 'prince Lain' Kellem was a recent graduate of Sinenjongo High School who was interested in chess and was studying computer science at a school in Cape Town. On 14 March 2014 he died in an auto accident.

References

1. "Sinenjongo High School - South Africa". Plak.co.za. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
2. Mediaweb: SA Journalist Network
3. "Sinenjongo | Rabie Blog". Rabie.co.za. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
4. "Malinga Nopote - Excellence Through Trust". TEDxCapeTownED. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
5. "Excellence through trust: Malinga Nopote at TEDxCapeTownED". YouTube. 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
6. "WESTERN CAPE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT NATIONAL SENIOR CERTIFICATE (NSC) AWARDS FOR 2012" (PDF). info.gov.za. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
7. Bronwynne Esbach (2007-07-07). "Joe Slovo pupils get to grips with science". IOL. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
8. "Community Involvement". Oldmutual.co.za. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
9. "Joe Slovo pupils get to grips with science - Post | IOL.co.za". Post. 2013-02-19. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
10. digitalpro (9 September 2010). "Century City Takes Arbor Day To Neighbouring Community". Century City Blog. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
11. Foodtent ‘must be managed’ Leon steenkamp
12. "Path: /Published/TygerBurger/TC/2006/06/21/Texts/cfrotary.xml Creator: system Last Modified by: system Print Chanal: TygerBurger Edition: TC Publication Date: 20060621 Section: News Folio: Page Ref: 28 Book: Source: Methode". 1.87. horizontal tab character in |title= at position 63 (help)
13. Ratanga Junction donates R150 000 to Sinenjongo High School Ratanga Junction Theme Park
14. K-Way Platteklip Charity Challenge raised R518k for Sinenjongo | Rabie Blog Archived May 20, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
15. School swells with pride André bakkes
16. Michele Attwood (May–June 2012). "Century City Edits" (2). ISSUU. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
17. "Sinenjongo High School -My Valedictory Speech (2011, September)". Sinenjongohighschoolvaledictory2011.blogspot.com. 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
18. "Sinenjongo achieves 94% pass rate". Rabie. 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
19. Michelle Jones (2011-01-07). "Pass rate triples in just two years - Western Cape". IOL News. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
20. "Natasha Lassen |: A Good News Story | Cape Town | Bright future for Lukhanyo Velelo". Natashalassen.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
21. BIANCA CAPAZORIO (2012-01-07). "Whizz-kid gets 5 As living in shack with uncle". IOL News. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
22. "Programmes". Starschools. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
23. PPC | In The Mix Archived April 8, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
24. "Legacy Partnership". BBN. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
25. "Legacy Partnership". BBN. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
26. Addison, Mike (2011-04-24). "BBN LEARNERS 2011 - Sinenjongo". BBN Addsure Sinenjongo 2011 Learners. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
27. BBN Addsure Sinenjongo 2011 Learners
28. "ASSET". Association for Educational Transformation. 2013-03-14. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
29. "South African school-goers lobby mobile operators for free Wikipedia access". Livdigital Independent News. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
30. "SA learners lobby for free Wikipedia on phones". Gadget. 27 Dec 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
31. "FNB Connect to offer free Wikipedia browsing in the evening". Telecompaper. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
32. "FNB Connect offers free wiki browsing". BusinessTech. 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
33. "Tygerburger Milnerton 29 May 2013 by Tygerburger Newspaper". ISSUU. 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
34. "Call for free Wikipedia for schoolkids on cellphones by Primedia Broadcasting on SoundCloud". Soundcloud.com. 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
35. "South African learners lobby for free mobile access to online encyclopedia". SAHA. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
36. "Free Access to Wikipedia from Cellphones". Facebook. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
37. Duncan Alfreds (2012-12-10). "SA learners lobby for free Wikipedia". News24. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
38. "Wikipedia". NGO Pulse. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
39. "Students want free mobile Wikipedia". ITWeb. 2013-01-09. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
40. "Wikipedia films Sinenjongo learners | News". HumanIPO. 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
41. File:Sinenjongo High School Wiki class.JPG - Wikimedia Commons
42. "South Africa: Learners Lobby for Free Wikipedia Access (Page 1 of 2)". allAfrica.com. 2012-12-13. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
43. Nic Spaull (Jun 13, 2013). "Let pupils roam info highway". Sowetan LIVE. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
44. "OPINION: Free access to Wikipedia from cellphones". Finweek.com. 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
45. Nic Spaull (2013-06-14). "Change lives of millions of children with penstroke - The Mercury". IOL. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
46. "NekNomination leads to free mobile Wikipedia in SA". BizTechAfrica. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
47. "MTN gives free access to Wikipedia". iafrica.com. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
48. "Youth Day Wikipedia Edit-a-thon". Lead SA. 2014-06-16. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
49. "Grants:PEG/Aislinn Dewey/Distribute WikiReaders to Schools/Report - Meta". Meta. 2014-03-12. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
50. "WikiReaders 4 Kids". tumblr.com.
51. "School's achievements recognised.(Workplace)". highbeam.com.
52. Dozens of speakers address learners at Sinenjongo's 2012 Careers Day | Rabie Blog
53. 4. "Rabie.co.za Fifth Careers Day for Sinenjongo High School - Rabie.co.za". Rabie.co.za.
54. "Sinenjongo’s Valedictory Celebrations". Rabie.co.za. October 16, 2012. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
55. "Dance spectacular for Sinenjongo". Rabie.co.za. 2012-10-02. Retrieved 2014-07-13.