Dominican Convent High School

Dominican Convent High School
Dominican Convent High School
Location
	Harare; Zimbabwe
Coordinates	17°49′21″S 31°03′07″E / 17.8224°S 31.0519°E
Information
Type	Independent high school
Motto	Veritas; (Latin: Truth)
Denomination	Catholic
Founded	18 October 1892; 132 years ago
Founder	Mother Patrick Cosgrove
Sister school	St. George's College
Gender	Girls
Website	www.conventharare.co.zw

Dominican Convent High School (commonly referred to as Convent) is a private Catholic day school for girls in Harare, Zimbabwe. One of the oldest established schools in Zimbabwe, Dominican Convent was founded in 1892 by Mother Patrick Cosgrave, an Irish nun, with 10 pupils.

The school was co-educational, but after ten years, a separate school, Hartmann House, was established for boys.

Mother Patrick founded the Dominican Convent in Harare in 1892. She also started the first hospital in what was then Southern Rhodesia. There is a museum commemorating her in the grounds of the Mukwati Building on Fourth Street in Harare, in what was the original hospital's mortuary.^[1]

Academic

The Dominican Convent is an all-girls school. The Primary school is run by Sister Tsitsi and the High school by Sister Kudzai. There are three streams from Form 1 to Form 4. Form 1 to Form 2 follow the same curriculum consisting of English, Mathematics, Religious and Moral Education, Science, French, Shona, History, Geography, Art, Food & Nutrition, Fashion & Fabric, Computers, Education for Life and Physical Education. Form 3 and 4 have a variety of subject options. In Form 3, the girls write a national paper called ZIMSEC for Shona and history (both being optional) and English language, which is compulsory. Cambridge 'O' Level Examinations are written at Form 4 Level. The Sixth Form has three streams: Business Administration, which focuses on tourism and secretary courses, Arts and Sciences. Cambridge 'A' Level Examinations are written at the end of Upper Six, with students now able to write the Cambridge 'AS' Level Examinations, at the end of their Lower Six year as of 2019.

The Primary school caters for pupils of ages 5 – 13. These are formally called grades which start from grade 1 to grade seven. At grade seven pupils write a national exam called ZIMSEC. If the pupil passes with a pass usually known as 5 points or fail with a maximum of 25 points they are awarded a certificate.

Cambridge International Examinations for both IGCSE, O Level, AS and A Level
ZIMSEC O Level
City and Guilds

Sports

Dominican Convent offers sporting activities including athletics, basketball, field hockey, indoor hockey, golf, karate, soccer, swimming, tennis, rugby, squash, netball, volleyball, table tennis, and aerobics.

Cultural activities

The school offers various extra curricular activities including chess (one of the best girls' teams in the country), Quiz, Debate, Public speaking clubs (Gavel club, Toastmasters and Orators), First Aid, Choir (English choir and Shona choir) Lifeline, International Current Affairs, Interact and Wildlife.

Notable alumni

Maggie Chapman - Rector of the University of Aberdeen, Co-convener of the Scottish Green Party
Kirsty Coventry - 2008 Olympic gold medalist
Bona Mugabe - daughter of former Zimbabwean President Robert Gabriel Mugabe
Chipo Chung - Actress daughter of former Education Minister Zimbabwe Fay Chung
Haru Mutasa - Journalist
Doris Lessing - 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature Laureate
Danai Gurira - Actor and Playwright
Sister Catherine Jackson - Founder of the Dorothy Duncan Braille Library^[2]^[3]
Lisa Doris Armstrong - Founder of Ugogo Africa^[4]^[5]

Achievements

Dominican Convent Harare was rated in the Top Ten High Schools in Zimbabwe.^{[citation needed]} In 2010, the Lower Six Management of Business company, Lynx, came first in the national Junior Achievement competition.^{[clarification needed]} Lynx came third in the regional JA competition.

References

^ See entry for Cosgrave, Mary Anne (Patrick) in Dictionary of Irish Biography at https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do;jsessionid=35441D39F066BB2681CC302C96E1075B?articleId=a2073 accessed 21 5 2019.
^ "Touching the light – hope for Zimbabwe's blind | Harare News". Retrieved 2019-01-04.
^ "In Zimbabwe, the Education Transition Fund is rewriting Zimbabwe's education system | Zimbabwe | UNICEF". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
^ Margolis, Jonathan (2017-02-21). "The internet is not a failed state — here's why". Financial Times. Retrieved 2019-01-04.
^ Margolis, Jonathan (2018). Great British Brands. Country and Townhouse. p. 70.

External links

[1] See entry for Cosgrave, Mary Anne (Patrick) in Dictionary of Irish Biography at https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do;jsessionid=35441D39F066BB2681CC302C96E1075B?articleId=a2073 accessed 21 5 2019.

[2] "Touching the light – hope for Zimbabwe's blind | Harare News". Retrieved 2019-01-04.

[3] "In Zimbabwe, the Education Transition Fund is rewriting Zimbabwe's education system | Zimbabwe | UNICEF". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 2019-01-04.

[4] Margolis, Jonathan (2017-02-21). "The internet is not a failed state — here's why". Financial Times. Retrieved 2019-01-04.

[5] Margolis, Jonathan (2018). Great British Brands. Country and Townhouse. p. 70.

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