Sports and Culture
Sports and Culture
Sports: Learners are encouraged to participate in all sports offered. Hidden talent is often discovered through participation. Individually, learners can participate in swimming, athletics, cross-country and table tennis. As a team, learners may play soccer, netball and volleyball.
Competitive sports begin from age 10 years. Learners initially compete on a school level. Individuals and teams then progress to regionals and finally nationals through SACSSA (South African Christian Schools’ Sports Association), where they compete against a host of other Christian individuals and schools from across the country.
During the Foundation Phase (Grade R to 3), most of the above sports are offered informally, but as the sports skills are still being developed and talents are still being discovered, the emphasis is on participation and not competition. Physical Education classes are broken up into different objectives namely: Coordination exercises, Fitness, and training for sports.
“We see so much potential emerge as they discover their talents.”
Culture
One of the highlights is our Eisteddfod time. We encourage our younger learners to take part in the prescribed and own-choice poetry. It builds confidence and they usually do very well.
At Shanan Christian School they also have the opportunity to practice chess after school and are allowed to complete in the chess tournament if they are up to standard.
The younger learners go to singing classes once a week. At the end of the year they work on an item or two that is performed at the prizegiving. We see so much potential emerge as they discover their talents.
“The emphasis is on sharing the Gospel in word and deed”
Mission Trips
Our senior learners love these! In the past, we have been to Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho, Venda, KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga. On our mission trips the learners serve and minister in mainstream schools, schools for the disabled, orphanages, churches and homes. The emphasis is on sharing the Gospel in word and deed. We run programmes consisting of songs, drama skits and a Bible message.
Learners play games and soccer with the children and young people that they meet there. They also do practical maintenance projects such as paving and painting and sometimes they help out at schools as ‘staff’ for a day. All-in-all the learners travel across borders to be a blessing to other nations and normally come back even more encouraged and uplifted themselves.
Fridays are civvies days and participants are required to pay R5 each which goes into a mission fund. These funds are used to help fund the mission trips. Annually, we have special coin-laying ceremony. Learners are encouraged to bring all the loose coins that they have set aside prior to this. This money is used for mission projects in a needy community. All in all, our learners learn to give, serve, lead and take responsibility.