Draft:Hippo Valley High School

Background
Hippo Valley High School is a community secondary school located in Hippo Valley Estates in the southeastern lowveld of Zimbabwe. Established in 1976, the school has grown over the years to become the flagship of education in the country, offering exquisite learning experiences that equip learners with cutting-edge and modern life compliant skills.

Stakeholders
Although it is falls under the category of community schools, Hippo Valley High School is overseen by Tongaat Hullet Zimbabwe (THZ), which serves as the Responsible Authority (RA). The RA is responsible for providing the infrastructure, material resources, and other services that sustain the school's day to day activities.

Academic package
The school has a wide array of both academic and extracurricular disciplines that are meant to cater for its learners' varying learning needs and preferences. As of July 2024, Hippo Valley High School offers 23 subjects at the ordinary level and 17 subjects at the advanced level. Manning these subject areas are about 60 teachers, of whom more than 90% are degree holders This dedicated academic staff ensures that the school realises its overarching goal of providing quality all-round education. It comes as no surprise that the school has maintained a high pass rate in national examinations, both at the ordinary and advanced levels.

Extracurricular activities
On the co-curricular side, Hippo Valley High School offers more than 10 sporting and club disciplines. The sporting disciplines include basketball, soccer, netball, hockey, volleyball, and handball, while the club activities include drama, public speaking, quiz, chess, and scripture union. In most of these areas, the school has reached at least the provincial level of competition, a feat that has placed it on the national map. Among other notable achievements, the school has won the national Coca-Cola trophy four times, while, on several occasions, its hockey teams (supported by Dr. Tongai Mkwewa of the Hippo Valley Estates Medical Division) have represented the school at the international level. Under the tutelage of Dr. Aaron Chando (former Hippo Valley High School teacher), the school Drama Club produced several outstanding performances, such as "The Seeds of Evil" (2016) and "Wanted" (2017), both of which were performed at the Charles Austin Theatre in Masvingo.