Motto
"Imfundo Yilifa", meaning "Education is a Legacy"
Queen Elizabeth II Primary School was built to commemorate the visit to the City of Kings (Bulawayo) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh on 12 October 1991.The school was officially opened on 26 November 1994 by His Excellency the British High Commissioner to Zimbabwe Mr. Richard Dales.
Date Established, Staffing and Enrollment at Inception as Well as Current
The school first opened its doors to the public on 1 January 1993 with an enrollment with an enrollment of 1600 pupils, 820 males and 780 females. The school had a teaching staff of forty (40) teachers, ten males and thirty (30) females. Currently, the enrollment stands at 1050, 510 males and 540 females while the teaching personnel is at twenty seven (27), with two (2) males and twenty five (25) females.
Location of The School
The school is in the Nkulumane high density suburb of Bulawayo. It is 12km west of Bulawayo Central Business District. It is the most beautiful and well laid out school the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has ever built in the western suburbs.
Curriculum Offered
The school offers ten (10) subjects namely Mathematics, English, Ndebele, Environmental Science, Social Studies, Home Economics, Physical Education, Art, Music and Aids Education to all its pupils from Grade 1-7. It also offers a wide range of co-curricular activities. These are athletics, ball games (netball, soccer, volleyball, basket and cricket) and clubs namely Quiz, Aids Action, Drummies, Music, Traditional dances, Speech and Drama. Pupils are expected to at least take part in one of the activities of their interest. Co-curricular activities are done in the afternoons.
Achievements at Cluster and National Level
We believe education enlightens and equips the child for the future challenges. Teachers and pupils are working hard to achieve this dream. The school has featured quite impressively in both academic and co-curricular activities. The school won certificates of merit at Zonal, Cluster, District and Provincial levels for excellent performances. In 2007 the school got a merit award at National level for excellent performance in Grade 7. Of late, the school featured overwhelmingly in the National Heritage and Monument Museum Quiz competition for Primary Schools from Zonal level to District and being runners up at Provincial level. Again, to show our proficiency in fulfilling the aspirations of our curriculum, our K.G. Department did extremely well in their Zonal competition in athletics when they won two trophies and a shield. Such achievement under economic hardships make us believe that many are to come in both academic and co-curricular activities.
Support Staff and Their Roles
The school is lucky to have a compliment of 6 non-teaching staff members employed by the Bulawayo City Council (Responsible Authority). These are the Bursar, Senior Clerical Assistant, Caretaker, Messenger and two grounds personnel. The bursar does all monetary transactions and supervises all non-teaching personnel.
The Senior Clerical Assistant receives, distributes and records school materials, files and retrieves all correspondence, types all documents including local examinations, portrays a welcoming image of the school to visitors and receives telephone calls. The caretaker resides at the school and keeps the school property secure and clean. He also cleans offices and the administration block. The messenger runs errands, collects and delivers mail and does delegated duties including cleaning of offices. The grounds personnel clean ablutions and keep school grounds tidy and clean. They also do delegated duties.
The teaching and non-teaching staff members complement staff members complement each other to facilitate the smooth running of the school. They have maintained a cordial relationship hence the positive achievements realized to date.
Role of Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and Parent Teachers Association (PTA) in the running of the school
The school is run by the Responsible Authority (BCC) in accordance with the government policy. The Responsible Authority collects tuition fees from parents and provides the school with academic and non-academic materials including infrastructural development and repairs where necessary. The Responsible Authority pays remuneration for all non-teaching personnel. The Principal Education Officer (PEO) and Education Officer (EO) compliment the supervision of administrative issues by the Ministry of Education, Sport, Art and Culture.
The school has a Parent Teachers Association which is a major stakeholder in the provision of educational requirements. The Parent Teachers Association (PTA) provides human resources in the form of pupils. It acts as a link between parents and teachers. It collects levies which compliments the effort of the Responsible Authority in the development of the school.
Challenges Faced over the Years in Running of the School
Although the school is struggling to strive for excellence, challenges have been met. Economic constraints have failed the school to replenish its textbooks stocks. The Responsible Authority has also been hit hard by the economy melt down and this has made it fail to meet its obligations. Parents were also not spared. As a result teaching materials, sporting equipment and furniture have run out of supply. The school staff room has no furniture. In the process, the school lost its mature and experienced teachers due to poor remuneration and working conditions. The exodus of experienced teachers has actually compromised our performance in our quest to meet our aspirations of the curriculum. The school has failed to keep abreast with the computer era. A computer room was fortified in 2007 and to date the school has failed to introduce computer lessons.
Projections for the Future
Despite the cited challenges, the school forges ahead with its dreams of:
