Kufunda Village School
Waldorf inspired education in Nature
Kufunda Village Waldorf inspired School marries the best of Waldorf with our placement in nature, on a farm and as part of a learning Village.
After several years of running a joint school with a partner in the city under the name Nyeredzi, Kufunda in 2017 embarked on the adventure of running our own school. Our vision continues to be a school that is worthy of the soul's and mind's of our children.
We are dedicated to providing learning that enables the development of the whole child, stimulating creativity and imagination while giving them a strong foundation in learning and knowledge for life.
Our school is led by our council of teachers and supported by visiting teachers and resource persons from the Waldorf World..
With our step into building our own school, we are exploring where the skills and knowledge of Kufunda can be shared more directly with the children. Already we have brought Sikhethiwe in to teach pottery; Admire and Patricia to teach farming; Maaianne is offering Movement, and Irvine is teaching Arts. We look forward to finding more ways for the Learning Village to enrich the school, as well as for the school to enrich the village.
"Rather than educating the child how to learn, we strive to teach them to love learning. We address the whole child in it’s unique way of being - harmonizing the thinking, feeling and willing. As teachers we create a safe place/environment for the child to freely explore and discover him/herself. Apart from the intellectual development, there is (a lot of) space for arts, crafts, music." Dorothy Nys, visiting teacher 2018-19.
We are inspired by the Waldorf philosophy and approach, which works with the inherent joy of learning, curiosity and imagination of our young, and which understands that the human being arrives to this earth with a purpose and gifts that come from their soul's journey. Part of the role of education is to enable that soul to fully land in this body, becoming enabled to fulfil his or her purpose on earth. This means education is far beyond simply teaching technical or even philosophical knowledge, and in fact during the early primary school years, the education is primarily direction through the feeling centre of the heart. So stories and images and learning that inspire, and that give an understanding of the fundamental principles of nature and life are what are central during these first stages of education. A time will come when the child is ready to fully apply the intellect to these learnings, but to begin we allow them to land in a place that inspires their sense of goodness, beauty and truth.
Meet our class 5 and 6 teacher Gilbert Guvakuva
March 10, 2020
Meet Gilbert, class teacher of grade 5 & 6 of the Waldorf inspired School.
Gilbert was trained in Waldorf education in South-Africa and is highly experienced with more than 10 years of teaching under his belt.
We asked Gilbert why he is at our school: “Years ago, I fell in love with the methodology of Waldorf education. I am proud to be able to bring it to Zimbabwe.
In Waldorf we look at the child in a new way: in our perspective every child has a unique potential. We try to nourish every child with academic and non-academic teaching. Through arts, music, stories and movement we support every child and its need for academic and non-academic approaches to step into their uniqueness so they can blossom in today's world.”
Gilbert's future wish for the Kufunda Village School is that it will continue growing and that its curriculum will extend to high-school.
“There’s nothing that can stop our school from becoming what it wants to be: a local Waldorf school for the children of Zimbabwe.”
Are you curious about the Kufunda Village School and about Waldorf education? Leave your questions in the comments or reach out to us. We are happy to be in contact with you!
Meet our Waldorf Mentor
March 23, 2020
Kufunda Village School has a mentor Alfred Rahmen, a retired Waldorf teacher with decades of experience teaching in a Waldorf school in Switzerland. Currently he is actively involved in mentoring Waldorf schools around the world. He will be working alongside Kufunda Village School in the coming year(s) to support our movement to become a fully accredited Waldorf School.
It was Alfred's first time at Kufunda Village School.
He loved his time here.
“Kufunda Village is a fantastic place! There’s something special here. The school is situated in a wonderful safe area, surrounded by forest. It’s a great environment for the developing child to experience the outdoors, away from the big city and the crowded streets.” During his stay Alfred was supporting our school in its development to become a certified Waldorf school.
According to him, teachers are the heart of the school and so he has been working closely with them. What are the teachers questions? What are their strengths? Where do they need support?
Alfred strongly believes that the teachers need to work together closely in order for them to become the centre of the educational organism that creates the opportunity for children to develop their unique capacities.
Alfreds hope for the future of the Kufunda Village School? “Through feeling and living the spirit of Waldorf education and closely working together, this school could grow into the future as a strong Waldorf school for primary and secondary students.”
2019 Year End Update
December 31, 2019
2019 has come to an end. Our new classroom block is complete and was inaugurated with the All African Anthroposophic Training. 115 people from all over Africa coming together to learn about human development and social competence - inspired by anthroposophy and including workshops on Waldorf Education, Anthroposophic Medicine, Biodynamic Farming and more.
Joan Sleigh joined us from the Goetheanum to teach the workshop on Waldorf Education.
Johannah Birth from Germany taught about story telling in the kindergarten, a hands on workshop in which they created silk angel mobiles. Andrea Seeman taught a very important workshop on children with special needs, which brought very different ideas to people struggling with special needs children - some of them being parents, others teachers. Her workshop expanded their sense of who each child is and created new possibilities for meeting them more fully
January-July 2019 Update
July 31, 2019
2019 has been a good year for our school. Our new classroom block has been progressing well and is almost entirely completed. It will be taken into use during the third term of the year, a beautiful bright and spacious classroom block.
This was also the year that Kufunda began to learn and practice biodynamic farming. A workshop in April with teachers Anne and Rolf Bucher from Germany laid the foundation for Kufunda’s biodynamic farming project. A team from the village is working full time with establishing a biodynamic garden. Each Wednesday children join for community work in the garden. They have been making compost, CPP (Cow Pat Pits), stirred biodynamic compost preparations, mulched, and much more! In just a few months the garden is flourishing.
Read the full update here.
