Eagle School

School Badge
Eagle School
Location
Vumba Mountains
Manicaland
Zimbabwe
Information
Type Independent, preparatory boarding school
Established 1948
Closed 1976
Gender Boys
Houses
  • Martins
  • Swallows
  • Swifts

Eagle School was an independent, preparatory boarding school for boys aged 7 to 14 years situated in the Vumba Mountains near Umtali, Rhodesia (now Mutare, Zimbabwe). The school was founded in 1948 and closed in 1976.[1] The pupils were then integrated into Springvale School.[2] Geoffrey Nyarota described the school as a "prestigious institution for wealthy white boys."[3][1]

Motto

Arduus Ad Solem - "Striving towards the Sun" The school shares the motto with the University of Manchester and The Dragon school of Oxford.

Sports and houses

The school had excellent sports facilities and participation in rugby, cricket, soccer, athletics and swimming was compulsory with tennis being the exception. Rival schools were Chancellor, UBHS, Carmel, Baring, Vumba Heights and John Cowie. The school was divided into 3 sports houses - Swifts, Swallows and Martins.[1]

Cultural activities

Activities on offer included archaeology club, horse riding, music and Young Farmers Club.[1] Plays and concerts were regular term events.

Closure and integration into Springvale

Eagle was at the time precariously placed in its mountainous home because of the security situation and its proximity to Mozambique. The school had approached the Springvale School board "in general terms" on a previous occasion about the possibility of a move and in March 1976 met specifically to ask if Springvale School would consider taking on the pupils and staff who remained after the school had officially closed in the Bvumba. Eagle Headmaster Michael Hammond, who had taught at Springvale for many years before moving to Eagle, was faced with an agonising decision: to close completely or to move the school somewhere where "we could continue to preserve our identity for the rest of the year". Thus Eagle joined the ranks of Springvale at the opening of the second term, 1976. Springvale temporarily benefitted from the influx of 70 Eagle boys but circumstances beyond the schools control forced it to close in 1979.[1][2]

Post closure

The school site was subsequently taken over by the Elim Mission Society. On the night of the 23rd of June in 1978, 12 members of the mission were murdered by members of Zanu PF.[4]

The Queen Mother visiting
View of the school from the access road

List of Heads at Eagle School

Between 1948 and 1976 there were only 4 headmasters:

  • Frank Cary (1948-1953)
  • Claude Mellor (1953-1968)
  • Richard Moore (1968-1973)
  • Michael Hammond (1973-1976)

[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Eagle School, Umtali". The Petrean Society. The Petrean Society. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 Sylvester, Penny (2003). "Springvale School 1953-1979". The Petrean Society. The Petrean Society. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Nyarota, Geoffrey (2006). Against the Grain: Memoirs of a Zimbabwean Newsman. Zebra. p. 73.
  4. ↑ "Vumba. A summary of tragic events" (PDF). www.elimmissions.co.uk.

External links

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