How to Choose an Independent School for Your Child

Visit the schools you have selected and arrange an interview with the head or senior staff to find out whether the school’s ethos, values and mission will be a good fit for your child’s personality, needs and talents. Please remember that there is no such thing as the “top school” or the “best school” for all children: parents should choose the school that best suits their child.

A checklist for parents:

• Ask the school for its Education Management Information System (EMIS) number to check whether it is registered with the provincial education department and thus legal.
• Check if its teachers are registered with the South African Council for Educators (SACE).
• Ask if the school belongs to an independent schools’ association, such as ISASA.
• In the case of a high school, ask for its school-leaving examination results for the past few years, especially the percentage of Bachelors Degree (university entrance) passes.
• Ask a pre-primary school about its particular educational approach and into which primary schools its children are accepted.