| Background to Woodmead School |
| Woodmead School was started in 1970 by a group of people who did not accept the South African education system. They believed that the system's racist foundations and its use as a tool by the state to further the interests of Apartheid were morally repugnant. The driving force behind Woodmead was Steyn Krige. He had been the Headmaster at St Stithian's College, one of the country's elite private schools. However, he was to abandon his safe career and embark on a path that would bring him into conflict with the conservative establishment and the government. In the late 1960s, the worst aspects of apartheid were entrenching themselves as norms in South African society. Horrific discrimination against any person not legally classified as white was the order of the day and the policy reached into every aspect of life. One of the pillars of the system was separate education. Students of different races had to attend separate schools and it was strictly forbidden not do so. The penalties for transgressing the law were severe. A financial penalty and/or prison was often the punishment. In such an environment, elite white private schools flourished; over-crowded, under-privileged, under-funded black schools were left to their own devices. The country's education system mirrored the sharp polarization between the wealthy white minority and the poverty-stricken black majority. Therefore, in January 1970, when the fledgling Woodmead opened its doors to students of all races in a whites only suburb, a crime was being committed. The government was irritated that a school that contravened the law of the land had been started and veiled threats were issued. But, strangely, the politicians were not completely averse to the existence of such a school. Non-white educational institutions were apparently considered unsuitable for the children of certain foreign diplomats. Meetings with government representatives took place and it was decided that a 'liberal' school of mixed race would be tolerated as long as its existence did not become an issue in the public arena or an embarrassment to the government. If it did, the government warned, the school would be closed. The Press agreed to abide by the plan and refrained from reporting on the 'aberration' on Johannesburg's northern perimeter. Woodmead School was unique because it was multi-racial in a segregated society. Some white independent schools, including a handful of church schools, accepted small numbers of black students, but Woodmead was multi-racial in every respect with significant percentages of whites, blacks, Indians and coloureds. Students travelled to and from the school on the same buses, attended the same classes and competed against one another on the same sports fields. Moreover, Woodmead was a boarding school. Students from different races shared dormitories, bathrooms and toilets and ate together in the dining-room. All of this was strictly illegal, politically dangerous and completely unheard of under the apartheid system. Yet, the racial factor was not the only thing that set Woodmead apart from other schools. In those days, South African 'Christian National Education' was stiflingly conservative. In the name of Christianity it promoted apartheid and white domination, lauded the triumphs of Afrikaaner history and encouraged insularity, fear and a distorted sense of nationalistic sentiment. Underpinning 'Christian National Education' was a system of rote learning for exams. Woodmead challenged these entrenched notions with an innovative philosophy many years ahead of its time. There was no uniform and students were encouraged to question and discuss key issues including the political viability of the apartheid system itself. Academically, the school followed the core curriculum in Grades 11 and 12 but in Grades 8, 9 and 10 English, History and Geography were replaced by Integrated Studies. In this unique subject, students studied themes such as Religion, Ideologies, Survival, the Mass Media, War and Relationships. In the process they concentrated on learning life skills and achieving outcomes rather than memorizing meaningless information. Woodmead aimed to produce the well-rounded child who could think critically, study independently and cope more effectively in the world. A great deal of emphasis was placed on research and using the library effectively. Essay writing, grammar, the study of literature and Geography and History were practised and refined. However, room was also made for open and exciting discussions, guest speakers, films, drama, outdoor activities, surveys and community service. Indeed, much of the work pioneered in Integrated Studies at Woodmead is today the norm in schools all over the world. As well as Integrated Studies, Woodmead had an elected Student's Representative Council instead of Prefects. The Tier System (where students received additional privileges as a reward for responsible behaviour) promoted one of the school's main philosophies: that discipline comes from within and should not be imposed by intimidation or force. Woodmead also pioneered the Tutor System. It forged a close bond between staff and students, and students were often consulted when critical decisions were made. The collective result of it all was an educational institution with that rare life force most schools never experience. Over the years, many talented but unhappy students arrived at Woodmead to find an environment that was socially stimulating and academically challenging and exciting. "I was desperately unhappy at my old school," one of them wrote. "Woodmead turned my life around and somehow got the best out of me." Another described how her "life began at Woodmead after a string of unpleasant experiences at other schools". That the school was remarkably successful in its endeavours is clearly evident in the extraordinary success rate of its students. Woodmead was clearly doing something right. At universities and other tertiary institutions there was invariably a retention rate of 100% among Woodmead students and many 'Woodmeadians' have gone on to be astonishingly successful in the public arena. Yet, if Woodmead was a well-kept political secret, it was widely discussed in education circles. Some progressive educators admired and respected it. Liberal-leaning independent schools tolerated it. More conservative elements regarded the type of neo-liberalism in education that Woodmead espoused as a threat to discipline and an affront to the fabric of traditional education strategies. For the majority, right or wrong, the law was the law and it was not the place of education institutions to challenge or question it. Nevertheless, some schools were willing to have interaction with Woodmead, which at the time was technically illegal. I can remember Wednesday afternoons, in the early 1980s, taking mixed race teams of students to St John's or King David to play cricket and soccer on the clipped fields of Lower Houghton. The response from the white teachers of those schools was always one of astonishment. How could this be? Blacks and whites at one school! Impossible! The inevitable, tentative, puzzled questions eventually came out. "What do you do for discipline without a uniform? What are black students like to teach? Can they cope with the standard of work?" References to apartheid were tactfully avoided. When Steyn Krige retired as Head of Woodmead in 1981 and became the school's Director he was succeeded by Peter Nixon. Nixon had been on the staff ten years earlier but had left to pursue other interests and to become a politician. When he returned to the school as Head he was keen to move the school forward "with an innovative approach to curriculum and school democracy". He also hoped that Woodmead could offer a boarding school for children "who did not have access to good schooling elsewhere" and that it would become a "model of a non-racial school for a new South Africa". Nixon was a talented leader with an excellent knowledge of curriculum planning and of education in general. During the mid 1980s his sound financial management and skilful administration ensured that the school was well-positioned to pursue future growth and development. At the end of 1986, Peter Nixon resigned as Head of Woodmead and emigrated to Australia. He was dismayed that in 1987 the country's political right wing had gained even more seats in Parliament. He became what he called a "non-believer" seeing little chance of South Africa ridding itself of apartheid and obtaining a democratically elected government. "I wanted to live in a free country," he wrote, "even if it was not mine". His replacement was Allan Graham who had arrived at the school in 1985 as a Maths teacher. Like Nixon, Graham was an extremely capable and respected administrator who "burned to change things to what [he] thought was right". During Graham's time as Head, Woodmead continued to prosper and further ground was laid for what should have been a bright and distinguished future for the school. Extensive corporate and foreign support was obtained for bursaries and a large number of township children from poor backgrounds were enrolled. New buildings and improved facilities symbolised a period of growth for the school. "I feel that architect Rod Lloyd and I built much of the physical school that stands today," Graham wrote. Graham was also involved in the building of a Woodmead Preparatory School, which, it was hoped would become a feeder for the Senior School. In 1991, he assumed the role of Director of Development which he describes as the "privilege of developing Woodmead Prep School from concept, to land-acquisition, to services installation to construction, recruitment of pupils, staffing, and curriculum design". Large amounts of money were directed from the Senior School for this purpose. At the end of 1991, Graham moved to Knysna and Carla Van den Bos was appointed to lead the school. Her appointment as Head coincided with the end of apartheid and the extremely difficult period that followed. The country lurched through a stage where disparate political parties were jostling for position and power, and where large swathes of the country were hotbeds of political violence. When Van den Bos arrived at Woodmead many, but not all, of the new buildings and amenities had been completed, but the funds from the De Klerk government and from numerous donors had all but dried up. Suddenly Woodmead was struggling. As Van den Bos put it "Erstwhile sponsors redirected their funding to state schooling and Woodmead had to learn to stand, more or less, alone". She lamented the fact that Woodmead "was reeling under the shock of one million less rand in the kitty and one third of the students on bursaries - no longer funded". As the Preparatory School was soaking up all the Senior School's spare cash, enrolments dropped to 195. Eventually, a stringent financial plan was put in place and Van den Bos set about building up the numbers, first to the critical break-even level of 220 full paying pupils and then up to 290 by 1995. By the end of 1995, both the Senior School and the Preparatory school were making a profit and the future looked relatively secure. However, a serious rift between the Senior School and the Prep School, on the questions of common educational philosophy and future directions, had been developing since 1993, and it threatened to undermine much of the good work that had been done. The rift had its roots in the fact that insufficient thought went into analyzing the potential difficulties of applying a Woodmead type philosophy to a primary school. Many of the primary students would be drawn from the conservative, white, middle class suburb of Craighaven where parents had not embraced the sentiment of a brave new multi-racial world or a liberal, innovative philosophy of education. These parents were traditionalists. They wanted a school that reflected their own conservative backgrounds, current values and future aspirations. A liberal-minded school with a multi-racial student population did not fit the model they had in mind. One Woodmead parent summed up the situation as follows: "To some of the parents at the Prep School, particularly the ones who haven't ventured up Cedar Road, the Senior School must represent the devil incarnate. It is multi-racial and too liberal in its philosophy. It is too African, too detached from middle class respectability and too different. It compounds every doubt the Prep School parents have about the uncertain future of their children. It exacerbates all their fears about their children growing up and moving away to live their own lives and it epitomizes that terrible gap between where parental protection ends and when the child can properly fend for itself. Every time a story about drugs or kids going on strike does the rounds, it is swallowed, exaggerated and stored away in that middle class memory bank where nothing can change or dislodge it. In short, for numerous reasons, real or imagined, Woodmead Senior School is not the place where Prep School parents want their children to spend their adolescent years. The reasons they give are spurious. The truth is buried much deeper in their psyches than any of them will ever admit." At the beginning of 1997, a group of Prep School parents gained control of the Woodmead Board. Both schools operated under the auspices of Woodmead Holdings, a non profit organisation that legally owned the two schools and operated its finances. At the time, the Preparatory School owed the Senior School approximately 2.5 million rand, an amount the new Board disputed and, one way or another, did not intend to repay. The new Board was responsible for some extraordinarily inept decisions and eighteen months after it assumed office it announced that Woodmead Senior School would be closed. It refused to countenance alternative opinions on the matter, it misled the school's parent body and it failed to fulfil its legal obligations to the staff. According to a Deeds Office inquiry, in February 1999, a person or persons on the Board 'donated' the Preparatory School to a mysterious recipient called Craighaven Schools. In March, 1999 the property was then transferred to Adved Education Pty Ltd (more commonly known as Crawford College) for 1.7 million rand, a fraction of its true value. Even more mysterious is that according to the Deeds Office the date of sale was December 1998, two months before the 'donation' to Craighaven Schools and three months before the transfer to Crawford College. The 1.7 million rand from the sale has never been accounted for. In its heyday, Woodmead School was a shining light on a bleak political landscape. It epitomized what South African education should have been, and all those who had the privilege to work there, or to be educated there, were profoundly moved by its spirit. For its stand on education, it endured threats and intimidation, and was even vilified by white 'liberals' for being beyond the mainstream. In the end, it suffered the indignity of being undermined from within by people who somehow believed their lack of integrity would go unnoticed. |
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| Steyn Krige speaking at student assembly 1981 |
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| Ben Laubscher, Peter Nixon and Colin Purkey 1983 |
| Steyn and Hazel Krige at the end of the Big Run 1975 |
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| E-mail: woodmeadschool@yahoo.com.au |
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