Woodridge College is a private, co-educational school in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Woodridge is situated near the small town of

Thornhill, Kouga Thornhill is a town in Kouga Local Municipality under the Sarah Baartman District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost ...

, halfway between Jeffrey's Bay and Port Elizabeth. The school is attended by both boarders and day-scholars.

Motto

The motto of the school is Fideliter, as can be seen on the school emblem, meaning "Faithfully".

Location

It is situated on the edge of the gorge that has been created by

Van Stadens River Van Stadens River is a river in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The river mouth is located about 30 km west of Port Elizabeth. The river was named after Marthinus van Staden, one of the area’s pioneering farmers. He was also a ...

, next to the

Van Stadens Bridge The Van Stadens Bridge is a concrete arch bridge over the Van Stadens River in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It carries road traffic for the N2 national highway. Suicides at Van Stadens Bridge The Van Stadens Bridge on the N2 was opened o ...

History

The school was started by the Carter family in 1936, all of whose descendants have attended the school. Originally the school was only a preparatory school, and the college was started during the 1960s. On June 10, 2017, Woodridge experienced a fire that engulfed at least half of the campus.

Curriculum

The school offers the standard schooling under the guidelines of the

Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa The Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) is the largest and oldest association of independent schools in Southern Africa. ISASA traces its origins back to the Conference of Headmasters and Headmistresses formed in 1929, and m ...

, and pupils taking their National Senior Certificate write the

IEB IEB may refer to: * Independent Examinations Board, a South African independent assessment agency * Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, the national professional organisation of engineers in Bangladesh * Instituto Estudios Bursátiles, a Spanish ...

examinations. Woodridge is also strongly supporting outdoor education, meaning that the students frequently take outdoor excursions and learn outdoors or about the outdoors.

Sport

Woodridge is involved in the sports of rugby, cricket, hockey, star gazing, netball, squash, tennis, bird watching, athletics and water polo. Surf lifesaving is also offered. Other sports offered are rock climbing, canoeing, and hiking. Outdoor education is offered, which is similar to

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...

, although it got its roots more from the Veld en Vlei society in nearby Sedgefield which many Old Woodridgeans used to attend, which was later bought out by the

association. The Outward Bound was modelled on the Scottish school Gordonstoun, as was the rating system. Inter house competitions are held for all sports offered by the school. The Outdoor Education house trophy is considered the most revered of house trophies.

Notable alumni

Colin Ingram Colin Alexander Ingram (born 3 July 1985) is a South African cricketer who currently plays for Glamorgan. He represented South Africa in One Day (ODI) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) between 2010 and 2013, scoring a century on his ODI debut ...

- cricketer *

James Kamte James Bongani Kamte (born 20 July 1982), nicknamed "Cobra", is a South African professional golfer. He has played on the Sunshine Tour, Challenge Tour, European Tour, and Asian Tour. He earned his tour card for the 2008 European Tour season by ...

, - golfer * Jade de Klerk - cricketer *

Mark Rushmere Mark Weir Rushmere (born 7 January 1965) is a former South African cricketer who played one Test match and four One Day Internationals (ODIs) for South Africa in 1992. Rushmere was a right-handed batsman who played for Eastern Province and T ...

- cricketer *

Riki Wessels Mattheus Hendrik "Riki" Wessels (born 12 November 1985) is an Australian-English cricketer who most recently played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club. A right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper, Wessels has played for Marylebone Cricket Club, ...

- cricketer * Edith Molikoe - Hockey

Headmasters

The Headmaster of the school is Derek Bradley. Previous headmasters include: * 2017–present: Derek Bradley * 2014-2017: Simon Crane * 2005-2014: Craig Neave * 2002-2004: Ken Ball * 1997-2001: Guy Norman Pearson * 1967-1992: Keith Starck Simon Crane joined as deputy headmaster in 2013. He is British born, an ex Bishops pupil and has served roles both in the UK (Milton Abbey School) and KwaZulu Natal (

Carter High School (South Africa) Carter High School (S.A.) is a coeducational public school in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Carter opened its doors in January 1977 with five teachers and 53 pupils. It has grown into a large school with an enrollment of appro ...

) and

Michaelhouse Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan valley in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. History ''St. Michael's Diocesan College'' was founded in Pietermaritzburg in 18 ...

).http://www.sahisa.org/2014/02/simon-crane/

Religious teachings

Woodridge is considered a Christian school, and is a parish of the Anglican church.

References

External links

* {{Coord, -33.9178, 25.203, display=title Boarding schools in South Africa Private schools in the Eastern Cape 1936 establishments in South Africa Kouga Local Municipality