St Stithians College consists of five schools in one village; the campus spans 105 hectares within the leafy surrounds of Johannesburg.
These schools include: Junior Preparatory, Boys' Preparatory and Girls' Preparatory; Boys' College and Girls' College, as well as the Kamoka Bush School situated in the Waterberg, which provides an outdoor education facility.
The school is one of the biggest in the country with more than 2600 students. It is a vibrant and exciting school and a significant player on the educational landscape, affording pupils, teachers and parents the opportunity to become actively engaged in giving back to the community.
St Stithians has an impressive academic programme and is affiliated to the Independent Examinations Board. Students are offered the tools they need for a well-rounded education, including excellent sports and cultural programmes and a strong affiliation to the Round Square organisation, an international association of schools that make a commitment to personal development and responsibility.
One such commitment turned into a successful reality is the Thandulwazi Academy, which began as a Saturday school programme in the 1990s and evolved over the past six years to become an extraordinary platform for education and community support.
"We see this almost as our seventh school," says Nuttall. "It attracts 1000 students onto the campus every Saturday from grade 10 to grade 12 and we invite applications from schools across the greater Johannesburg area.
The academy offers these additional lessons free of charge to more than 160 different schools in the community, keeping track of the students and celebrating their successes. The teachers at Thandulwazi Academy are sourced from both St Stithians and other independent schools around Johannesburg.
The programme is available 33 Saturdays of the year and uses a well-established programme for maths, science and English. The college also hosts career days for the students providing opportunities for exploring a diverse range of careers.
"Many pupils attending this academy are from disadvantaged backgrounds and see this as a chance to gain an educational advantage," says Nuttall. "We also have a teacher development programme called Thandulwazi Rokunda, which brings 1100 teachers from Foundation Phase to grade 9 onto the campus for 11 Saturdays of the year.
The St Stithians students are also required to engage with community programmes and significant partnerships exist with other schools, such as Ivory Park and the Vuleka Schools Programme.
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