This idea is not yet agreed. No organisation has signed up to it yet, and some of the stakeholders have not yet been approached to participate, only because this is unfolding quite rapidly. Please do not share anything here publicly. This page exists to keep the conversation flowing. It shows what the valley could build if we worked together. The details will be tabled at the Forum’s November 2026 meeting, and it will change as more people see this early invitation to dialogue and respond.
What the letters in square brackets mean
Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.
- [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by at least two sources that do not depend on each other, or by an official record.
- [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from the people putting this idea forward, in their own documents or statements. It has not been checked against other sources.
- [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it yet.
Statements without a tag are proposals. They describe what the campus could become.
The goal
By 2038, every young person in Ward 2 has a path from school into study or work in the valley, paid for in large part by families from outside it, and governed for the whole ward.
Why the valley needs it
- The valley has one high school, Emil Weder Secondary in Genadendal, which teaches in Afrikaans [IC]. English-speaking families send their children out of the valley for high school [MS].
- At the Forum’s first meeting, farmers and tourism businesses said they need more skilled workers: mechanics, machine operators, and people with computer and hospitality skills [MS]. The meeting also asked for life skills [MS].
- There is no place in the valley where school leavers or adults can train for work in tourism and conservation [MS].
- The valley does not have enough English-speaking children to fill a new day secondary school on its own [MS].
The idea
Two principles would shape the design. The first is that the campus must pay its way. The second is that it should offer a more flexible way of learning that still meets high academic standards.
A campus with four parts, sharing land, buildings, and staff:
| Part | What it is | Who it serves |
|---|---|---|
| An English-medium boarding school | A fee-paying school that rents its site on the campus. Its rent helps pay for the rest of the campus. | Families from across South Africa and beyond, plus valley learners on bursaries |
| A school of skills | A public school with a practical, hands-on curriculum | Valley learners who want a practical path |
| A vocational training centre | Courses and qualifications for work in tourism, conservation, and farming | School leavers, adults, and high school learners |
| A Bioregional Learning Centre | Further study and research about the valley’s land, water, and heritage | Young people from all the valley’s schools after they finish school |
Emil Weder would remain the valley’s Afrikaans high school, with its own heritage and governing body. Its learners would be welcome at the training centre and the Bioregional Learning Centre. Emil Weder’s principal supports exploring the idea, based on early discussions with Bonnievale [MS]. Whether the school links with the campus, and how, would still be for its governing body to decide. The campus would first ask the governing body what the school would want from such a link.
How learners would learn
The campus would be built around project-based learning. A class spends several weeks on one real question, often about the valley itself, and learns its subjects by working on that question. At the end, learners produce a piece of work and present it.
For example, a Grade 10 class might spend four weeks on the Riviersonderend catchment. Learners would walk the river, test the water, identify fynbos and invasive plants, and map how water moves through the valley. From that fieldwork they would cover what the national Life Sciences curriculum requires on ecosystems and biodiversity.
Families who pay high fees want to know their children will get into university. So the campus would have to show that a project-based school meets the same standards as any other. That means holding a careful balance:
- Projects carry the subjects that reward depth. Life Sciences, Geography, History, and Economics suit several weeks of focused study.
- Mathematics and languages are taught every week, all year. They need steady practice. A few weeks on them followed by months without would harm results.
- Every project is built to be marked. Each one comes with a written task, a marking guide, marked work, and a record showing that another teacher checked the marks. This lets the project count towards the learner’s final mark. Umalusi, which quality-checks the marks schools give towards matric, looks at this paper trail and does not prescribe a teaching method [MS].
- The hours add up. The national curriculum (CAPS) sets how many hours each subject must be taught [MS]. The timetable would show, subject by subject, that learners get at least those hours.
- The final-year project counts in several subjects. A Grade 12 project, such as a costed plan to hold water on a piece of farmland, would be split into parts. Each part would be marked as a task in a different subject: science, economics, and a language.
There is evidence this can work in South Africa. The country’s Waldorf high schools already teach subjects in blocks of three to four weeks and write the National Senior Certificate [MS]. One of them, Michael Mount in Bryanston, writes the IEB examinations [MS].
There are also reasons for care. A 2017 review of research on project-based learning found the evidence “promising but not proven” [MS]. Projects are hard to mark fairly, and they ask a lot of teachers. The campus would need subject specialists who are also trained in the method, and that training takes years.
A qualification families will pay for
The campus depends on the boarding school earning more than it costs to run. Its rent and learner fees would pay for the bursaries, the training centre, and the Bioregional Learning Centre. The higher those fees, the more the valley’s own young people gain.
Families pay high fees for a qualification that opens doors to universities and employers in South Africa and abroad. The recognition the campus offers therefore sets what it can charge. This is how the valley would earn the income that pays for the rest of the campus.
For comparison, boarding schools elsewhere in South Africa charge from about R100,000 to more than R450,000 a year [TBV]. See the research done on https://hs.valleyofgrace.co.za/research/top-schools
The Forum needs to decide what “internationally recognised” should mean for the campus. There are three routes, and the campus could combine them:
| Route | What it would mean | Effect on fees | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| An internationally recognised qualification | Learners write an exam that universities abroad know. Options include the IEB’s National Senior Certificate, Cambridge International, and the International Baccalaureate. | The largest effect. This is what families pay for most. | Exam and registration fees, and specialist teachers. The campus must show that its projects meet the exam’s standards. |
| Membership of a recognised network of schools | The campus joins a body that checks its quality, such as the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) or an international network. | Gives families confidence in a new school. | Membership fees and regular quality reviews. |
| Partnerships with schools abroad | Learners and teachers spend time at partner schools, and partner-school learners come to the valley. | Draws families who want a global outlook for their children. | Relationships to build and keep, and travel costs. |
Stronger recognition lets the campus charge more. It also costs more to earn and to keep. The campus works only if the gap between the two is wide enough to pay for the rest of the campus. Finding the route, or mix of routes, that leaves the widest gap would be the first job once costing starts.
Who would pay
- The boarding school would pay rent and a fee for each learner into a campus fund. That fund would pay for bursaries for valley learners, the training centre, and the learning centre. How much the boarding school could pay depends on the fees it can charge, and so on the qualification it offers.
- The state would pay teachers at the school of skills and the cost of some training courses.
- Local employers would offer work placements, mentors, equipment, and jobs.
- Residents, donors, and companies would help pay for the buildings.
Nothing has been costed yet [MS].
Who would decide
A trust representing the whole ward would own or hold the land and buildings and run the campus. Genadendal and Greyton would both be on its board. The boarding school would be a tenant. It could have one seat on the board, but never control it [MS].
How it fits the Forum’s goal
The Forum’s long-term goal groups the valley’s life into three spheres, each with its own rule. The campus would follow all three:
- Freedom (cultural). Each school keeps its own language and character. The community decides what the campus is for.
- Equality (civic). The trust holds the campus for the whole ward. Every valley learner has the same access to the training centre and the learning centre. Bursary places go to learners from every village. No path is second class.
- Cooperation (economic). The boarding school hires and buys in the valley first. Employers work with the training centre as partners.
It also serves three of the Forum’s priorities: Education and Skills, Tourism Development, and Conservation and Environment. The boarding school’s kitchen and suppliers could also support Agriculture and Food Sovereignty and Business Development and Local Procurement.
Learning from Bonnievale
In Bonnievale, community leaders began planning a new public high school in 2016, because the town had too few high school places and many learners left school or the town after Grade 7 [IC]. The school, Jakes Gerwel Technical School, teaches academic subjects and practical skills on one campus [IC]. The year it opened has not been confirmed [TBV]. It charges no school fees, and the non-profit organisation that helps run it holds half the seats on its governing body [TBV]. The Western Cape Education Department helped pay for the buildings, and the town raised the rest together [TBV]. People from Bonnievale have visited Emil Weder Secondary to share their experience [MS].
What is not known/decided
- The details. None of them have been worked through yet. This page sets out the main questions in broad terms, so that anyone with an interest can see where they fit and join the conversation.
- Where the campus would be. No site has been chosen.
- Whether families would pay to send their children to a boarding school here.
- What “internationally recognised” means for the campus, and which qualification it would offer.
- Whether the chosen examination body would accept the project-based approach.
- Which organisation would run the boarding school.
- Whether the Western Cape Education Department would open a school of skills here.
- How the campus would work with Emil Weder, if Emil Weder wants to.
- What it would cost.
What happens next
- The Transformasie Komitee and Emil Weder’s governing body are asked for their views.
- The idea is formally tabled at the Forum’s November 2026 meeting.
- If the Forum wants to go further, it forms a working group to test whether the idea can work.
The first parts could start small. Training courses for adults could begin in 2027 or 2028 in borrowed rooms [MS]. A boarding school could open by 2030 [TBV].
Have your say
Contact the moderators via How to Submit, or come to the November meeting. The full working detail is on the High School Decision Tool.
Related
- Our Long-Term Goal
- Emil Weder Secondary School
- Restoring the River: Water Skills at the Learning Campus
- Education and Skills
- Ideas for the Valley
References
Sources on the Bonnievale school, Jakes Gerwel Technical School:
- IPASA Collaboration Case Study: Jakes Gerwel Technical School and Bonnievale 418 (November 2023). How the school was set up, its operating partner’s seats on the governing body, and how the building was paid for.
- SA3: Jakes Gerwel Tegniese Hoërskool Bonnievale. Why the town needed the school, and how it combines academic subjects with technical training.
- ASLA Foundation: Skills Development and Training, Jakes Gerwel School of Skills. A construction company’s support for technical training at the school.
- ASLA Foundation: Kruispad Huise. Two homes renovated as safe places to live for vulnerable learners.
Sources on the campus idea:
- Valley of Grace High School Decision Tool. Learning Campus. The full working detail behind this page.
- Valley of Grace High School Decision Tool. Research on top schools. Boarding school fees used for comparison.