Louise Williamson’s Environmental Education programme has also achieved some outstanding results, with all of our partner primary schools who enrolled for the Eco-Schools Programme last year having achieved “green flag” status, a 100% success rate, as opposed to the 30% national average. We will be expanding the EE programme this year with new projects at new schools.

Are there any parents out there, with some time to spare occasionally in the mornings and with an interest in the environment, who would like to help with our Eco-Schools Programme? Eco-Schools is an international World Wildlife Fund (WWF) initiative aimed at whole-school improvement, focusing on environmental awareness and action, nutrition and curriculum development. Please contact Louise on 013-7515057 or 072 436 8347 if you would like to know more. She would love to hear from you.

ARTICLE FOR INDEPENDENT EDUCATION MAGAZINE
The “Three-Legged” Uplands Educational Model
By Liz Mackintosh

Parents are often faced with the agonizing decision of where to send their children after completion of their primary years at an independent school, especially when living in an outlying area like the Lowveld region of Mpumalanga. Is boarding school the answer? Or the local government school? Locally, there are likely to be a limited choice of options available.

Although, for this very reason, the idea of a college/secondary school to carry on the proud tradition of Uplands Preparatory School in White River, which was established in 1928, had been discussed at regular intervals during the last decade, it was in 1994 that the idea was seriously mooted for the first time. A steering committee was formed and discussions held on the feasibility of a high school that would reflect the ethos and standards of the Prep School. By February 1995, good progress had been made, with HL&H, a national forestry company, agreeing to make land available on the property adjacent to the Prep School. An exploratory open meeting of interested parties to “feel the water” revealed such strong support that the decision was made to begin fundraising by means of a debenture system. The crucial 160th debenture was sold at 16:00 on “D-Day”, 19th May 1997, bringing the first stage of the fundraising campaign to a successful conclusion and ensuring that phase one of the building could begin in June.

Richard Goss, co-founder and main mover behind the College development said at the official launch: “We will be creating in Uplands College a school that is dynamic, relevant, exciting and different. ‘How will it be different?’ you might ask. Well, it is already different in that it is one of the first schools in the country to be built by parents. It is certainly the first of this scale and calibre. It is a school not built by government, not by a few wealthy benefactors or donor corporations. … IT IS BEING BUILT BY INDIVIDUAL PARENTS FOR THEIR CHILDREN. …. Uplands College will firmly follow the ethos of the Prep. I believe that this is one of the happiest and most well-balanced primary schools in the country and with the Christian values which underpin it and the ongoing striving for excellence I believe that it is a hard act to follow. I believe that its big brother (or sister) will not only follow the act, but create a combined performance which will be amongst the top on offer anywhere.”

True to expectations, since it opened its doors in January 1998, Uplands College has thrived and prospered. It has grown from 90 pupils to a current 369, which with the Prep School’s complement of 433 (as compared with its first enrolment in 1928 of a mere 6 pupils!), is indicative of a healthy, happy and burgeoning campus, with the majority of the Grade Seven Uplands Prep pupils filling the College. College pupils have excelled academically, with a record of two pupils from the School achieving de Beers bursaries, two years running. In 2003 and 2004, the highest achieving Matric students were in the I.E.B. Top 50.

The College’s sporting achievements are also awesome for such a small school, and they were given the accolade in 2004 of being invited to host the Independent Schools Rugby Festival.

As Richard Goss pointed out, the Uplands Campus is unique because of the way in which it was conceived and developed by the parent body, and because of the fact that each school, although maintaining a close relationship, operates as a separate entity, with each boasting its own sporting, cultural and technological facilities. This ensures the advantages of having children on one campus without having to share scarce resources. Just as unique, though, is the fact that in 2001 the schools acquired the neighbouring 65 hectare property. It became the headquarters of the Uplands Outreach Programme (which was established in 1994) and became known as The Uplands Institute for Outreach and Environmental Education (TUI). This prime parcel of land includes nursery facilities which are rented out for commercial gain, a pristine wetland area and a Natural Heritage Site which is host to the endangered Aloe simii. Uplands is privileged to be able to offer a curriculum-based environmental learning experience to Prep and College pupils alike, as well as learners and teachers from our rural ‘partner’ schools who participate in our Outreach Programme.

The vision of the Uplands Institute is to be recognized as the foremost proponent of public private partnership in education in Southern Africa and to become known as a leading centre for environmental programmes, for the Uplands schools, their outreach school partners and regional communities. The Outreach Programme employs the strategy of consulting and designing interventions at a number of levels, from the Uplands and ‘partner school’ principals and staff, to the children and the broader community, thus ensuring broad level buy-in for both existing programmes and new initiatives.

The symbiotic relationship between Uplands Prep, Uplands College and Uplands Institute proves the theory of the stability of a “three legged” approach. One can only concur that the bold moves to assimilate Uplands College and Uplands Institute in the Prep success story has borne fruit. As Goethe once said, “Whatever you can do or dream you can … begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” Goethe.