An international school, deeply rooted in their South African identity, Redhill, was voted Best Private High School and Best Private Primary School 2023 by Best of Joburg, for the fourth year in a row.
The school said its foremost priority was to educate tomorrow’s leaders by infusing them with the life skills to master the challenges posed by a rapidly-evolving world.
Spokesperson for the school, Redhill School Executive Head, Joseph Gerassi said Redhill students were made differently: “They’re the embodiment of our ethos, built to honour curiosity, confidence, commitment, courage, and care. Our students are our greatest asset, our greatest reward. The reason we proudly say that our hearts are red.”
The school said its students balanced academic rigour with their innate desire to lead, and head to the theatre and sports fields with equal vigour, honing their cultural and sporting skills.
“They seek to be the best version of themselves that they can be, but know that life is not a solo race. Hand-in-hand, they ensure their peers are right alongside them as they cross the finish line,” Gerassi added.
Gerassi said the Redhill pupils understood that there was more to a person than a set of marks, a round of applause, a score on a board, and that it was about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts: intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically.
“It’s about walking the halls of those who came before us, knowing that our legacy will be remembered by the students who come after. It’s about enjoying what was built before, while understanding our responsibility to keep building and relish the freedom that this offers us.
It’s knowing that the stones we lay today will be walked on by those yet to come, so that others, too, can be free to build as we were. As we are,” he said.
The school said its rich history was etched in the very bedrock upon which the school was built. Founded in 1907, Redhill has flourished for more than a century.
“This educational legacy is built into our foundations, but we know that there are hundreds of years yet to come. The world is changing and it demands innovation – we are here to meet that challenge.
Redhill and its students are the vanguard of innovation in South African education without compromising the core tenets of our campus: being non-denominational, secular, progressive and co-educational,” Gerassi said.
Gerassi added that staff development was a vital component of the school’s commitment to providing exceptional education.
“Our teachers undergo weekly innovative Professional Development programmes to ensure they remain at the forefront of international educational best practices. We recognise the importance of advanced academic qualifications and their impact on the quality of education we offer.
That’s why Redhill supports and funds staff members in pursuing Honours/Masters Degrees or similar qualifications. This commitment has resulted in a significant number of our teachers holding prestigious doctoral degrees (PhDs), further enhancing their expertise and modelling lifelong learning to their students,” he said.
Redhill is an International Baccalaureate® (IB) World School, and is, as of 2023, one of only three schools in the country that provides the Diploma Programme (DP) (Grade 11 and 12) for the IB.
The IB is offered by more than 5 000 schools worldwide. According to an IB survey in May 2023, IB students experienced an 18% higher acceptance rate into Ivy League universities compared to other curricula.