The Ridge School

The Ridge School is one of Johannesburg’s oldest and most respected independent boys’ preparatory schools, established in 1919 on roughly 19 acres atop the historic Westcliff Ridge, with sweeping views over Parktown. It educates around 490 boys from Grade 0 to Grade 7, with a small capacity for boarders, and is widely recognised as a leading prep school whose boys win scholarships to – and are sought after by – the country’s top high schools.

Built on Christian values and the motto “Where Boys Are Known and Grown,” The Ridge takes a deliberately holistic approach, developing each boy academically, culturally, emotionally and physically. Classes are kept small – three classes of around 20 boys per grade – allowing close individual attention, with Mathematics further streamed from Grade 2 upwards.

Sport is a core thread of school life, offered in a spirit of full participation rather than winning at all costs: cricket, swimming, tennis, athletics and squash in summer; football, hockey, rugby and cross-country in winter; plus chess and judo. The cultural programme is rich and wide-ranging, and service is woven into the ethos, with boys supporting charities such as CHOC and partnering with the Salvazione Christian School in Brixton.

Facilities are excellent for a preparatory school, including a custom Resource Centre, a spacious Art Studio, a large Design and Technology Centre, extensive music rooms, four playing fields, four tennis courts, cricket nets and a heated 25-metre swimming pool.

Boys still wear the iconic grey blazer with the cerise “RS” crest – a small sign of the tradition and strong old-boy community that runs deep at The Ridge. School fees are published on the school’s website, and scholarships are available, including for boys from previously disadvantaged backgrounds.