History
The early years
Mr Harry Stubbs, the retired first headmaster of Durban Preparatory High School (DPHS), established Clifton Preparatory School for boys on 5 February 1924. (In South African terminology a "preparatory" school is a primary school for children up to grade 8, or approximately thirteen years of age.) The Stubbs home, at 102 Lambert Road, provided the classrooms needed for the small numbers of boys who enrolled at the time. Although the school had at first been named ‘Stubbs School’, Mr Stubbs's daughter, Dorothy Stubbs, suggested the name ‘Clifton’, in memory of her cousin ‘Clifford’, who had been killed during the First World War. The original home still stands, and is known as "Stubbs House". [1]
Miss Stubbs taught at Clifton for seven years until her marriage. Her position was filled by Miss Helen Fenell, who was visiting Durban on her way back to the United Kingdom after teaching in India. Miss Fenell taught at Clifton 1930-1931 but then left the school to marry Dr Billie Joseph. She remained in South Africa for the rest of her life and as Helen Joseph she went on to become a leading political activist against the apartheid system of racial segregation. She was placed under house arrest in 1962 and lived under a banning order for 23 years until she was 80, surviving anonymous gunshots and a bomb wired to her front gate. She died in 1992 at the age of 87 [2] In 2020 the preparatory school library was named in her honour. [3]
In the early years, boarding was offered, and boys slept in dormitories housed in the upstairs verandas, which were enclosed for the purpose. There were no sports fields at the time, and cricket and rugby were played at Kingsmead, the municipal sports grounds. Athletics meetings were held at the nearby Mitchell Park, and swimming took place at the municipal pool at the beach. [1]
In 1938, with an enrollment of 60 boys, the school was purchased by Mr Kenneth Haworth. Because of parents' concerns over the possibility of enemy action, an air raid shelter was constructed at the school (later used as a changing room for the swimming pool`). By 1942 Haworth had succeeded in increasing enrollment to 160 pupils. In that year Haworth made two far-reaching decisions: to establish a separate Clifton preparatory school 115 km from Durban at Nottingham Road, where he would be headmaster; and to appoint Anthony Greenwood ("Tim") Sutcliffe as his successor to head the Clifton Durban School. By 1945, Haworth’s alcoholism made it impossible for him to remain at his post, and he was forced to sign an irrevocable power of attorney which authorized Tim Sutcliffe to form a trust to continue the two schools. Geoffrey Jenks was appointed headmaster of the Nottingham Road School and Tim Sutcliffe remained headmaster of the Durban school. [1]
The Sutcliffe years
Mr Sutcliffe, an Oxford-educated history teacher at Hilton College was 27 years of age, and had no previous experience of teaching in a preparatory school. The Clifton he came to was situated on just 1-acre (0.40 ha) of ground, and his staff consisted of six female teachers.
Tim married Yolande D’Hotman, an actress and broadcaster, in 1944. But the Sutcliffe's lived largely separate lives and were never blessed with children, and successive generations of schoolboys constituted what was, in effect, his extended ‘Clifton’ family. Tim Sutcliffe was a visionary man of imposing stature who commanded awe and respect in pupils and teachers alike. He had a jovial and sardonic side, but he practised corporal punishment with enthusiasm. Sutcliffe caned boys hard and often, famously leaving welts that lasted two weeks or more. Sutcliffe had a passion for Shakespeare, and held the senior classes enthralled with his participatory style of introducing them to gory, action-packed excerpts from Julius Caesar, Hamlet and Macbeth! Though secular himself, he also taught the Bible, communicating his love of the sonorous language of the King James Version through vivid Old Testament passages that captured his pupils' imagination. [4] Under his strong leadership Clifton quickly established a reputation for academic excellence and charged substantial tuition fees. The American poet and artist Peter Sacks, who was educated at Clifton, vividly recalled Sutcliffe's classroom theatrics and his corporal punishments some three decades after his schooling there. [5] [1]
During Sutcliffe'a tenure Clifton embarked on a period of extensive growth. As adjacent properties became available, they were purchased by the school, providing additional classrooms as well as housing for resident masters. In 1959 the school purchased a small hall from the Lambert Road Baptist Church, which was used as a school hall until 1974. By the mid-sixties, two 1-acre (0.40 ha) plots on Innes Road were bought and developed into a playing field, and a decade later, the Jubilee Hall was built at the Lambert Road entrance. When he retired, Sutcliffe had served Clifton in the capacity of Headmaster for 38 years. As a result of the property acquisitions he initiated, the school has sufficient space for sports fields and various other facilities. [1]
1980–2001
Mr T.A. (Tom) Seymour was appointed as Headmaster in 1980. He came from Zimbabwe, where he had been head of the Bulawayo Teachers’ Training College. Unlike Sutcliffe, he had progressive views on discipline and he soon abolished the use of corporal punishment. Mr Seymour was also instrumental in allowing "non-white" children to enroll at the school, in defiance of the apartheid laws of the time. [1]
In 1983 a second storey was added to the old bungalow housing the ‘Standard Three’ block, providing Clifton with a library and an adjoining projection room. Today Clifton's science laboratory occupies the top floor, above the existing classrooms. In the same year, cricket nets were erected on the top field and a block housing classrooms were converted into a Music Centre. Mr Seymour left Clifton in July 1984, and Mr Alan Pass, a teacher since 1955, took over the leadership until the appointment of Mr Kevin Whitehead in 1985. [1]
Kevin Whitehead came to Clifton from Pridwin Preparatory School, in Johannesburg, where he had served as Deputy Headmaster. During his eighteen years at the helm, the school grew in numbers and in reputation. The number of academic scholarships burgeoned, going from but a single scholarship in 1984, to a record nineteen in 1999. Whitehead's passion for cricket was legendary and he was an outstanding coach of the game. He initiated the annual Clifton-United Kingdom cricket tour. Ill health forced him to retire prematurely in 2002. [1]
From 2002: Clifton College
January 2002 saw the establishment of a secondary school on the site: Clifton College, with Mr Mike Thiel at the helm. It now became possible for boys to be educated entirely at Clifton at both preparatory school and high school level. By August of the same year, Mr Brian Mitchell had been appointed as Headmaster of the Prep School, and within eighteen months he took over the Headship of the whole school.
2006 saw the first Grade 12 Matriculation year. Clifton had achieved a milestone – the provision of thirteen years of education for pupils from Grade ‘R’ to Grade 12. In that year the Clifton Aquatics Centre was completed, comprising an Olympic size water polo pool. The management structure was changed to appoint a separate headmaster for the preparatory school. Michael Foster took up this post for two years.
In 2009 Hubert Goedeke was appointed principal of the college and Glenn Jones principal of the preparatory school, with Brian Mitchell serving as executive headmaster. In 2014 Glenn Jones left Clifton and was succeeded as principal of the preparatory school by Victor White in 2015. White was succeeded by Jason Brown in 2019. Brian Mitchell left in 2017 and was succeeded as executive headmaster by David Knowles in 2018.
Since 2014 the school has embarked on a long term development of the growing campus, with the vision of "a school in a garden in a city". The school is divided into four phases: Foundation Phase (Grade R-3), Senior Preparatory (Grade 4-7) and College (Grade 8-12). [1] Clifton College writes the Independent Examinations Board exams.
Haberdashers' Boys' School is a 4–18 boys public school in Elstree, Hertfordshire, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference as well as the Rugby Group.
Clifton College is a public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike most contemporary public schools, it emphasised science rather than classics in the curriculum, and was less concerned with social elitism, for example by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated boarding house for Jewish boys, called Polack's House. Having linked its General Studies classes with Badminton School, it admitted girls to every year group in 1987, and was the first of the traditional boys' public schools to become fully coeducational. Polack's House closed in 2005 but a scholarship fund open to Jewish candidates still exists. Clifton College is one of the original 26 English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Yearbook of 1889.
Westville Boys' High School, often referred to as WBHS or "boys high", is a semi-private high school for boys located in Westville, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Saltus Grammar School, founded in 1880, is an independent school in Pembroke Parish, Bermuda. It was a boys' school until 1992, when it became co-educational. It has two campuses, one for the Lower Primary and one for the Upper Primary, Middle School and Secondary.
Taunton School is public school, now co-educational, in the county town of Taunton in Somerset in South West England. It serves boarding and day-school pupils from the ages of 13 to 18.
Bishop's Stortford College is a private boarding and day school in the English public school tradition for more than 1,200 pupils aged 4–18, situated in a 130-acre (0.53 km2) campus on the edge of the market town of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.
Hutton Grammar School is an 11–18 boys voluntary aided, state-funded Church of England comprehensive day school. It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) south west of Preston, Lancashire, in Hutton, England. It provides education for boys from the age of 11 to 16, and in the Sixth Form for both boys and girls.
St. John's College is an independent, day high school for boys aged 12–18 in Borrowdale, a suburb in Harare, Zimbabwe. The school, established in 1986, is owned and governed by the St John's Educational Trust, as is St. John's Preparatory School.
Aldwickbury School is a 4–13 boys private preparatory school located on the outskirts of Harpenden, Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. Aldwickbury School was established in 1937, when Kenneth Castle took over as headmaster of Lea House School in Harpenden. At that time, the school consisted of 15 boys.
Homefield Preparatory School is a 3–13 private boys preparatory day school in Sutton, Greater London, England established in 1870.
Waterkloof House Preparatory School is an independent (private) primary school in Pretoria, South Africa, offering education to grade 000 and grade 00 boys and girls, and grade 0–7 boys only through the medium of English. Well known former pupils include, amongst others, Deon Chang, journalist; Eddie Barlow, South African international cricket star; Richard Sterne, professional golfer; Tony Peake, novelist; and Elon Musk, business magnate, founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla Motors.
Northwood School is a high school in the coastal city of Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Northwood was founded after two schools, Beachwood High and Northlands High combined - forming Northwood School.
Eden College Durban is an independent school for boys and girls located in Glenmore, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, in the Republic of South Africa. It comprises a pre-primary school, a preparatory school, a middle school and a college. Eden College Durban was previously called Crawford College, Durban until 2007 and Carmel College Durban before that. Eden College has just under 500 pupils.
Hazelwood School is a private preparatory school in Limpsfield, Surrey, England.
Rondebosch Boys' Preparatory School is a state primary school in Rondebosch, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It was detached from Rondebosch Boys' High School and established as a separate school in 1929.
St. Bede's is a Higher Secondary School in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India established in 1907 with the goal of providing Catholic education for children of European and Anglo-Indian descent.
Chinthurst School is an independent co-educational nursery, pre-preparatory and preparatory school in semi-rural surroundings in the village of Tadworth, Surrey, England, 15 miles south of the centre of London. As a member of the RGS Group, the school is associated with Reigate Grammar School and Reigate St Mary's School. Its pupils' ages range from two to eleven years.
Michaelhouse is a full boarding senior school for boys founded in 1896. It is located in the Balgowan valley in the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Bede's School, consists of a preparatory school and pre-preparatory nursery in Holywell, Meads, Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, as well as a senior school based in Upper Dicker, Hailsham, East Sussex, England. These, along with the Legat School of Dance, form the Bede's School Trust, an educational charity. All three schools are independent and fee-charging.
Springvale House Preparatory School is an independent, preparatory, boarding and day school in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe that was established in 1952. The school shares facilities with Peterhouse Girls' School on the Springvale Estate of approximately 1,200 acres (490 ha) with Gosho Park, a conservation area on the estate, being adjacent to the two schools. The majority of the pupil population are boarders while the remainder are day scholars.
