St Declan School For Boys

St Declan's School for boys is an amazing school. Promoting well-mannered gentlemen and a strong culture of brotherhood. We have been there since grade R, and in the last 8 years, there has been tremendous growth in the school. New sports opportunities, new classrooms, and new adventures every year. Mr Bwalya is an amazing principal; his door is always open to any child or parent who needs to chat.

We enrolled our sons at this school with the understanding that it was a Christian-based institution that would uphold values of integrity, respect, and care. Unfortunately, my experience has shown otherwise. The actions and attitudes of some of the teachers, as well as the Head of Department (HOD), do not reflect the values the school claims to stand for. The HOD in particular often uses a condescending tone when addressing parents. Her quick responses in conversations suggest a lack of genuine listening or understanding and a lack of emotional intelligence. Parents are made to believe that the school has their best interests at heart, but in practice it seems that the leadership pushes its own agenda. It is only through discussions with other parents that one begins to realize the extent of shared concerns. There is also a climate of fear that prevents parents from freely voicing their concerns. The moment a parent complains, their child risks becoming a target. This fear is very real, as no parent wants to expose their child to potential bullying or mistreatment, especially given the long-term emotional effects this can have. There are many areas in which the school needs improvement. Unfortunately, because it appears to operate more like a family business, complaints raised by parents are often dismissed or ignored. The leadership seems to shield one another, leaving parents without a fair platform to voice issues or concerns. I strongly believe that the Department of Education should investigate this school to ensure that it is being run with accountability, transparency, and in the true spirit of education and Christian values.

St Declan's School for boys is quite racist. They hide behind a Christian facade, but they are incredibly racist. You would expect this level of systemic racism from the older and more established private schools. The teacher's in my opinion are not up too scratch and are petty. If you are serious about your son's school career, take them to a better private school by the time they are in High School.

From what I have seen when visiting the school it seems excellent.

A school which I consider a work in progress, it’s getting there but the fee structure is ridiculously high for the room that is there for improvement. The teachers are amazing and give the boys individual attention and the classes aren’t congested. The culture overall is amazing especially if you are a Christian. They have too many activities that aren’t included in the fees and their extra murals aren’t well established as you would need to take your child to an external provider. I think the school is money driven looking at the difference in the fees from pre primary to foundation phase. In this economy jumping to a R1800 difference from one year to another is daunting. They have a beautiful pool but they are disorganised in that area, lessons always get cancelled and the boys don’t get enough time to practice. For a school this expensive you would t expect such. The pre primary section could do with a little more safety considerations, garden workers and other workers but teachers roam around in the morning ,the the boys basically have no teacher around until after seven, anything can happen to the boys during that time. The security is not tight anybody without a sticker can go in (I’ve seen it happen) and sometimes other pageants can pick a child up without supervision because nobody is ever there to monitor anyway. The module and idea is great, if we are comparing it to other boy schools but it’s not worth the price.

St Declans is a new thriving school. Both my boys are doing very well. The school promotes good manners and self discipline.

This school should be check by Department of Education. How can this school qualified, no library, no computer lab, no science lab, etc. It's like leaving your son in a container.

This school is an absolute waste, my son learnt nothing from this school even though they promote rubbish

All boys school on Rietvlei. The fusion of Christian values, passionate staff, eco consciousness, progressive thinking while striving to remain community orientated is an excellent formula for happy, well rounded boys.