The Herschel academic staff are passionate, well-qualified, highly motivated and deeply committed to assisting the pupils to achieve to the best of their ability. With their diverse set of talents and strengths, they are well-placed to guide the pupils along their personal academic journey.

Our school is well-resourced and boasts excellent facilities to support our teachers in designing engaging lessons that enrich the learning experience for the pupils. Despite being a school steeped in tradition, our staff are committed to providing dynamic, relevant, meaningful, and innovative education.

Curriculum

Our Grade 8 and 9’s have undertaken this transformed curriculum with great success, and we are confident that the programme focuses both on the acquisition of knowledge and on 21st-century skills and the development of attitudes and values. Our teachers have also thought carefully through how assessment needs to change to support this new focus.

Broad Subject Choices

In Grades 8 and 9, we offer six core subjects, and pupils are able to make choices from a range of electives, allowing them autonomy and independence. These electives are designed to be meaningful and allow students to contribute to their communities. We want our pupils to be exposed to opportunities in order to develop a range of skills and explore different interest areas. Our broad subject choice allows for this. Please see the elective booklets to learn more about the options available. In Grades 8 and 9, pupils also do modules on digital literacy and research skills, providing them with valuable skills.

2026 Grade 8 GETC Booklet
2026 Grade 9 GETC Booklet

In Grades 10 to 12, pupils are able to select 7 subjects. English Home Language, Afrikaans or IsiXhosa, First Additional Language, Mathematics or Mathematical literacy and Life Orientation are the 4 compulsory subjects. They then have a wide choice of elective subjects to choose from: Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, Information Technology, Consumer Studies, Drama, Visual Arts, Design, Music, Accounting, Business Studies, French, Geography and History. Further Studies in English and Mathematics can also be taken. Please see the Grade 10 Subject Choice Booklet to learn more about the options available:
Grade 10 Subject Choice.

Single Focus Days

We have recently introduced Single Focus Days. These are opportunities for pupils to have an enriched and in-depth experience of a particular subject every second Friday. These allow our staff to approach the process of teaching and learning in a more creative way, which we believe will be very beneficial to our pupils.

We believe that the rigorous and profound approach to learning and assessment, with a focus on student voice and agency and on critical and creative thinking, will stand our pupils in good stead to tackle their futures when they venture into the world.