Stanford Lake College

Stanford Lake College

Headmaster	Brian Dawson
School type	Independent Day/Boarding Co-Ed
Founded	1998
Location	Haenertsburg, Limpopo Province, South Africa
Enrollment	272 (max)
School colours	Green, Navy and White
Grades	8 - 12

Stanford Lake College is an independent, co-educational, day and boarding high school located in the Magoebaskloof area of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The College is situated at the edge of Troutbeck Lake and Stanford Lake, and across from the Ebenezer Dam in the mountains of the Wolkberg, part of the northern Drakensberg range. The slopes are covered with indigenous forest as well as large tracts of pine forests, the most important feature of the Magoebaskloof.

Stanford Lake College is a full member of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa(ISASA) and of the International Round Square Organisation.

Environment

Stanford Lake College is located on the edge of two lakes and is surrounded by forest. This allows for a different sort of education to take place. The College has facilities such as an adventure centre ("The dad Centre") and a 15m tall climbing tower. Kayaking and canoeing take place on the lakes during summer and the forests have many beautiful cycling routes that the students are encouraged to use.

Academic Programme

The College has moved away from the traditional academic programme seen in most schools in South Africa. Instead Stanford Lake College includes the "dad" (dream an' do) programme along with traditional classes during grades 8 - 10. The dad programme focuses on developing self-confidence along with skills needed in the modern world including problem solving, communication skills and risk taking opportunities

Boarding

The College has 6 Boarding Houses.

Founders' House was the first House on campus and has been split into two: Founders' North and Founders' South which are both boys' hostels.

Ken Shuter House (girls) is the newest house, completed in 2005, and named for Ken Shuter, an English teacher at the College when it opened in 1998.

Lakeside House (girls) was opened in 2004 and is named for its proximity to Lakeside Lake and after the College's holding company: Lakeside Chalets.

Shower House was converted to a boarding house in 2003 and was named so due to the 'primitive' communal showers by the first residents - boys. It has subsequently been upgraded slightly and turned into a girls' boarding house.

The boarding houses are all run by a senior houseparent, deputy-houseparent and a Grd 12 pupil who is elected as Head of House by the members of his/her house.

Extracurricular

As well as running a 'traditional' sports programme with sports such as Hockey, Rugby, Cricket, Soccer, Swimming and Tennis, the College also has a more varied extracurricular programme offering sports such as Rock Climbing, Kayaking, Orienteering and Golf and these facilities are run by Dez Turton and other dadls (Dream and do learners).Throughout the year the dadls are taught vital lessons in problem solving and adventure.The other co-curricular activities include Chess, Bridge and various community service projects, in accordance with the Round Square IDEALS, such as paired reading and The SMILE Program which assists in teaching local children English

Rugby

The First XV is referred to as the Stripes (the same as all other First teams at the College). There uniform consists of a jersey with alternating navy, green and white stripes (hence the name), white shorts and rugby socks in the same pattern as the jersey. The First XV did not have the most perfect record up to the end of the 2005 season. The team won only 2 out of 14 games during 2005. However, with the a new coach, Louis Du Prees, the team has managed to clock up 6 out of 14 wins including wins over Gordounstoun, in Scotland, and St Bees School in Cumbria. There are 3 other teams, namely a Second, Under-15 and Under-14 team.

Hockey

Stanford Lake College performs really well in Boys' Field Hockey, however their Girls' Hockey does not have a very good record. In 2005 and 2006 all Boys' Hockey teams made the league semi-finals (this is the First, Second, Under-16, Under-15 and Under-14 Boys' teams).

Cricket

Since 2005 SLC cricket has been on the rise with the First XI making the league semi-finals in 2005. In 2006 the 1st XI won the Limpopo league beating Ellisras in the final by default. After the final was rained out in Polokwane, Ellisras High School forfeited the match.

Leadership

Stanford Lake College runs itself on a multi-tiered leadership system that allows the Matric pupils to have a hand in the running of the school.This multi-tiered system of leadership is as such (in "increasing order of power")
*The Matric Committees and Students Representative Council (SRC)
*The Pupil Executive (PEX) consisting of the Chairpersons of each Matric Committee and the Head Boy and Girl and their Deputies
*The Executive Committee (EXCO) consisting of the Headmaster, Deputy-Headmaster, Staff Heads of Discipline, Sport, Academics, Boarding, the School Bursar and the Head Boy and Head Girl
*The Letaba Education Trust - the Board of Trustees - consisting of elected officials and the Headmaster

Matric Committees and SRC

There are 5 committees each chaired by an elected Matric and comprising of 7 - 10 Matrics and a staff coordinator. These committees are:
*Discipline - in charge of maintaining discipline and appearance of the school body
*Grade 8 - in charge of looking after Grade 8 and other new pupils
*Sport - in charge of organising and running sports related events
*Stanfordian - in charge of all cultural activities and social events
*SOS - in charge of any outreach and community service projects

The SRC comprises 2 pupils from each Grade, elected by their grade - except for the Matrics who are directly represented by the Deputy Head Boy and Girl

Head Prefects

The Head Boy, Head Girl and their Deputies are elected each year by the student and staff bodies. Until the election for the 2007 Head prefects the voting was weighted such that the entire school's vote counts ⅓, the staff vote counts ⅓ and the incoming and outgoing Matric group together's vote counts ⅓. The votes are now all equal due to the Democracy input of Round Square. The Head Pefects serve for a year from the Valediction Ceremony preceding their own Matric year until the Valediction Ceremony of their Matric Year at which they hand over office.

Alumni Network

Being a young school, Stanford Lake College does not have a large alumni network set up. However, throughout 2006 with the Matric "Aim" for the year being "Tradition and Spirit" the Alumni network is growing. Mrs Wendy Willson, the school matron, is the Alumni director and she maintains contact with many past pupils. The school has a small alumni website [www.slcalumni.wetpaint.com] running but it is still in need of attention.

References

See also

*List of boarding schools

External links

* [http://www.stanfordlakecollege.co.za/ Stanford Lake College Website]