Port Alfred
High School
The Heart of Port Alfred
Port Alfred School is a family school. We cater for children from nursery school to matric on one beautiful campus with one Principal and one Governing Body.
We celebrate our origin at a special Founders Day Assembly in August each year. On this special day, everyone takes the time to reflect on just how far our town’s oldest school has come since those early days of 1883. This was the year that the school was officially converted into a Government School and it was housed in an Anglican church building in Park Road. The school then had an enrolment of about fifty boys and girls.Over the years, the school has grown to nearly 1000 children from nursery school to matric. Rooted in a proud past, the Port Alfred School staff, governing body, alumni and greater community work together to move with the times, catering for the needs of our children on a multitude of levels.The school’s motto, “Facta Non Verba” meaning “Deeds and not Words” is an constant theme which the School underpins at every opportunity. Honesty, integrity, grit and determination, perseverance, loyalty and commitment are qualities held in high regard by one and all at Port Alfred School.
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Our journey starting in 1882
As one of the oldest schools in the Eastern Cape we are exceptionally proud of our heritage
1983 | Port Alfred High School celebrated its Centenary! Festivities lasted a week long with visiting dignatories, a procession down Main Street, a special Operetta and a Dinner/Dance. A big cake was assembled and decorated by the Matric Home Economics class complete with 100 candles and every pupil received a slice together with a commemorative coffee mug. |
1990 | Due to the changing political dispensation in South Africa, Keith Howard retired as Headmaster at the age of 55 leaving behind a rich and deep legacy not least of which was a Hall, the first one ever in the history of Port Alfred High! |
1991 | Roy Hewitt held the office of Headmaster and led our School from the Apartheid era into democracy. In 1991 the first four students of colour were warmly welcomed on campus: Jongisipho Matthews, Sylvia Roto, Singatwa Seti and Linda Magquntulu. |
1998 | Roy Hewitt resigned to take up office as the Headmaster of Hudson Park High School. |
1999 – 2005 | Rob Le Roux held the office of Headmaster before moving on to Westerford High School in Cape Town where he is currently headmaster. During this period the number of enrolments grew steadily as did Port Alfred’s reputation as a centre of excellence. |
2005 – 2019 | Clive Pearson took office and has guided the school with a steady hand for more than a decade. During his tenure, an additional sports field was built, the club house erected and later extended and upgraded, the swimming pool complex upgraded, the tennis courts resurfaced, a mini-astro constructed, a counselling room created and the cricket nets upgraded. Staff numbers grew with the advent of the nursery school section and enrolment grew with several classes oversubscribed. In 2008 the School celebrated its 125th birthday in fine style and looks forward to its 150th celebrations in 2033. |
2020 | Nigel Adams, a proud Eastern Cape man who holds a BA Arts degree from the University of the Western Cape and a B Ed from Rhodes University accepted the appointment to take over from Mr Pearson as Headmaster. He has majors in psychology, languages and accounting, holds a Higher Diploma in Education (HDE), a sports management certificate from Nelson Mandela University and has also studied school leadership and management through the University of Stellenbosch. His first appointment was at Alphendale Secondary School in East London where he spent 27 years, ending as the Head of Department for commerce. He then went on, as deputy Headmaster to Mr Nick Els, a proudly past Port Alfred High pupil, to Lilyfontein School which has a very strong focus on sport and the outdoors. Mr Adams’s vision for Port Alfred School is to ensure that we regain our leadership position as one of the schools in the district with a 100% matric pass rate. |