Estcourt High School

Estcourt High School is a school in Estcourt, South Africa that traces its origins to the Estcourt Government School which was founded in 1886. The high school itself was founded in 1924 when the government school was split into a high school and a junior school.Estcourt High School, being a country school, pioneered agriculture as a school subject and also gave instruction in both English and Afrikaans.HistoryEstcourt High School was founded in 1924 from the upper forms of the Estcourt Government School when it was split into two.Estcourt Government SchoolAfter a number of attempts to establish private schools had failed due to lack of support, the town's first government school, the Estcourt Government School was established in 1886 with an initial role of 45 children. In accordance with the prevailing colonial policy, the school only admitted pupils of European descent.At the start of the twentieth of the century, the Estcourt Government School had about 100 children and only offered formal education at primary level, even though the occasional bright student was coached at secondary level to enable them to enter university. In 1915 lessons in Dutch was offered for the first time and 75 children out of 115 took up the subject. Although there were a few children who spoke Dutch or Afrikaans as their mother tongue, instruction in that language has to wait until 1945.By 1924 the school had expanded to 226 children when the new headmaster, Major AC Martin MC arrived. Martin had been awarded the Military Cross during the First World War. That year four children sat the matriculation exam. This sparked a growth in demand for secondary education and in 1927 the school was split into two - Estcourt Junior School retaining the old school building and the high school moving to a new 10 ha site.