Cotswold Preparatory set to grow

IN a bid to curb parents' struggle of getting a school for their Grade 3 children, Cotswold Preparatory School in Port Elizabeth will next year begin a four- year process of expanding into a full primary school.

The school, which currently accommodates pupils from grades one to three, will start with a Grade 4 class next year and introduce a new grade each year until it has Grade 7 classes in 2017.

The daunting process – which will be completely funded by the school as the cash-strapped Education Department could not commit any funds to it – is a bittersweet one for principal Barbara Porter.

The school charges Grade R pupils R550 a month, while their counterparts in grades one to three pay R500 monthly.

Porter, who was previously at Westering Primary School for 22 years, said the biggest challenge with the expansion was the fact that they could not build new classes to house the incoming pupils.