Grace College came into being in 1999 to meet a felt need for a Christian, co-educational, affordable secondary school in the Hilton area, where none had previously existed. Apart from the up-market, gender-restricted schools of St Anne's and Hilton College, no high school had ever existed in Hilton, although the excellent primary schools of Cowan House and Laddsworth between them had taken in large numbers of local children every year. Parents not wanting to take a boarding school option were forced to send their children to high schools either in Pietermaritzburg or in Howick. Through much prayer and faith from the founders, Mrs Frances Stimson and Mrs Trish Gatland, Grace College finally came into being.

THE FIRST YEAR - "THE GUINEA PIGS"

Grace College opened with thirteen pupils and eleven part-time staff members. Despite criticism and opposition, the founding group worked to establish the fledgling school. Not even being called a "funny little school in a shopping centre", run by a "bunch of housewives" dampened the spirits' of those pioneers! The school began with Grade 8 only and, thanks to Mr Russell Collins, the rent was more than subsidised from day one, which was just as well, since the school started without a cent in the bank!

Mr Collins gave a donation of R50 000 for initial school furniture costs, a second hand photocopier was acquired, science equipment was donated, and parents gave a TV, VCR and an overhead projector, amongst other things. Computer lessons took place at Athlone Primary School, as we had none of our own. Teachers really sacrificed to teach in that first year, taking home next to nothing to ensure the continuation of the vision.

THE YEAR 2000 - "FIRST GROWTH"

The second year opened with 43 pupils and 14 staff members. Our Grade 9's were our seniors and excitedly took the new Grade 8's under their wing. We had a full complement in this year in Grade 8 and a waiting list! Our second year saw us turning pupils away, as at that stage we had promised parents not to exceed 25 in any class, later increased to 28 pupils.

The Principal of Laddsworth was exceptionally generous in letting Grace use the school's sporting facilities. Obviously at that point team sports were still largely out of the question. Hilton Tennis Club made the playing of tennis and squash possible.

Much deliberation took place this year as to what syllabus we would follow in the higher grades. By the end of the year, after much communication with the Cambridge representative in South Africa, including a visit to the school by him, we decided to offer the Cambridge International Examinations. Our application to Cambridge was successful, and 2001 saw the beginning of teaching this syllabus.

THE YEAR 2001 - "BECOMING ESTABLISHED"

By 2001, people were starting to believe that Grace College might just be here to stay. Some 65 pupils filled the three classes up to Grade 10, with the new Grade 8 class made up almost exclusively of girls. One of our new parents, Syd Mills, marked a basketball court on the tarmac behind the school. Unfortunately this was soon covered over by four new prefabs, donated by Russell Collins, before we could even use it. However, we were deeply grateful for the extra classroom space, which released other rooms for specialised purposes in art, computers and the sciences.

THE YEAR 2002 - "REACHING FOR A DREAM"

When Dr Codrington took over as the first full-time Headmaster at the beginning of 2002, the dream of having our own facility was still just that - a dream. Once again the Ken Collins Family Trust assisted the school by donating four more prefabs, since there were now 96 pupils from Grade 8 to Grade 11, with growing evidence that Grace College was meeting a real need in the community.

Sport could now be taken more seriously and the Laddsworth facilities were used regularly for hockey, cricket and soccer. Towards the end of this year, with a demand for swimming, the headmaster of St Anne's graciously agreed to our using one of their pools for this sporting code from 2003 onwards. We have valued the warm spirit of co-operation which has been evident among the schools in the area.

The official Tribunal, set up to consider the application from the Driefonteinen 283 Property Trust (the property trust of Grace College) for the Mondi forest area to be re-zoned for educational purposes, finally granted approval. This was subject to a noise-level test from the N3 freeway and a flood-level test, which rather amused us, since we were fairly certain that our new property was last under water around the time Noah floated by! Both these tests were positive and the school could now seriously consider plans for its buildings.

Thanks yet again to the generosity of the Collins Trust, the services of Mr David Hughes, one of the architects of the Quarry Centre, were secured to draw a Master Plan. Since this included all possible future expansion, the initial estimated cost was in the region of R70 000 000, so it was necessary for there to be substantial scaling down if we were to interest potential donors in the project. This was done and the search was on for donors to buy into the vision of providing a permanent home for Grace College.

THE YEAR 2003 - "WE HAVE TO BUILD"

The year of 2003 dawned with the Trustees and Governing Body keenly aware of the fact that the exceptional permission granted them by the uMngeni Municipality to house a school temporarily in a shopping centre, would expire on 31st December. The school was continuing to grow, with 155 pupils registered for the year, a staff of 25 and a first Matric group. A further classroom was rented from the Quarry Centre and the first Assembly of the year was held in the old liquor store of the Centre!? With just R1100 in the Building Fund, the dream of owning our own premises within twelve months seemed optimistic at best and sheer foolishness at worst.

Then the ball started rolling. A donation of R100 000 given anonymously by two Christian businessmen in Mpumalanga encouraged the Trustees to believe that 2003 may just be a year to remember from a fund-raising point of view. A visit to the school by Dr Jane Hofmeyr, Director of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA), of which Grace College is a member, led to interest being shown in our project by The Development Bank of South Africa. Protracted negotiations and thorough investigation of the school by the bank eventually led to the granting of a R4.5 million bond, approved when bond rates were low.

Within days, the green light was given by the Trustees for Collins Contractors to start building the school. The first sod was turned by Mr Russell Collins on 26th July and the builders moved on site on 6th August. Their brief was to start with an Administration Block, Hall, laboratories and ablution facilities, but to put in the foundations for the additional nine classrooms which would be needed, in the hope that money for that double-storey block would be forthcoming. Sure enough, within a few weeks, the Anglo Chairman's Fund made a generous donation of R1 million to the project and the go-ahead was given for the full Phase One to be built.

Again, this would have been impossible without the amazing generosity of the Ken Collins Family Trust, which pledged a further R900 000 to the project, as well as agreeing to continue paying the "rent" of R32 000 a month, which they had paid throughout 2003, for one more year.

THE YEAR 2004 - "OUR OWN PLACE"

Slight rain delays meant that the doors of the new school only opened on 2nd February 2004, but there was great excitement among the 221 pupils and 28 staff members. At last we had our own 'home', with a magnificent Main Building (housing administrative offices, computer centre and library, plus two laboratories and ablution facilities. By the start of second term the double-storey classroom block, with dedicated senior and junior art rooms, plus a junior laboratory, was completed. Thanks to a wonderful donation from Rand Merchant Bank and a bond from the Standard Bank, it was possible to complete the entire Phase One, including a truly magnificent Hall.

This year also saw the start of an experimental 'bridging year' between Grades 7 and 8, to assist struggling pupils to prepare more adequately for high school. The D G Murray Trust and the Development Bank of SA generously provided the funding for this initial year.

YEARS 2005 and 2006 - "PUTTING DOWN ROOTS"

2005 and 2006 were years of consolidation, ensuring that the infrastructure for a sound education was firmly in place. The challenge to make sporting facilities available to the pupils was uppermost in the minds of the management and governors and it was a great joy to see the first field starting to turn green! The school's first bus was purchased and the various sports teams began to make their presence felt. Mountain biking was adopted as the niche sport of the school, and the Grace College team rose to this challenge by winning the Mongoose Interschools Mountain Bike series in September.

On the academic front Grace College surprised all the opposition by taking first place in the National Science Olympiad, with four pupils in the top 100 and one in the top 7 in the country. It went further at year-end by producing a 100% Matriculation pass in its first IEB Grade 12 examinations, with 94% of the pupils obtaining University Entrance.

YEAR - 2007 - "BUILDING ON A FIRM FOUNDATION"

There was much change at Grace College in 2007. After six and a half years of outstanding leadership, Dr. Reg Codrington left at the end of the second term to take up an exciting challenge as the local Head of Usuza University. The Deputy Head, Mike Bownes did an excellent job as acting Head until Mr. Sean Moore was able to take the reins for the last term. Sean has a wealth of experience in education and school leadership and is well qualified to take the school to the next level.

The school property was also transformed last year, with old wattle plantation giving way to an enormous levelled platform for the new sport fields. After months of earth moving, dust and noise the new field was finally done. Alongside this huge structure are new tennis, basketball and netball courts. Together with the appointment of a full time sport co-coordinator, the next few years promise to be an exciting time for sport at Grace College.

The Geography and Life Science labs were enhanced by the addition of smart boards, and the computer lab upgraded a number of the computers.

On the academic front, Grace pupils once again achieved a 100% pass rate in the IEB Matric exams with a total of 39 distinctions shared by 41 matrics.

Year 2008 and beyond - "ITS IN HIS HANDS"

As a school community, we are all so astounded and grateful for what has been achieved in such a short time. Term 3 saw the first official use of the new fields for soccer and we look forward to being able to host our first cricket matches in the 4th Term. As the school grows from strength to strength numerically, so we anticipate being able to continue with the building programme designed for the school. Despite a long wish list, a new classroom block to replace the pre-fabs and a pavilion are the next facilities planned. We continue to trust God for his provision, His guidance and His leading.