Our children value being treated as individuals and are encouraged to reach their full potential.

St Barnabas was founded by Valerie Illidge (BA [Hons] HDE LLB) in 2000, when she started assisting her son and a few other students as a home school. This soon developed into a small high school with excellent specialist educators and St Barnabas is now registered with the KZN Department of Education as an independent high school. The school operates from a large home in Durban North and intentionally seeks to provide a ‘home school’ experience.

Most class-rooms are air-conditioned and there are AV and PC facilities. St Barnabas avails itself of the Durban North Municipal Library at the nearby Kensington Square. There is a small tuck-shop, however children are encouraged to bring healthy lunches to school. Participation in a team sport is encouraged mostly at club level but St Barnabas plays netball and soccer against other small-to-medium schools periodically.

Children at St Barnabas don’t endure the unnecessary pressures of mainstream high schools or performance-driven private schools. Here, we focus on individual academic and personal goals. Children function better in small groups where there is less distraction and they feel at ease asking questions in a relaxed but controlled environment.

Our children value being treated as individuals and are encouraged to reach their full potential. Highly qualified and caring educators help children fill educational gaps and reach their academic objectives . We encourage our children to succeed.