The Cambridge pathway
Cambridge in its purest form.
From a sensorial Preschool to Cambridge AS & A Level, taught by teachers who know every child. Here is how it runs, phase by phase.
Why Cambridge
An education a child can take anywhere.
The Cambridge curriculum is followed in schools across the world and recognised by universities everywhere.
For an international family, that means continuity: what a child has been learning, they carry on learning, and what they learn here travels with them.
For a Johannesburg family, it means an internationally portable, academically rigorous education with a wide choice of universities at the end of it. Cambridge is not a feature of Waterford International. It is how we teach, delivered in full: not adapted, not blended, not diluted.
Weighing Cambridge against CAPS? Our sister school on the same precinct, Waterford College, teaches CAPS toward the IEB matric. Come and see both in one visit.
The pathway
From a sensorial start to A Level.
Preschool lays the foundations, and the Cambridge pathway begins in Reception Year, the Grade R year. Preschool and Cambridge Primary are open today, along with Stage 7. The High School grows one year at a time, so the children we welcome now can complete their full Cambridge pathway with us.
- Turning 3 to 5PreschoolA rich, sensorial approachOpen
- Turning 6 to 11Cambridge PrimaryReception Year, then Stages 1 to 6Open
- Ages 11 to 14Cambridge Lower SecondaryStages 7 to 9Stage 7 open, Stages 8 and 9 phasing in
- Ages 14 to 16Cambridge Upper SecondaryCambridge IGCSEPhasing in
- Ages 16 to 19Cambridge AdvancedCambridge AS Level and A LevelPhasing in
Preschool · Ages 3 to 6
Belonging comes first.
Our Preschool, for children turning 3, 4 and 5, follows the same rich, sensorial approach as the Preschool at our sister school, Waterford College: inspired by Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Charlotte Mason.
Children work with materials they can hold, pour, sort and build with, so an idea is met with the hands long before it is met on a page.
It is where “at home in the world” starts, in classrooms where a child is known by name within the first week and three home languages before snack time is nothing unusual. Reception Year, the year a child turns 6 (Grade R), is the last year of Preschool and the point where our two Waterford pathways part ways: here, it is the first year of the Cambridge pathway, leading children into Stage 1.
- A half day to 12:00, a three-quarter day to 15:00 or a full day to 17:30, with drop-off from 07:00
- Breakfast and lunch on the half day; breakfast, lunch and a snack on the three-quarter and full day
- Stationery, craft supplies and sunscreen included in the fees
Preparatory School · Stages 1 to 7
Known, taught at their level, and stretched.
The Preparatory School covers Cambridge Primary (Stages 1 to 6) and the first year of Cambridge Lower Secondary (Stage 7).
Every child is taught at their level and stretched in the direction they are growing. This is what personal attention actually looks like.
English, Mathematics and Science sit at the core, alongside the arts, sport and an ever-growing co-curricular programme. Teachers notice the small things: the child reading aloud in their second language for the first time, the maths lesson that turned into a debate.
- School day from 08:30 to 16:00
- Supervised care from 07:15 and until 17:00, with no aftercare fees
- Sports coaching and cultural co-curriculars included
High School · Stage 8 onwards
A founding class, and a pathway to A Level.
Our High School is phasing in one year at a time, starting with a founding Stage 8 class, then Stage 9, Cambridge Upper Secondary (Cambridge IGCSE) and Cambridge Advanced (Cambridge AS Level and A Level).
Families joining now are founding families. Their children set the tone for everyone who follows, in classes that keep the same size and the same care as the rest of the school.
- School day from 08:30 to 16:00, like the rest of the school, with supervised care from 07:15 and until 17:00
- Compulsory at IGCSE: English, Mathematics and an additional language (isiZulu or Afrikaans)
- Indicative IGCSE and AS & A Level electives: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Environmental Management, Business Studies, IT and Computer Science, History
The final subject list is confirmed as the High School phases in. A once-off laptop levy applies from the first High School year; see Fees.
Our teachers
Qualified, Cambridge-experienced, and still learning.
Our teachers are qualified professionals, many with international Cambridge teaching experience, and committed to developing their craft year after year.
They pronounce every name correctly on day one, and they take results, recognition and transferability seriously.
As part of ThriveEd, they also work alongside colleagues across the ThriveEd network of schools, sharing what works.
Visit us
Come and see for yourself.
Walkabouts run every week. Walk the precinct, sit in on the rhythm of a real school day and ask us anything. It is the quickest way to know whether Waterford International is right for your family.