Guess who's back WCED....

That's right everyone 4 years after my first run at this and here we are again - luckily, it's my last as well. The start of the 2023/2024 High School Application process always brings with it a rollercoaster of emotions, fear that your child won't get into the school you have set your heart on, fear that their grades are not good enough, fear that you do not live close enough, the daunting realization that High School's charge double or even triple the Primary School Fees and not forgetting the realization that you are officially getting old when your youngest starts High School LOL. In my first run I applied at 8 schools, did 6 open days and granted this was overkill, but I did not know any better and wanted to ensure my son got in somewhere, now I know better, I need about 4 school applications and only need to visit these schools for their open day. Not enough emphasis is placed on the open day, but it is such an integral part of making the right choice as ultimately your child needs to get the feeling that I can see myself in this environment.

When I did this in 2018 it was the first year of online WCED applications and the entire process of duplicated so we did online and physical applications, now I see the process is more streamlined and only certain schools require you to deliver physical documentation to the school, my recommendation is take the physical documents to your chosen school even if it states voluntary, this just means that should anything happen to your online application you have a backup. In addition, many schools have some form of online form indicating your interest in applying to the school and this needs to be completed should you want to attend the open day, I believe that this helps them manage potential applicants and numbers better.

The hardest part of these applications is the fact that gone are the days when the school simply focuses on your child's Grade 6 results, in addition they want to know: what Sports (both summer and winter) your child plays and for which team (First or second) they played for, what cultural activities (Music, choir, drama etc.) your child was involved in, what service related activities (scouts, charity, church) your child was involved in and let's be honest all Covid taught our kids to do really well is play online games with friends so these activities they are looking for are usually lacking and leaves the parents hyperventilating at the fact that they do not have much to enter other than our bias opinions of how amazing our kids are! Then they want a motivation letter not only from you but one from your kid as well, the same kid who writes the same message in your Mother's Day Card every year (Thank you for feeding me, buying me stuff and caring for me) lol and now you are asking them to put into words why they want to attend your school that most likely they have not even given a second thought? I actually wonder if the schools sit and read through all of these motivation letters, and I am sure there are a few colorful ones that make them laugh. Applications open on 13 March 2023 and close the 14th of April, most open days happen in February 2023 and you have a list of must have documents that you need to either get certified or just have ready, so to aid you all in this process I have put together the following information with requirements for a few schools in the Southern Suburbs in Cape Town, hope it helps and all the best to you all!