Grayston Preparatory

A co-ed independent prep in Sandown, opened January 1994, running Grade 000 (age 3) through Grade 7. Around 640 pupils drawn from over 60 nationalities, feeding into the major Johannesburg high schools.

Grayston is unusual in Johannesburg history, taking children of all races before 1994. That diversity is now the defining feature, with pupils from 60-plus countries on roll. The Child Support Centre, an in-house assessment and therapy unit running since 1993, is a real asset for families with children needing learning or emotional support. Roughly a third of leavers win scholarships to senior school.

Families value the small classes, the parent-involvement culture, and the breadth of academics, sport, and culture for a school of this size. Ché McKay heads the school. Best fit for Sandton families wanting a multicultural prep with strong scholarship outcomes, knowing the senior-school choice will need to be made separately at Grade 7.

• Independent co-ed prep school in Sandton serving Grade 000 to Grade 7; positions itself as a tech-forward IAPS-style preparatory.
• The most concrete parent-facing data point is the school's own claim that around a third of leavers win scholarships to high school, a reasonable proxy for academic outcomes for the area.
• Parent involvement is a deliberate feature: regular open mornings ('Puzzles and Games') are cited as a routine way parents work alongside their children in school.
• Around 40% of teaching is reported to use technology, with iPads from Grade 5 and a Google Apps for Education backbone; this is a fit/non-fit signal more than a quality one.
• Independent online discussion is sparse; the school's biggest news mention is a brief Covid-era closure in March 2020 after a staff exposure, not a quality issue.