St Mary'S School For Girls (Sandton)

Waverley, Sandton. Already we know what we are dealing with. St Mary's School for Girls has been around since 1888, which means this school is older than electricity, older than the ANC, and honestly probably older than some of the ideas they are still teaching. They call themselves "Johannesburg's oldest school" like that is a flex and not just a reminder that the building has had a lot of time to develop character and plumbing issues. Grade 12 fees are R218,425. Per year. That is not school fees, that is a deposit on a townhouse in Centurion. And they have 1026 girls on campus with 129 teachers, so one teacher for every 8 learners, meaning your teacher actually knows your name and your business and your mother's name and exactly why you were not at chapel on Tuesday. No hiding in the back row at St Mary's. The Anglican tradition will find you. Speaking of which, they have a pre-primary school called "Little Saints" which is genuinely adorable but also very on the nose for a school that has been marinating in Anglican ethos since Queen Victoria was still complaining about everything. They coach girls to be "well-rounded, confident individuals" and honestly, for R218k a year, that girl better be well-rounded, trilingual, and able to play the violin while debating constitutional law. Overall verdict: St Mary's is what happens when a school takes itself seriously for 136 years straight, but fair enough, it seems to be working.