1998: After seeing the need for good quality education for the previously disadvantaged community, Gaye Oosthuyzen (now Mrs. Stilwell) and Roy Stilwell opened Advance for Life Education Centre. The school was opened in an old age home building that had been closed down by the government. They started with three classes and 45 learners the first year.

 

 

1999: The school doubled in one year as there was a shortage of schools offering quality education to the majority population. The school had five classes and about 100 learners.

 

 

1999: End of 1999, the government took the building back to use as police barracks, and the school had to relocate to a Catholic mission station near Mdantsane. The school had six classes and about 130 learners.

 

 

2000: The school had six classes and about 150 learners. But at the end of the year, the Catholic Church had need of their building again.

 

 

2001: The only premises that the school could get at the time was at a house in Cambridge suburb and once again the school had to relocate. Because of all the moves, the school lost a lot of learners. The school had four classes and about 100 learners.

 

 

2002: As the school continued to offer a very high standard of education, the school saw growth again. The school had six classes and about 130 learners.

 

 

2003: The premises the school was at could not contain the growth of the school and a second premises had to be rented to hold the two new classes. The school had eight classes and about 160 learners.

A donation was made that allowed the school to secure the present premises in Wilsonia.

2004: The huge building in Wilsonia was a drawing card for parents to bring their children to the school. The school had seven classes and about 160 learners.

 

 

2005: The growth continued and the school had seven classes and about 170 learners. The years’ success was darkened by the sadness in October, when Roy Stilwell was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

 

 

2006: 6 January the Lord took Roy Stilwell to be with Him in Glory. The  Government also passed a law that government schools would not be paid out for any teacher that had a class under forty learners. The schools previously closed to majority of the population opened their doors to all. The school had a sharp drop in attendance and we had five classes and about 101 learners.

The name of the school changed from Advance for Life Education Centre to Advance for Life Christian Academy. A security fence was put right around the school.  In September, Esther Wallis joined her mom Gaye Stilwell to help share the work load.

 

 

2007: The school had six classes and about 120 learners. The sports field was completed. Mrs Gaye Stilwell went into retirement after 49 years of teaching.

 

 

2008: We had ten classes with 200 learners attending the school. We are a school that consists of Grade R to Grade Seven.

 

 

2009: We had eleven classes with 256 learners attending the school. We encountered a huge problem at the end of the year in that we were unable to place our grade 7 learners in schools with equivalent education standards as ours.

 

 

2010: 307 learners attended our school. We progressed into High School to accommodate our Grade 7 learners from 2009 that had not been placed in schools.

 

 

2011: We saw our first Grade 9 class and a total of 372 learners. We opened our first remedial class where children that are struggling either with learning disabilities or who have fallen behind are assisted one on one in catching up with their peers.

 

 

2012: Promises to be a fantastic year all around. With our new FET students in Grade 10 moving to new premise at 1 Regent Street, Eureka and our second Grade R class.  A total of 432 learners attending Advance For Life Christian Academy.

 

 

2013: We have 465 learners attending our school from Grades R to 11. We have 40 staff members working at the school , all with the vision of creating a better tomorrow for our learners to live in. We are part of a global community and we stress to learners the importance of their walk with God, their protecting the environment and being good stewards of their time and resources.

 

 

2014: We are aiming for a 100% pass rate with our first Grade Twelve class consisting of 13 learners. We will be writing the IEB (Independent Examination Board) Grade 12 NCS Exam. We have a total of 586 learners from Grade R to Grades 12. We have opened a new class for learners with moderate learning disabilities. They are being taught Life Skills and Home Sciences in hopes to create job and open up entrepreneur opportunities for them in the future.

2015: We are extremely proud of our first Grade 12 class producing an 85% pass rate.  We now have 614 students and 55 members of staff. 

 

 

FUTURE: We would like to expand on the idea of a special education school in East London as there is only one such school serving the greater border region! There is also the vision to start a Bible College where our learners can go to further their education. The Bible College would be a four year course where students would major in Biblical Studies but would also be able to get an education in a field of their choice, such as computers, nursing, emergency work, counselling etc.