Schools cut ties with Kingswood over pupil ‘poaching’

Several top public schools, including three in East London, have cut sporting and cultural ties with prestigious Makhanda private school Kingswood College because of what one school termed its aggressive poaching of their most talented pupils.

Graeme College in Makhanda wrote this week to parents informing them it was cancelling all sporting fixtures and cultural ties with Kingswood College with immediate effect. The first event to be cancelled was a scheduled cricket fixture for February 15. The schools have until now enjoyed a long collegial history.

It seems that Kingswood has blotted its copybook with several other schools by what Graeme termed its “disruptive” recruitment methods. These schools include East London’s Selborne College, Hudson Park High and Cambridge High, all of which have cut ties.

Kingswood College has rejected claims that it is targeting particular schools to recruit pupils. School communications manager Jackie Grove described what Kingswood offered as “scholarship and bursary opportunities that adhere to a fair, transparent process and are centred on the individual learner and the opportunities we can provide to them in consultation with their guardian/s”.

She said each year Kingswood College had more than 600 applicants from around the country and the world for its scholarships and bursaries and “looked at each candidate through an equal lens.

“The narrative that Graeme, or any other school, is being targeted is untrue. We will continue to attempt to engage Graeme College as we believe the cancellation of fixtures and cultural events is not in the best interest of the children of Makhanda,” she said.

But in the letter to parents, Graeme headmaster Kevin Watson and the school’s governing board (SGB) chair Cameron McConnachie said Kingswood reportedly offered reduced fees to talented Graeme College pupils to attract them. The letter alleged Kingswood invited them on the basis they could pay the same school fees as they did at Graeme to attend Kingswood — which amounts to more than a R100,000 discount on Kingswood’s usual annual fee.

High school day-pupils at Graeme can expect to pay fees of about R32,000 a year, whereas Kingswood day-pupils will pay between R160,000 and R171,000.

Graeme said in the letter parents of children moving to Kingswood were “reportedly required to sign non-disclosure agreements” about the reduced fees, “possibly to avoid concerns from full-fee-paying parents at Kingswood.

“During this time, a large number of our learners have moved to Kingswood, with many more being approached, often discreetly.”

The letter said the transfers also generally happened without the customary communication between schools.

“The Graeme learners targeted for recruitment are typically high achievers in academics and sport, as well as the children of families who consistently contribute to the success of Graeme College. This recruitment strategy is not only disruptive to the school’s operations but also deeply demoralising for the Graeme community.”

It said while the poaching was not unlawful, it had undermined the relationship between the schools and had threatened the stability of Graeme, while the practice had continued despite several attempts by Graeme College staff and the SGB to address it through meetings and correspondence.

On Monday Cambridge’s head of extra-curricular activities Tim Stirk confirmed the school had decided more than a year ago to cut ties with Kingswood because of its alleged pupil poaching. He said nothing had changed from Kingswood’s side and no fences had been mended. Cambridge had never had any issues with other private schools poaching its pupils in the same way.

Selborne College headmaster Andrew Dewar said the school had severed all ties with Kingswood in January 2024 for what he termed its underhanded recruitment of their top sports stars in particular. He said the final straw had been two top pupils poached by Kingswood in December 2023 who had simply not returned to Selborne in 2024.

“Why pillage the top talent from other schools when that is what offers competitiveness between us? Schools need to stand up to this practice,” he said.

Dewar said the school had no relationship with Kingswood any more after decades of positive interaction. He said most schools communicated between themselves when a pupil left one school to go to another.

“It’s not underhand and we don’t poach. But with Kingswood there is no discussion or communication.”

No other Eastern Cape private school behaved this way, though they had suffered some poaching at the hands of some private schools in KwaZulu-Natal, he said, pointing to the likelihood that this practice would have a negative effect on the Kingswood community.

A school that imported talent rather than growing or recognising its own long-time pupils did itself a great disservice, he said.

“You need to value your school community.”

Speaking on behalf of Hudson Park High School, Donna Bartlett declined to provide detailed comment except to confirm that the school no longer played any sports against Kingswood.

“We fully support Graeme College in their decision,” she said.

Graeme College said while it supported the success of schools such as Kingswood, this should not be achieved at the expense of public schools in Makhanda and the Eastern Cape, most of which operated “in challenging economic circumstances.

“Kingswood’s current recruitment strategy is detrimental to the broader education ecosystem in Makhanda and the Eastern Cape. We remain hopeful that, in time, a positive relationship with Kingswood can be restored and the valued traditions of sporting and cultural exchanges — so deeply woven into our history — will again be part of our shared calendar.”

Grove said Kingswood would “continue to attempt to engage Graeme College as we believe the cancellation of fixtures and cultural events is not in the best interest of the children of Makhanda”.

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