WOODRIDGE College headmaster Craig Neave plans to have a blast in his last week at the college, before jetting off to head a school in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal. Neave, 56, is vacating the headmaster's office to take up the principalship of Felixton College, which is 8km outside the sugar cane town of Empangeni on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, on Monday.
His last day will be on Friday, when staff and pupils will hold a special assembly to wish him well with his new venture. He has been with the school for 24 years, of which the last 10 were spent at its helm. While excited to take on the new challenge, Neave is sad to be leaving the college, which was his first job in his teaching career. "I have really been privileged to have been at Woodridge and I will forever cherish my memories of this place.
However, there comes a time to move on to other challenges. "I hope to grow Felixton the same way Woodridge has grown." Neave, who was born and bred in Durban, said despite going back home he considered the Eastern Cape his real home as he fell in love with the province when he started as a student at Grahamstown's Rhodes University 28 years ago. Neave matriculated in Durban in 1975 and spent eight years working in commerce while obtaining a diploma at the then Natal Tech. "I realised that teaching was what I actually wanted to do, so I enrolled for a BA at Rhodes and I did a postgraduate certificate in education [PGCE].
While doing my first year of law thereafter, I realised I needed to say goodbye to being a professional student and begin work. "In 1991, I started at Woodridge and it has been an amazing journey," he said. He had taught the parents of some of the college's pupils. "I feel like I'm leaving family behind. We have grown so close. I've become so attached to the pupils, it will be very difficult tearing myself away," he said. Neave's children, twins Alex and Lauren, 23, and 19-year-old Darren, were all schooled at the college.
"The move is going to be an exciting time for my wife Sheila and I but we will definitely be coming back. We have a beach house at Jeffreys Bay, so we will spend our holidays this side as our children are here." He said he would leave knowing the school was in good hands as he had great faith in his successor, current deputy Simon Crane. "He is an excellent educator and has such passion. He will do a great job as head of the college," Neave said.
By: Zandile Mbabela
Article Source: THE HERALD