The Ridge Church School is an independent and

parochial Parochial is an adjective which may refer to: * Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a ...

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

preparatory

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children are given instruction during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compared to a regular s ...

Accra, Ghana Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population ...

. Situated between the Gamel Abdul Nasser Avenue and Guinea Bissau Road and opposite the Efua Sutherland Children's Park, it was founded by the Accra Ridge Church in 1957, the year of Ghana's independence from the United Kingdom. The Ridge Church School is located on the premises of the church. It was the first wholly private basic school to be established in modern Ghana. The Accra Ridge Church was the first international solely English-speaking

Protestant church Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...

in Ghana. The school is inter-denominational Christian, holding ties to the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

churches, that assign chaplains to both the church and school. The school runs a ten–year programme from kindergarten to lower primary through upper primary to junior high and culminating in the

Basic Education Certificate Examination The Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is the main examination to qualify students for admission into secondary and vocational schools in Ghana, and Nigeria. It is written after three years of junior secondary education. It is administ ...

(BECE) administered by the

West African Examinations Council The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is an examination board established by law to determine the examinations required in the public interest in the English-speaking West African countries, to conduct the examinations and to award certi ...

(WAEC). The school largely follows the prescribed curriculum and syllabus of the

Ghana Education Service The Ghana Education Service (GES) is a government agency under the Ministry of Education responsible for implementing government policies that ensure that Ghanaians of school-going age irrespective of their ethnicity, gender, disability, religio ...

(GES).

History

On 23 January 1955, the congregants at the Annual General Meeting of the Accra Ridge Church voted to accept the decision to establish a school. The church amended its constitution to enable the incorporation of the school in order to give the legal oversight of the school to the Church Council. Direct management of the school is undertaken by a nine-member

Board of Governors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulations ...

which reports to the Church Council as the ultimate approving authority. The Accra Ridge Church raised funds and the official opening of the school took place on 7 January 1957 as inter-denominational school for children of Christian

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...

church members living in Ghana. The first headmistress was Mrs. Ellen Stronge. The school's Parent-Teacher Association was formed in 1958. At the school's opening, there were thirty-three pupils in the first and second grades in two streams. The first two classes were housed in a single block of two classrooms and washrooms. Later on, more classroom blocks and other facilities were added to the school infrastructure. In the early days, there were pupils from nearly 40 countries. After the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah in 1966, many expatriates left the country and indirectly affected the school's international make-up. In addition, other international schools such as the Lincoln Community School, the Swiss School and Ghana International School were established. In 1978, a third stream was added to each class. The junior secondary curriculum was introduced in 1987 while the upper primary school started subject level teaching in September 2003.

Facilities and infrastructure

Apart from thirty-two classrooms, the school has a multi-purpose block that houses a library, an assembly hall, a computer laboratory, washrooms and a storeroom. Other blocks have a kindergarten and a playroom, staff rooms, a school cafeteria and a

canopy walkway Canopy walkways – also called canopy walks, treetop walks or treetop walkways – provide pedestrian access to a forest canopy. Early walkways consisted of bridges between trees in the canopy of a forest; mostly linked up with platforms insid ...

connecting the lower secondary school to the kindergarten and primary departments. The school also owns a

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

or catering centre, an administration block, a science laboratory, an infirmary and a pre-technical skills workshop for wood and metalwork. There is also a basketball court and an

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...

football field on the campus.

Learning environment

Curriculum

The school population is 987 pupils comprising 466 boys and 521 girls. The academic year runs on a three term calendar: Advent, Lent and Trinity terms. In 2011, the school introduced a one–year kindergarten programme for 5-year-olds. The 10-year curriculum is therefore made up of a one-year kindergarten course, 6-year primary school and three years of Junior High School. The headmistress is assisted by three assistant heads for each department: kindergarten and lower primary; upper primary and the junior high departments. The three-year (9-term)

Junior High School Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes ...

(JHS) curriculum according to the

syllabus prepares students for the

(BECE) conducted by the

. All pupils are trained in the Marion Richardson handwriting system. School subjects taught include languages including English, French, Ghanaian languages such as Ga and Twi, mathematics, music, natural sciences, social studies, religious and moral education, basic design and technology (pre-vocational skills, graphic design & pre-technical skills), home economics (catering & life skills), information and communications technology (ICT) and physical education. In the 1970s, all

Common Entrance Examination Common Entrance Examinations (commonly known as CE) are taken by independent school pupils in the UK as part of the selective admissions process at age 13, though ten independent schools do select at 11 using different test papers. They are se ...

candidates from the school were admitted to their first choice secondary school as a result of the school's selectivity and rigorous curriculum. The school has consistently obtained a 100% pass rate in the

and later, the

, making it one of the best basic schools in the country and a feeder for highly selective secondary schools. Pupils are required to take part in extra-curricular club activities every Thursday. Options include Girl and Ananse Guide,

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, Good News Club, Reading Club, Sports Club, Cadet Corps,

Ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

Chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

, Boys’ Scout, Science Club, Cultural Drumming and Dancing Club, Music and Drama Club. Over the years, pupils of the schools have participated in various local and international inter-school academic and sports competitions such as The Spelling Bee Ghana and the

Scripps National Spelling Bee The Scripps National Spelling Bee, formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and often referred to as the National Spelling Bee or simply “the Spelling Bee” in the United States, is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. ...

Terms

There are three academic terms in the year: *The Advent Term, from early September to mid December *The Lent Term, from mid January to late March or early April *The Trinity Term, from late April to late June or early July

Staff

The school has 56 teachers who are diploma and first degree holders: 4 for kindergarten; 29 for primary school and 23 for the JHS department. Lower-primary teaching is done at the class level. Upper primary and junior high students are taught at the subject level. The non-teaching staff is made up of an administrative officer, an accountant, a librarian, a caretaker, a cashier, a storekeeper, a driver, six campus security men and nine other ancillary staff.

Section system

There are four sections at the Ridge Church School. From kindergarten through to the Junior High School, each pupil belongs to one of four sections: Sackey (Red), Hooper (Yellow), Stronge (Blue), Bennett (Green). The purpose of the section system is to foster healthy social contact across all pupils at the school. The section system forms the basis for inter-house competitions such as Sports (Football/Soccer, Basketball, Athletics/ Track and Field, etc.), Public Speaking (Speech and Debate), Music, Dance and Drama.

School heads

The following individuals have served as the headmistress of the school:

Notable alumni

* Junior Agogo, footballer * Joseph Samuel Annan, MP, Parliament of Ghana (2009–13) * Nathaniel Attoh, professional master of ceremonies, international boxing ring announcer, and television and radio journalist * D-Black, musician * Herman Chinery-Hesse, technology entrepreneur * Joe Ghartey, lawyer, academic and politician * Nana Oye Lithur, barrister, gender advocate and politician * Jean Adukwei Mensa, Electoral Commissioner of Ghana * Florence Oboshie Sai-Coffie, media executive and politician * Kokui Selormey, media personality * Mabel Simpson, fashion designer

References

{{Authority control Anglican schools in Africa Education in Accra Educational institutions established in 1957 1957 establishments in Ghana Schools in Accra Methodist schools in Ghana Presbyterian schools in Africa