Cool school: An Education Alternative

There's the student cafe, the radio station and the relaxed uniform policy ... not to mention the early morning surfing and golf lessons.

It's called Reddam House and is the brainchild of Graeme Crawford, who's set up 26 similar schools in his homeland of South Africa. He was inspired to create a learning environment radically different from his experience as a school student, where he felt schools produced students who were "very good followers of instructions".

Reddam aims to promote interests outside the regular curriculum to give students a more rounded education. "We want to produce creative, free-thinking individuals to go into society and make a difference," says Graeme.

While the school provides all the regular subjects like English, maths, science and history, students can choose which religion they study or opt for the moral studies course. Reddam also offers a life skills course:

"We do table etiquette - what knife and fork to use first at a formal dinner party - through to basic car maintenance - how to change a car tyre, how to change a fan belt - through to basic financial skills - how to write out a bank cheque," says Graeme.

Not surprisingly, students relish the freedom of choice and sense of fun, which means they're motivated to go to school each day. And Graeme Crawford says the schools in South Africa have achieved excellent academic results.

However, Reddam House doesn't come cheap, with fees costing up to $11,500 a year.

Click here for the transcript of the chatroom interview after the show was aired.