Andre Swart was born in the small Kwa-Zulu Natal town of Vryheid (meaning Freedom). He is the middle son of three. His younger brother, Timothy, runs a guest house in Northern Ireland, and his eldest brother is Deputy Principal at a private High School in Gauteng.

After surviving the challenges of attending 6 different schools during his schooling, he matriculated at Newcastle High School in 1982. At the time, it was compulsory to do 2-year military service and he was then assigned to a base camp in Ladysmith. Once he completed his military service, he started studying as a teacher at Durban Teacher’s Training College.

His first teaching post, in 1990, was at Drakensview Primary, in the Kwa-Zulu Natal midlands town of Estcourt. Four years later, he moved down the road to Pietermaritzburg and taught at Bisley Park Primary and afterwards at Scottsville Primary.

Towards the end of 1997, he was offered the position of Deputy Principal at John Mackenzie School in Francistown, Botswana and in January 1998, made the big move up north. During the next 9 years, he gained valuable experience working in an international environment and working at a school which catered for primary and high school students. The Board of Governors appointed Andre as the Principal in 2004, following the retirement of the previous principal. During this time, he studied further and was awarded a BEd Honours Degree in Education Management from the University of Johannesburg.

He left Botswana at the end of 2006, and moved to the Southern Cape region, in order to be closer to his children. He spent 10 wonderful years at Milkwood Primary School, situated in the picturesque town of Mossel Bay.

Andre then joined the IES group as Principal at Helderberg International School on the 1st September 2017. He spend 3 and a half happy years at Helderberg before starting at Blouberg International School on 1st April 2021.

He has been married to his best friend, Sue, for 13 years. They both enjoy the outdoors, hiking, photography, theatre, running and experiencing new things. Four children keep them humble. Damon is 25 and is a 4th year Chemical Engineering student at Stellenbosch University, Paige is 24 and has completed her BA Developmental and Environment and Honours Degree at Stellenbosch University, Leah is in her 4th year, studying Mechanical Engineering at University of California, Los Angeles and Katie is in her 3rd year, studying Industrial Engineering at Stellenbosch University.