St Stithians College
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| St Stithians College | |
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| One and All | |
| Established | 1953 |
|---|---|
| School type | Private, Boarding |
| Locale | Suburban |
| Grades | 0 - 13 |
| Rector | Stephen Lowry |
| Exam board | IEB, A-levels |
| Location | Randburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |
| Students | 760 boys, 451 girls (College) |
| Colors | Red and blue |
| Fees | R 92 880 p.a. (boarding) R 53 350 p.a. (tuition) |
| Website | www.stithian.com |
St Stithians College consists of several private schools within a co-ordinate model and includes a boys' college, a girls' college, a boys' preparatory school and a girls' preparatory school.
As a Methodist school, it has ties to Kearsney College, Epworth High School and Kingswood College. It has a boarding option at the boys' college.
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[edit] History
The idea of setting up a Methodist school in Johannesburg came to Mr G.K. Tucker who wanted to base it on the pattern of his old school, Kingswood College in Grahamstown. The Methodist Church did not have the money so he turned to people who would be interested in financing it.
He met two Cornishmen, both born in 1859, Albert Charles Collins and William Mountstephens, who were Methodists and promising new businessmen who had started to make a name for themselves in their new country.
Collins, who never married, died first and this led to the creation of the Trust for building the Methodist school Tucker had dreamt of. The Trust was formally opened in April 1941 and, at Mountstephens' suggestion, was named after Collins' birthplace, Stithians, a village in Cornwall.
These trustees were D.F. Corlett, C.H. Leake, J.B. Webb and G.K. Tucker.
The Trust was able to purchase a piece of land, which was part of the farm Driefontein (one of the "fonteins" can be found on the grounds) for an amount of £8713 in 1943 but nothing further was achieved until after the War. At first it was thought that building costs might drop and so the trustees waited until it became obvious that prices would not drop and so the decision to build was made in 1951.
Mountstephens lived to see the land purchased, but not the school built; his widow on the other hand, was to take an active interest in the school until her death. The school was to have been a secondary school only and at first the debate on co-education was open. Circumstances were to make decisions for the Trustees: the area was new and remote; its people wanted a boys' school and a preparatory school as well as a secondary school
On 3 February 1953, St Stithians College was formally opened, and foundation scholars were enrolled at both Grade 8 and Grade 1 levels. The school thrived under Wally Mears, its first headmaster.
[edit] The Badge
The Badge is based on the coat of arms of the Duke of Cornwall, which is a Crusader shield on which are displayed 15 golden Bezants in the shape of a triangle with the motto 'One and All'. The story of the 15 bezants occurs during the Crusades when the Duke of Cornwall was captured by the Saracens. A ransom of 15 bezants was set up. All the people of Cornwall contributed to raise the money for the ransom. It was paid and the Duke was set free. The inhabitants had all helped together One and All to raise the money – hence the motto.
The founders decided that the shield would have to be modified to suit the school, as a new badge. It was then decided that it should have a dark blue border along the outside edge of the shield with 15 gold bezants arranged equally along either side on the blue border. On the inside would be a silver shield on which the red cross stands out boldly to signify the Christian foundation of the College.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Denis Beckett, writer, journalist, and host of the TV show Beckett's Trek
- Gavin Hood, Academy award-winning director of Tsotsi
- Dave Matthews, lead singer of the Dave Matthews Band
- Brigid Osborne, model and runner-up Miss SA 2006
- Tokollo Tshabalala, Kabelo Mabalane, and Zwai Bala, members of TKZee
- Thomas Pule Mofolo, associate director of the; "the ministry of tomorrow", "[[1]]"[[2]], and creator of the R.E.A.L NGO
[edit] St Stithians Today
St Stithians is a member of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa, the Round Square association and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
St Stithians Boys' College has a friendly rivalry with St John's College.
Tuition fees for 2007 are R53,350 p.a. whilst boarding and tuition at the boys' college is R92,880 p.a.
St Stithians subscribes to a set of values laid out in the Saints Charter.
On thursday March 2 2007 the boys dormitory caught fire and was destroyed. Damage was estimated by some at 8million rand. The occupants were eating dinner elsewhere and nobody was hurt.
[edit] Academics
The colleges write the Independent Examinations Board exams.
| IEB Results | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of candidates | 200 | 239 | 217 | |||||
| Number of failures | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| University endorsement (%) | 98 | 96 | 97 | 97 | 94 | 95 | ||
| A aggregates (%) | 50 | 33 | 32 | |||||
| A-B-C aggregates (%) | 87 | |||||||
| Subject distinctions | 239 | 251 | 306 | 352 | 323 | 366 | 321 | |
| Number in top 50 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
![[2]](http://theministryoftomorrow.com/Images/MOT-LOGO.gif){kind=link}