St Stithians College

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St Stithians College
St Stithian's badge
One and All
Location
Randburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
Information
Locale Suburban
Rector Stephen Lowry
Exam board IEB, A-levels
Students 760 boys, 451 girls (College)
Type Private, Boarding
Grades 0 - 13
Established 1953
Fees R 101 237 p.a. (boarding)
R 58 149 p.a. (tuition)
Homepage www.stithian.com

St Stithians College is a private college in Johannesburg, South Africa. 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, a girls' preparatory school and a foundation phase. All of which are located on one campus in Randburg.

As a Methodist school, it has ties to Kearsney College, Epworth High School and Kingswood College.Boarding is offered at the boys' college.

Contents

[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

[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 and is considered to be part of the (unofficial) group of schools in South Africa known as the Elite Seven.

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 Collins boarding house caught fire and was destroyed within 3 hours. Damage was estimated by some at 8million rand. The occupants were eating dinner elsewhere, the school's choir was performing, grade 6's were having an induction and waterpolo practice was happening and nobody was hurt. Repairs began and the boarders were moved into lodging built on one of the cricket feilds. The Boarding House repairs were completed in early 2008.

There's a great legend of a ghost named Pixie Louw, who apparently was once a scholar and a boarder at the Collins boarding house. His death was supposedly caused by a motorcycle accident. Whether this incident is factual or not, is debatable. Some believe that the ghost's existence is just a yarn used as a scare tactic for freshmen.

[edit] Academics

The colleges write the Independent Examinations Board exams.

IEB Results 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
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 5

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Gauteng High Schools
Alternative schools Gauteng Coat of Arms
Private schools
Public schools
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