| St John's College | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Lux Vita Caritas (Light, Life, Love) |
| Established | 1898 |
| Students | 1350 |
| Grades | Pre-Preparatory (0-3) Preparatory (4-7) College (8-12) Sixth Form ( Cambridge A Levels) |
| Location | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Colours | Navy blue and maroon |
| Dayboy Houses | Clayton, Thompson, Alston, Clarke, Fleming |
| Boarding Houses | Nash, Hill, Hodgson, Runge |
| Fees | R 156 630 p.a. (boarding) R 92 790 p.a. (tuition) |
| Website | www.stjohnscollege.co.za |
St John's College is a private school for boys in Houghton, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.
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St John's College was founded in Johannesburg on 1 August 1898 and is an Anglican school.
It was founded by Rev. John Darragh the rector of St Mary's Anglican Church, Eloff Street, Johannesburg. He persuaded his parish council of the need to establish an Anglican school for boys. His curate Rev. JL Hodgson was appointed the first Headmaster.
The first classes started in a house in Plein Street, Johannesburg with two desks and seven pupils aged six to 14. However the school was forced to close a year later at the end of 1899 owing to the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War. St John's re-opened in 1902 two months after the signing of the peace treaty, and grew rapidly under Rev. Hodgson and eight staff.
Soon there were 180 boys which was too many for the Plein Street premises, and St John's moved to larger premises in a wood and iron building near the Union Grounds between Joubert Park and the old Wanderers (now Johannesburg’s main railway station).
However, the British colonial government under Lord Milner was ideologically opposed to private schools believing that they were not beneficial to society. Over the next few years the school’s enrolment plummetted as a result of policies introduced by the Transvaal administration, including the creation of public schools (such as King Edward VII School) within a short distance of their private counterparts. By 1903 45 state schools were open across Johannesburg.
In 1904 the St Mary’s parish was relieved of the responsibility for StJC which became a Dioscesan institution. However by 1905 St John’s was facing closure, and an approach was made by the Diocesan Board of Education to the Community of the Resurrection (an Anglo Catholic order of missionary priests and lay brothers) to take over the school. In 1906 Father James Nash became the new headmaster and oversaw the move north out of the city to the current site on 56 acres (230,000 m2) across Houghton Ridge.
In 1907 the School had opened in Houghton and accepted its first boarders. By then it had 100 boys, and four College houses had been instituted: Nash, Thomson, Alston and Rakers (which became Hill in 1910).
Sir Herbert Baker designed the new Hoghton school buildings and initially used rough-hewn quartzite quarried on the site, but subsequently rock was sourced from Krugersdorp and hand-chased by Maltese craftsmen. The school is arranged around a number of quadrangles, each with its cloisters. Leonard Fleming later worked with Baker on certain of the buildings.
The College has two chapels, a main one and a crypt chapel. Construction began in 1915 on the Crypt Chapel designed by Frank Fleming as a foundation for the main chapel. The Crypt Chapel seats about 100 pupils, and is adjacent to the Garden of Remembrance. Each House of the College has a week in which it is to attend the chapel service in the crypt.
Above the Crypt Chapel is the War Memorial Chapel. The superstructure was completed in 1925 and dedicated in 1926 to commemorate staff and pupils who fell in battle. Inside the War Memorial Chapel is the Delville Wood (All Souls) Memorial Chapel, which houses one of only five Delville Wood crosses in the world. It seats about 500 pupils, including staff, and has a fully functioning pipe organ and a choir gallery at the rear of the chapel above the main entrance. Its pipe organ is the largest of its kind in South Africa.
The War Memorial Chapel has an "M" engraved into one of its outside walls. This bears a great significance to the political and educational front in South Africa as it records Lord Milner's concession that his policy was wrong and that private schools had a place in society.
The Community of the Resurrection handed over their charge to the Diocese of Johannesburg in 1934, and in 1935 Rev S.H. ‘Nobby’ Clarke begins his 20 years as Headmaster.
In 1955 Deane Yates became the first lay headmaster. By then there were 664 boys, 375 in the College, 100 boarders in the Prep.
Today there are five stages to a St John's education:
| IEB Results | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of candidates | 120 | 124 | 127 | |||
| Number of failures | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| University endorsement (%) | 97 | 97 | 95 | 92 | 98 | 94 |
| A aggregates (%) | 27 | 35 | 33 | 30 | ||
| A-B-C aggregates (%) | ||||||
| Subject distinctions | 158 | 247 | 220 | 220 | ||
| Number in top 50 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
The "Number 1s" uniform consists of charcoal trousers, a collared long-sleeve white shirt, tie in the school colours (navy and burgandy stripes), black standard-issue school shoes, black socks and a navy blue blazer. It may be supplemented by a charcoal v-necked jersey. It is required dress for formal events and is the official winter uniform.
"Number 2s" or "khaki's" consist of khaki shorts and a collared khaki shirt. Black standard-issue closed shoes may be worn with long khaki socks, or closed toe sandals. For formal occasions the school blazer must be worn. "Number 2s" are the summer uniform as an alternative to the "Number 1s" and are to help pupils cope with the extremely warm South African summer.
These are only awarded to pupils with a minor sporting, cultural or academic achievement and are woven onto the school blazer, right underneath the school badge.
These are awarded to scholars with major sporting, cultural, or academic achievement. It differs from normal blazers, because it is maroon with tiny navy stripes, with a golden eagle (the school's emblem) on the front breastpocket. Underneath the brestpocket, the type of achievement is woven on.
These are awarded to pupils with any excellent sporting, cultural or academic achievement. It consists of tiny maroon and navy stripes, packed closely together. It also has a golden eagle stitched on the front breastpocket, with the achievement stitched underneath it.
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