St. Stephen's College, Balla Balla

St. Stephen's College, Balla Balla, Southern Rhodesia (later: Rhodesia) was a private Christian high school from 1956 to 1975.

St. Stephen's College was a privately funded all-boys boarding school, founded in 1956 by the Reverend Maurice Lancaster and located in the village of Balla Balla, Southern Rhodesia. "There has been for some time a growing conviction among parents that today there is a great need for their sons to receive at school not only a sound education to fit them to take their places as citizens, but also a well-based knowledge of Christianity and all it means..." so the Rev. Maurice Lancaster opened the 1953 prospectus of the proposed school at Balla Balla, stating his ideas for the school before beginning a long quest to raise funds. The school's motto Deo Scientiaque- by God and knowledge- combines both the spiritual and the material. The same prospectus also lists the aims of the college as follows: (a) to give the best possible secondary education for boys for the most reasonable terms; (b) to give a firm grounding in the Christian Faith as held and taught in the Book of Common Prayer and in the Formularies of the Church of the Province of South Africa; (c) to provide sound and wise discipline; and (d) to train for a full and useful life in the world. The school was built on 250 acres (1.0 km2) of land offered by Mr. A. A. Sanderson.

In the beginning a monastery to accommodate teacher monks was envisioned, so as to be able to provide the best Christian based education at reasonable cost. The school opened on Sunday, 1 February 1959 with 35 pupils which soon rose to 40. The school uniform was a khaki outfit of shorts and shirt with grey socks and black shoes for everyday wear. There was a dress uniform of long grey trousers, white shirts and black blazers with which a school tie was worn. There were also prefect's ties and house honours ties which were worn, though basically similar these ties differed in design. There were two badges, one worn on blazers and tracksuits, which was a red cross bearing a St. Stephen's crown, while the other, the official and registered crest, was a combination of the Sanderson crest, of talbot, torch and helmet; the Lancaster crest, red roses, and the crown of St. Stephen. The registered crest (as a blazer badge) was worn solely by Old Boys (former pupils) whilst the college was open; this is the badge still worn today by members of the St. Stephen's College Old Boys Association. The dress uniform was worn in the evening in the dining hall and when travelling on weekend exeats (permission to go out of college) to the city of Bulawayo. Once in the city pupils frequently changed out of uniform and into mufti.

During 1959 it became apparent that the order of teacher monks was not going to materialise and from then on the Board of Governors adopted a more pragmatic approach employing teachers from Southern Rhodesia and the United Kingdom. The building originally constructed to be the monastery became Abbey House for juniors in 1968, though the Anglican principles were maintained in a chapel. On Sundays there was a Eucharist at 8 am and an Evensong at 6 pm, all pupils were expected to attend. Later the Evensong became an occasional service. Each morning Monday to Friday a service was attended in the chapel before classes began and there were House Prayers in the evening.

There were three senior houses: Sanderson House, Lancaster House and the last to be built in 1963, Tracey House. In that same year (1963) an earlier vision of a British government, that of a great Central African Federation, came to an end with the break-up of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Retrospectively one can say that the school's days were numbered from this cataclysmic event, as the school had been founded to serve the Central African Federation. However, the school valiantly withstood the break-up of the Federation, with most pupils still travelling down from Zambia (formerly: Northern Rhodesia) and Malawi (formerly: Nyasaland) by coach. The remainder of the pupils arrived by plane and private vehicle from Botswana (in the West) and Mozambique (in the East); others arrived from the Transvaal province of South Africa. There were a few pupils from more local places, including one from Balla Balla, though even these were boarders as the school allowed no day scholars. Some pupils were originally from the United Kingdom, though all of these were resident in Africa.

Pupils originally sat the Cambridge School Certificate examinations, but later General Certificate of Education (GCE) examinations at ordinary and advanced level (O-Level and A-Level) were marked by the Associated Examining Board (AEB) in England. There were intermediate examinations, between O-Level and A-Level, (organised by the Rhodesia Ministry of Education and conducted by the AEB) called M-levels. Pupils intending to apply to universities in South Africa finished their schooling after taking M-Level examinations, as these were the equivalent of the higher grade Matriculation examinations in South Africa. Pupils intending to apply to universities in Rhodesia or the United Kingdom proceeded to take the A-level examinations which followed a further year of study. These two "final years" were termed the Lower VI (6th) Form and Upper VI (6th) Form, respectively.

Sport was an important part of the curriculum. St. Stephen's competed with other Rhodesian schools in athletics, rugby, cricket and hockey, even though these other schools generally had a much larger roll of pupils from which to select competitors. In these sports St. Stephen's was a keen rival of Falcon College, in nearby Essexvale.

Pupils at the school were not entirely without a social life, dances were held periodically and attended by young ladies from Evelyn, Townsend and other senior schools in Bulawayo. This social arrangement was reciprocal.

In 1973 there were 219 pupils at St. Stephen's College. This was the year that the Rhodesian government closed its border with Zambia and even with the special dispensation given for students to cross the border it became more risky for the pupils to make the crossing. To make the border crossing at the Chirundu Bridge, over the Zambesi River, the boys had to change coaches whilst armed guards patrolled both sides of the border. Subsequent to this border closure it became difficult for parents in Zambia to transfer fees and under this pressure the privately funded school closed in 1975. The roll had been reduced to 187 pupils.

A unique aspect of life at St. Stephen's, for the school boys, was that they were allowed after chapel on Sundays to go into the surrounding bush (bushveld) in groups of three. Many became adept in bushcraft and knowledgeable about the local fauna and flora. It was not uncommon for the pupils to see antelope, such as the large kudu and the smaller duiker, whilst on these outings. Occasionally there were close encounters with snakes, such as the black mamba, puff adder and the African rock python; by taking evasive action the pupils usually avoided injury. These outings enabled lasting bonds of friendship to be established between pupils. The school had a very active Wildlife Club in the 1970s and, with permission from the Rhodesian Department of National Parks and Wildlife, kept an impressive collection of snakes.

There is a fine memorial to St. Stephen's College, erected by the board of governors, where the entrance to the college used to be. This takes the form of a semicircle, of three linked short columns, not far from the Beitbridge-Bulawayo road near the junction with the Filabusi road. On the centre column is the foundation stone which had been unveiled by the Governor of Southern Rhodesia, Sir Peveril William-Powlett. The left column bears a memorial plaque to the parents of Mr. Sanderson, previously on the college gates, whilst the right column bears the names of the members of the Board of Governors and the headmasters.

HEADMASTERS

Rev. D. Candler 1959

J.H.L. Fuller 1960–65

H.H. Cole, CBE 1965–67

I. Campbell 1968–73

Brig. R.A.G. Prentice, OBE 1973–75

During the 1980s and 1990s the former pupils of St. Stephen's College spread throughout the English speaking world forming a diaspora. During this time many became estranged from their school friends, but with the advent of the Internet many have re-established old friendships. At the time of writing (2007) the former pupils of St. Stephen's College are in some 17 different nations. There is a very active Old Boy's Association which meets regularly in South Africa, Australia and the United Kingdom.

References: More Rhodesian Senior Schools Part two 1950–1982 contributed editorial, edited by I.P. Maclaren. Published by Books of Zimbabwe, Bulawayo.