St. George's College, Harare
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The Crest of St. George's College
Ex Fide Fiducia
From Faith Comes Confidence
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| Address | |
| 3 Borrowdale Road, Borrowdale, P.Bag 7727, Causeway Harare Zimbabwe |
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| Information | |
| Type | Private, day and boarding school |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Established | 1896 |
| Sister school | Dominican Convent High School |
| Rector | Fr Joe Arimoso SJ |
| Headmaster | Kevin Atkinson |
| Colour(s) | Red and white |
| Mascot | Dragon |
| Nickname | Saints, Wolves and Dragons |
| Publication | The Chronicle |
| Newspaper | Saints Weekly |
| Feeder schools | Hartmann House Preparatory School |
| Affiliations | |
| Alumni | Old Georgians |
| Website | www |
 Saint George's College, Harare, Zimbabwe |
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St George's College, is a private Catholic boys school (Form One to Upper Six) based in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was ranked as one of the Top 10 High Schools in Zimbabwe in 2014,[1] and has also been recognised as one of the best secondary schools in Africa.[2] The school motto is Ex Fide Fiducia, "From Faith Comes Confidence".
Along with its Sister School Dominican Convent High School, St. George's is arguably the oldest formal school established in Zimbabwe. In the 1990s, young women from the Dominican Convent were enrolled for the senior years (Lower Six and Upper Six) for Physics classes.
The school is located in a Harare suburb, Alexandra Park. The land was donated to the Jesuits. This led to the relocation of the school site from Bulawayo to Harare. This was the beginning of Saint George's College. On the same site, a preparatory primary school was established called Hartmann House. This site is next to the official Zimbabwe State House, and the official president's house called Zimbabwe House.
St. Michael's Preparatory School (Grades 1–3) in Borrowdale often starts a pupil's journey to St. George's. Boys attend kindergarten there before joining Hartmann House, where they complete (Grades 4–7).
St George's College is a member of the Association of Trust Schools (ATS). The Headmaster is a member of the Conference of Heads of Independent Schools in Zimbabwe (CHISZ) and an international member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC).
Contents
History
The school was founded in 1896 by a French Jesuit, Father Marc Barthélemy, who opened the doors to a small corrugated-iron, two-windowed hut to admit the first six pupils to Bulawayo Boys' School in Bulawayo, the second largest city in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia). In 1898 a more permanent building was erected, and in December of that year, at the first prize-giving, the school assumed the title St. George's Boys' Public School. In 1899, Fr. Francis Johanny joined the staff and set up the Cadet Corp. Three years later Fr. Thomas Gardner the first English Jesuit arrived. In the same year, 1902, the first Rhodes Scholarships were awarded in Rhodesia, and they went to St. George's boys Albert Bisset and Woodford Gilbert. In 1912 the first permanent buildings were completed and opened by Earl Grey.
St. George's College moved to Salisbury (now Harare) in 1926. The architect of the buildings was Fr. Louis Leboeuf and the main builder was Br. John Conway, SJ. The Beit Hall was opened in 1935 by Sir Robert Stanley. In 1940 the library was built, then the 'Monastery' and later the 'Priory'. In 1955, the new Dormitory Wing and Laboratories were built, and in 1973 the permanent Chapel was erected.
In the years before Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, the country's government schools were segregated, but St George's, as a private school, was allowed a limited black intake and was multiracial. It had admitted its first black pupil in 1963.[3]
Academics
Saint George's College is a selective School: an entrance examination must be taken to enter Form One, even by students from Hartmann House next door. "A" grades at Ordinary Level are necessary to enter the Lower Sixth Form, with those already at the College not exempt from this requirement. Religious Education is compulsory throughout the six years.
The College follows the Cambridge International Examinations syllabus at "O" level and "A" level.
The house system
The school has a family-oriented approach to academic and extracurricular studies with every student belonging to a house. There are four houses, identified by colour and named after prominent Jesuits who were among the founding fathers of the school in Bulawayo:
- Fr. Marc Barthelemy SJ: first Rector (1896–1913) – Dark Green Vests.
- Fr. Thomas Gardner SJ: first English Jesuit, an anthropologist and a champion of the Cadets – Red Vests.
- Fr. Andrew Hartmann SJ: chaplain to The Pioneer Column in 1890 – Dark Blue Vests.
- Fr. Francis Johanny SJ: second Rector in 1914 – Yellow Vests.
Each house has a housemaster who is assisted by other members of staff, the House Captain, and House Prefects. The house system is also applied to Hartmann House Preparatory School. St. Michaels names its houses differently: St. Patrick, St. Joseph, St. Michael's, and St. Francis.
The house system started in 1938 with three houses, Barthelemy, Gardner, and Hartmann. Johanny was created in 1983, with the increasing number of students. Each boy inherits the house of his previous relatives and 'new' boys are allocated on a random basis.
The Crest
The Grant of Arms was made by the Royal College of Heralds on the 19th of October 1931 and aimed to recognise three outstanding characteristics:
- The first denoted the foundation and management of the College by the Jesuits, signified by the inclusion of two black wolves and the cauldron, as taken from the family arms of St. Ignatius Loyola the founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Fathers); in Basque "loy" means wolf and "olla" means cauldron.[4]
- The second characteristic – that of the location of the College in the then Rhodesia and a play on the Greek word "Rhoden", meaning rose – is symbolized by an attractive flower that exists in many different forms, colours, and perfumes. It is hardy and can flourish almost anywhere precisely because it is a hybrid of so many varieties. (These should be the qualities of a St. George's boy.)[4]
- The third characteristic is the dedication to St. George, the College's patron, as depicted by the inclusion of the red cross from his banner, and the hilt of the sword facing upwards. This symbolises the Saint's triumph and incidentally that of Christianity over the powers of evil (as represented by the dragon's wings) and our redemption through the death of Jesus Christ.[4]
The motto on the scroll means "From Faith Comes Confidence".[4]
Sports
St George's College has a large number of sports available. A large proportion of Zimbabwe age-group teams include boys from Saints. The College sporting facilities include:
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The other sporting grounds are Ganley, Connell, and Landreth. In summer all grounds are used for cricket, and in winter they are shared between hockey, rugby, and football. The First Team rugby pitch lies dormant in summer and pupils, apart from the First Team squad, may not set foot upon this field at any time. There are two squash courts, eight tennis courts, three basketball courts, three volleyball courts, a shooting range, and a large swimming pool where water-polo is played. The Beit Hall is used for badminton.
Rhodes Scholarships
There have been over thirty Rhodes Scholarships awarded to those who once donned the Red Blazer.[citation needed]
World wars
In the First World War, 198 Old Georgians (OGs) volunteered and 26 were killed. In the Second World War 438 OGs served and 58 were killed. The names of the deceased are displayed in the Boarders' Chapel (in the main building).
Alumni
In 1921, the Old Georgian's Association was formed; its first president was Mr. D. Blackbeard. Alumni, known as (Old Georgians), include Rhodes Scholars who attended Oxford University, Cambridge University, and Ivy League universities. Alumni who donned the Red Blazer, achieving the difficult task of attending St. Michael's, Hartmann House and St. George's College, are known as Old Michaelians (Reds).
Notable alumni
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Publications
The Chronicle has been published every year since 1933, with the exception of a few years during the Second World War. In 1996, to mark the 100th anniversary of the College, a book by Terence McCarthy was published – Men For Others.
See also
References
External links
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- St. George's College Official site
- Life at Saints An American teacher's experience at Saint George's in 1995
- TEX.co.uk Pride of Harare, Times Educational Supplement, 1 March 2002, Mark Olden
- EngvarB from August 2014
- Use dmy dates from August 2014
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with unsourced statements from August 2013
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- Educational institutions established in 1896
- Schools in Zimbabwe
- Private schools in Zimbabwe
- Cambridge schools in Zimbabwe
- Day schools in Zimbabwe
- Boarding schools in Zimbabwe
- Boys' schools in Zimbabwe
- Boys' high schools in Zimbabwe
- Roman Catholic schools in Zimbabwe
- Roman Catholic secondary schools in Zimbabwe
- Jesuit schools in Zimbabwe
- Member schools of the Association of Trust Schools
- Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference
