A modern Anglican Church School

at

St Cyprian's Cathedral Kimberley : 5 Park Road, Belgravia

(Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman,Anglican Church of Southern Africa)

+

A quality centre of cultural and academic excellence

original text compiled by

 The Churchwardens and the Director of Cathedral Music

Stewards of a learner-centred educational vision

Headmaster: Mr Gary Glass  

Email: stcyprians@webmail.co.za

Telephone 053-8315066 / Fax 08675009960 or 053-8333436

P.O.Box 10139, Beaconsfield, Kimberley, 8315

Chaplain: The Revd Canon Thomas Mhuriro 

Morning Prayer in the Cathedral Mondays to Thursdays at 07:30 (public welcome)

Performing Arts Hour every second Friday at 12:30 (all welcome)

Student Application Forms available from: stcyprians@webmail.co.za

Historical turning points:

Dedication of the School on the 101st anniversary of the dedication of the cathedral, 13 May 2009.  

School opened  on 21 January 2009 - Enrollment 83 students, 12 teachers

Parents' meeting on 19 January 2009, presided over by the Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman

Constitution of the Board of Governors adopted on 24 July 2008 The Origal Interim Board of Governors appointed by the Bishop in 2008: Fr Martin Visagie, Dr Meldrick Booysen, Mr Colin Fortune, Ms Esther Crutse, Ms Jessica Maxwell (resigned 2009), Mr David Morris, Ms Nyakallo Moletsane, Dr Stanley Reed (resigned 2009), the Very Revd Fr Brian Beck, Dean of Kimberley (Chairman), Mrs Anne Solomon (Head of School), the Rt Revd Oswald Swartz, Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman (Patron).

Public meetings convened in Kimberley, under chairmanship of the Bishop, 9 June and 26 June 2008: decision to proceed, based on public response. 

Sewing the seed, August 2007, the original discussions and conceptualisation: Organist Anne Solomon, Dean Brian Beck, Churchwarden David Morris. Meetings with politicians, Education Department, Cathedal Council, etc ensued.

Heads of the School: Mr Gary Glass (2017-) succeeded The Revd Fr Marcellus Conway (2012-2016) and Mrs Anne Solomon (2009-2011)

Chaplains: The Revd Canon Thomas Mhuriro 2017- present

Previously: The Revd Fr Eddie Barnett (2013-2016), The Revd Fr Christopher Swartz (2012-13);

The Revd Fr Michael Steward van Wyk (2009, 2011-12); The Revd Carol Starkey (2010)

Godspell and Fame - Musical Theatre productions in 2009 and 2010. Vivaldi's Gloria in 2012

See Prospectus Page http://stcyprians.itgo.com/whats_new_1.html

   A legacy of the past …The Parish of St Cyprian’s played a crucial role in establishing Kimberley’s first schools. A Mission School, a St Cyprian’s Grammar School, a Girls’ School (later St Michael’s), and Perseverance.  From Perseverance College, at a later stage, would arise the Gore-Browne Training School. Many fine educationists would owe their formation to these institutions. Under apartheid education they were taken over, and eventually closed.  Archbishop Emeritus Njongonkulu Ndungane has made it a special project to bring historic church schools back to life as centres of educational excellence. We are inspired as much by this vision as by our own legacy of the past. … our legacy for the future As the centenary of St Cyprian’s Cathedral drew to a close in 2008, we were inspired by the vision of our founders in their service to education in this City. We have entered our second century bringing this legacy to new birth.    

MISSION STATEMENT

Our mission is to prepare young people for life and leadership in a co-educational school, which strives for quality in academic and musical and arts programmes, in a trusting and supportive, learner-centred, Christian environment that promotes self-discipline, social enrichment, motivation, and excellence in learning.

Values informing our vision

St Cyprian’s Grammar School strives to be:

- grounded in Christian values that affirm our faith in a creating and redeeming God.

- founded upon a commitment to learning, to justice, to individual achievement and to wholeness. 

- a centre of excellence with a teaching/learning ethic reflected in hard work, intellectual rigour and an openness to ideas and debate.

- a school that values tolerance as a positive good, promoting a care ethic implicit in respect for others.

- a school that promotes programmes in social enrichment and leadership to equip students for fulfilling lives and service within and beyond the school.

- a school that engages the needs of our society, seeking to serve where it can in complementing public education, to build skills, social capital and reduce inequality wherever this is possible.

- defined by a richness of symbol, story and ceremony to promote these values.

  Summary Statements and Terminology: 

Why St. Cyprian’s?

In a sense we are not a ‘new’ school, but rather embody the re-birth, in a relevant and modern form, of one of a family of educational organisations that were part of St Cyprian’s in the past. 

As such we see ourselves as keying into Archbishop Emeritus Ndungane’s vision of a  “Restoration of Historic Schools Project”.

Why a Grammar School?

There is no universally agreed meaning to this term, which implies different things in different countries and contexts. In our instance it refers to our own heritage, at St Cyprian’s in particular, and in the Anglican tradition more generally. We envisage the school as drawing out a student’s potential, providing inspiration, and fulfilling her or his appetite to attain the highest possible levels of academic and artistic achievement and excellence. 

Which grades are offered?

St Cyprian’s Grammar School offers all the compulsory subjects for a Junior feeder section and Grades 7-12 (GET and FET phases), including English, Afrikaans, Maths/Maths literacy and Life Orientation, as per the National Curriculum Statement, supplemented by a range of other elective subjects.  

A key feature of the school is its special focus on Music and the Arts. The facilities, resources and venue  equip the school uniquely to fulfil this objective.

Post-Matric and Adult/Co-curricular are offered. The possibility of a Post-Matric year in particular is on the cards for those students who wish to extend their schooling by a year ahead of their Tertiary level careers, simultaneously providing the school with an opportunity to run focus area outreach and developmental programmes.

The importance of life and leadership?

The school promotes programmes equipping students with sound moral values, social enrichment and skills in leadership for living fulfilling and productive lives and service within and beyond the school. Supported by such programmes, students of St Cyprian’s Grammar School have the potential to become some of the leaders of the future.

Why music and the performing arts?

It is well known that music is often a key to a young person’s academic success. Amongst the main reasons for this are the following:

1. Music is known to exercise both the left and right sides of the brain i.e. both the logic and creative elements are active.
2. As music requires a daily disciplined practice routine, general and self-discipline are both part and parcel of the student’s good work ethic.
3. The nature of repetition is important in building strong pathways in the brain to make way for substantial learning.
4. A common interest will mean that the school will function with like-minded and well-motivated young people. The level of team-work and team-building involved in a music-making ensemble is of the highest one can get. Music transcends social barriers, the world’s leading music ensembles being renowned for their cosmopolitan mix of people of diverse backgrounds.

Sport?

It is not possible to offer sport because of our venue and focus, but the importance of sport in a young person’s well-balanced and rounded development is never to be underestimated and everything possible is done to encourage, support and facilitate this aspect of each and every student’s extra-curricular programme.

Social enrichment?

On-going programmes are planned to ensure that students will be socially enriched in order that they are able to function well within and beyond the school environment.

A Christian environment?

One doesn’t have to look far to see the crumbling state of communities these days. Many youngsters are crushed by circumstances they encounter daily. Many of these young people are thus disadvantaged and are often unable to receive education of a standard allowing them to rise to their fullest potential. How many potential leaders of the future, in whatever field of endeavour, are we losing as a result? By grounding our educational philosophy in Christian values, our approach would privilege the values of tolerance, justice and wholeness, encouraging a commitment to learning, openness to ideas, and promoting care and respect towards others.

A NOTE ON THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

St Cyprian’s played a crucial role in establishing Kimberley’s first schools; and from its early commitment to education sprang one of the most remarkable families of educational institutions, historic schools which became models of their kind in South Africa. A Mission School; a St Cyprian’s Boys’ School, a later St Cyprian’s Grammar School, a Girls’ School (later St Michael’s), and that school to which Canon Gaul attached the name “Perseverance” – these together laid a solid foundation for education on the Diamond Fields in the late nineteenth century. From Perseverance, at a later stage, would arise the Gore-Browne Training School. In the twentieth century, many fine teachers would owe their formation to these schools. The end came with the implementation of apartheid education: Gore-Browne was disestablished in 1954. Taken over by government, Perseverance continued to exist until it finally disappeared in the last decade of the century.

As we moved towards establising the new school, we looked back on this heritage of excellence and hope, recognising the need for a school grounded in the principles on which these pioneering ventures were based. As the centenary of St Cyprian’s Cathedral drew to a close, we entered our second century taking active steps to bring this legacy to new birth.

For much of the first decade of Kimberley’s existence, the Griqualand West Government had limited capacity to promote education here, and it relied on the Churches to fill the gap. For several years, St Cyprian’s was known as “one of the best schools in Kimberley.”  Fr John Darragh, who later founded St John’s College in Johannesburg, was one the able St Cyprian’s teachers. In the early 1880s, records reveal, he taught about 200 “half-castes who nearly all spoke Dutch”.

With the introduction of the Cape Education System here in 1881, grants to church schools were terminated. Other schools were opened in opposition and the establishment of the “Undenominational Schools” in 1887 would spell eventual closure for St Cyprian’s Boys’ School and St Michael’s. What survived of the St Cyprian’s Schools, however, was that section known as the Perseverance School. Canon (later Bishop) Gaul was determined that it should not close, as the others faltered, and dubbed it “Perseverance”: the Church, as he said, meant to “stick to it”. The nickname for “St Cyprian’s Mission School” became its official name in 1917.

A turning point in the history of the St Cyprian’s “Perseverance” School was when a new building was opened in Lawson Street in 1905 – a project undertaken by St Cyprian’s just ahead of that other great endeavour, the building of what would soon be Kimberley’s cathedral. Much more adequately housed than in the old wood and iron “St John’s Hall” in Clarence Street, the school began a new venture, the teaching of a small but increasing number of trainee teachers. In the following decade, this would transform St Cyprian’s into what, from 1917, was officially named the Perseverance Training School. In 1935, owing partly to government classification, African trainee teachers at Perseverance were hived off, initially to St Matthew’s, to constitute a “Native Training School”. In new premises in Barkly Road from 1938, this became the now renowned Gore-Browne Training School. 

These were the fruits of those early labours by priests and people at St Cyprian’s in Kimberley.

Later in the century, both Perseverance and Gore-Browne were heavily impacted by apartheid, especially implementation of the Group Areas and Bantu Education Acts. Gore-Browne was the first to go, disestablished in 1954 after finding itself in an area designated a Coloured Group Area. Since 1961 the Olympic Primary School has occupied the site of the old school. Similarly, Lawson Street was declared a White Group Area and Perseverance had to move.  Continuing in name, Perseverance was taken over by government and moved out to a new site in Barkly Road. When separate teacher training was abolished after 1994, Perseverance finally disappeared.

These historical schools and what their founders stood for are the legacy on which we would build. Continuity was lost, but the legacy has been deserving of restoration.