St Catherine's School, Germiston

The main gate of St. Catherine's on a school morning.

St Catherine's School is a private, co-educational school, named after Saint Catherine of Siena, located in Germiston, South Africa.

History

The Quad at St Catherine's School on a Saturday

St Catherine's school was founded in the then new mining town of Germiston in 1908. It was to fill the growing need of education for the children of the miners and merchants in this growing township that the Dominican Sisters of Newcastle, Natal stepped in. With this in mind St Catherine's became the first Convent on the East Rand and the first High School in Germiston.The first building was built on property bought from Simmer and Jack, a now defunct gold mining company which was quite prominent in Germiston's early history, near the Rose Deep Mine in Hardach street. By 1948, with the industrialisation of the old parts of Germiston and the movement from South to North of most of the town's urban population, the school was relocated to the suburb of Parkhill Gardens. Here there was also more room for sporting facilities.

Towards the end of 1968, the convent decided, in conjunction with St. Dominic's, Boksburg, to cater for primary school pupils only, girls up to Grade 7 and the boys up to Grade 3. In addition to this, in 1970 St. Catherine's Pre-Primary School was recognised and registered by the Transvaal Education Department.

In 1985, the school extended its education of boys to grade 7 once again. This was followed in 1991 by the Sisters of St Catherine's moving into a private house, opening up more room in the school for new classrooms. In 2001 the board of governors approved the re-opening of the high school, and in that year the first Grade 8s since 1968 were admitted to the school. As the high school was re-opening, a new wing was also built onto the school, and was completed and fully occupied by 2007. In 2008, the school celebrated its centennial. A mass was held in a marquee tent on the sports field attended by more than 800 pupils, parents, staff, past-pupils and past teachers.

Academics

St Catherine's Matric and Grade 9 pupils write exams set by the Independent Examinations Board (IEB). The IEB is an organisation whose examinations are written by private schools throughout South Africa. These examinations conform to the requirements of the Certification Board and are recognised by all Universities and Universities of Technology in South Africa.

The driveway at the school's main gate.
The new wing of St Catherine's School seen from the sports field.

The subjects offered up to Matric at St Catherine's are:

Houses

The school is divided into three houses, namely:

These three houses regularly engage in Inter-House events, including athletics, a swimming gala, bible quiz, public speaking and fundraising.

Sports

St Catherine's pupils also participate in a wide variety of sports. Sports at the school include soccer, cricket, tennis, netball, athletics and swimming. There are both male and female soccer teams representing the school with the Girls' Soccer Team being a new addition, nicknamed the 'Saint's Soccer Team'. St Catherine's has also, since 2007, been competing in the Germiston Inter-High Swimming gala, where it has been somewhat successful.

Notable alumni

Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (I.S.A.S.A)www.isasa.org

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Coordinates: 26°14′20″S 28°10′52″E / 26.23889°S 28.18111°E / -26.23889; 28.18111

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