Paul Roos Gymnasium
Paul Roos Gymnasium is a public, dual medium (Afrikaans & English) high school for boys in the town of Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa, which opened on 1 March 1866 as Stellenbosch Gymnasium. It is the 12th oldest school in the country.[1]
| Paul Roos Gymnasium | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
1 Suidwal Rd, Krigeville , | |
| Coordinates | 33.9419°S 18.8614°E |
| Information | |
| School type | Co-Ed public school |
| Motto | Semper Splendidior (Always Brighter / Always More Splendid) |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Christianity |
| Established | 8 January 1866 |
| Sister school | |
| School district | District 9 |
| Rector | Mr André van Staden |
| Staff | 120 full-time |
| Grades | 8–12 |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 14 to 18 |
| Number of students | 1,300 boys |
| Language | |
| Schedule | 07:40 - 14:20 |
| Campus | Urban Campus |
| Houses |
|
| Colour(s) | Gold Maroon White |
| Fight song | Paul Roos |
| Nickname |
|
| Rivals | |
| Accreditation | Western Cape Education Department |
| Publication | The Semper |
| Newspaper | Concipio |
| Website | www |
History
In 1910, the school was renamed Stellenbosch Boys' High School. In 1946 the school moved to new buildings in Krigeville and was renamed Paul Roos Gymnasium after Paul Roos, old boy and captain of the first Springbok team, was himself a teacher at the school, and was the school's rector from 1910 to 1940, after which the school was renamed in his honour.
A notable characteristic of the school is its gees (Afrikaans for spirit) and their famous fight song "Old boys of Paul Roos" which has the melody of "Flower of Scotland" in remembrance of the first three Scottish rectors, which they sing with their old boys.[2]
Paul Roos Gymnasium has produced more Springbok rugby players than any other school (54). It is also the school with the most players in the 2019 Rugby World Cup including five Springboks: Schalk Brits, Willie le Roux, Steven Kitshoff, Herschel Jantjies, Damian Willemse and Braam Steyn who played for Italy.
Associations and facilities
Though Paul Roos Gymnasium is a school for boys from grade 8 to 12, the curriculum includes some subjects presented in conjunction with the two sister schools, Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof and Rhenish. The school is dual medium;[3] Afrikaans- and English-speaking pupils study under one roof, but classes are largely separated according to mother tongue. The school shares sport and internet facilities with Stellenbosch University.
School facilities include a library and computer labs. Sports facilities include hockey fields, the Markötter rugby fields, a swimming pool, an Olympic Waterpolo Aquatic Centre, tennis courts, and a gymnasium.
The main residential facilities are the two school hostels (dormitories) called Prima and Prima Nova. They accommodate 245 boarders, mainly from South Africa and Namibia.
Sport
Paul Roos Gymnasium participates in the following sports:
Notable attainments
Paul Roos was classified as a 'prestige' school, being among the best-performing schools.[4] In 2018 the University of Stellenbosch, which evolved out of this school, celebrated its centenary. In the first 100 years of its existence, 26 old boys received honorary doctorates from this university, more than any other school. Also, since the inception of the Chancellor's Medal in 1961, thirteen old boys were awarded this medal for the best final year student by Stellenbosch University.
Notable alumni
- Andries Bekker, rugby player
- Schalk Brits, rugby player
- Stefan de Bod, cyclist
- Boy de Villiers, rugby player
- Daniël de Waal, Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division
- Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet, judge and Chief Justice of South Africa
- Tom Dreyer, novelist, poet and column writer
- Dieter Eiselen, NFL player
- Justin Harding, golfer
- Etienne van Heerden, twice Hertzog Prize winner
- J.B.M. Hertzog, prime minister of the Union of South Africa
- Garrick Higgo, Professional golfer
- T.O. Honiball artist and cartoonist
- Francois Hougaard, rugby player
- Herschel Jantjies, rugby player
- Gideon Joubert, writer and journalist
- Steven Kitshoff, rugby player
- Koos Kombuis, South African short-story writer, poet, novelist and cult musician
- Uys Krige, Hertzog Prize winner, writer, poet, playwright and rugby union footballer
- Juandré Kruger, rugby player
- Tjol Lategan, rugby player
- Willie le Roux, Wasps and current Springbok rugby union player
- Robbie Louw, rugby union player
- Anton Lubowski, Namibian anti-apartheid activist and advocate
- D.F. Malan, South African prime minister
- Jannie Marais, benefactor of the Het Jan Marais Fonds
- Gerhardus Jacobus Maritz, Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division
- Jim McKendrick, rugby Player
- John Murray, judge and Chief Justice of Southern Rhodesia
- Pieter-Louis Myburgh, investigative journalist
- Paul Roos, Springbok rugby union captain
- Johann Rupert, business executive
- Jan Smuts,[5] South African prime minister and Field Marshal in the British Army, as well as one of the founders of the League of Nations and United Nations.
- Josh Strauss, Scottish international rugby player
- Benjamin Tindall, judge of the Appellate Division
- Peter van der Merwe, South African Test cricket captain
- Marcel van Heerden, actor
- Anton van Niekerk, professor of philosophy
- Arnold van Wyk, composer, musicologist
- Hendrik Stephanus van Zyl, Judge President of the Cape Provincial Division
- Wilhelm Verwoerd, philosopher, peace-maker and writer
- Cobus Visagie, accountant and Springbok rugby player
- Ernest Frederick Watermeyer, Chief Justice of South Africa
- Damian Willemse, rugby player
- Heinz Winckler, musician
- John Trengove, former judge in the Appellate Division and Constitutional Court
- Pieter Andries Meyer, current judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship was instituted in 1903. Paul Roos Gymnasium is one of four schools in South Africa entitled to award a Rhodes Scholarship annually to an ex-pupil to study at the University of Oxford.[6]
References
- "This list with 200 of South Africa's oldest schools may surprise you". Parent. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- Freeman, F. H. (6 July 2007). "Imprints. Is anyone climbing the ladder?". Leadership in Action. 1 (3): 4. doi:10.1002/lia.4070010302. ISSN 1093-6092.
- Malherbe, Ernst Gideon (1946). The bilingual school: A Study of Bilingualism in South Africa. London: Longmans. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-405-11086-3.
- Marking Matric: Colloquium Proceedings, Vijay Reddy, 2006. HSRC Press. ISBN 0-7969-2116-4
- van Onselen, Charles (2003). "The Modernization of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek: F. E. T. Krause, J. C. Smuts, and the Struggle for the Johannesburg Public Prosecutor's Office, 1898-1899". Law and History Review. American Society for Legal History. 21 (3): 483–525. doi:10.2307/3595118. JSTOR 3595118.
- Rhodes, Cecil John. "Will and Condicils of the Rt Hon. Cecil John Rhodes" (PDF). Rhodes Trust, University Press Oxford. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2009.