St David's Marist Inanda

Infobox School
name= St David's Marist Inanda


established = 1941
type = Private school
grades = 0 - 12
country=ZAF
students = 640 (Prep School) & 512 (High School)
colors = blue & gold
website=http://www.stdavids.co.za
motto=Confortare esto vir
(Take courage and be a man)
location=Inanda, Sandton, Gauteng, Johannesburg

St David's Marist Inanda is a Catholic prep and high school located in Inanda, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa in the province of Gauteng. The school was established in 1941 by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic order of brothers formed by a young French priest, Marcellin Champagnat, in 1817 to teach poor children in country areas devastated by war and revolution.

History

St David's opened in 1941, and by 1953 the school had 475 pupils, 200 of them being boarders. In 1963 the school acquired another 45 acres (18 hectares) of land making the school the largest Marist establishment in South Africa.

St David's today

As of 2007, the school has 1,152 pupils. The Prep is full to capacity with 640 boys and the high school with 512. The school has continued to expand over the last few years with the addition of new classrooms, and media, music, art and technology centres.

Houses

The school has a rich House tradition, with all pupils being divided into one of four houses: Bishops House (yellow), Osmond House (blue), Benedict House (green), and College House (red). The Houses compete against each other in yearly swimming galas and other athletic competitions.

Uniform

Students wear a navy blue blazer with vertical gold stripes, and a navy blue tie with diagonal gold stripes. "Half colours" are awarded to students excelling on the sports field, for the first team (in any sport), or in the classroom. Students who are awarded half colours are given a solid navy blue tie with the school crest and the name of the sport or area in which they have excelled underneath it which they wear instead of the standard school tie. "Full Colours" are awarded to those individuals who distinguish themselves as being one of the best in sports, or academics. Students who are awarded their full colours are awarded a scroll, which lists their area of achievement, that is placed on their school blazer underneath the pocket with the school emblem.

Hierarchy and student structures

The biggest honour that can be given to a student is to be awarded their "Honours Blazer" which distinguishes them from the rest of the students as someone who achieved a high level in either sport or academics. The honours blazer is light and royal blue with yellow stripes, and has the school's crest on the pocket. Honours Blazers are awarded to a very small percentage of students. They are automatically awarded to the Head Prefect each year, and are typically also awarded to students who are the best of the best in the classroom or those representing provincial or national sports teams.

Sporting tradition

All students are required to participate in sports, and teams are broken down by age groups (ie. Under 15, Under 16, etc...) to compete against other schools. The primary sports in the high school are rugby union, cricket, soccer, swimming, waterpolo, hockey and athletics. The sports teams colors are blue and gold, but the First XV rugby team and First XI hockey team wear the colors black and gold.

The school system in South Africa is year round, meaning the school year starts in January, and ends in December. Instead of having a 3 month summer vacation from June-August, there are almost month long breaks in April, August and December-January.