St Dominic's Catholic School for Girls, Boksburg

St Dominic's Catholic School for Girls is a private day school located in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

History

The foundation stone of St. Dominic's Convent and School was laid by Bishop Cox, O.M.I. Catholic Bishop of Johannesburg on 14 September 1921.

Mother Rose Niland took possession of the buildings on behalf of the Dominican Sisters of Newcastle on 21 June 1923 and on 31 July that year the first boarders arrived – twenty-eight in number. They were joined by thirty-two day pupils the following day. With an enrollment of sixty pupils St. Dominic's Convent School was officially opened and registered with the Transvaal Education Department on 1st August 1923. The numbers of pupils steadily increased until the school reached over eight hundred pupils and fifty teachers.

The original building, with its thirty acres of land used for recreation, sports and orchard cost one hundred thousand pounds. The 1923 Mayor of Boksburg, Councillor Campbell, described St. Dominic's as a magnificent building where students should find studying a pleasure under ideal conditions.

A hall and new wing were built in 1965 to accommodate the growing numbers of students. In 1999 the Jubilee Centre was officially opened.

Academic Life

St Dominic's Matric pupils write the school leaving examination 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 Technicons. The aim of the IEB is to maintain a high standard of education and to encourage pupils to think critically and to apply the knowledge and skills taught in the classroom. The examinations are set on a syllabus which is virtually identical to the National Core Syllabus although the prescribed literature books for the languages (English, Afrikaans, French and Zulu) are different from those studied at Gauteng Education Department schools.

The Matric pass rate has remained at 100% since the inception of IEB examinations in 1998.

Cultural Life

The school has a number of cultural activities available to pupils, among them Steel & Marimba Bands, Debating, Public Speaking, Theatre Group, Annual production, Irish Dancing and Choir.

Sports

All pupils are expected to participate in at least one of the extracurricular activities offered at the School and to that end the school offers a range of sporting activities like: Swimming, Waterpolo, Tennis, Squash, Volleyball, Netball and Drum Majorettes.

The School has Drum Majorette Squads in both primary and high school, they are know as the saintees (junior squad) and the saints (senior squad). As well as being multiple national winners the senior team has competed overseas and have had most of there girls achieve Springbok colours, where they represented their country in World championships. They have been trained for the last thirty years by the same remarkable man, Allan Donaldson.

ee also

Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa

External links

* [http://www.stdominics.co.za Official site]
* [http://www.isasa.org Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa]
* [http://www.saints.sa.gs Saints Drummies Website]