St Patrick’s CBC

St Patrick’s CBC is the only IEB registered school in Kimberley. The primary school initiative, or PSI, was designed and launched in 2015 to complement the IEB’s product offering to independent schools. The Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centre focuses on the holistic development of our youngest pupils, offering a wide range of activities and educational opportunities.

We prepare pupils with diverse backgrounds and aptitudes for a life of learning, leadership, service and personal achievement true to our history and the charitable intentions of our founder, blessed Edmund Rice. St Patrick’s is a prestigious school with a multicultural and socially diverse pupil population.

Christian Brothers’ College (“CBC”), the very first Christian Brothers’ College in Africa, was established by the Christian Brothers originating from Ireland in 1897. Over the years, they established schools, not only in Africa, but across the world.

Christian Brothers’ College, Kimberley, opened its doors on the first day of school to a mere 15 pupils, to be joined the next day by a further 22. At that stage it was still called the Christian Brothers’ High School. The range of subjects was wide and tuition was offered in six languages – Greek, Latin, English, Dutch, French and German.

The school built up an outstanding academic reputation from the outset, attracting boys from both Kimberley and the outlying districts. This created a need for boarding and in 1905 the school opened its own boarding facilities. For many years thereafter, the school was primarily a boarding school for boys, with special focus on Catholics.

The school adopted its saint name, St Patrick, at the centenary celebrations in 1997. This change signified a new beginning in the second 100 years of the life of the school.

Values like honesty, humility and courage were a vital part of the education from the outset, in a school that was to face the Siege of Kimberley and two World Wars in its first 50 years. Currently operating from age 2 to Grade 12, St Patrick’s CBC is co-educational and welcomes girls and boys from all races and creeds.

St Patrick’s CBC is the only school in Kimberley offering the highly credited Independent Examinations Board (IEB) curriculum. Our small classes and quality staff allow for a very personal approach to learning. We believe that education is more than just studies and sport, and have created an environment where every child participates in an array of activities, with a special emphasis on their individual strengths.

St Patrick’s CBC is a prestigious school with a multicultural and socially diverse pupil population. The school offers various opportunities for pupils to achieve excellence in academic, sporting, leadership and social endeavours, in an inclusive environment that supports learning, teaching and friendships.

The school is characterised by a pursuit of all-round high achievement, a focus on preparation for tertiary studies, diversity in pupil programmes and high quality outcomes. St Patrick’s places great emphasis on the fact that our community is a family of learning.

We are all a part of a unique group that is constantly learning and being challenged to push the boundaries that little bit further. St Patrick’s CBC is the only school in Kimberley offering the highly credited Independent Examinations Board (IEB) curriculum. Pupil discipline is an important part of providing a conducive learning environment for all.

St Patrick’s CBC has a school discipline policy that is reviewed regularly. It is developed collaboratively with pupils, staff, parents/caregivers, relevant organisations and our school’s Board of Governors. Our discipline policies set out a balanced approach between recognising pupil achievement and dealing with unseemly behaviour. They are based on developing pupil responsibilities, encouraging respect and creating good conditions for effective teaching and learning.

St Patrick’s CBC offers you a wealth of opportunity to get involved in sport and physical activities. We have numerous provincial representatives in a number of sports. Our goal is to enable pupils to develop their individual potential through exposure to an all-inclusive range of academic, sporting, creative and cultural activities by nurturing a secure and positive school climate.

As parents, we all want our children to grow up in a wholesome environment that promotes and instills strong moral values, encourages personal responsibility, and develops confident characters with a true compassion for the needs of others. St Patrick’s CBC is the answer.

Ethos describes the atmosphere or environment in which an activity takes place. A Catholic school is called to generate and maintain an ethos based on living out the values of Jesus, which leads the community and the individual members to grow. It is this ethos which gives the Catholic school its distinctive religious character.

A Catholic school is a school community, recognised by the local Bishop, which through its general programme of education, and especially its Religious Education classes and religious practices, exercises the right to live and learn the values displayed by Jesus Christ, as upheld by the Catholic Church. Such a school provides this values-based education for the Catholic community, as well as for those from the wider community who seek an education in harmony with the aims of the school.