St. Andrew's School

Saint Andrew’s came into being on 16 November 1863 as the Diocesan Grammar School. It was founded by Bishop Edward Twells in response to the need for organised schooling for the boys of  Bloemfontein. Mr George Clegg was the school’s first Headmaster.The original school room still stands in St George’s Street and is known as the Old Raadsaal, a national monument.

Shortly before the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer war, the school was due to move to a building on the site of the current Oranje Meisieskool. The move, though, never took place as the school was closed when the war broke out and the building was requisitioned as a military hospital.

Developments at Saint Andrew’s in recent years have been highly successful. The old Municipal Sports’ Ground, known as Victoria Park, has been redeveloped and is now home to Little Saints, the school’s pre-primary.

The Victoria Park Hall and Boardroom are also used for, among others, stage productions, the Saints Karate Club, as an examination venue and for meetings of the Board of Governors.

Near the Gariep Dam, an outdoor education has been developed. It plays host to annual camps for boys from grades three to 11. The programme is designed so that each year’s camp is a continuation and enhancement on the previous year’s outdoor education. The proximity of South Africa’s largest dam and the Orange River also provides plentiful recreational and educational opportunities.

Sports facilities are regularly improved and updated. In 2016, the Lindsay Tuckett High Performance Centre was officially opened. Focussed mainly on cricket, but also used for hockey and ball skills, the Centre features cutting-edge technology and is one of the finest of its kind in the world, according to the technology providers, PitchVision.

When last the national annual under-18 Inter-provincial Cricket Week was held in Bloemfontein, in 2017, the main cricket field, Vossie’s Field and the second cricket field, Hickling Field, were selected as among the best in Bloemfontein by the participants. Vossie’s Field was rated second only to the Knights’ Mangaung Oval and Hickling Field was voted the fifth best ground.

The Saint Andrew’s sports grounds are fed by borehole water, which enables the school to look after the fields properly, even in times of drought and winter.

The tennis courts at Saint Andrew’s were resurfaced in 2019 and then the complex and each court individually was named at the school’s annual Bloemfontein Reunion.

A quality gymnasium is available to the boys on the school grounds. They pay a minimal amount each month to ensure the equipment is properly maintained and upgraded.

The school offers a choice of 15 subjects, while additional subjects may be catered for with permission from the Department of Education.

Subjects: English, Afrikaans, Sesotho, Mathematics, Mathematical Literacy, Life Orientation, Accounting, Physical Science, Life Science, Information Technology, Computer Applications Technology, Visual Art, History, Geography, Tourism, eighth subjects, such as Drama or Applied Programme Mathematics, may be taken with permission from the Department of Education (lessons to be taken after hours and all costs incurred to be paid by the parents).

Saint Andrew’s has a very proud academic record. Smaller classes enable the school’s teachers to give their personal attention to every boy.

Among all-boys government schools, Saint Andrew’s is one of only four boys’ schools in the country to achieve a 100 percent pass rate for five consecutive years. In fact, the school has had a 100 percent pass rate for 27 years in succession. The school with the second longest streak has managed it for 12 years.

Each year, between 80 percent and 100 percent of the boys achieve university exemptions. This has been the case for the past 11 years.

Three times in the past six years Saint Andrew’s boys – Christiaan Bronkhorst, Stehann van Jaarsveld and Ethan Travers – have been recognised as the top learner in the Free State.

The top learner in the subject English has been achieved four times, by Christiaan Bronkhorst, Sipho Ndereya, Stehann van Jaarsveld and Ethan Travers. In 2018, three candidates received eight A symbols, five candidates received seven A symbols, and six candidates placed among the top 50 learners in the Free State.