St. Dominic's Priory School

St Dominic's Priory School, founded in 1900, is an independent, co-educational Catholic School, for pupils from Pre-Grade R to Grade 12. We are situated in beautiful surroundings of wood and parkland near Walmer, easily accessible from the main thoroughfares of Port Elizabeth.

We strive to provide enjoyable and rewarding learning and teaching experience for our pupils and teachers. We believe that quality education involves the development of all pupil's different capabilities. We believe in creating a happy, stimulating and beneficial environment in a family atmosphere.

St Dominic's Priory, as it exists today, consists of a co-educational pre-school, a junior school and a high school. We celebrate our history in the names of our school houses: Marcellin (for the founder of the Marist Brothers), Rosary (for the Holy Rosary Convent) and Trinity (for the amalgamated school).

Dominican schools aim to provide forward thinking education of the highest quality based on a tradition that goes back over seven hundred years of commitment to education. Our schools seek to care for the whole person in order to develop in young people. Being guided by the principles of our Catholic faith and acknowledging Christ as our Leader and Teacher, we strive for excellence and creativity in education, committing ourselves to the preparation of our pupils by instilling in them a sense of responsibility and attempting to ensure that they leave St Dominic's Priory with a solid foundation on which to build their future in high school and beyond.

St Dominic's Priory School is a Catholic school. This means that everything we say and do is dedicated to the glory of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It also means that we have a strong commitment to the truth. St Dominic, our patron, founded his Order of Preachers to proclaim the truth about God and his Church in a time when many untruths were being proclaimed. As a Dominican School, we bear the motto, Veritas, meaning "truth”. We search for truth in our studies. We are honest in our dealings with others in our school community.

We have integrity, accepting both praise and correction. Most importantly, we encounter Truth in the Person of Jesus Christ, who promises true freedom to those know him. Like St Dominic, we hope to encounter Christ often. With the prayers of St Dominic, we praise God, asking him to bless us and give us courage to proclaim the Truth forever.

All time at this school is consecrated to God. You will notice this as the year goes by. Apart from our formal worship and prayer, St Dominic's also has the opportunity for spiritual direction for all pupils. Spiritual direction is an age-old tradition of the Church that ministers to individual Christian. It is not psychological counselling or therapy. It is a prayerful practice that brings the light of Christ into the life of the individual: an aid to assisting the development of the spiritual life. Pupils may ask to see one of the three Oratorians for spiritual direction by presenting themselves to the Oratorian they wish to see, who will give them a permission slip. This slip is taken to the subject teacher whose lesson will be missed. It remains the responsibility of the pupil to catch up any work missed.

Pupils are prepared for the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) examinations of the National Senior Certificate that are written at the end of Grade 12. We write international bench-marking tests in Grades 6 and 9 Mathematics and English through the IEB to ensure our standards are relevant. Progress in studies is tested throughout each termand examinations are held in June and November for pupils from Grade 4 to 12. All marks for pupils from Pre R to grade 3 are based on continual assessment throughout the year.

To keep in line with the structure of the Grade 12IEB examination, the continuous assessment mark in all grades counts towards the final total mark for the year. Assessment and testing throughout the academic year is therefore very important. Quality control takes place through a process of internal and external moderation. For High School pupils extra Mathematics, English and Afrikaans is offered free of charge to those who might need.

Pupils wishing to do extra subjects (French, Drama, etc.) and whose parents are able to provide private tuition in these subjects according to IEB requirements may be enrolled for their National Senior Certificate examination in these subjects through the school. The subject will reflect on their matric Certificate. A number of pupils have also taken Dramatic Arts as a Matric Subject, even though they attend private Drama Schools in the area. We have also accommodated inter alia French or Spanish in the past.