St. Michael's School

St Michael’s is the oldest girls’ school North of the Orange River. It was founded by Bishop Webb in 1874, and in the same year, the first Mother Superior, Sister Emma, and five volunteers arrived in Bloemfontein to become the Community of Saint Michael and all Angels. Henrietta Stockdale, who became a famous member of the nursing fraternity in this country, was among these. Her statue stands in the grounds of St Cyprian’s Cathedral in Kimberley. The school was originally built on the western boundary of Bloemfontein, where the Sand du Plessis Theatre now stands, in Markgraaff Street.

St Michael’s is a school with a Christian foundation and under its own constitution and in response to the expectations of its educators, learners and parents, creates an environment for learning spiritual values that are not merely information about religion in general, but specifically Christian. It has an Anglican tradition with an Anglican Chaplain and a Chapel where worship services are conducted regularly. The Bishop of the Diocese of the Free State is also the School Visitor and serves on the school Board of Governors.

SMS is a successful multi-cultural English medium Christian Girls’ School with a long and distinguished history in the Free State.

The vision is to promote the development of independent, skilled and confident young women who are able to lead happy and fulfilled lives, and to contribute constructively to South Africa and the wider world.

Our mission is to provide an excellent learning environment for academic, sporting and cultural achievement while nurturing the emotional development of the girls in a caring environment. Based on our Anglican foundation, SMS develops the spirituality of the girls and staff and fosters its expression in the work of the school community.

St Michael’s offers all learning areas as required by the Free State Department of Education, according to the CAPS curriculum up to Grade 9.From Grades 10-12, learners may choose from a wide variety of subjects. Learners with differing interests and career choices are accommodated.Our subject package is geared to ensure that every Grade 12 learner can leave school with a Bachelor’s pass (university admission).

The St Michaels pre-primary is a Christian, multi cultural hub of happiness and excitement. From the ages of 3-6 we a put a smile on your child’s face, with a passion to explore and learn. We play, love and learn with lots of laughter.We have 106 children from Grade 000 to Grade R and make every day an adventure. Make SMS your first choice.

Our Foundation Phase consists of two classes for each Grade. Mrs Lee-Ann Thompson is in charge of the Foundation Phase. We have two remedial teachers, Miss Meyer and Miss Wright, who assists learners with barriers. We offer English Home Language, Afrikaans 1st Additional Language and we have started with Sesotho 2nd Additional Language in Grade 1 this year. Various sporting activities as well as cultural activities are offered in which the Foundation Phase learners can take part.

Teachers have daily contact with learners and they are the first to identify those pupils lagging behind because of their learning barriers.  However, it is not always necessary, and in some cases not advisable, to refer every child with a learning problem to other institutions. If the problem cannot be dealt with in the classroom, the teacher will then send the learner to our remedial unit.  There, Mrs Lombard and Miss Wright teach the Foundation Phase learners (Gr 1-4) with Mrs Lombard handling the Gr 1 -4 support groups, and Miss Wright the Gr 5 – 6 support groups. As remedial teachers, we identify the problem by testing the learners.