100 years of excellence

Justicia Shipena

One hundred years ago, on 8 July 1919, St George’s Diocesan School opened its doors for the first time with three staff members and 27 pupils, led by principal Mary Gould.

Fast-forward to today, and St George’s boasts a total of 778 pupils and 75 staff members.

It is a fully-integrated school that accommodates pupils of all races, creeds and nationalities.

The school belongs to the Anglican Diocese of Namibia.

The Christian faith is taught and upheld in the ethos and life of the school, and activities include regular visits to the cathedral.

In January 2003, the St George’s curriculum was extended to include grade 8 and this continued every year until the first grade 12s were admitted in 2007.

In 2015 the school introduced the Cambridge international curriculum, with the first group finishing their International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examinations in 2017 and their AS Levels in 2018.

St George's is the only Round Square school in Namibia and has been a global member of the Round Square organisation since 2013. Round Square is a global network of 180 innovative schools in 50 countries on six continents that share a passion for experiential learning and character education.

In line with celebrating its 100th anniversary, the school held a series of events, ranging from a family day, a Sunday service and founders’ assembly, to a cake decoration competition, gala dinner and many others.

The cake decoration competition consisted of four categories for grades 3-4, grades 5-7, grades 8-10 and grades 11-12.

Grades 3N, 6E, 9S and 12C walked away as the winners in each category.

Bakpro sponsored the school with cakes and icing for the competition, while Westlane Spar sponsored the winning prizes.

St George’s initiated the ‘Adopt a tree project’ to celebrate the school’s history and future plans. A total of 100 trees on the school grounds were identified that are up for adoption. The trees are numbered according to the years of the school’s existence, from 1919 to 2019. The trees are marked with red material and a poster saying ‘Adopt Me’. You can adopt a tree for N$500.

The St George's centenary theme is: “I am St George’s”.

It conveys a message of active participation, including: "I make St George's. I create St George's."

With this theme, the school gets an opportunity to show the community what it means to actively be a St Georgian at heart.

Speaking at the founders’ assembly, Michelle Mclean-Bailey, an alumnus of the school, shared her journey as a learner.

According Mclean-Bailey it is vital that every child has an education, and if you put your heart into it, you can achieve anything.

Mike Yates, the acting chairman of the school council, recognised the achievements of the school for the past 100 years.

“The hard work, dedication and determination of the teachers, principals and school council to make St George’s Diocesan School an educational home of excellence is acknowledged by us today,” he said.

Yates thanked the founders. He added that today they have a school that is not only based on Christian values, but also excels in offering a non-racial and non-discriminatory environment, a faith based education, as well as a place where character is moulded to meet the challenges of the world.

“It prepares a learner to speak up and live for truth, justice and freedom,” he said.

Kyla Grobler, a learner at St George’s, said anniversaries give us an opportunity to sit back and reflect on who we are and what role we play in society.

She said she is proud to be part of the St George’s community and has gained valuable skills from the school community.

The school excels in creating responsible and independent individuals who have the knowledge, attitude and skills to be successful in an ever-changing world.