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HOUSES
St. Stithians Boys' College has ten houses, two boarding
houses (Mountstephens and Collins) and eight dayboy houses.
The most recent additions to the house system are Krige
and Henning Houses. They were introduced four years ago.
The reason we have so many houses to keep the number boys
in each house as low as possible. This creates much more
spirit and opportunity within each house and thus contributes
to the overall competitiveness amongst the houses. The
structure of each house is designed to ensure that each
boy in the house is able to develop close relationships
with other boys and staff in the house. Each house has
a House Director, and four or five staff who act as tutors.
Each tutor has a tutor group of approximately 15 boys,
form all grades in the school. The tutor is responsible
for his tutor groups' well being in the school, and keeps
an eye on each boy's academic and extra-mural progress
as well as his emotional well being.
There is also a School Prefect who heads up each house, and
he is assisted by other senior boys who act as the House
Committee. Their responsibility is to run the organisation
of the House, including House meetings, the various
inter-house activities, house social events and
communication via the House Notice Board.
As part of the House programme, St Stithians has embraced a
mentorship programme, whereby a relationship is promoted
between junior and senior boys. The Senior Mentor is asked
to communicate regularly with the Junior for whom he is
responsible, as well as the Junior's parents.
The school is becoming more and more houses orientated as we
have seen how discipline, sport and academic administration
have been controlled more in the house system than the
school. Each year there is an overall competition amongst
the houses for the Harris Cup. As well as this, there are
competitions for the best sporting, academic and cultural
house. Throughout the year, events and competitions are
held. Points are awarded not only for success but also
attendance and spirit. In fact it is possible to start an
event such as athletics on negative points if you do not
attend a qualifying round. Interhouse sports competitions
through the year include: athletics; touch rugby; swimming
gala; relay gala; rowing; soccer; basketball; squash;
tennis; cricket; water polo; hockey; and cross country.
Interhouse cultural competitions include: chess;
drama productions; debating; public speaking; and the
prefects' exam. Students are required to know which House
Director is in charge of their house and have a brief
knowledge of the other House Directors. They must also know
each House's name and colour.
Mountstephens | Collins | Tucker | Mears | Pitts
| Wesley | Webb | Henning | Penryn | Krige
This information is also available in the Boys
College Homework diary.
PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT
The Psychological Support Department
offers counselling and support with personal problems or
with group issues, and with challenging situations regarding
adolescent growth and development. The Department aims to
empower individuals to take responsibility for their own
lives, to nurture growth and well-being, and to identify and
reinforce strengths.
The Psychological Support Department serves the boys and
staff member of St Stithians Boys’ College, and if any
family concerns are affecting the well-being of the boy, a
family session will be organised in order to enhance the
student’s coping mechanisms.
The Psychologists that form part of the Psychological
Support Department are members of the Psychological Society
of South Africa and are registered with the Health
Professional Council of South Africa. They are compelled to
keep all that is said in counselling confidential, with the
exception of cases of self-harm or where harm is threatened
to others.
To make an appointment or to discuss any concerns please
contact the department’s personal assistant, Gretchen
Maruggi at 011-577 6113 or email
gmaruggi@stithian.com
For further information consult the information booklet.
Please
Download our Brochure
(Microsoft Publisher Document).
CAREERS
INFORMATION
Career decision-making and the
counselling process have become an essential part of
adolescent transition into young adulthood. In order to
facilitate an informed process, St Stithians Boys' College
offers the following career programme.
Psychometric testing is offered
by the Psychological Support Department in the Grade
11 year of study. All tests are selected and administered
in accordance with the Health Professions Council of
South Africa's guidelines for ethical practice. Testing
will be followed by an approximate two hour initial
interview where the test results will be discussed with
the learner and his parents. Further interviews may
take place..
The career counselling process
is the culmination of other initiatives that have taken
place during the learners progression through the College.
This would include academic modules regarding careers,
as well as a job shadowing programme.
BOARDING
HOUSES
St Stithians Boys’ College offers full
Boarding School facilities, which provides a rich, varied,
comfortable and nurturing home for boys in the heart of our
beautiful campus.
We have two recently renovated Houses in which the boys are
organised into well-functioning and small family units: each
unit consists of 21 boys of different grades headed by a
Family Parent, who is an experienced educator, and who will
see to the pastoral care of your son. The low staff to
student ratio of 1:11 allows us to offer close mentorship
and personal attention. In this manner, the Housemasters are
able to establish an inter-personal relationship with each
student as an individual – not merely as a pupil – and
thereby offer him appropriate help and support.
In the St Stithians Boarding Houses we seek to create a
respectful environment in which we value the space and
privacy required by the boys, as well as the need for
camaraderie and sharing. The boys live comfortably in single
rooms or in dormitories: they enjoy individualized space in
the dormitories as juniors, and then move into their own
room once they become a senior in the House. The bathrooms
are structured to ensure each student has his own separate
and enclosed space. They can also enjoy the friendliness of
the many communal areas in which they meet to play games,
read newspapers, chat or, at certain times, watch
television. Furthermore, the boys have access to a library,
computer links at each desk, a gym and a sound-proof music
room; all this in addition to easy access to the playing
fields, pools and dams on the campus.
The College Dining Hall is essential to the morale of the
boys as well as to their nutrition. Our caterers provide
three meals a day in our beautiful dining hall where staff
and pupils gather at mealtimes and enjoy an informal but
civilised atmosphere. There are choices at lunch and supper
to cater for all tastes, and provision is readily made for
special dietary needs.
Our aim is to grow each boy in our care into becoming a
young gentleman who can cope with the demands of the modern
world. Our staff is trained to be able to deal with the
adolescent male and also to understand the needs of boys,
the thinking of boys and how to develop masculinity. Values
such as honour, valour, honesty and tolerance are important
cornerstones of our boarding model in which the students are
members of a multi-cultural and multi-national community.
We provide a structured environment in which your son can
learn to become a responsible and independent young man. As
we strive, together with you, towards excellence in all
spheres of your son’s life, he will be given opportunities
to lead and become a mentor to others. At the same time he
will have the opportunity, through easy access to all
facilities, to develop as a sportsman, to foster an interest
in cultural activities, music and the Arts, and to focus on
his academic studies.
Above all, the boys thoroughly enjoy boarding. The
respectful relationships between seniors and juniors, and
the close friendships, allow them to feel at home here at St
Stithians and enable them to express themselves openly. We
are much more than merely a place: we produce self-reliant,
confident and participative young men.
Should you wish a tour of the boarding houses, please
contact the Marketing Department or the Director of
Boarding.
ETHOS OF
ST`STITHIANS BOYS’ COLLEGE
There is a tradition at the Boys’ College of caring for individual students and
the need to develop in the students a strong sense of individuality, resilience
and connectedness through all areas of school life.
The College’s student support and pastoral care programme is founded on a House
system that incorporates every student. This ensures that every student belongs
to a small, intimate group where individual problems can be heard and dealt with
effectively and promptly.
The House system creates and develops a sense of community and commitment and
encourages communication and support between age groups. This is achieved
through the sub-division of each House into smaller Tutorial groups, which are
vertically structured, and comprise of Grade 8 to Grade 12 students. Students
meet as a Tutor group each day for roll call and more formally for a longer
tutorial period once a week. Through the Tutor groups each student has someone
with whom they can confide outside the classroom or their peer group, and the
Tutors can develop meaningful relationships with each student. Added to this,
each Grade 11 student is allocated a Grade 8 boy to Mentor: this involves
assisting the younger student to integrate socially and academically in all
aspects of the College, as well as enabling the senior boys to act as role
models and develop leadership skills. This mentorship relationship continues
into the students Grade 9 and Grade 12 year respectively.
Each House has its own House Chapel Service once a week where groups of boys are
invited to prepare and present the service, and the boys sit in their respective
Houses during school Chapel Services and assemblies. During Tutorial periods
issues such as relationships, self-awareness, decision-making and bullying are
discussed and the students develop a strong sense of loyalty to the College
motto of Honour God, Honour Others and Honour Self, which lies at the heart of
the school.
The House system also allows the students to participate in a comprehensive
range of activities for which they are awarded House points. These activities
include Inter-House sporting and cultural events such as the Gala, Cross Country
and Athletics, as well as Debating, Public Speaking, the Art and Drama
competition, Community Service projects and Academics. Points are awarded based
on participation and on the outcome of the events, and these events allow the
students to compete for the Harris Cup presented each year at Prize Giving to
the winning House.
The College employs full-time counsellors who provide advice and support on
pastoral and academic issues that affect students and parents and specialist
help can be recommended should it be required. In keeping with the Christian
ethos of the school and its Methodist links, the Chaplain works in conjunction
with the staff, students and administrative body of the school to ensure that
the spiritual philosophy of the College reflects the Saints Honour Code. The
following declaration by the Chaplains can also be found on the school’s
website:
“The St Stithians Chaplains, seeks to create a holistic, Christ-healed stillness
in the School through a social, pastoral care, preaching, teaching,
evangelistic, healing and prophetic ministry, based upon a relational presence.
It is through different executive meetings, life orientations, R.E. classes, on
sports’ fields and in community outings that we continually try to make the
world of difference and respond to prophetic issues.”
Counselling and advice is also provided to school leavers regarding career
opportunities, and assistance is given that extends beyond the needs of the
individual whilst still at the College. This includes help with University
Entrance applications, providing the opportunity for boys to hear visiting
specialist speakers and an annual presentation by local and international
tertiary institutions regarding courses offered.
The structures provided by a clear Code of Conduct for staff and students alike
ensure a commitment to the establishment of a culture of mutual respect, a
professional and ethical approach to holistic education and to the fostering and
development of the individual in a caring environment.
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Student Affairs
