St Catherine's Convent School

St Catherine's Convent School is a private, all-girls school in Florida, Roodepoort named after Saint Catherine of Siena. A combined school, it consists of a primary and high school, as well as its own pre-school.

Not to be confused with St Catherine's School, Germiston.
St Catherine's Convent School
Address
Cnr The Highway & 9th Avenue, Florida

Roodepoort
,
Gauteng

South Africa
Information
TypePrivate, all-girls day school
MottoVeritas (Latin: "Truth")
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1957 (1957)
School number060 739 8299
HeadmasterMr Conrad Cleary
Exam boardIEB
Grades000-12
Number of students474 (2014)
LanguageEnglish
Colour(s)  Blue
  White
Websitewww.stcatherines.co.za

History

St Catherine's Convent was founded by the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, of Cabra, in 1957, originally as a co-educatonal school. By 1962, also the year the school had its first matric (Grade 12) class, a separate school was established for the boys and St Catherine's became an all-girls school.[1]

In 1972, the pre-school was established and registered with the Transvaal Education Department (predecessor to the current Gauteng Department of Education). That year the school also decided, despite threats of closure from the apartheid government, to open itself to students of all races, becoming one of the first private schools in South Africa to do so.[1][2]

1994 lightning strike incident

On 11 November 1994 four girls from St Catherine's Convent were killed and another 12 were injured when lightning struck the tent they were sleeping in. All were between the ages of 10 and 11. They were part of a group of 26 students attending an environmental awareness camp in Nylstroom (present day Modimolle) in the Northern Transvaal province (present day Limpopo Province).[3] The school still holds an annual memorial service for the four girls who died.[4] Follow-up studies on the survivors have contributed to a better understanding of lightning shock syndrome and lightning strike-related post-traumatic stress disorder.[5]

Academics

St Catherine's matriculants and grade 9 pupils write exams set by the Independent Examinations Board (IEB). The IEB is an organisation whose examinations are written by independent schools throughout South Africa. These examinations conform to the requirements of the National Senior Certificate and are recognised both internationally and by all South African universities.

Sport

Sports available at St Catherine's Convent include swimming, netball, hockey, cross country and tennis.[6]

References
  1. "About – St Catherine's". www.stcatherines.co.za. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  2. McKenzie, Seth (2014). The Church Resistant: A History of Catholic Resistance to South African Apartheid. UCT Press. p. 134–135. ISBN 9780792708.
  3. UPI (11 November 1994). "S.African students killed by lightning". www.upi.com. UPI. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  4. Roberts, Oliver (27 November 2014). "SA in top 5 on the world's lightning death chart - what scientists are doing to help". www.timeslive.co.za. Sunday Times. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  5. Silva, Cooper, Blumenthal & Pliskin (31 January 2016). "A follow-up study of a large group of children struck by lightning". www.scielo.org.za. South African Medical Journal. Retrieved 19 September 2021.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. "Sport – St Catherine's". www.stcatherines.co.za. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
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