College
Welcome from the College Head, Dave Jeffrey
As Head of the College, it is a privilege to lead a dynamic team of highly competent and dedicated staff who provide an engaging classroom environment where young men are taught in a safe, academically enriching and Catholic environment.
‘Veritas in Caritate’ (‘Truth in love’) is the school’s motto, and you don’t have to look far to see this in action. If you walk along the school corridors, looking in at lively discussions happening during lessons, or spend a few minutes on our sports grounds noticing interactions between boys and coaches, you get a strong sense of the caring approach we take to a holistic education, fostering positive and dynamic relationships between the boys and their teachers.
At the core of our school is our academic programme where our philosophy of educational excellence is multi-faceted. We encourage and assist each student to take responsibility for his own personal learning. Our teachers create a stimulating learning environment where the boys are stretched in order that they can optimise their own personalised learning.
We are progressive with our academic programme at Grade 8 and 9 level where terms like Project Based Learning and Computational Thinking have become household phrases.
Sport at St Benedict’s takes place during school hours and the unique integrated day ensures that the academic day is divided. This gives boys the chance to participate in a variety of sporting disciplines, choosing one every term and getting the necessary exercise teenage boys require. They are also encouraged to involve themselves actively in a wide range of cultural activities while being mindful of the Catholic ideals and practices that govern the school. These four pillars make up the essence of St Benedict’s.
At the core of our school is our academic programme where our philosophy of educational excellence is multi-faceted. We encourage and assist each student to take responsibility for his own personal learning. Our teachers create a stimulating learning environment where the boys are stretched in order that they can optimise their own personalised learning.
We are progressive with our academic programme at Grade 8 and 9 level where terms like Project Based Learning and Computational Thinking have become household phrases.
Sport at St Benedict’s takes place during school hours and the unique integrated day ensures that the academic day is divided. This gives boys the chance to participate in a variety of sporting disciplines, choosing one every term and getting the necessary exercise teenage boys require. They are also encouraged to involve themselves actively in a wide range of cultural activities while being mindful of the Catholic ideals and practices that govern the school. These four pillars make up the essence of St Benedict’s.
Comprising a learner complement of 1400 young men across our three campuses, St Benedict’s remains one of the largest private Catholic boys schools in South Africa. The College offers five classes per Grade and class sizes remain low with a maximum of 28 boys per class.
An Old Boy described St Benedict’s as a school that has “all of the prestige and none of the pomp”. It’s a comment that stuck with me because, while we are exceptionally proud of our academic, sporting and cultural excellence, we are equally proud of the authentic, down-to-earth, inclusive atmosphere that you feel the moment you walk through our school gates. It is the combination of all these elements that moulds our boys into the kind of people who make a difference wherever they find themselves.
