St Ursula’s turns 114
For many educators and learners it was a day of remembering and honouring those have who laid out the foundations of the school itself.
On Friday, 9 February, Saint Ursula’s Catholic School celebrated its 114th birthday with bright balloons, delicious cupcakes and a day filled with fun and laughter.
Tony Botha, the school principal, expressed his sincere gratitude for the school’s existence as well as those who have kept it running through the years. In celebration of the ecstatic event, both primary and secondary St Ursuline’s gathered, dressed in brightly coloured shirts, and formed the number 114 on the school’s sport field.
For many educators and learners it was a day of remembering and honouring those who laid out the foundations of the school itself.
The rich and vibrant history of this beautiful school and its buildings can be traced back to the old Transvaal Republic with its dust-trodden tracks and open veld teeming with wild animals and small tin towns dotting the Rand.
In 1903, a number of sisters under the leadership of Mother Mary Overbeck purchased part of a farm consisting of 13 acres of land for £7 500, which amounts to about R15 000 in today’s currency.
The new property consisted of an old double-storey farm house and its outbuildings, including a large stable block (which still survives today as the swimming pool changing rooms) standing alone in open uncultivated veld.
The school opened on 9 February 1904, with only five boarders and 12 day scholars. Very soon the old farmhouse became too small for the growing school and it was added onto in early 1906.
With continuous growth in the number of learners, the school buildings were found inadequate on various occasions. Corrugated iron buildings, a brick and mortar chapel and dormitories were added over the years.
Over time, the school survived both World War I and the outbreak of the Spanish Flu.
By 1928 the numbers had increased so much that the buildings were inadequate again. This time however, it was decided to start with a completely new building on the site.
The school purchased further property across the road facing onto Dam Street, which became Premier Street in 1963, for the purpose of building a new Primary School there. Building work progressed rapidly and the new Primary School opened on 24 January 1966.
The last major building work came in 1974 when the old Junior School was remodelled and extended to house the new Preschool. The building is still in use today.
The school celebrated its 100th birthday in 2004 with great festivities. In 2013, boys were accepted into the High School for the first time, and 2017 saw them matriculate.
Saint Ursula’s has become one of the oldest educational institutions on the West Rand while still growing, changing and expanding to this very day.
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