Brief History of St Johns College
The founder of St. John's College was Bishop Henry Callaway, first Bishop of the Diocese of St. John's. It was named after Rev. J. O. Oxland, a colleague of Bishop Callaway. The more formal beginning of this school took place on 25 June 1879, with a stone-laying ceremony. At this stage, it was referred to as "St. John's Theological College". The elementary education given was expected to lead on to training as a teacher, and eventually lead to a qualification as a catechist, deacon, or priest. W. M. Cameron became the first person to be designated "Warden" of St. John's College. The Theological College was separated from St. John's and was renamed St. Bede's College.
The most remarkable of the Wardens of St. John's was Rev. A. A. Hoadley, who ruled with an iron rod and was responsible for upgrading the College. The college first offered JC, NPL, and NPH courses and later offered a Matric course. He was succeeded by Rev. J. W. Wilson whose most notable achievement was to haul the College out of debt and set it on a sound financial footing. He was succeeded by Rev. John Shand, and under his authority, St. John's was regarded as the prestigious school in the whole of Transkei.
A former St John's College Principal: Mr R T Ndabeni
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Mr. R.T Ndabeni had served as the principal of this institution from 1997 - 2009 taking over Mr Maqokolo's reign. He had previously served as an Afrikaans lecturer at Transkei College of Education. His excellent leadership, innovation, vision, and perseverance had made a huge turnaround in the development of this institution. He had valiantly succeeded in restoring the glory, integrity and the reputation of this institution.
Mr. Ndabeni was a catalyst in starting many programmes like Dinaledi and Focus schools. This had resulted in tremendous improvement in the Matric results. His hard work had been rewarded and awarded with numerous accolades at the provincial and at the national level.
Mr.Ndabeni was a humble and wise administrator with a great sense of humour. He had practiced open door policy, and always accessible. St.John's College community wish him well in all his future endeavours.
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CELEBRATING 135 YEARS
On 8 August 2014, President Cyril Ramaphosa, delivererd a Keynote address at the St. John's College Fundraising Gala Dinner, which was held in Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape province.
Mthatha- Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, supported by Eastern Cape Premier Phumulo Masualle, will on tomorrow evening, Friday 08 August 2014, deliver a keynote address at the St John's College Fundraising Gala Dinner, Mthatha, Eastern Cape.
St John’s College is one of the oldest and prominent schools in the Easter Cape Province established 135 years ago, by the then Anglican Bishop Dr Henry Callaway. This year in 2014, the College celebrates 135 years of existence and contribution in education in our country.
The College is an established Centre of Excellence in Mathematics and Physical Sciences with a total enrolment of about 1770 learners in grades 8-12. In addition to the school’s positive contribution to the provision of excellent education, last year, the college achieved 96% pass rate in matric result.
The Deputy President has been invited to join the college in celebration of these important milestones, and it also provides a platform to showcase future developmental plans for the College.
The Fundraising Gala-Dinner will be attended by former students, traditional leaders, parents, former educators, business representatives, friends and associates of the school.
Members of the media are invited as follows:
Date: Friday, 08 August 2014
Time: 18h00 for 18h30
Venue: Dan’s Country Lodge, Mthatha, Eastern Cape Province
For more information please contact Ronnie Mamoepa on 082 990 4853.
For media logistics please contact Sam Bopape – 082 318 5251 / 074 601 4709.
Issued by: The Presidency
Pretoria
SA schools need good teachers: Ramaphosa
09 August 2014 - 15:24 BY SAPA
A school needs good teachers in order to produce quality students, deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday.
In a speech prepared for delivery at the St John's College fund raising gala dinner in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape on Friday, Ramaphosa said the school had been favoured with good teachers.
The school turned 135 this year.
"For a school to reach this age, for it to produce generations of outstanding leaders and remarkable people there is something special that it must have done well," he said.
"My guess, and the alumni can tell me if I am wrong, is that St John's has been favoured with good teachers."
Former president Thabo Mbeki, Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle and former head of the National Prosecuting Authority Vusi Pikoli are part of the school's alumni.
He said the school had sought to attract and nurture teachers who were focused on producing well-educated children and improving themselves as teachers.
"It is this enduring attribute that we find in St John's that is so often missing in our country today."
He said for young people to reach their full potential, the country needed teachers with the ability and commitment to nurture and develop them.
In a study conducted by consulting firm McKinsey & Company titled "How the world's best-performing school systems come out on top" published in 2007, Ramaphosa said three key factors were noted.
These were - (i) getting the right people to become teachers, (ii) developing them into effective instructors and (iii) ensuring that the system was able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child, he said.
"These findings underline our contention that transforming our education system requires a sustained focus on the quality of our teachers and principals.
"Teachers are not the problem. Teachers are the solution of many of our problems."
He said the National Development Plan emphasised the need to improve the quality of teacher training and the recruitment of higher calibre candidates.
The plan also identified ways to empower teachers already in service by improving their knowledge of the subjects they taught, providing training in effective teaching methods, and addressing their working conditions and remuneration.
"We need to restore the status of teachers in our communities. Teaching needs to once again become the favoured profession of capable, dedicated and ambitious young South Africans."
Teachers needed to earn respect by not taking part in activities which brought their profession into disrepute.
"Through their actions, they need to restore the integrity and moral standing of the important positions they occupy."
Ramaphosa said South Africa needed educated citizens who could compete in a globalised world.
"We need to build a capable generation that is armed with the knowledge, skills, cognitive ability and drive to elevate our productivity and improve our competitiveness."
VIA:
https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2014-08-09-sa-schools-need-good-teachers-ramaphosa/