Rondebosch Boys High School

History

Rondebosch Boys’, founded in 1897 by Rev Marchand and Messrs Andrews and Fletcher, soon carved a name for itself in the larger community. It is a school committed to the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of a broad concept of education that embraces academic, cultural and sporting endeavours, as well as a sense of service to one’s community and of spiritual worth.

This excellence is measured in terms of participation and performance, always aiming at the full attainment of individual and group potential, as well as preparedness for adult life.
The school is truly integrated; respected as a good all-round environment, aware of the need to remain excellent but not exclusive and committed to being ‘an educational centre where the average is made excellent and the excellent, exceptional’.

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History Timeline

1897	School was established on 2 February 1897.
1898	School moved to new buildings (the current site of the Prep School), with five new classrooms being built.
1900	The old Canigou became a Rondebosch boarding house.
1901	First RBHS boy passes Matriculation Examination.
1903	Mr Ramage sold Canigou residence to the school, while the adjacent ground was bought from Mr Fletcher.
1904	Mr Sidney “Dad” Mason became headmaster. First school magazine produced, largely written by Mr Mason. School motto “Altius et Latius” and the school colours of light blue, dark blue and gold established.
1909	Old Boys' Union founded.
1913	Foundation Day came into being as an annual holiday to commemorate the founding of the school.
1917	First athletics championships at Western Province Cricket ground.
1927	New swimming pool built. The hole was dug by boys in Standards 7 – 10.
1928	Mr W F Grant appointed headmaster. Cricket A field levelled by masters and boys.
1930	Two separate schools created – Prep and High.
1930	Mr W G A Mears appointed headmaster. Cricket pavilion built. First boarders moved into Mason House.
1938	The “desert” across the river was levelled and grassed.
1941	New Canigou opened.
1948	High School moved to present site.
1951	Memorial Hall opened. Use of the Mears Meadows fields granted to the school. Tennis courts built on the “desert”.
1952	Mr W A Clarke appointed headmaster.
1955	Modern swimming pool completed.
1958	Rondebosch Overseas Scholarship (Jubilee Scholarship) started.
1963	Clent property purchased in trust for R 32 000 for the benefit of the school.
1967	Waterpolo section of the swimming pool built. First “official” waterpolo match between RBHS and SACS.
1970	Mr C Clement appointed headmaster. The tradition of Speech Night begun to honour prizewinners. Maisonettes built as houses for teachers.
1975	Squash courts and Prep School pavilion on Mears Meadow built.
1977	Mr M D Reeler appointed headmaster.
1979	Mears Centre opened. Extensions to the High School completed. This included new laboratories, classrooms and a gymnasium. Clarke House on the Clent Property became the headmaster's official home in 1983.
1986	Mr C B Murison appointed headmaster.
1988	Further attempt to open RBHS to pupils of all races rejected by the then Minister of National Education, Mr F W de Klerk.
1989	Memorial Hall renovated and Societies Room (old War Memorial Library) enlarged ‑ renamed Reeler Centre.
1997	Rondebosch celebrated its Centenary Year. The school’s hundredth anniversary in 1997 may seem a little distant now, but we have a permanent reminder in the form of the E1942 Centenary Pavilion’ and the adjoining computer centre. The initial fundraising drive for these projects coincided with the centenary celebrations and very soon led to the creation of the Rondebosch Boys’ Schools Education Trust. The Trust under the distinguished chairmanship of the former Chief Justice Michael Corbett (an Old Boy of the School) became the focal point of the fundraising efforts not only for the projects of the High School, but also for extensions and improvements to the Preparatory School, all of which were formally opened at the end of 2001. These projects filled a very real need for our schools and have contributed in helping our dedicated headmasters and staff in maintaining centres of educational excellence of which the wider Rondebosch family can be justifiably proud.
1998	Mr M Barker appointed headmaster.
2000	Opening of Centenary Computer Room and E1942 Centenary Pavilion. Made possible through generous funding from Old Boys, in particular the class of 1942.
2002	Allan Cormack Science Laboratory opened in honour of the Rondebosch Old Boy who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1979.
2004	Opening of Music and Performing Arts Centre adjacent to Reeler Centre.
2006	Opening of Mason House extension, the Tinkie Heyns Wing. Made possible largely through the Carleton Lloyd Education Trust and a generous donation from Prof Heyns.
2007	Additional staff housing units completed on the Clent Property.
2008	New Swimming and Water Polo Pool completed. New Rugby stand under construction - Rugby A.
2009	Completion of the Carleton Lloyd Rugby Stand.

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