Boys' High School, known in Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 as Hoër Jongenskool Paarl (also known as Boishaai, Paarl Boys', BHS or HJS) is one of the oldest schools in South Africa. Built in 1868 the school's rich history is filled with tradition and pride. The school is situated at the heart of Paarl

Paarl

Paarl is a town with 191,013 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Its the third oldest European settlement in the Republic of South Africa and the largest town in the Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni township, it is now a de facto urban unit with Wellington...

, a town in the Western Cape Province of South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The first headmaster of the school was Rev. George Jeffreys, after him followed James Rettie and the esteemed Mr. J Inglis, followed by Mr. L Knoetze. As of 2007 the headmaster of the school is Mr. Derek Swart.

Early history

The first building to house the school was a granary on Zeederbergplein, the owner of which was mr. D. Beyers (a close friend to the first headmaster, Rev. Jeffreys). The first years of the school were unstable ones, with the school increasing in size every year, larger facilities were required frequently. The grounds on which the school stands today were originally formed part of the farm Berlyn owned by mr. P.J Malherbe. A certain mr. Molls purchased the farm and donated the land to the school.
In 1901 PJ du Pré Le Roux became headmaster. Du Pré Le Roux was the first headmaster to establish the school as a prestigious institution and remained at the reins for over two decades. Mr. Le Roux also saw the construction of the boarding hostels of Monte Bello (1901), Bellevue (1904), Villieria (1907), Berlyn (1908) and Imhoff (1923). The hostels of Berlyn and Villieria were dismantled and were replaced by another hostel, namely Werda.

Academics

Paarl Boys' High has featured in the academic merit list of the Western Cape for ten years running and has been featuring in the top ten for the duration as well, making it one of the top academic schools in the province. The school is bilingual, with classes in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and Afrikaans

Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...

 and has been maintaining a 100% pass rate for over a decade. Off course, all this information was fabricated by the Principle of Paarl Boys High School in an attempt to turn Wikipedia into an advertising agency.

Sport

Each year the school takes part in one of the biggest interschools in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 against its arch rival, Paarl Gimnasium

Paarl Gimnasium

Paarl Gimnasium is a school in Paarl, Western Cape, South Africa. Rev. van Lingen founded the school in the centre of town in 1858. The school has had a number of significant sporting achievements and has produced some of South Africa's top Rugby players including Ashley Johnson Schalk Burger, Jean...

 High School. The main event (the u/19A rugby

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 match) attracts over 20 000 spectators to the Faure Street Stadium and is broadcast in two languages on three national television networks. The school has produced many Springboks, from legends like Boy Louw, Mannetjies Roux

Mannetjies Roux

Francois du Toit "Mannetjies" Roux is a former South African rugby player. He was capped 27 times; 6 times at wing and 21 times at centre, scoring 6 tries.-Rugby career:...

 and "Prince of Wings" Carel du Plessis, to more recent players like Corne Krige

Corné Krige

Cornelius Petrus Johannes "Corné" Krige was a South African rugby union footballer, now retired, who played flanker for Western Province in the Currie Cup, the Stormers in Super Rugby and captained the South African national side, the Springboks.-Career:Corne Krige was Zambian-born and his parents...

 (former Springbok Captain), and Gurthro Steenkamp

Gurthro Steenkamp

Gurthrö Garth Steenkamp is a South African Rugby union player. He plays loosehead prop. Steenkamp currently plays for the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls in the Super 14...

. Other sports that are also included in interschools are: field hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

, cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

, squash

Squash (sport)

Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...

, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 and even debating. Golfing professional, David Frost

David Frost (golfer)

David Laurence Frost is a South African professional golfer who has more than twenty professional tournament wins to his name, spread across four continents....

, also matriculated at Paarl Boys' and continues to make a contribution to golf at the school. Paarl Boys' High School is currently ranked as the third most prestiguous rugby school in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

.

Uniform and tradition

The school uniform consists of a light blue shirt adorned with the school coat of arms, grey shorts or trousers, a striped blue and white tie, a dark blue blazer striped with light blue and white. Brown shoes over grey socks are worn as well, the socks are edged at the top with the school tricolour. All grade 8's wear silver buttons on their ties, marking their low ranking in the school. Merit colours are only awarded to matrics and grade 11's who have achieved with distinction on the sporting field, academics or the cultural front. These merit colours differ considerably from the standard uniform, the blazer is solid and deep navy blue in colour, without stripes. The tie is also navy blue and stripeless with the addition of the school crest in silver at the knot. The so called "full colours" blazer, which is only awarded to those who have attained the top achievement in his field, is adorned with a more prestigious looking badge of the school, which is silver in colour and rests on top of two laurels. The standard "half colours" blazer is the same as the "full colours" blazer, but instead features the normal school badge.

At the beginning of every year just before the start of school all grade 8's take part in a boot-camp style orientation which lasts
two days. These grade 8's are put through military drills as well as physical training exercises. The most infamous of these exercises is when they have to climb a section of Paarl Rock whilst carrying logs. This is done in groups and builds group spirit. Other than physical drills, these grade 8's take language and mathematics literacy tests in order to divide them into certain classes. After this "boot camp", the grade 8's go through the year with daily drills for the first 3-6 months depending on the group of grade 8's.

School song

English

'Neath the far famed rock of granite grey

Stands a school the best all people say

Boys and youths to train and educate

Model men to rear for Church and State

Or for tendered field, for track and sporting ground

And its name and fame throughout the land resound.

For the school, renowned from Berg to Vaal

Is the Boys' High School of Upper Paarl.

Of all the school throughout the land

Alma Mater

Alma mater

Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

thou shalt stand.

Supreme and great far o'er the rest

Highly honoured, glorious and blessed.

Afrikaans

Aan die voet van Paarlberg gebou

Staan 'n skool aan sy tradisies trou.

Seuns word hier gelei en ook gebrei

Tot 'n skone toekoms voorberei

Deur op allerlei terreine uit te blink,

Het sy roem en eer oor heel ons land weerklink

En met trots van Suid tot oor die Vaal

Word die HJS se roem herhaal.

Van al die skole, ryk aan faam

Alma Mater bly jou naam

Voortreflik groot deur roemryk werk

Bly verrig tot heil van Staat en Kerk.
w