St Cyprian's Grammar School, Kimberley
Encyclopedia
St. Cyprian's Grammar School in Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...

, 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...

, is a co-educational English-medium independent school for Grades 1-12, attached to St Cyprian's Cathedral
St Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley
The Cathedral Church of St Cyprian the Martyr, Kimberley, is the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It became a Cathedral when the Synod of Bishops gave a mandate for the formation of the new Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman in...

 (Anglican Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, Anglican Church of Southern Africa). In its present form it opened its doors to 83 students on 21 January 2009.

History

The Parish of St Cyprian on the Diamond Fields played a crucial role in establishing Kimberley’s first schools from the early 1870s. A Mission School (later called Perseverance
Perseverance School
The Perseverance School, Kimberley, was founded as such in 1883 but might be seen as having arisen from the St Cyprian's Mission School dating back to the early 1870s...

), a St Cyprian’s Grammar School, and a Girls’ School (later St Michael’s) were established. The Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

 and St Michael's went into decline in the 1890s after government schools were opened. In the early twentieth century Perseverance became a training school for teachers and from it, at a later stage, would arise the Gore Browne Training School (named after first Diocesan Bishop Wilfrid Gore Browne
Wilfred Gore-Browne
Wilfrid Gore Browne was an Anglican bishop, the first Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman from 1912 to 1928. He was described as a saintly bishop with "a keen sense of humour" and "a winning courtesy."-Early life and education:...

). Many fine educationists would owe their formation to these institutions. Under apartheid education and the Group Areas Act
Group Areas Act
The Group Areas Act of 1950 was an act of parliament created under the apartheid government of South Africa on 27th April 1950. The act assigned racial groups to different residential and business sections in urban areas in a system of urban apartheid...

 they were taken over, and eventually closed. In 2007 Archbishop Emeritus Njongonkulu Ndungane
Njongonkulu Ndungane
Njongonkulu Winston Hugh Ndungane FKC was the Archbishop of Cape Town and Primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa ....

 was making it a special project to bring historic church schools back to life as centres of educational excellence. St Cyprian’s Cathedral
St Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley
The Cathedral Church of St Cyprian the Martyr, Kimberley, is the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman, Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It became a Cathedral when the Synod of Bishops gave a mandate for the formation of the new Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman in...

 in Kimberley, then celebrating the centenary of its cathedral building, was inspired by this vision and its own legacy to revive a role in education, and by June 2008 was taking active steps to bring St Cyprian's Grammar School to new birth.
St.Cyprians, over its years has produced great talents such as the incredible vocal skills of one Samantha Leonard, the wonderful rhythms of the Marimba Group lead by by Teboho Bojabotsheha and not forgetting the angelic sounds of the St. Cyprians Choir formed and conducted by the Head herself, Mrs Anne Solomon.

Opening and Dedication, 2009

Opening on 21 January 2009, in buildings within the cathedral precinct, the music and arts focus finds expression in weekly performing arts hours on Fridays and a monthly concert.

The school was dedicated on the 101st anniversary of the cathedral's dedication on 13 May 2009, when the Head of the School, a Head Student and Chaplain were licensed. The Board of Governors, established by the Bishop in 2008, was chaired until his retirement by co-founder, the Very Revd Fr Brian Beck
Brian Victor Beck
The Revd Canon Brian Victor Beck, an Anglican priest in South Africa, served as Dean of Kimberley from 2003 to 2010. He is an Honorary Canon of St Cyprian's Cathedral.-Education and appointments:...

, the Dean of Kimberley.

The school produces a weekly news sheet called St Cyprian's Scroll.

Godspell

Within eight months of opening, and for the Patronal Festival, the school mounted an acclaimed production of Godspell
Godspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...

, which is based on the parables of Christ from the Gospel of St Matthew. The Cathedral proved to be the ideal setting for the work, which has a quasi liturgical structure: a drawing near for the liturgy of the word (Act 1) followed (in Act 2) by, inter alia, the Last Supper and the Passion, with a final recessional – down the aisle, and out into the world – proclaiming a living God and recapitulating the Baptist’s Cry: “Prepare ye the way of the Lord.”

Benefit Concert

One of the performing highlights of the year was a Benefit Concert in the Cathedral, held in November 2009, in association with the Kimberley Academy of Music. Choral ensembles, vocal soloists, percussionists, and a marimba group performed. Earlier, one of the students was soloist in a performance of a Haydn violin concerto with the Free State Youth Orchestra.

External links

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