Fairbairn College is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
, co-educational high school in
Goodwood near
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, Western Cape, South Africa.
History
![JOHN FAIRBAIRN BUST](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/JOHN_FAIRBAIRN_BUST.jpg)
The Goodwood/Vasco English-medium High School was founded on 1 October 1976 with the appointment of CE de Wet as Headmaster. The deputy principal and secretary were temporarily accommodated in the board room of the
Parow School Board until completion of the administrative section of the College in January 1977.
The Opening Assembly was held on 19 January 1977 with a staff of nineteen teachers and 356 pupils. In the first year, Fairbairn catered for Standards 6, 7 and 8 pupils. The majority of Standards 7 and 8 pupils were enrolled from the nearby JG Meiring High School.
Fairbairn was officially inaugurated a year later, on 24 February 1978, by PS Meyer, Director of Education of the
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequen ...
.
At the first meeting on 28 March 1977, the School Committee unanimously decided to name the school Fairbairn College. However, the
Parow School Board and Cape Education Department over-ruled their decision, approving instead the name Fairbairn High School. The School was named after
John Fairbairn who was invited to the Cape by
Thomas Pringle
Thomas Pringle (5 January 1789 – 5 December 1834) was a Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist. Known as the father of South African poetry, he was the first successful English language poet and author to describe South Africa's scenery, nati ...
to start a school for the children of the
1820 Settlers
The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820.
Origins
After th ...
. After Fairbairn was declared a Model C state-aided school, the Governing Body, on 23 November 1992, unanimously resolved to use its new powers to change the name to Fairbairn College. The Cape Education Department was informed of this decision and the name was changed in the official records on 11 February 1993.
Principals
* 1 October 1976 – 30 September 1983 CE de Wet
* 1 October 1983 – 30 June 1998 RK Weatherdon
* 1 January 1999 – 31 December 2001 SL van Zyl
* 1 July 2002 – 30 June 2021 B Marchand
* 1 January 2022 – R O' Shea
Learning areas offered
Facilities
Extramural facilities include a swimming pool, three rugby fields, four cricket fields, five cricket nets, three hockey fields, one astro field, four netball courts, nine tennis courts, two squash courts, a change-room complex and a club house.
The fields, Aurora, Chapman, Nautilus, Osborn and Weymouth, were named for five of the Government Settler Scheme ships that brought the
1820 Settlers
The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820.
Origins
After th ...
to the Cape.
Big Walk
![Fairbairn College fundraising total 2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Fairbairn_College_fundraising_total_2011.jpg)
The Big Walk was instituted at Fairbairn College in the days when schools received their basic funding from the State but had to rely on voluntary contributions from parents for any "extras".
The funds raised by the Big Walk in the past made it possible for the school to install a swimming pool, build the squash courts and Club House, erect six additional tennis courts and develop three hockey and three rugby fields. The installation of the first computer centre at Faibairn, in 1998, was made possible by the Big Walk.
The School Governing Body budgets for an income from the Big Walk. If the Big Walk was discontinued, the annual per capita school fees would have to be increased.
The Big Walk has acquired an additional importance. It helps to build school and class spirit. Learners get to know their teachers in an informal setting whilst out collecting money.
To promote class spirit and to motivate the learners, the Big Walk is run as a competition.
The total raised by the learners in 2011 was R413 827.64
In 2016, the school reached a milestone by raising over R500 000
In 2020, the total raised by learners was R554 082.05
House system
Fairbairn operates a comprehensive
intramural
Intramural sports are recreational sports organized within a particular institution, usually an educational institution, or a set geographic region. The term, which is chiefly North American, derives from the Latin words ''intra muros'' meaning " ...
or
interhouse competition. The aims of the house system are to encourage a spirit of friendly competition and sportsmanship within the College, involve as many learners as possible, especially those who are not good enough at sport to be chosen for inter-school events, build up the ''Esprit de Corps'' of the College and create positions of leadership for learners and thereby promote their personal growth. To this end, the school is divided into three houses.
The houses to which learners are allocated are Grey (White), Somerset (Blue) and Napier (Red). The houses are named after
Sir George Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...
,
Lord Charles Somerset
Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC (12 December 1767 – 18 February 1831), born in Badminton, England, was a British soldier, politician and colonial administrator.Charles Mosley, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volu ...
and Sir
George Thomas Napier
Sir George Thomas Napier (30 June 1784 – 16 September 1855) was a British Army officer who saw service in the Peninsular War and later commanded the army of the Cape Colony.
Life
He entered the British Army in 1800, and served with dist ...
, British governors of the Cape Colony in the 1800s.
The highlight of the year is the Interhouse Athletics Competition comprising
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
events. This together with the
swimming gala A swimming gala is a swimming competition between clubs or groups of swimmers, usually of young people. This term is primarily used in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, and South Africa. In Australia ''swimming carnival'' is the norm.
Overview
In the ...
is held in the first term.
In addition to competitions in all the major sports (including: hockey, rugby, netball and chess), an interhouse quiz, in which every learner participates, is held in the third
term
Term may refer to:
* Terminology, or term, a noun or compound word used in a specific context, in particular:
**Technical term, part of the specialized vocabulary of a particular field, specifically:
***Scientific terminology, terms used by scient ...
.
The House Flags
Extramural activities
Boys
*Summer:
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
,
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
,
Swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
,
Water polo
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...
,
*Winter:
Hockey
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
,
Rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
,
Table Tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
,
Squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
, Soccer, Chess
Girls
*Summer: Tennis, Swimming, Water polo,
Softball
Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...
*Winter: Hockey,
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...
, Tennis, Squash,
Girls also have an option to become cricket scorers.
Cultural activities
*
Choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
*
Dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
*
Orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
*Jazz Band
*Drama Society
*Debate Society
*Culinary Society
*Photography Society
*Christian Society
*Islam Society
*First Aid Society
Student Societies
*Photography Society
*Library Society
*Debate Society
*Interact Society
*Recycling Society
*Dance Society
*Drama Society
*Muslim Student Association
*The Christian Youth Society
*The Culinary Craft Society (for Grade 11 & 12 students)
*First Aid
*Matric Farwell Committee (for Grade 11 learners only)
College Choir
In 1977, shortly after the foundation of the school, a mixed choir was founded which quickly became, and remains, the cultural showpiece of Fairbairn. In its early years, the choir performed radio broadcasts as well as performing for the Goodwood community, in churches,
eisteddfods and pageants.
As early as 1979 the College Choir made its first recording. This was either a tape or a long playing record. In 2004, the choir, accompanied by the school organ and orchestra, recorded a CD.
It has become tradition for the choir to perform "
The Hallelujah Chorus
'' Messiah'' ( HWV 56), the English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741, is structured in three parts. This listing covers Part II in a table and comments on individual movements, reflecting the relation of the musical ...
" at the Founders’ Day service in February each year. It has also become custom for Past Pupils who were choir members to join the choir on Founders’ Day.
The Servant Song by Richard Gilliard has been sung by the choir at funerals of educators and learners.
The choir's premier performance is on the first and second day of the fourth term at Prize Giving. On the third day it has to perform at the Valedictory Service without the matrics. The result is that, at that time of the year, the Choir Director is in effect running two choirs. The singing of ''Fill the World with Love'' from the film
Goodbye Mr Chips
''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two televi ...
is guaranteed to bring a tear to many an eye. As the matrics leave the CE de Wet Hall for the last time, the Choir leads the congregation in singin
God Be With You Till We Meet Again.
Carol Service
A
Carol Service, of one hour duration, is held in the CE de Wet Hall on the second last day of the academic year. The choir files into the darkened hall bearing candles and singing
Once in Royal David's City
Once in Royal David's City is a Christmas carol originally written as a poem by Cecil Frances Alexander. The carol was first published in 1848 in her hymnbook ''Hymns for Little Children''. A year later, the English organist Henry Gauntlett dis ...
. The programme is interspersed with Bible readings,
prayers
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified ...
, congregational singing and choir and solo performances. The performance of
O holy night
"O Holy Night" (original title: ) is a well-known sacred song for Christmas performance. Originally based on a French-language poem by poet Placide Cappeau, written in 1843, with the first line (Midnight, Christian, is the solemn hour) that co ...
is always memorable.
College song
In June 1980, Bruwer, Head of Music, was in
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
, England with her family. de Wet, the founder Headmaster, asked her to try to find a school song for Fairbairn while she was in England.
One evening she was sitting in
Salisbury Cathedral and the gentleman sitting next to her introduced himself as the Reverend Hugh Blenkin. When she told him about her mission to find a school song, he offered to write it. The words were written by the Reverend Hugh Blenkin and the music composed by Bruwer.
The College song was sung for the first time in March 1981.
30th Anniversary
The 30th anniversary of the founding of Fairbairn College was celebrated during 2007. The highlight of the celebrations was the Founders’ Day assembly on Friday, 23 February.
Cameron Dugmore
Cameron Muir Dugmore (born 16 September 1963) is a South African politician who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. A member of the African National Congress, he has been serving as a Member of the Western C ...
, then
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
Minister of Education, was the guest speaker during the assembly.
On Saturday, 24 February, a formal dinner was held in the CE de Wet Hall for staff, governing body members, principals of surrounding schools, education officials, and friends of the school. Barry Volschenk, Director of EMDC Metropole North, was the guest speaker. The guests were also treated to a
PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program, created by Robert Gaskins and Dennis Austin at a software company named Forethought, Inc. It was released on April 20, 1987, initially for Macintosh computers only. Microsoft acquired PowerPoi ...
presentation on the history of the school.
A special lapel badge was presented to every learner and educator to be worn during the anniversary year.
Notable past pupils
*
Ryan ten Doeschate
Ryan Neil ten Doeschate (; born 30 June 1980) is a former Dutch–South African cricketer who played for the Netherlands national cricket team in One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket. Ten Doeschate was named ICC ...
matriculated in 1998. Whilst at school, he excelled at both
rugby
Rugby may refer to:
Sport
* Rugby football in many forms:
** Rugby league: 13 players per side
*** Masters Rugby League
*** Mod league
*** Rugby league nines
*** Rugby league sevens
*** Touch (sport)
*** Wheelchair rugby league
** Rugby union: 1 ...
and
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
. His leadership potential was recognised with his appointment as a College
Prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect's ...
. Because of his
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
ancestry, he plays
One-Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...
cricket for
the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. He represented the Netherlands at the
Cricket World Cup
The Cricket World Cup (officially known as ICC Men's Cricket World Cup) is the international championship of One Day International (ODI) cricket. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), e ...
in 2007.
*Karen van der Westhuizen (1998) has excelled at the sport of
squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
. In 2007 she was the women's champion in the Western Province Squash Closed Championships. She has represented South Africa at the World Tournament and the
World Squash Federation
The World Squash Federation (WSF) is the international federation for squash, an indoor racket sport which was formerly called "squash rackets". The WSF is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the International Federation (I ...
Women's World Team Championship.
*Ryan Canning (Deputy
Head Boy
Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...
2001) is a talented
cricketer
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
. As a schoolboy, he represented Western Province from under 13. He currently plays
first class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
for the
Cape Cobras
The Six Gun Grill Cape Cobras are a franchise cricket team representing the Western Province, Boland, and South Western Districts areas in South African domestic cricket. The team's home venues are Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town, Boland ...
.
*
Andre Petim (2003) is the
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
for
Premier Soccer League
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
club
Ajax Cape Town
Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and ...
.
Ajax Cape Town official club site
/ref>
References
External links
Fairbairn College official site
Western Cape Education Department website
{{coord, 33, 53, 58.19, S, 18, 33, 50.81, E, display=title, type:edu_region:ZA_scale:10000, name=Fairbairn College
Schools in Cape Town
Educational institutions established in 1976
1976 establishments in South Africa