St Mary's School, Waverly is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

English medium,

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for girls. It is situated in the suburb of Waverley in Johannesburg in the

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

province of South Africa, it is one of the top and most academic schools in Gauteng. Established in 1888, it is the oldest school in Johannesburg. It was founded by the Anglican clergyman the Rev. John T. Darragh, who also founded its brother school St John's College, Johannesburg in Houghton ten years later in 1898. St Mary's School writes the

Independent Examinations Board The Independent Examinations Board (IEB) is a South African independent assessment agency which offers examinations for various client schools, mostly Private school#South Africa, private schools. It is most prominent in setting examinations for ...

exams. As of December 2023, the headmistress at St Mary's was Deanne King. In January 2025, the school introduced a no-cellphone policy during school hours.

Alumnae and Old Girls

* Cindy Brown (hockey) * Lisa-Marie Deetlefs (hockey) * Lilian du Plessis (hockey) *

Natalie Grainger Natalie Grainger (born 8 July 1977), also known for a period by her former married name Natalie Pohrer, is a former professional female squash player. Grainger was born in Manchester, United Kingdom but raised in South Africa, which she repre ...

(squash) * Claire Nitch (squash) *

Lize-Mari Retief Lize-Mari Retief (born 30 November 1986 in Bloemfontein, South Africa) is an Olympic and national-record-holding swimmer from South Africa. She swam for South Africa at the 2008 Olympics. At the 2008 South African Nationals in April, she set ...

(swimming) *

Ashley Callie Ashley Callie (30 December 1976 – 15 February 2008) was a South African actress, best known for her role as Leone Haines in ''Isidingo'' (2000–08). She died on 15 February 2008, as a result of head injuries from a head-on car collision in ...

Prue Leith Dame Prudence Margaret Leith, (born 18 February 1940) is a South African-British restaurateur, broadcaster, cookery writer and novelist. She was a judge on BBC Two's ''Great British Menu'' for eleven years, before joining ''The Great British ...

Lerato Mbele Lerato Mbele is a South African journalist and broadcaster working for the BBC. Mbele currently presents ''Talking Business Africa'' for the network. She previously presented the '' Africa Business Report'' and ''Newsday''. Early life Mbele was ...

Mogau Motlhatswi Mogau Motlhatswi (born July 13, 1992)is a South African actress popularly known for her role as Mapitsi Magongwa, the Queen and wife of Thabo Maputla (Hungani Ndlovu) in the soap opera, '' Skeem Saam. Early life Early life and education Moga ...

Carolyn Slaughter Carolyn Slaughter (born 7 January 1946) is an English author based in the United States. Her first novel '' The Story of the Weasel'' won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize in 1977, given to authors under the age of 40. Life Born in New Delhi, ...

Jane Dutton Jane Dutton is a South African broadcast journalist, who worked for Al Jazeera English. Career Jane worked with Al Jazeera from September 2005, in the run-up to the launch of the station, until 29 June 2018, when she left to return to South ...

Helen Zille Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she w ...

Alison Lewis Alison Lewis is a South African chemical engineer known for her research in crystallisation and precipitation as applied to the recovery of valuable metals. She is Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of ...

Shelley Russell Shelley Jones (née Russell, born 15 July 1987) is a South African field hockey player who competed in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. She was also part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as ...

Hannah Pearce Hannah Pearce (born 17 November 1998) is a South African field hockey player for the South African national team. Personal life She attended St Mary's School, studied at the Harvard University. National team She successful debut in the South ...

* Itumeleng Bokaba * Claire Gordon-Webster * Phumzile Sithole

Houses

St Mary's consists of four houses, each with a different colour, which compete in inter-house events such as hockey, tennis, swimming, athletics, squash, music, debating and theatre.

Junior school houses

* Hares (yellow) * Zebras (red) * Springboks (green) * Lions (blue) Pupils in grade 0 are placed in houses in the first term and stay through grade 7.

High school houses

* Clayton (yellow) * Furse (red) * Karney (green) * Phelps (blue) The house system was introduced in 1934 and students wear their house badges on their blazers with pride. The houses are named after bishops of Johannesburg; Geoffrey Clayton 1934-1949 and Arthur Karney 1922–1933; bishop of Pretoria, Michael Furse 1909–1920 and archbishop of Cape Town,

Francis Phelps Francis Robinson Phelps (19 September 1863 – 26 June 1938) was an Anglican bishop in the first half of the 20th century. Early life Phelps was born in Canada on 19 September 1863 and educated at Keble College, Oxford. he was made deacon in ...

1931–1938.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's School, Waverley Anglican schools in South Africa Boarding schools in South Africa Educational institutions established in 1888 Girls' schools in South Africa Private schools in Gauteng Schools in Johannesburg 1888 establishments in the South African Republic

Alumnae and Old Girls

Houses

Junior school houses

High school houses

See also

References