The top private school that was built by Irish nuns on a historic dairy farm in Johannesburg

Holy Rosary School is a Johannesburg-based Catholic high school founded by the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary.

The school was established in 1940 on what had previously been a historic dairy farm just outside of Johannesburg.

It was built by the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary, an order of Catholic nuns which was founded by Bishop Shanahan.

According to the school’s website, the sisters gave up their lives in Ireland to come to South Africa for a greater purpose.

“They came to South Africa to help others. They loved people beyond themselves. They worked in the fields and built the school,” says the school’s website.

Thanks to the effort of these nuns, Holy Rosary School has achieved a lasting legacy in South Africa.

When the nuns originally built the school, it comprised a single building. However, over the years that followed, it grew significantly.

Today, the school is a fully-fledged independent Catholic school that covers Grades R to Matric.

While the Holy Rosary pre-school is co-educational, the rest of the school is for girls only.

The school continues to operate with a strong religious foundation, with its mission statement including the line:

“At Holy Rosary School we prepare our pupils for service to God, our school, and the wider community to transform it for the better.”

Today, the school is led by Executive Head of Schools Dr Deon Oerson, while the College specifically is helmed by Belinda Damhuis.

It is a non-profit organisation that offers an IEB certificate upon matriculation.

It is also the sister school to St Benedict’s College, a leading Catholic Boys’ school in Bedfordview.

Historic foundations and world-class results

Holy Rosary College has a strong academic reputation in South Africa.

The school claims that its IEB results are, on average, 10% higher than the national average, and that over a three-year period, 99% of students achieve university entrance.

Over this same three-year average, 7% of the school’s matrics finished in the top 1% of the IEB matric results.

The school prides itself on developing students who then excel at various top universities across the world.

Holy Rosary students have gone on to study at institutions such as Stellenbosch University, the University of Pretoria, the University of Cape Town, Wits University, the University of Sydney, and even Oxford University.

However, the school offers more than an excellent academic experience.

It also prides itself on its diversity of learning opportunities across sports, culture, and community service.

The school estimates that its learners complete a combined 4,415 hours of service to the community per year.

The school runs a wide variety of programmes that enable this, including:

• Older students serving tea to guests at school events.
• High school girls showing people around the school on open days.
• Grade 3 girls reading stories to Grade Rs.

It also runs many more formal community outreach programmes, including the Phumelela Programme.

This involves the school offering extra lessons to children and young adults living in the Dikatole informal settlement.

The school also teaches these individuals life skills through various workshops that cover topics as diverse as public speaking, self-defence, music, art, and sport.

Furthermore, the Holy Rosary Sisters started a new primary school in Limpopo in 2000.

Every year, Holy Rosary School runs a service outreach project in Malamulele, with a portion of the money raised by the school’s Debutantes going towards this.

The Debutantes’ Programme involves the hosting of events such as a market day and a fashion show, as well as community service projects.

Across these experiences, students at Holy Rosary School learn the importance of being a meaningful contributor in the world around them.

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Holy Rosary School Photos

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