Grey High School

Grey High School
Tria Juncta in Uno ('Three joined in one')
Location
Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape South Africa
Information
Type	All-boys public school
Established	1856
Rector	Mr. Neil Crawford (2001-)
Grades	8 - 12
Enrollment	800+
Yearbook	The Grey
Website	www.greyhighschool.com

Grey High School is a public school for boys located in the city of Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Grey High School is not to be confused with Grey College in Bloemfontein, Free State.

History

The school was founded by John Paterson, and named after Sir George Edward Grey, Governor of Cape Colony for the period 5 December 1854 – 15 August 1861. Sir George founded Grey College, Bloemfontein in 1855, and Auckland Grammar School (Auckland, New Zealand) in 1850. The motto of Grey High School is Tria Juncta in Uno meaning 'three joined in one — mind, body and spirit', from the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, of which Sir George Grey was created a Knight Commander in 1848.

The school today

There are over 800 boys including 100 boarders. The school celebrated its 150th jubilee in 2006. The Grey Institute also includes the attached Grey Junior School with almost 800 pupils. The school is under the rectorship of Mr. Neil Crawford. The school has a governing body and is a former "Model C" school in South African schooling terminology.

Traditions

Quad Races Inspired by the film Chariots of Fire which deals with the rivalry between two famous Olympic athletes, Grey High School had both the cloisters and the necessary clock tower to perform this and thus created its own version of a "Quad Race", held annually.

Matric students (final year school leavers) participate in time trials and the two most nca qualifiers are chosen to compete in the race. They then toss for position, the winner usually choosing the inside lane. They wait for the four quarters to strike on the clock tower before they are set off by the Rector on the first strike of the chimes. They begin the race directly in front of the war memorial and they run in an anti-clockwise direction. They race against each other as well as against the ten chimes which take approximately 20 seconds to ring. The record stands to the name of past staff member, Greg Miller, with a time of 19.8 seconds. He is one of very few who have beaten the clock.

Robert Selley Memorial Concert The Selley Concerts were inaugurated in 1986 in conjunction with the Founder’s Day celebrations. The Selley Concerts recognises the contribution Robert Selley’s made to the school's music department. The event is hosted annually in the Feathermarket Centre, on the second Wednesday evening in May. The Grey Symphonic Winds, conducted by Grey High's Director of Music, Mr. Shawn Lyon, performs first, wearing the "reds" uniform.

The Old Grey Band is included in the evening's program usually every second year, and consists of old Greys of any age with musical experience who wish to be part of the show. The last time the Old Grey Band took to the stage was in 2015. The Grey Junior School Concert Band, conducted by Mr. Jeff Taylor, forms part of the show. The Grey Voices represents the school's choir, for which Mrs. Ruth Lyon is the teacher and conductor. The Grey String Orchestra precedes the Grey Orchestra and is conducted by Mrs. Marliza Taylor. The Grey Orchestra is the final ensemble to perform under the direction of Mr. Shawn Lyon. The concert concludes with the school song, "The Grey".

Trooping the Colour Trooping the colour is performed by senior members of the cadet detachment, mostly Matrics. The first Trooping the Colour was held in 1938.

Houses

The house system at Grey High School has a combination of day scholar houses and boarding scholar houses . There are five day-boy houses and two boarder houses, although the boarder houses are collectively seen as one house known as Meriway. The houses compete against each other in events which include academics for points for the Inter House Shield.

House	Colour		Motto	Housemaster
Noaks House	Green		Motto: Fortior Qui Se Vincit (The Man who is Better, Restrains Himself)	Mr Marc Brown
Johnson House	Yellow		Motto: Servabo Fidem (Translation: I Shall Protect the Faith)	Mr Cyril Allwright
Meridith House	Black		Motto: Fratos Mortem	Mr Anton Scholtz
Way House	Red			Mr Anton Scholtz
Thurlow house	Blue		Motto: Justitia Soror Fides (Translation: Justice is the Companion of Faith)	Mr Richard Dolley
Lang House	White			Mr Ryan Laurie
Vipan House	Purple		Motto: Vi et Armis (Translation: By Force and With Arms)	Mr Louis du Plessis

Facilities

The school offers 13 sports - athletics, rugby, hockey, rowing, swimming, water polo, cricket, tennis, squash, air-rifle shooting, golf and cross-country, with the exception being association football, which is not offered.

Academic facilities

• Library
• Assembly Hall
• 3 x Computer laboratories
• Remedial computer laboratory
• Engineering and Graphics Design computer laboratory
• Lecture rooms equipped with audio-visual facilities
• 2 x Physical Science Laboratories
• 2 x Natural Sciences Laboratories

Sporting facilities

• Heated indoor swimming pool (25m)
• 2 Floodlit heated outdoor water-polo pools
• Floodlit Water-Based Astroturf
• 4 All-Weather Clay courts
• 2 squash courts
• 1 cricket oval
• 3 cricket fields
• 1 grass hockey field
• 4 Rugby fields
• Weights room
• Ergo room
• Indoor basketball court
• 2 outdoor basket ball courts
• Physiotherapist room*
• Gymnasium

Cultural facilities

• 2 x Rehearsal auditoriums
• Art Room

Other facilities

• Centenary Pavilion
• Mosenthal Pavilion
• Edkins Quadrangle
• Restaurant
• Tuckshop
• Memorial Quadrangle

Rowing

Grey is the only school in Port Elizabeth to offer rowing as a sport. Grey's rowing boats are named after the wives of previous rectors at the school.

The school's rowing clubhouse is situated in Redhouse, which lies along the edge of the Swartkops River. It is here where Grey rowers train and practice their on-water skills. When not on the river, the boys may make use of the ergo room and school gym on campus to increase their cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance and muscular strength.

The school year begins with an annual rowing camp, where new members of the club are taught rowing techniques and rules. With the first rowing competition in a matter of weeks, the camp creates an opportunity for coaches to ensure the crews are ready to race.

2014 has seen the club travel to Cape Town, Durban, and Pretoria in order to race, with the latter being SA Schools Championships. Also in 2014, two U16 boys were selected to represent South African Schools Rowing in Belgium and returned with gold and silver medals.

Rectors

• JR Macleish (1859–1861)
• J Samuel (1862)
• Rev Henry Isaac Johnson (1863–1872)
• John Thurlow (1874–1884)
• Edward Noaks (1885–1892)
• William Chubb Meredith (1893–1910)
• William Archer Way (1911–1928)
• James Lang (1928–1942)
• Bruce C Gordon (1943–1957)
• Owen Burnet Taylor (1958–1962)
• Stanford Edward Edkins (1963–1976)
• Gustav Dieter Pakendorf (1977–1992)
• Roy Lawrence Simpson (1993–2001)
• Neil Russel Crawford (2001–present)

Notable alumni

• Siya Kolisi, DHL Stormers and Springbok rugby player
• JJ Engelbrecht, Vodacom Blue Bulls and Springbok rugby player
• Johan Botha, South African cricketer
• David Callaghan, South African cricketer
• Mike Catt, rugby player, represented England
• Rear Admiral (JG) Derek Christian, Commandant of the South African Military Academy
• Rear Admiral Robert Higgs, Flag Officer Fleet, SA Navy
• Ian Howell, International Cricket Umpire
• Steven Hunt, South African Rugby 7s player
• Barry Jordan, M.Mus., was appointed as organist and choral director of the Magdeburg Cathedral in Germany in August 1994.
• David Maynier, South African parliamentarian, shadow minister of defence
• Paul Lavender, South African artist
• David Nosworthy, South African cricketer and coach of the Nashua Titans, Highveld Lions and Canterbury Wizards
• Wayne Parnell, South African cricketer, Warriors cricket player and South African U19 Cricket Captain
• Kevin Paul, swimmer, gold medalist at the 2008 Summer Paralympics for men's 100m Breaststroke SB9 breaking the world record.
• Graeme Pollock, former South African cricketer
• Peter Pollock, former South African cricketer
• Barry Smith, Organist Emeritus, St George's Cathedral, Cape Town; former Associate Professor, Faculty of Music, UCT.
• Rory Stear, founder of Freeplay Energy and a member of the executive committee of the council of the Schwab Foundation for Outstanding Social Entrepreneurs, which is affiliated with the World Economic Forum
• Pieter Strydom, South African cricketer
• Rusty Theron, South African cricketer
• Luke Watson, Rugby player, former captain of Western Province and The Vodacom Stormers and Springbok rugby player
• Eric Lloyd Williams, journalist and war correspondent
• David Fanning, Executive producer of the multiple award winning "Frontline", the longest running documentary investigative show in the USA.
• Cliff Drysdale, 1972 US Open Tennis doubles champion as well as a number of other singles & doubles championships. Also represented South Africa in the Davis Cup.
• Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons Leading Herpetologist and Director of the Transvaal Museum

Grey Cycle Tour

The Grey Cycle Tour 2008 was a cycle around the country of South Africa completed by seven students from the Grey High School. All the funds raised went to the Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa (CHOC). The idea of the Grey Cycle Tour was to include young people in the fight against cancer. The total distance traveled was 2300 km. In total, R580,000 was raised.

In the media

The school was featured in the second episode of the Australian Seven Network's version of the TV show The World's Strictest Parents.

References

• Top 20 Schools in Africa

External links

• Official website
• owing website
• Old Grey Union website