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Grey High School

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}}

{{Use South African English|date=May 2015}}

{{Infobox school

| box_width =

| name = Grey High School

| native_name =

| image = Grey_High_School_facade.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| alt =

| caption = Grey High School facade from College Drive

| logo =

| logo_size =

| motto = {{ubl|Tria Juncta in Uno|"Three joined in one"|(Body, Mind, Spirit)}}

| established = {{start date and age|1856|6|4|df=y}}

| schooltype = Semi-private school

| gender = Male

| affiliation = {{ubl|Grey Junior School|The Grey Foundation|Old Greys' Union|Old Grey Club}}

| rector = Chris Erasmus (2018-present)

| founders = {{ubl|John Paterson|George Grey}}

| students = 870

| lower_age = 14

| upper_age = 18

| grades = 8 to 12

| streetaddress = College Drive, Mill Park

| city = Gqeberha

| province = Eastern Cape

| country = South Africa

| coordinates = {{Coord|-33.9612|25.5958|type:edu_region:ZA|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| sister_school = Collegiate Girls High School

| campus_type = Suburban

| language = English

| colours = {{colourbox|Skyblue}} Blue
{{colourbox|White}} White

| schedule = {{ubl|Monday - Friday|07:40 - 14:15}}

| nickname = The Grey

| mascot =

| alumni = Old Greys'

| publication = The Grey

| newspaper = Grey Matter

| rivals = {{Plainlist|

}}

| tuition = {{ubl|R85,000 (boarding) | R70,000 (tuition)}}

| website = {{url|https://www.greyhighschool.com}}

}}

Grey High School is a semi-private English-medium high school (grades 8 to 12) for boys situated in the suburb of Mill Park in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the top sporting schools in the country, with consistently strong academics and an extensive culture of musical performance, and is one of the oldest schools in South Africa.{{Cite web|title=Top national accolade for Grey High|url=https://www.theherald.co.za/sport/2020-09-30-top-national-accolade-for-grey-high/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=HeraldLIVE|language=en-ZA}}{{toc limit|3}}

History

File:The Old Grey Institute, Belmont Terrace, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.jpg

File:Grey high school.jpgThe school was founded as The Grey Institute by John Paterson, who also founded Standard Bank and The Herald newspaper, and named after Sir George Grey, Governor of the Cape Colony for the period 5 December 1854 – 15 August 1861, who was the benefactor for the original school to be constructed adjacent to the Donkin Reserve in Central, Port Elizabeth. The foundation stone was laid on 4 June 1856 and The Grey Institute officially opened for classes in 1859.{{Cite web |title=History of The Grey |url=https://www.greyhighschool.com/school-information/history-of-the-grey/ |access-date=2022-10-14 |website=Grey High School |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126062100/https://www.greyhighschool.com/school-information/history-of-the-grey/ |archive-date=2021-01-26 |url-status=live}}

Sir George Grey, during his times as governor in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand is also affiliated with the establishment of other educational institutions such as Grey College in Bloemfontein, Auckland Grammar School in Auckland, New Zealand, and Whanganui Collegiate School, in Whanganui, New Zealand.

"The Grey" school song{{Cite web |last=Administrator |title=School Song |url=https://www.greyhighschool.com/our-school/school-song/ |access-date=2023-04-14 |website=Grey High School |language=en-US}} was written as the poem "The School on the Hill" by William Chubb Meredith, rector from 1892 to 1910. Due to significant growth from the "twice one hundred boys" referenced therein, the school relocated to College Drive, Mill Park in 1915.

In 1930, Grey Junior School separated from the high school into newly constructed buildings to the south east of the high school on the same campus and references to "The Grey Institute" were dropped in favour of "Grey High School" and "Grey Junior School". The school is, however, still affectionately referred to as "The Grey" by alumni.

At approximately 870 students currently, the school is considered medium-sized in South African school terms, as is the norm for Eastern Cape boys schools. Competion outside of the Eastern Cape is typically against large-sized schools having between 1000 and 1500 students.

The school motto of "Tria Juncta in Uno", Latin for "Three Joined in One" is derived from the Most Honourable Order of the Bath of which Sir George Grey was made Knight Commander in 1848. (Three past South African presidents have been made Honorary Knights of Order of the Bath.) While the motto likely originally referred to the Holy Trinity, it has been reinterpreted to refer to the body, mind and spirit that make up a scholar at Grey.

= 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 students) participate in time trials and the two most athletic qualifiers are chosen to compete in the race. The two participants begin the race directly in front of the war memorial and race against each other as well as against the ten chimes which take approximately 20 seconds to ring. The record, achieved in 1991, stands to the name of past scholar and staff member, Greg Miller, with a time of 19.8 seconds. He is one of less than a handful who have beaten the clock.{{Cite web|last=Administrator|title=Ethos and Traditions|url=https://www.greyhighschool.com/school-information/ethos-and-traditions/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=Grey High School|language=en-US}}

Robert Selley Memorial Concert:

Selley Concert was inaugurated in 1986 in conjunction with the Founder's Day celebrations. The Selley Concert recognises the contributions Robert Selley made to the school's music department. The event is hosted annually on the Wednesday coinciding with the Reunion Week in May.Young, John. The Spirit of the Tower. Grey High School and Grey Junior School, 2006, p. 208.

The concert typically comprises The Grey Junior School Concert Band and String Orchestra, and from the high school, The Grey Voices (choir) The Grey String Orchestra and The Grey Orchestra. A Jazz Band of senior high school musicians also regularly performs. The Old Grey Band is included in the program every second year, and consists of Old Greys of any age with musical experience who wish to be part of the show.{{Cite web |url=http://greyhighschool.com/index.php/20080114270/Intramural-Music/Concerts/Robert-Selley-Memorial-Concert.html |title=Grey High School - Robert Selley Memorial Concert |access-date=19 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130314204744/http://greyhighschool.com/index.php/20080114270/Intramural-Music/Concerts/Robert-Selley-Memorial-Concert.html |archive-date=14 March 2013 |url-status=dead }}

Trooping the Colour:

This parade is performed by senior members of the Cadet Detachment. First performed in 1938, this includes cadets from grade 10 to 12 parading to a marching band with local South African military officials in attendance. The trooping is a significant part of Grey High School.

Reunion Week:

The Old Greys' Union arranges a series of events and functions annually at the beginning of May. This is particurly well attended by Old Greys and the events include a golf day, reunion dinner, Selley memorial concert, Trooping the Colour, Old Grey Club nights, and a weekend sports derby against a traditional rival school.

Remembrance Day: Attended by local senior military personnel on the 11th of November annually and open to war veterans and members of the public who lost family in the First or Second World Wars. The Last Post is played by the lead trumpeter and there is an opportunity to lay wreaths at the war memorial in the Memorial Quad with a fly past of vintage military aircraft (typically including an Harvard T-6) courtesy of the Davidson family.{{Cite web |title=Air Show South Africa |url=https://www.airshowsa.org.za/about/heroes-of-the-sky.php |access-date=2022-11-27 |website=www.airshowsa.org.za}}

Sports

Grey High School has long-standing annual derby days for both summer and winter sports with traditional rivals such as Dale College, Queens College, Grey College, Muir College, St Andrews College, Graeme College and Selborne College that stretch back to at least the 1960s, and have more recently established annual derbies with Paul Roos Gymnasium and Wynberg Boys' High.{{Cite web |last=Administrator |title=Results |url=https://www.greyhighschool.com/sports/results/ |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=Grey High School |language=en-US}}

The school offers a number of major sports including rugby, hockey, athletics, cricket, rowing, swimming, water polo, tennis, squash, air-rifle shooting, golf, basketball, mountain biking and cross-country with several provincial and national representatives at age-group level over the years, and many provincial and national representatives at senior levels of international competition.

Grey High School has a long history of producing cricketers of international standard and rivals King Edward School in Johannesburg, and Bishops College, for second place after Durban High School for the most South African representatives at senior level,{{cite web | url=https://saschoolsports.co.za/which-school-has-produced-the-most-test-cricketers/ | title=Which School Has Produced the Most Test Cricketers? | date=16 August 2020 }} and has outright produced the most South African Schools cricketers of any school.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sacricketmag.com/grey-high-extends-its-lead-in-sa-schools-caps/|title=Grey High extends its lead in list of SA Schools caps|date=23 December 2018|website=SA Cricketmag}}

The Pollock Oval is the main cricket oval in front of the school, named in 1987 for alumnus Graeme Pollock, voted South Africa's Cricketer of the 20th Century.{{Cite web |last=Chesterfield |first=Trevor |date=19 Sep 2007 |title=Pollock named South Africa's Player of the Century |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/pollock-named-south-africa-s-player-of-the-century-87716 |access-date=7 May 2022}}

The Kolisi Field is the main rugby field at the back of the school, renamed during the annual reunion week in May 2022, for alumnus Siya Kolisi, Captain of the Springboks during their victorious 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign.{{Cite web |last=Tshwaku |first=Khanyiso |title=Grey PE greenlights plans to name main rugby field after acclaimed alumnus Siya Kolisi |url=https://www.news24.com/sport/Rugby/grey-pe-greenlights-plans-to-name-main-rugby-field-after-acclaimed-alumni-siya-kolisi-20220506 |access-date=2022-05-09 |website=Sport |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=on |first=Published |date=2022-05-06 |title=Hallowed turf renamed after Kolisi |url=https://www.sarugbymag.co.za/hallowed-turf-renamed-kolisi/ |access-date=2022-05-09 |website=SA Rugby magazine |language=en-US}}

The Grey Rugby Festival is hosted annually by the school and includes under-19 and age-group teams from various schools from around South Africa.

The Hibbert Shield hockey tournament has recently been established and hosts schools from all areas of South Africa. This shield was named for a family of alumni of the school who have been extensively involved in hockey for several decades as staff and coaches at the school, and national representatives in the sport. The Hibbert Shield is awarded to U19 teams and the Hibbert Cup is awarded to U16 teams at the tournament.

The Hirsch Shield is an athletics meeting at which Grey High School competes annually with other Eastern Cape schools including Kingswood College, Queens College, Dale College, Graeme College, Muir College, St Andrews College, and Selborne College. Inaugurated in 1917, the competition for this prestigious shield is the oldest schools athletics event in South Africa.{{Cite web |date=2017-09-26 |title=Athletics: Hirsch Shield Report (News: 26 Sep 2017) |url=https://www.mycomlink.co.za/posting.php?i=38329 |access-date=2022-12-13 |website=MyComLink |language=en}}

Grey is the only school in Port Elizabeth to offer sweep-oar rowing as a sport.{{Cite web|last=Administrator|title=Rowing|url=https://www.greyhighschool.com/sports/rowing/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=Grey High School|language=en-US}} This sees the rowing crews travel to East London, Knysna, Port Alfred and Pretoria to compete in regattas with other rowing schools from around the country, with the culmination of the season being the South African Schools Championships in Pretoria. In 2014, two U16 boys were selected to represent South African Schools Rowing in Belgium and returned with gold and silver medals.

In 2020, SA School Sports magazine named Grey High School as the "Top Boys Sports School of the Decade" taking into account performances from across the sport codes of rugby, cricket, water polo and hockey. Alumnus [http://www.rugby15.co.za/school-boys-that-played-sa-schools-rugby-cricket-1974-2014/ Greg Miller] holds the distinction of being one of 11 boys in South African history to obtain South African Schools colours for both cricket and rugby, going on to play both cricket and rugby at senior provincial level.

Notable alumni

= Sports =

== Cricket ==

  • Colin Ackermann, Dutch-South African cricketer{{Cite web |title=Colin Ackermann - Cricket Player Netherlands |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/colin-ackermann-379774 |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=ESPNcricinfo |language=en}}
  • Neil Adcock, South African cricketer{{Cite web |title=Neil Adcock |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/neil-adcock-154572 |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=ESPNcricinfo |language=en}}
  • Johan Botha, South African cricketer, T20 and ODI captain
  • William Brann, South African cricketer
  • Matthew Breetzke, South African cricketer
  • David Callaghan, South African cricketer
  • Geoff Chubb, South African cricketer
  • Robert Dower, South African cricketer
  • Ron Draper, South African cricketer
  • Aubrey Faulkner, South African cricketer inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame{{Cite web |last=icc |title=International Cricket Council Hall of Fame |url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/hall-of-fame/hall-of-famers/hall-of-famer-aubrey-faulkner |access-date=19 October 2024 |website=icc}}
  • Robert Gleeson, South African cricketer
  • Rupert Hanley, South African cricketer
  • Ian Howell, International cricket umpire
  • Atholl Henry McKinnon, South African cricketer{{cite web |author=Markman, Ivor |title=St George's Park - Atholl Henry McKinnon |url=http://www.stgeorgespark.nmmu.ac.za/content/personalities/displayarticle.asp?artid=persp_009 |access-date=April 9, 2019 |work=St George's Park History |publisher=Darryn van der Walt |archive-date=29 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029233830/http://stgeorgespark.nmmu.ac.za/content/personalities/displayarticle.asp?artid=persp_009 |url-status=dead }}
  • David Nosworthy, South African cricketer and coach of the Titans, Highveld Lions and Canterbury Wizards
  • Dante Parkin, South African cricketer
  • Wayne Parnell, South African cricketer, Warriors cricket player and South African U19 Cricket Captain
  • Graeme Pollock, South African cricketer inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame{{Cite web |last=icc |title=International Cricket Council Hall of Fame |url=https://www.icc-cricket.com/hall-of-fame/hall-of-famers/hall-of-famer-graeme-pollock |access-date=2024-10-19 |website=icc |language=en}}
  • Peter Pollock, South African cricketer
  • Lutho Sipamla, South African cricketer
  • Pieter Strydom, South African cricketer
  • Tristan Stubbs, South African cricketer
  • Rusty Theron, South African and USA international cricketer

== Rugby ==

== Hockey ==

== Athletics ==

== Tennis ==

== Swimming ==

== Water Polo ==

== Surfing ==

= Arts and culture =

  • Adrian Kohler,{{Cite web |title=Linkedin - Adrian Kohler |url=https://za.linkedin.com/in/adrian-kohler-98867a18}} Tony Award winner for War Horse,{{Cite web |last=BWW |first=Team |title=Adrian Kohler (Puppet Designer, Puppet Fabrication): Credits, Bio, News & More {{!}} Broadway World |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Adrian-Kohler/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=www.broadwayworld.com |language=en}} founder of Handspring Puppet Company
  • David Fanning, executive producer of the multiple award-winning Frontline, the longest running documentary investigative show in the United States
  • Barry Smith, Organist Emeritus, St George's Cathedral, Cape Town; former associate professor, Faculty of Music, UCT
  • Eric Lloyd Williams, journalist and war correspondent

= Military =

= Politics =

  • David Maynier, South African parliamentarian for Democratic Alliance; Western Cape Provincial Minister of Education

= Philanthropy =

  • Vincent Mai, South African-American businessman, financier, and philanthropist. Benefactor of the Grey Outreach Programme, the Grey Junior & Grey High bursary scheme.

= Science =

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.{{cite web|url=http://au.tv.yahoo.com/worlds-strictest-parents/|title=The World's Strictest Parents|publisher=Seven Network|date=July 2009|access-date=2009-08-04}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20070114052056/http://www.africaalmanac.com/top20highschools.html#11 Top 20 Schools in Africa]
  • [https://www.greyhighschool.com/ Official website]

{{ECSchools}}

Category:Boys' schools in South Africa

Category:Boarding schools in South Africa

Category:Schools in the Eastern Cape

Category:Educational institutions established in 1856

Category:1856 establishments in Africa

Category:1856 establishments in the British Empire

Category:Buildings and structures in Gqeberha