Paul Roos Gymnasium is a public dual medium (Afrikaans & English) high school for boys in the town of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape province of South Africa, which opened on 1 March 1866 as Stellenbosch Gymnasium. Described as South Africa’s Eton College by novelist Wilbur Smith, it is the 12th oldest school in the country,.
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History
In 1910, the school was renamed Stellenbosch Boys' High School. In 1946 the school moved to new buildings in Krigeville and was renamed Paul Roos Gymnasium after Paul Roos, old boy and captain of the first Springbok team. Roos was himself a teacher at the school, and was the school's rector from 1910 to 1940, after which the school was renamed in his honour.
A notable characteristic of the school is its gees (Afrikaans for spirit) and their fight song "Old boys of Paul Roos" which has the melody of "Flower of Scotland" in remembrance of the first three Scottish rectors, which they sing with their old boys.
Paul Roos Gymnasium has produced more Springbok rugby players than any other school (56). It is also the school with the most players in the 2019 Rugby World Cup including five Springboks: Schalk Brits, Willie le Roux, Steven Kitshoff, Herschel Jantjies, Damian Willemse and Braam Steyn who played for Italy.
Paul Roos was classified as a prestige school, being among the best-performing schools.
In 2018 the University of Stellenbosch, which evolved out of this school, celebrated its centenary. In the first 100 years of its existence, 26 old boys received honorary doctorates from this university, more than any other school. Also, since the inception of the Chancellor's Medal in 1961, thirteen old boys were awarded this medal for the best final year student by Stellenbosch University.
Associations and facilities
Though Paul Roos Gymnasium is a school for boys from grade 8 to 12, the curriculum includes some subjects presented in conjunction with the two sister schools, Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof and Rhenish. The school is dual medium; Afrikaans- and English-speaking pupils study under one roof, but classes are largely separated according to mother tongue. The school shares sport and internet facilities with Stellenbosch University.
Notable alumni
Other notable sportsmen
Stefan de Bod, cyclist
Dieter Eiselen, NFL player
Justin Harding, golfer
Garrick Higgo, Professional golfer
Robbie Louw, rugby union player
Josh Strauss, Scottish international rugby player
Peter van der Merwe, South African Test cricket captain
Dan du Plessis, professional rugby player at the Stormers
Hanro Jacobs, professional rugby player at the Sharks
JJ Kotze, professional rugby player at the Stormers
Heerden Hermann, Olympic swimmer
Oubaas Markötter, legendary rugby coach and pioneer of the modern 3-4-1 scrum
Dan Hugo, XTERRA triathlete
Andrew Hobson, South African national outdoor hockey player
Tiaan Pretorius, South African Sevens player and Olympic Bronze medalist
Tiaan Whelpton, New Zealand sprinter and national record holder
Jurists
John Trengove, former judge in the Appellate Division and Constitutional Court
Pieter Andries Meyer, current judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal
Ernest Frederick Watermeyer, Chief Justice of South Africa
Hendrik Stephanus van Zyl, Judge President of the Cape Provincial Division
Benjamin Tindall, judge of the Appellate Division
John Murray, judge and Chief Justice of Southern Rhodesia
Gerhardus Jacobus Maritz, Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division
Anton Lubowski, Namibian anti-apartheid activist and advocate
Daniël de Waal, Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division
Nicolaas Jacobus de Wet, judge and Chief Justice of South Africa
Hendrik Stephanus van Zyl, Judge President of the Cape Provincial Division
Journalists and authors
Tom Dreyer, novelist, poet and column writer
Etienne van Heerden, twice Hertzog Prize winner
T.O. Honiball artist and cartoonist
Gideon Joubert, writer and journalist
Uys Krige, Hertzog Prize winner, writer, poet, playwright and rugby union footballer
Pieter-Louis Myburgh, investigative journalist
Anton van Niekerk, professor of philosophy
Wilhelm Verwoerd, philosopher, peace-maker and writer
Businessmen and politicians
J.B.M. Hertzog, prime minister of the Union of South Africa
D.F. Malan, South African prime minister
Jannie Marais, co-founder of Naspers and benefactor of the Het Jan Marais Fonds
Johann Rupert, business executive
Jan Smuts, South African prime minister and Field Marshal in the British Army, as well as one of the founders of the League of Nations and United Nations.
Gerhard Tötemeyer, former Namibian Director of Elections and Deputy Minister of Regional and Local Government, Housing and Rural Development
Leon Schreiber, Minister of Home Affairs
Samuel Kawale, Malawian Member of Parliament and former Minister of Agriculture
Artists and performing arts
Marcel van Heerden, actor
Arnold van Wyk, composer, musicologist
Heinz Winckler, musician
Beer Adriaanse, actor
Koos Kombuis, South African short-story writer, poet, novelist and cult musician
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship was instituted in 1903. Paul Roos Gymnasium is one of four schools in South Africa entitled to award a Rhodes Scholarship annually to an ex-pupil to study at the University of Oxford.
Controversies
On 28 October 2021, a Grade 8 student at Paul Roos Gymnasium was seriously assaulted by another pupil before school hours. The victim sustained extensive facial injuries, including a broken jaw, nose, and eye socket, and required reconstructive surgery. The school suspended the alleged perpetrator and launched an internal investigation, with a disciplinary hearing to follow. The Western Cape Education Department confirmed it had been notified of the incident and expressed support for the school's response. A recommendation for expulsion was made to the Western Cape Education Department's Head of Department.