About Holy Family College

who we are

Holy Family College is an independent co-educational Catholic school situated on Oxford Road in Parktown Johannesburg. The school consists of three phases: the pre-school which caters for children aged 1 to 6; the Preparatory School (Grades 1 to 7) and the High School (Grades 8 to 12). The school follows the CAPS and IEB academic curricula with Grade 12 writing the IEB NSC examinations.

The primary school is structured to provide mainstream schooling to a number of visually impaired learners while the high school accommodates the learners of the Three2Six refugee school after school hours.

Our teaching staff

A school is not a school without its teachers and a good school only achieves excellence through the skill and efforts of its academic staff. At Holy Family College we believe that our teachers are our most valuable asset and we strive to nurture the vocational calling that brings each of our teachers to the profession. The most successful educators are those who are life-long learners. The teachers of Holy Family College are encouraged to remain such life-long learners and are provided with the personal and professional development resources that are required to achieve this.

our rich History

Originally Parktown Convent for Girls, founded in 1905, the school that is now Holy Family College combines the best of both worlds – a rich historical foundation and an ongoing ability to transform to meet the changing needs of its learners. Like the house built on the rock, Holy Family’s history is the stable foundation on which the school rests today.

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facilities

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Student support

There are two dedicated counsellors, (Monday – Thursday), to provide learners across the school emotional counselling.

tuck-shop

Holy Family has a tuckshop on campus situated near the swimming pool alongside the High School classrooms.

The tuckshop is outsourced and serves a variety of snacks and quick meals, ranging from toasted sandwiches and salads to the daily special meal.

Grade 1-3 students have a more limited menu and our ECD children do not use the tuckshop. The tuckshop accepts cash.

AFTER CARE

Holy Family Aftercare is a service for our ECD and Primary learners. Here we strive to provide an environment where our children feel secure, safe and loved. Children can complete their homework and then enjoy the facilities until parents collect them. They are overseen by support staff.

Aftercare is available to learners at the end of each school day from 15h30 – 18h00.

COMPUTER FACILITIES

All learners from Grade 7 – 12 have their own device – laptop. We have two fully equipped computer labs that are used by the whole school, as well a floating bank of iPads.

HERITAGE SITE

Tours & Museum

The school hosts a museum where tours are conducted for both adults and learners to travel back over 100 years in this beautiful Edwardian school in Parktown, Johannesburg. For learners, there is an opportunity to wear pinafores, sailor suit and other contemporary uniforms while having an English lesson in a 1905 attic classroom, complete with ink wells, dip pens, reading charts, dunce’s caps and cursive writing! Learn about the discovery and mining of gold, the lifeblood of our city Egoli in our old History classroom. Explore the magnificent architecture and interiors and have explained and experience the rationale behind the school’s turning circle at a time where transport was primarily by carriage or donkey-cart. These tours take place through the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation – offices on our campus. Booking is essential through www.joburgheritage.org.za

a catholic school

As a Catholic school the College strives to inspire its young people to live out the message of the Gospels: to grow a relationship with the God who loves them, to love and respect others, and to recognise their place in the world and their responsibility to those around them. The Catholic ethos also means that the College welcomes all persons – irrespective of gender, race, culture and religion – who share the lived Catholic values of faith, hope and love.

Our holy family ethos

a catholic school

Our holy family ethos

inclusive school

Holy Family College is one of the few schools in the country that currently includes non-sighted and visually impaired children into its mainstream classes, starting at pre- and primary level. This allows all the children in the class to participate in the teaching process and creates an environment in which individual needs are met and every child has the opportunity to succeed.

Restorative justice

Restorative justice is a much-needed alternative to the traditional punitive methods of discipline. Holy Family recognises the necessity of modelling for young people an alternative to the violence, conflict and division that surrounds them today. Restorative justice redresses wrongs by building personal self-awareness and accountability, and by strengthening relationships and communities.

faith based education

An education that has faith at its centre is one that provides stability in a world filled with uncertainty. Young people educated in a faith-based school possess a sense of belonging and certainty that tells them that they are part of something bigger than themselves. They grow to be more than just scholars but citizens of strong conviction and clear values who are prepared for life beyond the walls of the school.

Three2six

In line with its ethos of inclusion and social responsibility, Holy Family is privileged to be one of the three host schools of the Three2Six project. This project provides bridging education from 3pm to 6pm on the grounds of the host schools for the hundreds of displaced children from all over our continent who live in Johannesburg and who are unable to gain access to other schooling.