Paul Roos Gymnasium


Paul Roos Gymnasium is a public, dual medium high school for boys in the town of Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa, and opened on the 1st of March 1866 as Stellenbosch Gymnasium. It is the 12th oldest school in the country. Other than its rich history, the school is known for all-round excellence in sport, culture, academics and the performance of notable old boys across a wide sphere of society.
The pillar values of the school are pride, respect and gentlemanship along with humility, excellence, integrity and responsibility. Another notable characteristic of the school is its gees and their famous fight song "Old boys of Paul Roos" which is 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. It is also the school with the most players in the 2019 Rugby World Cup including 5 Springboks namely Schalk Brits, Willie le Roux, Steven Kitshoff, Herschel Jantjies, Damian Willemse and Braam Steyn who played for Italy.
In 1910 the school was renamed Stellenbosch Boys' High School and old boy Paul Roos became the sixth rector of the school where he served for thirty years. In 1946 the school moved to the new buildings in Krigeville and was renamed Paul Roos Gymnasium after Paul Roos, old boy and captain of the first Springbok team, 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.

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.
School facilities include a library and computer labs.
Sports facilities include hockey fields, the Markötter rugby fields, a swimming pool, an Olympic Waterpolo Aquatic Centre, tennis courts, and a gymnasium.
The main residential facilities are the two school hostels called Prima and Prima Nova. They accommodate 245 boarders, mainly from South Africa and Namibia.

Notable attainments

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 in the country. 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.

Notable alumni

Businessmen
Judges
Academics
Writers
Journalists
Artists
Musicians
Actors
Politician - three Prime Ministers

Cricket

The Rhodes Scholarship was instituted in 1903, and Paul Roos 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.