Who we are
Our vocation
Our mission at St Cyprian’s School is to unlock the potential and build the brilliance of all our girls – from Pre-Prep to matric. We see every girl in blue as an individual, with her own unique potential and distinctive abilities to be nurtured and encouraged. Our aim is to help her explore and unleash those talents to not only become her best self, but to also contribute thoughtfully and kindly to the wider community.
By challenging their minds, feeding their souls, firing their imaginations and training their bodies, we support our students to learn and develop confidently, think independently, build character and self-esteem, and respect others.
Our school strives to equip every student with the knowledge, skills and guidance to shine in her own right and to go on to lead a happy and fulfilled life.
Our promise
St Cyprian’s celebrates and promotes diversity. We strive to be a happy, vibrant and representative space where every girl and member of the school and broader South African society is valued and respected.
We encourage diversity of interests, outlooks and ambitions, acknowledge the complexity and inequity of our country’s history and takes seriously our responsibility towards the creation of a more equitable society.
We are proud of our rich heritage as a school that opened its doors to all races and creeds during the apartheid years, and we embrace the future enthusiastically as motivated and patriotic citizens.
We educate and nurture our girls to become critical thinkers, creative problem-solvers and compassionate, courageous human beings, equipped to take their rightful places in their communities, the country and the world.
Our obligation
Kurt Hahn, the father of the Round Square educational philosophy, wrote, “I regard it as the foremost task of education to ensure the survival of these qualities: an enterprising curiosity, an undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, readiness for sensible self-denial, and above all, compassion.”
As part of the international network of Round Square schools, our goal is to provide St Cyprian’s girls with tools that enable enquiry and self-expression, helping them develop their potential in an encouraging and reassuring school environment.
We provide additional support through pastoral care and peer group mentoring. Our school chaplain and resident counsellors are key members of our staff. Our girls are encouraged to “stress-test” their ideas, learn from their mistakes, nurture their passions and grow their interests and talents.
We believe every girl is an individual, to be challenged to discover her best self.
Round Square
St Cyprian’s was one of the first South African schools to become a member of Round Square, in 1997.
Round Square offers schools a framework for excellence and continuous improvement, along with structured opportunities to collaborate and share experiences with like-minded peers around the world. Member schools have a fundamental belief in the value of experiential learning to develop character and make a difference in the world.
Founder Kurt Hahn, an educational philosopher, believed the purpose of schools should be greater than simply preparing students for tertiary education.
He argued that students need to prepare for life by facing it directly in ways that cultivate courage, generosity, imagination, principle, resolution and compassion, and that the supportive environment of a school community can facilitate this.
