Grey High School

History

The school was founded by John Paterson, and named after Sir George Edward Grey, Governor of Cape Colony for the period 5 December 1854 – 15 August 1861. Sir George founded Grey College, Bloemfontein in 1855, and Auckland Grammar School (Auckland, New Zealand) in 1850. The motto of Grey High School is Tria Juncta in Uno meaning 'three joined in one — mind, body and spirit', from the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, of which Sir George Grey was created a Knight Commander in 1848.

The school today

There are over 800 boys including 100 boarders. The school celebrated its 150th jubilee in 2006. The Grey Institute also includes the attached Grey Junior School with almost 800 pupils. The school is under the rectorship of Mr. Neil Crawford. The school has a governing body and is a former "Model C" school in South African schooling terminology.

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 school leavers) participate in time trials and the two most athletic qualifiers are chosen to compete in the race. They then toss for position, the winner usually choosing the inside lane. They wait for the four quarters to strike on the clock tower before they are set off by the Rector on the first strike of the chimes. They begin the race directly in front of the war memorial and they run in an anti-clockwise direction. They race against each other as well as against the ten chimes which take approximately 20 seconds to ring. The record stands to the name of past staff member, Greg Miller, with a time of 19.8 seconds. He is one of very few who have beaten the clock.

Robert Selley Memorial Concert The Selley Concerts were inaugurated in 1986 in conjunction with the Founder’s Day celebrations. The Selley Concerts recognises the contribution Robert Selley’s made to the school's music department. The event is hosted annually in the Feathermarket Centre, on the second Wednesday evening in May. The Grey Symphonic Winds, conducted by Grey High's Director of Music, Mr. Shawn Lyon, performs first, wearing the "reds" uniform.

The Old Grey Band is included in the evening's program usually every second year, and consists of old Greys of any age with musical experience who wish to be part of the show. The last time the Old Grey Band took to the stage was in 2015. The Grey Junior School Concert Band, conducted by Mr. Jeff Taylor, forms part of the show. The Grey Voices represents the school's choir, for which Mrs. Ruth Lyon is the teacher and conductor. The Grey String Orchestra precedes the Grey Orchestra and is conducted by Mrs. Marliza Taylor. The Grey Orchestra is the final ensemble to perform under the direction of Mr. Shawn Lyon. The concert concludes with the school song, "The Grey".

Trooping the Colour Trooping the colour is performed by senior members of the cadet detachment, mostly Matrics. The first Trooping the Colour was held in 1938.

Houses

The house system at Grey High School has a combination of day scholar houses and boarding scholar houses . There are five day-boy houses and two boarder houses, although the boarder houses are collectively seen as one house known as Meriway. The houses compete against each other in events which include academics for points for the Inter House Shield.

Facilities

The school offers 13 sports - athletics, rugby, hockey, rowing, swimming, water polo, cricket, tennis, squash, air-rifle shooting, golf and cross-country, with the exception being association football, which is not offered.

Academic facilities

Sporting facilities

Cultural facilities

Other facilities

Rowing

Grey is the only school in Port Elizabeth to offer rowing as a sport. Grey's rowing boats are named after the wives of previous rectors at the school.

The school's rowing clubhouse is situated in Redhouse, which lies along the edge of the Swartkops River. It is here where Grey rowers train and practice their on-water skills. When not on the river, the boys may make use of the ergo room and school gym on campus to increase their cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance and muscular strength.

The school year begins with an annual rowing camp, where new members of the club are taught rowing techniques and rules. With the first rowing competition in a matter of weeks, the camp creates an opportunity for coaches to ensure the crews are ready to race.

2014 has seen the club travel to Cape Town, Durban, and Pretoria in order to race, with the latter being SA Schools Championships. Also in 2014, two U16 boys were selected to represent South African Schools Rowing in Belgium and returned with gold and silver medals.

Rectors

Notable alumni

Grey Cycle Tour

The Grey Cycle Tour 2008 was a cycle around the country of South Africa completed by seven students from the Grey High School. All the funds raised went to the Childhood Cancer Foundation South Africa (CHOC). The idea of the Grey Cycle Tour was to include young people in the fight against cancer. The total distance traveled was 2300 km. In total, R580,000 was raised.

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.