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History The Diocesan Collegiate School was founded by Bishop Gray, the first Anglican bishop of Cape Town in 1849 at his house, Bishopscourt in Cape Town. He founded two schools there – one for black children and one for settlers’ sons. Living with schools was hard for the bishop and this led him to establish the schools elsewhere. The black children moved to accommodation near the city, where Zonnebloem College now is. This movement left the bishop short of money and so he bought an unproductive farm in Rondebosch, and there the boys of Diocesan College have prospered ever since. The school did not prosper till Canon George Ogilvie arrived from prosperous St George’s Grammar School , attached to St George’s Cathedral in the city. The canon brought some boys with him and the bishop’s school flourished. It became the Diocesan College, but that too was a mouthful and its was generally referred to as the bishop’s school – hence its nickname. Bishops is far more widely known by that name. The school was originally mainly a boarding school, but since the 1970s it has had more day scholars than boarders. For some years it ran university classes, but in 1910 those classes left for the South African College . The school had only three principals between 1919 and 1982 – Harold Birt, Hubert Kidd, the first layman to be principal, and Anthony Mallett. Since then it has had three more. Now the school runs in three sections – a pre-primary school, a preparatory school and the college. Since 1921 a post-matric year has been in place to offer students the opportunity to write the University Of Cambridge A-Level Exams . In recent times, girls have been admitted to this year, and boarding facilities are also available to them. Academics Leavers write the Western Cape Department of Education examinations; a differentiation from other comparable private schools whose pupils write the Independent Examinations Board exams. It is one of only four schools in the world to annually offer a Rhodes Scholarship for Oxford University to an ex-pupil. Uniform There is a vast array of different possible uniforms a Bishops boy can wear. There are two standard uniforms, being Number 1's and Khakis, and on top of this there are innumerable ties, jerseys, scarves and hats to be worn. The majority of these items are given to boys who have excelled in a particular field, and others denote his House or grade. The most common form of awards are ties, a list of which follows:
Excellence in sporting and cultural activities is recognised through the awarding of colours. From Chess to Drama to Rugby , Cricket and Squash there are far too many different colours to list. Initially a boy is awarded half colours, which is a small embroided badge to be sewn under the mitre on his blazer. This badge has on it the initials of the sporting or cultural activity the boy was awarded the colours for, e.g. SC for Swimming Colours and SqC for Squash Colours. If further excellence is achived, the boy can then be awarded full colours. This is represented by another small badge sewn next to the previous badge, with the letters DC on it. Thus full colours for Athletics would be DC AC. A boy awarded full colours is entitled to wear the Colours jersey in place of a normal school jersey. This jersey is white and has the dark and light blue of the cadet and academic jerseys in its collar. There originally was a light blue jersey, which had the colours of the Academic and Colours jerseys in its collar, to recognize excellence in Bishops' Cadet Corps. The Cadet Corps has since been disbanded, and thus with it the jersey. There is a possibility that this jersey will be brought back to the school so as to allow the Colours jersey to be given only to boys with full sporting colours, and boys with full cultural colours to be potentially given the renamed Cultural jersey. The academic equivalent to full colours is the Academic jersey. This is a very prestigous award, and at present there are only 8 boys in the College who are entitled to wear this jersey. The jersey is a dark blue, with a white and light blue collar. Sport Sport is an integral part of any Bishops student's life, and is compulsory as team sports are used to build camaraderie. Boys can choose between cricket and tennis in the summer, and hockey and rugby in the winter. Additional sports can also be chosen instead of these, which include swimming, athletics, rowing, and others such as surfing and golf. Over 20 sports matches are played on a weekly basis against schools in and around Cape Town . Many friendly rivalries have emerged, most notably against the nearby South African College School (SACS), and Rondebosch Boys' High School . The first Rugby , Field Hockey and Cricket teams are the pride of the school, and when matches are played, the vast majority of the school turns out to watch. Started in 1892, the annual Bishops versus SACS rugby match is considered the oldest in Africa, if not in the world of school rugby, although the keenest rivalry is often considered to be against Rondebosch Boys' High School . Religion Being an Anglican Christian school the school is centred around the Christian values with Chapel services held three times a week. Twice a term, compulsory Evensong takes place. Culture As a school which promotes the arts and culture the school holds events of this nature – the most important of which is the Bishops Eisteddfod whereby the eight houses compete against each other around June each year for the Eisteddfod Owls (a prize for winning a specific category, e.g. Speech). Bishops also hosts ''the Pops'' every three years in the Cape Town City Hall. It also has an active debating society, which has often won the Western Cape Provincial Debating tournament and has a history of producing South African debaters. One of Bishops' greatest assets is its societies, each run by a dedicated teacher and sometimes attended by up to 70 boys. Here follows a list of the 35+ societies at Bishops.
Miscellaneous The school aims to, according to the school slogan, ''Inspires Individuals'', by providing up-to-date computer equipment, music and drama departments and a wide variety of subjects. Bishops participates in many outreach programs such as the LEAP program. These programs get the students involved in teaching other students from surrounding underprivileged schools skills such as computer-literacy and chess. The school is a member of the Independent Schools Association Of Southern Africa , the Headmasters' And Headmistresses' Conference , the International Boys' School Coalition and the oldest member of the Elite Seven . Old Diocesans Old Diocesans (OD) union is one of the most active in the country. Membership spans the globe. Here is the homepage: {Link without Title} . Details of reunions and how to receive the school magazine, are available. Notable alumni
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