Primary Schools

Where it all began back in 1989…  Today St Martin’s offers education from Grade 0-7. A variety of extra activities are offered, such as ballet classes for the Junior pupils, Music lessons including choir singing and percussion. A swimming programme is offered to all of our pupils, a valuable life skill.

Generous volunteers, as well as the pupils of St Stithians (our Outreach Partner) provide extra lessons including assistance with reading and mathematics skills.

Deputy Head: Lizette Baker
Grade 0: Sikhangele Moyo
Grade 1: Kelebogile Mantsho
Grade 2: Sherissa Pillay
Grade 3: Nadine Wheeler
Intern: Lungile Mokwena
Teacher Assistants: Andy Ncube | Sindi Sibisi | Ashleigh da Silva
Secretary: Joy Jenya

St Martin’s Grades 4-7 have many opportunities to participate in sporting, cultural and musical activities.  These include; violin lessons, learning the marimbas, chess matches with St Mary’s, swimming, hockey, squash, soccer and netball.

TransUnion have formed an Outreach partnership with St Martin’s Senior and in particular provide support to pupils who need help with mathematics.

Deputy Head: Lizette Baker
Grade 4 | Afrikaans | Art: Benita Carels
Grade 5 | Mathematics: Thato Majola
Grade 6 | English: Michelle Mulligan
Grade 7 | Science: Gladys Munyorovi / Anli van der Westhuizen
Teacher Assistant: Merriam Ngcobo
Intern: Lerato Langa | Zanele Zwane

St Mark’s offers Grades 0 to 7. Reading takes priority and can be enjoyed in the tranquility of the ‘Butterfly Garden’.

Many sport and cultural activities are popular with the pupils. Including volleyball, soccer, cricket, netball and swimming as well as Kung Fu, Ballet and computers.

On a musical note, the Junior and Senior grades now learn the marimbas and can participate in the school choir. Pupils also have the chance to learn the violin and recorder.

Each Senior class has the opportunity to learn and demonstrate their learning with the latest technologies, including the iPad.

Headmistress: Viviene Du Preez
Grade 0: Sue-Anne Iliffe
Grade 1: Pranitha Naidoo
Grade 2: Angelina Khupe
Grade 3: Maxine Walker
Grade 4: Tamarin Lawson
Grade 5: Urvasha Prithipal
Grade 6: Némize Jeftha
Grade 7: Tony Khupe
Grade 4-7 Natural/Social Science: Lindsay MacGregor
Intern: Kezia Bolton | Nthabiseng Shilote
Teacher Assistants: Ruth Matong | Nellie Moima | Martha Mogashoa
Secretary: Lorraine Nadas
Gardener: Jack Shoba

Mission
Vuleka St Joseph’s seeks to provide an excellent and affordable education to all boys.

Vision
Vuleka St Joseph’s, rooted in its Christian identity and Anglican ethos will:

1. Grow boys into young men of honour, faith and justice, contributing to South African society and the future of the country
2. Teach a model of masculinity, which is not defined by materialism, physical strength or domination of women, but rather by courage, compassion, defence of the weak, integrity, reason and the power of intellect
3. Offer a curriculum designed to develop the unlimited potential of each boy
4. Foster a teaching methodology grounded in current neuropsychological research and practice
5. Enable meaningful participation in an extramural program which plays its part in the holistic development of each boy
6. Make use of its historical and environmental context to enrich the learning experience of each boy.

Values
Drawing on the life of St Joseph, the values for which the school stands are humility, compassion, faith and trust in God, respecting and honouring self, family, school and society and celebrating the dignity of work.

Spiritual Statement
As an Anglican school we encourage participation in Christian fellowship instilling values, providing a sense of emotional well-being and a sense of belonging.

History
Vuleka is a low fee, non-profit school with a proud history in education. It is a church-based project, started in 1989, in response to the crisis in education after the Soweto student protests. Twenty seven years later, Vuleka educates a thousand pupils, from Grade 000 to Grade 12 in schools registered with the Gauteng Department of Education. It has two pre-primary schools, three other primary schools, a centre for assisted learning and a high school. All are co-educational. For some time though, Vuleka has seen the need for a school for boys and we are delighted to have the opportunity to develop one at St Joseph’s.

In 2014, Vuleka moved its Central Office from the church of St Martin’s-in-the-Veld in the Rosebank parish to the St Joseph’s Diocesan Centre in Sophiatown. It is a historic site, built as a children’s home in the early 1920s and designed by the architect FLH Fleming. It was one of the very few sites not bulldozed when the apartheid government cleared the vibrant multiracial community of Sophiatown to rebuild it as Triomf. It is steeped in the history of the people and the city of Johannesburg and that of Sophiatown. Its history is linked to that of the Anglican Church and the CR Fathers, especially Trevor Huddleston, and the Sisters of St Margaret. As Bishop Brian noted: the story of St Joseph’s takes us “into the lives of so many people from all walks of life who responded to the challenge of the gospel and the need of the poor and gave generously of their time, talents and possessions to make the world a better, kinder, Christ-centred place”.

The history though goes back much further, for St Joseph’s borders directly onto the Melville Koppies, a Nature Reserve and a Johannesburg City Heritage Site. It is the last conserved remnant of Johannesburg’s ridges as they were before the discovery of gold in 1886. Its geology goes back three billion years. Stone tools show that Early Stone Age man camped here as long as 500 000 years ago. There is a Late Stone Age living floor. Within the last 1 000 years Iron Age immigrants arrived, and remains of their kraal walls can be found on the northern slopes. In 1963 an iron-smelting furnace was excavated and can be seen today. The vegetation of the Koppies is entirely indigenous and is a remarkable example of the richness of Highveld grasses, flowers, and trees so close to a city centre. These ridges have looked like this for hundreds of years.

We are all privileged to be able to work and study in this setting.

Academic
Vuleka St Joseph’s has a vision of excellence and offers a holistic curriculum, in line with the national CAPS curriculum, which allows each pupil to develop his academic, social, emotional, physical, spiritual and intellectual well-being. Teachers are carefully selected for their empathy and their ability to relate to boys and to develop good relationships so that learning can flourish.

Sports and Cultural Activities
Vuleka St Joseph’s supports learning through the arts, such as music and visual arts. These programmes allow pupils to shine in these areas of the curriculum. Cultural activities include chess, art and Choir.

Our sports program is compulsory and makes up part of the school day. Sporting activities offered include mini soccer, mini cricket and athletics. Our school houses pay homage to Anglican leaders who have shaped our heritage. The three houses are Luthuli, Tutu and Huddleston.

School Uniform
Wide brimmed navy hat, grey shorts and blue shirt, grey socks, black school shoes. The school shirt must have school badge on breast pocket.
Blue golf shirt with badge on breast pocket and navy blue shorts for sport, with grey socks and takkies.

Details regarding homework, rules of conduct, and all other matters are in the school handbook which is issued on enrolment.

Headmistress: Melanie Sharland
Deputy Head: Elise Vail
Grade 0: Sheila Syster
Grade 1: Elise Vail
Grade 2: Loretta Sehere
Grade 3: Daniela Maxwell
Intern: Nelisiwe Ngcongwane
Assistant: Philiswa Mkhwebane