Postscript by Mrs Ivanka Acquisto, executive head

As a gift to Saint Andrew’s, I commissioned Ruth Everson to write a poem for the 120^th anniversary of the school.

Ruth is a locally and internationally published South African poet, writer, and former English teacher. She has combined her poetry and passion for leadership into a unique offering. Her poetry–leadership combination has taken her to Cairo, Beijing, and the Netherlands. She has facilitated workshops at many schools, including St Andrew’s, where she interacted with both our students and staff. Ruth says: “Words write her life.”

The ‘Jenny’ bell, dedicated in 1996, which is rung by newcomers to the senior school and by staff and students leaving the school

Ring out the bells

For St Andrew’s School for Girls on the occasion of their 120^th Anniversary.

• Jean Fletcher and Jessie Johnston, called to service from distant hills,
• Charted a course of courage, under a sky steered mostly by men
• To follow their own North Star.
• In the rushing fields of gold, they set down a treasure of greater measure:
• St Andrew’s call to service running like a seam through our dreams.
• Ring out the bells of welcome
• Rea ho amohela
• Siyakwamukela
• Wa amukeriwa
• Welkom
• Sing the Celtic ballads to steel pan beat of marimba and drum,
• The ones who went before us
• Journey in spirit with those still to come.
• For 120 years the roots have grown down strong,
• Now we stand in the shade of all that’s been made,
• The legacy of who we’ve BECOME.
• Some things must fall to take new shape,
• as the clock-carved stinkwood shows.
• On a jacaranda purple carpet, with the unfolding St Andrew’s rose,
• Acacia, Karee, Marula, and the mighty Baobab all grow.
• In the brown of the ground that holds us,
• Under the blue, blue flame of the sky,
• UBambiswano, we hold hands for our future,
• Simunye, we are one.
• Ring out the bells of exit
• You may leave but you’ll always belong.
• Remember!
• Remember the founding stone on Hospital Hill
• And the skills that prepare you for life,
• Remember!
• Let the meerkat run and the blue crane soar
• To share in the shine of your stars:
• Dinaledi – YOU are a galaxy of potential
• Spilling across the world and back
• To our where and our why.
• By braving trust,
• We strive still to live with the Founders’ grace,
• With integrity and balance and fun,
• Accountable we stand, a community true
• Per angusta ad augusta; from tribulation to triumph we have come.
• Ring out the Jenny Bell
• Andreans past and present:
• Bring your difference; Sekunjalo, it is time,
• Tirisano, working together, we become the place
• Waar leiers vlerke kry.
• Now
• Ring out the bells of hope
• Past, present, future.
• Ngingowakho.
• I
• We
• Belong.

Ruth Everson