Dodson’s dream to found a new school in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, was realised when in hospital with a broken arm, he met Colonel Somerset whose neighbour was selling land ideally suited to a school.
The original school consisted of a farmhouse and stables on 5 acres of land. The name
“St Peter’s” was chosen in consultation with the Anglican Community of the Resurrection in York, England.
The motto, Servate Fidem, (Serve the Faith), was inspired by Dodson’s admiration of the extraordinary faithfulness of Gurkha soldiers. “If only a little of this can brush off onto every pupil that attends St Peter’s, then say Amen,” was his prayer.
On the first day in February, 1950, ten boys and two girls assembled on the lawns in front of the farmhouse. By the end of the year, numbers had swelled to forty-one. The traditional values of love, loyalty, honesty, tolerance, humility, courage, integrity and concern for others, exemplified by the Dodson family, remain central to the school ethos today.
In 1960, the purchasing of 16 acres of adjoining land allowed plans for further development of the school to materialise – new classrooms, sports fields and staff houses were priority. Extension of the property continued and today the rambling estate of almost 40 acres is a far cry from the school’s humble beginnings.
St Peter’s Girls School was the brainchild of the Boys’ School Board of Governors and afforded parents the opportunity for monastic education on a single, secure campus. Opening in 2006 to Grade 0 and 1 pupils, the school will grow one grade per year to Grade 7.
St Peter’s College, located in Sunninghill, opened its doors to both genders in January, 1998.