Developments at St Andrew’s in recent years have been highly successful. The old Municipal Sports’ Ground, known as Victoria Park, has been redeveloped and is now home to Little Saints, the school’s pre-primary. The Victoria Park Hall and Boardroom are also used for, among others, stage productions, the Saints Karate Club, as an examination venue and for meetings of the Board of Governors. The Victoria Park sports complex has been developed in the past year to include a Soccer pitch, cricket pitches, a rugby field, all of which are under flood lights for night games.

Sports facilities are regularly improved and being updated.

In 2016, the Lindsay Tuckett High Performance Centre was officially opened. Focusing mainly on cricket, but also used for hockey and ball skills, the Centre features cutting-edge technology and is one of the finest of its kind in the world, according to the technology providers, PitchVision.

The centre allows us to train cricket throughout the year as it shields from the worst of the cold weather during winter and rain in summer. The use of lights also extends our possible training hours, particularly when we need to juggle the off season training with the boys’ winter sports commitments. All of our senior cricketers (Grade 8-12) are involved in an individualised off season skills and conditioning programme, with the centre being crucial to this programme. Our individualised approach is dynamic and unique in South Africa. This year we have started a High Performance batting programme with our u9/u11 and u13 boys. This takes place during the winter months (off season) as well as in season in the Tuckett Centre. The plan is to roll out a similar bowling programme in the near future.

When the national annual under-18 Inter-provincial Cricket Week was held in Bloemfontein, in 2017, the main cricket field, Vossie’s Field and the second cricket field, Hickling Field, were selected as among the best in Bloemfontein by the participants. Vossie’s Field was rated second only to the Knights’ Mangaung Oval and Hickling Field was voted the fifth best ground.

The St Andrew’s sports grounds are fed by borehole water, which enables the school to look after the fields properly, even in times of drought and winter.

The tennis courts at St Andrew’s were resurfaced in 2019 and then the complex and each court individually was named at the school’s annual Bloemfontein Reunion.

Outdoor Education – Donkerpoort

Opened in 2013, our outdoor education facility, Donkerpoort, is near the Gariep Dam, about 2-hours’ drive from the school. It plays host to annual camps for boys from grades three to 11. The programme is designed so that each year’s camp is a continuation and enhancement on the previous year’s outdoor education. The proximity of South Africa’s largest dam and the Orange River also provides plentiful recreational and educational opportunities. All the boys, especially our boys who live in cities enjoy the camp experience immensely.

 Gym

The school gym is a valuable facility for our sports teams and is on the premises for the use of all boys. The modern, well- equipped gym is managed by our resident sports scientist who oversees all the training and plans individual programmes for all our boys, depending on individual needs and sports played. The sports teams are regularly monitored by the sports scientist for fitness, injury, training schedules and has played a vital role in the performance of the senior cricket, rugby, hockey and squash teams.

Grade 1 Special Needs Classroom

At the end of 2022, the two Grade 1 classrooms were upgraded to accommodate learners with special needs like ADHD. A mezzanine level was incorporated in the two classrooms along with bean bags, quiet corners and other measures to help our learners reach their full potential from day one!