St Dunstan’s Memorial School was founded to commemorate those who had given their lives in the Great War of 1914 - 1918. The school opened in a house in Bunyan Street in 1918with a Headmaster, Mr Lake, one teacher and one pupil, but soon other pupils arrived and the school began its tenuous life.

It was the Rev Edward Paget, the Rector of Benoni and a chaplain to the troops during the war who, with several other men, sat and discussed what they could do as a living memorial – ‘something practical to honour the men who had given their lives; something that would touch the lives of the growing children of Benoni and the district and would help to mould and fashion their character and would live with them.’

Later, Bishop Paget would recall that conversation, “We decided to start with a school – a day school – as part of the parochial equipment. No money, no accommodation. It was foolish, but it was just the same sort of glorious folly that made men – and women, too – give away their lives. We did not mind being mixed up with that kind of reckless, venturing folly. It was the same folly we reverenced and longed to pass on to the younger generation. So off we went.”

The money was raised for a Memorial Hall and it was in this hall that the children were taught while more money was raised for three classrooms adjacent to the hall andthen another classroom, which was built during the 1930s. It is interesting to note that during that time the school extended to Standards VI and VII and it was the decision, as numbers in the senior classes were not large, to do away with these classes, and Standard V, that led to a large decline in numbers during 1939. During the Twenties and Thirties, Headmasters came and went and the number of pupils waxed and waned until, during the Second World War, it appeared that the school would be forced to close.

Mrs Gladys Feakes, who had joined the staff in 1919, ran the school from the beginning of 1939 to the middle of 1940, the first of four women who acted as Head of the school during difficult times.

It was in the third term of 1940 that Mr E. John Butler, a retired Headmaster, came to Benoni and to St Dunstan’s. He had a fine reputation as a teacher and as a school principal and remained at St Dunstan’s until his death in February 1955. When he came to the school it had a roll of 46 pupils; in 1955 there were more than 250 children at the school and a waiting list; the number of classrooms had been increased, as had the teaching staff, and St Dunstan’s was a school surrounded by trees and gardens for Mr Butler was convinced that children should be taught in beautiful surroundings. To him the school owes its continued existence.

Mr Butler oversaw the development of the library that was to be named after him in 1953 when the parents and Governing Body, recognising his efforts and the part that he had played in the growth and development of the school, made the decision to name The E. John Butler Library – a tribute that made him very proud.

In recognition of the status of the school as a memorial to the men who had died in the First World War, Mr Butler sought the names of the St Dunstan’s boys who had died during the Second World War and, on St Dunstan’s Day 1955,Archbishop Paget returned on one of his many visits to the school to dedicate a plaque bearing the names of these men, which was placed in a corner of the garden at the school.

Mrs Ivy Hildick-Smith had joined the teaching staff in 1945 and stayed until 1963. She was appointed Vice-Principal of the school and acted as Headmistress on several occasions when Mr Butler was away from school, either on leave or during his illness. She also acted as Head after Mr Butler’s death until the new Headmaster was appointed.

When Mr Norman Browne took charge of the school in 1961 he was the third Headmaster since Mr Butler’s death. He was to stay until 1965 when the Governing Body decided that he should make way for a younger man. Mr Browne had been in the employ of the T.E.D. and had retired as the Headmaster of a school in Brakpan before he came to St Dunstan’s. He had seen service in the Second World War and had been a prisoner of war for some years when he and several other men ran a school for their fellow prisoners. Mr Browne was to return twice as Acting Headmaster, for short periods, in both 1973 and 1976.

In 1962 a new wing was opened, giving much-needed extra classroom space. Playground space was also extended with the demolition of an old house that had been in the grounds.

That year also saw the arrival of Mr Seamus Herbert who was the Standard V master during the years that he taught at the school – a much-loved and greatly respected teacher, he took charge of much of the boys’ sports.

Mr Browne introduced many innovations such as educational journeys to the Kruger Park and the country around it, the Western Cape and to Natal’s coastal and inland areas, when the scholars were accompanied by Mr Herbert and Mrs Lucy Hardy. On Mr Browne’s retirement Mrs Hardy acted as Head until the new Headmaster arrived at the school.

Mr Alan Ramsay took the reins at the beginning of 1977 and was at the school until the end of the first term of 1987 when both he and Mr Herbert retired. During these years an emphasis on the sporting prowess of the school had resulted in an improvement in their results and there was a growth in clubs such as the Wild Life Society, the Chess Club and the Art Club.

In 1988 Mr Gregory McLeod, an old-boy of the school, was appointed as the Headmaster. The school’s policy had always been to welcome all children on merit, regardless of religion or nationality. Now the school welcomed children of all races: “We open our hearts to all,” Mr McLeod wrote.

In 1990 the Pre-School was started in the premises of the old Presbyterian Church, over the road from the school, in Woburn Avenue. This school, with its warm atmosphere, is a truly wonderful place for children to start their schooling.

When Mr McLeod left the school Mrs Paddy Forshaw acted as Head with her characteristic grace and gentleness. She was a teacher dearly loved by the children and respected by both staff and parents.

Mr Keith Ablett, a well reknowned East Rand Educationalist, was appointed Head in 1994 and Mr Lloyd Smuts was transferred on promotion from the College and appointed Head of the Preparatory School in 1998.

The dreams of a high school and a large space for sport occupied the minds of St Dunstan’s Heads and Governors for at least fifty years and the former came to fruition in 1995 when the College was opened in the buildings of the old Hillel School on the corner of Woburn Avenue and Park Street. Miss Sandra Gous, a highly respected educationalist and previous Head of Springs Girls High, was appointed as Head of St Dunstan’s College in 1996. Beginning with small numbers in the two junior high school classes, the school grew year by year until it had its first matriculation class in 1998. Fr Angus Paterson from St John’s College was initially appointed as Headmaster 1n 1999, while in 2008 he was installed as Rector of the College.

The dream has been completed with the transfer of the whole school to large new a new Greenfield site in Rynfield with Mr Alan Thompson appointed as Rector of the College in 2010, Mr Owen Thomas as Head of the Preparatory School and Mrs Marianne Sands, who was the founding Headmistress, retaining her post at the Pre-Primary School. The site gives ample space, not only for beautiful school buildings and gardens, but also for a variety of sporting codes.