Farrarmere Primary School was established in Benoni as an English-medium school in 1976. It opened with over 500 students and was led by its first headmaster, Mr. Ebertson, who oversaw its expansion with new classrooms, bathrooms, and sports facilities like soccer fields, tennis courts, and a cricket field
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The school’s sports houses—Farrar, Howard, and Bedford—were named after the surname, mother’s maiden name, and hometown of Sir George Farrar, respectively, and the school’s badge design by Ebertson incorporates a castle from Bedford and blue spots representing the five dams in Benoni.
“When I started, I had two women who helped me at the school – Lorraine Reynolds and Doreen Perrins. We had over 500 pupils and we built two soccer fields, a tennis court and cricket field. I asked the contractors, the Londoni Brothers, to build two more floors for classrooms and six more bathrooms, so construction continued until 1977.”
The Sports Houses
“There were three houses, Farrar, Howard and Bedford. Farrar is the surname of Sir George Farrar, Howard is the maiden name of his mother, Helen, and Bedford is where they came from in England.”
The retired headmaster also designed the school badge
“I incorporated the castle in Bedford with spots surrounding the castle which represents the five dams in Benoni.”
Ebertson was so passionate about the school, his children, Jean Leighton and Jonathan Ebertson, also attended the school during his time there.
When you visit Farrarmere Primary School, you will without a doubt bump into a large statue just outside our offices. It is the statue of Paganini.
How did a statue of Paganini arrive at the school and still stands there to this day?
Mr Ebertson explained how he found the famous Paganini statue situated outside of Farrarmere Primary School:
“It was an abandoned statue which was found in Yeoville. The Benoni Town Council brought it to Benoni and placed it by one of the dams near Lakeside Mall. It was, however, constantly vandalised, so it was placed in storage and I was not happy about that, so I wrote to the municipality to ask for the statue and in 1979 we unveiled it at the school.”
Our school emblem is rich with layered meaning, drawing on local history, the school’s founding vision and values of resilience, excellence and community. It’s not just decorative, but symbolically designed (by the founding principal) to carry identity, tradition and aspiration. Ebertson himself designed the badge. He explains: “I incorporated the castle in Bedford with blue spots surrounding the castle which represents the five dams in Benoni.” The motto “INVICTUS” and the shield imagery convey the school’s stated ethos: “We will not be conquered by circumstances, but in everything will be victorious.”
